citylogs | [ OPEN ] July Catch-all!

Entry tags:

[ OPEN ] July Catch-all!

WHO: Midnight (

unreserving) & You (you)
WHAT: Midnight, please calm down, it's only been a week, you can't be this much of a disaster already.
WHERE: Lots of places! Mostly in outdoor or public spaces he hasn't been to yet. If you would like a closed or specific prompt, please PM me or take a peek at my OOC intro so I can get you set up!
WHEN: Pre and post Sylvain's shitpost. Probably mostly pre-event!
WARNINGS: Most definitely alcohol use! Some references to death and terminal illness. Will update as necessary, please see Midnight's content warnings for possible canon-typical content.

a. day (a local gym)

[ Generic workout routine. He does arms and legs on alternating days for about two to three hours there starting at about 7 am, then an hour (or however long he has at the end of the day until, uh, midnight) before showering and going home. He may also steal a practice room and swing around a stick he's found in lieu of his sword... He should probably think about getting a practice sword made, huh.

He's friendly, cleans up after himself, and will spot for anyone, but also feel free to accost him walking in or out of the facilities! But also, if your character needs... well, less of a personal coach and more of a cheerleader, he's there for you. Why'd you ask him for this? I don't know, but he's so there for you at this lateral press, bench, tiny silicone dumbbells, whatever. He is rooting for you! ]

Two more in the set and you're done. Don't think about it, just do it!

b. day (shopping center)

[ Midnight just needs to go clothes shopping. That's it. He'll carry bags for people, he'll help out with menial tasks. Look at this guy, do gooding.

Okay, specifically: ]

Do you think anyone would mind if I procured that?

[ He points at a neon sign, a bright Edison light, a small discoball, a chandelier. Something very bright, flashy, and... probably not intended for sale. ]

I mean, I don't suppose there's a manager, and I wouldn't like to interfere with their marketing, but I quite like it.

[ ... He rolls up his sleeves, drags over a chair, and begins climbing. He's decided he doesn't need an opinion anymore, or just straight up didn't wait for an answer. Look, sometimes a guy just desires a lava lamp. ]

c. evening (town hall)

[ Once the dust settles and everyone is perfectly happy with the distinct lack of helpful information in the help center, Midnight will still arrive there in the evenings, haul out a bunch of books into an empty side room, and flip through them, a plastic bag of assorted drinks at his side. (Mostly alcohol and water.)

Weird nightclub looking vampire here, books open on his lap, spinning a pen between his fingers. Occasionally, if someone walks by his room and doesn't look too busy, he'll get up, go to the door, and gesture to them, an open book in his hand. ]

Hello, love. Do me a favor and write anything you like here.

[ He clicks the pen in his hand and offers it. Man's doing some experimenting! ]

d. night (the park)

[ Remember the stick he has at the gym? He needed to find it at some point. During the evenings, but honestly any time he isn't doing something else throughout the first three or four days, he'll be poking around the park, searching for fallen branches long and straight enough to do the trick. It'll take a while, and he definitely looks like he's lost something! (Or feel free to assume that you've already joined the hunt. Find a bird's nest with no birds! An odd little gravestone! Get stuck up a tree! Help!!!)

If that is overly gung-ho Boy Scout behavior, feel free to catch him a little later in the night, either from 9-10 pm or 1-2 am, sitting at a bench, workout bag sitting at his side, his running shoes neatly tied by their laces and looped around the strap.

He stares out into the darkness. That's... sort of it. It still seems like he's looking for something, but not to the point where he's about to get up and look for it. If one would like to sneak up on him using the cover of darkness, his eyes will slide over and lock on a little more quickly than what should be natural. He sees you.

He grins. (Even if he isn't surprised, he grins.) ]

Hello, darling. Having a pleasant walk?

e. morning (everywhere!)

