estoria | ( OPEN ) red light, green light

Entry tags:

( OPEN ) red light, green light

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: ]

both

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

haha

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

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. ]

[ 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. ]

[ a beat or two passes, and then: ]

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.]

[a flyer is held up to you with THIS FACE]

[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. ]

bad

when everyone we know publicly disowns us

streets

[ 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. ]

( 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. )

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[ Hokuto's been in jail before, but that was a long time ago now, since that happened when he was alive and all. It was a lot different from here, but that's a given, as he was alive during the late Edo period and early Bakumatsu.

Most of all it's annoying that he can't smoke.

But at least listening to his cellmates uneasy chattering is amusing. He remembers that it's a kid he scared with ghost stuff a while back.

He shrugs. ] I dunno, I guess I've made one too many robots explode this month. [ nbd. ]

[ You can't just put an adorable cat plush with wide eyes and a little marching band shako and think Nonon is going to be able to stop herself from spending all her money until she gets it. All barely five feet of Nonon looks up to the boy offering the subpar prize, waving her hand dismissively. ]

I've already got my eyes on the real prize, there's no way I'd settle for something else.

[ Stepping up she pulls out her own cash-card, stretching out her fingers to get ready. ]

If you want want to watch how a real musician performs I won't mind. I just expect a standing ovation at the finale.

[while makoto has been rambling anxiously about What This All Means for the remainder of their undetermined stay in Tellus, haru has taken to the multi-tasking route of: 1) grabbing the edge of makoto's shirt to stop him pacing, and 2) looking the direction of the respondent to reply in kind. his voice is neutral and he seems a polar-opposites with makoto's anxiety; if anything, haru could not be calmer, though this may come off as mild indifference.]

How?

[he's just curious, really. what does one do? he thinks pouring water on them is probably not the answer...]

[She's only been here once before, but this candy shop is fairly decent, as far as these things go. So Rio's returning to try some new things on a whim, picking up on the twitchy nervousness of the person greeting her right away. And she's about to inquire about that raffle and the gold star stickers, but the sound that interrupts him makes her blood run cold.

Certainly, though her attention should be on the displays of sweets around her, she's now glancing around anxiously, unable to just let that one slide.]

I... Was that a cat just now?

[ It's almost like Hokuto and Rasu, except it's a lot different. Hokuto tends to be passive-faced in most situations, while Rasu frets. Which means that he really can't tell the other spirit that he's gotten himself arrested. The guy would be really upset. ]

Hm? Oh, like this.

[ He holds up his hand, and lets some spiritual energy gather in it. It looks like light, swirling around in a ball just above his palm. ]

[ Rika feels bad for the guy. She can tell he's been trying to win the cat, but all he got was some strange stuffed animal.

She tilts her head when he offers it. ]

Are you sure?

[ After all, it was the only thing he won. But she steps forward to the machine, smiling. She loves these things. ]

Of course you can watch!

[ Ah... that is definitely too close for comfort, and Tadashi takes a step back once the second flyer's been put to his face. He runs a palm down his face to rub it once, then he focuses his attention at the flyer. Those are... beautiful??? faces. ]

Uhh... no, I haven't seen either of them. Sorry.

[ He winces, looking pretty guilty that he can't help them.

No, wait-- maybe he could. He even takes himself by surprise when he comes up with the idea, and gasps. ]

I know. If you know their blood type, their age, and how tall they are, I might be able to help.

[ The scanner he's made isn't fully functional yet, but he could likely use the data for its primary testing. ]

[as for minatsuki, she seems to be entirely comfortable sitting in jail. she's across from both of them, arms crossed and one legs over top of the other. it must be odd to see, a girl with flowers in her hair and a light colored dress sitting in jail. however, she's the type who definitely belongs in jail with her kind of behavior.

upon hearing makoto ramble on, her amused look grows. wow, this guy is something else. she can't help but laugh at the way he's reacting.]

You'd be surprised how many people still hire someone even when this so called "record" has been tarnished. Seriously, calm the fuck down, would you?

And damage to private property. [the robots were pissing her off so what if she attacked them... and ruined some other equipment in the process.] Wasn't all that much so I'm just in here for a couple hours- like some half-assed time out.

[ ha ha ha, it's that guy. given that makoto hasn't quite forgiven him for effectively scaring the living daylights out of him for cheap kicks (as revealed from eyewitness accounts once he exited the ferris wheel), his expression tips toward vague indignation when their cellmate pulls out yet another cheap trick.

beneath his blighted gaze, he gingerly shakes haru off to address hokuto. ]

Don't do that here! What if they see you? They might extend the time we have to stay here.

[ ... as if his emphatic whisper isn't giving them all away. ]

[ well, what do you expect him to do with this lumpy, misshapen atrocity, he can't exactly chuck in the trash ...

but makoto rescinds his consolation prize at once, mouth opened on a particularly emotionally-stilted question, like this isn't rubbing salt into the wound. insult to injury, sure. ]

Wait, you think you can win?! Seriously?

