(no subject)
WHO: Joshua [levitatefusion ] and Neku [onoesimemo ]
WHAT: Tin Pin Slammer! And then more power arrival. Fun times.
WHERE: Their house
WHEN: Day 175
Carefully, slowly, Neku lined up his shot on the table, concentrating. He made sure the line was perfect, and then deftly flicked Healing Bunny across the table into Link Spider. Neku Sakuraba was playing Tin Pin Slammer against himself.
Joshua had been working at the casino before coming to the house, and he had to admit it was quite an amusing site to come back to. "Now Neku, playing by yourself is so incredibly boring!" he said, at the exact moment where it would screw Neku's concentration up the most.
Link Spider's miniature meteor crashed down a good two inches away from Healing Bunny. Neku growled in frustration and whirled to face Joshua. "You did that on purpose!"
The Composer looked innocently over at him. Even though no one ever believed it, he could still capture the expression perfectly. "Did what?"
"Never mind," Neku snapped in exasperation, activating a stinger for healing bunny.
Joshua walked around to the other side of the table. "Well, mind if I join you?"
He glanced up at the Composer, a bit surprised. "I thought you weren't into Tin Pin"
"Well, I visited a very interesting place and I learned a lot about it." Joshua grinned. He had rather enjoyed his missing week playing Tin Pin with... well, himself.
Neku shrugged and glared at Joshua. "Do you have your own pins, or do I need to loan you a few?"
"I have my own," he said, pulling several out of his pockets.
"Good." Neku had drawn a crude tin pin grid on the table, and, thanks to practicing his psychs, several of the squares on the grid were red - invisibility traps. He set murasame in the center, and waited for Joshua to place his own pin down. In truth, Neku was actually kind of excited- since arriving in Rivelata, he hadn't been able to play a REAL tin pin game, complete with psychs and whammies.
Joshua put down Black Mercury as his first pin, as it was one of the few he had with him. Probably not the best one for tin pin, but he would have to make do.
The instant Joshua's pin was on the board, Neku flicked his pin towards Joshua's and activated a stinger.
Joshua activated the hammer as soon as he got his pin close enough.
Acting quickly, Neku moved his pin out of the way and into the invisibility trap.
Joshua slid his pin into the invisibility trap after him, using the stinger and hoping Neku's pin would get hit.
Neku had already activated his stinger, but it timed out, and Joshua's pin collided, knocking it out for a second. He snarled softly in frustration, and rubbed his head. He'd actually been practicing tin pin for a while, and using his psychs and fledgling conductor powers before that. Since they came from different sources, Neku had figured he was okay, but in truth, he was starting to wear out.
The silver haired boy raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything. It was good for him to stretch himself like this, but he didn't want Neku to pass out. He flicked his pin towards Neku's, trying to drive it over the edge.
"aggh..." Neku murmured softly, triggering the finger that would bump his pin back into the grid. That one always gave him trouble, because it was more about precision than power. It activated, but the minute he'd triggered it, he gasped. Something was WRONG.
Joshua could tell that /something/ had happened. "Something wrong?" he asked. Honestly, he couldn't tell yet quite what was going on himself.
Neku didn't say anything, because he was too focused on what was happening inside him to notice anyone else. It was like the energy hiccups he'd experienced when he first activated his conductor's powers, but instead of being short, painful bursts, this was like tidal wave, a surge of power that didn't necessarily hurt. That didn't make it any stranger, or any less frightening.
After a moment of watching this, Joshua simply muttered, "Ah." Best to just let Neku get through this.
After what felt like hours, but was really only a few seconds, Neku groaned and slumped to the floor. He felt warm, despite the sensation of something heavy pressing into his back.
There was a slight tug on something that seemed to be connected to his back. "I was wondering when these would show up," Joshua said rather cheerfully, "Not very big yet, but that's to be expected."
Neku frowned when he felt something PULL on his back. "Please say you're not undressing me," he mumbled, until he realized what Joshua had said. "Wait, what...?"
"No, nothing like that, dear." The boy smirked. "I'm talking about your wings~"
He sat up and gave Joshua his best frown. "What wings?!"
"These wings." There was another tug and a finger tracing lightly over them so Neku could feel their shape.
Neku craned his neck around, trying to see over his shoulder to whatever Joshua was pulling on and playing with (and why did it TICKLE when he ran his finger out past his shoulder?). It barely registered with him that there were now two small black reaper wings protruding from his shoulder blades. "Oh, those wings." The words were barely out of his mouth when the realization of what "those wings" meant. Neku jumped up and twisted his body even further in a somewhat comical attempt to see behind himself. "What... HOW?!"
