[OPEN] CATCHALL 🐈 AUGUST

[nyanxiety]

WHO 🐾 Nansen Ichimonji and you!
WHAT 🐾 Naps, the joys of modernity, and suspicious auras! A mix of open/closed prompts for Nansen's arrival.
WHERE 🐾 Everywhere!
WHEN 🐾 From mid-August onward
WARNINGS 🐾 probably not, will add if they come up!


01 🐾 Napping Nuisance

[You're passing through a park, you're dipping into the local pizza shop, you're down at the laundromat. You might be anywhere in the city when you see him-- curled up in a patch of grass, tucked away in a booth seat, draped over a diner countertop or sprawled over a warm dryer. This guy sure does seem to be able to fall asleep anywhere- though it's not always in the safest of places.]

[If you're nearby him long enough, he might eventually lift his head with a huge, sleepy yawn] Nnnnyyyaaaaaaaaaaaoh... [You're the first thing he sees.]

... Huh? How did I get here...?

[(Feel free to wildcard in your own locations here, too! Nansen will probably break and enter unlocked/unattended apartments to nap there too if he can, if you'd like to have a mostly harmless intruder in your claimed home.)]



02 🐾 Modern Marketing Marvels

[Nansen remembers this time period just fine, but most of it was spent cooped up in a glass museum case- which meant he got to see a lot of people, and not much else.]

[He knows what things like telephones and street lamps are, but it's things like lit television screens splashing ads across them in the downtown areas that has him stop and stare as if transfixed, wide golden eyes reflecting their contents. Bright. Flashy. Even if the "ads" seem as oddly nameless and nondescript as the rest of this city.]

[You're probably just minding your business passing by when you see him with his nose pressed against the screen, but you might be unlucky enough that he nearly pounces on you to tug at your arm, pointing excitedly at the advertisements.]

Th-that colorful, bright thing! Where do I get that, nya!? [Insert your own products being advertised here! It's probably food/candy.]



03 🐾 Sniffing Around (Open to any characters who ping as having spiritual or time-related power!)

[Every time irregularity had to have a source, right? When they'd finally found their escape out of the Abandoned Sakuradamon Incident timeline, the source of the tear had been the spot where the old man and Yoshida Shoin had unexpectedly met.]

[So then, if this world had been abandoned too, where was the source?]

[Nansen still isn't sure if that's what's going on here, but he's been doing his best to wander around the city and use what fuzzy senses he has to try and seek out spots where something might be off. Trouble is, he's not really finding any places that feel off... But there sure are a lot of funny-smelling people around here.]

[Which is how you now have an intrusive blond man squinting at you from very suddenly close up- looking you up and down, circling you, and generally acting like a prowling cat.]

Mmrow. You're kinda...... weird.

[Wow, very judgmental.]



---
[Hit me up for any plotting over at kitsoru or my OOC intro here!]
[Spiritual permissions: characters with spiritual senses will get a ping from him. Let me know how much your character can sense right now and I'll give you an idea of what they can read!]

Comments

CLOSED to Tsurumaru Kuninaga

[nyanxiety]

[It's been a few weeks since they'd found this apartment to turn into their "citadel".... or at least, a base of operations. It couldn't really be a citadel without a sage, could it? Even with this tower that rose high into the sky, higher than any castle keep he'd ever seen. Nansen's been scarce since then, or better yet outright missing. That Tsurumaru guy was said to be pretty flighty too, though, so hopefully he won't be too mad about it, Nansen thinks as he rides the elevator back up to their chosen spot.]

[(It's fun every time! ...He hopes he pressed the right floor. It'd been '7' for auspiciousness, right?)]

[Stepping out and taking three long strides down the hall, he turns to his left and blinks, pressing his ear against the door to listen, and then slowly turning the handle to poke his fluffy head inside and glance around.]

[...]

[He slips inside, one shoulder after the other.]

Umnn.... Captain?? Was this the right place, nya....?

Napping Nuisance

[blackabyss]

[Fumikage sees the sleeping man at the laundromat, and actually tries to pay him no heed; he's sleeping soundly and not bothering anyone, and Fumikage's just wanting to get some laundry done. But who IS looking curiously at the sleeping man is Dark Shadow. While Fumikage busies himself with the laundry, Dark Shadow slithers out and over to the man. He doesn't do anything or move to touch him, but he is staring, glowing eyes peering curiously as he watches the man sleep.]

[If and when Nansen wakes up, he'll be face to face with a shadowy, bird-like face and glowing yellow eyes. Good morning!]

