Logs: Once Upon a A Time

Logging Started: 2-03-2013 3:01:55 PM

Participants:

<Pose Tracker> Eien Seida [D4] has posed.

It's a bitterly cold evening, and the sky is clear. A landward sea breeze has pulled back the screen of clouds and smog to reveal the pinpricks of brightly shining stars, and across the street, the ocean is a rolling field of chipped obsidian, sharp as glass, dark as night.

Kaffe Yomiya is doubtless a welcome respite from the bite of winter. The storefront windows splash the frozen sidewalks with buttery pools of warmth, and music pours out of the door as people enter and leave, bringing with them the tang of seaside air, or the spicy scents of holiday food.

There is quite a selection to choose from. Gingerbread cookies and fruitcakes sit beside an endless array of fresh-baked pies and turnovers. Baked cinnamon-sugar apple halves, their hollow bellies filled upon request with vanilla ice cream, are nestled beside caramelized peaches topped with lemon-scented meringue and brandy sauce.

On the other side, finger sandwiches, riceballs filled with savory treats, and vegetable trays make up the rest of the fare, for those without a sweet tooth. The drinks are hot and fragrant, too, and the perfume inside is almost as delicious as the soft light from the candles and christmas strings, or the murmur of conversation peppering the sitting area.

Worthy of some note: /Not everyone in attendance tonight is part of the world of the supernatural./ There are plenty of mundane students here, no doubt coaxed into entering by Eien -- so it goes without saying that everyone ought to be on their best behavior.

Eien is, of course, there. Dressed in a cream pencil skirt and soft, pearly cashmere v-neck sweater with a pair of nude wedge heels, she cuts a line between casual and formal, fresh-faced -- and with her hair down, for once. Her smile outshines her attire by a country mile as she lingers by the door with one of the shop's part-time student employees. There's a tray on a table nearby, and the two of them are handing out hot drinks to new arrivals -- and giving event bracelets to those who can drink alcohol.

[OOC] Global: Eien Seida has set the Scene Pose.

<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

Oh her god, look at all that fooooooooooooooooooooood.

Ran Itoh submitted a story to Kaffe Yomiya's contest just for kicks. She's no author, and her reading tastes trend toward... well, trashy romance novels, to be quite honest. But still, it was fun trying to write a short story! And nobody really reads /all/ the submissions anyway, so she turned in her manuscript and promptly forgot about the contest until she got a letter reminding her about the party where the winners would be announced.

Ran likes parties!

The blonde shows up a little while before the scheduled Dramatic Reveal, dressed warmly in an oversized fuzzy lavender sweater (it's real imitation cashmere!) as well as a pair of pink denim jeans with an artfully-faded purple leopard spot pattern. Because /fashion/, that's why. It's too cold for her customary thick-soled sandals, so Ran only comes up to five-feet-six this evening, courtesy of a pair of white imitation Doc Martens. The white ribbon holding her loooooong ponytail back almost certainly adds another inch, though.

After checking her coat, Ran wanders into the main party area, greeting Eien and her helper with a bright smile. "Hi! Thank you for hosting a party for everybody, everything looks great."

<Pose Tracker> Thora Kobayashi [K] has posed.

Thora really doesn't care if she won or not. She knew this was the kind of event with catering. The price of admission (writing up a short story) was completely worth it. Normally she'd be embarassed about the piece she wrote too...but she's Thora Kobayashi. If someone gives her crap about it, she'd likely punch them in the face.

Tonight the tall teenager has at least endeavored to look presentable and left her very punk-ish looking longcoat behind. Hell, she'll even wear a skirt, albiet a pleated black one that looks a little like a component of a school uniform. It clearly isn't since the Yasogami High school mandates black and white checkered skirts.

The first thing she does is try to wheedle herself a bracelet for the alcohol. If they're dilligently checking IDs, it won't work of course.

<Pose Tracker> Jason R. Butler [D4] has posed.

Normally Jason wouldn't bother with this kind of event. It's something for the 'kids' to do, as he grumbled to Katsuya but Eien had extended him the invitation long before her little stunt during their failed Dark Hour patrol and he had agreed to be there. That and he (under a pen name) submitted a story. He doesn't expect to win but he gave his word and he always tries to keep it.

The American makes his way to the cafe, his fedora low over his head and his heavy greatcoat wrapped up tightly. He hears the music from Kaffe Yomiya before he sees it, the sound managing to carry down even the busy streets of the Konan ward. Looking up, he can see into the window all those attending and he feels even more out of place. They're all college students and he is, by and far, the oldest one here.

Sighing, he steps inside and then moves just to the side of the door so he can remove his hat and coat. Beneath his coat, he's wearing a black sweater vest over a white dress shirt and dark grey slacks. Of course, all this, plus the matching black tie makes him look a bit a college prep. He checks in his coat and hat before striding up to Eien to get his bracelet. "Sieda." He looks about. Thora's size makes her easy to spot and he nods in greeting to her and at Ran as she walks up.

<Pose Tracker> Kyo Enda [U] has posed.

Kyo had entered a little submission into the contest on a whim. His motivations had been mostly 'boredom' (a perennial problem for the young man), and also the simple fact that he likes to compete and win things, just for the sake of winning. Of course, there is objectively no /assurance/ that he'll win, given all the other talented people scattered around Sumaru, but his healthy arrogance causes him to exist in his own little blissful pocket of reality where 'losing' is unthinkable.

Thus, when it was announced that there would be an event to announce the winners at the Kaffe Yomiya, Kyo had decided to go despite being pretty sure he would wind up in a very awkward social situation by so doing. Fortunately, it's been his observation that people don't like to pick fights with him when surrounded by a bunch of innocent (there's that word again) mundanes, and so he judges he should be reasonably safe. ...He hopes. He's still kind of sore from his last meeting with most of the rest of the local supernatural community.

Still, he hadn't really wanted to go alone, and so he had cajoled a certain someone to accompany him with a number of arguments (you need to get out, don't you want to see me win, it's freezing and the apartment heating is broken again, there will be /free food/). Though he was pretty sure that ultimately the last argument far outweighed the second in importance, he didn't really mind so long as -one- of them worked.

He seems innocuous enough when he arrives, dressed nicely in a white coat, scarf, and jeans. He gives Eien a very discomfiting smile as he takes a bracelet from her, and mercifully he doesn't touch her skin. He hasn't forgotten her. "Eien Seida," he says. "I remember you. Lovely." What exactly is lovely, he doesn't specify.

<Pose Tracker> Miwa Saitou [DS] has posed.

Some time ago, and on a whim, Miwa had written a story. It wasn't perhaps the best of stories, or even particularly inspired, but it had been something that she had written from the heart. Of course she had thought she would never again here anything of it, but then there had been a flier she'd seen earlier in the week that said that the winners would be announced on this night. It hadn't been a difficult decision to attend. Eien was a nice enough girl, it was an outing and a distraction from school and certain other concerns, and...

Well, a little part of her is hoping she might have possibly won.

It's quite cold out. Miwa had ended up opting for a slightly longer skirt than usual as a result, dark black in color and edged with some embroidery in black thread that only really shows when the light catches in right right way. The tight odd-white sweater hides her neck from view, making it difficult to see if she's wearing her usual piece of jewelry. Aside from black pumps and black hose, she wears a pair of tiny earrings set with a blue stone, not quite a match in color for the silver-and-blue-stone bracelet on her left wrist, but close enough. She carries a tiny purse, slung in the crook of her left elbow.

Though she had opted for a bracelet moments ago--she is 20, after all--a tremble to her senses has served to very quickly alert her of a certain someone's presence here, a high note against the chaotic cluster of resonance here. She can't see him, but he's still here, somewhere in the crown. Somewhat anxiously, her thumb slips underneath the paper band and she fidgets with it momentarily before letting go, and smoothing out the sleeve of her sweater.

Well, at least there are other people here. He wouldn't really try something like this, right...?

The training she's been undertaking is all well and good, but stick Miwa in a room with her ex, and certain behaviors reassert themselves. Though she smiles politely and engages in some light and very general conversation with some of the people in the crowd, something about her seems on-edge. In time, she begins to make her way over towards Eien, only to stop dead.

There he is.

Hesitating for a split second, Miwa quickly turns, seeking the opposite side of the room.

<Pose Tracker> Noriko Hisakawa [D4] has posed.

Noriko almost hadn't come. She'd wanted to submit a story, but discarded attempts she didn't like so often that she failed to submit before the deadline. Then she heard a fellow intern at the department was running the show and she got over her damaged pride and came anyway, ready to pretend she hadn't ever wanted to enter in the first place.

She lingers near the entrance, and she's kind of feeling a bit uncomfortable straight out for some reason she can't really identify. She doesn't bother trying to get a booze bracelet, though she does move towards Eien for a moment. "Hey, glad to see you're fine." She says softly, so it's only audible in the immediate vicinity. She lingers long enough for a response, at least.

You paged Miwa Saitou with 'For your consideration, with your next pose:

When Miwa heads to the other side of the room to get away from Kyo, and she passes the volume beneath the glass, she might feel that something about it is...strange. A tickle on her spotter-senses, or maybe the sense that there are whispers muffled by the binding and the glass case...but stopping to listen, of course, she won't hear anything. If she's especially sensitive to demonic things in particular, it probably feels a bit dissonant, or like a subtle pressure on her that she can sense even when she isn't facing it...but also alluring, in its way, like a closed door. (Of course, you know why that is, so feel free to improvise in any way that would make sense. ;) )' Miwa Saitou (Miwa) pages: oho, excellent

<Pose Tracker> Susumu Kamiya [NWO] has posed.

<< Before

The doors to Kaffe Yomiya open up with a blast of blistering cold from the winter winds outdoor. The gush of chilling weather heralds the arrival of Susumu Kamiya, dressed in what could only be considered 'overkill' even for the season, consisting of several layers of shirts, sweaters, and a black peacoat that, altogether, makes him look like a negative rendering of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, a thick gray scarf wrapped so securely around him that it partially obscures the lower half of his face, a winter hat, and ~mittens~.

He also, notably, looks very confused past the unusual fatigue that wears on his features.

"... Huh," he announces to no one in particular, his voice strangely vacant, "this isn't Sumaru University at all."

Eventually accepting this with the ambivalent shrug of his shoulders, Susumu finds a comfortable spot to sit down at, and pulls a book from his puffed-out coat, cracking the novel open to its title page: 'Bartleby, the Scrivener.'

"Might as well get cracking on this..."

Fifteen Minutes of Diligent Reading Later >>

Susumu Kamiya stares with half-lidded, vacuous eyes at his book.

He is currently on page ten.

"Wow, this is not an easy read," he says to absolutely no one before steeling his resolve to press onward.

Fifteenish More Minutes of Diligentish Reading or Whatever Later >>

Susumu Kamiya is sprawled out across his seat and the one next to his.

The hard cover of 'Bartleby, the Scrivener' shines against Kaffe Yomiya's lighting as its contents drape flat across its owner's sleeping face as he drools all over its nice paper pages.

Given how energetically he's snoring, he's problem been sleeping for a while now.

"... prefer not to... snnff..."

Now >>

Susumu Kamiya awakens with a graceful snort.

"Hhhk-- wha...?" Looking around with groggy eyes as his book slides off his face and onto the floor with a 'thunk!' and his vision refocuses itself against the lighting, he takes in his surroundings as if he has no idea where he is. Debatably, this is just due to shaking off the remnants of sleep.

Still, as black eyes look around, his brows clench together in puzzlement. His lips purse. He digests the sheer volume of people.

"... is something important going on here?" he asks, because he has just now noticed a) all the decorations, b) all the food strewn about, and c) /all of the people/.

"Huh."

And here he thought this was just some store really well-designed for napping.

(Debatably.)

<Pose Tracker> Yisa Taimiev [DS] has posed.

It was definitely the free food.

Still, Yisa has to keep up her appearances, and she's undoubtedly been grousing the entire commute here.

"...and since when do you even /keep/ hobbies?" she murmurs as they both enter, she at Kyo's side, her hand stolen forgotten into the crook of his arm (also at his insistence, though free food did not win that argument). Still, she exhales in relief to come in from the outside cold, her dark skin flushed from the sharp, chill air, and her free hand flexing to warm its joints. Dressed starkly almost in antithesis to her date's white coat, she's all dark leggings and a belted navy-blue coat, her dark hair half-braided into a messy knot.

