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!

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A bucket will work in a pinch.

[He looks to the cans.] Someone will make use of these somehow, even if we leave them here. I can always come back and check later if no one picked them up.

[So, he'll just pick the box of bones back up.] Let's head out to the forest, then.

Alright. I'll go grab the bucket, and meet you there.

[He's pretty sure he remembers which shoddy building he saw it in, so... it shouldn't take him long to loop back and fetch it.

A PLAN.]

Great. I'll go in a straight line from here, so it shouldn't be hard to find me.

[Good thing Minato said it, because he was going to order it anyway! He nods his head in his acknowledgement and starts heading that way, just like he said. He has a lot to think about with whatever Minato just heard about him, and the bones in this box...

When Minato finds him again, Guren will have laid out the skeletons perfectly, side by side. They're more in tact now, as gruesome as it is, and he's frowning down at them, apparently lost in thought.]

[Minato's pretty aware of what's needed leadership-wise some days, at least! So he goes to fetch the bucket himself, and when he comes across Guren having laid out the skeletons... he just stands there as well, expression quiet.

He pauses to look over the skeletons as well...and dips his head, quietly, almost as if in prayer, though he doesn't have any prayers to offer. He just thinks...whoever they were, they deserve some sort of honoring of their passing.

Death isn't something he fears--not by any means--but it is something he thoroughly respects after the events he experienced. What sorts of lives did they lead? What experiences did they have?

He can only hope they were able to live their lives to the fullest, and didn't have any regrets, no matter what happened in this bleak town.

And then he breathes out a soft breath, lifting his head again. He's ready when Guren is.]

Here.

[Guren has pocketed his gloves so they won't get dirty (because that matters?), and reaches over with a bare hand for the bucket. It'll go faster if he does it, he thinks, and Minato can be the one to lay the bones as he finishes each one. If they were together in the wardrobe, well... they can be buried next to each other.

It's a silent process until Guren decides to speak up in the middle of it, out of nowhere.]

About music... [Music? He's back on music now? And it's clear from how he's not looking over to Minato that he's been considering this.] I only ever really listened to jazz.

[And, obediently, he hands over the bucket. The only positive aspect to digging graves out here in the woods is that the town in general is too far away to really hear the yelling and scolding and trash talking.

It's kind of a nice relief, even if the break is...well, for this.

So Minato's quiet as well until Guren speaks up, and the topic is...

It's something he personally has an interest in, right? He's struck again by how kind Guren is, despite his words and attitude, but he won't bring it up. Not in so solemn a moment as this.]

Jazz, huh... I like jazz too. [He likes everything, though, so it's more a murmured throwaway comment than anything. More importantly:] Why only jazz...?

[He could say it doesn't matter, refuse to share the rest, but it's been long enough that he can share it without too much of a problem. Besides, he wants to keep this topic up, if Minato is interested in it. He kept thinking he shut it down too early before.]

When I was young, someone told me that jazz was "weird and off-beat". [He tosses the next bucket of dirt out to the foot of the grave.] "Just like you, Guren." It made me want to listen to it.

[It's very much a topic he's interested in--both because he loves music and because he feels as though someone's music tastes say a lot about them.

Like Guren, and jazz. Weird and off-beat, huh...? He supposes he could see where that impression could come from. And Guren...

He tests the water, tentatively.]

... It must have been someone important to you, then.

[To pick a type of music to listen to solely because someone says it reminds them of you...that's potent.]

[It's a fair step to take in testing the water, and Guren won't scold him for it. But that doesn't mean he can admit too much, either. It still hurts him to think about, he still isn't sure about so many things. And now, it doesn't matter.]

I barely knew her. [The tone he uses is distant enough that it sounds like an agreement all on its own, though. She was important.] I guess it stuck with me.

[There's silence on Minato's end for a moment, his eyes fixed on the shallow grave that's starting to properly form.

... Guren's words don't really ring of truth.

She was someone important to him, and he wonders if it's a name he's heard, but... one thing he absolutely doesn't want to do is use what he's heard to make assumptions about Guren. It's not fair that he heard what he did, and it's not fair to use against Guren what Guren doesn't want him to know.

So ultimately, what he offers up is a simple:]

I do want to get to know you better, Ichinose-san. But... I don't think it's fair to use what this place has revealed for that purpose, either.

So for as long as I can...I'll try to learn about you properly. What you want to tell me...what you want to hide from me... that'll be your choice. I think that's how it should be.

[You can't learn about people from something like this anyway--something that twists their worst fears and regrets into weapons to try to harm them. So Minato nods to himself, satisfied with that, and crouches by the skeletons to eye the size of the hole in comparison. Minato's going to follow his own rules in this place, no matter what it tries to do. So he finishes with a more casual:]

So it just stuck with you, and you never picked up any other music?

I told you that I didn't care about any of that.

[Guren is quick to jump right back to the start of that, sounding mildly irritated even if his eyes and tone have no bite to them when he looks over.] My childhood was mostly training to be the next head of the clan. I was strong, so people had a lot of expectations for me. I didn't have time for my own interests.

