Makoto stumbled forward. He regained his footing, catching his heel on the back part of the sole and pushing himself back up, turning again to find--
--well, it wasn't the Unseen World.
He stopped, turned around, for a moment failing to understand the change: instead of the abandoned hospital, the mud and cement, the mouldering tile and flashlights, there was something else, not the unlit signs and wooden stairs of the empty sanitarium, decades ago--
--his dad--
High plastered hallways rose above him, a carved wooden table with a vase of small flowers, the moulding clean and flawless, Western in style, not Japanese--this...
... wasn't where he'd been fifteen seconds ago.
If that much.
Tarou was nowhere to be seen.
He took a step forward, his foot skidding slightly on the polished marble, and he jerked it back, turning around to find and seize hold of the door, twisting the knob to leave this illusion--but it wouldn't budge, locked somehow from the outside. He jerked on it, pulling and shoving, until finally he dropped his shoulder, slamming into it with a low, booming impact--but still it wouldn't move, despite the throb in his upper muscle. He tried again, and again, before his temper snapped and he kicked it in frustration, producing a loud cracking sound as his foot connected with the wood, but he stepped away to find he had affected nothing and turned, dark eyes narrowed as he glanced back down the entryway to look into the larger room beyond. Useless. This wasn't...
Was he still in Kakuriyo?
He wanted to see his father.
No, he didn't think this was the Unseen World. It wasn't any place he'd ever been, but it wasn't Kakuriyo. He didn't see anything that would connect it to such a place. Opening the closet revealed a lot of jackets (Some of them made of fur? Who wore that these days?) and a battered umbrella, but nothing unusual, at least for Western-style housing. That meant wherever he was, it was either someone else's memory... or it wasn't any place natural.
With a sigh, the dark-haired youth started to walk out into the larger adjacent room, his footsteps echoing off the hallway.
After nervously standing in the doorway listening to silence for a few minutes, the personification of Canada decided that enough was enough. He was going to find someone and get some answers. Slowly inching forward into the house, Matthew came into a large room. The house must be huge. Great. And three different ways to go...
His quiet pondering was interrupted by loud knocking at the door. Or more like violent pounding. Turning back he saw an angry looking teenage boy trying to break the door down. Matthew wondered why he hadn't thought of that. Not that it was working...
"umm..excuse me." He tried calling out to the boy, but was ignored in favor of the closet. Matthew was used to being overlook though, so it didn't phase him. In an attempt to be more noticable, he placed himself directly in the boy's path and tried again.
Makoto jerked back, his grey eyes widening slightly as a humanshaped shadow suddenly cut out of the darkness right in front of him--all things considered, Matthew was probably lucky that Makoto hadn't punched him. Instead he stumbled back a little, planting one hand on the wall beside him and stabilising himself before taking a step forward, putting himself right back where he'd been a few seconds ago... and possibly a little closer, his features creasing with aggravation as he searched out features in the grimy blackness. It wasn't easy. Even with the grainy haze of night, though, Makoto could pick out a few things--most noticeably, shaggy blond hair and blue eyes, but other than that and obviously not being Japanese or anything else remotely familiar there wasn't anything Makoto could guess except that he looked stupid. And apparently lost. Maybe this was this foreigner's house.
"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to startle you." Matthew took a moment to size the boy up. Obviously one of Kiku's, probably mid-teens, very angry. That about covered it. Although the last one was probably due more to the situation.
"My name is Matthew. I don't know where this is, or how I got here. I've only been here a few minutes, so I can't really answer any questions." Canada figured he'd save the kid some time by laying out everything he knew up front. And since the kid had arrived after him, equally confused, Matthew was really starting to put more stock in his 'horror movie' theory.