Her mood tempers visibly when she lifts her chin and glances over the interior of Kaffe Yomiya, drawn immediately by its many lights and festive smells. Any sight of Christmas makes her feel a little maudlin, and she's found herself missing its absence in Japan after so many years in France. She gentles, that lingering frown hooked on her mouth left mostly for show.

It deepens when Kyo takes a bracelet for drinking alcohol. Yisa lifts a hand politely to deny the same, accepting readily a cup of coffee in hand. Eien, in particular, earns Yisa's eyes, the Chechen curious and courteous but not outwardly friendly, and she offers few words of her own -- especially when Kyo greets her warmly with some confession of a prior memory. She purses her mouth at that. She sips her coffee.

That is, until her eyes catch a retreating figure, dreadfully familiar in itself, and first surprised to see her at all, Yisa looks pensively after Miwa.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Saionji [NWO] has posed.

Rei still was not entirely sure what had possessed him to submit anything for the contest in the first place. Sheer ennui seemed a likely candidate, the story itself largely stemming from some advice he decided to follow on a whim: Writing as a tool to alleviate annoyance.

Given the some facet of being was bound to irritate Rei at any given time, it hadn't been hard to put pen to paper.

Attending the gathering this evening was also something that wouldn't have occurred to him normally, but word that he'd submitted a story had somehow gotten out among certain circles in Fra Mauro. Some of his peers were attending with the expectation that he'd be there, and the heir of the Saionji family held nothing if not a dutiful, reluctant obligation to the expectations of others.

He was dressed comparatively light for the chilly weather, evidently warm enough in little more than a gray peacoat and a dark scarf. Both are stowed in appropriate places when he arrives, leaving the student to mill about in his usual sharp-dressed wear: A woody-colored three-piece suit, terminating in a pair of polished black dress shoes. Though he's of legal age, he takes no interest in receiving a bracelet and satisfies himself with a cup of warm tea, abstaining from eating anything at the moment.

<Pose Tracker> Eien Seida [D4] has posed.

In another life, Eien would probably make a fantastic hostess. Not housewife -- she's nowhere near domesticated enough for that -- but the business of entertaining seems to suit her well enough, since she moves between greetings with a friendly ease that could shame an O'Hara.

(-- the fictional one, that is, not the medical examiner in Sumaru. Leigh-Anne is incapable of feeling shame.)

"Ran!" She flashes a sunny smile for her friend, and presses a mug of hot cider into her hand. "You look fantastic. Thanks for coming. I...had to write a little warning by your story," she adds, with a dimpled quirk of the lips, slightly rueful and deeply amused. "I'm pretty sure the warning will make sure it's the only story that everybody makes sure to read. ...Good evening, Kobayashi-san! I'm glad you could make it. I /loved/ your story. Not everybody can capture that kind of passionate excitement and...well. I'd watch the movie." She hands Thora a cup of cider, seems to be considering swapping it out for a glass of wine when Thora eyeballs the bracelets...and then shoos the tall girl off when the next person to enter is /literally/ the law.

"Butler-sen~"...sei. Eien doesn't get to finish her sentence. She stares at the big, blonde American with the farmboy measurements and gawps openly at his attire. It makes him look ten years younger! ...ten? She has a hard time telling, really... /The point is that he looks too young./ Like of-an-age-with-her young, and suddenly she's seeing him in a whole new light. An uncomfortable one. A really uncomfortable one.

So uncomfortable, in fact, that she looks relieved to numbly hand him some wine and turn to the next person in line, and that person is /Kyo Enda/, so that's /really/ saying something.

Her freckled face closes a little, like a shuttered lantern. It was never meant for subterfuge. "Enda-san," she answers. She gives the bracelet without even checking his age: some things are not worth fussing over. Instead, she gestures at her assistant, who passes him a cup of mulled wine, and smiles a restrained, watchful smile that doesn't quite touch her dark gaze. She has a more curious look for Yisa, but it's guarded for its own reasons, quite apart from the Chechen's stoic facade. "Please, enjoy the evening."

Things seem to settle into a more even keel when Noriko appears, and Eien hands her a hot cider and a smile. "Hisakawa-san. Yes, totally fine. The..." She flicks a glance at the rest of the busy room, and then returns her focus to her fellow intern, smile turning apologetic. "It's...a strange time of night. I'm glad to see you made it through, too. And thanks for coming! Hopefully you have a good time tonight. Guaranteed to be better than a few days ago," she says, with a quick, lashed wink. "Butler-sensei is here, too. ...somewhere."

She nods at Rei's request for tea. He's a familiar face, even if they don't know one another: they attend the same school. "Saionji-san. I really enjoyed your story. It was very haunting. And...made me sorry that I don't play any instruments."

Finally, the trickle of arrivals draws to a stop, and a quick, silent headcount of her winners finds only one missing. Well...that's not so bad.

Moving away from the door and leaving her assistant to deal with stragglers, Eien looks to acquire a cider for herself, and something to eat, and -- is someone sleeping on the couch?

She beetles dark brows at Susumu. "Where is your bracelet?"

He must be drunk.

<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

It's hard to miss Thora in a crowd. Ran spots her fellow blonde and gives her a cheery wave. Did Thora submit something? What kind of story would she write...? Maybe she can get Thora to show her a copy of it~ "Oh, Butler-san!" Ran's attention is diverted by the American detective's arrival. Among the strangers and ordinary people in the crowd, there... sure seem to be a lot of people she knows showing up for the party.

Even Yisa Taimiev... and Kyo Enda. Ran's outward good cheer fades only slightly, but internally the beautician suddenly wishes she hadn't come alone. Miwa Saitou's presence in the room gives her another reason to worry... but at least with all the mundane sorts of people here, surely nobody will start any trouble, right? Right!!

"My story...?" For a moment, Ran looks flushed. Did she start drinking before she even got here? What a terrible drunk! "Um. Ahaha," oh nooooooo whyyyyyyyy, "I'm glad you liked it! And thank you!" Whether it's for the advisement about her story's content warning or the sudden arrival of a glass of cider in Ran's hands is a mystery---

Ran hulps it all down in one go and steps out of the way, the flush not leaving her face. Nope. it was definitely 'thanks for the booze'.

<Pose Tracker> Kyo Enda [U] has posed.

"I've always kept hobbies," is Kyo's mild reply to the dark-haired woman on his arm. From his tone, he's probably been patiently tolerating the grumping the entire way here, and this response is just the latest in a string of matter-of-fact replies. "It's just that nobody pays attention enough to notice them compared to--"

He is distracted from finishing that sentence, perhaps mercifully, when he's offered a bracelet. He takes it and the offered wine, only to catch the edge of Yisa's disapproving eye, and after a moment he sighs and trades the wine in for a tame cup of tea. Women.

As expected, Eien does not seem quite as happy to see him as he is her. His grin moderates down to a wicked sort of smiling, though even that fades to a watchful stare when Eien aims a curious look at Yisa. Please enjoy the evening, Eien eventually manages to rally to say, and a smile returns to Kyo's face: though this one looks sharper, more automatic. "I imagine," he says, as his amber eyes scan the crowds and start to pick out familiar faces, "we will." His eyes catch Miwa's retreating form, and she'd feel them and their familiar stare, following her.

Still, there is the lady to think of. "Well come on, if you're not going to let me drink," he says, and with a tug of the arm she's holding, he steers his cat-on-a-leash companion over to the food table. For all he appears to be ruining a number of people's evenings just by existing, he doesn't seem out to cause trouble. Not tonight, at least. He seems more interested in the apple halves, honestly.

<Pose Tracker> Thora Kobayashi [K] has posed.

As she scans the room, Thora's nose wrinkles as she realizes she's just SURROUNDED by Normies. Well, that's to be expected when a public story-writing contest is involved, though, but it does make her really think. Thora hasn't gone to many events involving large numbers of normal people lately. (Barring high school but that hardly counts.) At least there were some familiar faces. Jason, for example! There's also Miwa, who she hasn't talked to in practically forever!

There's also that Kyo jerkoff too though and that crazy woman Thora had glimpsed defending him quite some time ago. All she really knew about Yisa was that she was some friend of Mitsuru. Burying her anger into the back of her mind, she forces her attention away from the blonde and looks elsewhere...

...just in time to see Ran! "Itoh-san..!" she says, waving to the older woman. If she was here, then was Shinjiro too? But she didn't see nor smell him. Hmm.

Eien greets her, much to her surprise. "Hello Seida-san." she rumbles, looking even further surprised. "You...you did?" She takes the cider, sipping it and realizing that it's cider...then holds onto it for now. A little slight of hand later could easily replace it with some spirits. Even better, she could combine the two and the smell of the cider should mask anything. "Wow..uh..thanks!"

<Pose Tracker> Miwa Saitou [DS] has posed.

If she even noticed Yisa's presence, the young witch makes no sign of it. Her attentions are apparently entirely concerned with putting as much space between herself and Kyo as she possibly can.

She can feel his stare, boring holes into her back.

Her progress isn't precisely speedy, given the volume of people here and Miwa's general avoidance of things like 'causing a scene'. Her path away from him leads her winding past the volume on display.

...? Slowing to a halt, she turns to regard the tome under the glass.

Did she hear something? Moment tick outwards as Miwa stares at the binding of the book, then begins to pull away.

...No, she definitely heard/felt something. This time the book receives a much more studied look, and she slowly reaches towards the glass, her palm hovering no more than a fraction of an inch above it. Almost, she touches the glass itself, pulling her hand away at the last moment.

It's the sort of sensation that's hard to put a finger on. Something's off, not right... but not concretely wrong. A shadow in the forest, in a sense. It could be a threat, which is why Ratri feels so alert... but it could just as easily be a fallen trunk. Nothing at all, in other words. And like a shadow in the woods at night, isn't there something that's almost curious about it? A part of her almost itches to open up the book, and see what's inside.

<Pose Tracker> Jason R. Butler [D4] has posed.

Jason's brow arches slightly when Eien stops mid-greeting and just.. stares. "Seida?" Did her little incident leave her addled somehow? This makes him frown and before he can wave a hand in her face to make sure she's still all there, he's got a glass of wine and she's turning to greet Kyo with great relief. He turns slowly to the young man, watching him over the rim of his eyeglass. There's something about how he says her name, the 'lovely' that makes him 'tag' this young man as someone to keep an eye on. Well, that and the fact that he remembers Katsuya mentioning something about a 'Enda' in a report somewhere. Though perhaps he won't have to worry so much when Yisa's lips purse. He chuckles internally instead.

He catches Miwa retreating from the corner of his eye and steps back to rock on his heel a little. 'Teenager romance,' he thinks to himself and definitely not something he'll want to get involved in. Instead, the American just continues to sip at his wine and start to make his way towards the table of baked goods. On his way there, he spots Ran who greets him. "Itoh-san." He remembers her. She was with SEES he thinks. He chuckles and offers her a wave, noting the slight fade of spirit followed by.. is that embarrassment? "I'm a little surprised to see you here as well. I didn't know you knew Seida."

There are others here, other faces. Most he doesn't know but Noriko he does. But.. after the events of the Dark Hour, he's not entirely sure she wants to see him. So he keeps his distance, to let her enjoy her free time as a carefree youth.

You paged Jason R. Butler with 'For your consideration, for the evening: Jason has a cop's instincts, and they're probably subtly pinging him at regular intervals. It would be hard to put a finger on the reasons why; nobody in the crowd looks like a threat -- not beyond the threat posed by most persona-users, anyway. Even so, there's a nagging feeling that they're all being closely watched...as though they're about to be ambushed somehow. But that's crazy: the street outside is deserted. People inside are laughing. There aren't any points of entry where they could be taken by surprise, really.'

<Pose Tracker> Susumu Kamiya [NWO] has posed.

'Where is your bracelet?'

The words don't quite reach Susumu immediately. Still in the process of waking up, he only hears them as distantly as the rest of the background noise as he rubs the back of his be-capped head.

Apparently, even this place isn't warm enough for him to even begin thinking of shedding any of those extra winter layers.

It's only when he turns a bleary stare up that he finally spots Eien looking at him in a way that, to him, seems almost vaguely threatening. It's a little frightening -- which helps those words actually sink in.

"... bracelet?" he asks dumbly. Stiffly pushing himself up onto his feet, apparently having completely forgotten about his book, Susumu dimly checks his right wrist, and then his left wrist. He frowns slowly.

