believe in another day, live another day

[wantsnudes]

Who: Yusuke Kitagawa and open
What: Local artist/Phantom Thief keeps his mind off his problems by staying busy. Results are mixed.
Where: Various
When: After this, early-mid August
Warnings: tbd

i. DRAWING

Yusuke's latest artistic endeavour has turned his attention to the clinic, and at Kate's request, he's been taking his time to try out different designs for what might be a mural to decorate its walls, as well as smaller designs for inside the building. Yet he's getting frustrated: his mind is elsewhere completely, and so anything he draws keeps appearing dull, uninspired, or just technically bad.

Which is why one might find him sitting outside the clinic, angrily muttering at his sketchbook, scribbling out drawings he's found some minor flaw with, or else tearing out pages altogether and throwing them aside in frustration with an angry, "This is unacceptable!"


ii. TRAINING

In the late evening is Yusuke's favourite time to train. With most people asleep, it's the best time to adorn his Phantom Thief attire as Fox. He has a set obstacle course he rehearses along the cliffs, leaping from rock to rock with almost unnatural agility, pausing to crouch to hide from imaginary foes, moving and hiding so effectively sometimes that he appears more like a dark blur melding from shadow to shadow.

Other parts of his training are sword drills: using his katana, he practises unsheathing and sheathing his blade in one single, fluid stroke, repeating the motion over and over with gracefully precise movements. Then he moves on to overhead slashes, or drawing his blade from defensive crouching positions. He spends a few minutes on each kata, until he's satisfied, before moving on.

Just when he wants to move on to practicing with his Persona, however, he feels like there are eyes on him nearby. He doesn't call on Goemon just yet, scanning around the dark shapes of the rocks and plants nearby for any observers. Is someone there?


iii. STARGAZING

Having redirected his pent-up emotions into training, Yusuke pulls off his kitsune mask, finds the nearest stretch of beach, and rolls over onto his back to gaze up at the stars. It's beautiful here, and a sight he won't tire of after those long months cooped up in the cave, or the brutal days and pitifully short nights of the desert planet. Yet the constellations are different from home, and he hasn't spent enough time out here yet to be able to chart them from memory.

Perhaps he could draw them? He also wants to draw the way the stark moonlight strikes the beach, the waves against the cliffs, crashing against the rocks...

Exhausted, Yusuke closes his eyes. Lulled by the sounds around him, he soon dozes off.

Comments

II

[hoperulesdespairdrools]

There are definitely eyes on Yusuke. Not harmful ones as such. Just a friend completely admiring how you are summoning that Persona. Don't mind him. He's just watching and admiring your skills. Not realising the way he's doing so might come off as suspicious.

[wantsnudes]

"Who's there--?" Fox freezes in his tracks when he realises with a start that the person watching him is Komaeda, of all people. Does he recognise him as Yusuke in turn? Or is he just watching him with the curiosity that he might have for any stranger? He hesitates, waiting for the other boy's reaction before deciding what course of action to take.

[hoperulesdespairdrools]

"Ah....my apologies, Yusuke-kun. Have I caught you at a bad time? I could leave if I'm disturbing you." It was pretty obvious who this boy in the mask was by now. However, it just made Komaeda become more interested in Yusuke. Could he have another special talent as well? Or were his art skills part of some special power? Either way, Komaeda was incredibly curious.

[wantsnudes]

If his expression were fully visible, Komaeda might have seen Yusuke turn an even paler shade than usual. He swallows.

"Um... How long have you been watching, exactly?" In other words: how much weirdness does he need to try and explain?

[hoperulesdespairdrools]

"Well, about ten minutes, give or take." And, because he could not stop himself, Komaeda continued. "Have you always been able to do that? Is it another special talent of yours aside from your artwork? Is the getup part of it?" Komaeda's eyes lit up and he sounded more excited as he continued. This was far more important than Yusuke being shocked at his Phantom Thief identity being discovered.

[wantsnudes]

"That's... No, it's not a talent," Yusuke says weakly, racking his brains. There's no way he can think of to possibly get out of this now he's been spotted...

"Let's find somewhere to sit, and I will explain as much as I can. I owe you that much."

drawing

[puzzlingly]

Hey, no littering here, man-- Atem picks up one of those discarded pieces of paper when he's about to enter the Clinic, the other seems actually very angry, surely something with this drawing must be awful--

it is not!

"Ah...!" Atem's eyes widen and seem to shine a little at the view. What is going on here?

"This is amazing, what is wrong with it?"

It's absolutely stunning! Also, please, do not waste the little paper you have!