[ Remember when we said Midnight starts his workout routine at 7 am? He actually starts at 6 am with a jog. He'll be everywhere, just exploring, and he'll use most of the subway systems to make his way back to his gym of choice. He is... not shy at all about his body, so he'll probably pull off his shirt once the sun comes up so he can cool down a bit.

He is truly minding his own business here, but he'll pause his run for anything, even if it's just a short conversation. Or just feel free to wonder why there's a shirtless, sweaty vampire on public transportation at like 7 am. Where does he need to be? Where does anyone need to be??? ]

f. day (city hall, again, late July)

[ Midnight has a seat he's pulled up to the information kiosk, but he doesn't use it all that often. He only sits to add to a growing list in a book he keeps on his person. If one would peek over his shoulder, the list is composed of questions, some pertinent, some less so. Please feel free to make one up, but the first on the list is definitely "Are you single?", which should tell you how seriously he's taking this endeavor. ]

g. evening (shopping district)

[ Not much to this prompt either, he's just poking around. Poking around at the restaurants and bars in the area, his planner occasionally out as he takes notes on... something or other. He tries to choose establishments that see less traffic, so it's very likely that wherever he finds someone, they're the only two in the building. ]

Sorry to interrupt your meal. Mind if I ask you a few questions?

h. wildcard

Feel free to make your own starter, or PM for one! Will match prose and bracket text, please start however you like.

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[ Well, Daniel is at least polite enough to take that hand and shake it. His grip isn't very firm, but that probably has much more to do with his current physical condition, given the bruises and all.

(Besides, Midnight is being polite enough himself, calling him 'mister' and all. Daniel can appreciate that sort of thing.)

But as he listens to the other speak on further, Daniel's own expression grows a little more.. complicated. H-Haha, sure would be wild if people were taken to this place from life-or-death situations, huh.. Just imagine what that'd be like. Not like the bruises on him are a direct consequence of that sort of thing, nope siree.

Of course he's not going to bring that up. Daniel is more than content with brushing absolutely everything that happened to him under the rug, not wanting to talk about it. Not even wanting to think about it. Repressing it truly is the only possible way of dealing with it. ]

But ending up here is strange even if it is just waking up on the train after having fallen asleep back home, isn't it?

[ Hence why he writes this instead.

Much more uncomplicated, even if this entire 'kidnapped to an empty city' situation is still odd and offputting too. ]

[ ... Midnight really hopes this man has seen a doctor. (Has he seen Daan yet? Nice guy. Chill.)

Midnight didn't see that expression change more than he saw Mr. LaRusso shift from the corner of his eye as he continued to work. Well... What he's doing is slightly more important than strapping Mr. LaRusso down for a full psychoanalysis, especially since they've just met, but Midnight resolves to try and pay more attention from here on. Wouldn't want to make the guy uncomfortable, especially when he's doing him a favor. ]

Yes, I suppose we're now all on pretty even ground when it comes to the unusual. At least one strange circumstance between the all of us.

[ Midnight leans back in his chair, pen to his chin as he thinks. ]

The Higashinese word for this, in the old stories, is "kamikakushi", being stolen away by the gods. I think Western fairytales have the same sort of thing, right? Where one day, someone just vanishes without a trace, and people blame it on elves... [ Midnight snorts. ] Or demons.

[ The man may have no idea what Higashinese is - a language from where the other comes from, presumably - but it does sound kind of familiar. Daniel may not fully speak Japanese himself, but he's heard it often enough that something about the phrase rings a familiar bell with him.

Besides, the analogy rings true all the same. There are a lot of stories about that sort of thing, huh. Not even just folklore, but plenty of horror movies too. ]

Those sorts of things aren't supposed to happen though.

[ He writes. Then frowns, and adds before showing it to Midnight: ]

Not in real life.

[ Midnight's going to do a lot of learning about this alternate universe Higashi these other people are talking about over the next few months... ]

Well, on one hand, this certainly makes us pioneers of a sort, doesn't it?