"... Sorry, I don't really wear all that much jewelry," he finally admits, having completely missed the point. His black eyes close in a slow blink as some realization comes over him. His brows come together in concern. Maybe now it's all coming together--

"Oh -- did you lose your bracelet or something...??" --but probably not. "Don't worry," he assures with a small and tired smile that never reaches his eyes.

"If I find it, I'll let you know! I promise!"

And with this reassurance provided, Susumu will - slightly stiffly - stumble his way towards the food table. He's certainly not helping his drunk case. He's also probably not helping his reputation with how he starts liberally piling any and all food he can find onto a plate as if not even taking even a fraction of a second to consider what the food he's piling on even /is./

Nor is he helping it any further when the first person he happens to actually notice here is--

"Yisa? ... Is that you? Hey, Yisa!" Accompanied with a wave too (tiredly) friendly for a person who he last saw trying to feed his comrades to some giant monster snake.

Thank god it's not here now, imagine how awkward that would be.

<Pose Tracker> Noriko Hisakawa [D4] has posed.

Noriko is just going to meet with people she knows, and with this crowd that's only really Eien, who seems busy, and Butler. As such, she heads over towards Butler, regardless of what he might think she wants, "Butler-san." She says as a greeting when getting closer to him, "How are you doing today?"

Nope, not mentioning earlier events that may or may not have happened. She's probably acquired a soda somewhere along the line, and she's taking her sips from it. "Did you submit a story?" It sounds like idle curiousity, mostly. General politeness is also a part of her tone. "It seems Seida-san is doing a good job as a hostess, does she have experience?"

ENABLESYS: Jason R. Butler flips a coin and it lands on heads!

<Pose Tracker> Rei Saionji [NWO] has posed.

"Oh..thank you, Seida-san." Rei managed a congenial smile at the evening's hostess, familiar enough to know they attended the same school and little else. "I used to play the violin myself, but I had to drop it as I became busier with other responsibilities." Dark eyes casually traversed the room as he made small talk, finding those he knew few and far between. Though he managed to be completely oblivious of the gentleman making several people in the room uneasy, his knows flinches with a spontaenous, dull memory of pain when Yisa talks. Weird.

"But if you'd like to try, you should take one up." He gave Eien an encouraging grin while nursing his tea, "It's never too late to become good at something." Like feigning interest and amicability perfectly. The platitudes came off Rei's lips so easily it was oftentimes easy to forget he was the one saying them.

When attention drifts to Susumu, Rei exhales a soft sigh and becomes pre-occupied with his drink. That's not the worst person he could have found here, at least, but he has no desire to be sought out by fellow members of the Order. He'll quickly excuse himself elsewhere, hovering over Miwa's shoulder with an air of mild curiosity: First for the book, then for her. "That's...a unique design." He murmurs, eyes narrowing slightly behind his designer glasses, "Ah, i've met you before, haven't I?"

<Pose Tracker> Yisa Taimiev [DS] has posed.

Tonight is turning out to be painfully awkward.

In cursory glances and glimpses, Yisa can pick out familiar faces among the varied crowd, and on them that same reticence and distaste pointed Kyo -- and her own -- way. It doesn't fill her with any sort of regret or longing, nor have her question the choices that have brought her here... but it's sobering in its own way, a pressing, weighted reminder that her crusade still exists on the periphery of some mundane night out.

Part of her already misses the normal. But she pushes that momentary twinge away.

Her eyes drift away from Miwa, from Ran, from Thora, Yisa's attention stolen when Kyo (smartly) decides against alcohol and begins his gracious escort to the food. Still unable to pull her hand free from his arm, she follows him begrudgingly along, frowning in a patient, long-suffering sort of way. That is, until all the varied desserts steal her eye, and her mood palpably brightens. "Get me one of those," she tells Kyo with a nod at the plate of turnovers, apparently comfortable in ordering him along as she is abstaining him from alcohol.

"So, where is that story you've allegedly written," Yisa begins to ask crisply -- until she hears her own name shouted. Part of her cringes, already uneasy enough to expect the worst --

-- and the worst is not nearly as bad as seeing Susumu there, waving at her. Yisa's eyes pop up in clear, horrible memory. Under her breath, she chokes out, "What in..."

You paged Rei Saionji with 'For your consideration, for your next pose: Rei's proximity to the book causes him to feel...a bit strange. A bit...light. Floaty. It seems strangely familiar...as though he'd heard of it, or once seen it somewhere before. And he may get the impression -- which is clearly ridiculous -- that it feels the same way about him. Of course that makes no sense; it's a book, an inanimate object -- it's not a sentient creature! It can't be aware of anything, much less feel things.

The feeling is nevertheless very persistent.'

Rei Saionji (Rei) pages: Okay!

<Pose Tracker> Jason R. Butler [D4] has posed.

When Noriko approaches, Jason appears mildly distracted. He's watching, observing as he's want to do. There's the potential lover's quarrel that could be brewing (he stays away from that) and a confused young man still bundled up for the weather outside. He looks like he just woke up. But then the Department's newest intern is talking and he blinks. "Hmm? Ah. Hello there Hisakawa-san. Doing just fine thank you." He offers the young woman a smile before sipping at his wine. Grey eyes are still darting here and there.

"Walk with me for a moment will you Hisakawa?" Assuming Noriko walks with him, he starts wandering towards the front of the shop, not to exit but to simply pause by the windows and peer out into the empty street. He takes another sip of his wine and then stops to choke on his wine at the seemingly innocent question about Eien Seida having once been a hostess. He coughs, trying to dislodge whatever wine that went down the wrong pipe.

"H-hostess? Ah.." He flushes slightly. "I wouldn't know. I don't think she worked in that kind a place." She is rather young and those gloves would certainly be a hinderance. But then he stops, turning even more red when he realizes just what Noriko is asking. "Oh. Oh. /Oh/. That kind of hostess. I'm not sure. Ah hah hah.. she is rather good at it isn't she..?"

He is momentarily distracted from his surveying of their surroundings by his own embarassment.

ENABLESYS: Noriko Hisakawa flips a coin and it lands on heads!

From afar, Jason R. Butler (Jason) looking for snipers c.c

<Pose Tracker> Noriko Hisakawa [D4] has posed.

Noriko looks confused by Butler's flushing, and then on his realization she's confused. "What kind of place di--" Realization dawns, and she seems to get a bit upset, "What the hell made you think I was talking about -that- kind of place?" Her fists ball, and she looks angry. If this was a looney tunes cartoon, the cloud of thunder above her head would be drenching her -and- Butler while throwing lightning bolts at Butler.

Fortunately, this is not such a cartoon, and she manages to restrain herself from doing anything she'd regret. "Do you think of your intern like that, Butler-san?" Sharp, angry breath. "Or do you think of -me- like that to assume that's what I'd be talking about?" She turns around without another word, looking to be headed straight for Eien.

<Pose Tracker> Miwa Saitou [DS] has posed.

So entranced is she by the book--or to be more accurate, the faint whispers of a reading she's able to glean from its presence--that she doesn't even notice as Rei steps up, just to her side and behind her.

Miwa jerks upright decidedly abruptly, clutching her left hand against her chest. "Eh?! You--" She turns, twisting her body to look upwards at...

A face that is only somewhat familiar, in stark contrast to the familiarity of a certain other face present tonight. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought..." Miwa trails off, into silence, then shakes her head. "No, it's nothing." Slowly her hand falls away to hang at her side, her purse dangling from her fingertips. "...We have met, though, haven't we? I..."

Recognition at last lights in her eyes. "Oh, that night... on the mountain..." A glance back, over her shoulder, perhaps hints at what she's quite obviously omitting, considering current general company. "...How have you been, since then?"

<Pose Tracker> Eien Seida [D4] has posed.

"My talents really lie in other areas," Eien says in answer to Rei's remarks about being good at things, her smile as enigmatic as the volume in the glass case. As women are wont to be, she's not forthcoming with further detail.

When Susumu gets to his feet and blunders off, her frown follows him across the room, mild but persistent, and half-concealed behind the lip of her cup as she raises it. Well. If he /is/ too drunk, she'll make Butler handle it.

(Over near Miwa and Rei, a cluster of drinking students start conspicuously listening in: it sounds like Rei and Miwa had a tryst on the mountainside, and didn't see one another again afterward! That is a super-juicy conversation.)

(Over near the buffet table, one young man is checking out Yisa's legs, while on the opposite side, a young woman has been trying to put pickles onto her buffet plate for a full thirty seconds, but she can't reach them because of Susumu. Everytime she reaches an arm out to try to snag one, he assaults another platter.)

Pivoting where she stands, Eien turns her wrist upward, pulling her sleeve back enough to look at the sparkle of a watch face and a white edging of gauze bandaging...though she has to bring the watch up /rather/ close to her eyes to see the time, squinting and blinking. She ought to start the announcements soon.

And then she spies Noriko, and dons a slight smile. "Enjoying yourself, Hisa...kawa...oh. What's the matter?"

[OOC] Susumu Kamiya says, "and that's the story of how rumors turned rei and miwa into al and peggy bundy"

<Pose Tracker> Kyo Enda [U] has posed.

Unaware of Jason's suspicious scrutiny, of the ways in which many other people feel just a little more cranky just to see his face, Kyo obliviously walks Yisa over to what he knows is guaranteed to perk up her mood and rid some of that annoying grumpiness. It's also a subtle play at getting her to forget the fact that people now include her in the distasteful, hateful stares that they aim his way.

His ploy works, and Kyo smiles a little to hear Yisa revive back to her usual bossy self. For whatever mysterious reason, he seems perfectly fine with her demands, and even finally lets her go to reach for the plate she indicates, using the provided tongs (he isn't a /cretin/) to retrieve one of the pastries onto a napkin. He passes it over to her, but not before snagging himself one of those baked apples.

So where is that story-- she asks. He starts to reply, but his response trails when they both hear Yisa's name called.

Kyo turns to behold the young man they both last met under such wonderful circumstances waving cheerily at Yisa. His expression mingles a certain guarded watchfulness with the very disparate urge to laugh at Yisa's dismay. The latter disappears and the former intensifies when Kyo notices some guy checking Yisa out. The look he shoots this interloper is nothing short of venomous, all warmth and humanity draining out of his amber eyes to power that 'piss off' glare.

Ugh. He has to be good. No eating the attendees! Yisa wouldn't get to eat any of the food then, and she'd be upset.

Putting the apple determinedly in his mouth as if to quell urges to use it for something else, Kyo steps between Ogle Guy and Yisa and herds her in Susumu's direction, seeming to decide that between the two, Susumu may actually prove more harmless. "Long time no see," he addresses Susumu (after removing the apple) with an almost equally-incongruous cheerfulness, considering the last time they saw one another they were a dust cloud of claws and fangs. "You patch up okay after last time?"

<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

"Oh, we just sort of literally ran into each other one day last summer when I was on my way home from spending the night at the dorm," Ran beams at Jason. "I turned a corner at the same time Eien did and we took a tumble onto the sidewalk. We've been friends ever since!"

Especially after helping Eien get back onto her feet, and getting her face out of Ran's cleavage, and then being told just /what/ Eien was blushfidgeting about. Ran looks a bit sympathetic at the memory - she didn't know telemetry could be so embarrassing!!

"Thora-chan!" She waves again, and looks into her own cider cup. Oh damn, still empty. Ran will have to be kind of responsible tonight, since she doesn't have Shinjiro around to crush the skulls of anyone that looks at her funny while walking home. He's busy doing Fra Mauro homework; Ran is so glad she didn't go to college. Her brain would've exploded long ago.

When Eien decides it's time to make an announcement, she quiets down a bit. They're going to get things rolling pretty soon, yay! "How have things been going at your work-- uhm?? Noriko-san, wait! I don't think that's what..." Aaaaaand there she goes. Ran frowns.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Saionji [NWO] has posed.

Rei hadn't been approaching Miwa with the intention of sneaking up on her, but it was simple matter of fact that he had a more fluid economy of motion than the average person, and didn't make much noise. Whatever was so engrossing about that certainly didn't help, and the heir is quick to lay down a calming effect with a pleased, apologetic smile. No one needs a scandal. "Oh, it's quite alright." Just as with Eien, he was happy not to pry into whatever lay beneath the skin of that tension-Rei had no interest in things that were not his business, and barely more in that which actually /was/ his business.

