awashlogs | Event Two.

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Event Two.

Dust if you must, but bear this in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go, as go you must,
You yourself will make more dust!

t hasn’t been long since you’ve arrived. The dust has settled, so to speak. And there is… a lot of dust. The town is in disrepair. Some efforts have gone into making it a bit better, but it’s going to be a lot of work, there’s no denying that. There are only a few livable buildings right now, and even those are prone to letting the rain in, or missing stairs to the clearly present second floor, floors crumbling or creaking.

So it is that after a week or so to get used to their new living quarters.... There’s finally activity on the forum. Activity that doesn’t come from any of the people living here.

There’s a stickied forum post, and in it, a single post, from a user FFFFFF:

All-endearing cleanliness,
Virtue next to godliness,
Easiest, cheapest, needfull’st duty,
To the body health and beauty;
Who that’s human would refuse it,
When a little water does it?

Requirements: Everyone

They only have a bit of time to try to figure out what, exactly, it wants from them -- and then things begin to happen.

Welcome to Awash's first 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I like music a lot. It's probably one of my favorite things.

[He's got a purpose to this, I swear--so Minato nods, lifting his headphones and mp3 player from their eternal position around his neck.]

But I think... you should borrow this for a bit.

[He tilts his head, blinking somewhat placidly, and:]

At least long enough for a nap. [Because with headphones and music... he won't be able to hear anything. That'd probably be as restful as it gets, right?

(The reason Minato hasn't used it for himself is because he's afraid of running down the battery without a way to charge it, but things are different when it comes to other people--especially since Guren is always trying to help people in the end, isn't he?)]

[Guren's actually surprised by that, staring at the headphones. Seriously?]

The battery will drain. [Guren's the first to realize the problem here. Why waste it on him? It... does sound kind of nice, to drown it all out for a bit, but if Minato is going to wait there with him (since otherwise, someone is bound to wander in), then he'd hear who knows what.

But Guren hasn't minded people hearing most of what was being said.]

[And, simply and relatively solemnly:]

The battery's going to drain anyway, whether I use it or not.

[So...]

It may as well be used for something helpful. That's what music's for.

[He just offers them up. Here you go, Guren...!]

Hah.

[Reaching out, he accepts them, looking down. ~~He hopes it's full of linkin park.~~] I didn't know people still used these things.

[Mp3 players... Amazing. But alright. He's fucking exhausted, he'll take it, but not without nodding to one of the buildings that looks the most run down. It has to be uninhabited. It'll be noisy, the floor might cave, but maybe he can get some rest.]

Come on.

[Close enough, really.]

It's not technology that's that old, from what I'm used to. [Don't be rude. But Minato seems perfectly fine with that building, nodding simply.]

That looks fine though. Want me to stay outside? [He probably won't hear anything about Guren then, and he can stop anyone from walking in.]

The whole point of this was to get you out of the cold.

[His jacket won't help that much, even if he borrows it.] Get in.

[It's a command now, and Guren heads inside, too. A lot of the floor is already a wreck, parts of the ceiling and walls have chipped off and fallen to the ground, and it's all filled with dirt and dust. But he'll find somewhere to lie down.]

I don't really care what you hear, but don't go spreading things without asking me about them first. That's all.

Ah...alright.

[It's not like he's going to argue it that hard if Guren's really okay with it; Minato follows along, very carefully avoiding the more obviously rotted parts of the floor. It's... probably fine...

At least they'll be warmer and away from the general breeze and chill.]

But... I won't tell anyone anything. I promise.

[Something he takes incredibly seriously, even if he knows Guren really has no way of knowing just how seriously Minato takes his promises--he's at least gotta offer that up.]

[It's true that he has no idea what a promise means for him... but it says enough that he's coming in here at all. It should be fine with Minato. It's his own insecurities, they've been coming out vague enough that he can explain it. It's fine.

"You killed her. You killed Mahiru."

It's starting already, and Guren sighs, finding a wall to sit next to.]

Stay close to me. I can react fast enough if things start caving in. [So!! Now he can put on these Sick Jams and ignore all of the things in the room telling him how much of a failure murderer he is who's weak, and Minato can peacefully enjoy that and his own aimed comments.

Seems like a fun time.]

Alright.

[Obediently! Because really he has no interest in falling through the floor and breaking a leg or something. That would suck in every possible way. So instead he leans against the wall a few paces away from Guren, leaning back against it with a peaceful expression on his face.