[nyanxiety]

[Ahhh... This spot is so warm. So jiggly. Like a warm, jiggly hammock. Nansen wakes up slowly from his nap, feeling satisfied with the warmth beneath him until a slight presence causes him to peek open an eye.]

N-NYAAAAAOH!

[Flop. Off the machine he goes tumbling, grumbling as he rubs his shoulder on the hard tile floor of the laundromat. At least he landed on his armor.... But what the heck is that!?]

2

[kidobutai]

[Red fox eyes glance down at the intruder to her personal space. Her nine tails flick here and there as they waved around behind her. Before one, incredibly, ungodly soft, warm, and fluffy tail moves to bop his nose. She can't sense anything odd about him from the get-go. But could tell he's an odd sort!

An annoyed twitch of her ears follows at his rude declaration. No manners, honestly!]

Is that really something you should say to a woman you don't know?

[The nerve. Akagi kind of really wants to... tear him to pieces~! ♥

...She just smiles at him sweetly and calmly.]

[cranekin]

( If he could have a higher room, Tsurumaru would love it. The building in this city are taller than any he’d experienced in his history. He’d only seen buildings like this in images or from afar when he was in a more limited state. Being up this high feels like flying without effort. He wonders if there are buildings that can even reach the sky…

But the apartment Nansen is silent. The foyer, the kitchen, the living area all seems untouched and impersonal and Nansen might think it had been abandoned after he and Tsurumaru last visited it. But Tsurumaru is as neat and organized and doesn’t leave much of his own personality hanging around for others to see.

(Even at the citadel, the glimpses of his character are hidden within his own room for only those closes to him to really see.)

All of this is to say Nansen might feel like he’s in the wrong room. Like he’s entered an empty apartment. But in the back, down the hall, towards the bedrooms, there’s a tinkling sound like metal hitting metal softly. The chains on Tsurumaru’s robes, perhaps? )

[nyanxiety]

[At first, Nansen really can't tell if he has the right room; he almost doubles back out to head down the hall and check the others, but something stops him.]

[A faint sound, like a... windchime, maybe? There's something weirdly familiar or maybe nostalgic about it that makes him pause, blinking openly at the dark hallway further into the apartment, so he leaves the doorway open as he steps back inside and creeps down the hall.]

[Quietly, quietly, like on a cat's paws... He sneaks inward, all his senses alert...]

[nyanxiety]

[Huh?? ....Is this lady some kind of spirit? His eyes narrow at the tails, trying to decipher something from her with his senses, but.... Well, everything around here was so muted, he could barely sense a time distortion from a sword.]

[Oh well, that's not what he's here for anyway!]

Eh?? I don't care about that.

[Women?? He doesn't get it. Nansen's finger jabs back towards the LED screen of the advertising board-- which by this point has probably changed to something else (equally as nondescript).]

That tasty snack! Where do I find that??

03

[catmemes]

[ It's not the first time he's heard that, so Kai would be ready to take the statement at face value even with all the prowling. It is unusual to hear it from someone who registers to his faded senses as connected to the spirit world, though, and that's what earns him a single slow blink. ]

So are you.

[ There are enough people in the city that ping in similar ways for one reason or another that he won't make any assumptions, but the somewhat familiar body language has Kai's eyes narrowing just a little. Another cat? It's enough to have a small bit of territorialism spiking through his shoulders, but he forces it back down without too much effort.

Things are confusing enough for everyone as they are. ]

Are you new? [ It comes out slightly commiserating instead. ]

[kidobutai]

Quite clearly.

[There is something akin to a time distortion around her. It would be faint, but there. Spiritual-wise... if he were to call her weird it would be fine. If he were to say the air around her was heated, smelled faintly of fuel, fire, and felt heavy, like there is more there than what was in front of him. Well, that would also be fine. It all depends on what he can sense right now, and how he could sense it.

She looks humanoid and appears like a kitsune from legend. So perhaps she is a spirit? It wouldn't be too far off the mark.

And, if he wasn't too busy staring at the screen, he might notice something familiar on the metal-looking portion of her attire.]

As for the snack you seem obsessed with... hm, well I might know how you can find it~.

[That calm smile remains. But if she really is a kitsune, would he actually want to lend her any form of trust? The sound of her voice is soft and inviting, but she is still a stranger in a strange land.]

[cranekin]

(Down the dark hall, towards the bathroom and one of the bedrooms... there's no one in the bathroom! The shower curtain is wide open so there's no killer hiding in the shower, either. From the bedroom at the end, there's that tinkling sound again followed by a soft click like someone closed a door.

Inside the room, there's a closed closet. The source of the sound? It's also very quiet... and there's this feeling that Nansen is not alone.........)

[nyanxiety]

N...nya..........

