♦♦ 32ND CONTRACT - ANONYMOUS TEXT/ACTION

[mortemscintilla]

Oh perfect.

A light show. Just what's needed after a month of witches and possessed goats. Sure, everything seems mellow now. No zombies or general epidemics. But distractions are just that. Distractions. No amount of Burning Man rituals and fireworks take away from the fact that everyone is still stuck here. That's not exactly something worth celebrating.

Still, it could be worse. Pai could be gone. I could be back home. This 'perpetual darkness' theme could last more than 24 hours. Then there'd be no end to the belly-aching.

Of course that's a mixed blessing. Some of you are only tolerable in the pitch dark.

Options For Run-Ins:

Cafe: You'll find him behind the display case, sliding in a fresh tray of pinwheel cookies, a sprinkling of flour on his nose. Canapes, bonfire toffee, sausage roll-ups, sticky chocolate pudding, baked apples with cinnamon ... It's like he's trying to kill the City with saccharin-induced diabetes. Maybe he is.

Hey. At least it's a tasty way to go.

Xanadu: Crunching on a toffee-apple, he drifts through the park. Watching, not the brilliant displays in the dark sky, but his periphery. He's still in the habit of thinking operationally, and is as matter-of-fact about it as he is effective. But that doesn't mean he can't stop, for a moment, to listen to the crack-snap-pop of sparklers, or watch the glittering streaks of color exploding like supernovas above.

Anywhere Else: The dark is his element, and he utilizes the opportunity to explore. He stops by the City's outskirts, looking out at the sweep of the lakes, the glittering buildings, the glittering fireworks blossoming in the sky. Festivities seem to be dwindling, and who could've anticipated that he'd feel so rueful about that. Then again, all tonight is, is a lull, before some new curse threatens to snatch everything away in one big explosion of chaos. Whatever intervals of quiet he indulges in are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Still he doesn't mind this pause. It makes things better and worse at the same time -- but sometimes it's necessary too.



[ ooc: Don't be fooled. Despite the general grumpiness, Hei is actually rather enjoying the fireworks. Backtagging friendly forevermore; I'll be very slow this week<3 ]

Comments

[sleepingstar]

I don't know what that means. [Not that she can't figure it out from context clues. But what's the point of playing along? Besides, he knows she doesn't speak Japanese.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He could teach her. There doesn't always have to be a skin of futility forming over half their conversations, holding the words under. Reaching out, he smoothes the hair off her face. His expression seems ragged-edged, without being tired exactly. He just looks thoughtful, taken out of himself in this room which has the warmth and gloom of a cave. ]

A recluse. A better term in German would be weltschmerz. Not for the person, but the mindset. [ A beat, before he offers a shrug. ] Whatever you want to call it, it's not benficial.

[sleepingstar]

It's better than making cookies. I'm going to get fat.

[mortemscintilla]

[ He keeps stroking her hair. In the dark, chilled room, with that peculiar bite from serrated teeth in his throat -- (sadness or helplessness?) -- he's seized by deja vu. It's easy to imagine they're back in a tent in Heaven's War, dead, black things, interspersed with red, littered in the grass around them. He remembers those nights clearly -- how he'd grown more desperate as Pai grew more quiet, trying to imagine escape plans, like outright snatching her and running away from the war, hand-in-hand with Amber. Pulling at his determination like a spool of cable, even as what was left of his sanity started to dissipate, first gently, then faster and faster, leaving him clutching at the empty air. ]

[ This feels like that. An exercise in futility. But in Hei's vocabulary, that's just another word for Try a different way. ]

Maybe that's my plan. To fatten you up like a lamb to the slaughter. [ Teasing gently, before he sobers. ] You can't stay in bed all day. You need exercise.

[sleepingstar]

I'm perfectly capable of staying in bed as long as I want. [She sits up just enough to grab for the blankets.] And it's cold out.

[mortemscintilla]

So wear a sweater. [ He holds the bundled blankets aloft, away from her grabby little hands. Adds, with a pitch to his tone that's as coaxing as it is peremptory, ] I'll take you out somewhere. To a mutant rat-fight in the Underground. Maybe to the shooting range, or one of the dojos?

[ Dimly, he's aware this is the wrong solution to the problem. He shouldn't be rewarding her for her torpor. There have to be better ways to shake her out of it. ]

[sleepingstar]

I don't want to go. [She wants her blankets.]

[mortemscintilla]

You don't have to. [ Flatly, ] But you're not getting your covers back.

[ And, with an air of finality, he folds them neatly and tucks them under his arm, pillow in tow. If you want them back, you'll have to fight him. ]

[sleepingstar]

[.....................................you are the worst brother in the history of all brothers EVERYWHERE. She rolls out of bed and trumps after him. There's another blanket on the couch; she'll just throw herself there and curl up under that.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Yeah, yeah. He knows. One day, his crimes said and done, he's gonna be knock-knock-knockin' on Heaven's door -- and it's gonna be a lot hotter and more orange than he expected. There's no flicker of satisfaction when she gets out of bed; knowing Pai, she's probably just beelining for the couch. Still, it's better than nothing. Maybe he can get some breakfast started and lure her to the kitchen with the smell. That usually works; her stomach is the command center of her body, as often as her brain is. ]

[ If it fails, it'll be time to really start worrying. ]

[sleepingstar]

[She yanks the pillow out of his hands as she winds around him and throws herself on the couch. Couch is nice and soft. She likes the couch. Tugging the blanket over her head, she falls back into a doze.]