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

[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.]

[Quick, Minato, let's escape to Narnia.

Guren is focused on his own path. He can try to feel it out, picking up nails when he finds them and keeping them in his pocket. They're useful, and he won't let them go to waste. He can risk stepping on them, anyway.

But he hears that noise from Minato and glances over his shoulder.]

What? Did you find something?

[Escaping to Narnia would be preferable, but unfortunately, they could never be that lucky. Instead, Minato offers up a contemplative:]

It's...a wardrobe, or something? Some sort of storage--

[But as he does so, he's naturally trying to find the latch to open the doors. And he does!! And opens it and--]

Geh.

[That's pretty much the only sound he can manage when a couple of skeletons fall out on top of him. Down to the floor he goes!

This is, in fact, a shitty day.]

[Ah. Guren pauses, pocketing one more screw before he starts to try and make his way over to the noise. To Minato.]

...Let me guess, skeletons? [He can't see, but he's just going to assume. His foot comes close enough to accidentally kick one of the skeletal arms hanging closer to the ground, and that tells him to stop.]

Yep....

[He just grumbles that with a soft sigh, shoving skeleton bones off so he can wriggle his way out from under them, standing and coughing at the dust he's covered with now.]

That's... hm. [Hm!!]

I think there are two here...? It's hard to tell though. [Too dark. But also too many bones for just one.]

One wasn't enough?

[Ugh, two... He's not saying it aloud, but it doesn't sit well with him to leave the bones down here, either. He's probably going to wrestle with dealing with the dark and carrying them out, once he checks everything else out and gets Minato out of here.]

There probably isn't anything else left in the wardrobe, then. Unless you want to check. [It might be a Big Wardrobe.]

Now we have to worry about stepping on even more.

[It doesn't sit right with Minato, either, even if he doesn't realize they're thinking along the same lines. Death is something that should be respected, and even if they don't know who these people were...they deserve some sort of a proper burial.

They deserve better than having been forgotten in the cellar. Nothing seems sadder to him than that.

So Minato just shakes his head, belatedly realizes Guren can't even see it, and:]

It's okay... I think...they're all that was in there.

[....]

We have to bring them with us. They deserve some sort of burial.

[Why is Minato such a good egg. Guren is glad for him??]

Don't worry; I wasn't planning on leaving them behind. But there might be more in this cellar, so we'll have to leave them there for a moment while we take a look.

Two of us down here speeds it up, even as dark as it is. [Dex would be really useful down here with his soul flashlight thing, but oh well. Them and the darkness, that's all they have. Guren moves again already, starting at the wall next to the wardrobe and moving along it.

From above and around them, he can hear the comments still. "You'll become a demon!"]

...food. [He says, clinking a can of something against another can.] A fair amount of it, at least.

[He does his best...!! Though maybe the reason that resonates so much with him becomes plain with some of the comments still being tossed around up there.

"You were forgotten because you didn't reserve to be remembered. It's selfish to think otherwise."

Hm. That one stings, a little. Parts of it are undeniably true, though. He drags in a slow breath... and shakes his head.

Too much yelling. He's starting to get a headache.]

Food's good...even if it all tastes pretty gross. [He rubs dust from his face a little tiredly, and moves along the wall the other way.]

[Guren is still worried about those comments. Minato is taking too much in stride. There's a point where someone breaks. These comments keep getting worse and worse, so eventually, they'll get to Minato's heart, won't they?

He sighs to himself.]

It's all gross, but it's what we need to stay alive. Maybe one day we'll find something that doesn't taste half bad.

[Haha..... He doesn't believe it, but he can hope. Aside from the food, on his side, he's not finding much. Tables, that are dusty, a chair or two stacked together, a box of weird toys? There's no saying who used to live here or how it used to be.]

I'm not finding much else.

[It's fine, Guren!! Nothing is wrong here, everything is fine.

Which. Well. Is somewhat true, at least. Minato keeps going, and when he reaches the corner of the wall, offers up:]

Nothing else on this side of the wall.

[Onwards...!!]

It'd be nice if we could pick up something tasty, though. Everything tastes the same, and that's kind of depressing too.

[Food!! Variety!! Please!!]

Haha. It'd be nice, but anyone who brought their own food from home has probably eaten it by now.

[Who would share a delicacy like that? Ahh, it's too bad.] I really want some curry and rice.

[But, with nothing else in this room, his footsteps move back across to the cans of food. Stairs are useless without a floor at the top, so maybe he'll just have to jump.]

[Oh no... his stomach grumbles at the thought of curry and rice.

Food from home...]

That's not fair, Ichinose-san... now I'm craving it too.

[ALAS.

For his part, Minato just kind of shuffles back over to the skeletons, squinting down at them through the darkness in bemusement. How...do they get these up there...?]

Should we start heading back up?

Yeah.

[He can still hear the insults from above.] What do you think, can you climb up these walls? Or do I have to throw you up there.

[...Dryly:]

Sorry, Ichinose-san. I'm not an anime hero character with strange abilities.

[So no.

He cannot climb cellar walls.]

Oh? I thought you were. Sorry.

[The jokes never stop. Alright... So, the options are carry him up, or literally throw him up. As Guren moves across the dark room to where he'd heard Minato's voice, he glances up. Almost none of the floor left, probably not good to land on what is. They had closed the door, though, so throwing him through would be extra mean.

Man. From next to Minato, now, he holds out both arms. Haha.]

Okay, come here. I'll carry you out, first.

[Well, technically Guren's right and he is, but he still can't climb cellar walls.

Guren gets a somewhat skeptical look, though it's a little hard to see even with them standing beneath their one source of light.]

Hm. [Hmm...!!]

Carried by Ichinose-san... [DOUBT!!

(He's joking.)]

You're lucky I'm not going to carry you like a sack of potatoes.

[He could, but that would be harder to control while jumping vertically. Instead, he doesn't wait for Minato to get over his hmming. Instead, he places a hand on the boy's shoulder, his other arm moving down to scoop him up.]

I'm going to kick through the door, so brace yourself. [It's a fun time!!]

[... And, dryly, as he's picked up:]

How scary.

[Just the blandest, flattest tone.]

Maybe I'll scream. [He will not scream.]

If you scream, I'll drop you.

[A lie, just the same. But this was good enough. He jumps, then kicks off a wall to shift the momentum, shifting so that they crash through the door feet-first. It slams open, of course, with Guren's strength, but now the door is on the ground beneath their feet insulting each of them.

He sets Minato down.]

I'll get the food first, and then those skeletons. [He frowns again back at the dark cellar. It'd be a lot easier if there was a LIGHT...]

[Naturally he does not scream, and Guren does not drop him. That works out! Also Minato just settles as soon as he's set, he tucks his hands into his pockets.]

... Alright. You can toss things up to me too if that helps. I'll grab them.

[However he can!!]

Haha. Are you sure I won't just bean you in the face?

[He's already stepping back over and hopping down, though, moving to where he remembers the cans are.] It's just a handful, so if you really think you can do it, I'll throw them one by one.

I'm pretty confident I can handle it.

[He just calls that down.

Go ahead, Guren, toss some cans at him.]

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