the "p" doesn't stand for pretentious, FYI. [art gallery, may 6th—??? ]

[theearth]

[ Welcome to Locke's very own Taste de Louvre, everyone! Predictably, the unveiling of the new set of statues at the magnificent Hugh P. Thadson Gallery of Fine Art has turned out to be a rather fanciful affair. The upper echelon of snobby society, in their snobby society attire, has come to mingle amongst one another—and is endeavoring to ignore you, fair citizen, as much as possible—and discuss this fantastic addition to our city's fair culture.

The first statue is a touchingly metaphorical piece, the prominent carving of a snake coiled around a human heart that looks so real you can almost hear it beating within your ears. This statue appears to be the most popular; the crowds drawn around its base simply can't stop going on and on and on about how wondrous it is, along with the rest of the works on display tonight.

The second statue also depicts a snake, but has its blush-brushed scales cut dramatically open to display its own wicked black heart. The Thunder Corporation and its latest line of tacky memorabilia is the primary subject of discourse here.

The last statue is strikingly different from the other two, and features a wolf howling at the open sky,* dying in apparent agony with a sword driven through its chest. You get a distinctly unsettling impression from it that the other, ordinary folk don't seem to notice—that perhaps your adventure to meddle in recent affairs is ill-advised. Inscribed below the pained wolf's paw is a link of sorts to a peculiar forum that, when accessed, bears only the topic "Let's Negotiate" with the same message enclosed within. Strange, but since no one else is talking about it, you wonder if you can't have just imagined the whole ordeal... and yet stranger things have happened, right? Perhaps it's worth looking into, in any event.

There's plenty to do with the statues about and the gift shop buzzing, with lots of familiar faces to run into. So what's your agenda for the evening? ]

(( General mingling post for the plot as related to art gallery affairs! There will be base threads for OPEN INTERACTIONS, open to all as implied, CLOSED INTERACTIONS, for planned out one-on-one interactions between player characters, and a general purpose EVERYTHING ELSE, for characters who wish to explore the gift shop, just mull about. Just as a general reminder:

1) Touching one of the snake statues will grant you one (1) Echo, for two (2) Echoes max. However, touching a second statue will definitely arouse suspicion, so be prepared for that. One safe Echo, two potentially risky ones up for grabs here! No Echoes from touching the wolf statue, though, so slither your way towards the snakey-snakeys for those.

2) If you'd rather not touch the statues themselves, hanging around them for awhile -- about an hour or so -- will grant one (1) Echo.

3) Accessing the webforum will not grant an Echo, but posting a reply to it will. It will be possible to get a second during conversation, but as for how it happens... it's a secret to everybody!

4) Little statuettes are available for purchase in the gift shop, but do not grant an Echo themselves in any way.

You may also handwave the mingling NPCs being snobby snobs at you, just for fun. Because why not.

As before, please wait for all base threads to go up before posting. OPEN FOR BUSINESS! In your character's subthreads, please put your character's name, the day, and optionally the time you are visiting in the title so things remain nice and neat. Remember, open to all interactions in the open section and one-on-one time in the closed section. Everything else goes in Everything Else. This post will remain stickied throughout the entirety of the plot duration, for easy finding.

The plot post for this week, detailing about the art gallery and more, can be found here.

*This awesome picture drawn by our very lovely Lucas-mun! Thanks, MC! ]

Comments

[iaijutsu]

[He knows perfectly well that Souji has a point - it's not like he's ever been that good at hiding things from him. They know each other far too well for that.

He's managed to hide what happened with Toshi, though.

He straightens up a bit, one hand reaching up to smooth his hair, and his gaze drops again, avoiding Souji's.]

I just remembered something, that's all.

[deathcough]

[Souji makes a 'go on' hand motion as his gaze wanders back to the statues, feeling another stir of unease. He locks his eyes on the wolf statue, intent to try and stare it down]

Yeah? Anything good?

[iaijutsu]

[Good? He doesn't know. Bad? It didn't seem that way, at least, but...

...his mind keeps going back to Toshi dropping the glass. Toshi avoiding his gaze. Toshi telling him that he'd remembered him -]

...you were there.

[deathcough]

[He whips his head back around so hard his neck actually cracks. He has no time to think about it though before he remembers, vividly, the memory he got touching the statue that one day.]

...Oh? [He's proud to say his voice didn't squeak quite as badly as he thought it would have] What... What happened?

[iaijutsu]

[Despite the fact that he isn't looking at Souji, he catches that sudden shift, and looks up. That all but seems like confirmation. Souji remembers...something.

Something.

But what?]

...we were out somewhere. Drinking. You were looking at me, and...

