( OPEN ) red light, green light

[cordated]

Who: Haruka Nanase (freed), Makoto Tachibana (cordated), and YOU!
When: IC 1/9 —1/11
Where: Nearly every district! Not limited to: CERES Food Stop, CERES Game Center, a bunch of nondescript street corners, and jail.
What: Bending the rules, breaking the rules, and cheating beating the system?! Or trying to, at least.
Rating/Warning: PG.

---

1. CANDY SHOP.MP3 (ceres food stop.)

[ upon entering the shop, a one-sided conversation ensues as the only shop attendant speaks in stifled tones to ... what seems to be himself, if his gaze wasn't stubbornly trained to a certain spot behind the counter: ]

Shhh, shhh! You need to be quiet or we'll both be in trouble.

[ but once the door opens with a protracted tinkle of a bell, he turns. eyes drawn in assiduous focus, he dolefully grins as he angles his attention to the customer venturing out to browse the wares. ]

H-Hello! Welcome to the shop. If there's anything I can do to help you out, please allow me to assist. There's a 30% discount on taffy for today only, so don't wait until the last minute to spend. We've also got a raffle going on this week! Buy any three different types of candy labeled with a gold sticker at participating stores and you'll be in the running for —

[ at this point, he's interrupted by a rather plaintive mewling (miaow, miaow) warbled from somewhere around his feet. visibly paling, makoto coughs a few times and resumes speaking. ]

A-haha, excuse me, I meant a blank check redeemable for 500 credits.

[ one hand sweeping over the display case, he makes a point to tap the sweets display case several times in quick succession. ]

Can I interest you in a free cotton candy sample?

2. TMW YOU CAN'T WIN HELLO KITTY FROM THE CLAW MACHINE (ceres game center.)

[ or you might find makoto situated in one of the various arcades in the conglomerate sprawl of game centers, studiously trying his luck (and a substantial amount of his daily paycheck) on one of the claw machines. mouth puzzled open on a sigh, he's even got his head tilted a few degrees to the side in a futile effort to win the only cat plush in the glass chamber, only to come up with empty hands on his last try, not any closer to his goal than he was on his initial run. ]

Aaah, so close. Looks like this cash card's spent.

[ retreating from the machine, he holds out his only inadvertently-won prize (a rather squashed-looking stuffed animal of indeterminate origin) to the bystander standing in the line right behind him. ]

Oh, well. Would you like this?

[ a beat or two passes, and then: ]

You're going to play next, right? Is it okay if I watch?

3. KIND OF LIKE A SLASHER FLICK EXCEPT NOT (random street corner ... seedy alleyway, perhaps ...)

[ so: you're in a derelict alleyway sometime in the evening. nightlife solidifies with all the risqué robot models strutting over the various walkways when you get the distinct sense you're being followed.

it's just an inkling of a doubt, but it's enough to take caution, all up until the point someone's hand clamps tightly on your shoulder. assuming your heart didn't stop and leave us one man down in this scenario, you are now very near to one tall and mildly anxious looking boy with green eyes and brown hair, as well as a shorter boy with black hair and blue eyes. it is the latter of these two who speaks to you.]

Excuse me. Have you seen [a flyer is held up to you with THIS FACE] or [a second flyer with THIS FACE in his other hand appears!

upon closer inspection (as if you need it to be closer than RIGHT IN YOUR face but you know…) one will notice descriptions under the pictures as follows:

RIN MATSUOKA:

— answers to rin-rin
— likes romcoms
— really pointy teeth


KISUMI SHIGINO:

— tends to sparkle
— liberal use of emojis when texting/speaking/breathing
— pink

if you're quiet/silent/have been startled into death for too long, well, eventually the blue-eyed one here will simply….

…blink expectantly as if to say well?…without actually saying it at all. ]

4. IN THE SLAMMER (ceres government center.)

[ the first day in central holding, makoto learns two valuable things about going to prison:


a) it's actually called jail, not prison, for a short-term stay behind bars. more specifically: an overnight stay for a benign misdemeanor, or so they inform him.
b) the "one phone call" bit is a complete hoax. if anything, calls are encouraged. not that knowing that helps him in particular, but it's good to know, nonetheless.

notwithstanding the fact he couldn't ask haru to bail him out, considering they were held up in the same communal cell with at least three other people with them, makoto's absolutely terrified. over the course of two hours, he's kept his eyes peeled staring at the clock and trying to will himself to remain silent and moderately low-key. and makoto fails spectacularly, for the most part, his voice rising entire octaves as he babbles on and on to a relatively levelheaded boy sitting beside him. ]

This is so terrible. This is really, really bad. This'll be on our records forever and no one will want to hire us and we'll end up on the streets when everyone we know publicly disowns us. The streets, Haru. There's no way we can fix this.

