[BitP:R] Mortal World

[Steilos]

Henry raises an eyebrow as his world goes pink. Turning around, he cautiously raises a hand to the...well, stuff. It felt completely and unqestionably solid. Bugger.
Taking his truncheon out, Henry grips it in both hands, and swings it full force at the barrier. There is a loud donk as the turncheon rebounds and takes his hat off his head as it whips back. "Bloody hell." Henry remarked, quite indifferently for a man trapped in PINK CUBE HELL.. Crossing his arms, he lights a cigarette and waits patiently for the wall to weaken. Well, that's what he's assuming anyway. Occassionally, he gives it a half hearted tap.

[Terry576]

Sora hears his phone ringing. His ringtone will probably scare the crap out of everyone in a twenty foot radius.

"PICK UP THE GODDAMNED PHONE YOU LAZY SONOFA-"

Sora flips open his phone, and puts it up to his ear, but not before looking at the ghost hungrily.

"Excuse me for one second. Hello, Namikaze Sora here, who is this?"

[horngeek]

"Hey, Sora."

Izumi then explains what happened at the cafe... "And now Val's invited me over to her house, said I could let friends know as well."

[Terry576]

Sora grins.

"So, we're going to a party? That sounds fun. Any idea when it is?"

He keeps glancing at the spirit, and the hunger is his eyes continues to show.

[Steilos]

Henry turns as the paramedic speaks, having just made a fool of himself.
"Go ahead. I was not planning to question her yet anyway."
As the bemused paramedics hurry off, Henry makes a wild guess at why the paramedics were freed and gestures to the woman, pointing at the pinkness and coughing slightly.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Aki continued to hide. She cared very little about the medium abusing her powers. Not Aki's problems. Her family didn't think policing Mediums was their job, though she had heard of Quincy's who felt that way. The suited woman was her concern.

[horngeek]

"Kaito and whoever he invites... and I'm going to see if any of the girls want to go.

Oh, and bring a swimsuit, there's a pool there."

[Terry576]

"A pool? That sounds like fun. Alright, talk to you later Izumi, I've got some stuff to take care of."

Sora hangs up the phone, and looks up at the Angry Janitor.

"Soooo... You know you're dead right?"

[Frozen_Feet]

[Alley]

The woman gives an amused look at the pink barrier, and gives Henry a knowing wink. "Don't worry... things will get better", she says wearily as she's being carried off. "These things never last for long... once she's far it'll all be okay..."

Her voice trails off as she's lifted to the ambulance. The medics give each other a puzzled look, then nod knowingly to each other - clearly, shock and bloodloss have made the woman delirious.

[Cemetery]

"Aye", Souta's ghost answers. "Kinda figur'd it out as they stuff'd me in da coffin. Dat funny, really, watchin' mah own funeral. *Sniff* Sush a pwetty lil' party... even mah boy wuz there... *sneeze*"

"Sorree. I get kinda soppy when Ah think aboot it. So... ye really ain't got any fire? Matches? Lighter? Nuttin'? Ahm dying to 'ave a smoke 'ere..."

[Tackyhillbillu]

Aki - Alleyway

Aki trails after the woman, intent on not letting her go. She was going to solve this mystery if it... she elected to not finish that sentence. She waved at the Officer.

"Having a spot of trouble? I'm sure it will come down eventually."

With that she took off after the ambulance, following it to the hospital.

[Rebonack]

[Graveyard]

The time at the park had been... pleasant to say the least. Quiet. Serene. Except for the ducks. Ducks are rarely quiet or serene. But at least they prove ever faithful as a good late afternoon distraction.

The Coat Man had felt a spiritual spike of power there, but in the end little materialized. Somewhere to watch if nothing else. A potential feeding ground. That school likewise... So much power bottled up there. Though sadly it will be rather difficult to simply walk onto campus in his present state. A new puppet might be in order...

Always time for that later.

As time is something he has in spades.

For now the cemetery will suffice. One more location to aquatint himself with. Because all too often predator and prey alike lurk in such places.

Case in point...

The pair conversing none too far away at this very moment.

Thankfully the Coat Man himself is quite inconspicuous. His spiritual presence is spread so thin that detection is rather unlikely. And the facade he hides behind could simply be little more than a mortal in need of a new coat. For now he feigns paying his respects at a nearby monument whilst keeping an eye on Ghost and not-Ghost alike.