Joshua gave a little chuckle. "You're the Conductor. As you put it, head Reaper. And Reapers have wings. These are yours."
If there was ever a verbal equivalent of a keysmash, Neku Sakuraba was making it.
Joshua found this very amusing. As well as still playing with Neku's wings. He wondered how long he could keep it up without being reprimanded.
Neku batted his hand away. "Stop that!" he grumped. "Feels weird..."
The Composer gave one last tweak before letting go. "They're not big enough to cause an inconvenience, really, but you might want to learn to hide them..."
"How?" Neku asked flatly. He wasn't so sure he was ready for this whole conductor thing in the first place, but it kept cropping up in confusing and painful ways.
"Well, firstly you have to want for them to go away. If you don't want them to then you have no chance," Joshua said with a shrug, "Then you have to try and push your power inside you. Though you probably will want to keep them out while you're training for a while, or they're going to force themselves out every time they grow any..."
Neku frowned at Joshua. Again. "Of course I want them to go away!"
He waved a hand. "Then you should have no problem."
He struggled to hide them for a bit, then gave up, panting. "I can't," Neku informed Joshua with a sulky look.
Joshua smirked. "That's because you aren't trying~ Are you sure you want them to go away?"
"Yes, I'm sure! And I am too trying!" He gave another attempt, scowling in intense concentration, and had to stop once more. The little wings didn't vanish.
"Well, if you can't get it just wait until they grow. They'll become annoying enough to have out that you'll be very encouraged to hide them." Joshua did realize, however, that his wings hadn't manifested themselves yet-- mostly because he had more of a hold on them even with limited power. He might have to check their size to get an idea of how much power he had here... but that could wait. Teasing Neku was more fun.
Neku groaned. "What if someone sees me?"
The boy shrugged.
"Don't just shrug at me, it was a serious question!"
"What am I supposed to tell you, Neku?"
"What i should do, like... if someone gets tangled or pulls on them"
"That would be a good time to get rid of them."
Neku groaned and tried again, to no avail. The truth was, even if Neku denied it even to himself, he kind of thought they were cool.
Joshua patted him on the head. "You'll get it eventually."
Shoving Joshua's hands away, Neku turned away and huffed. "I'm going to go get some food."
"Alright." Joshua smirked and waved. "Have fun. Don't get shot."
Neku made sure to flip Joshua off before exiting.
WHAT: Tin Pin Slammer! And then more power arrival. Fun times.
WHERE: Their house
WHEN: Day 175
Carefully, slowly, Neku lined up his shot on the table, concentrating. He made sure the line was perfect, and then deftly flicked Healing Bunny across the table into Link Spider. Neku Sakuraba was playing Tin Pin Slammer against himself.
Joshua had been working at the casino before coming to the house, and he had to admit it was quite an amusing site to come back to. "Now Neku, playing by yourself is so incredibly boring!" he said, at the exact moment where it would screw Neku's concentration up the most.
Link Spider's miniature meteor crashed down a good two inches away from Healing Bunny. Neku growled in frustration and whirled to face Joshua. "You did that on purpose!"
The Composer looked innocently over at him. Even though no one ever believed it, he could still capture the expression perfectly. "Did what?"
"Never mind," Neku snapped in exasperation, activating a stinger for healing bunny.
Joshua walked around to the other side of the table. "Well, mind if I join you?"
He glanced up at the Composer, a bit surprised. "I thought you weren't into Tin Pin"
"Well, I visited a very interesting place and I learned a lot about it." Joshua grinned. He had rather enjoyed his missing week playing Tin Pin with... well, himself.
Neku shrugged and glared at Joshua. "Do you have your own pins, or do I need to loan you a few?"
"I have my own," he said, pulling several out of his pockets.
"Good." Neku had drawn a crude tin pin grid on the table, and, thanks to practicing his psychs, several of the squares on the grid were red - invisibility traps. He set murasame in the center, and waited for Joshua to place his own pin down. In truth, Neku was actually kind of excited- since arriving in Rivelata, he hadn't been able to play a REAL tin pin game, complete with psychs and whammies.
Joshua put down Black Mercury as his first pin, as it was one of the few he had with him. Probably not the best one for tin pin, but he would have to make do.
The instant Joshua's pin was on the board, Neku flicked his pin towards Joshua's and activated a stinger.
Joshua activated the hammer as soon as he got his pin close enough.
Acting quickly, Neku moved his pin out of the way and into the invisibility trap.
Joshua slid his pin into the invisibility trap after him, using the stinger and hoping Neku's pin would get hit.