[ maybe she has a pathological desire for pain and misery, since she'd been standing behind him for the past fifteen minutes watching him blow half his paycheck in vain. accusations of rigged machinery as compared to the ubiquity of repeated human failure, but there's something in her eyes that brings him to an audible halt. ]

... Sure. If you can get the grand prize, I'll even offer to take you out for lunch.

[ makoto figures it won't be an issue. she's practically bound to lose. ]

[ shoot, she's sharper than he initially thought. of course that wouldn't fly for a second.

surreptitiously unlocking the case, he keeps his eyes stubbornly trained on the goods, uneasily shifting his weight back and forth from foot to foot in a desperate bid to keep the feline swishing between his legs from venturing out into the open. hopefully its tail isn't swishing out in plain sight, he can't risk staring down at his feet right now. ]

Oh, no, that wasn't — ... a cat, you said? No, not at all. I've been feeling really off lately, ahem — [ COUGH, COUGH, COUGH. his voice goes blotchy as he lays his hands flat on the counter. ]

Are you sure there isn't anything you want? I'd personally recommend the chocolate bars here. If you buy two, you get the third one free.

[ yeah, that's what happens when you place your faith in fallible entrepreneurial monoliths dead-set on playing hard ball with your money. it's his own fault for wasting as much time as he did, but if there's one thing makoto's good at, it's bouncing back with renewed enthusiasm. desperation at its finest.

mouth twisted in a sheepishly amiable grin, he nods. ]

It's fine! I already have a few of these in my apartment.

[ the number's closer to five, given that he's been coming to the arcade every afternoon this week to waste his credits on the slim chance he might win big this time around. after a slight pause, he nods in assent. ]

Thanks. I'll stand a ways back so you can concentrate.

[ handing over the plush, he settles back against the adjacent wall in the hope he can actually catch someone winning for once. ]

That's--

[Whatever she's about to say, be it about the chocolate bars or the cat, is swallowed when the tail vanishes, only to be replaced with a curious little face. Rio falls over onto her rear in her panicked effort to scoot back away from it; it seems hers is not the face of a cat lover. Actually, she's terrified, nudging herself back on the floor until her back is at the corner of two display shelves while the cat pads jauntily over to her. It's friendly -- unfortunately for her.]

W-- Why is there a cat in here?!

[ ... shit. ]

That's a very good question! I'll explain right now, so p-please try to keep this between us —

[ feverishly backpedaling for a way out, it takes several seconds for his mind to catch up with the dilemma at hand: the tangible alarm ebbing out of her in waves, the sudden absence around his legs as the cat sauntered over, presumably to: a) bat at her shoes, or b) attempt climbing up her leg. averse to both options, he nearly breaks his neck scrambling over to snatch the cat up by its stomach, nose scrunching as it began swiping the air. ]

I-I'm sorry! He wasn't supposed to be with me today, but I had no choice. There was no one else I could leave him with today.

[ scrambling for excuses, makoto eventually falls back, concern alight on his features. ]

But he's harmless. Really. Are you alright?

[The fear fades into indignity after a few moments of staring, and Rio picks herself up and brushes herself off as though she's trying to pretend it never happened. All the while, she's looking everywhere but directly at Makoto and the cat.]

I'm... fine, thank you. It's just--

[It's just that cats are horrible and have claws and teeth and stupid faces and are demon familiars at best is what she originally wanted to wind up for, but it doesn't happen, just the same way she hesitated to kick at the cat when it approached her. She changes it to something a little nicer.]

It's just, isn't that a bit unhygienic for a candy store? I'm sure no one wants to find cat fur in their snacks...

[ he's not going to rub salt into the wound and provoke her even further. makoto obligingly retreats a few steps further, like placing a few inches of distance between them would be enough to dismiss their current predicament as a non-issue. ]

Well, he was in the backroom earlier ... or he should've been, at least ... my friend usually looks after him during my work shifts, but he hasn't been around lately.

[ good choice of words. as a cat-lover, he's horribly biased and would've likely clutched at his metaphorical pearls trying to come up with excuses for why she was inconvertibly wrong and misguided, but instead he just dejectedly hangs his head, exhaling shortly. ]

All the candy here is wrapped, so I figured there wouldn't be any problems if I took him with me just for today.

I'm sorry. Is there any way I can make it up to you?

[ If Hokuto knew he was calling it cheap tricks, he would be a bit put off. Really, it's nothing like the real cheap tricks that the living can make use of. This is the real stuff.

He gives Makoto an innocent grin, which is not at all as innocent as he pretends. ]

What, I'm not trying to destroy anything this time, you know.

[ He could, but he isn't. But he lets the energy spread and fade, and shoves his hand back into a pocket. ]

What'd you kids do, then?

Mmm...