It's not a fun time, not really--listening to Guren's demons and his own--but it's also...something that he's very okay with doing. There's so much he can't do in a situation like this; so many people he can't help, so many past demons he can't fix. But he can do this much; he can sit here and keep his eyes closed, he can let Guren rest at least a little with his headphones over his ears.

Isn't it really just that they should do the things they can do, whatever it might be?

So he remains there, eyes shut but not really dozing, just... listening. Guren's past sounds altogether too sad--too much for one person to have to bear, with what little he can grasp without any context. But he respects, too, that it's not his place to meddle much further than this, not now. For now, this is meddlesome enough of him.]

[The music doesn't block it out completely, but it does help. He's never really had the time to sit down and just listen to music like this. His childhood wasn't built for it. Exhaustion sets in, and it's easy for him to drift off, settled uncomfortably against the wall, and his arms crossed.

The longer he sleeps, the more vicious those comments get. It starts with the same, repeated over and over. That he killed someone, that he was responsible for the death of his father, this "Mahiru", his friends. That he was too weak, and he could never get enough power to fix this.

Then it's on to how he killed everyone. That he triggered the end of the world from selfish desires. That he was unfit to be trusted. And then, that he was losing control of himself. That he didn't have the control he thought he did. That he's going to fall just like Mahiru did. That he won't be able to bring his friends back again. They'll die. They'll fade to dust. They'll die.

Guren really does try to get enough sleep, but he's on edge. On top of everything else, knowing Minato is sitting in here and the comments must be getting progressively worse— he doesn't feel the best about it, either. Even if Minato supposedly can deal with the comments aimed towards himself, hearing something about someone else is a bit much when it's Guren's baggage.

On top of that, it feels like the ground keeps creaking beneath them, and he's finding trouble sleeping any more when he's worried that it'll give way. So, a couple hours into it, he cracks his eyes open, still visibly tired, and peeks over at Minato to see if he's awake.]

[It's brutal, there's no denying it. Minato stays there, leaning against the wall, arms loosely looped around drawn up knees, his chin on his knees with his eyes closed. Guren's past filtered through in bits and pieces by angry furniture is not really how he wanted to learn any of this, but it's still worth it so long as he can rest a bit.

Even if there's so much he's curious about now--so much that doesn't make sense. So much that he's been able to piece together only slightly. That Mahiru must be someone important to him. That he's gone through so much, so much pain and suffering and is still so worried about the people he cares about.

It makes his heart ache, a little. Someone who cares as much as Guren should never have had to suffer this much--because with Guren's coat around his shoulders still, Minato's entirely certain Guren cares.

(Of course, his own comments have gotten worse too--commentary on how Minato's always been at fault for what came, like a harbinger of death. Commentary on how if it wasn't for him, his friends would never have had to suffer the way they did. But he's always known this, and accepts it, not flinching at all.)

He stirs when Guren does, though, glancing over quietly in response--and just kind of tilting his head in a silent question.

Guren doesn't really look much better...does he really want to wake up now?]

[He doesn't want to, but this is too much, isn't it? It had been a couple hours already, and Minato apparently hadn't fallen into a very deep sleep in that time, either. He sighs to himself, shifting carefully to sit up straight as he eyes the floor.]

The boards are creaking. Can you feel it, too? [Straight back to worry about things, but what else can they do?] Don't move yet. Doing it too quickly could trigger a collapse.

[Maybe he's paranoid, but he doesn't want to make Minato fall into a cellar. He moves carefully, himself, to stand up, turning off the mp3 player.]

... Okay.

[He doesn't move, easily obedient; Minato knows that with his Personas, if nothing else, he'd probably be fine with a fall from that height, but...

It's just better to avoid that all around.]

I thought I heard them creaking a little, but...

[Also the furniture is loud and distracting. Oh well, whatever; he's patient, looking to Guren for further instructions.]

Like you could hear anything between all of that ridiculing.

[He moves closer, carefully, and sure enough, a piece of board cracks a little and threatens to break, but Guren reacts quickly, stepping to the side instead. He reaches out his hand for Minato to take.]

Is this your favorite kind of music?

[Is now really the time...

Still, Minato rolls with it as he rolls with everything, reaching for Guren's hand carefully, brow furrowed a little in his focus as he tries to stay on the support beams and not the weaker areas of the floor.]

Yeah, pretty much everything on there I like a lot.

[He shrugs. Lots of instrumental and alternative jams.]

I don't really think there's a bad type of music, though.

It wasn't all that bad.