Neku had already activated his stinger, but it timed out, and Joshua's pin collided, knocking it out for a second. He snarled softly in frustration, and rubbed his head. He'd actually been practicing tin pin for a while, and using his psychs and fledgling conductor powers before that. Since they came from different sources, Neku had figured he was okay, but in truth, he was starting to wear out.
The silver haired boy raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything. It was good for him to stretch himself like this, but he didn't want Neku to pass out. He flicked his pin towards Neku's, trying to drive it over the edge.
"aggh..." Neku murmured softly, triggering the finger that would bump his pin back into the grid. That one always gave him trouble, because it was more about precision than power. It activated, but the minute he'd triggered it, he gasped. Something was WRONG.
Joshua could tell that /something/ had happened. "Something wrong?" he asked. Honestly, he couldn't tell yet quite what was going on himself.
Neku didn't say anything, because he was too focused on what was happening inside him to notice anyone else. It was like the energy hiccups he'd experienced when he first activated his conductor's powers, but instead of being short, painful bursts, this was like tidal wave, a surge of power that didn't necessarily hurt. That didn't make it any stranger, or any less frightening.
After a moment of watching this, Joshua simply muttered, "Ah." Best to just let Neku get through this.
After what felt like hours, but was really only a few seconds, Neku groaned and slumped to the floor. He felt warm, despite the sensation of something heavy pressing into his back.
There was a slight tug on something that seemed to be connected to his back. "I was wondering when these would show up," Joshua said rather cheerfully, "Not very big yet, but that's to be expected."
Neku frowned when he felt something PULL on his back. "Please say you're not undressing me," he mumbled, until he realized what Joshua had said. "Wait, what...?"
"No, nothing like that, dear." The boy smirked. "I'm talking about your wings~"
He sat up and gave Joshua his best frown. "What wings?!"
"These wings." There was another tug and a finger tracing lightly over them so Neku could feel their shape.
Neku craned his neck around, trying to see over his shoulder to whatever Joshua was pulling on and playing with (and why did it TICKLE when he ran his finger out past his shoulder?). It barely registered with him that there were now two small black reaper wings protruding from his shoulder blades. "Oh, those wings." The words were barely out of his mouth when the realization of what "those wings" meant. Neku jumped up and twisted his body even further in a somewhat comical attempt to see behind himself. "What... HOW?!"
Joshua gave a little chuckle. "You're the Conductor. As you put it, head Reaper. And Reapers have wings. These are yours."
If there was ever a verbal equivalent of a keysmash, Neku Sakuraba was making it.
Joshua found this very amusing. As well as still playing with Neku's wings. He wondered how long he could keep it up without being reprimanded.
Neku batted his hand away. "Stop that!" he grumped. "Feels weird..."
The Composer gave one last tweak before letting go. "They're not big enough to cause an inconvenience, really, but you might want to learn to hide them..."
"How?" Neku asked flatly. He wasn't so sure he was ready for this whole conductor thing in the first place, but it kept cropping up in confusing and painful ways.
"Well, firstly you have to want for them to go away. If you don't want them to then you have no chance," Joshua said with a shrug, "Then you have to try and push your power inside you. Though you probably will want to keep them out while you're training for a while, or they're going to force themselves out every time they grow any..."
Neku frowned at Joshua. Again. "Of course I want them to go away!"
He waved a hand. "Then you should have no problem."
He struggled to hide them for a bit, then gave up, panting. "I can't," Neku informed Joshua with a sulky look.
Joshua smirked. "That's because you aren't trying~ Are you sure you want them to go away?"
"Yes, I'm sure! And I am too trying!" He gave another attempt, scowling in intense concentration, and had to stop once more. The little wings didn't vanish.
"Well, if you can't get it just wait until they grow. They'll become annoying enough to have out that you'll be very encouraged to hide them." Joshua did realize, however, that his wings hadn't manifested themselves yet-- mostly because he had more of a hold on them even with limited power. He might have to check their size to get an idea of how much power he had here... but that could wait. Teasing Neku was more fun.
Neku groaned. "What if someone sees me?"
The boy shrugged.
"Don't just shrug at me, it was a serious question!"
"What am I supposed to tell you, Neku?"
"What i should do, like... if someone gets tangled or pulls on them"
"That would be a good time to get rid of them."
Neku groaned and tried again, to no avail. The truth was, even if Neku denied it even to himself, he kind of thought they were cool.
Joshua patted him on the head. "You'll get it eventually."
Shoving Joshua's hands away, Neku turned away and huffed. "I'm going to go get some food."
"Alright." Joshua smirked and waved. "Have fun. Don't get shot."
Neku made sure to flip Joshua off before exiting.