[Sometimes circumstances do come to that, but that she had to run into it herself is a bit... Well, it's not like he could've known she would come in, and that she didn't like cats. Seeing the way he wilts just makes her bite her lip and try to think of something. It's almost starting to feel like she's the one causing trouble here...]

There's no need to make anything up, really. It's-- I mean-- It happens, doesn't it? And...

[Scrambling for excuses, Rio glances around to either side, hastily grabbing a few things she justifies she was probably going to get in the end anyway.]

L-Listen, I'll just... I'll take these. It's fine. I promise.

Trespassed.

[at being shaken off, haru makes no sign of caring one way or another except for a brief flicker of his gaze from makoto and then back to hokuto. it's a barely-there thing, and that can be said of his response too, yet he's being honest if nothing else. no explosions. no murder. nothing particularly worthy of being jailed in his opinion, but no one asked him -- obviously -- and so here they are. he wonders a little at the kind of facility which will put explosive-experts (???) in with property infringements. but again, no one asked him.

haru shrugs as soon as the word leaves his mouth and his gaze seems to shift beyond the bars, interest quick to divert. unlike makoto, he's not too worried about what this person can and can't do. if anything he thinks it could be useful to take an early leave of this place.....but that would ultimately land them back in some form of incarceration too.

so there goes that wishful thinking. not quite anxious so much as chafing restlessly, haru's shoulders rise and fall ever so slightly -- impression of a sigh if not the sound. he'll be glad to leave when they do.]

[seemingly from nowhere, haruka nanase appears not unlike the cat -- abruptly. but he does so in an effort to be useful or at least to alleviate some of the distress in the situation at hand; he reaches without ceremony for the feline in makoto's hold and it somehow scrambles its way around in haru's arms, then up one of said arms, only to rest with tense paws in the fabric of his shirt, a little in his shoulder too but never mind it. his visage belies no pain or upset when he fixes his gaze on rio, rather a softness there though subtle enough to miss.]

No need to go. I'll take him now.

[the cat's paws flex and claws with it, but the cat's tail is flat in a wobbly truce down haru's back, flicking now and again against his shoulder blade.]

[not especially prone to apologies even if perhaps in some cases (like this one) he ought to be, haru simply waits and listens. there isn't too much time between the stranger's apology and his reconsideration, and haru lets his arms lower slightly as he watches, head tilting just slightly.]

I know those things for one of them.

[he suspects makoto may know for kisumi as well but he won't assume, instead continuing to speak after just a breath, curious.]

Those things are more helpful information than the pictures?

[his voice does not sound challenging so much as a little hesitant -- the way people tend to sound when confused but very, very mildly so. arms fully at his sides now, the flyers remain held in an almost polite way so as not to crush them. ]

Trespassed.

[ Okay, how logical is that, to put small-time offenders with someone like him who caused property damage now and again? If this was his school, then it would be more properly dealt with. But then again, this is not Sheol, or Hokuto's work place.

But he's amused, as much as he's bemused. He runs a hand through his hair and looks back to Makoto for a moment, but since Haru seems the calmer one of the two (and not scared of him) he turns his gaze back to him instead. ]

Somewhere important?

[it's the way she laughs at makoto that irks haru off-the-bat, but it's the way she speaks to him that outright annoys him. but there is no "best" way to insert himself into the conversation when she's answering makoto's question, so he leaves it for that moment, though his hand in makoto's shirt tightens. to most it would be imperceptible, but without question makoto will feel it, the minor subconscious tug of fabric.

yet haru's eyes remain on the girl, from the flowers in her hair to the soft color scheme of her dress to the relaxed posture she maintains. what did she do to get here? probably not trespassing.

and damage to private property...

ah.

haru blinks. ]

We trespassed.

[not that she is interested, not that she even ever would have asked, but it is what comes out of haru's mough.]

[to this, haru only shrugs. he wonders at the person in front of him, as makoto seems to be familiar with him already (at least to a point) and that in and of itself is enough reason pay attention. on top of that though are his intriguingly bizarre powers. it has not occurred to haruka yet that maybe he and makoto are the one percentile of Actual Bizarre things in that they have nothing supernatural going for them. unless one counts their daily commitment to not wholly believing all that has happened around them.

in haru's pockets: two flyers with the faces of friends (more or less) folded neatly and precisely.

in haru's tone: another lift of his shoulders and a glance away.] Not sure.

We didn't mean to; we were looking for someone.

[he pauses then relents to some invisible imploring,]

Two people, actually. So we didn't notice.

[ Rika nods, stepping up to the machine. She's not as tall as she'd like to be to play this game but at least she can see enough of it to do well.

She uses some of the credits she's set aside for games, concentrating as the game starts. Immediately she heads for the toy she saw Makoto going for earlier. She positions the claw over it just so, and for a second it seems like she's going to get it!

But as it edges closer to the drop box, the claw drops it. ]

Mii... [ So close. ] One more time!

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