(Untitled)

[payback]

Who: Asano Rin (cutest_avenger) and anyone else in/around the Caritas. TAG YOURSELF IN ♥
What: Chilling, conversation, fretting, wondering if Cabot is going to bust in the door and have a go at anyone or something. Threadjumping each other. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO :]
When: Today! Probably in the afternoon.
Where: The Caritas
Rating: Hmm... let's give it a PG

Comments

[ruin_mania]

Raine found herself missing the library more and more, of course, but it simply wasn't worth the risk to go back into the castle for. Still, this was as good a time as any to become reacquainted with people she already knew and meet with people who didn't.

It was rather unbearably hot, though.

Raine approached Rin with an iced juice mix. "Would you care to try one of Caritas's specialties, Rin? It's of the non-alcoholic variety, of course - I can't think of a better time when I'd rather have my wits about me."

[payback]

Rin turned to Raine, managing to dredge up a grateful smile for the other woman before she took the offered glass. It was blessedly cold, the outside beaded with moisture, and the first sip proved sweet and slightly thick.

"Thanks, Raine." Rin gave her a grateful nod, and then tilted her head towards the seat next to hers. "This is good - I guess we could be stuck worse places. How are you doing?"

[ruin_mania]

"As well as can be expected, I suppose," she answered, though a slight flicker in her eyes suggested that this might not be the entire truth. Could she really be blamed, though? For all everyone's talk of trying to catch this monster and stop him, the murders were continuing at an unabated pace.

And Lloyd and Colette were still in the castle.

Raine shook her head as if to clear it. "It can get rather noisy in here, I must admit. I'd feel ever so much better if going for some fresh air wouldn't be so foolish."

[payback]

"I know exactly what you mean." Rin nodded fervently. "I know this is supposed to be safe, but I just... feel like we're asking for it, bunching up together like this. It's like some kind of horror story..."

She took another long swallow of juice, and then set the half-empty glass on the table. "I don't see how this can go on much longer, anyway. One way or another, something is going to snap, right?"

[femininecharms]

She didn't like being crammed in with all these people. The past couple of months Smellerbee had been keeping to herself even more than usual, and she didn't appreciate being forced to socialize.

Especially not during these circumstances.

The worst thing wasn't not being able to do anything about the sensless murders haunting the castle. The worst thing was not even wanting to try. What would her old comrades have thought if they saw her now, hiding like a coward without even attempting to help? A possumchicken, that's what she was.

Smellerbee felt tense, her nerves wound tight. And then this scorching heat, on top of everything.

She was making her way through the crowd, careful to avoid eye contact with anyone, when she spotted the bright, familiar pattern of Rin's robe. After a moments hesitation, she changed her course, now heading towards her friend.

She didn't really feel much like company, but it was probably better than dwelling on her own flaws in solitude. Probably.

[payback]

Rin shifted uncomfortably, leaned forward in her seat to rest her elbows on her knees, then leaned back again a second later. She was marinating in her own sweat; her robe stuck to the small of her back and under her arms.

Absorbed in her own discomfort, it was only belatedly that Rin noticed Smellerbee's approach. The other girl looked severe, as usual, and fiercely unhappy, which - in spite of her commonly dour visage - wasn't so usual, and Rin managed to forget how disgusting she felt at the moment in sympathy for Smellerbee.

"Hey..." Rin raised a friendly hand. Odds were the other girl wouldn't be feeling too playful, but a little company probably wouldn't hurt her. "I didn't know you ended up here. Do you know Lorne?"

[femininecharms]

She lifted her chin in a nod back at Rin without displaying much enthusiasm, despite her relief at finding the other girl alone and in what seemes to be relatively good spirits. A few minutes of talking, bickering, friendly boasting - yeah, she was looking forward to that.

"Well, you know," she replied. "I figured keeping to myself wouldn't be the smart thing to do right now."

Resisting the urge to take off her gloves and fan herself with them, she took a seat beside Rin, legs wide and back crouched, as always. She tried puffing the hair out of her face, but it was plastered to her cheeks, damp with sweat. If only it wasn't so hot...

"Who's Lorne?"

[payback]

"Ah." That was right, Smellerbee wasn't the most sociable type; she probably had no reason to know who Rin was talking about. "He owns the Caritas... runs it, I guess. He's not exactly your standard-issue human, but he's a nice guy."

A sideways glance revealed that Smellerbee looked about as uncomfortable as she did. Rin smiled wanly and reached out to pat her shoulder. "I wish we could go outside. I wonder if there's even any point to being here?"

[lieutenantibuki]

Maya had managed to suppress her squeamishness to some degree. Being incredibly hungry had helped. She'd also determined that she wasn't going to leave Caritas until this whole affair was over, because she certainly didn't want to get herself killed by a madman with a sword calling himself a doctor. So, she was sitting at one of the tables, nibbling on a piece of buttered toast. Honestly, thinking of all of the blood and violence still made her a bit queasy, but she hadn't had anything to eat besides coffee or water in a day or two.

