[OPEN] July catch-all!

[fanstheflames]

WHO: Tsuruno (fanstheflames) & You!
WHAT: The Adjusting of One (1) Magical Girl Doing Her Best Without Being Magical
WHERE: All around the city. (For a closed or specific prompt, feel free to PM me and I'll see what I can whip up!)
WHEN: Anytime throughout July
WARNINGS: None so far, will adjust accordingly






[ A. uno apartment (shortly after arrival) ]

[ As far as Tsuruno's concerned, finding roommates can be a problem for another day. She probably should not conk out in a station or a convenience store or a park bench, because she can just imagine all the scolding from back home she'd get from it.

That being said, the few apartments she's checked appear to be lived-in. Or at least were lived-in? There's no real sign of a disturbance, no signs of life, but if you catch her peeking from the doorway of another apartment, door half-held open, she's definitely fidgeting uncomfortably. ]

This feels weird... Is this really okay?

[ Granted, maybe one of you is already staying here actually, or it is an apartment that's up for grabs, she's not looking convinced either way. ]

[ B. uno park ]

[ It's one of the many small parks around here that Tsuruno has decided is a good place to keep in shape. Which you might take to mean that you'll see this ponytailed teenager running around the path of the park with a fair amount of ease, and you're not wrong, a lot of the time, she's running on the path as God intended.

However sometimes you're minding your own business and suddenly there's someone coming flying out of (or over) a bush, eyes widening as she realizes you're probably not a hurdle she can vault. She will try to swerve to avoid a collision, of course, but whether she succeeds or not is up to chance. Or you. Actually.

Or just call out to her when she's running like a normal person, she looks like she'd be willing to stop and talk or welcome a running buddy. ]

[ C. uno everywhere ]

[ Maybe you've been spared the presence of Tsuruno up til now. Or you saw her from a distance, thought "oh my god that looks like Too Much Energy, I value myself and my sanity" and opted to stay away.

Well! Too damn bad! Because she's made eye contact and is now heading your way, eyes bright, smile hopeful, ready to socialize with you whether you want this or not. But what she asks you depends! Because it's either going to be-- ]

Just wondering, but do you know how to fight?

[ With all the air of one who is absolutely not looking to pick a fight. Or-- ]

Could I ask you something about yourself real quick? I don't think it'll be too invasive maybe? Probably!

[ Pick your poison! ]

[ D. uno graveyard ]

[ It's closer to dusk when you go to the graveyard for whatever reason you can imagine. We're not here to judge you. And besides, there's someone already here, sitting with her back facing a headstone, staring down at a silver ring that she's somewhat pensively twisting on the finger of her left hand. As opposed to all other cheery instances you've probably seen her in, she looks a little solemn, but this is probably because she hasn't seen you yet.

Until she does, suddenly, jerking to attention but also rearing backwards a little too far back and clocking her head against the stone of whoever's grave this is with a yelp of pain.

This sure is dignified. Watch her as she rolls about clutching her head if you want to, or you can ask her what she's doing there, or you can do whatever you want to! Live your dreams! ]

Comments

c.

[indwelt]

[ Spared her presence? More like suffered an existence without her cheeriness in the immediate vicinity. Regardless, his response when faced with a well-meaning and cheerful girl approaches him remains the same: match that smile with one of his own and meet her halfway in the conversation. ]

Sure. What's the question?

[ If things get too invasive then he'll just pick his words carefully and keep things vague. ]

[fanstheflames]

I was just trying to figure out if there might be an underlying reason when it comes to who got brought here and who didn't! So for starters--

Hi, I'm Tsuruno!

[ Sticks out her hand.

Manners first, apparently. ]

[indwelt]

[ How cute. She sticks out her hand and he slots his own into hers and gives it a firm shake. ]

Welt Yang. It's nice to meet you, Tsuruno. Are you asking everyone the same question then?

c!

[fussiest]

[ pictured, kaveh: on day two of no sleep, bag of granulated (ugh) coffee in one hand and hugging what looks to be a long sheathe of sandpaper in the other, wide-eyed deer in headlights as he's approached by what looks to be a nice young lady. that's the thing. he's met the nice young ladies around these parts. one is apparently really used to murder, and the other one is trying to get herself murdered, and this next bright-eyed young lady is asking about fighting techniques.

still, kaveh was raised right, if not well. he absently shifts his sandpaper a little closer to his shoulder as he considers the glint in her eyes. ]

Well, in principle, anyone who's been put into a difficult position knows a few instinctive things here and there. Why are you asking? [ kaveh's brows furrow. ] Are you in some kind of trouble? Is someone after you?

[fanstheflames]

[ ... This guy looks tired. And also kind of wary? Truthfully, Tsuruno doesn't think she can blame him, but she rocks back on her heels, pondering his own questions in return. ]

Probably not me specifically and not here, yet, I think, but I kinda sorta lost my biggest way of defending myself when I came here. [ Vague, but some things are better off left that way for now. ] And since I don't know how dangerous it is here yet, I thought maybe I'd be better off getting a few more pointers from people who could fight, just in case?

