[ SEPTEMBER CATCH-ALL ] we will welcome summer’s ghost.

[passio]

WHO: dextera and the crew
WHERE: all over!
WHEN: september… the whole 30 days.
WHAT: quests and whatever else crops up over the course of the month!
WARNINGS: nothing yet!


( i’ll put top levels in the comments for a variety of things, and as always, if you want to do something, you can PM this journal or ping me on plurk! )

Comments

MINATO | QUEST 26

[passio]

[ what’s better to clear the air than a little fairy destruction? with any luck, it won’t be as gruesome as some of the past “defeat” quests have been, though dextera knows better than to hope for too much when it comes to this town and fighting.

all the same, he and minato have coordinated this little outing, and dextera can only hope that neither of them will be too terribly enchanted.

once minato arrives at the designated meeting place, there’s one other little thing that somehow has never gone addressed between them. dextera doesn’t mind it, of course, or else he wouldn’t have invited minato along on this journey, but he feels like he needs to mention it. ]

…can you fight?

AKIRA | QUEST 26

[passio]

[ “defeat the fairies.”

it sounds straightforward enough. dextera noticed just a little while ago that yusuke had disappeared from the town, and although he wasn’t close with yusuke, nor is he close with akira, it feels like he should make condolences in his own way. it’s too awkward to message akira with something like “i’m sorry for your loss,” but a quest is a good reason for anyone to get together.

so he waits for akira at the edge of the forest. ]

RYO | QUEST 24

[passio]

[ this should be easy. it should be, but nothing is ever easy in chroma.

ryo is the smartest person he knows, though, and a red to boot—he’s the perfect person to ask along on this quest, dextera for once being the one to reach out. maybe he’s guilty for ratting ryo out to guren, but whatever the reason is, he’s even more willing than usual to do whatever ryo asks of him. ]

Do we need anything else?

[ he brought a jar? ]

[theshowsover]

[Akira has been trying not to dwell on Yusuke's disappearance too much. Of course he went looking, just in case the town was messing with them, but he hadn't been successful. Yusuke's text had gone dark, as well.

Hopefully he went home. Akira prays for that.

He shows up at the forest on time, raising a hand in greeting. He's ready for fairie fighting, though he currently looks unarmed and a bit sloppy.]

[messianic]

[The real marvel is that in six months together, this has never come up... neither has the Evoker, Minato is starting to realize with something a bit more like dread.

Uh.

Hm...]

... Yes, I can.

[Minato pauses, hands shoved deeply into his pockets...and then he sighs.]

I should warn you about it first, though, before we get deep into this.

[passio]

[ …hm. that sounds ominous.

dextera doesn’t want to make any assumptions, though, so he slowly nods—willing to hear minato out on whatever has him concerned. ]

What’s wrong?

[messianic]

[Well...there's no point in hiding it any longer or dragging it out. Minato just tugs his Evoker from his holster, holding it out for Dextera to look at.]

I can summon, to fight and protect myself and others. But... I have to use this.

[He's long since realized that putting the Evoker itself to his temple terrifies people, so instead while the Evoker remains in one palm he lifts his other hand to form a faux-gun with his thumb and pointer finger, and points that at his temple instead, gaze steady.]

Like this.

[passio]

…?

[ did dextera pick a bad time to meet up? akira surely would have told him if he wasn’t feeling well… or maybe he wouldn’t have. dextera doesn’t actually know enough about the type of person akira is to make a judgment like that. ]

Are you ready?

[ a sincere question. ]

[passio]

…

[ maybe it’s because minato seems so worried about it that dextera is able to, oddly, take it in stride. he doesn’t want to diminish minato’s worries when he sees what the problem is, but it’s only for show, right? ]

Does it hurt?

[ he’d asked yusuke the same question, but yusuke didn’t use a gun. ]

[messianic]

No.

[Minato shakes his head immediately at that, tucking the Evoker back away when it's clear that Dextera really...is just taking this in stride.

(Every time, it's a relief.

It shouldn't be, he knows. He should work harder to find a way to do better, so he doesn't even have to put people through this.)]

It doesn't hurt me to use it.

[passio]

Then it’s OK.

[ dextera’s smile is small, a little wistful, but intended to be reassuring. he doesn’t want minato to think that he’s going to be judged for this, when minato has never once judged dextera for his oddities. ]

It’s what you do. So don’t hold back.