She was also a bit bored. There were no books and she didn't have her computer. Or anything, really, except her uniform (which was currently halfway unbuttoned to try and alleviate the heat). And she wasn't about to venture out into the streets to buy things. She leaned back in her chair and looked upwards with a sigh, then blinked as she spotted Rin's brightly colored robes and gave the woman a curious wave.

[payback]

The quick flicker of motion caught her eye, and Rin turned her head and glanced at the woman who'd apparently been hailing her. The other lady looked about as comfortable in the head as she did; it took a moment of sluggish thought to realize that Rin couldn't place her. Either they'd only conversed over the journals, or she was knew.

"Hey," Rin said, raising her own hand and waving back. "How are you feeling? Doing all right?"

[lieutenantibuki]

Maya swallowed the piece of toast she'd been chewing on and offered a small smile, wiping a few beads of sweat from her forehead. She was still getting to know people, but she was making do.

"I'm doing better then I was a few hours ago. Although, this heat isn't helping any."

She was sort of used to it - it could get pretty hot in Tokyo-3, considering it was almost always in a perpetual state of summer. Didn't mean it didn't make her uncomfortable, though.

/THREADJACKS EVERYWHERE

[iknowhowtogetit]

"I think the heat's going to be the least of your worries, lady." Jun would say, cutting right in, though making a good enough attempt to not be scathing in her words. In this circumstances, there was no need to give anyone a hard time, nor was there a reason to mock anyone when they were all trying to seek refuge from the murders.

Jun reclined a little, putting her feet up and her hands behind her head, not minding the mess of hair that had fallen over her eyes. She had never seen this woman before, but really, there was no sense in keeping her distance if she was being friendly enough. At least it would keep her mind off the darker aspects of the castle at this point.

[illusionist]

He watched her glance around with a bit of an amused look, from under his hood. He was positive he was concealed, using illusions to make himself look very much like a part of the wall, but the hood never hurt.

It wasn't like he felt the oppressive heat, anyway.

Zexion eyed her, kept her in his sights.

It had been a while, hadn't it?

[payback]

Rin suspected nothing, of course. When it came to Zexion and his tricks, she never did, until he was slinking out of the shadows to prod at her with whatever seemingly inscrutable goal he had for doing so. Her rather trusting character crippled her when it came to fielding the whole of his machinations, as well; she was clever enough to tell that he was manipulating her, but not to what end, or how much.

It wasn't that the idea of an unseen observer was far from her mind at the moment; like everyone else, Rin was on edge, wondering if Cabot would step out of a shadow in the very next second. But Zexion was certainly not at the forefront of her thoughts as she leaned back in the chair and let her head loll back, barely wanting to move in the melting July head.

[illusionist]

He walked closer, making sure to keep his cloak of illusions up. Casually, he slid onto the seat behind her, still watching her.

He would say he didn't particularly like her, and that he enjoyed her company at times regardless of that, but that would require having emotions. Despite his new heart, Zexion wasn't prone to "petty" things like that.

It was a sign, he thought, of how much he had lost before he became a Nobody in the first place.

He watched her slouch and lean her head back. He gave a touch of a smirk and reached over, and tapped her on the forehead, still invisible.

[payback]

The dull heat, the low murmur of people moving and talking and going about their daily lives as best they could, Rin's own strained exhaustion - all of it combined to give the whole thing a sort of dreamlike atmosphere.

As such, for a moment Rin didn't react at all to the light touch. It took a second to percolate that it wasn't something imagined, a product of stress and too much fear. Her eyelashes fluttered.

And then it clicked, she realized she'd been touched; she jumped like a started cat out of her seat with a swallowed little cry. The chair clattered backwards, she was standing and her heart was pounding and had it been a dream after all? Because there was nothing, nothing there.

[noyoyoshere]

Suboshi didn't want to be here. It was frustrating to be helpless - it just made being stuck in this world even worse. There didn't seem to be anything anyone could do to stop that "doctor", no matter what kind of abilities they had, and everyone was forced to hide instead.

He felt restless, but there was nothing he could do about that, either. It wasn't just the heat. He couldn't train in here with no space for it, and besides, there was some sort of spell on this building, wasn't there? Right now, the one option he had was to stand around here, which wasn't an option he was eager to settle for.

The only good thing was that neither Amiboshi nor Yui had to be trapped here, too.

[payback]

Rin's idle gaze skated around the room until it came to rest upon Suboshi. She'd never met him outside of the journal, and didn't recognize him; but his frustrated frown was enough to spark some corresponding sympathy in her. It couldn't be easy for anyone, really...

She tilted her head a little, tried to catch his eye. He looked around her age; it couldn't hurt to offer another kid some conversation and a distraction, at least. Even if she couldn't provide anything else.

[noyoyoshere]

As he glanced around the room, with little else to do, Suboshi noticed that someone seemed to be watching him. He didn't recognize the girl as anyone he'd ever met, as far as he could remember, and frowned, puzzled. Was there something else she was looking at? Or did she want something?

He threw a quick look to each side and behind him, before turning his head to face her direction again.

"... What is it?" he asked, somewhat guardedly.