[Now is the exact time. He guides Minato's steps closer, trying to keep stepping backwards himself so not too much weight is on one place at once. A part of the wall crumbles away nearby.]

Thanks. [For letting him use it. He'll pass it back when they're not going to fall.]

[Slow, careful steps forward to avoid imminent broken limbs. This is fine. So far so good, even if the floor is creaking extremely ominously now.

...Step by step, it's fine.]

Mm, it's fine. Nothing to thank me for, really.

[As far as he's concerned, he did what anyone would do in the position of having something useful on him.

Though he adds, a bit ruefully:]

You still look pretty tired though, so I'm not sure how much it really helped.

Don't worry about that. I'm pretty used to it. A couple hours is enough to—

[His next step back is onto something not sturdy at all. He cuts himself off, trying to shift to another plank— he would have made it, if the house weren't out to get them. Practically every piece of the floor collapses at once.

Guren grips Minato's hand tighter, but all he can think to do while falling is try to break the fall for them both.]

[Whoops.

They should've known it was going too well. Guren takes that step--and the entire floor crumbles beneath them, and down they go. With Guren's tight grip on his hand, Minato ends up tumbling forward a little, face-first, though the only startled response he gives is a sharp intake of breath; they're lucky that the drop to the cellar is only about ten feet, even if that's still quite the distance to fall.

DOWN THEY GO, goodbye Guren and Minato.]

[He tugs at Minato's arm in the fall, free arm wrapping around his waist if he can manage it— and then his back hits the ground, and whether or not he managed to pull Minato close enough that he'd take less of the impact is left unclear to him. It's nothing compared to a strike from a vampire, but it's still irritating enough that he lets out a grunt.]

I knew I slept too long.

["Too long," he says. It is pitch black down here, though. Guren can barely make out Minato's figure where it is. He lets go of his waist (if he managed to grab it), but refuses to let go of his hand, just in case.] You okay?

[Minato's lucky; Guren really does manage to tug him closer, and so poor Guren is the one who takes most of the impact of that fall. Minato's pretty quick to roll off of him when he lets go of his waist, though (gotta make sure this poor guy can breath), and then flops against the ground.

He takes quick stock, and...]

...Yeah. I'm okay. [His shoulder smarts from the impact, but he's experienced enough injuries over the past year to know it's just bruised--otherwise, he feels miraculously okay, and he knows that's thanks to Guren taking the majority of the impact.]

Are you okay? You kind of...softened my fall.

[With your body.]

Yeah, I'm fine. I've taken more.

[A lot more, and he regenerates so he won't even get a bruise or soreness out of this. He's the winner here. For now, he sits up as soon as he's able to, releasing Minato's hand now that he hears that he didn't twist anything.

It's pitch black, he can't see, and the debris under them is probably spread all over this room. He kind of wants to sigh and stay here in the dark for a while. But those stupid pieces of the house are still yelling at them.

He holds out the mp3 player and headphones until his hand bumps lightly against Minato.]

Here. They didn't break. [He made sure!!]

[It is so dark down here, and Minato just takes a moment in the darkness to check to make sure that his Evoker is still on him, tucked away under his own blazer (okay, good), and then--there's that bump against his hand, and Minato accepts them back, hanging both around his neck so they can settle in their proper, usual positions.

A beat, and...]

Thank you. [Seriously. He feels like he's learned more about Guren over this period of time through his actions in these moments, rather than in whatever gossip the furniture wants to spread. A Guren who would make sure to protect Minato and his headphones from any sort of impact, at his own risk...

Minato smiles a little to himself, lost in the darkness, and softly:]

I really appreciate it.

[Regardless...!!He stretches and...sighs, firmly ignoring the yelling from above.]

I guess we should try to find a way back up, huh...?

Stop thanking me for basic things.

[It's! Embarrassing! He stares up himself, at the only source of light in the area, and sighs.]

We should. But we might as well see what we can find down here. Walk carefully, though. There's debris everywhere. There might be nails.

[But he's grateful!!

It's fine though, he won't call Guren on that one. Instead:]

Got it. It's a shame I don't have a flashlight or anything, but... [They could never be that lucky.] ...I'll be careful.

[He just brushes himself off, squinting into the depths of the darkness. Hmmmm... HMMM... Shuffling in one random direction (so as to avoid explicitly stepping on any nails, though it means he does kick a couple of boards on the way) reveals...what feels almost like a wardrobe up against the wall. It's tall, at least, and seems to have doors, and Minato makes a questioning noise to himself as he runs his fingers along it.

??? Why is this here.]

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