The 'boy' narrowed his eyes slightly, meeting Canada's eyes coldly from where he stood in the darkness. He wasn't terribly impressed. He also, however, wasn't feeling terribly threatened; his mouth tightened into a hard line--then he looked away, pushing his hands into his jacket pockets. If this 'Matthew' didn't know where they were or what they were doing in it, then he wasn't really of any use to Makoto. Or himself, for that matter, not that he cared much. He didn't know what kind of place this was, but it was getting more complex in terms of construct, if it was adding people, however real--and it was a person, not a spirit of some kind, unfortunately, since that would have meant he was in Kakuriyo after all. It also would have meant it was possible that he could stop being where he was and get back to the memory with his dad.
Shutting his eyes briefly in resignation, he pushed past the blond, veering around him to brush by dismissively as he walked down the hall and out towards the next room.
He was prepared to completely walk away and leave Matthew standing by the closet when a thought hit him and he stopped, turning around to look at the darkwashed figure behind him once more. "...American, right?" It was almost not a question.
Gahh! Sorry for the late tag. I was gone all day.^^;unseen_mapleJanuary 27 2010, 07:45:46 UTC
Canada watched in surprise as Makoto pushed past him into the house. He usually wasn't forgotten this fast.
"Hey, wait a minute. Shouldn't we try to stay together?" He called after the boy in concern. Something was very wrong with this whole situation. Matthew wasn't sure what was going on, but they definately shouldn't separate.
The boy's next question was so irritatingly familiar to Matthew that he answered it before he could stop himself. "I'm Canada!" Quickly realizing his mistake, he amended. "I-I'm Canadian... Umm, You didn't tell me your name....
Ahh, it's fine! I have an irregular sleep schedule, thus the tag delay before.sonofogamiJanuary 27 2010, 08:58:03 UTC
Makoto blinked in surprise, apparently caught off guard by the outburst, but the cold expression didn't diminish in severity. It took him some minutes of thinking to come up with what--or where--Canada was: never the best geographical student, Makoto had willfully discarded a great deal of memory and was forced to try and envision a map after remembering belatedly that Canada would, most likely, actually be a country. A minute later, he actually recalled--it was part of North America, right on top of the United States. And therefore, he was American. He stared at Matthew for several long, hard minutes during this, then finally spoke, dropping only one word into the lap of the soft-spoken foreigner.
"...okay." He almost turned around, but before he did, he offered one more chunk of information--the first chunk of information, actually, since so far he'd given nothing of himself. "Ogami."
Me too. Actually, I apologize in advance. Most of my tags will probably come late at night.^^;unseen_mapleJanuary 27 2010, 09:57:06 UTC
He could tell from long experience that the boy was completely unfamiliar with the nation of Canada. Was he really that overshadowed by America? Everyone got them confused, but they were nothing alike!
Well, at least he could call him something other than 'boy.' Matthew spoke up quickly, because he was sure that Ogami was about to walk away again. "Wait! Don't you think it would be safer to stick together?" That feeling of being watched had returned, and Matthew just knew something awful was going to happen.
I'm nocturnal. That's perfect. XDsonofogamiJanuary 27 2010, 10:14:34 UTC
"It is," Makoto replied after a beat, though he didn't walk forward. Instead he stood at the edge of the entrance, staring out into the darkness-covered room beyond with narrowed eyes. He could make out a few things: a large, irregular shape that loomed out of the shadows, hazy visions of furniture, an all-encompassing blackness that swallowed everything after a certain point--a point not that far from where he was standing. It acted like a regular house, barring the looming shape, but it wasn't one, and he could feel it.
Even if his method of arrival hadn't been so suspect, something was definitely wrong here.
He didn't turn around this time, instead staying where he was, his gaze set forward, hands curled into hard fists at his sides. "Fine," he said curtly after several long minutes, releasing some of the built up tension with a tired sighn. Normally he would have said no, would have walked forward into this black abyss without so much as a moment's hesitation, but if he wanted to stick together so badly... his brow creased slightly, furrowing in irritation as he spoke the most unlikely words for the situation. "What do you plan to do?"