[deathcough]

I always look at you. [It's said on a mumble, a tad nervously and he rubs the back of his neck.]

At least we were the legal drinking age then, that tells us something. [A pause] And?

[iaijutsu]

There was another man there. I don't know who he was, but he seemed...important.

[...god, there's no way to say this that doesn't sound a little iffy.]

He was...commenting that it was strange of you to stare at a man like that when we were in a red light district.

[The most confusing part of this memory for Hajime may not be that Souji was staring at him so much as the part where Hajime was in a red light district.]

[deathcough]

[Souji honestly isn't sure which part of this he should be focusing on] Another man--

Did he call me gay I don't--

Why were we in a red light district. [what is this he doesn't even] We weren't prostitutes were we?

[iaijutsu]

[god souji he fucking can't with you -]

No, we weren't. I think we were just there to drink.

...I think.

[See? This is stupid and awkward and he shouldn't have brought it up.]

[deathcough]

You think. [He echoes him deadpanned.]

Great, we were probably hookers in a past life. This explains a lot. [Except not at all. He runs a hand through his hair, only half-joking about his belief in this.]

One day I hope we'll et memories that actually have context with them so they're not awkward as hell.

[iaijutsu]

...we weren't prostitutes.

[His voice is quiet.

If they were, they were very unusual hookers. Who...spied on people?

Who killed people.]

[deathcough]

You say that until you start remembering fucking someone.

[He says it a little too loud and there are some incredulous stares, but Souji just grins nastily and snorts as he turns his attention back to Hajime.]

...What about the two of us? Were we getting along or... something? Anything unusual?

[iaijutsu]

[Oh my god, Souji, why can't he take you anywhere. He turns red and becomes very interested in some painting on the wall of - he hasn't even noticed what it's of.

And the two of us comes just soon enough after fucking someone that he's probably not going to stop blushing for a good few minutes, at this rate.]

- we were. I don't know. We were just drinking.

[Under other circumstances, he would've asked why it was important, or if Souji had expected them to doing something unusual in particular.

At this moment, though?

His delicate sensibilities aren't ready to go there.]

[deathcough]

[Souji lets out a sigh of relief.]

Did we have swords on us? What time was it? [Maybe he can take advantage of Saitou's blind embarrassment to get answers without rousing the need to ask questions on why Souji was asking like this. And maybe he can try and piece together some sort of timeline.]

[iaijutsu]

[At least that gives him something to think about that isn't how hideously embarrassed he is. The details are all there, even if they weren't what he was focused on when it came to mind -]

...short blades only, I think. Not as long as I...feel like I should've been using, that time before.

[Even as quiet as he's keeping this, he doesn't really want to be like HEY WEREWOLF HUNTS in a crowded room, okay.]

It was at night, but I don't think I could get any more specific than that.

[deathcough]

[He side-glances Hajime, noting the censorship even though he understands why.]

Ah. That's fine then... [Well maybe this was long before that battle then. Maybe. Ugh, he can hope.]

This whole thing is nothing but trouble. [Siiiggh]

[iaijutsu]

...what have you remembered, Souji?

[He's not sure he wants to know the answer.]

[deathcough]

[He runs a hand through his hair and sighs, staring down at the ground as he scuffs his shoe against the tile]

...I was trying to kill you. At least, that's what I'm pretty sure I was doing. We had swords and I was going for you like I wanted to kill you.

[iaijutsu]

[It's not the same kind of unpleasant as what Toshi told him, at least.

He's not sure if this is better or worse.]

...I see.

[But Hajime is Hajime, and as much as he's prone to bickering with Souji over the small, petty things...when it comes to the bigger things, he rarely judges, and so his voice is quiet. Neutral.]

[deathcough]

[He grins lightly and nudges Hajime's shoulder, trying to be playful. It's not like he just told him that he tried to kill you once right??]

Hey, don't worry! I won't be killing you any time soon! Unless you decide to stop cooking for me, but that's a murder they'd let me get away with if they knew how good your cooking was.

[iaijutsu]

If I stopped cooking for you I don't trust that you'd eat anything that isn't instant.

[If he ate at all.]

[deathcough]

[He laughs loudly and throws his arm around Hajime's shoulders, pulling him in close.]

Who needs a wife when I have you, Hajime? You spoil me! At this rte I might turn into some kind of brat.

[iaijutsu]

[Is this going to turn into another noogie? He can't help but be deeply suspicious.

...though not suspicious enough to actually try and get out of it, really. Because for all that he'll bicker with Souji and tell him to stop doing dumb shit and try to behave himself, things would be awfully empty without Souji to stir shit up.]

I'm sure there are some who would argue that you already have.