[wantsnudes]

The drawings are simple, yet finely detailed sketches of nature -- landscapes, silhouettes of leaves, other plants and trees -- that Yusuke had considered adding to the interior of the clinic. But being in a bad mood, he's been getting frustrated with his drawings for even the most minor of imperfections, which might seem unnoticeable to an average onlooker but ruin the drawing for an artist's eye like Yusuke's.

"Please don't look at that!" Yusuke says, quickly getting to his feet. "I didn't abandon those drawings simply for people to pick up and gawk at."

[puzzlingly]

Someone is in bad mood alright! But Atem keeps the drawing close to him anyway, he's not exactly intimidated by this guy.

"I think that's exactly the definition of abandoning. You no longer want it. So I'll probably gonna keep it."

He might honestly be just trolling the other young man, but he did "abandon" it.

"Do you think it'd look good in my living room"

[wantsnudes]

"How ridiculous..." Yusuke grits his teeth, hands balling into fists. Yet he knows when he's being baited, so even though he'd like for nothing more than to snatch the scrunched-up drawing back, he won't fall for it. Instead, he tries to maintain some semblance of dignity by sitting down in a huff.

"Ugly drawings deserve only ugly rooms," he says sulkily, picking up his pencil again. "If that's all you wanted, please leave. You're distracting me."

[puzzlingly]

Oh man, this is not okay. Alright, let's start over, the least he wants is a useless grudge from some guy who cannot appreciate their own art. Maybe the distraction is exactly what he needs.

Atem does not leave, in fact, picks up the rest of the drawings admiring them a little before putting them all together. If this guy doesn't want them, he'll keep them, but only for a while until the other may want them back, in a future, maybe.

He simply observes at the other struggling with his pencil and his doodles for a little moment before he speaks again.

"Are you okay?" His voice is less full of sass and a bit more gentle. It's clear the other is not, and for as much as Atem needs to stop getting too emphatic with people and getting himself hurt in the process, it's his part of his nature to simply care.

[wantsnudes]

Yusuke looks for a second as though another scathing remark is on the tip of his tongue, but he manages to rein himself in before he says it. The other boy seems to be asking not to torment him, but from a place of genuine concern. He sets his pencil down again.

"I'm having difficulties with my art, which is not helped in the least by being interrupted."

...Okay, so he can still be a little scathing.

iii; early august.

[circumitus]

Between the cave and the short nights at the desert planet, the brief glimpses of sky between the overcast days is something Rey doesn't take for granted. She's always loved the stars. Learned about the many constellations back on her world. These alien skies might not reflect those same shapes drawn across the universe Rey is familiar with, but she's committed them to memory for now.

She can't sleep. When she can't sleep, she leaves the Speakeasy and takes a walk. Sometimes she even gets on one of those boats and treks between islands. Even though she can't get very far on these waters, it can be comforting to row a little farther from land.

This time, she makes her way through the darker corners of the city. Before long, she stumbles upon a kid falling asleep on a bench. Normally she would keep walking; it's none of her business. Her involvement with the Guard is passive at best, so she is under no obligation to look out for people. This is different, though.

"Not a very safe place to take a nap, don't you think?" Rey eventually asks, once she's slowed to a stop. Okay, she's doing this now.

Chilly as it is, she doesn't shiver, not even when wearing the lack of layers over her sleeveless tops. The icy breeze carrying from the ocean sighs across the landscape, but she isn't cold... Heat just about radiates from her skin.

[wantsnudes]

Yusuke stirs at the voice, eyes blinking open sleepily. First he sees the sight he'd fallen asleep to -- the stars overhead -- but didn't he just hear a voice nearby...

He looks around and picks out Rey, rubbing his eyes as she swims into focus.

"I wasn't napping," he quickly insists. "I was looking at the night sky." Besides which, he has his katana still with him to defend himself, right? He's... probably fine...

[circumitus]

Once he's awake and cognizant of Rey's presence, she approaches a few paces more. Not being someone who appreciates people sneaking up behind her in general, she knows better than to surprise people in their sleep as well.

"Looking at it through the back of your eyelids?" She cocks a brow. "That's impressive."

[wantsnudes]

"I closed my eyes for mere seconds." Or at least, that's what it felt like, but he feels groggy enough that it's impossible to tell. He sits up, squinting up at the sky again, as if gauging from the stars and the moon just how much time had really passed.

"What time is it?"