[But... He also doesn't explain who the important person was. No matter how he says he's fine with it all, saying it himself is an entirely different issue. He doesn't want to address anything out loud like that.]

I just listened to it because she said that, and I ended up liking it. I didn't see a need to listen to anything else.

[... Hm. Minato just nods. Okay, Guren. If you say so, he won't argue it. But it matters to him, if no one else, that he learns to understand people on their own terms.

Regardless? For now he'll focus on what Guren's willing to talk about.

(Head of the clan? Somehow, it suddenly feels like feudal Japan, even though Minato knows Guren is from a modern point of time. That's wild.) He's curious about it...but he'll come back to it.]

Huh, really...? [Interesting. He supposes that's fair; someone important to you recommends a type of music, and that's all you go out and see. It sounds...stifling too, though.]

What I have on here is pretty different from that... [Was it really that restful for Guren to go from jazz to alternative and instrumental dance music and rock...?]

Yeah, it is.

[This grave is deep enough, he thinks, and so he pulls himself out of it, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm.] It told me a lot about you as a person.

[It was restful in that it was unique. It captured his attention, and didn't make him dwell on the past too much.]

[The grave is deep enough, which means it's Minato's turn; he doesn't need any sort of order to start placing the skeletons into the grave, piece by careful piece. There's a solemnity to his actions, but no disgust or uncertainty.

Minato's the furthest thing from a stranger to death, after all.

And, quietly, as he works:]

I guess that's fair. [Music does do that, after all... and, with a hint of good humor, despite the situation:] Maybe it'd be better if I don't ask what you learned about me... hm, I wonder.

Haha. It's a secret, anyway.

[Like all the information he picked up from attitude alone, too. It's his analytical brain and he's keeping it close to his chest!! He's not like Minato, he thinks. He won't wait for him to say anything. He'll read it all, from his face, his body language, his word choice— whatever he can, he'll use it to squeeze out everything he can and arm himself with knowledge.

He's off to the side, watching patiently as Minato arranges the skeletons.]

But that means no one else will learn about it, either. Your deep secrets are safe with me.

[Minato's quiet for a long, long moment, laying out bones with careful precision. He wonders if these people had a happy life together. If they were able to live a long time, or if their lives were cut short. If they were satisfied with everything they were able to do.

... Hm.

A quiet hum, and blandly:]

I don't have any deep secrets.

[Sort of.]

Everyone has secrets. Trying to say you don't means the ones you do have are deeper.

[Caught!! Guren is smirking a little, though, out of amusement. He's kept a bucket filled with dirt, ready to cover the skeletons again once they're ready.]

[... Admittedly, he supposes he'd be a little put out if people found out some of the things he's keeping under wraps--but that's the way of things too.

He's not sure he expects them to stay a secret forever.

Hm...

Oh well. All he offers up to that is a thoughtful noise, and an equally bland:]

I've always wanted to be deep and mysterious.

[He finishes placing the bones. He's honestly not sure what relationship these two had--family? Lovers? Close friends? It's impossible to say--so he just leaves them side-by-side...with their left and right hand close enough to almost be holding hands, but not quite.

It's really all that can be done at this point, and he knows it doesn't matter to the bones, but... it matters to him.

And then he hauls himself out of the shallow hole, nodding to Guren. All set.]

Hah. That's what it seems like.

[But with Minato out of the hole, he begins to fill in the dirt. Though he's not showing it outwardly as much, he's thinking similar things about these two skeletons. Who were they? What were they doing before? Are they resting well? Even without anything like an afterlife, he hopes they can.]

We should find something to use as a grave marker. Is there a stone somewhere close?

[Minato just shoves his hands back into his pockets, watching Guren at work.

A grave marker, though...?]

...Yeah, hold on. I'll find one.

[They deserve one--two, even if he can find them.

So he heads off into the woods a little bit, searching carefully.]

Don't go too far.

[Guren looks after him for a short moment before he turns his attention back to the dirt. He'll probably be fine, as long as he doesn't go in too deep. But Guren should be able to tell from the time taken and any sounds if he has to get up and look for him.

For now, he's lost in thought, covering these dead with dirt.]

[Aye aye, worrywart Ichinose-san.

Minato really isn't gone long, at least; he returns a couple of minutes later, two rocks in his hand. They're not the same size (he wishes he could've found matching ones, but that's a pipe dream and he knows it), but they're both flat and relatively decent grave markers.

And he'll just come to stand by the grave again while Guren finishes filling it in.]

Those are perfect.

[Just finishing with filling the dirt in and patting it down, he stands up and lets Minato set the rocks down. He keeps a hold on the bucket, since it could be useful later, and watches, quiet for a long moment.]

Hopefully they're able to rest in peace. [He can say that much, at least, glancing back towards Minato.] Thanks for the help.

[And, reverently, Minato lays down the makeshift headstones, and nods, stepping back solemnly.

A slow breath in, and:]

Thank you too, Ichinose-san. I'm glad...we could let them rest like this.

Yeah.

[A pause, a long, silent look at the makeshift grave, and then he sighs. He's tired, still.] I should probably head back to the house to make sure it's not burnt to the ground.

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messianic - 2018-04-02 17:01 (UTC) - Expand

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