[WEEK 2: Tuesday Evening, front desk area???; Jay]

[nowyouseeit]

[his head is still throbbing, although the pain is finally beginning to subside. he can still feel phantom pains in his mouth too, even though the injury has long been healed and the bleeding has long since stopped. the whispers in his ears are getting louder, causing his gaze to flicker left and right, as though he expects to see a ghost in the corners of his vision]

[nevertheless, when Jay flags him down at the front desk, he pushes those uncomfortable sensations aside to focus more on the matter at hand.]

Wait, Andersen, too? And there's no sign of where they might've gone?

Comments

[ninjay]

[ he shakes his head, his expression grim. ]

Omega hasn't seen him since yesterday afternoon, which is around the last time I saw Jake as well.

[ the obvious conclusion to leap to is that the two of them went off somewhere together. one person mysteriously disappearing is bad enough, but two? ]

I don't know about Anderson, but Jake would have told me if he was going to run off somewhere. Plus, with the whole curfew situation...

[nowyouseeit]

So he must've planned on coming back, if he didn't say anything to you.

[rubs the back of his head with a frown, before a thought occurs to him]

-- last night, Dave came back to the room all beaten up. Said he broke into one of those burned buildings.

Do you think. . .?

[are Jake and Andersen dead in a burned building, is that a thing that happened]

[ninjay]

They all can't be that stupid.

[ oh my god. they can. ]

We're planning on breaking in, but at least we have a general idea of what we're going to find.

[ jay pinches the bridge of his nose, thinking, before speaking again. ] Did he tell you which one he broke into? When I was searching earlier today, all of them still looked closed.

[nowyouseeit]

[THEY CAN. . . god he hopes they aren't dead in a building somewhere]

I didn't, but that's 'cause I was too busy, y'know. Being glad he was only hurt and not dead.

D'you think we should go looking for 'em?

[ninjay]

[ he scans the area, double checking that they're definitely alone here, before talking again. he lowers his voice just in case. ]

The problem is, if they did sneak into one of the buildings, we have no idea which one it was. And from what we know from Dave's own venture into one, it's going to be dangerous. You have your gun, but we can only spare one bullet from it.

[ god he wishes they had their first hunter meeting earlier. he would have taken more knives?? one for yukina and kaito. ]

[nowyouseeit]

. . . yeah. And we planned on infiltrating the library, didn't we?

[his hand brushes against the weapon strapped at his waist, fingers pressing against the metal handle. it was an uncomfortable reminder of his responsibilities from here on out]

You've got a knife, right? And Yukina a scalpel. But based on what happened to Dave, I doubt that'll be enough.

Even so, if they're in danger, we can't just leave them.

[ninjay]

This is one of the inconveniences of our job here. I would love to search through each of those buildings for them, but realistically we can't. That just means more chances for any of us to get injured or worse, and if something happens to us, then...

[ everyone else is screwed, basically. ]

I would prefer if other people didn't decide to check them out though.

[nowyouseeit]

. . .

[ugh. he hates that Jay is right. he can't go around stupidly risking is life when they're the only three who know how to stop this stupid game]

[he grumps, drops his hand from his gun, and folds his arms. his brows are furrowed]

Are you gonna be okay, staying in your room alone?

[ninjay]

I'll be fine.

[ that reminds him, though. ]

I was actually thinking of giving you and Yukina keys to my room. If... [ he trails off, frowning ] if Jake doesn't come back, then it'll be the best place for us to meet up when we can't go to the curio shop.

[nowyouseeit]

For your sake and his, I hope he comes back.

[he pauses, though]

. . . if you wanna give me an extra key, then I'll take it. I can't give you guys one to my room because Dave is pretty particular about his privacy, though.

[ninjay]

If we do find Jake, I don't think he'd mind. He's very... friendly.

[ jay is going to be legitimately upset if jake's dead. ugh. ]

But I do think we need another meeting place besides the shop, in case something happens. My room should do for now.

[nowyouseeit]

[ha ha. . .]

Friendly is good. I really do hope he's okay.

[like, seriously. poor Jay. having lost one of his roommate's already, Kaito can kind of sympathize]

And you're right. We'll have to pass the message onto Yukina the next time we see her.

[ninjay]

I'll see if I can get the keys then.

... Do you still have that migraine, by the way? You're not carrying the ice pack.

[nowyouseeit]

[he lifts a hand to his temple, one eye slipping shut]

People would notice an ice pack.

[he offers weakly]

S'fading. Mouth doesn't hurt, either. How's yours. . .?

[ninjay]

I keep having to touch it to make sure it's still there.

[ he's certain that there are going to be a lot of injuries going on here, but being the one to inflict them on yourself is... another thing entirely. ]

[nowyouseeit]

[wryly]

Yeah, me too.

I get phantom pains every now and then, as though somethin' is trying to remind me of what happened.

[ninjay]

Me too. It's definitely annoying when it happens in front of other people.