[circumitus]

Time for you to get a fucking watch, she almost says, but instead Rey just huffs as she pulls out her phone to check the clock. She doesn't often keep track of the time itself so much as the light of day, probably because the previous planet threw off her internal clock so badly.

"About midnight."

She'd ask what he's doing out this late, but one could ask the same about Rey, herself.

ii because i want her to meet fox huffs

[dedikated]

She prefers the day, honestly, but there are only so many hours one can use, and a lot of it is given over to various tasks for the clinic, or for her attempts to analyse the door (day who the fuck knows, still nothing. She's impatient to get the expeditions underway). But today, Kate isn't looking to train, only to get to the port and find a boat.

Or, at least, that was the plan until she sees a blur of darkness hopping between rocks, something she can't quite identify in the low light of oncoming night. Her eyes narrow, but even allowing her powers to flare up - a bright spot on one of the rooftops nearest the shore - doesn't reveal anything yet.

Which doesn't mean much when there's so many reasons she might not be able to see a power. A thousand worlds, people with and without powers who are capable of feats that seem almost too amazing to be natural. She waits, watching, slowly making her way closer with a stealth she hasn't used in years. Watches through a series of blade movements - which, honestly, are very good - but she's still no closer to identifying the person holding the blade, despite the rather distinctive outfit.

"Not bad," she calls, as the figure stops and seems to look around, slipping out from behind a rock with a nod of her head in greeting.

[wantsnudes]

Fox might not have the sixth sense Joker does, but as he goes through his training routine, he does start to have the uncanny feeling of being watched. Yet no matter how many times he glances around, thinks he might catch something from the corner of his eye, he can't see anyone around him. He puts it down to paranoia -- at least, until Kate reveals herself, proving his instinct exactly right.

"Thank you," he says, sheathing his blade in a fluid movement. Kate's not a threat, even if she may not recognise him. "But I don't recall inviting an audience."

[dedikated]

In all fairness, she hadn't intended to be an audience. Though that excuse may have stopped working after the fifteenth minute stood watching the stranger (but isn't there something familiar about this person, even if she can't quite put her finger on it in the low light). Arms fold around herself casually, lips twitching as she steps closer.

"Making sure y'weren't a threat," she replies. After all, a blur around the shore could be who fucking knows what from the depths, some water-capable monster from the Colosseum that's re-emerged. Or worse. "Guess not." After all, if he was, she wouldn't just be talking right now, would she?

[wantsnudes]

"Not to you," he replies, which could be seen as anything but assuring. "Although it pays to be vigilant, with some of the individuals who lurk around these islands."

Like the one who's spurred him to keep training harder than ever in this place -- and Fox imagines Kate has been around long enough to know exactly who he could be alluding to.

[dedikated]

Her head tilts. Not to her, indeed. He's good, but she's reasonably sure she could hold her own. There's been countless monsters in this city, and even more back home, and she's survived all but one of them.

Perhaps it's good fortune, but Kate has yet to attract the attention of the local psycho. If anything, she's repelled it by virtue of being Too Stoic To Live. And her own affairs have kept her from hearing too much of that gossip.

But all the same. It's Hadriel, and what has been said once before still stands: this place attracts chaos and evil. "That what worries you?" The people, rather than the monsters?

II

[stealyoursoul]

Indeed, there is someone watching him. Someone with eyes the same dark blue as a sky turning from day into the deep blue of night. Leo hardly ever sleeps for more than a handful of hours at a time. It's long ingrained years of habit, always being woken up to deal with a problem before he'd really settled in. Combine that with the natural Sunai tendency to have nightmares while they slept and Leo was rarely rested.

So instead he walks around at night, purposefully avoiding the water as much as he can. The ocean is a source of fear for him. When he sees Yusuke, he stops wandering, and instead watches him swinging the sword for a while. It's graceful in the way he's never been. Sunai are monsters more of a brute force than any great skill. The only thing that could be said to be graceful about them are their songs.

[wantsnudes]

Fox hadn't expected to be interrupted by someone coming to watch, and as soon as he notices Leo, he stops practicing, sheathing his sword and looking tense -- from his body language, even if his face isn't visible. How much had he seen, and would it be worth making a getaway...? No, perhaps that would only seem more suspicious.

After a moment's deliberation, he settles for asking: "Do you need something?"

[stealyoursoul]

Leo shrugs. Man, people around here sure had the tendency to get testy. They all really needed to learn how to relax. Or at least not mind when Leo was being an annoying, nosy Sunai, and not caring about the boundaries of others at all. "What? Is just watching people illegal now?"

Sorry, Fox. He's abrasive and rude even at the best of times.