[ Couldn't hurt to pick up a few moves, she figures. She's had some training, but she still doesn't like the idea of her transformation being completely sealed off right now. ]

[fussiest]

[ oh! ]

Oh! [ even at the best of times, kaveh's mind to mouth filter is a sieve. he brightens in the way of a wayward star. ] I lost mine too. Or rather, it deactivated without much in the way of warning, and everything that requires it is no longer here. Given recent incidents, it makes sense to want to defend yourself.

What did you used to have? A sword, a knife, perhaps a catalyst?

c, fight him

[vecna]

[She really does have too much energy, and Henry's only real defense to Tsuruno charging straight up to him is the usual: shoring up his utterly polite yet purposefully distant demeanor, that little smile on his face as he says, quite easily-]

Purely physically, you mean?

[One: this implies that there is, perhaps, another way in which Henry Creel is used to employing violence if it is necessary. Or, you know, if it sounds fun.

Two: honestly, girl, does it look like he knows how to fight? He's six feet tall, yes, but he's all lanky beanpole, too much limb, his arms too noodly to properly throw a punch. Surely this is a joke question.]

[fanstheflames]

Even someone who might look like they've never picked up anything heavier than a stapler can surprise you!

[ Henry sure looks like he's never picked up anything heavier than a stapler, apparently! ]

But does that mean you have other ways to fight?

[vecna]

[Wow? Was that a backhanded compliment doled out so innocently? He's the one who's supposed to be doing that, young lady.]

Now hold on. [He'll loop back around to answering that question, Tsuruno, but first:] Do I really look that helpless to you?

[He huffs in amusement that isn't wholly insincere. What is this? School again? He's being bullied!]

c

[furibund]

[ Or maybe it's Tsuruno who has been spared someone who doesn't know how to deal with younger people. Minding her own business as she was she freezes a touch at an approaching - smiling, cheery child - and looks this way and then that... as if checking to make sure there's not someone else around she would be looking for. ]

[ There's not, so by the time she's turned her attention back to the girl she's already upon her. She stares for a moment, unblinking, before gruffly asking: ]

What is it?

[fanstheflames]

[ Tsuruno is used to people who don't know how to deal with--well, her specifically, so this isn't going to faze her too badly, if at all. She's even used to the way that the woman looks around as though she's fully expecting some other person to manifest that Tsuruno was gunning for instead.

... She's also impressed how she didn't even blink?? Wow. ]

I'm Tsuruno! I'm pretty new here and I was trying to figure out if there was some kind of... you know, deeper reason for who was here and who wasn't! Are you the only one you know who wound up here?

[furibund]

[ Nebula thinks she can tell she's new just from the virtue of how quickly she went up to a total stranger. No one with sense in a dangerous situation would rush so quickly up to someone (it's nothing personal Tsuruno). The girl is small compared to her and she can't really gauge how old she is other than - well, young. ]

[ She doesn't smile, but she doesn't frown either. Instead, she crosses her arms over her chest as she listens. A census of who and where isn't a terrible idea but also... ]

Nebula. [ She offers first in greeting. ] I was not the only one.

[ She's not going to divulge the who she's met that she knows and likely won't even if asked. ] What of you?

b. uno death

[halbird]

[ depending on emil sinclair is the first mistake.

that is to say, distracted as he is by Lots of Things (and the fact he has a rabid stalker somewhere out there), his first response to girl flying out of a bush is not to coolly step out of the way with the reflexes of a trained-not-trained and used to this fighter don quixote's friend.

no... it's to half-yelp in surprise, and then act as the target he was always meant to be— ]

A-ah!

[ it's a meet cute!

meet fail. fail, it's just a fail, they're going to fall to the ground in a pathetic pile unless tsuruno pulls out a miracle. ]

[fanstheflames]

[ There are only so many miracles a Magical Girl can manage, and certainly one who cannot transform right now is incapable of that.

So.

Unfortunately, it is definitely a meet collision and the only mildly helpful thing Tsuruno can do upon realizing their unavoidable fate is to twist herself as soon as she hits him so she at least hits the ground first and he can have a teenage girl pillow.

It's still incredibly undignified and she ends up inhaling dirt, but hey. ]

Nnnnnngh.

c

[luciole]

Hm? Something about myself?

[After meeting her, Tsuruno is firmly in the "Like Very Much" category for Lucinda. Maybe all that energy actually helps keep the medium awake as she takes a look around the city (it's a lot of walking okay)

Lucy taps her cheek thoughtfully before smiling and nodding.]

Go ahead! I would like to be surprised by the question.

[fanstheflames]

[ Well, she already knows Lucinda arrived here alone. They'd talked about that in the restaurant they'd been investigating.

But info is info! ]

Thanks for your cooperation in advance, Lulu-senpai! I was wondering, was anything weird happening to you back home? Or maybe weird things were kind of the norm? Or did anything weird ever happen to you?

[luciole]

Anything weird...

[Lulu's voice trails off, trying to decide how to tackle the question. Though one of the main tenets of the Esper Collective is to maintain the mystery of magic and psychics, there's no logic to adhering to it stubbornly. This isn't her world after all and she'd just be doing the same of picking, choosing, and manipulating answers. Just more truth scattered in.]