[ Midnight laughs, but he understands the point. ]

In real life, huh... Were you living a rather normal life at home, then? Work, home, errands. A certain reality far from anything strange or extraordinary happening.

[ Daniel breathes out, and then nods. Though he - at first - doesn't write down any more words, just the look in Daniel's eyes is enough to say all by itself that he thought everyone did. That he thought that was the default, and that spooky empty cities that drew in people from other places were just a fictional construct that you'd only find in movies and books.

Seems like he was wrong about that one.

Still, going from the wildest thing in your life being a manipulative karate billionare to this is a lot. ]

Didn't you live like that?

[ He instead writes down. Sure, Midnight looks like he attends only the most goth of nightclub settings, but Daniel isn't going to assume someone's fashion choices make them automatically otherworldly, okay. He's not that narrow-minded. ]

[ Midnight nods, then tilts his head from side to side in a noncommittal manner, gaze lowering to his book as he really thinks about his answer to that one. (He's still smiling, though. This actually isn't his first rodeo with this genre of question.) ]

I'd be lying if I said yes to that, but I can't say that all of this is within my threshold for normality, either. I know what you're talking about, though. Office workers, sales associates, white and blue collar employees and their employers... The worst part of the day is the commute, the threat of overtime, picking up one's drycleaning.

[ Midnight pauses, then looks back at Mr. LaRusso. The look is serious, but not at all pitying or concerned. Just intently focused, warmly interested. ]

Do you feel a bit underprepared, then?

[ There's the slightest pause before Daniel replies, though he starts writing again soon enough, this time starting with: ]

That is kind of a personal question, don't you think?

[ A CALLOUT.. Though a gentle one, really. Maybe Daniel is just trying to stall for time here, since he isn't sure how to answer. He knows what the answer is - he feels so underprepared, he feels lost, he's got no idea what to do, the trauma of what happened back home only just before arriving here weighs so heavy around his neck that it threatens to choke him - but just.. telling anyone that? Opening up about your feelings?

A foreign concept for Daniel "repression" LaRusso.

So after thinking for a moment, he writes right underneath it: ]

I will manage here.

We don't have a choice.

Good man. [ Said in a murmur, but Midnight's got Mr. LaRusso under a pretty attentive watch. A straight "no" would have been much less worrisome than being coy about the situation... Then again, as a serial deflector himself, he understands the warning signs, what it takes to not get into it with anyone. It's more about what to do with the what he doesn't know.

He resettles, thinking, then goes back to his work. ]

Perhaps I feel more at ease with all of this than I would've expected of myself because this is my second total life redirection in a year. Changed careers recently. [ ... ] Male escort to soldier for a paramilitary corps, if you can believe it. Not the kind of thing one plans for.

[ Not something he would have chosen for himself a couple years ago, but there it is. Midnight considers himself exceptional in a lot of ways, but not to the point where he expected extraordinary things to happen to him, one right after another, in the span of less than a year. ]

[ .. it sure is some information he's getting here. Not that Daniel minds. If anything, it feels kind of nice to focus on anything but himself here. He doesn't want to think about himself, thinking about himself only hurts with everything that happened.

If he can direct his thoughts away from that and towards Midnight's life for a few moments, then he sure doesn't mind. ]

I can believe it.

[ It's an easy thing to write, despite Daniel's trust issues. This just doesn't feel like the sort of thing one would lie about. For what reason would they even do so, after all?

Besides, Midnight having been a male escort does explain something about the other's bold fashion choices. Got to stand out with that kind of job, probably. ]

Though I would say a career change is nowhere near as big of a thing as being kidnapped to a strange, empty city.

Mostly because the latter is a ridiculously big change though. A career change is a regular big change. The kind of change you actually expect in your life.

[ A pause, but then Daniel scribbles something else underneath, like the thought only comes to him now, but still feels important enough to write down. ]

I hope it was a good change for you. [ The career switch, that is. ]

Well... it was my choice, at least. I had an adjustment period of sorts. Met a lot of good people through basic, too. I miss them.