[Terry576]

[Cemetery]

"Aye", Souta's ghost answers. "Kinda figur'd it out as they stuff'd me in da coffin. Dat funny, really, watchin' mah own funeral. *Sniff* Sush a pwetty lil' party... even mah boy wuz there... *sneeze*"

"Sorree. I get kinda soppy when Ah think aboot it. So... ye really ain't got any fire? Matches? Lighter? Nuttin'? Ahm dying to 'ave a smoke 'ere..."

Sora smiled, a real smile this time, and the hunger faded from his eyes.

Unreal... This ghost is fine with being dead, and he was happy watching his own funeral...

"Actually, I think I might..."

Sora starts to ruffle through his pockets, and, as if by magic, he pulls out a match.

"Found it! Here ya go."

He holds out the match to the ghost.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Cemetery]

"Errr...", the ghost replies, and tilts his head. "Whers da box? Ye know, cannae get fire without da box." He makes scraping motions withs his hands.

[Terry576]

Sora sighs.

"I'll use my shoes."

He lights the match on his shoe, and holds it out to the ghost again.

[strawberryman]

[Phone]

"Yes, yes, of course we do. Just say the day and specify any details you think might be important."

"Ah, good. Well, this Saturday, the address is..." Val carries on with the mundane details. "...oh, and, it's a pool party, so. Anything else?"

After his friend responds, Kaito will hang up. He takes a moment to start writing an email with the address, date, and time, before stopping as he realizes something.

He then takes a moment to text Val, asking if there's a timeframe for the party.

Val pauses as her phone indicates her getting a text.

"...hold on." She switches to speaker, writing out a text to Kaito.

Spoiler

Show

as erly as u can get here & as l8 as u can stay! c u there :)

[KnightDisciple]

Kaito's House

Kaito chuckled at the response.

Spoiler

Show

I'll shoot for 9am-ish, and tell the others the same.

He shut the phone with a sigh. It'd be nice to have Val's phone, but he'd survived this long on his. No point in wishing.

He plugged the time into the email, then shook his head. No point in delaying.

He dialed the phone number he had for Emi.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Cemetery]

"Oi! Thanks, fellar!" Souta tries to grab the lit match, but his fingers slip right through it. Afraid to try again, fearing he'll put out the fire, the ghost carefully leans forward, cigarette in mouth, bringing its tip to the flame.

Inexplicably enough, it lights up.

"Aaaaah!", the ghost exclaims, after taking a deep breath of really horrible smelling smoke and blowing it back right on Sora's face. "Yer a real lifesaver, kiddo. Dunno wut Ah would've done without ye."

"So, wassup. Think Ah 've seen ye in da school, am ah rite?"

[Draken]

Phone

"Yes, the hour of the party, we will have to arrive sooner to set everything up."

[Terry576]

[Cemetery]

"Oi! Thanks, fellar!" Souta tries to grab the lit match, but his fingers slip right through it. Afraid to try again, fearing he'll put out the fire, the ghost carefully leans forward, cigarette in mouth, bringing its tip to the flame.

Inexplicably enough, it lights up.

"Aaaaah!", the ghost exclaims, after taking a deep breath of really horrible smelling smoke and blowing it back right on Sora's face. "Yer a real lifesaver, kiddo. Dunno wut Ah would've done without ye."

"So, wassup. Think Ah 've seen ye in da school, am ah rite?"

Sora coughed a bit after the smoke hits his face, but nods at the question.

"Probably, I have gone there for three years."

He glances around, looking for something, due to a strange feeling he just had.

The feeling of being watched.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Cemetery]

"Oh? Then ye oughta remembah lil' ol' me!" Souta's ghost exclaims as cheerfully as the raspy voice of an old... well, dead, chainsmoker just can. "It's me, good ol' Mori! Used ta fix all th' thingies ye rascals broke in da school!"

Sora might remember him as the kind old janitor of the school. Well, also the smelly, dirty, loud, lecherous wreck-of-man janitor, but anyway. The old man is positively beaming at him. "Hey! Could ya do sumtin' 'boot dat chain? It's holding mah back, and thers so much work ta do..."

[Terry576]

Sora looked at the janitor, and shuffled nervously.

"Errr... I don't think that would be a good idea. That chain is a pretty useful thing, and I don't think that Principal Lucaster would appreciate having a ghost clean."

[strawberryman]

Valeria

"Hmmm... Well, I'd say come at noon or so." Valeria puts a finger on her lip. "That about right?" She idly types out another text to send to her mom.

Spoiler

Show

got sum caterers frm the cafe, ok?

