Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did

[inblood]

[It's been a few days since the...incident with Kumagawa. Thanks to Sei things turned out better than they could have, but it still isn't something Touya could just recover from. He's spent these last few days in his room, avoiding contact with others as much as possible, not eating or talking, barely even responding to anything. Today, Audi finally kicked him out of the room to  eat something.

Flatmates can find him poking about for food and making a small and simple snack. He still isn't very hungry, but health is important.

Later on, he ventures out to the streets. With the seal back in its proper place, Bouffalant wasn't really conscious enough to follow Touya, so now Touya's out looking for the buffafro that's been meandering through the streets for days. They'll find eachother eventually, they always do.

Finally, after he's found his buffalo, Touya can be found in a park or other relatively peaceful part of London. He's sitting with his eyes closed, back against the large Pokemon, just listening to everything around him. His head's been ringing ever since that event, maybe if he focuses and listens he can find the cause. He's still too jittery for this to look like meditation though.]

Comments

[hairpine]

[As if he needed more strains on his SAN, I guess.

Especially in such a delicate state as his, the presence he suddenly feels while resting is accompanied by a sense of dread, pure and gnawing. And the feeling he's being watched, of course, because he is.

Like, for real, she's right in front of him, but she's paying more attention to the buffalo. After a moment, he gets a more solid confirmation that there's someone there. He doesn't even need to open his eyes.]

-- It has hair!

[inblood]

[He can feel it, and he can hear it. Touya can tell whatever is the cause this time is alive at least - he can hear your breathing and heartbeat from a few feet away - but it makes no difference at the moment. He immediately shrinks back, burying his face in his knees as his arms wrap around his legs. Audi moves to his side quickly to comfort him, but she's not quite getting through, she hasn't been ever since that day.

Still, you aren't acting hostile, and if he just focuses on your breathing and heartbeat he can almost ignore everything else. He takes a few moments to steel himself before looking up.]

I...Is that...unusual? [He's still terrified, and still bad at people.]

[hairpine]

[And she is very very rarely ever hostile, so the presence is just there. It doesn't get any worse, but.

Well, it doesn't get better, either.]

For a buffalo to have a human hairstyle on its head, of all places, is certainly unusual!

... Oh, but are you quite all right, Sir?

[inblood]

[He can ignore it, shove it down, pretend that the sound and feeling aren't there. Why does he keep running into people who sound all kinds of off? --No, ignore it, don't think about N or that man or this girl's aura right now, don't think about it at all.

He would correct you. He would tell you that it's quite normal for Bouffalant to have hair like that, that it's actually a kind of natural defense, but what slips out instead is...]

Wh-What's a..."buffalo"...?

[He settles backward a bit at the question, looking down again and shaking his head slightly.]

F-Fine. Don't...worry about it. [It's one of the biggest lies he's ever told, and it's rather obvious. He's trembling.]

[hairpine]

The animal behind you is what we refer to as a buffalo, or bison! It bears a resemblance to the ones of the New World -- Bison bison, I believe is the binomial name -- although its horns closer resemble Bubalus bubalis? The American Bison has much smaller horns! They're very cute.

Ah, but I digress. You are clearly unwell!

[presages]

[AND ANOTHER.

While he's out fixing himself something, Margaret is sitting at the kitchen table of the flat, scrawling out notes on paper as usual. She hears him open his door prior to that, though, and was looking up, expectantly -- so when he walks in, she's staring directly at him.

Or maybe she's not. Little tough to tell with the glasses. But either way -]

You're alive. What amazing endurance...

[inblood]

[At least you sound as normal as almost everyone else here. He isn't relaxed, per se, but he isn't recoiling and fleeing back to his room immediately either. He busies himself in the kitchen to avoid paying attention to your stare. Did Sei tell anyone about him? He doesn't know. He hopes not.]

Not...really... [Neither Healers nor Berserkers are known to have very good defensive capabilities.] Audi probably helped me.

[presages]

Ooooh?

A resurrection?

[inblood]

No, nothing like that...She has healing abilities. So do I. [But he can't use his magic on himself.]

[presages]

... Less interesting.

[Who cares. Come back when you can regenerate and then we'll talk about examinations.




There's a long, long pause while she thinks of what to say next. Be polite, be a good friend -]

Are you all right?

[Nailed it.]

[alethiological]

[He is probably used to hearing terrible things on the breeze and in his own head, but for one very odd moment, there's actually silence. Wonderful silence that's filled with nothing nightmarish or eldritch and is actually a bit comforting.

A second later, it's no longer at the forefront because there's a giant staring down at him.] Dimensionally lost loiterers tend to be arrested.

[inblood]

[Here, yes. It's part of why it took him so long to adjust to being here. The sudden silence is blissful - it's actual peace, and he's thankful for any reprieve, no matter how brief, right now. It isn't even the silence N brings - that empty void that swallows up everything else and is wrong, wrong, wrong - it's actual, pleasant silence. The kind he hasn't heard since before he learned to hear.

Aaaaa why does he keep meeting gigantic people?!]

S-Sorry sir! [He is looking up at you with so much terror.] I-I'll...I'll go somewhere else... [It isn't spoken, and isn't exactly thought, but that tone of voice definitely implies a "please don't hurt me" somewhere in there.]

[alethiological]

[If Touya has read newspapers, he probably knows he's facing down the christian church's head inquisitor. That he is six foot two and built like death and generally made to be scary as hell.