[apocalypticist]

[ Unsurprisingly, Ryo's wealth of knowledge extends to bees. Not mutant bees, but he has a general idea on what they need to do to get their hands on the honey without dying horribly to a swarm of angry bees. ]

A knife to open a hole in the hive, and a container to light a fire in. [ And he's brought both, so let's go. ]

Smoke will mask the pheromones that are released by guard bees or injured bees, interrupting the colony's defensive response.

[passio]

[ fire… it sounds cruel, doesn’t it? ]

…

[ dextera doesn’t feel like arguing, though. he can hear ryo’s cold response in his head now, saying something about how this is a quest and this is the most efficient and caring about the bees would get in the way. something like that.

so he just nods. ]

Have you done this before?

[apocalypticist]

No, I just read a lot. [ He shakes his head. ] Smoke has been used since ancient times to calm bees before harvesting their honey.

[passio]

It doesn’t… hurt them?

[ maybe it’s good he didn’t argue after all. is he just automatically assuming the worst of ryo now? his head is a mess. ]

[apocalypticist]

[ ...thanks, dextera? ]

It's possible that you'll end up killing a few bees by accident while smoking them, but the purpose of the smoke is to pacify, not harm.

[passio]

[ you’re welcome. now everything is a moral crisis because he thinks ryo is well and truly off his rocker!! ]

…

[ dextera nods. killing a few bees by accident doesn’t sound pleasant—it’s not the people’s honey to take, and dextera is pretty sure that bees wouldn’t make it if they didn’t have a use for it.

it’s rude, even if it’s not cruel, to smoke them out. ]

Thank you… for coming.

I'm here for you

[tosa]

(It's been a while since their last (and first) fight in the pit and this really means two things. First, they've had plenty of time to rest and second, Mutsu still remembers the offer to fight again. You can decide which of those two is most important but the latter is definitely why he shows up at Dextera's home ready to start something,)

Dextera! What're ya doing right now? Nothing? (Because it sure looks like nothing to him.) Let's go!

(Ever seen those old martial arts movies where some punk shows up at someone else's dojo looking for a fight? This is it.)

[theshowsover]

Yeah.

[Akira shrugs. Doesn't he look ready? Okay, probably not. But it's fine; he can fix that!

And just like that, there's a little pop, and Akira's Phantom Thief outfit is on.]

Let's go.

[His aura is almost immediately different; the sadness seems gone, in its place is a light grin. There's something mischievous and a bit dangerous about Akira as he is now. Of course, right now he is Joker.]

you saved my life

[passio]

Ah?

[ let’s go—where to?

he’s not opposed to running off on an adventure with mutsunokami, but it takes him a few moments to remember the promise they made the last time they interacted. he should grab his swords. god, he’s not even ready!! ]

Hold on. I need—my weapon.

[ it’ll be embarrassing if he’s misunderstanding the reason mutsu came to visit. ]

[passio]

—?

[ dextera saw yusuke in his outfit, but he hadn’t actually witnessed the change. the mask lets him know it must be the same power, or else he’d be just a little more alarmed, but his eyes do visibly widen in surprise.

after a pause, he nods. is this fine? it has to be, he supposes. ]

…follow me.

[apocalypticist]

Don't mention it. I would have asked you to do this with me if you hadn't reached out first.

[ Dextera is a reliable quest partner who does as told, so he's very useful to have around. ]

We'll need to gather material for the fire before we start looking for bee hives. Beekeepers commonly use pine needles and wood, if I recall correctly.

[messianic]

[...Dextera really is good to him. Minato looks a little relieved at that in turn. He should have expected someone like Dextera would be able to roll with it, but...

It's still something he's grateful for.

So he nods quietly.]

... Right. I won't hold back at all--I'll watch your back, Dextera-san.

Let's do this.

[passio]

[ okay, he can definitely do that, except— ]

What is a “pine”?

[ common sense suggests that it’s some kind of tree, but needles don’t sound like they belong on trees. dextera has the strangest gaps in knowledge, but here they are. ]

[passio]

[ it’s all for naught if minato doesn’t show him all the way, after all, so dextera nods back in a subtle promise not to freak out, and then he leads the way into the forest. after the sirens struck the shores this past month, the forest is starting to seem less dangerous in comparison. he isn’t one of the ones who traveled in, after all. ]

…

[ he glances back. ]

Have you seen a fairy?