[This is ever so quickly becoming an obvious trap. Nansen's head whips around as he hears the click from the bedroom, every hair standing straight on him as he unconsciously raises onto his toes.]

[Over there... Was it an intruder??]

[(Or is he the intruder??)]

[Would be a good time to have his sword, he thinks, as he tiptoes into the bedroom. The closet? He eyes it suspiciously as he creeps up, a hand raising near to the handle...]

[And presses one big gold eye up against the cracks in the door to look!! Plink plink.]

[nyanxiety]

[Metal and fire, that's what it smells like, which is... familiar. Too familiar. He blinks at her, suddenly on edge. Touken? But that was impossible, right? Then again, just because he's never seen it.... Aaah, if only he could ask the sage.]

--Huh!? You know?? Tell meow!!

[Well, now his attention is on her for sure. Unfortunately, Nansen isn't old enough not to know to talk to kitsune; his legend only came to prominence in the Edo period, when most of the monsters and youkai of old had long since been chased from human lands. Unfortunately, his interest draws his eyes draw directly down to that symbol emblazoned onto her chest, and he stares for a long moment. It looks really bad from the outside, surely. But he's not thinking about that.]

[Imperial Household, huh....?]

Heeeeh.... You happen to know a guy called Tsurumaru Kuninaga, nya?

[nyanxiety]

Mrw!

...I guess that's true.

[His arms fold over his chest, foot tapping against the pavement twice like the flick of an impatient cat's ear. There's something about his senses that go on edge when he looks at this guy. How weird. Could it be...?]

You could say that, nya. I don't really know how it happened, but I ended up here. Finding the source of the distortion should be easy, but..... [He leans in to squint at Kai again.] Everything is upside-down here, nya. Do you know something about it?

03!

[centile]

[mob was born seeing ghosts, and auras, and a lot of spiritual, psychic stuff that certainly have been lessened but still remain fairly strong all things considered. if anything he'd say it's a bit muddled now, and also this city doesn't have spirits, which is pretty weird. extremely weird.

almost as weird as going out to try and find pens and notebooks only to have a very cat-like (and likely spiritually odd) man approach.

mob blinks- funnily enough the pen he's currently holding has a little cat head on it, he's a fan. when the man calls him weird he feels a little called out- fair, he is generally considered weird, but why? is it the pen? it's cute?]

Um... I'd pay for it if I could. [yes, that is truly the problem here. don't worry about it.]

[nyanxiety]

Hmm? ...Ahhh?

[Nansen notices Mob's nerves, then the offender in question- the cute kitty cat pen- and stoops over Mob, a child, with the air of a threatening gangster. (Considering that half-open chinpira-lookin' shirt he's wearing, the comparison here may be apt.)]

I see, I see. You're makin' fun of meow? Is that it, nyaa!!? [Yelling into this innocent bab's face, Nansen's finger jabs towards the smiling kitty-cat on the pen, who has done nothing wrong, much like Mob.] You listen here! This is a curse! A curse!! I'm not a cat! ...Nya.

Got that?

[cranekin]

(As Nansen makes his way over to the closet, Tsurumaru watches... from behind the bedroom door. He knew closing the closet door would draw his attention. Eheheh.

Once Nansen is close and trying to get a look into the closet, Tsurumaru sneaks out from behind, tiptoeing oh so quietly towards him... and grabs onto his shoulders.)

Wah!

[kidobutai]

So very demanding- you're not much of one for manners at all.

[Came the purr, at the very least she sounded amused? Akagi did consider messing with him. She's not exactly a kitsune, but she a certain desire to cause a little mischief. Just a little.]

Hmm... but I suppose I could at least show you. It's only a hunch, at least.

[As for being a Touken - well who knows. Maybe she could be considered an equivalent? Akagi continues to watch him before plotting her path to the nearest convenience store. Akagi figures she already knows the answer to her hunch, but it wouldn't be too bad to test out just how many things the stores here could manifest. What they were capable of manifesting.

His staring doesn't really draw a reaction from her. Or perhaps there is, as she crosses her arms under her bust, pushing them up ever so slightly.]

A very, very rude boy indeed. [Ever the vain type, she doesn't quite mind the staring. Tsurumaru Kuninaga? She does stop midstep, thinks about it, before continuing.] To answer your other question, the name sounds familiar. But I can't say I've met them yet.

[centile]

[oh no. he has angered the cat man- not a cat man. cursed cat man? frankly mob thinks this isn't too bad of a curse all things considered, but he likes cats and he's not sure this angry yelling man thinks the same.

he is sweating.] U-um. [he slowly lowers the offending pen, more to save it from this man's wrath than anything. the truly innocent party here.] Yes sir. You just sound like a cat.