"Oh right, the mountain..." He demures for a moment or two before the key parts of the memory lit his eyes with recognition, "Saitou-san, wasn't it? A pleasure to see you again." Years spent in the viper's nests that were the social circles of the rich and powerful have conditioned him well to knowing when he was being observed-the other students receive the barest glance from the corner of his eye before he focuses again on Miwa with a generous smile, "I hope you've kept up with the stargazing?" He speaks just loud enough to be heard, "There are many better sites for it in this city."

Right about then, he becomes cognizant of a sense he'd simply attributed to his own tiredness. But when his eyes sweeps across the surface of that book again he's shaken with a sense that seems nearly ethereal, almost enough to wonder if something had been slipped into his drink. It's like a passing sense of familiarity...almost like what he'd just had with Miwa. It almost felt mutual but..well, that was preposterous. He was certain he'd never seen this tome before.

"Hm.." Rei scruitnized the book more closely, but his focus didn't make the odd sensation any clearer, "I wonder where this came from..."

<Pose Tracker> Jason R. Butler [D4] has posed.

Ran's explanation of how she met Eien is not only satisfactory but brings a smile to Jason's face. "Ah, is that so? Certainly it's a friendship that was made to be." He is completely unaware of just what else transpired between the two young women and perhaps it's for the best he doesn't know. It's pretty scandalous.

He does appear quite startled when Noriko takes heavy offense at his own mistake and his attempt to survey the city street from the window is thoroughly halted. "W-what?! N-no! I don't.. wait!" Oh god. He looks on as Noriko marches straight over to Eien and then looks helplessly at Ran. "Seida is a good kid. She wouldn't.." think that he meant that would she? He hopes not.

The American sighs, shoulders slumping and wanders over to get some of those caramelized peaches and pies. He's still keeping an eye on the surroundings though, focusing on individuals who might be standing by themselves or being too anti-social. "I opened a bar," he tells Ran. "It's called Bar Answer. You should come around sometime. I'll treat you and Aragaki-kun to something nice." Even if Shinjiro is too young to really enjoy it. He watches Thora and she seems.. cheerful. He also notes the two over by the manuscript case. It must be the prize of this store. Maybe that...?

<Pose Tracker> Thora Kobayashi [K] has posed.

Grinning, Thora heads over to hang with Ran since it really HAS been forever since they've chatted. Even longer since it's been in a friendly manner where there wasn't some crazy crisis situation going on. She WAS cheerful! It could be because this was a calm, mature party filled with people that weren't criminals. She didn't have to worry about some rival Yakuza gang busting in and making problems.

It's at that point she realizes that these last few months have been spent with far too much time around Masahiko and his...elements. It's almost as if she forgot how 'normal' people are supposed to act. But as she ruminates on this for a moment, she realizes that she herself could hardly be considered...normal.

"So." she says to Ran, who is quite notably Shinjiro-less tonight. How strange! "What kind of story did you enter?"

<Pose Tracker> Noriko Hisakawa [D4] has posed.

"Apparently when I asked if you had experience as a hostess, Butler-san's mind first went to a... rather different kind of hostess than I meant, Seida-san." Noriko explains, seeming rather upset. "And I'm not sure whether that signals how he thinks of you, or how he thinks of me. Maybe it's how he thinks of both of us."

She grabs another soda and takes a quick gulp from it, she looks rather angry still. "I probably shouldn't have let him get away with those kinds of thoughts that easy." She makes an 'ugh' sound, "Perverts." A deep breath, "Anyway. Let's not dwell on that. When are you going to announce the winners, Seida-san?" She is obviously distracting herself.

<Pose Tracker> Susumu Kamiya [NWO] has posed.

The shock and potential dismay of Yisa Taimiev is greeted with the unassuming friendliness of Susumu Kamiya. Maybe his capacity for forgiveness is just that vast. Maybe he's wearing so many layers of clothes that the heat is actually starting to bake his brain into melted shambles.

Either is equally possible.

Still, when the foreign girl seems so reticent, even Susumu can't help but pause in his eager greetings. His fatigued and distant features scrunch up a little, perhaps scrutinizingly, at the girl. This does not even remotely keep him from loading up his plate, oblivious to the plight of the poor pickle-poaching woman next to him as he pilfers more of those palatable provisions, piling up what has by now become a practical pyramid of food.

"Hmmm..." Susumu murmurs thoughtfully.

"... maybe she has indigestion...?"

And, wonderingly, he will reach out pluck up a finger sandwich just as that nearby woman comes so close to reaching her prize. He squints incredulously.

"... Oh well," he decides, before plopping the entire thing in his mouth.

He seems, perhaps, content to let Yisa keep battling her potential constipation/indigestion/something requiring a pepto-bismol in solitude (the warrior's plight is never over). It might be fortunate for her -- if Kyo decides not to intervene on her part.

And so it is he is about to turn - much to the relief of the miserable woman beside him - when he finds himself face-to-face with--

'Long time no see.'

"--Ah? Sorry, uh -- do I know you...?"

--That... guy...

Susumu, for his part, seems incredibly embarassed, face flushing a little red (only debatably because of embarassment rather than STIFLING HEAT) -- as if it were entirely possible this was just someone he had forgotten. He offers an apologetic half-smile towards the other man, even as his black eyes shift to Yisa. "Sorry -- I'm not really that great with faces sometimes. But I promise I won't forget yours now--"

'You patch up okay after last time?'

"Last time?"

One slow blink. Susumu's lips part. He looks to Yisa. Then back to Kyo. Then back to Yisa. Last time. Patch up okay. After?? The wheels in his head /start moving/.

"... Well, the dean said the next time he caught me napping in that kind of place there wasn't 'any place on hell that would feel worse than the kind of punishment he'd give me' but how did you know about th--" Wait. No. Gears still turning--

"--wait-- are you... that snake gardener??" There.

<Pose Tracker> Eien Seida [D4] has posed.

Noriko's recounting of Butler's assumptions is met with a wide-eyed look, a long-lashed blink, and then a laugh. "Oh, well...actually, I was going to pose as one for-- I'm sure he was just...thinking about work. Butler-sensei is..." She glances that way, and immediately regrets it. /Why is he dressed like a college student/. He didn't really think she was a-- he didn't--

Well, even if he did, he's /her/ idiot, and she won't let Noriko think badly of him. That is exclusively her right.

She clears her throat, shrugs slim shoulders, and lets her eyes lid slightly. "Hisakawa-san, he's our superior, so he can probably get away with almost anything. Everybody in D4 has quirks, but they're good people. You'll get used to them! Try not to take it personally. Besides, if he really ever got fresh, I'd knock his teeth out."

Which is a laugh. Jason is built like a tractor and Eien is built like a rake, but she says so with a smile, and then gestures up toward the podium. "Right now, actually, if you don't mind! No sense in keeping everyone waiting any longer. So...if you'll excuse me..."

As Eien heads off to side in beside Rei and Miwa, smiling apologetically and gesturing at the glass case they're scrutinizing -- "Sorry, it's time! I need to open this up and get ready. Mind joining the others? And Saitou-san, it's /great/ to see you, I'm sorry I missed you when you came in! We'll have to catch up after this is over..." -- the guy over by Yisa and Kyo experiences a moment of bowels-to-water gut instinct with the way Kyo looks at him, which he will not later be able to explain, but which rattles him down to his primate ancestors on a genetic level. Needless to say, no legs are worth feeling that way, and he quickly vacates the area.

The students near Miwa and Rei look /very/ disappointed. Hope you're happy, Rei. You totally ruined their evening.

Once things back by the book are arranged -- the thing bare to the air for everyone to see -- Eien lifts her voice and taps an empty wine glass with a fork until she has everyone's attention.

"Excuse me! I'm sorry to interrupt everyone. I hope you're having a good time! I don't think there's any reason to keep people waiting all night, so I'd like to announce the winners of the contest!"

"I'd also like to say how much I appreciate everyone taking the time to write entries. I'd have loved to give stories to everyone. I think you'll agree, though, that the prize is really worth the effort!"

[OOC] Eien Seida says, "If you got a page from me earlier about the book, assume that, with the glass off, things are considerably more intense for you now. If you did NOT get a page from me before about the book, now is the time when you're probably going to start feeling a bit strange. You might suspect that someone in the crowd is rudely whispering, but you won't be able to catch them in the act. You might feel watched. You might discover a keen interest in the object that you didn't previously have."

<Pose Tracker> Yisa Taimiev [DS] has posed.

"Another apple?" Yisa is nagging as she accepts her own pastry in hand. She frowns up at Kyo. "Honestly, is that all you eat these days? You're going to make yourself toxic. It's like all that tea you drink. You're going to make yourself sick on tea, it can't be good for you --"

About to take an imperious bite of her own turnover, Yisa's eyes fly open, and that's about when she recognizes Susumu Kamiya on the spot. Written across her expressive face is the clear memory of both him and Kyo, their bodies ripped and rend into horrific, monstrous forms, tearing down the building around them as they locked in battle, intent on pulling each other apart with fangs and claws --

She doesn't even realize someone's getting a good eyeful of her legs. Kyo quietly contemplates public cannibalism, and Yisa obliviously looks on in askance at Susumu, unsure why he seems so -- happy to see her. After all that. Is it a trick? Is something just wrong with his head? Is it something to do with that DVD he gave her?

At that point, her dashing date speaks up for her, cutting in to begin herding Yisa to engage polite, civil conversation with the other Shadow-Possessed monster. "Kyo!" she hisses under her breath, "what are you -- are you serious --?!"

She can't struggle without making a scene. Pulled over very reluctantly, Yisa's deer-in-headlights expression only goes more painful as the two men exchange amiable greetings, the awkwardness so much that she just takes a reckless bite of her turnover.

Snake... gardener...

Fortunately, Eien's voice fills the room, and Yisa's head turns to the announcement, never so relieved as now for the diversion.

You paged Kyo Enda and Yisa Taimiev with 'Kyo is probably feeling a humming /certainty/ that he is about to win. It's a certainty that goes well beyond arrogance -- it's like the guarantee a king has when he wakes that /this is his kingdom/. He was meant to win this contest. And Yisa -- Kyo probably seems, in this moment, to have a beauty that cannot be affixed to anything physical. It's a kind of inner radiance...like confidence, but more than that; like some sort of fullness, of substance.'

You paged Thora Kobayashi with 'Thora might feel, with the book's uncovering, a soft drowsiness, or feeling akin to a daydream. It's a very pleasant sensation, wistful, as though the book were part of a fond memory.'

You paged Ran Itoh with 'The book's uncovering probably feels for Ran like a sharp coldness, and a creeping feeling that something predatory is in the room. Of course, the room doesn't appear to have anything of the kind in it -- except for Kyo Enda, but curiously, studying Kyo would probably reveal that he looks the least predatory he's ever looked. Almost beautiful, really.'

You paged Akio Touma with 'Seiichi, when he comes in, might experience a moment of vertigo, as though the floor weren't quite steady beneath his feet. He'd feel an instant and powerful attraction to the book: it is, he would feel quite certain, a /great treasure/.'

<Pose Tracker> Miwa Saitou [DS] has posed.

It's also a fact that Miwa is quite sneak-upable-upon, even in spite of what should be 'enhanced senses'.

Just ask Tatsuya.

The conversation at least moves smoothly past its turbulent beginnings and Miwa, as ever, is glad to see them gone and behind her. What was she thinking, that even in a crowd of this size that Kyo would honestly...

Well, considering what he's done to her in the past, perhaps it's not /quite/ such an outlandish thought. Still, though.

Her head ducks in a shallow nod. Yes, the mountain. She had gone there to do stargazing--an attempt, really, to get a bead on a certain prophecy--and had run into Rei... and then the two of them had been swiftly ambushed by a member of the local demonic population. "Yes, that's right. And you are..." Her brow scrunches up. "Sai...onji-san?" That sounds right. "It's good to see you again, too."

Aren't a few people a little close...? Miwa glances back, over her shoulder. High school life taught a girl to watch her back, if she wanted to maintain her standing. "Star--oh, yes, of course I have. There aren't always good nights for it, of course..." But sometimes taking a look was more effective than using a computer program to calculate an astrological reading. "I suppose there must be... I won't go there alone in the future."

Unless it's for training purposes.

It's funny, she thinks, as she glances over at the book. She should leave this be and go mingle (away from Kyo), but there's a part of her that doesn't quite want to go. Like she's waiting for something to happen.