...I can't believe I'm actually doing this, but have a bunnyomnomnomsweetsJanuary 27 2010, 13:05:01 UTC
A few metres away, there was a very puzzled rabbit. It was fairly certain that something was wrong, but it wasn't sure what. If it had higher mental faculties, it may have known what was wrong was that it had appeared indoors, which was not its natural habitat, and it knew all these rabbit things without any memory of learning them, or being born, or even seeing another rabbit in its entire (admittedly short) life, and this was all quite unnatural. But it didn't, so it was simply a stressed and lonely rabbit. The sensible thing to do when one finds themselves as a stressed and lonely rabbit is to get a good patch of carpet and chew on it-- not that this helps or even tastes good, but it's something to do. And so this rabbit was huddled beside one of the couches in a darker corner, pulling at the threads of a rapidly-unravelling carpet, gnawing its sorrows away.
[[I think this goes without saying, but the bunny does not need to be part of normal tagging order, because it would be a bit ridiculous to wait on him, and you may play the bunny too if you wish.]]
Epic bunny GET!!unseen_mapleJanuary 28 2010, 06:11:52 UTC
Canada was surprised that Ogami had given in. He'd really been expecting the boy to storm off. Although it did seem as though it had been a difficult decision for him. Matthew had been about to answer the boy's question, when he noticed movement in the corner of the room...
He tensed, wondering what could be lurking in the shadows. As he peered into the darkness, he could just about make out a small, fluffy shape. A.....rabbit? Sure enough, it was a rabbit. Chewing happily on the carpet. It was kind of cute, actually. Slowly, quietly, Canada approached the carpet destroying bunny.
As he did, he answered Ogami's question in a soft, gentle voice. He didn't want to scare the rabbit, after all. "I was going to explore the house." He gave him a wry smile, "C'mon, you must have heard this story in a book or movie or game or something. People exploring a mysterious house? Strange feelings of being watched, door is locked, weird noises all around..."
Kneeling down in front of the rabbit, Matthew reached out his hand. One thing he and America did have in common was a way with animals. It probably had to do with long years of fending for themselves in the wilderness when they were both colonies. Canada was already missing Kumajiro... Petting the rabbit gently, Matthew continued to speak.
"So tell me something, does splitting up ever end well for those people?" With that he scooped up the rabbit and turned back to the boy. "So, Shall we go?" The bunny was just too cute to leave behind, and the poor thing might get sick if it kept eating the carpet....
[[ooc:So is it okay with people if he keeps the bunny? I didn't let him bring his security blanket polar bear, and it just seems too cute. ^_^ ]]
Ace mun says she's bringing him in after this to keep Canada from being melted.sonofogamiJanuary 28 2010, 07:39:31 UTC
Makoto was more than a little startled when Canada walked past him--of all the things he'd expected out of this ridiculously tremourous, timid foreigner, it wasn't him going first. But he didn't follow, standing right where he was while the idiot walked out ahead of him, letting him be bait; if he had the death wish, he could have it answered.
Accordingly, he didn't bother to answer the other boy at all, watching suspiciously as he crossed the threshold. He'd missed the rabbit the first time around, but as Canada got closer to it, he saw motion--ears, movement, and eventually, after a lot of putting together, a rabbit.
An unnatural rabbit. Makoto couldn't say if it was a sixth sense he'd developed since he'd entered the Unseen World or something he'd just learned from growing up in the household he'd been in, but the instant he saw the animal, he knew.
His eyes widened slightly, then narrowed sharply as he took a step forward, his fists tight--he didn't know what that rabbit was. His voice rose just enough to have a commanding--and angry--tone.
Um, sorry, he's pissed as heck right now, and he turns foul mouthed...it's...been a night? ALSO HI!sleepy_fireJanuary 28 2010, 08:08:42 UTC
It had been a long night already.
Having to resort to cat-naps after pushing his body to its limit for weeks didn’t exactly help his mental state, but shit if the walking tumor didn’t find him if he stayed anywhere longer than a couple hours.
