[ closed ]

[amberhearted]

Who: Alex and Hajime, John M, Julien, Lyall
When: December 2-4
What: A hodgepodge of apologies, specs, commiseration and checking in.
Where: Various!
Warnings: None atm.

[ text, private to john, 12/2 late evening ]
Hey I'm back! How are you and Anthony

[ text, private to julien, 12/4 ]
Hey man I got the goggles is the bird house still standing

[ text, private to lyall ]
Hey handy Randy man what's this about wwm 2013? Wwm=werewolf wrestle mania BTW

Seriously though how are you? How's your furniture

[ action, closed to hajime, 12/3, before the earthquake ]
This was the moment of truth.

Okay, so entering Aikawa's wasn't as monumental as that opening liner indicated, but it made Alex a little uncomfortable as he approached the counter. He came at a specific time, hoping to catch Hajime at a dead hour, and was rewarded for his forward thinking. The place was indeed operating on the slow side.

When asked for his order, he instead asked to speak with Hajime at his earliest convenience, and then took a seat in one of the waiting chairs. With a small cooler beneath his seat, he whittled away the time on his phone, knee bouncing restlessly.

Comments

[Texted]

[espigeonage]

Hello to you too! Birds are fine and so am I. [as if he'd say he wasn't fine] You?

[Texted]

[amberhearted]

Peachy as anyone can be in this depressing weather :-) You still interested in trying them out?

[ text ]

[allinvein]

Hey, welcome back! How was your trip?

The move is finally over, so you'll have to swing by to visit sometime, yeah?

[This half of the text comes a while later, like John hadn't even wanted to bring it up. Still, if there's anyone who can understand what he's going through right now...]

It happened by the way.

[ text ]

[amberhearted]

It was good! Yeah I'll drop by for sure

[ then what. ]

What happened

[ LOT OF BAD SCENARIOS HERE, gotta get the real picture before hitting maximum worry levels. might not even be bad (it's totally bad) (please don't let it be bad). ]

[espigeonage]

lol. I kinda like the cold! But the days are way too short.

Absolutely! You gotta time and place?

[amberhearted]

Way too short! I don't see enough sunlight as it is

I'm free all day today I can meet you wherever

[espigeonage]

It's making things inconvenient for me. Definitely like to see if new ninja-me can manage weird headgear without getting stared at lol.

If you come out over to the bird house when it's getting dark, like at 5, that could work. Then if it doesn't work you gotta take me and my bike back.

[amberhearted]

That'd be magic pure and simple. Ninja magic. Ninjules magic

[ i'm sorry for him. ]

Works for me! Need anything heavy dropped off like bird seed or something? I can take the payment after

[espigeonage]

Idk, I kind of prefer Midtwenties Mutant Ninja Julien. Comes with a bandana.

Sure sure! There's a feed store on 26th I've been going to. I've been getting the bulkup mix. And large things of water, I always need those.

[allinvein]

[Well, this reply comes very quickly, like John's been desperate to talk to someone about this.]

I'm like you now. And, Christ, Alex, I'm so fucking hungry. All the damn time.

It doesn't matter what I eat or how much I eat. It doesn't go away.

[amberhearted]

That is a mouthful

Got it I'll see you then

[ action ]
[ it's approaching five pm when alex rolls up to the house. he assumes julien will recognize his truck so he doesn't bother alerting him about his arrival. hopping out, he pulls down the tailgate and starts unloading the birdie supplies. ]

[amberhearted]

[ alex stares at his iphone's screen in dismay. the sad thing is john doesn't even know how accurate he is-- "i'm like you now."

"it doesn't go away." ]

What did you eat? You tried blood? I'll drop by now is that okay with you

[espigeonage]

Yeah too bad I'm not a teenager!

[It's getting gloomy out, but it isn't at the point where Julien is blind, yet, he just can't see color very well. Colors still show to human eyes. A small, dusty-looking motorcycle is leaning against a tree with a helmet hanging off the handlebars.

Julien saw Alex's truck and... was mostly but not entirely sure, so he slipped out the back and circled around, keeping a little distance. Julien's stealth is an odd thing. It's not invisibility or camouflage, but it helps that he moves noiselessly and smoothly, and that he's dressed in the unstylish kind of clothes he wears when getting dirty is inevitable. He's just... unremarkable, very hard to notice when someone isn't looking for him.

But, soon enough he does see that this is Alex, and breaks the "spell" by speaking.]

Oh, nice. Thanks! I keep thinking I'll borrow Strider or his truck to get bulk stuff, but somehow I never do.

[amberhearted]

Hey, yeah, man, I know how it goes. [ procrastination wasn't one of his major vices, but he wasn't innocent of it.

he throws the birdseed over his shoulder and picks up one of the jugs of water, leaving the other two for julien to grab. ]

I'll follow you, yeah? Got the goggles in the backseat. I'll get 'em after.

[espigeonage]

Oof. Sure, sure.