"Mm?" she answers Rei, peering again at the cover. "Oh--I don't know. I suppose it must be one of their rare books? --Ah, Seida-san! No, I'm sorry I didn't get to speak to you earlier," she says, shaking her head. "Oh, yes, let me get out of your way. And, yes, let's try to meet up again soon. I'd love to talk to you more about your studies."

She doesn't mean the ones they teach at school.

As promised, she steps back, enough to give Eien all the space she needs and listens attentively to the announcement that follows.

<Pose Tracker> Seiichi Miyamoto [NWO] has posed.

Some people are on time to this little shindig, but some peole didn't quite get the message about th eparty starting. /Or/ they were arguing with the doctors at the hospital about weather they were well enough to do this. Arguing with Seiichi Miyamoto though is almost always doomed to end in failure unless you have red hair and your last name is Kirijo. Therefor the musican was released for a day at least, perhaps for longer but...he promised to check back in. There are some things that he is willing to compromise on.

Dressed in his nicely tailored slacks and shirt, the lines of his coat are marred by the sling he carres his left arm in. He walks slowly with the aid of a cane, but he is here. He /did/ want to see this little party, curious who won if anything else and he was in the area anyway.

So...here he is, though as he walks though the door the man takes a misstep and nearly stumbles to the floor. He catches himself with the cane in his hand as he frowns at the ground like it just betrayed him.

Freeking ground.

Now the mix at the party is what draws his attention. Familiar...and not all together welcome...feelings in the crowd draw his single eye towards Yisa and Kyo as his lips tug further down in a frown. Urgh. Maybe he shouldn't have come.

<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

It's not scandalous... it's /scandalacious/!

Noriko storms off, and Ran can't do much besides reach over to pat Jason consolingly on the shoulder. "Eien doesn't seem like the kind of person to take permanent offense from a misunderstanding like that. I think as long as you explain it was a language thing, she'll understand!" Ran... doesn't really understand why it's so 'bad' to be a hostess, unless one were to hostess in a really skeezy place. It's not fun work, but it's a pretty honest living unless the hostess is making extra money 'on the side'...

Thank goodness Thora is there to be a great distraction and even better conversation friend! "Hi, Thora-chan. I'm glad you came out to the party! Your skirt looks great, I rarely see you without your long coat." What did she enter? "aheheh. Well, um, it's just a little romance story..." With Godzilla in the background. "How about you? You turned something in, right?"

She watches Eien lift the book from its case, and get ready to announce the winners... when a chill sneaks up the back of her sweater, caressing her spine with chilly fingers. Ran bundles herself a little further into her sweater, tugging the neckline a little closer to her throat. Did someone leave the door open? It's colder, suddenly, and the worst part is that she's unsure if the sensation is physical or if it's Verthandi reacting to something. Inside her mind, the mechanical Norn raises her featureless 'face' to scan the crowd. Someone dangerous? Well of course it's Kyo Enda, he must be about to spring after all---!

Ran wheels towards him, half across the room at the buffet table, and stills. He's not the source of that feeling, even if there's a strange sort of wildness about him tonight. It's not unfamiliar... she's reminded of scruffy hair and steel-grey eyes briefly, and feels a momentary schism. N-no way, Kyo and Shinjiro aren't anything alike! It must be the candlelight reflecting off of Kyo's hair or something. Ran turns away quickly, and wonders why her heart's beating so fast.

<Pose Tracker> Kyo Enda [U] has posed.

"I like apples," is Kyo's placid counterargument. "And that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You can't get sick on tea. It's full of antioxidants. Maybe you should drink more." He leans closer, his voice lowering, "Anyway, it's mostly -you- that has to worry about not being toxic, isn't i--"

Very fortunately, this conversation is interrupted by several things. For one-- Kyo's eyes narrow on the retreating ogler. Yeah, better run.

For another... there is the matter of Susumu Kamiya. Susumu-- to whom Kyo subtly reveals his true nature, perhaps in the hope this will get him to also piss off and stop embarrassing/confusing/taking up the attention of his date. "This is TOTALLY going to work," Kyo reassures his panicking date in an undertone, before he waits with confident patience for the other boy to figure out what he's talking about. And waits. And waits. For a long few moments he almost despairs up until Susumu finally adds two and two--

Are you... that snake gardener??

...and comes up with a very strange version of 'four.' Kyo blinks nonplussedly at him for a few moments before replying automatically, "Uh... sure." By this time he is /also/ relieved for the diversion that is Eien's announcement, and-- with a last askance glance at Susumu-- Kyo turns to listen.

There's something a little different in the way he lifts his head to regard Eien. The everpresent arrogance is gone: what rises up in him to replace it is pure certitude. He hadn't wondered much, even before, whether he would hear his name-- now, he doesn't wonder at all. It's odd, really. He would probably think about this more if he weren't feeling... well, like he used to, a few years and an Arcana ago.

The look he levels is one of expectation.

<Pose Tracker> Thora Kobayashi [K] has posed.

"Romance, eh." Thora smiles slyly, "Oh, I turned in a little action adventure thing, is all. Eien said she liked it. I..I mostly just participated out of fun."

Thora's attention is pretty absorbed by Ran at the moment, but as time ticks on, she finds herself having trouble focusing. At first she doesn't notice it, her eyes drifting elsewhere, but after a few seconds she wonders why it's so difficult to really hear what Ran's saying. With a not-so-delicate frown, she looks down into the half-empty glass of cider she carries with her. "Ran." she hisses suddenly, "Did they spike the cider with something?"

Eien speaks up, calling the attention of everyone as the announcement for the winners will soon be happening. She grins, then looks beyond Eien to the unvieled book. Then that sensation returns.

She honestly tries to focus on Eien, she really does, but her attention keeps going back to that book. Involuntarily, she yawns widely and only notices that happening halfway through. Her free hand is hastily thrown up in front of her mouth as the giant teenager struggles to maintain some semblance of politeness while Eien is speaking.

She shakes her head, but her eyes half-lid and a distant smile remains upon her scarred face.

<Pose Tracker> Noriko Hisakawa [D4] has posed.

Well, Noriko could doubtlessly have handled this better. She's still angry at Butler, feels a bit weirded out by Eien's response, and with that feeling of being watched and whispered about, her insecurities are starting to play up big time, and though she's externally looking mostly calm, she's trying to figure out what to do.

It doesn't help that, for those sensitive, one particular part of her resonance is spiking. It's the sense that Noriko is watching you, and that she's aware of every last misdeed and unusual characteristic of you. Even though she's not quite that good at observation, she's paranoidly trying to find the source of the whispering, and with that paranoia and emotion, that particular part of resonance is spiking.

Anyone who is at all able to pick up resonance should have no difficulty picking it up, probably don't even need to try. Noriko's face turns to frustrated paranoia as she can't find the source, and she slowly starts to move towards the entrance. Or rather, the exit.

You paged Noriko Hisakawa with 'Because Noriko is a spotter and searching the room avidly, she would probably start to sense that the book is at the center of the unusual things she's feeling. Strangely, despite being a spotter, herself, Eien appears to be oblivious to the weirdness, or possibly pretending not to notice it -- but Noriko would probably be pretty sure that Eien just doesn't feel whatever it is Noriko feels, herself.'

From afar, Noriko Hisakawa (Noriko) nods.

<Pose Tracker> Jason R. Butler [D4] has posed.

It's pretty fortunate that Jason isn't aware of Eien and Noriko's exchange. He would resent the statement of being punched in the nose. Granted, he might deserve it. But even the conversation that got the younger intern all riled out is momentarily forgotten when the glass is removed from the book. He frowns slightly and then watches as a one eyed man with a cane enters the party. "..." That's a bit much isn't it?

He looks over his shoulder at Ran when she pats him and he hehs. "Yeah, you're right Itoh-san." And he lets her go as well so he can keep watching. The small hairs are the back of his neck are standing up straight and his gaze turns thoughtfully to the stage. "... Maybe I'm just running on low blood sugar," he mutters to himself in English and when he thinks no one's looking, shoves a fork full of pie right into his mouth.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Saionji [NWO] has posed.

"Yes.." Rei murmured, truly only half-listening to Miwa now that his attention had shifted, "I suppose this would be the kind of place that collects such things...strange that I can't place it, though." Rei was no expert in the field, but he was learned enough generally that he'd think he would be able to tell at least something of where the book came from by it's design, only to be confounded by its obscurity. A frown marred his host-worthy features as the quandry deepened. Whatever this feeling was, he didn't like it. The heir was learning more and more to trust his gut when things began to feel off in this city.

Eien makes an appearance shortly thereafter, prompting Rei to quickly turn his soft grimace around into a perfectly understanding and compliant expression, "Oh, of course, Seida-san." He'll back off to an appropriate distance to give Eien her space, feeling his pulse quicken just a smidge when she removes the book from it's casing. What /was/ it with that?

His introspection will have to wait for later. Eien makes her announcement, and Rei stood back in the gathering crowd to await the results of the contest, having no particular zeal to see one result or the other for him. 'Winning' had long lost any particular sense of meaning or pride to him beneath all the regular ways he won just for being who he was in the position he had. A contest with nothing on the line was beneath his concern, but he still paid enough attention to hear if his name was called or not.

He catches Noriko edging towards the exit from the corner of his eye and has an impromptu sense of deja vu. Strange, that was usually /his/ move at these kinds of things.

<Pose Tracker> Susumu Kamiya [NWO] has posed.

As Yisa so energetically tears into her rice ball, Susumu's features soften a little. Through the weariness, it almost looks sympathetic.

"You should try the rice balls," however, is all he'll offer -- with all the casual familiarity a friend might. "They look pretty tasty!" A pause.

"Though maybe you should look for something a bit easier on your stomach. Hmmm..."

Still -- when Susumu finally (finally (sort of)) puts everything together, the expression he adopts through the fatigued haze isn't one of anger or even caution -- the only thing there is a nondescript smile and eyes that might have been wondering if they didn't seem so lethargic. "Good to see you're okay!" he asserts.

And, considering he is speaking to Kyo Enda, it might make the sincerity behind that statement all the more surreal.

"So are you two da--"

Whatever else he might have to ask though is - perhaps fortunately - stifled by the sound of a struck wine glass ringing through the air. With an awkward and silent "oops," Susumu offers his all too awkward dining companions one last apologetic smile before turning his black eyes onto Eien. Whatever vague warmth that might have suffused across his features bleeds away soon enough -- eventually, Susumu Kamiya just looks tired as he listens to the girl speak. His gaze becomes more insulated. Suddenly he feels so very tired, and too aware of the weather outside the warm confines of this place.

He didn't really want to be here--

Despite himself, he pulls his coat a bit more tightly over himself, and falls into his own comfortable, odd silence.

<Pose Tracker> Yisa Taimiev [DS] has posed.

That hushed, wry remark out of Kyo brings a slap of red to Yisa's cheeks, and her eyes fly open, her pupils tightening to pinpoints. She flushes horrifically, her jaw snapping shut, her muscles winding up, and her joints locking, as she just holds herself stiffly in total and horrible mortification. Anger flickers at her jaw, and she opens one free hand, no doubt to want to slap him out of this dimension and into the next --

Thankfully, Susumu's intervention stops that. Instead, pushed his way, Yisa finds herself ramrod-straight and awkward and unsure for whole different reasons.

"I'm... glad to see you are... well, Kamiya," she manages to blurt out uneasily to Susumu, while looking up him and down as if trying to undress his skin and measure whether that terrifying, gargantuan monster underneath is going to tear forward into another appearance.

Perhaps fortunately (or at least for Yisa), the gracious hostess begins her initial announcement. She goes quiet, relishing the distraction and listening on -- though, as time winds on, even Yisa finds it growing increasingly difficult to concentrate.

She keeps stealing glances back on Kyo, her usual, frowny disposition unbraiding itself into an uncharacteristic gentleness that never -- never -- sees the light of day. At least on a face like Yisa's. Eventually, she stops pretending to even be listening to Eien's distant words, her full attention fixed on her date, watching him transparently as colour rises in her cheeks. Something twinges inside her chest. Her eyes pinch with something almot yearning.

<Pose Tracker> Noriko Hisakawa [D4] has posed.

Halfway to the exit, Noriko's resonance spike fades and she seems to be more serious but no longer so paranoid. She starts to make her way towards Butler, getting over her anger towards him to focus on things that seemingly matter. Professionalism! It's important to any kind of investigator, after all.