[ suddenly reaching for your cheek for no reason is a little awkward to play off after. ]

It's... probably not going to be a tooth each time, is it? I don't really get the impression from this place that they like repeat performances.

[nowyouseeit]

[makes a face. are they. going to speculate about future sacrifices]

As long as it's not a finger or an entire hand, I think I'll survive.

[he says wryly, but watch. next week it'll be a finger]

[ninjay]

[ he glances down at his own hand. ]

It may be a little difficult to continue our meeting afterwards if an entire hand is getting grown back.

[ like that sounds like the level of pain that would make them pass out or something. ]

[nowyouseeit]

[ugh. he flinches at the idea]

I don't even wanna imagine what that looks like, let alone what it feels like.

Yeesh.

[ninjay]

They might want to ease us up to that level.

[ it's said in a joking tone but also

he really hopes not. ]

[nowyouseeit]

[he picks up on the joking tone, b u t]

If yanking out our own teeth is supposed to be "easy mode," then they really need an entirely new difficulty scale.

[ninjay]

Agreed.

[ there's a pause, like he's not sure what to say next. but there's something that's been on his mind. ]

Are you okay with your role?

[nowyouseeit]

[blinks in surprise, clearly taken aback by that question]

Eh? Why're you asking?

[ninjay]

Concern, maybe?

[ he shrugs. ]

Like we said in the meeting, technically you don't have to be the one to kill them. I'm sure stabbing them will take a Prophet down just as well as a bullet. But your weapon is the only actual guaranteed way they'd definitely die, instead of just being injured. Killing someone, though... it takes a lot out of you, even if it's for a good reason. So, I'm asking if you're okay with it.

[nowyouseeit]

[damn it Jay he was doing his best not to think about this]

We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

[that's a non-answer. the truth is, he's not okay with it. but he accepted the role nonetheless, so he has to force himself to be]

[ninjay]

[ he's taking that answer for what he suspected. ]

Just remember that you're not on your own here, Kaito.

[nowyouseeit]

[. . .]

[his eyes slip shut, hands curling into fists at his sides. he nods]

I know.

Thanks. [lifts his head again, and when he opens his eyes, he's grinning] Same goes for you and Yukina, y'know.

You're a lot nicer to me in private than you are in public.

[ninjay]

You haven't done anything to deserve me being nice to you in public.

[ jay's default mode is shitty troll, i'm sorry. ]

... I'm going to see if I can find a way to acquire another weapon for Yukina. A scalpel is better than nothing, but it won't really do much in the long run. And her skill only works against Prophets. If someone else attacks her...

[nowyouseeit]

[STICKS HIS TONGUE OUT AT HIM]

I s'pose that's for the best. No one's gonna expect two people who're always arguing with each other to be working together.

[he seems more relaxed now, thanks Jay]

With all the knives gone, what other weapons are there?

[ninjay]

[ STICKS HIS TONGUE OUT BACK!!!! ]

That's actually not true, by the way. You know the butcher's area in the back of the grocery store? There's cleavers there.

[nowyouseeit]

[oh. . . . . . . . .]

Time to keep an eye on the cleavers, then. Better grab one before they're gone.

[he says. wryly. god he hates the fact that there are so many weapons out there right now]

[ninjay]

I don't think a lot of people have realized that they're there, which is probably why there's still so many left. But if that missing items list at the front desk gets updated every week, people will become aware of them.

[nowyouseeit]

And then they'll disappear fast.

[tch]

As if having to worry about everyone's invisible weapons wasn't enough, y'know?

[ninjay]

It's one thing if people who are weaponless to take them since you can explain that away as self-defense. But I bet people with weapon roles took them as well.

[ i mean

jay would have done the same, honestly, but that's not the point because he doesn't have a weapons role. ]

[nowyouseeit]

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised.

I'd also suggest we do a poll about who has which knife, but I get the feeling no one would really answer that one honestly.

[ninjay]

I doubt it. I'm sure some people might be okay with it, but there's a reason why most people stole them when no one was looking. They intend to keep it a secret.

[ ..... AGAIN LIKE. jay. ]

[nowyouseeit]

[HE'S THINKING THAT but. not saying it, at least]

Yeah, exactly.

[DEEP SIGH]

I s'pose we just gotta hope the people who took 'em are the types of people who would only hurt others in self-defense.

[ninjay]

[ i'm sorry that you're partnered with someone that you would probably suspect is a murderer if you didn't know otherwise, kaito ]

That's what I'm hoping as well. I don't blame people wanting to arm themselves in case they're attacked. Especially those who don't really have any fighting abilities otherwise.

[nowyouseeit]

[I MEAN. . . I HATE THAT THAT'S TRUE, BUT IT'S TRUE]

Yeah, I don't either. Even though 'm not the biggest fan of people carrying weapons at all.

[ninjay]

Depending on your circumstances, that's sometimes necessary.

[ sometimes you gotta fight rpg monsters, kaito ]