[mob please.]

[catmemes]

[ He can't help a faint brush of amusement that rolls over him the more his new friend talks. It's not often that he finds someone more catlike than, well, him.

But actual smile or not, that's a question with an easy answer. ]

No. [ And probably a little too blunt, so he considers it for a second before continuing. ] We all just sort of ended up here and no one knows how or why.

[ Another beat, and then: ] Sorry.

2!

[aceslow]

[ Did this guy... just meow?

No. No, this isn't his problem. If he wants to meow like a cat, that's none of his business. Besides, didn't everyone know someone like that in high school? Only difference is, this man never grew out of it. The only tell that Kim notices is a brief furrowing of his brows, the questioning flick of his eyes towards the other man. ]

Khm. You can get that at the supermarket, [ he says, jabbing a thumb at the screen. ] In fact, you can get most things from the supermarket. I wouldn't recommend it, though. Too sweet.

[ It is, indeed, a sugary soft drink -- up until the screen changes, now flashing an oddly nondescript advertisement for a children's toy you can find at the entrance of the tills, right where kids start begging for things. A sticky hand. Nothing but a nuisance. ]

[nyanxiety]

[Yeah. He sure did.]

[But Kim's endless grace for enduring the bizarre and abnormal keeps things moving along smoothly, and Nansen is none the wiser when this very nice man tells him exactly what he needs to know, which means he's automatically a good guy.]

A "super" market? [There's a pause, where Nansen stares at Kim like he's just been told about the most amazing revelation in history.] ....Well, I do like sweet things, but what's so super about it...?

--You gotta show meow where it is! Please, old man!? [His hands clasp together, and if Kim looks real close, it's almost like there's the whimpering pinning of ears atop his head- but no, that's just two very conspicuous curls of hair that look an awful lot like folded, droopy cat-ears. That would be silly, otherwise.] If you do, I'll... bless you with fortune, nyan!!

[nyanxiety]

NYAAAAOH!!

[Fool him once, shame on you. Fool him twice.... Well he's got to learn what being around Tsuru is all about eventually, even if it's painful to get there. Nansen goes toppling forward face-first into the closet, bonks his nose directly into it, and falls to the floor clutching it with a whimpering wail.]

W-why do you keep doing thaat, mroooow!! [Sniff, sniff! It's okay... Men don't cry... He's not crying...! ...M-meow...]

[nyanxiety]

A hunch...? Mrw, well that's fine. I can figure the rest out on my own!

[Sheesh, he's not a real cat, but this kitsune doesn't seem like a normal fox, either! He can't quite tell what the vibe is here, but it makes him wrinkle his nose- it's too familiar in some ways, and bafflingly different in others.]

[(What was that weird, acrid sensation...? It was almost like a forge, or a machine...? Is this really a Touken Danshi?)]

[Oh well, he'll just follow after her and find out. He doesn't feel particularly worried about chasing after some strange fox (he probably should, but that's another matter), but then again, that Kogitsunemaru guy is pretty strange, too. All the old guys are- Tsuru included.]

I don't care about that, cuz you ain't my boss, nya. [If his boss was here, he wouldn't be wandering around lusting after snacks anyway, so there! ...Nya. This lady's attitude really reminds him of someone he knows.] Anyway, if you haven't met him yet I guess it doesn't matter, but...

I've never seen one manifest like you before. [Putting it lightly] Who's your smith?

[nyanxiety]

Aaah.... I see.....

[Nansen deflates a little; the little curls atop his hair almost look like ears and you'd almost swear they deflated a little too??] I've been sniffing around left and right, but I don't see any kind of source! So frustrating nya!

[Nansen falls to a squat in place, back hunched over like some kind of punk hanging outside the convenience store (or, perhaps, like a grooming cat). His head hangs between his shoulders for a moment before he glances back up at Kai.]

Oh, yeah. Who're you? You're not from this place either, then?

[nyanxiety]

[Poor pen-chan. It never stood a chance. Nansen swats the cute pen right out of Mob's lowering hands and sends it tumbling across the pavement, a cruel fate.]

NYAAAOH!! You are, you're making fun of me! [And with a pathetic flop, the not-cat-man drops to his hands and knees in front of Mob, literal child, to wail] It's the stupid cat's curse!! I-I have to break it! You have to believe meow!! It's not like I can just stop doing it, nyyaaa!!

[It's even worse when he's distressed like this! The cat not-cat man(?) despairs openly, a pathetic mewling escaping him. Then, eventually.]

....Sorry about your pen..... I'll get that...