She tries to get close enough to him and tap him on the arm, "Something's going on here, Butler-san and I think it's within our jurisdiction." She whispers to the man, soft enough that it shouldn't carry far, but not really willing to elaborate too much while things still seem relatively harmless. "I don't think Seida-san has noticed it, which worries me."

<Pose Tracker> Eien Seida [D4] has posed.

"Every story had something special about it. For my part, I tried to match the stories to the winners where I could. I don't know some of you very well, but it's the strangest thing...picking stories for the winners was just so easy," Eien relates, her smile a pearly flash. After an awkward beat, she realizes that she's digressed, and clears her throat, opening up the cover of the book with a slide of her fingertips, ever careful in her handling of old books. Light blazes on the cover, then falls to shadow. The pages within are intricately illuminated, the inks as bright as if they were set down yesterday by unfathomly fastidious hands. It would not be out of place in a museum.

"I purchased this book at an estate sale -- that of Joseph Weiss. But it came with a unique condition: I could only purchase it if I agreed to separate the stories and distribute them, as it was never intended to be sold as a book. An interesting piece of history! By the way, up at the front, I've printed out some information about people in the city who can mount these archivally so that they stay beautiful forever, so be sure if you win to stop by and grab that."

"So, without further adieu! When I say your name, come on up and get your prize! The winners are: Seiichi Miyamoto, who has won The Ghost Ship Akizora." She pauses for any applause, transfers the pages into a rigid folder, and hands them over, then repeats this process with all of the other names: Ran Itoh, who has won The Darkness of Chihaya-mura, Rei Saionji, who has won The Treasure of Tahki, Miwa Saitou, who has won The Doom of the Open Eye, Kyo Enda, who has won The Trials of Oriaos Andras, Thora Kobayashi, who has won the Dreamcurse of the Crone, and 'Taro Shitsuji', who has won The Sufferings of Sir Merrywhite. (The look she gives 'Taro' when he comes up to get his prize is slightly 'are you serious', because /why would he use a pen name if he had to come and get his prize/.)

When the applause for the winners as died down (and Eien adds to it, clapping, herself), she lifts the book binding and dons a canny smile. "The last story...I'm going to keep," she confesses, with a shrug of her shoulders. "I had to buy the book, and it's a pretty gruesome one, so...anyway. I've decided I'm going to put everybody else's stories into the empty binding! A really /handsome/ place to keep them, here in the store."

As she speaks, she pulls the pages out of the binding--

"That way, everyone can come to read--"

It's at this precise moment that the electricity in the building fails with a

BANG!!!!!!

Of unknown origin. Blackness -- so absolute and impenetrable as to make no sense, given the clear night outside and the large front windows -- descends upon the room.

Five breathless seconds later, the lights flicker and come back on. The music begins to play again, and Eien, standing stiffly by the book with wide eyes, looks terribly frightened...and then deeply relieved. "Oh," she sighs, hiked shoulders relaxing again. Her relief is so strong that all she can do is laugh a little. "Well, hopefully that doesn't happen again. Anyway, I guess that's a sign that my part here is done." She tucks her own pages into the last folder, then sets them beneath the book and starts to replace the glass case. "Everybody enjoy the rest of the night! Please eat all of the food!"

You paged Kyo Enda, Miwa Saitou, Thora Kobayashi, Ran Itoh, Rei Saionji, Akio Touma, and Jason R. Butler with 'Touching the vellum is like touching a live wire, save that it isn't electricity that streams out of it and into the fingertips, racing up the arm, to strike the heart: it's the feeling that one is not alone; that something is watching from somewhere within the crowded room, evaluating, assessing...and accepting.

And then it ends. But it leaves behind a feeling of rightness: that this story has always belonged to you; that this reunion was fated, perhaps in the stars. The story has come home.

You paged Ran Itoh with 'As the lights go out and absolute blackness descends on the shop, Ran must feel for a dizzy moment that she's somewhere else -- somewhere outdoors, with a vast open space all around; somewhere freezingly cold, where the air smells of snow, stone, and the sharp tang of evergreen sap. Where there is woodsmoke, from burning fires in chimneys, and cooking smells...and distantly, far-off, she would hear a soft howling, as of wolves...

And then the lights come back on, and the feeling disappears altogether.'

You paged Rei Saionji with 'As the lights go out and absolute blackness descends on the shop, Rei must feel for a dizzy moment that he's somewhere else. A feeling of oppressive heat, first, with dust and leather, and mineral oil -- and then a blast of cold, with the threat of snow. He might swear that he can feel snowflakes melting on his skin...and a deep, bottomless hunger, deeper than he has ever known...

And then the lights come back on, and the feeling disappears altogether.'

You paged Miwa Saitou with 'As the lights go out and absolute blackness descends on the shop, Miwa must feel for a dizzy moment that she is somewhere else -- somewhere outdoors, but still close and busy with rustling. Somewhere that the heat is oppressive, and humidity films the skin with sweat; where insects chirr forever in the background, and secret, dangerous things lurk in the shadows...creeping ever closer...red in tooth and claw...

And then the lights come back on, and the feeling disappears altogether.'

You paged Kyo Enda with 'As the lights go out and absolute blackness descends on the shop, Kyo must feel for a dizzy moment that he's somewhere else -- somewhere vast and open, chilly with blustering crystals of snow and perilously high, as though any misstep might send him plummeting, while the very heavens thunder and rage about his head...

And then the lights come back on, and the feeling disappears altogether.'

You paged Thora Kobayashi with 'As the lights go out and absolute blackness descends on the shop, Thora must feel for a dizzy moment that she's somewhere else -- somewhere close and dark and enclosed, lying on her back, weighted down with an ageless sleep...but not a quiet sleep, because she would sense the malignant dreams stirring just beneath, like foul, abhorrent monstrosities poised to thrash their way into her dreams, each one a cancerous nightmare...

And then the lights come back on, and the feeling disappears altogether.'

You paged Jason R. Butler with 'As the lights go out and absolute blackness descends on the shop, Jason must feel for a dizzy moment that he's somewhere else -- weighted down with heaviness, but stronger than he's ever been. He might smell the horses, the dust of the open road. He would feel three kinds of heat: that of the sun, that of a light in his heart, and the raging fires of the pit of satan; beneath the singing voices of his companions, he might detect the sinister laughter of The Beast...

And then the lights come back on, and the feeling disappears altogether.'

You paged Seiichi Miyamoto with 'As the lights go out and absolute blackness descends on the shop, Seiichi must feel for a dizzy moment that he's somewhere else -- on the deck of a ship, for no terran earth can rock and roll in such a fashion, with the sun beating relentlessly down on his face, until his skin blisters and runs, dries, dessicates, and grows taut as old leather...and a thirst builds in him, an agonizing thirst, beneath the roar of endless waves...

And then the lights come back on, and the feeling disappears altogether.'

Noriko Hisakawa (Noriko) pages: Did spotter-senses pick up anything beyond what I already know?

You paged Noriko Hisakawa with 'Noriko may have sensed that the resonances of others were stronger for a brief moment during the blackout...and then after the lights came on, that weird feeling appears to have subsided. Things feel...comparatively normal.'

You paged Noriko Hisakawa with 'Attempting to sniff out any trace of weirdness probably won't come up with much (except that the others are probably freaked out)'

You paged Noriko Hisakawa with 'Eien isn't freaked out in quite the same way, so it's pretty obvious that she has no idea something was happening...more than just a blackout, anyway.'

From afar, Noriko Hisakawa (Noriko) nods.

<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

Ran looks up at Thora, recognizing the sleepy-dreamy look on the younger girl's face. "Did you get an alcoholic drink by mistake? Sometimes they get mixed up..." Maybe Thora takes medication that reacts poorly with alcohol. Ran takes a half-step closer to the other half as if she could soak up some of Thora's body heat, or be safe in her shadow. "But... maybe you're right. I only had one glass, but..." But it seems /cold/ where before things were pleasantly warm.

Isn't this how scary movies always start? In a snowy wood, with something predatory and unseen slipping through the shadows... Calm down, Ran tells herself. There are a lot of people here who give off Resonance. "Thora-chan, did you... do you have... 'ice' on you?" Ran makes the subtlest gesture she knows toward her own temple. An icy persona. Thora-chan tends to keep icy and fire, doesn't she? She has a 'volcanoes in the frozen north' kind of Norse theme going, right?? "It got cold suddenly..." Ran reaches out to gently shake her friend's arm-- but then, the winners are called out, and she has to go forward to accept the story Eien has chosen for her. Oh god now people really /will/ want to read the story she wrote--

As Ran's fingers brush the strange 'paper' that the book is made from, she gets a terrible shock. There it is again! That terrible sensation of being watched, of being judged! And then it's over, just like that. She looks down at the pages in her hands as she makes room for the other winners. They're really so beautiful, she thinks, holding them a bit closer. It must've been Fate after all, she decides. It works in strange ways. So that's why she thought to enter the contest, so that she'd be here tonight and receive this story--

The lights go out, and for a long, horrible moment Ran is /freezing/. The sharp scent of snow and pine lingers in her nostrils, the crackling of hearth fires and the distant baying of what she assumes are wolves in the night leaves her gasping for breath even as the lights return. She can't help but be reminded of the very 'frozen north' that she'd just been thinking about, and is almost surprised that her breath doesn't steam in the air.

<Pose Tracker> Jason R. Butler [D4] has posed.

Distracted with his thoughts and his pie, Jason doesn't see Noriko approach him until she's actually there and touching him. He blinks and looks at her but not actually seeing her for a moment before he shakes his head. He inclines his head, hunching his shoulders slightly so he can hear. "I've noticed it too. Seida's probably too preoccupied with everything else going on to notice. Keep your senses and your eyes open Hisakawa-san," he murmurs under Eien's announcement.

His back straightens and he looks honestly surprised when his name is announced. He had submitted a story purely out of boredom and curiosity. He's not sure what this means now that he's won. A part of him is hesitation to go up and take his prize. But then he sighs and puts a hand on Noriko's shoulder. "Be on guard now, I'm going up to the stage. If something happens, get the kids out of here." By kids, he gestures to most of the other college students; the ones that presumably are normal humans.

The American makes his way to the stage and waits his turn to accept the page. When Eien gives him that 'look', he scowls. "Look, I wasn't expecting to win," he mutters under his breath as he reaches to shake her hand and accept his pages. But once the folder is in hand, he stops, starts and proceeds to peer out into the audience from his space on the stage. A heartbeat moment passes before he forces a smile and descends from the stage. But in his hands, the pages are held a little more closely, a little more possessively. They are his now after all.

Slowly, he makes his way back to Noriko with a thoughtful frown.

BANG!

"Wha-." Stop. When the lights come back on, he appears shaken, disoriented even. "Hisakawa-san..?" He sounds dazed. "Did you hear someone laughing just now?" And he could have sworn he smelled horses.

<Pose Tracker> Kyo Enda [U] has posed.

Such is Kyo's feeling of certitude, in these moments, that he doesn't even initially notice Yisa's eyes on him. It's not the sort of failure to notice that comes of ignorance or lack of care, either... it's the sort that seems to say he would be more surprised to turn and not see it. His eternal insecurities and fear of losing her dim. Right now, he just feels... sure.

He doesn't blink when Eien calls him up, as such. He just looks at Yisa, finally seeing that look in her eyes, and his own gentle to match it. He takes her hand and squeezes it, emboldened to do so even in a public space, before he approaches Eien to take his folder. He touches it--

--and his spine stiffens. His blank eyes flicker. They search back and forth a moment, temporarily paranoid, before the feeling fades and he settles into a feeling that is more 'right'-- but, perhaps, no less disconcerting. He steps back, wary, already starting to wonder about this contest, these stories, and especially about that strange book... but somehow, still unwilling to give up the story that is now his.

And the lights go out with a bang. His first thought is a fear for Yisa. His second is just plain fear. He freezes, terrified to move, a faint shudder running along his skin... and then it ends. The lights come back on, and the mundane sights and sounds of the shop return. Yet Kyo still feels unsettled, and vertiginous, and cold.

He returns to Yisa, and his teasing air is gone. He just looks a little shaken-- Kyo, who rarely emotes much if at all-- and says little.

<Pose Tracker> Thora Kobayashi [K] has posed.

"I..I don't know..." Thora says slowly, lifting her glass to sniff it. "I mean I was going to mix some alcohol in but I haven't actually done that yet. ...ice? No, I..."