Well, first of all, Tsuruno, do you believe in ghosts?

A

[miyagimagic]

[ Honestly, Daniel doesn't blame the poor girl for seeming so confused about all of this. Although he's already claimed one of the nearby apartments himself, it still feels.. odd to just be doing this.

Then again - pretty much every single thing about this entire situation has felt odd, from showing up here in the first place in a train and having to answer those questions all the way to the oddness of the entirely empty city.

The man is a little bit worried about startling the girl, trying to make the sound of his footsteps extra noticable, especially since it's not like he can call out to her instead in his current state. His voice isn't quite there, after all, and Daniel does figure he might look a little bit ghastly with the huge bruise covering the side of his face.

When he's close enough, he grabs his phone from his pocket, making its robotic voice read out the words he types out on it to call out to Tsuruno instead. ]

It seems like it should be fine.

[ If she looks at him at all, the man will try to give her a slight, reassuring smile, even if his facial expression looks pretty tired. ]

It is all a little strange, isn't it?

[fanstheflames]

[ Bless this man, he is doing everything in his power not to startle her, and thanks to his incredibly valiant efforts (Tsuruno may be more alert than she looks, but even so, she's a tad distracted right now), she's already starting to turn her head right as he pulls out his phone.

Of course, she also kind of does a bit of a surprised jump right into the doorframe with a bit of a THUD, not expecting a guy with a huge bruise on his face to be there, but it's better than screaming in shock, right? Right! ]

Huh?! Oh! Yeah! Definitely! Are you okay?!

[ Sir!! Your face?! Your lack of voice???? ]

A (because she seems DELIGHTFUL and althea has so far refused to claim an apt lol)

[codenametesla]

[Althea happened to be slightly down the hall, doing much the same thing in peering around at the strangely... empty-but-not apartments, unable to shake the feeling that she was one step away from being yelled at for intruding, but it hadn't happened yet.

At the voice nearby, she jumped and quickly turned, instinctively about to speak and apologize, say she didn't know-

and then registered what the girl had actually said, and wasn't sure whether to be more concerned or absolutely relieved that she wasn't the only one. She settled for a shaky smile and a nod.]

It's... really weird, yeah. I don't like it, but... I also kinda want a bed. [The last was said with a little breath of a chuckle, as if unsure whether she should be apologizing for wanting the basic comfort or not.]

Althea is so valid

[fanstheflames]

Yeah... like, I could definitely rough it for a while, but I feel like I'd just get scolded about it eventually when it seems like no one's even living in these places anymore...

But at the same time, it definitely makes me feel like an intruder.

[ People surely lived here?? What if they just show up again one day, how is she supposed to explain herself then? ]

b

[strongroots]

[ You know, there's being jumpy because you expect something to happen in a near-empty city you've been kidnapped to, and then there's the consequences of your reflexes.

Which, to be honest, have nothing to do with the city: it has to do with walking through the park with a bag of groceries and a plastic milk bottle (because you apparently have to live your life), and a shape coming out (or over) from the bush you barely recognised in your line of vision. Robby steps back with a 'fuck!', managing to keep the bag in hand (if being rattled by the abrupt movement), but that milk?

That milk kind of got swung in the direction of the figure. Oh shit, oh shit-- ]

Oh, shit! [ OH SHIT OH SHIT. TSURUNO, STATUS REPORT. DID YOU GET HIT? DID YOU CRUMBLE? RESPOND. ]

This is the most beautiful thing

[fanstheflames]

[ Oh! Not a meet cute, but a milk cute! Except there's nothing cute about it. The startled yelp that escapes Tsuruno as the milk collides with brutal precision is less of an adorable "kya" and more a noise similar to a cat deciding to try its hand at opera.

This is followed by her unceremoniously crashing sideways to the pavement, thankfully for Robbie's state of mind not actually hitting her head, but kind of flopped there for a moment as she ponders what exactly happened and expresses her thoughts about it. ]

O-ow...? Ow ow ow ow--

[ Confused but eloquent. ]

d!

[centile]

[what, sometimes two people are just in a graveyard at night and that's how things are. what's weird about that? don't worry about it.

that said mob's mostly here to see what he can sense. a city with no spirits is odd, a graveyard with no spirits is... well, impossible. at least he thought so. walking through it he's become aware that either this isn't actually a graveyard at all or something's very, very wrong.

then he sees someone and blinks. that's not a spirit. that's a girl who looks kind of busy, or at least like she might not want to be disturbed. he's considering which route to take to leave polite when he probably steps on something that cracks and starts a whole chain reaction of nonsense.]

A-ah! [oh no! oh boy, okay, he's hurrying over.] Are you okay? I'm sorry for surprising you. [alone, in the graveyard, as she too was alone, in the graveyard.]

[fanstheflames]

I-it's okay, it wasn't your fault, I don't think you were trying... ow.

[ She's managing this through a voice that's both cheerful and a little strained, slowly sitting up while rubbing the back of her head.

This really is her own fault, so she doesn't look dismayed at all, beyond checking the headstone to presumably see if she didn't crack it with her very human head. ]

Hi?