awashlogs | Event Three.

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Event Three.

I come at night, and in the day.
I'm always there, do what you may.
You may think that I hate the light,
Because it is what gives you your sight.
But truthfully in light I trust,
Because for me it is a must.
Left or right, or down below
I'll follow you, fast or slow.
You really can't escape from me,
So tell me now, what I may be.

t's always with you. Your friendly shadow, always following you, step by step. There's nothing wrong with that, right? That could never, ever go wrong...

The Town's starting to look better, the situation is starting to improve bit by bit -- there's a bit more color to be found. But it seems as though the characters' adventurousness has stirred up something that may have been better left alone, and that's caused a change in something very close to home.

Because amidst all of this optimistic color restoration, something's lurking, right behind everyone's every single step -- and as the day dawns and everyone begins to bustle about, some mischief is finally, properly afoot.

It might be better to stay by the light this week.

Welcome to Awash's second event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post.

You are welcome to start your own posts or logs for this event as well. If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you!

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[ dextera can't really get her attention when she seems so panicked, but finally, as she stops to stomp on her shadow, he hurries to try and calm her—hands outstretched, though he's not sure that he's going to get through to her when she's so angry. the ground is shaking a little, every time her foot connects with the earth. ]

K—

[ kaoru... please... what's wrong!! ]

[Why does he seem to always find her when she's losing her temper?

She had raised her foot again, stomping on her shadow's face hard enough the cracks extended out nearly two feet. It was useless, but she was scared and that means she was angry because anger was more useful than fear (but she thought, Minamoto would be disappointed because anger was only useful when controlled, because what she was doing amounted to basically throwing a tantrum). She was fully intent on continuing when she noticed Dextera and froze, foot already raised again.

Then she set it down normally.]

...I'm okay. [Because he looked worried. But her hand automatically goes to cover her wrist where she normally wore a chunky bracelet with a star design on it (her Limiter). And she hoped, even though it was hard to miss it, that he hadn't noticed it before or would not notice its absence now.] Has your shadow been bothering you too?

[Because she's fine! Her shadow has been pretty ineffectual at trying to kill her so far (so far).]

[ she causes such a ruckus when she’s losing her temper! he can’t help but be worried about her, as he most certainly is now—he doesn’t immediately notice that her limiter is gone, of course, nor does he really understand what the importance of that bracelet was, but she’s lost something, she’s upset about it, and he wants to help. ]

...

[ he nods, briefly, and then glances to where she’s covering her wrist. is she hurt? the shadows have been grabbing at people, lately. or maybe...

his brow furrows. was she wearing a bracelet when they last saw each other? he taps one of the bracelets he wears around his own wrists. is that what’s missing? ]

[She would insist that this was better than the sort of fuss she'd have caused when she was ten years old, at the height of her rebellious phase.

She clutched her wrist more tightly when he tapped one of his bracelets, brows furrowed not in confusion but because she understood what he was probably asking about. Then she let go of it with a sigh. She was completely unhurt but her shoulders were hunched as she looked away.]

I need to find my Limiter--my bracelet. Without it, if my powers suddenly act up I wouldn't be able to stop it.

[And people could be hurt.]

[ she doesn’t have to explain any more than that. he immediately understands the danger, having seen kaoru’s powers first-hand twice now! she’s powerful, and at least one of those times was with the limiter.

he nods. he doesn’t remember details about what it looks like, though, so... he gestures to his bracelet again, frowning and tilting his head slightly.

he’s willing to look! guide him, kaoru-sensei... ]

[...honestly she wishes she were a telepath. It would be so much easier to understand him and make herself understood if she were.

But she (thought) she understood his meaning well enough.]

Um. [She looks around and--there. She reaches a hand out and a stick comes flying into her open hand. Then she started scratching something in the dirt. It's not...very good. She's not much of an artist. It could be a crude drawing of her Limiter or it could be a circle with two stubby arms. It's hard to say.]

It's...pink and green. I'm not sure when I lost it but I know I didn't take it off so it has to have been stolen.

...

[ that’s not a very good picture, but he knows it’s a bracelet, and knowing that it’s pink and green will help as well. some color has been restored to places in town, but he thinks pink and green would be hard to miss when it sounds so vibrant.

he nods, accepting this little drawing for what it is—and then he pauses, lost for a gesture on how to communicate any questions based on time, only to remember belatedly that he has a notebook now.

the day is saved! he retrieves it from his pocket, scribbling quickly. ]

When/where did you last see it?

When did your shadow start to move?

[ people have been losing things, he’s heard—and it must be the fault of these shadows’ tricks. ]

[Her artistic skills left something to be desired, she knew.

Oh, that's helpful!]

I know I still had it when I went to sleep. [She'd assumed being allowed to actually sleep through the night was a blessing but now? Now she realizes it was a trap.] It's been moving for a couple of days now....I'm not sure when it started, actually.

I was careless. [Sounded like she was blaming herself.] Since it hadn't been able to hurt me with its little pranks I didn't think--I should have been more careful.

[ so it must have just been lost today? he's not sure if that means anything, but maybe it hasn't gone far, if it's only been lost a few hours. it's hard to say where the shadows are moving these things to, or if they're swallowing them into the void, but the latter is a hard possibility to consider. surely they wouldn't... ]

...

[ ...they probably would. still, dextera shakes his head instead of voicing those concerns with his notebook. she wasn't careless. not any more careless, at least, than the rest of them have been to ignore the shadows' pranks. ]

Will you be okay?

{Will she be okay? Maybe. If she's lucky nothing will happen. If not...