She looks wistful and nostalgic again, but she keeps her voice lowered "Not since Garm." And she certainly didn't have any other ice-baring personas on her. Pulling out of her daydreaming, she glances over to Ran, looking concerned, and puts her free hand on the older girl's forehead as if to check for a fever.

Goodness! There were certainly some familiar names in the list of winners! Thora grins, especially when it starts off with Seiichi's name. "Huh, I never knew he did writing too. Seiichi is very talented..." she murmurs half-dreamily. "I'll have to ask him about his story later...oooh."

One big, thick arm suddenly wraps around Ran's shoulders, half-hugging her for a few moments. "Congrats, Itoh-san~!" she laughs, then releases Ran so she can go up and get her prize. Pure shock, however, settles upon Thora's face when she hears her name being called. "Eien really did like it." she says in wonder, partially suspecting the earlier comment was done consolingly when she'd heard it. She doesn't hesitate to go up and accept her prize, though she hardly remembers walking up there and taking the folder. Shortly afterwards, she pauses, and looks over her shoulder as if something had poked her from behind.

After an uncomfortable amount of tme spent standing in that spot, Thora seems to "unpause" and she steps away from the podium.

Retreating, she goes to rejoin Ran with a big grin on her face. Then the lights go out.

When the lights return, that grin is gone. Her eyes are wide and Thora is in a cold sweat, like someone who had just awoken from the middle of a vicious nightmare. Slowly, she tucks her folder underneath her arm in a protective manner and laughs nervously.

"Suddenly I'm not feelin' so well." she says to Ran, "I..uh..think I might cut out early."

<Pose Tracker> Miwa Saitou [DS] has posed.

Antique books of a certain type are Miwa's... well, not precisely 'area of expertise' but she knows what a few of the most popular tomes are meant to look like, if only from photographs someone had once posted on an occult forum. This doesn't match up to anything she knows--all she can tell is that it's definitely old. "I guess it must be a first edition? Or, maybe the only copy..."

If anything, as the book is removed from the casing, the urge to inspect it more closely grows. Miwa shifts where she stands, holding back on a sudden impulse to take a step forward, a step that would be horrendously gauche at this moment. To want to retreat and to wish to advance at the same time... how paradoxical! But that's exactly the feeling streaming through her: something is lurking, and it's up to her to discover it or to flee its presence.

Shifting her purse so it hangs within the crook of her arm, she entangles her fingers with each other, watching Eien as she speaks... or to be more accurate, watching the book.

The tale of Joseph Weiss, the conditions of the book's auction. All the while Miwa listens in silence, watching.

Many of the names are familiar ones. Her own comes as a surprise. She gestures towards herself, her very expression a questioning, 'me?' before she's forced to accept that it must be so. The name after her own gives her pause, so it's only after a certain young man has already accepted his own that Miwa finally steps forward to accept her prize. "Seida-san, thank you, I never expected to win. Really, I'm so thankful--" If she had touched metal, she would have assumed it was a static shock. She stares down quzzically at the paper in her hands, an expression that quickly smooths away.

...Why was she so hesitant about winning before? This story, it was meant to belong to her. She holds the sheet carefully--almost tenderly--in both her hands, the top of the paper resting against her chest when--

The noise is loud enough to make her jump.

The world goes dark. That easy, assured feeling from before melts away for a too-long moment. --There's something, just behind her...

Miwa twitches suddenly, at a buzz of an insect past her ear and a rustle of grass that are heard only by her ear alone. Something's coming for her, and--

As if it had never been, it's gone. The lights have come back on. Slowly, Miwa exhales a long breath, and, chancing another look over her shoulder, begins to slightly relax. "It's... that was certainly a surprise," she manages, smiling weakly at Eien. "I guess that was because of the weather." She pauses. "I think, I'm going to get some tea...? Do you have any recommendations, Seida-san?"

<Pose Tracker> Noriko Hisakawa [D4] has posed.

Noriko rushes towards Butler when things happen and she shakes her head. She whispers towards him, "Resonances spiked during the blackout, and a lot of people seem weirded out. I don't think Seida-san even noticed anything weird happened beyond a blackout." She's cautious, but also taking note of the environment and looking for anything weird...

"I think whatever happened? It's over for now, we should probably talk to Seida-san later, take a closer look at these pages, and keep an eye on the winners for a while, but I believe there's no immediate threat here." She sounds worried, but quite confident of her own words.

"The immediate feeling of weirdness once the book came out has ended, and I don't really feel that kind of oddness anymore." She bites her lower lip to think, and then comes up with an additional suggestion. "Just... keep note of who got part of the book, maybe check out that address that supposedly could preserve the pages, and try not to let whatever this is get too far ahead of us. I recognize some of the other winners. None of the people I recognize as winners are 'in the dark.' That might be significant."

<Pose Tracker> Rei Saionji [NWO] has posed.

Rei acknowledges his win with an slight incline of his head, as if to say 'oh, really?'. He'll go up to the stage with the rest of them, again wearing that easily-donned facade of greatfulness and magnaminity that was so indispensable to anything reasonably public. He's received enough awards and accolades for various things to be comfortable with the routine.

The sense that jolts through him when his fingers grace the vellum pages though, /that/ wasn't expected. The vague feeling he'd had before was now magnified to certainty that something, somewhere was observing him, judging him, accepting him. He'd been measured and deemed fitting, and the story he'd received felt properly his, like a thing he ought to have. A sense of homecoming, of welcome.

For most people, it would be a strange and wonderful thing. For Rei, it was a vile and repugnant attempt at manipulating him. Everything felt right, and hated it for that fact. The last time he could remember anything approaching was when...wait, just when was he..

BANG*

The darkness was somewhat fortuitous, hiding Rei from all watching eyes before his ever careful composure slipped to expose even a hint of the conflicted (and maligned) emotions he was experiencing. There's a sense of lost equilibrium before the heir regains himself to the opressive, sweltering sensation of a hot summer day, the scent of dust and creaking leather filling his nose. It turned to bitter cold with subtley of being dropped off the cliff, and Rei could swear he was now outside. Far from being discomforted, he felt at home in this, a keen awareness of where he belonged instilling a sudden desire for all the food he'd previously shunned..

Then the lights come back on to find Rei perfectly relaxed, eyes lidded as if just waking from a nap. "Well.." He spoke quietly, regaining himself, "That was odd."

<Pose Tracker> Yisa Taimiev [DS] has posed.

Only the faintest thread of surprise crosses Yisa's face as Kyo takes her hand. Usually she would balk, firm and disapproving and unnerved of public affection, but that same, ineffable gentling allows him this. She partakes of the gesture quietly, with a shy sort of pleasure, and her eyes soften as her hand squeezes his back.

Her reverie breaks only when she hears Kyo's name announced, and though Yisa does not smile, a certain measure of mirth colours her eyes. She says nothing, only releases her hand and tilts her head to gesture her date onward to his prize, feeling amused and oddly proud. It's a silly thing in itself, she thinks, to find satisfaction in an event like this, contrary to all of her plans and goals, but she'll be lenient tonight. And she wants to feel happy for him, in as mundane a way she can.

Yisa stays back as Kyo moves off at his announcement, watching contentedly -- though her gaze does stray mid-way, encouraged when Susumu's lingering presence shifts. She looks back on him, reminded of him there, looking on in confusion and wariness as his mood wilts and he draws in on himself. Her eyebrows knit together, either thoughtful or possibly empathatic, but she stores that moment to memory; that and the strange look on his face --

The lights go out.

Yisa stiffens with surprise, holding her breath as perfect, suffocating darkness holds her separate from the world. And just as she begins to furiously wonder what's happened... it's over, the lights and music resurrecting as normalcy returns to the room like a skipped record. But in that hitch there seems to be a sea change on many distinct faces within the crowd, especially -- Kyo, who is back, looking paler than usual, shaken.

The expression looks so incongruous on a face like his that it pulls Yisa forward, meeting him with a quick pace to aim her green eyes up on his face. Frowning, she ignores his new book in hand, appraising him intently. "Are you all right?" she asks, forgetting herself even to lift a hand to touch his jaw.

<Pose Tracker> Seiichi Miyamoto [NWO] has posed.

Seiichi would sware someone was playing a trick on him. The floor just seems to be moving. The irrational part of him really does want to blame Enda for this, but he knows trying to get someone to trip is entirely not Enda's style. The man taps his cane against the floor for a moment before with a touch of suprise he glances up towards the podium. He seems just as suprised as anyone else about the fact that he won one of the stories involved, but he seems pleased. Quite pleased. His eyes light on the old and warn book with a look that is touched with avrice for a moment.

It fades quickly though an a look of more confusion comes to his features as he shakes off the thought of greed and treasure. The musician though does take his place quickly enough, his careful steps slow as he approaches the pedistal with his prize lying upon it. There is a slight bow to Eien, and then a glance towards the crowd. His single eye skims the people there, the odd looks on some and the distracted looks on others. Almost casually he reaches out to take the folder.

When he does there is a subtle stiffening of his back, his fingers rest there for a short series of heartbeats before he scoops the folder into his good hand and smiles at the applause. His remaining eye though scans the crowd with the flickering movements of a hummingbird. Never stopping.

Its when the darkness closes around them all his heartbeat spikes. The normally smooth and agile musician stumbles, only catching himself from falling by catching one hand on the edge of a table. He grips on the edge of the table hard enough to turn his knuckles white, not that he can see that in the midst of all this blackness.

When the light comes back on the man's eye is thrown wide. Without waiting he turns for the refreshment table and snatches a drink from there. He gulps it down before he even manages to say a word, the liquid cooling a throat this is suddenly and inexplicable parched.

"Odd," He finally struggles out. "Does not half cover it Saionji-san."

<Pose Tracker> Ran Itoh [SEES] has posed.

Ran doesn't seem to have any fever... in fact, she feels good enough to turn toward Thora and return the girl's casual hug, if a bit awkwardly due to the angle. "Want to walk me home, Thora-chan?" she asks. "I'll buy you something to drink on the way if you'll do me the favor."

Because tonight got really creepy, really fast, and strength in numbers is something Ran believes in.

<Pose Tracker> Thora Kobayashi [K] has posed.

"Yeah, I like this idea, let's do that." Thora discards her half-filled glass of cider on the nearest table. The arm that doesn't currently pin her newly acquired story to her body reaches over to loop around one of Ran's arms.

Seems she couldn't be leaving Kaffe Yomiya fast enough.

<Pose Tracker> Susumu Kamiya [NWO] has posed.

There is only the dimmest of grateful smiles towards Yisa's blurted, would-be relief before the world seems to swiftly fade away. He barely hears Eien's words. She was the one with the bracelet, wasn't she? He's now dimly aware of the fact that he doesn't know what she's doing, what is even going on here. He is out of place.

But Susumu Kamiya can't muster up the verve to care about anything other than the biting cold seeping into his bones.

Shifting uncomfortably in the midst of the winner's announcements, the gray-haired youth sets his platter of food aside and affixes his gaze somewhere distant. His mitten (~mitten~)-clad hands stuff into his coat pockets and breathes out a heavy breath.

This place has gotten far too cold for his liking--

BANG

With that sudden noise, all the light in the store dies. For a few fleeting moments, everything is held hostage within terrifying tenseness. When the lights finally come back on--

--Susumu Kamiya is gone from the food table, making a straight path towards the door, his gluttonous plate of food sadly abandoned at the table he had so cheerily piled it up at a few moments earlier.

That poor, forgotten food mountain.

[OOC] Susumu Kamiya just wastes all eien's food out of spite [OOC] Yisa Taimiev says, "happy birthday to the ground" [OOC] Eien Seida pictures the girl at the buffet just slapping the plate of food off of the table in a fit of rage [OOC] Ran Itoh says, "happy birthday, ground!"

<Pose Tracker> Eien Seida [D4] has posed.

Stepping down from the awarding of the pages, looking...well, considerably less shaken than her winners, Eien manages to bark her shin on a chair she apparently fails to see, and is standing there trying to figure out how to rub said shin whilst in a pencil skirt when Miwa appears, and Eien offers a content but slightly weary smile up at the witch.

"Oh, absolutely. I've got a beautiful oolong in the back. It's not out with the rest, but I'd be happy to pour a cup for you, if you want. Assuming the electricity cooperates." She glances up at the ceiling, and the lights embedded within it, unaware yet of the /mass exodus/ of attendees. "Weird, right? There isn't even a storm right now. I guess that's what you get with old buildings."