Fucking house didn’t even want to give them enough time to rest.
He was walking with careful deliberation down the middle of the hallway, avoiding the hands under the doors, his own hands tucked into his pockets.
Fucking fantastic night so far. Just fan-fucking-tastic.
He hadn’t seen Machi or Yukimi all fucking night, and he hoped they were both ok. But he trusted his crew; Yukimi could take care of himself, and Machi was nothing if not clever as fuck.
Seriously, shitty fucking Phantasms. Just for one night, he’d like to swap places with them, and let them run the fucking rat mazes they liked to set up for the house guests.
Had to watch his fire too; March couldn’t hurt him, but that didn’t stop him from hurting anything else around him.
He didn’t need any enemies. He had enough of those, thanks.
And if March following him around every time he flamed up didn’t prove that he could lead him around, Ace wasn’t sure what did. Might be useful some night if he needed to show March something, but goddamnit if it just didn’t make things harder and exhaust him more.
He hunched his shoulders against the cold. It was pretty much useless; you couldn’t conserve body heat when you didn’t have any, after all. But warming himself up took energy he couldn’t spare and pain he felt no need to expend the effort for. If it made the other house guests avoid him, well, that was probably for the best.
He’d made the walk to the Grand Room more times tonight than he was sure anyone had any *right* to.
And why was he coming back now? Because the house was fucking hungry and new people kept arriving despite the likelihood that they would end up dead the soon as they stepped out the entry way.
He needed to talk to someone about these fucking heroic impulses; they were going to end up getting him dead.
Sure enough, within a few feet of the Grand Room he could hear them; voices. Voices that had already left the fucking entryway.
Somewhere, some almighty deity was laughing it’s fucking ass off at him.
Dicks.
“You might wanna get back in the fucking entry way before the fire in the fireplace thinks you’d look better with your face melted.” The words were blunt, if almost twisted cheerful, and informative. Great. More brats. The one in the doorway was probably younger than Machi. He was beginning to understand Yukimi’s gleeful greeting of Matalik.
He glanced towards the fireplace, putting the words to action and pushing the blonde kid back towards the doorway. “Seriously, move it, he’s not going to stay passive for long if you stand there gaping like a moron.”
Hi! Good to meet you ^_^unseen_mapleJanuary 28 2010, 08:36:28 UTC
Matthew had been about to respond to Ogami's sudden hostility toward the rabbit, when they were interrupted by a new arrival. An irate man with dark hair and freckles approached, giving a cryptic warning about the fireplace. Canada allowed himself to pushed back toward the door, wondering who this strange man was. Once they were back by the entrance, he felt it was safe to start asking questions.
"Ummm....What is this place? Do you...live here?" Now he was even more worried. Were they actually trapped in the doorway? And what was so dangerous about the fireplace? And again his horror movie theory was gaining ground....
Makoto was not so intimidated by Ace--his eyes widened again and he fell back, but only by two steps, his face twisting slightly aggressively as he placed himself directly in the path of the stranger, inadvertently blocking the path between Canada and Ace as well.
"Who are you?" As before, it was more of a demand than a question, but backed this time with a great deal more antagonism--confused as he was, he wasn't going to let this stranger or anyone else back him into a corner, especially in a place he didn't know; Makoto refused to let anyone back him into anything, situational or otherwise. The man was tall--a lot taller than he was, and alot bigger, especially in the shoulders, and Makoto did not genuinely desire a fight--but he wasn't afraid of one either. A brief spark of association flashed, however--if this was because of the rabbit...
Nice to meet you, I'm TC! He's not exactly SANE right now, and it makes him look fairly erratic.sleepy_fireJanuary 28 2010, 09:05:40 UTC
Ace stopped as soon as he cleared the door way, looking down at the kid, making eye-contact and meeting the challenge with curiosity.