But it wasn't anything anyone else could help her with, she knew. So she does her best to be brave and reassuring.]

I'll be fine! Probably. As long as I take care not to hit my head. It shouldn't be too dangerous.

[Maybe.]

[ oh, well, that sounds like a pretty important caveat to keep in mind. the shadows have been dropping things on people like no tomorrow, and if kaoru specifically needs that not to happen, then she might be in trouble. the fear that crosses his face is obvious. ]

Let me help.

[Great. Now she's made him worry. But the guilt of having worried him isn't what makes her stare at the words longer than necessary.]

I'm not sure if that's a good idea. My powers aren't always the most stable and without my Limiter if there's any fluctuations, my psychic centre might go nuts. It's probably better if I'm on my own if that happens.

[As for her? She'll be fine...for a given value of fine.]

[ she isn’t making him feel better about her safety! it may be true that there’s nothing he can do to help her, but it would be wrong to leave her without a fight. ]

Would you be OK?

[ even if she says yes, however, it’s not going to stop him from trying to keep close. she can’t watch out for her shadow, and he’s not sure she can get rid of it by herself. ]

[She doesn't want to lie though. People had lied to her before in the name of protecting her and she had never liked it. So she didn't want to do it to other people.]

Of course! Minamoto's gone though with us what to do in case that happens! We've prepared for this since middle school so I know what to do to keep myself safe!

[She'd just rather not put other people at risk. That's all.]

[ it doesn't seem like she's lying, and dextera knows he would be annoyed if someone questioned him too far about something he's confident in—he doesn't know who minamoto is, but he believes that kaoru considers herself trained indeed for this kind of situation. ]

...

[ hm. ]

Then I'll be OK too. Please trust me.

[Again, she couldn't help but stare again.]

...I do trust you.

[There's an unspoken 'but' at the end of that sentence. Because Kaoru was supposed to be the brave one. Because it was her powers, and therefore her responsibility. Still, she would hate it if the situation were reversed, being told to leave despite how much she wanted to stay and help.]

...okay. [Pause. And then there's the smallest of smiles.] Thank you.

[ dextera returns her smile. it's shy and unfamiliar on his face, but the longer he spends in this town, the more comfortable he becomes with such an expression.

he's going to help her find her limiter! and even if they don't find it before the day is out, then he at least wants to help protect her—there are too many dangers abounding with the shadows' mischief as things are. ]

...

[ he tucks away the notebook, and offers out his hand. ]

[She doesn't hesitate to reach out to take his hand. Physical contact has always been something reassuring to Kaoru (and though she didn't want to admit it, a little bit of reassurance would be nice.)]

I must seem like a pretty bad tempered girl, huh... [Since he keeps...finding her like this.

(Because she wouldn't be herself if she didn't at least try to crack a joke.)]

[ dextera laughs, softly, and squeezes her hand with that reassurance she wants. bad-tempered or not, he doesn't mind. she reminds him a bit of alice, actually, and alice has been a strange companion—but one he's always grateful to see, no matter how angry she gets with him.

so he shakes his head.

kaoru is... a friend of his. strangely enough, however this happened, she's become someone he's happy to have met, and so he wants to make sure she's safe. with his free hand, he touches under her chin, ensuring that she's going to lift her head with a smile. it's wholesome, okay!! ]

[It was childish, maybe, but having her hand held was reassuring enough that she did smile. But uh.

When he touches her chin she just blanks out. Because what...is happening? What?

WHAT?

Excuse her while her brain just freezes and she flushes. She can't even get any words out right now. She's just internally screaming in her head because WHAT WAS THIS? THIS COULDN'T BE WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE, RIGHT? THIS WASN'T--SHE WASN'T--]

I-I'm underaged!

[ wait, what— ]

—?!

[ as soon as she protests that she's underaged, dextera reels back from her with such a ferocity it's like he was burned. ages don't matter in the apocalypse, but the fact is really that he wasn't trying to do anything at all?! his eyes are wide with panic, and he doesn't have any blessed clue how she got the impression that he was trying to...

he quickly shakes his head! ]

[Sorry Dex. The only problem here is that Kaoru is a weird hyrbid of a pervert and an innocent maiden. It doesn't help that she read a lot of dirty magazines over the years.

...actually, why did she just scream that out loud? Didn't that tell everyone who was listening that she was thinking something dirty?! And judging by his reaction it seemed like she was the only one thinking it. Why can't the ground just swallow her up...?]

I. Um. It's not--I didn't--that wasn't what I wanted to say!

[She didn't know what she wanted to say!? Would it be bad if she just ran away...? Or would that be even more suspicious???]

[ what did you want to say, kaoru??

dextera realizes that it was his mistake here, in trying to do something kind, and now there's an awkward misunderstanding between them that may never truly be resolved. he's so sorry. ]

...

[ all he's got is this shaking of his head, and he presses his hand to his chest as if he can try to communicate that he was just being nice! really! he's an adult with no interest in kids like kaoru! ]

[SHE DOESN'T KNOW. She barely even knows what she is saying right now.

...and now she seems to have made him upset. Ugh. Why couldn't she just be a normal, innocent maiden?!]

How about we just pretend that didn't happen...?

[Please???]

...

[ dextera nods, but the fact is that he’s a little horrified by all this. does everyone think that he wants to kiss them when he’s especially forward with his hands? is kaoru just the first person who’s reacted so openly?

this is terrible.

he spreads his palms in open, innocent apology, and then slowly lowers them to his side to make sure she knows... his hands are safe. ]

Event Three.

II!

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