[ when he doesn't get the validation he desperately needs (you know, something beyond placid one-word remarks), he turns to the closest onlooker, doing his absolute best not to stutter. ]

So ... um, what did they arrest you for?

( NOTE: this is a partial joint post with freed for part 3 + 4! it'll go: you > one of us > you unless you'd prefer no tag order or you'd like us to tag you separately. )

Comments

[primulas]

It's true, though.

[he's pretty disgusting when it comes to her. whatever- she loves her brother, he's the only one she can say she actually loves.

at that next question minatsuki scoffs.]

Scared- of here? Please. I have been through far worse in Wonderland. [she's seen her fair share of hell in that place. she's lived it, she's endured it... and she's definitely inflicted it on other people. she's.... not that person anymore- but she isn't afraid to turn violent again if she really needed to.

she narrows her eyes at the thought of DW, and she simply ends up clicking her tongue in frustration.]

I was fourteen when I arrived in prison before- and I was completely alone then too. This shit doesn't scare me.

[cordated]

Now that we're here though, shouldn't we be trying to make ourselves better people? There's so much more out there that we need to find out — about CERES and what really happened to our homes.

[ he doesn't understand — according to CERES, everyone they've ever known and cared for has since passed, left to their own devices. it's not the clinical indifference of her words but the unreeling disquiet, speaking as if it's a commonplace habit to end up incarcerated for years on end, to speak about family with cruel savagery lit around the words. in contrast, makoto's more than content to trail off into silence like haru as, spend the rest of their time locked up in confinement merely retaining whatever semblance of sanity he has left, but he can't help but feel —

sad, in a way that sinks without pretense, the sheer belief emanating through her speech. she believes in an ideology that promotes nothing but derangement itself, and there's no way he could've ever lasted a minute in the same environment.

eyes half-lidded, he lowers his head, shoulders hunching in. ]

You shouldn't be used to something like this. It's ... horrible. Don't you want to aspire for more? If not for yourself, then for your brother's sake? I'm sure he'd want you to be happy.

[primulas]

[she is used to it- and that's all there is to it. she's been forced into this kind of shitty life since she was little, ever since her mother left her. that was when her problems started, but at least she's been able to move on since then.

she sighed a little, shaking her head. she stayed in the same position, arms crossed firmly over her chest and one leg resting over the other, but she seemed to visibly relax a little bit more.]

You trying to play the part of the therapist and figure me out? [not gonna happen. but-]

Believe it or not- I've already done better for myself. If you think I'm hard to handle now- you shoulda seen me at my prime. I've already moved on from acting like a psycho who keeps lying to herself.

I got plans in mind for my future.... sure- but I'd rather focus on this place first. [actually- she wants to be a vet when she's older.]

[cordated]

No, I just want to make sure you're taking care of yourself and looking after your own wellbeing.

[ so yes, exactly like a therapist. but as makoto isn't limited to monetary restraints, his purpose for ascertaining minatsuki's wellbeing pivots solely on the fact that no one should ever be subjected to callously unfair and unethical treatment, especially at such a young age. ]

As long as you've got something in mind for what you want to do from here on out, then things are bound to turn out alright.

[ there's a confidence about her that's surprisingly emboldening. normally content to stand at the sidelines, he's not so much as encouraged as he is impelled to change the debilitating state of CERES's government services. if not for himself then for everyone else who would presumably follow given enough time. ]

I'll even help figure out what CERES is up to. I know Haru — the guy sitting next to me — would, too. We just need to get through tonight first intact.

[ head inclining in a slight bow, makoto raises his head, doing his best to appear relatively complacent despite being locked behind bars with his best friend in the tow. ]

I'm Makoto, by the way. I wish we met on better terms, but it's nice to make you acquaintance nonetheless.

[ a vet, huh. it's definitely a job makoto would wholeheartedly approve of. ]