For a moment he just studied him, studied the readiness to fight if a fight presented itself, ready to protect a friend he couldn't have made more than a few minutes ago. He made no move to push the kid out of the way, face twisting into a smile that was at least halfway genuine.
He might actually survive.
"Yeah, I live here. Not by choice, mind. Got here the same as you two did, I'd bet. And when you figure out what this place is, let me know. I'm just as curious as you are." He smiled politely at the quieter man holding the rabbit, more relaxed now that they were out of intimidate danger. Never relaxed completely, not in this fucking place, but more relaxed. Willing to give them a little bit of information, or at least the quick and dirty version with a promise for more later. "We can't stay here long, and March will try to kill you as soon as you get into the room. There's other shit running around that will try just as to kill you given half a chance. I can keep the one off you, and he can't cross the borders of this room, so you've got a choice. Either you can listen to me and maybe live a little bit longer, or you can do your own thing and go meet my friend in the fireplace." His voice was calm, even, not exactly friendly, but not directly antagonist.
If they would work with him, he would be willing to help them.
If they wouldn't...well, March had already killed a lot of people. A couple more wouldn't add to his burden that terribly.
He finally addressed the kid, voice calm. "I'm Ace."
--well, it wasn't the Unseen World.
He stopped, turned around, for a moment failing to understand the change: instead of the abandoned hospital, the mud and cement, the mouldering tile and flashlights, there was something else, not the unlit signs and wooden stairs of the empty sanitarium, decades ago--
--his dad--
High plastered hallways rose above him, a carved wooden table with a vase of small flowers, the moulding clean and flawless, Western in style, not Japanese--this...
... wasn't where he'd been fifteen seconds ago.
If that much.
Tarou was nowhere to be seen.
He took a step forward, his foot skidding slightly on the polished marble, and he jerked it back, turning around to find and seize hold of the door, twisting the knob to leave this illusion--but it wouldn't budge, locked somehow from the outside. He jerked on it, pulling and shoving, until finally he dropped his shoulder, slamming into it with a low, booming impact--but still it wouldn't move, despite the throb in his upper muscle. He tried again, and again, before his temper snapped and he kicked it in frustration, producing a loud cracking sound as his foot connected with the wood, but he stepped away to find he had affected nothing and turned, dark eyes narrowed as he glanced back down the entryway to look into the larger room beyond. Useless. This wasn't...
Was he still in Kakuriyo?
He wanted to see his father.
No, he didn't think this was the Unseen World. It wasn't any place he'd ever been, but it wasn't Kakuriyo. He didn't see anything that would connect it to such a place. Opening the closet revealed a lot of jackets (Some of them made of fur? Who wore that these days?) and a battered umbrella, but nothing unusual, at least for Western-style housing. That meant wherever he was, it was either someone else's memory... or it wasn't any place natural.
With a sigh, the dark-haired youth started to walk out into the larger adjacent room, his footsteps echoing off the hallway.
He supposed he had to find out.
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His quiet pondering was interrupted by loud knocking at the door. Or more like violent pounding. Turning back he saw an angry looking teenage boy trying to break the door down. Matthew wondered why he hadn't thought of that. Not that it was working...
"umm..excuse me." He tried calling out to the boy, but was ignored in favor of the closet. Matthew was used to being overlook though, so it didn't phase him. In an attempt to be more noticable, he placed himself directly in the boy's path and tried again.
"Hello, ....umm, are you lost too?"
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But based on the introduction, he doubted it.
"Who are you?"
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"My name is Matthew. I don't know where this is, or how I got here. I've only been here a few minutes, so I can't really answer any questions." Canada figured he'd save the kid some time by laying out everything he knew up front. And since the kid had arrived after him, equally confused, Matthew was really starting to put more stock in his 'horror movie' theory.
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Shutting his eyes briefly in resignation, he pushed past the blond, veering around him to brush by dismissively as he walked down the hall and out towards the next room.
He was prepared to completely walk away and leave Matthew standing by the closet when a thought hit him and he stopped, turning around to look at the darkwashed figure behind him once more. "...American, right?" It was almost not a question.