[AmberVael]

[Emi's House]

Tick-tock-tock-tock, tick-tock-tock-tock-

The metronome sounds off a steady beat, and Emi reflexively takes a breath before starting to play the piano. As she continues to play, she frowns, because something sounds a bit off, but she can't quite place it. Frustrated, she stops to check the music more clearly, and then notices the source of the dissonance.

Her ringtone.

Emi quickly switches off the metronome and gets out her cellphone, a bit surprised that someone would be calling her. She notes the caller with a bit of puzzlement (how often did he call her, anyway?) and then answers.

"Hello?"

[KnightDisciple]

Kaito's House

"Emily Martin? It's Kaito. Watanabe Kaito. Our fathers work together, we've met a few times? Do you have a moment to talk?"

[AmberVael]

[Emi's House]

"Oh, hi Kaito."
Emi sits down on the piano bench, her back towards the piano.
"I'm not really doing anything important, so... go ahead."
Urgh. Something about that sounded wrong. The awkwardness she felt coiled up and settled in her stomach, and she bit her lip, hoping it wouldn't sound as bad to him as it did to her.

Maybe it would be better if she just relaxed. She needed to relax. Don't worry about it, just be cheerful. Emi keeps the thoughts running in the back of her head, but they don't seem to help much.

[KnightDisciple]

[Emi's House]

"Oh, hi Kaito."
Emi sits down on the piano bench, her back towards the piano.
"I'm not really doing anything important, so... go ahead."
Urgh. Something about that sounded wrong. The awkwardness she felt coiled up and settled in her stomach, and she bit her lip, hoping it wouldn't sound as bad to him as it did to her.

Maybe it would be better if she just relaxed. She needed to relax. Don't worry about it, just be cheerful. Emi keeps the thoughts running in the back of her head, but they don't seem to help much.

"Good, good. Listen. I was calling you because I got invited to a party. It's a newcomer to the town, and she wanted to have some people over, make some friends, that sort of thing. I figured I ought to see if you wanted to come, you know? It's Saturday, looks to be a most of the day part. Pool party, no less. I'll email you the details if you'd like. So..."

Kaito relaxed a bit. Emi wasn't really that bad. Kaito just grated under what he considered "forced socialization". He hoped the party setting would ease that tension.

[AmberVael]

[Emi's House]

Oh, good, he didn't seem awkward. That's good. Maybe she wasn't doing so bad at this.

A large party with a number of people she didn't know seemed a bit weird, but... she knew how it felt to be a newcomer. Partly out of a sense of obligation, a little out of desire to just forget her own fear and nervousness, Emi decides to go.
"Um, sure. Sounds fun. How many people are going to show up, you think?"

She gets up and heads to her computer, opening it up and checking for access as she waits for Kaito to reply.

[KnightDisciple]

[Emi's House]

Oh, good, he didn't seem awkward. That's good. Maybe she wasn't doing so bad at this.

A large party with a number of people she didn't know seemed a bit weird, but... she knew how it felt to be a newcomer. Partly out of a sense of obligation, a little out of desire to just forget her own fear and nervousness, Emi decides to go.
"Um, sure. Sounds fun. How many people are going to show up, you think?"

She gets up and heads to her computer, opening it up and checking for access as she waits for Kaito to reply.

Presumably Kaito has her address, at least now. He sends it off, and Nakahiro and Emi both receive it.

"Well, it was just myself and Hayashi Izumi that Valeria Abel invited. I'm only inviting you and Nakahiro; don't really know any others well enough I'd invite them. Not sure how many Izumi will invite, but I'd wager not a huge number. Maybe a dozen-ish total, if that? Real casual affair, one way or another."

[AmberVael]

[Emi's House]

"Oh, okay then."
Emi makes a note on her calendar.
"Was there anything else?"
Kind of abrupt way to end a call, hm? Sort of short? But Emi couldn't think of anything better... she didn't want to drag him off into a conversation he didn't want, either.

[KnightDisciple]

[Emi's House]

"Oh, okay then."
Emi makes a note on her calendar.
"Was there anything else?"
Kind of abrupt way to end a call, hm? Sort of short? But Emi couldn't think of anything better... she didn't want to drag him off into a conversation he didn't want, either.

"Um...not that I can think of. Right then. Have a good evening, Emi."

After her response, he hung up the call. It wasn't nearly what he'd feared, but still.

Nonetheless, there was a smile on his face as he thought about it. A party just before school started? Just the way to start the year off right.