( no ic cut, just for context )
Hell no, we’re bringing this bastard back with us. He broke the pact! ( he sounds fairly offended by this. he loops his arms around agito’s elbows, lifting them up for kazu. )

Get his wrists too!

... is that what this is ab--fuck. ( was that waking movement. is Agito moving. hastily, Kazu ties an extra knot around the wrists, because however bad of an idea this is, it's worse to let Agito get free. )

Seriously, that's why we're here?

Dude! You don’t break the fucking pact. ( he locks eyes with kazu then, staring at him intently, almost threateningly. )

And, you know, for the slug-shit.

( blink, blink, blink. okay, okay, Agito’s almost there, almost awake-- and then there is just glaring. ) FUCK! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING-- OW!

( don’t mind this shark, just, you know, trying to get himself loose because fuck you Ikki. ) I’ll kill you for this!

( unfortunately, Kazu yanks him away with the loose end. huh, this is kind of like a leash, isn't it. ) … Sorry, man, it's for your own good!

We’re taking you back home. ( he gives the rope a test jerk, making sure it’s safe and secure before he bothers to try and move him. damn, good job, kazu. this is perfect. ) Alright, let’s get him the fuck outta here.

( those seemed to be the magic words to cue in Akira, utterly baffled at how these (way too noisy) guys kept getting inside his apartment in the last few days to steal Agito-- but the scene unfolding in front of his eyes as he opened the door was... something else. )

AKIRA! DON’T JUST STAND THERE, YOU SHITHEAD!

… Ah, but it’s really not my business how your team likes to play. ( pause, eyeing the ropes. so damn weird, man. all of you. ) It’ll be a problem if you break him any further, though.

( says the guy who broke his ribs to start, come on. ) We were trying to keep him down!

We won’t let him escape this time!

(( ooc: ikki is royal blue, kazu is firebrick red, agito is dark blue, and finally akira is sienna brown. ))

So yesterday was...noisy. I didn't really mind, though. I kind of liked a lot of the songs that kept playing. Wish I knew where to listen to them again.

So—what's going on lately? I thought I lost my communicator, but it turns out one of Sora's cats just batted it under the dresser.

[ Which was also partially blocked by a pile of dirty socks. Teenagers. ]

Did I miss anything cool?

Ahem, ahem.

[This is Xerxes Break. This is Xerxes Break with a clipboard and three pencils in a single hand.]

I believe I mentioned a census at some point in the distant and dusty past, and I am willing to revoke my scorn and begin anew.

[Mostly to get his mind off certain things, but. Never you mind that.]

So line up.

Name.

Age.

Day of birth.

Occupation.

Line up.

[The video is dim at first, but it brightens up. Whatever is going on, the lighting isn't particularly bright, but the camera is adjusting to Eden's hands, the round scars over her inner wrists flashing and recognizable to anyone who knows her. She's labeling bags of blood and setting them aside.]

So here's the deal.

After the desert crap, we're low on blood, so if you're worth your salt, donate some, yeah? I don't care if you're human or some kind of shapeshifter or you're an alien, it doesn't matter. Just come in, I'll catalog it and I'll keep it safe - I know shite happened in the desert City but I'm warding the entire lab.

On that:

This is the blood bank. This is not a bar, this is not self-service, this is not your personal fucking center for blood. This belongs to the hospital, and I do all the work. If you come in here without permission, I'll take it as permission to call hospital security.

That's me being nice. If you do it a second time, I won't be nice.

And if you're a fucking bloodsucker I'll personally make sure that shite goes very badly for you. There's the fucking Raven. Use it.

Anyway.

Save a fucking life.

Donate blood.

[ all the music's stopped. thank god. that was like living below incredibly noisy neighbors who wouldn't shut their music off. not that liz had ever experienced that back home in roswell, but her the family who lived above her aunt's in florida weren't exactly the quietest people. at least they didn't blast music all day long, that would've been intolerable. as it were, she only made it through this recent event by plugging in headphones and settling down with a good book to drown it all out and focus on something else. ]

A question, City. I was wondering... Not counting any of the aliens we have here, because the dimensional shift between worlds is sort of cheating and can make something that isn't reality become a reality... But, yeah, not counting any non-humans you may or may not have met here, do you... Do you believe in aliens?

[ just out of curiosity, of course. certainly, she doesn't want to see if she's not the only one with actual aliens back home. ]

Has anybody tried to alter the network devices to boost the signal? Rose and I were discussing it when everybody was split up between the two cities - I figured that if you took them apart and linked the transmitters, the signal might be stronger, but the problem is, of course, getting multiple devices. I'm not sure how long it takes for the City to provide you with a new one if you destroy the old one. It's too bad that you can't salvage the devices others leave behind, hmm?

And is it possible to make them do other things? I'm not sure what other functions they could add, but I'm sure there's something that could be done. I think Rose mentioned hers having a tracker, yeah? Seems like that sort of thing might come in handy.

[ For a first few minutes of footage, it seems a neatly groomed Rosiel's discovered the camera lens as an impromptu mirror, using it to... fuss nervously over the lace collar of an over-complicated coat. Finally - ]

Ma... ma? Mama. Mommma. Mother. Yes. Yes, that. A mother. Why, we're seeking a mother for hire -

[ The bit of lace is set two millimeters to the left - then three back to the right - left - right - left- right - ]

...for a little boy: frail, somewhat deluded, hardly devout, perhaps - if you're blind - handsome. A charming child.

[ ...left... right... is that a speck of dust on his shoulder, why, even its shadow is removed immediately - left - right - ]

You needn't love children, only... do please don't smother him with the finer set of pillows. Candidacies open to all, interviews to be held, payment in full, references unnecessary, bribery... appreciated? As gestures go -

[ ...and left, right back in its original position. ]

...there. How does it look?


[ ooc: ...Justin would be the little boy in question, just. Just in case you were wondering. ]

[VOICE]

Beginning of the year, way back before all the sand and shit, I hired someone to run my bar. Now he's gone. It figures.

So I'm looking again.

Bar's underground. Called the Raven. Serves blood, so don't bother if that's a problem for you. Better if you've done something like this before, but not a dealbreaker. Staff's pretty good, just need to keep things running smoothly, night to night.

Interested, lemme know and we'll talk details.

[This... was not where he expected to be. That's apparent by the look on his face, which is both confused and cautious. He makes a grab for the hilt of his sword, but does not draw it - yet.

He looks suspiciously at his surroundings and whispers to no one in particular.]

...Has he managed to fool us once again?

[Finding no answer or immediate danger in his surroundings or the nearby carousel, he looks at the device that suddenly appeared on his person, searching for clues. Accidentally activating the video. Those watching might be treated to a close up of Ukitake's nose hair. ]

What is this?

[The young man is lighting a cigarette, because he had some in his pocket when he'd arrived and he's dried them out and he feels like having one. He'll need more soon. At least he isn't soaking wet this time.]

So. The gods. I've heard you can ask them to answer your prayers. Make requests, like 'Can you play the Stones?', like they're Djs, only it's 'Can I have a puppy?' or 'Can I have my life back?' or 'Can I go home now?'

If you've asked the gods for something, I wanna hear it. What you asked for. Did you get it. How hard did they laugh in your face. Shit like that.

Okay, go!