[The door stuff wasn't finished before the builders left, Julien can and does just foot it open. It's darker inside thanks to a lack of power, and nothing tries to escape this time. There's sleepy cooing going on along the walls. Julien puts the water down cautiously.]

I brought a camp lantern thing that helps, but the battery was dying, so.

[chalicejoker]

Hajime was getting used to having people suddenly ask for him at the restaurant, and the best he'd managed to tell the staff--because most of them were family, and family knew when you were lying--was that he was trying to work a bit more on his freelance photography. Meeting with clients was just a thing that happened very unsuspiciously because of that, right?

He still wasn't sleeping too well thanks to his reaction to having lost control enough to let loose a couple of werewolves, and he looked tired. Still, he was doing better than he'd been when Lyall and Bakura had shown up to pry him out of his apartment. He was also rather surprised to see Alex there. "Oh, hey, haven't seen you in a while...how've things been?"

[amberhearted]

[ alex can see just fine. night vision was one of the slim positives in his array of echoes (though sometimes he saw things people did not mean for other people to see in the dark...)

he sets the water and birdseed in the same place. ]

Living life on the dangerous side, eh? Hold on, I'll be right back.

[ and indeed he returns with the goggles generation 1 night vision binoculars in question (because wow i just did a quick search on nv specs and $$$$, dang). he pops them out of their protective case, turns them on, and passes them off to julien. ]

They're pretty old, but they still work.

[amberhearted]

Dramatically terrible, yet possibly profitable if his experiences were transcribed and sold as young adult novels.

But then that probably went for a lot of the reincarnates.

"Things've been going," he said, smiling casually at Hajime. "Can we talk in the back?"

[espigeonage]

It's the only way to survive! Or something.

[One of the windows in here has been plywooded over, since it cracked during the explosions. At twilight the remaining windows let in enough that with his pupils entirely dilated Julien can at least make out the binoculars and figure out what to raise in front of his face.]

They're heavy... huh. [Julien peers around the room.] ...well, it's not a screen, I guess. Everything's grainy and stuff at the edges is all distorted. But I can see it. Huh!

[allinvein]

I haven't tried blood yet. I'm afraid of what might happen if I do, but nothing else works.

But yeah. Come on over.

[He almost adds, "And maybe you should bring some of your blood over, but he deletes it at the last moment. John tacks on his address instead.]

Oh, and I... Haven't actually told Anthony yet, but I'm pretty sure something he knows somethibg is wrong with me.

[amberhearted]

[ alex grins. ]

Awesome. You can use 'em, then. They take double A batteries. Can't remember how long they last, but--yeah! Oh.

[ he fishes in his back pocket for the feed store receipt and holds it out to him. he's still grinning, stoked about the binoculars' success. ]

Here's the receipt.

[espigeonage]

I can just start carrying batteries around... [Julien sounds distracted, peering over and back through the eyepieces.] Where'd you get these from, anyway? Army surplus?

Oh! Hah, thanks. [He takes it and brings the bit of paper close to the lens, then holds it out at arm's length, and close again.] ...hmm. I'll get this to you when we're in more light. [He fakes a chuckle.] I feel like someone's grandpa.

[amberhearted]

[ GOOD THINKING, JOHN. alex was too dismayed by the sudden admission of bloodlust to consider the fact that john and anthony would have a new address, even though john had just mentioned moving... ]

Okay I'm leaving now

[ he is legit throwing on a jacket, throwing a bag of frozen blood into a grocery bag, grabbing his keys and leaving within minutes after sending the text.

he tries to keep a level head on the drive there. he's moderately successful. after all, he's already worried about his own bloodlust -- his own burden on reilanin, who was providing relief from the full effects of that bloodlust -- how he'd manage it in the long-run -- if it even is manageable in the long-run -- and now, another. another vampire who might, might need human blood.

god, he hopes not, though.

he goes through whatever needs to be done to get into the apartment complex with false amiability that drops the moment he meets john in person. ]

Hey. [ his grip tightens on the bag. ] Where's Anthony?

[ 'where's anthony in the apartment' he means, since, well... it's unlikely he'd be outside of it. ]

[amberhearted]

[ he waves his hand. ] Yeah, that's fine. I got them from, uh... Was it Dick's Sporting Goods? I think so.

[ he folds his arms across his chest and shifts his weight. ] They've gotta be, like, almost ten years old or thereabouts. I was surprised they still worked.

[ he sweeps a cursory glance over the birds, then turns to julien again. ]

You want a ride back? I don't mind.

[espigeonage]

Yeah... well, we've got enough techies around I can probably find one if they stop working. Thank you.

[Julien lowers them and blinks his inner eyelids rapidly. He suspects that using the binoculars for too long will get him a headache. Still. Still, it's a lot better than basically going blind in low light.]

[The birds, most of them, are puffed up and asleep, though some dark eyes are open and glinting, and a few are complaining.]

Please! Hah, I don't trust myself on my bike with these. Maybe with practice. Think you can get it in the back? I bought it a week ago.