He raises an eyebrow at the response like Touya's an idiot. No beheadings happen afterwards and that calm silence still remains. The sounds of Them are still there at the edges but it's still... nice.] I'm warning you in case the cops show up. You look like you're having a bad enough day without 'em.

[Observation one: jesus christ he's huge. Observation two: newspapers are liars. He offers a hand to help him up.] If you need a place to hide, I have a spare room.

[inblood]

[Now he's registering the face as well as the size and yeah, you are kind of familiar... He still has no idea what a Christian is but "head inquisitor" was enough.

...Except you aren't nearly as immediately threatening as he'd thought, and that silence is still there and really nice. It's really helping to clear his head, in multiple ways. He doesn't relax, but he does calm down a bit.]

I...I'll be alright. There've been worse days. [Wait...spare room...? Oh, he thinks he gets it...] Oh, I...I'm not that new...I got here about two months ago, I think. I have somewhere I've been staying, I just...don't want to go there right now. Too noisy. [And he isn't entirely certain how welcome he is now that Sei's seen what he is, but he won't say that aloud. He will take the hand up, though. He's still shaky and uncomfortable, it shows in his body language all too clearly.]

[alethiological]

That's what I meant. You live in an idiot's apartment that I pay for.

[If he already knows who he is, or what he is, or even cares, the answer is that it doesn't matter. Once he's upright, a hand still stays on his shoulder. At any other time, it could belong to cops about to shove a criminal somewhere. With him, it's reassurance.

It'll be fine. Maybe not now, but soon.]

I'll say it openly. It's still winter, you're outside, and you're a friend of the family. Stay in my office until you get your thoughts together.

[screwreality]

[JESUS CHRIST HOW DOES HE APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE LIKE THAT WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK--

There's a one-armed kid in a badly-made purple scarf and a medical eyepatch setting a fancy wrapped fruit basket in front of him. The fruits are carved into little buffalos and severed body parts. There's also a dime-story apology card hidden in the bottom somewhere, but you need to dig through like two kilos of strawberries to get there.]

「FEELING ANY BETTER, TOUYA-KUN?」

[inblood]

[OHGOD NO WHY

YOU AGAIN

sobbing

Touya instantly panics, falling backward in his scramble to increase the distance between him and you. The look of utter terror on his face should answer your question. Which is good because all Touya can do really is sputter a few random syllables incoherently.]

[screwreality]

[The human equivalent of Nyarlathotep just kind of tilts his head with a confused expression. His hand moves up in an expression of deep thought, and the body posture makes it seem like his other arm would be completing the image, but alas! His buffalo destroyed it.]

「MAYBE HE'S ALLERGIC TO SOMETHING? AH, I TOLD YOU, I SHOULD'VE ASKED FIRST. NOW WE'VE SCARRED HIM FOR LIFE AND HE'LL NEED COUNTLESS HOURS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPY TO EVEN LOOK AT WATERMELONS AGAIN. I'M NEVER GETTING IDEAS FROM YOU GUYS AGAIN.」

[who the fuck are you talking to dude]

[inblood]

[His buffalo is not sorry.

Touya just stares in panicked confusion for a bit before finding his voice.]

Y-You again... Wh-What do you want with me...? [He doesn't know or care who you're talking to, but how right you are about the scarring for life.]

[screwreality]

[His buffalo's a douche and he can't have any strawberries.

He's broken out of his possibly-talking-to-himself annoyance by the voice. Looking at him like he's the crazy one, hand on his hips in the universal stance of bitchy teenage girls.

Yes, that metaphor was used completely appropriately.]

「I CAME TO DELIVER AN APOLOGY BASKET! DO YOU THINK I'D BE OUTSIDE OTHERWISE?」

[He mentally scarred two-thirds of the population and looks like he fell through a woodchipper. He is not that oblivious you guys.]

/placeholders like a WINNER

[leviathaned]

...Touya.

[Guess who's been looking for you? The aura of power from Sei has faded to a pleasant, mindless little him near him. The elevator music of the universe.

He mostly just sounds worried.]

[inblood]

[It's been a long, terrible day at the end of a long, terrible week. A day that made Touya wish he hadn't gotten up at all. He's managed to find Bouffalant and fix those horns up a bit - it's just a quick fix, but it'll do until he figures out something more long-term. After that? Well, his encounters with Elaine and Kumagawa could have gone better, probably. He's calmed down a lot thanks to Will by now, though.

His ears are aching and there are still spots of blood on his sleeves, but now it's time for the conversation he's been expecting and dreading all day. There's explaining to do on both sides.]

...Sei.

[leviathaned]

I'm sorry. [...Probably not how Touya expected this to start, huh?]

I didn't...really know how to tell you anything, and on top of that, I couldn't do anything to stop him.

[inblood]

It's not your fault! [The words spill out quickly - he was hiding things, too. Fair is fair.]

I...I was hiding things, too, so....I-I'm sorry. I can...I can pack my things tomorrow, and b-be out of your hair by tomorrow night... [He really doesn't want to leave, but that's how it always goes for him. He's welcomed somewhere, stays long enough for his host to find out he's a Berserker, and then he's inevitably kicked out. He won't look you in the eye. He knows this world doesn't follow the rules his world does, but his entire life has been characterized by how much people hate and fear him for what he is.]

[leviathaned]

Who the hell said anything about leaving? [Well that's blunt.] It's not like you could actually kill me, and angry rage animal or not, you're still less murderous than half the people in this city.

[Really, really blunt.]