[ closed ] catch-all for some post forest threads

[swordfucker]

Who: Guren & various others
Where: Various places
When: Post forest exploration, various dates
What: VARIOUS no I guess they're all Guren checking up on people
Warnings: None that I can think of...

Starters will be below! But hit me up if you'd like something with him, too!

Comments

AKIRA

[swordfucker]

[It's been a day since everyone else got back, and there's still no sign of a few people close to Guren. His very own housemate is missing, with no sign from anyone in his group, and to be honest, it's driving him crazy thinking about it. He's almost considering going back in there himself, but the idea of going alone is too foolish even for him.

He's running on no sleep, rummaging through the kitchen for a quick snack to get by when he hears the door open. A glance, and the reaction is immediate. He abandons whatever food item he'd been looking at (he hadn't had time to register yet, he had no appetite but he knew he had to eat) and rushes to the door, immediately grabbing Akira by one shoulder, and then the other, and looking him over for injuries. For this quick moment, his calm shield breaks.]

Report. [It's an automatic thing that comes out of his mouth, and after a few seconds of a pause, he realizes he has to explain.] What happened? [A silent are you okay? is there, too.]

[theshowsover]

[Akira had almost called out a soft, I'm home, but in the end he'd decided against it. Of course, it didn't seem to matter; Guren noticed him as soon as he came in, before he could slip off to his room.

He looks okay: no obvious injuries, no indiction that he might be traumatized or the like. He mostly feels okay, though like something is definitely... missing. Like he's not whole. If asked to explain it, though, he's not sure he could.

He hopes this feeling isn't permanent.

As Guren puts his hands on his shoulders, he can't help but take a deep breath, to steady himself. He really wasn't expecting this kind of reaction, though maybe he should have been. He drags a shrug up, one that seems to shake his entire body.]

We found some mirrors in the woods. That's really about it.

[It's not, but Akira is stubborn, as always.]

[swordfucker]

Bullshit.

[Immediately, Guren doesn't want to hear that dismissive attitude. He doesn't believe it. His hands fall away from Akira's shoulders, at least, to free him from that grip, but he doesn't leave his sight, staring into his eyes.]

Our group ran into shadows that formed into demons. Akechi lost his color and his ability to feel. That forest is full of things like that. You want to try to tell me again why your group was gone so long?

[theshowsover]

[...Akechi what? It's clear from the way Akira glances up quickly that he wants to know about that, but he bites back the question for now. If he's going to start bombarding him with questions about Akechi, he should answer the question about himself, first.]

...The mirrors ate us.

[That's literally what happened! He looks like he sincerely means it, anyway.]

We woke up here in town, and I came straight back here.

[swordfucker]

[Ate them. He knew it wasn't as simple as mirrors in the forest. Guren curls his hands into fists at his sides.]

When you woke up, how did you feel? Did you lose something, as well? [Emotions, color, memory— it seemed the forest was picking apart at everything.]

DEXTERA

[swordfucker]

[He's forgotten about food for now. Akira was home, but that twisting worry in his stomach hasn't left at all. He heads out as soon as he's done with that conversation, and without any detours, it's not long before he's at Dextera's door, knocking.

If he takes too long, he'll just end up letting himself in, but he wants him to open that door and seem the same as usual.]

Hey, Dextera! [He has to be in there, right? Where else would he have gone?]

[passio]

[ deeply unfortunately for guren, dextera is in no mood to see anyone—even him. something feels wrong inside of his heart, some great part of him missing. he knows what it is. his guilt was taken from him.

he should be grateful for it, shouldn't he? his burden has been lifted... but it's unjust. he has no answers. he's done nothing. he can't even feel guilty about this undeserved boon, but he consciously knows something is wrong, when it feels like his tentative connection to reality has been torn from him. ]

...

[ he doesn't answer, tucked away in his room, and frankly just hopes guren will go away. ]

[swordfucker]

[Too bad, Guren isn't the type to give up on anything. Even the impossible. So, something as easy as opening a door and letting himself in? He's not backing out. He pushes open the front door, and letting that shut behind him, goes straight to Dextera's room.]

Dex? [The door opens, and it's a mix of relief and more worry to see that Dextera is actually in here. Guren isn't the type who would let his feelings be hurt by something like not having the door answered, but he sure is worried about what that means for the place Dextera is in right now.

He lets the door shut behind him, but he's very much in the room now, watching Dextera. He wants to give him the chance to show him any sign of anything, first, before he starts trying to get out what his personal experience was like in that situation.]