<Pose Tracker> Kyo Enda [U] has posed.

It surprises Kyo that Yisa doesn't balk and pull away-- he expected her to. But he doesn't argue with her uncharacteristic gentleness. He simply-- as he is so accustomed to do-- takes it, when it is offered. And though he does not have the emotional framework to understand why Yisa takes an odd, amused pride and satisfaction in hearing him called up-- does not understand that for a woman like her, who has thrown away her last ties to the world, little moments of mundanity like this are precious-- he likes to see her happiness. It ensures she'll stay with him. And her willingness to stay ensures his own happiness... and her continued life.

He steps up, realizing as he does he's going through the motions of a completely ordinary evening event. It doesn't make Kyo feel -happy-. Not in the way normal people feel happy. But it does push away the emptiness, if only for a moment, and let him feel like a regular person, with a regular soul, leading a regular life.

And then, of course, everything has to get weird, right on cue.

He returns much more shaken than he left. Enough so that even Yisa, undemonstrative as she is, asks after him. He shakes his head, half to deny anything is wrong, and half just to clear it-- though he visibly calms when she lifts her hand to touch his jaw. "I'm... I'm fine. But something is weird here. It feels off. The lights, and then... I don't know. I'm getting kind of creepy feelings from all of this now." Says the guy who turns into a giant snake to eat people.

[OOC] Eien Seida says, "Welp" [OOC] Eien Seida hangs up her hat, time to quit on a high note [OOC] Yisa Taimiev LOL [OOC] Kyo Enda :| [OOC] Akio Touma says, "Eien. You creeped out Kyo." [OOC] Akio Touma just applauds. [OOC] Kyo Enda says, "congratulations, you creeped out the sociopathic rapist" [OOC] Kyo Enda says, "con grat u lations" [OOC] Jason R. Butler says, "LOL" [OOC] Eien Seida says, "The best possible result"

<Pose Tracker> Jason R. Butler [D4] has posed.

"I see," Jason murmurs to Noriko as she gives him a status update. "Yeah.. talking to Seida would be a good idea. I want to know more about this Weiss person." It strikes him as a bit odd that a college student, even a smart one, could lay her hands on a piece of work this unique. That and why she'd willingly split it up.

He listens to her suggestions and just nods. "I know Itoh-san and Kobayahi-san." Well he doesn't know Thora personally but he knows where to find Ran, who seems to know Thora very well. He watches the two of them leave. Miwa, Rei and Seiichi also get a long look as well. He's already committing their names to memory and will make a note of it in his case notes.

"I think the page archivist is a red herring though Hisakawa-san. A store like this probably has people like that on file, so that kind of information would be pretty standard." But a quick internet search will either prove or disprove his theory. He looks back down at the folder in his hand and he wonders, 'Fate huh...?'

<Pose Tracker> Noriko Hisakawa [D4] has posed.

"Probably, Butler-san, but it's still something to investigate." Noriko points out, "Let's not leave any loose threads hanging, right?" She takes a deep breath and turns towards Eien, "I'm doing to talk to her quickly." Apparently it's been long enough, Noriko heads back to Eien at a brisk pace.

"Seida-san. We'll need to talk, soon. In the office." She's not even remotely subtle about that towards Seida, "I don't think you noticed it, which is worrying enough on its own, but I think this night's events fall under our jurisdiction." Which should be enough to tell Eien why Noriko is wanting to talk.

"If you don't believe me, ask Butler-san, or look at the amount of people leaving right now." Noriko isn't really thinking Eien is to blame for anything, but she does think that Eien might need a wakeup call about this.

Noriko has not gotten any pages, so she's not as creeped out as some of the others, and she kind of saw the worst of it coming, even if only barely and vaguely, so she's just getting this done -now-

<Pose Tracker> Rei Saionji [NWO] has posed.

"Ah, Miyamoto-san." Rei turned to regard Seiichi as he were seeing him for the first time, despite the fact that both their names had called out and they had both dutifully gone up to receive their rewards. His look is clinical, but with the proper level of regard for someone who nominally a business associate, "I see you're here as well."

Right.

"Well." Rei glanced at his watch, eager to get on with the rest of his appointed time on this mortal coil, "I should get going. Congratulations on your prize." The student kept his own story firm against his chest as he went to retrieve his coat and scarf, donning both in short order before stepping back out into frosty evening. The stars were out, the moon sat high, and Rei's breath puffed out in measured mist as he walked, brow furrowed on the pages now heald taut against his breast by way of his coat.

"This weather..." He ruminated, or prophesied, "Is going to get worse before it gets better."

<Pose Tracker> Miwa Saitou [DS] has posed.

And there's still the lingering feeling of being watched to rattle around her skull...

Something is definitely strange. That feeling, that earlier experience... But there's nothing for it in a crowd like this except to buck up and carry on as if all was well. Shaking her head as if to dismiss those thoughts, Miwa says, "As long as it's no trouble for you, Seida-san. I don't want to make even more work for you when you've had such a busy night." She shifts her weight from one leg to the other, a concealed fidget after the shocks of the evening. When Eien glances upwards, she does similarly. "...I suppose so. You really never can tell..."

Miwa might be a master of the white lie, but even that fell a little more flat than usual for her.

"Oh, by the way, what was your story about, Seida-san? Or, did you want to keep it a mystery?" She glances down at her own pages, fumbling gingerly with the edges of the vellum. That was an ominous title, wasn't it...

Involuntarily, she shivers, then twists at the waist to try and sight Kyo. No, he's busy with...

Oh. She hadn't even noticed that Yisa was here. A little worriedly, Miwa bites her lip, before looking away.

This is approximately when Noriko walks up, prompting a briefly puzzled glance towards the younger girl. 'Do you know her' carries for an instant in her expression towards Eien. All this talk about an office, jurisdiction...? Miwa's brow creases.

But when you read between the lines, isn't it pretty clear...? "Oh, um, if I'm interrupting something..." she hazards, shifting backwards as if she's about to walk away. "We'll talk later, all right?"

<Pose Tracker> Seiichi Miyamoto [NWO] has posed.

Slowly it seems that the musician is regaining his equilbrium as the effects of whatever strangeness slowly wears off. The man shakes himself once before drawing a deep breath. He raises his gaze to see the people departing, each of them off to some different destination. One of them a man that he would /happily/ see in the ground. He can't at the moment even bring himself to care about that though. Instead he finishes his drink and sets the cup back down.

"It always does, Saionji. It always does."

And with that the man turns and starts to depart himself. He has other places he wanted to be tonight. Other people to check on, and right now he thinks he is in need of some company.

<Pose Tracker> Eien Seida [D4] has posed.

"It's no trouble at all! Besides, I'd like to hear what you think of your story," Eien answers Miwa, straightening with a warm crescent of a smile. "I chose it just for you. I thought you'd like the, you know...occult overtones--"

And then there's Noriko, and Eien is turning in place -- she bangs her shin again, hissing an indrawn breath, though her wince slowly melts into bafflement as the newest intern talks about...about--

"Whoa, slow down," she says, reassuringly. She glances across the room toward Jason, finally noticing as she does so that the room has...curiously emptied. She arches one dark brow his way in query, and then slants a moss-green look at her fellow intern. "I was really preoccupied with the awards, but if something's going on, I'm sure we can sort it out. Anyway, there's not really any 'jurisdiction,'" she adds with a wry, tired smile. "It's just a -- it's fine. It's a full moon tonight, you know? I always feel a bit off on a full moon." The bandage beneath her sleeve itches slightly in reminder.

<Pose Tracker> Yisa Taimiev [DS] has posed.

Any stray glances turned Yisa's way now go missed; her full and total attention is turned on Kyo, her head tipped up to trap him in her searching gaze.

Her concern is even enough for her to reach out a hand, taking him by the jaw and holding him with a gentle care, both to try to ground his disturbed shakiness and to inspect his features more closely. Her frown grows, her own tension mantling by the moment. Was it someone in this room? A target on him? But even so, she can catch others filing out, and that shared uncertainty welling in more faces than his.

Fortunately, and to Yisa's relief, Kyo appears to gentle under her appraisal, and her hand lingers on his skin -- he feels cold -- pressing her fingertips under his chin. Frowning, her eyes narrowed, she lets her hand drop, burdened by his words. "Creepy?" she echoes, sounding surprised to hear such a thing spoken by Kyo of all people. And for him to find something weird and creepy --

"Would you like to leave?" she asks, softer, feeling more suspicious of the room and its confines. "Come on. We can take a walk. Get some air."

<Pose Tracker> Jason R. Butler [D4] has posed.

Jason frowns deeply as Noriko 'takes control' of the situation. But he does little to dissuade her from going off to speak to Eien. He knows his work and he knows what he has to do. Instead, he just shakes his head slowly and looks back out the window thoughtfully. But then a moment passes and he sighs, deciding that he really should take some responsibility.

So he makes his way through the crowd, picking up another pastry and eating it along the way as he keeps an eye out on the other winners. Some of them seem quite disturbed but it looks like the potential lover's quarrel isn't going to happen. That's good news at least.

The American seems to almost loom behind Katsuya's young intern. "I think, Hisakawa-san," he begins, "That Seida-san is right. This is neither the time nor the place to talk about this. Only a few people have left, namely the winners. I can't say I blame them for wanting to leave." He kind of wants to as well. He looks to Miwa and offers her a faint smile. "You're not interrupting anything miss. Congratulations by the way. I look forward to reading your entry when I have the time."

<Pose Tracker> Kyo Enda [U] has posed.

Kyo similarly doesn't notice any glances thrown his way, worried or otherwise. He just leans his face into Yisa's touch a few moments, eyes closing as if seeking some grounding, and pushes a breath out to try to dispel those strange feelings.

They dissipate, eventually, but that sense of unease doesn't. He thinks briefly about leaving his folder and the story within it behind, but the moment he does, an equally strong compulsion begs him not to. It's his, after all. It was meant to come to him. No, those feelings must have been related to something else. Maybe something about this place. The lights that went out, after all. Maybe there's just something strange about this shop.

His eyes reopen when her touch pulls away. It leaves him feeling a little empty again, and he fidgets restlessly against that familiar gnawing. Yisa seems surprised by how he puts things, and dimly Kyo can understand /why/, but... he can't think of any more accurate way to put it.

Yeah," he eventually says. "Let's go. I don't--" Feel like this place is safe for you. He doesn't say it, because he knows she'll just get huffy about it. "I think it's over, anyway," he says instead. And-- perhaps to Miwa's final relief-- he takes Yisa's arm again to leave.

<Pose Tracker> Miwa Saitou [DS] has posed.

"In that case, I really appreciate it." She ducks her head, in a shallow bit of a bow. "It's such a cold night outside, anyway... You'll have some too, right? I wouldn't want to trouble you just so I can have tea..." Once again, she glances down at the papers in her hands. "Oh, did you? Then, I look forward to reading them, too." Occult overtones, she wonders what they could be.

"--Are you all right?" she asks, concerned as Eien takes a bit of a knock to her leg.

Glancing between Noriko and Eien, Miwa ultimately shakes her head. Well, she can ask Eien more about it later. It might have something to do with the weird feeling she had--all of the weird feelings she had. She still feels uneasy, but...

It's an unfortunate statement on the history of her experiences that 'sensing something creepy' isn't quite the anomaly it should be for Miss Saitou.

And there are more pressing things at hand, such as Eien's professed 'condition'. "Do you? Um, perhaps this is a little forward, but if you're not feeling well, I could make tea for the both of us instead? That way, you could sit down." Had Eien been about to faint back there. "Oh, um, maybe you should eat something too...?" Miwa fusses aloud, glancing at the table. There's certainly enough here to tend to someone with low blood sugar, or something like that. "--Oh, hello there," she says, glancing up--and she sure does have to look up--at Jason. "I'm not? Oh, then that's a relief. ...Are you acquainted with Seida-san?"

He speaks. 'I look forward to reading your...'

Miwa blinks, a fraction of a second passing before she recalls a certain part of what she wrote. And flushes faintly. "O-oh... um, yes, I hope you..."

She wouldn't have written a romance section if she'd known that some big American was going to read it! "W-would you like me to get you something, Seida-san?" she stammers, turning away from Jason.

Moments later, timed exactly with Kyo and Yisa's exit, Miwa relaxes slightly.

Logs: Once Upon a A Time

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