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"Hey, wait a minute. Shouldn't we try to stay together?" He called after the boy in concern. Something was very wrong with this whole situation. Matthew wasn't sure what was going on, but they definately shouldn't separate.
The boy's next question was so irritatingly familiar to Matthew that he answered it before he could stop himself. "I'm Canada!" Quickly realizing his mistake, he amended. "I-I'm Canadian... Umm, You didn't tell me your name....
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"...okay." He almost turned around, but before he did, he offered one more chunk of information--the first chunk of information, actually, since so far he'd given nothing of himself. "Ogami."
He didn't feel like giving his first name.
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Well, at least he could call him something other than 'boy.' Matthew spoke up quickly, because he was sure that Ogami was about to walk away again. "Wait! Don't you think it would be safer to stick together?" That feeling of being watched had returned, and Matthew just knew something awful was going to happen.
"This place just feels...wrong somehow."
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Even if his method of arrival hadn't been so suspect, something was definitely wrong here.
He didn't turn around this time, instead staying where he was, his gaze set forward, hands curled into hard fists at his sides. "Fine," he said curtly after several long minutes, releasing some of the built up tension with a tired sighn. Normally he would have said no, would have walked forward into this black abyss without so much as a moment's hesitation, but if he wanted to stick together so badly... his brow creased slightly, furrowing in irritation as he spoke the most unlikely words for the situation. "What do you plan to do?"
Reply
[[I think this goes without saying, but the bunny does not need to be part of normal tagging order, because it would be a bit ridiculous to wait on him, and you may play the bunny too if you wish.]]
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He tensed, wondering what could be lurking in the shadows. As he peered into the darkness, he could just about make out a small, fluffy shape. A.....rabbit? Sure enough, it was a rabbit. Chewing happily on the carpet. It was kind of cute, actually. Slowly, quietly, Canada approached the carpet destroying bunny.
As he did, he answered Ogami's question in a soft, gentle voice. He didn't want to scare the rabbit, after all. "I was going to explore the house." He gave him a wry smile, "C'mon, you must have heard this story in a book or movie or game or something. People exploring a mysterious house? Strange feelings of being watched, door is locked, weird noises all around..."
Kneeling down in front of the rabbit, Matthew reached out his hand. One thing he and America did have in common was a way with animals. It probably had to do with long years of fending for themselves in the wilderness when they were both colonies. Canada was already missing Kumajiro... Petting the rabbit gently, Matthew continued to speak.
"So tell me something, does splitting up ever end well for those people?" With that he scooped up the rabbit and turned back to the boy. "So, Shall we go?" The bunny was just too cute to leave behind, and the poor thing might get sick if it kept eating the carpet....
[[ooc:So is it okay with people if he keeps the bunny? I didn't let him bring his security blanket polar bear, and it just seems too cute. ^_^ ]]
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Accordingly, he didn't bother to answer the other boy at all, watching suspiciously as he crossed the threshold. He'd missed the rabbit the first time around, but as Canada got closer to it, he saw motion--ears, movement, and eventually, after a lot of putting together, a rabbit.
An unnatural rabbit. Makoto couldn't say if it was a sixth sense he'd developed since he'd entered the Unseen World or something he'd just learned from growing up in the household he'd been in, but the instant he saw the animal, he knew.
His eyes widened slightly, then narrowed sharply as he took a step forward, his fists tight--he didn't know what that rabbit was. His voice rose just enough to have a commanding--and angry--tone.
"Drop it."
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It had been a long night already.
Having to resort to cat-naps after pushing his body to its limit for weeks didn’t exactly help his mental state, but shit if the walking tumor didn’t find him if he stayed anywhere longer than a couple hours.
Fucking house didn’t even want to give them enough time to rest.
He was walking with careful deliberation down the middle of the hallway, avoiding the hands under the doors, his own hands tucked into his pockets.