[passio]

[ dextera has color, which is good news, and he seems responsive when guren enters his room—he knew that guren would, but he still flinches as the door opens and guren calls his name. he wants to be relieved to see guren, he does, but he doesn't know how to make sense of these feelings. this lack of one particular feeling, more important to his identity than all others.

he doesn't know what to do. ]

...

[ for now, he just turns away from guren, avoiding eye contact—aware of his surroundings, aware of guren, and thoroughly miserable about both. ]

AKECHI

[swordfucker]

[He couldn't figure out how to fix this. Once they came out of the forest, he'd insisted on walking Akechi home, and from there... what could he do? He was completely unfeeling, and that didn't help all of this thinking about it, either. He said he was fine.

Guren did a lot of his thinking about this at home, at his laptop. Writing out ideas, thinking through plans, wondering about drugs... None of it seemed like it would even get close to working. All he could do was stop by Akechi's place every day, drop off some food and hang around, asking him questions. It seemed like things were improving, but he couldn't tell if that was him being hopeful, or the slight color in surroundings seeming to make him less grey.

Now, he's at the door again, knocking with one hand. There's a bag of berries (assorted ones of color, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, whatever he could find) in the other, a simple little gift to make sure he's eating.]

Open up.

[doublecrowss]

[ This is a routine he's almost grown used to by now, people coming up to his door and checking in on him, trying to "cheer him up" even though he could feel nothing at the time, or even sending messages to his inbox... It was all so strange, and honestly overwhelming, now that he could properly process it. He had always craved attention, but until the past few days, he has never stopped to consider that maybe he couldn't handle so much of it in such a short period of time.

Still, there's someone at the door again, and this time he doesn't have to leave them waiting until Lupin takes pity on them and answers in his stead. Closing his laptop, he moves over to the door, wondering if it was one of the "regular" visitors. ]

Ah, Guren-san. [ He greets with a smile, a little less wide than usual, but at least back in full color. ] Good afternoon. Would you like to come in?

[ So casual for someone who was essentially dead for a few days. ]

[swordfucker]

[It's hard not to look surprised at that. Full color? Just overnight? Guren doesn't respond to that question, but he does step forward like he's going to come in, anyway, pushing his bag of berries at Akechi. They're not the focus at all.]

Akechi? Your color is back? What happened?

[doublecrowss]

Ah--! [ He fumbles withe bag of berries for a second, not really expecting it to be shoved at him like that. It's not that he doesn't appreciate the gesture, but are all army men so lacking in manners? ]

I'm... not sure, actually. [ He begins, closing the door behind him. ] When I woke up this morning, I had returned to normal, almost as though nothing had happened at all.

[ Almost. The fake memory he gained from that deal, it's still there. ]

RYOJI

[swordfucker]

[For Ryoji, he gives him a few days to relax. That was a stressful experience, and nearly falling to a demon himself, being unable to save a friend— he knows the feeling. He doesn't want to interrupt that process... but he does want to help, even if he doesn't think he's the best at it.

He knocks a few times and then waits. He doesn't want to yell out for him to answer, but he will knock again if it takes too long for him to come to the door. He's worried!!]

[appraiser]

[ If Guren had come any of the days prior, he might have been met with silence, a body physically blocking the door and preventing it from being opened, like Ryoji had done to Minato in a weak attempt to shut him out. But in those few days, he'd been able to talk some things through, gather himself a little, struggle with his doubts and regrets. It really is a struggle, and he's not sure if he can win this one.

The door takes some time to open, but it does— not before the sight of Ryoji peering through one of the holes in the walls (there are many. the house has fallen once, and they've tried their best to patch it up.) in lieu of a peek hole before he lets the door swing open, holding onto the solid wood as he steps inside as if to use it as a shield.

He doesn't offer a smile like he normally would, or a hello or any other greeting. There's worry on his face, hesitation, but underneath all of that, there's the utmost relief. ]

[swordfucker]

Ryoji.

[Guren doesn't want to be invited in. The door opens, and so he steps inside, one hand on it even if he doesn't push. He hesitates only a second before he offers forward something he'd been holding out of view. It's a little pouch of assorted berries that have had their colors returned to them. He picked a bunch to give out to a few people, so... He found what he could.

It's not like he's worried or anything.]

Here. I had some extras laying around.

[appraiser]

Oh.