[ Midnight thinks for a bit. ]

This was quite sudden for all of us, I think. There isn't much preparation anyone can do for something this large and unprecedented. I don't think there's much shame in not knowing what's supposed to happen next. No one is born with a deeply felt desire for their freedom to be taken from them, after all. This isn't something one plans for, either.

[ ... Well, Midnight has a lot more thoughts about all of this, but he's getting into unsolicited advice territory. Not something he likes to approach, especially with someone this determined to stick it out on his own. ]

Let me know if you ever need a hand with anything. Do you use the network?

I look at it sometimes.

[ There, that's an answer Midnight doesn't have to drag out of Daniel.

It helps that the other does recognize the limits of unsollicited advice. Daniel could honestly appreciate that sort of thing under different circumstances - even now, he realises that it's got to have been born from kindness on Midnight's part. But Daniel has just been a little bit too tired and depressed to really be open for advice.

So Midnight cutting himself off there, and instead asking this-- It's appreciated. ]

My username on there is just my name. D.LaRusso, if you're ever looking for me.

[ It's not something Daniel would assume anyone here would do, not when it comes to him.. But, well, Midnight has been relatively kind ~~and nosy~~ enough so far that he wouldn't be surprised if the other guy tried to reach out. ]

[ Midnight pulls his pocket terminal out and navigates to the network, searching for the right username and saving it to his addressbook. ]

There we are. Next time you look at it, if you ever get a message from this username, it's me.

[ He turns his terminal, which has his own profile open to his username: The Seventh Crown of the Seventh Demon King. What... why? Why? He understands that it's a bit of a mouthful, thus the move to show rather than tell, but he otherwise seems entirely unembarrassed by whatever the hell this name is. ]

[ .. Midnight.

Midnight.

Daniel glances at the username, then.. over at Midnight.. Like, yes, it kind of makes sense when you consider the way Midnight looks, but on the other hand, he definitely looks a little bit too old in Daniel's eyes to be going through this sort of phase right now. Isn't that more something for teenagers...

Clearly that means there's only one thing he can ask, right. ]

Did you get caught off guard by the questions back in the train?

[ That must be why the username is like that, right. Because he didn't know how to answer the questions and therefore entered something ridiculous. R-Right, Midnight? ]

[ Believe me when I say this is the least emo "it's not a phase, Dad" ever used as an excuse in history. It's cheerful, even!

For Midnight, this seems like an odd non-sequitur, even though he does remember the questions after the username prompt. He blinks, nonplussed, but is certainly happy to answer the question in the same way he answered the survey: honestly! ]

Perhaps, in that the whole situation was a bit puzzling, especially after I'd just woken up. Those last two questions were more broad scenarios than queries, weren't they? Although I think they might have been different for all of us, if I remember right...

Edited 2023-08-23 19:02 (UTC)

[ Not really the answer Daniel was looking for, unfortunately. In any other scenario he would have lingered on this a little longer, especially with the way his own questions are still very much haunting his mind, but-- it's just as hard to get Midnight's username out of his mind right now.

S-Should he ask? Would it be weird to ask. Midnight looks just a little bit too old for it to not be embarrassing in some way.. ]

I was just curious about your choice of username.

[ There, that's what Daniel writes down after thinking about it for a moment. That feels.. neutral enough, right? The diplomatic thing to say, rather than 'what is that USERNAME EVEN, MIDNIGHT..' ]

[ Have you ever worried about whether you were the most cringe person in the world? Well, fear no longer: you will never be the most cringe person in the world as long as Midnight exists! ]

Striking, isn't it? I wanted to create a username that described the quintessence of one's experience with me. You can only make a first impression once, after all. I want to be memorable.

[ ... He. He looks so proud of his decisions. He's serious. He believes in himself with the full force of a man who probably should doubt himself more often. ]

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[ OPEN ] July Catch-all!

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Sorry about the delay, August has been very busy for me!

it's okay, it happens!!

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