Fucking fantastic night so far. Just fan-fucking-tastic.
He hadn’t seen Machi or Yukimi all fucking night, and he hoped they were both ok. But he trusted his crew; Yukimi could take care of himself, and Machi was nothing if not clever as fuck.
Seriously, shitty fucking Phantasms. Just for one night, he’d like to swap places with them, and let them run the fucking rat mazes they liked to set up for the house guests.
Had to watch his fire too; March couldn’t hurt him, but that didn’t stop him from hurting anything else around him.
He didn’t need any enemies. He had enough of those, thanks.
And if March following him around every time he flamed up didn’t prove that he could lead him around, Ace wasn’t sure what did. Might be useful some night if he needed to show March something, but goddamnit if it just didn’t make things harder and exhaust him more.
He hunched his shoulders against the cold. It was pretty much useless; you couldn’t conserve body heat when you didn’t have any, after all. But warming himself up took energy he couldn’t spare and pain he felt no need to expend the effort for. If it made the other house guests avoid him, well, that was probably for the best.
He’d made the walk to the Grand Room more times tonight than he was sure anyone had any *right* to.
And why was he coming back now? Because the house was fucking hungry and new people kept arriving despite the likelihood that they would end up dead the soon as they stepped out the entry way.
He needed to talk to someone about these fucking heroic impulses; they were going to end up getting him dead.
Sure enough, within a few feet of the Grand Room he could hear them; voices. Voices that had already left the fucking entryway.
Somewhere, some almighty deity was laughing it’s fucking ass off at him.
Dicks.
“You might wanna get back in the fucking entry way before the fire in the fireplace thinks you’d look better with your face melted.” The words were blunt, if almost twisted cheerful, and informative. Great. More brats. The one in the doorway was probably younger than Machi. He was beginning to understand Yukimi’s gleeful greeting of Matalik.
He glanced towards the fireplace, putting the words to action and pushing the blonde kid back towards the doorway. “Seriously, move it, he’s not going to stay passive for long if you stand there gaping like a moron.”
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"Ummm....What is this place? Do you...live here?" Now he was even more worried. Were they actually trapped in the doorway? And what was so dangerous about the fireplace? And again his horror movie theory was gaining ground....
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"Who are you?" As before, it was more of a demand than a question, but backed this time with a great deal more antagonism--confused as he was, he wasn't going to let this stranger or anyone else back him into a corner, especially in a place he didn't know; Makoto refused to let anyone back him into anything, situational or otherwise. The man was tall--a lot taller than he was, and alot bigger, especially in the shoulders, and Makoto did not genuinely desire a fight--but he wasn't afraid of one either. A brief spark of association flashed, however--if this was because of the rabbit...
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For a moment he just studied him, studied the readiness to fight if a fight presented itself, ready to protect a friend he couldn't have made more than a few minutes ago. He made no move to push the kid out of the way, face twisting into a smile that was at least halfway genuine.
He might actually survive.
"Yeah, I live here. Not by choice, mind. Got here the same as you two did, I'd bet. And when you figure out what this place is, let me know. I'm just as curious as you are." He smiled politely at the quieter man holding the rabbit, more relaxed now that they were out of intimidate danger. Never relaxed completely, not in this fucking place, but more relaxed. Willing to give them a little bit of information, or at least the quick and dirty version with a promise for more later. "We can't stay here long, and March will try to kill you as soon as you get into the room. There's other shit running around that will try just as to kill you given half a chance. I can keep the one off you, and he can't cross the borders of this room, so you've got a choice. Either you can listen to me and maybe live a little bit longer, or you can do your own thing and go meet my friend in the fireplace." His voice was calm, even, not exactly friendly, but not directly antagonist.
If they would work with him, he would be willing to help them.
If they wouldn't...well, March had already killed a lot of people. A couple more wouldn't add to his burden that terribly.
He finally addressed the kid, voice calm. "I'm Ace."
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