[ It startles him into speaking and letting go of the door, reaching out a hand to take the pouch and open it up to see the berries. It's honestly been weeks since he's eaten anything, simply because they were colorless before, tasted like nothing, and he doesn't have to eat to sustain himself. But more than that, it's because they must be wild berries, a call to an earlier conversation he had had with Minato about whether they were safe to eat. "Find a berry expert," Minato had tasked him. He'd forgotten all about that. ]

...Thank you. It'd be selfish if I ate them, though. Is it alright if I plant them in the garden?

YATA

[swordfucker]

[When he makes it out of the forest, Guren doesn't head straight home. It's Akechi's house first, and he lingers there for some time, unsure of what to do. His walk home is long; he tries to find someone who hasn't returned yet, and their absence is upsetting enough. He waits by the forest again, hoping more people will come through, but it looks like that's it. Some people aren't coming back. At least not tonight.

When he steps through the front door and takes his shoes off, it's quiet in a way that's different from usual. He still holds himself tall, and his face shields what it can, but his eyes say enough. He's exhausted.

He's a little bruised and very dirty, thanks to the power of his own attacks being reflected right back at him a couple of times, but otherwise, he's uninjured. But still, he couldn't save everyone.]

[skatebird]

[ Ah, Guren is back.

It should be pretty simple, but Yata has been waiting all day. His own venture through the forest was relatively simple and didn't end up with anyone dying, so when he returns home and find that his group was one of the first it's a little worrisome. By the time Guren comes home Yata has made and finished dinner and set a fire in the fireplace. The living room is pleasantly warm and Yata's on the verge of dosing off, but when Guren finally walks in Yata is one his feet in a second. ]

Guren! You're--

[ 'okay', Yata was going to say, but a closer look shows that 'okay' really isn't the case. ]

--woah, are you alright?

[swordfucker]

Yeah.

[A simple, bland response like that, but he's moving inside, looking to the kitchen and then towards the stairs.] Where's Akira?

[He's not home yet, it seems, and that's worrying, too. Is that whole group missing? He's already running through his mind what he can do, if maybe he should go back in— no, he should wait, and if enough days pass, then he can travel after them. It's more of a risk, but to go in immediately could cause more issues...

Yeah, he's barely here when he's mentally everywhere else.]

[skatebird]

[ Why is Guren such a liar? Even Yata sees through it, and the bland answer and oddly mechanical way Guren moves just make him uneasy. He steps aside as Guren steps forward. ]

Not back yet. I looked around when I came back to town, but no one's seen him.

[ Yata sounds plenty worried about that, but Guren's who he's focused on right now. ]

There's food. Warm water, too, if you wanna...

[ You know, scrub all that dirt off. ]

RYO

[swordfucker]

[Even if Ryo has a good head on his shoulders, there were so many ways that he could have gotten hurt in the forest. Of course Guren had to check up on him. Not just that, but if anyone were to notice more of what was going on in there, it would be him. Maybe it could lead him to some answers with how everyone else is struggling. Or... maybe Ryo will be broken in some way, too, and Guren will have even more to worry about.

He has no idea. He's exhausted, and he's only showing it in how focused he is. He knocks at the door of the place Ryo said he was staying and waits, hoping that he'll be there to answer.]

[apocalypticist]

[ The forest exploration hadn't been terribly traumatizing for Ryo, but it was hardly a pleasant experience either; even if the creature in the forest wasn't telling the truth about his future, what it told him were things that could actually happen. Ryo isn't the type to waste energy worrying over what-ifs that may not even happen, but it's difficult not to think about the possibility of humanity destroying itself via nuclear war or Akira dying.

It doesn't take long for Ryo to answer the door, inclining his head in greeting when he sees Guren. ]

Hello, Ichinose-san. [ He doesn't look or sound broken, so that's probably a good sign. On the other hand, this guy has a tendency to display the emotional range of the average kitchen sink so who knows what's really going on inside his head. ]

[swordfucker]

Asuka.

[That's it, that's his greeting... He gives Ryo a look up and down, and then past him, like he might see inside a little better. Everything says a little about someone, and it seems like Ryo is handling things... well enough.]

So you're not hurt. [Despite the wording, he does sound a little relieved.] It sounds like everyone dealt with something a little different in that forest. What happened for you?

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo steps aside so Guren can enter the house; no point in standing there in the doorway. The building looks like it could use some repairs, but Ryo's been doing his best to keep it as clean as possible. ]

We found a stone table and a stump chair; anyone sitting down would see someone not quite human sit across the table. It offered to tell my fortune and once I agreed I was unable get off the chair until the fortune was done and payment was made - I had to give up one of my memories.

[ Which sucks more than he'd like to admit because every memory of Akira is precious to him. Losing one is having a piece of himself ripped from his body. ]