[open] What's another night on Mars?

[hoboagogo]

Who: Shinjiro and whoever feels like dropping by. Likely the remainder of SEES and also his gang Fie and Louis. Strangers are welcome also!
When: The beginning of Septeril
Where: SEES House- an awkwardly huge house in the haven.
What: Just everything. Tending to the garden, hanging out inside and outside. Hit me up at soozaphone if you want to plan/plot something!
Warnings: Shenanigans, to be sure.

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Hangin' in the Garden.
He liked to tell himself he was just doing this to help out Fuuka. She'd gotten a job at a floral shop, so maybe she'd want to use the badly overgrown patch of land fenced in beside the house- something that clearly used to be some sort of garden for potion ingredients or flowers or vegetables or whatever else by the original inhabitants, before the building was abandoned and the whole area was turned into the Haven. He tells himself it's just because he's got nothing else to do, and definitely not because it grates on him to see the dying, tangled, mass of plants vying for light and soil space, strangling one another, weeds popping up in every space possible.

He's going to deny those burgeoning faun instincts even as he gives in to them.

And so it's not a rare sight for him to be crouched down in the giant mess that could maybe become a garden in due time, completely confused as to what should be kept and what should be gotten rid of, and occasionally just grabbing entire stalks and ripping them out when the plant looks like it's beyond saving. Really, it's tempting to tear it all out and start from scratch-- but for all he knows, some of these are useful or rare or valuable or something?

Maybe he should take pictures and get the network to identify them. Or at least tell him which ones are poisonous.


Lunch time
Keeping a mental inventory of what everyone eats has made things kind of hard. He's sure Fie will eat anything. Fuuka, if she's picky, is too polite to actually say a lot of the time, so he just has to guess or try and watch for reactions. Louis is an herbivore. Makoto is basically a carnivore. And so even though he's grouchily resigned himself to the expectation that he makes food for everyone, it essentially means that he has to make multiple dishes, all depending on who's in the area and who's hungry.

At least Makoto is easy enough- lightly season and sear some meat, try his best to add in some other kind of nutrition, even if it's just rice cooked in broth or stock, and hope for the best. Akihiko would be the same, if he wasn't-- who knows where, right now. (Maybe snapped back home to their own reality? He has no fucking idea, and thinking on it just makes him angry and worried, so he just distracts himself with aggressively cooking.) Fuuka won't complain even if it's completely wrong, so whatever-- and anyone else isn't really around that often, even if he's taken to stocking a few more vegetarian options in case his bondmate drops by.

So come on by and whine for food or be disappointed in the choices today if you want to catch an earful. Or even learn how to cook your damn self, because sheesh he won't always be here to feed you guys.


Literally anything else
Break in to steal shit, start a fight, raid the fridge, knock on the door to try and spread the Good News, do whatever, it's all good!! As stated about, just let me know if you want to plot anything with Shinjiro and I'll start a thread for us! IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO BE IN THE HOUSE it can be elsewhere also, lmao. I'm not your boss, literally do whatever you want. Use this post for your own threads, tag each other, start your own open stuff. I'M NOT YOUR BOSS, GO WILD.

Comments

[firewalled]

Rich has been like a zombie this last week. He knows that. It's been hard to sleep, and his nightmares have been coming back full force. He keeps looking over his shoulder, imagining things brushing against his neck with the tingle of static electricity. He can't relax. He's tense and angry and he just wants to go home.

But if he can't go there, somewhere different is the next best thing. The barracks are cramped and lonely all at the same time. He needs more people. And from what Shinjiro mentioned, his house had people. So that's where he stayed.

It hasn't been as bad a sleep as the last few nights, but definitely not long enough. He groans as he hears the thunk of the mugs, reaching for a pillow to throw over his head.

"Ngh. Five more minutes..." He blinks blearily and raises his head, though, and he does manage a wry little grin.

"I don't know man. Brought my pickpocket tools, but the back door was open." He hoists himself up onto his elbows, staring at the coffee. "Uh... milk and sugar, if you don't mind." He knows that's kind of childish, but he thinks he needs as much energy as he can get.

[hoboagogo]

He simply lifts his brows as Rich grumbles for more time, tempted to toss one of the battered, lumpy throw pillows at his head, but just barely managing to hold in the childish impulse. maybe next time, if it happens again. Instead he just takes a long drink of his own coffee, watching the scarred teen shove himself upright.

"Ahuh. Pickpocketing ain't any good for locks, you know." Still, he nods and stands up again, setting his coffee down and returning to the kitchen with a warm, though half-muttered 'wuss' to grab some sugar and some milk for the other guy.

But then again, he's pretty sure most people don't drink coffee straight up black. Hell, he doesn't think he did when he first started with it. It was really something he grew more into. He returns shortly with an old-fashioned bottle of milk (and man he still can't get over how old-timey this town is--) and some sugar, setting it out and resuming his seat on the table.

"So you just get bored and decide to hop over?" He's sure the real answer is a bit more vulnerable than that-- but he'll at least give Rich an out, a lighthearted comment to latch onto if he wants to avoid whatever the truth is.

[firewalled]

Rich mumbles some more, rubbing his eyes and blinking blearily at Shinjiro. It takes him several seconds to comprehend what the other man is saying, but when he does, he flushes.

"I meant lock picking! I'm just... jesus, man, I just woke up, give me a break." He sticks his tongue out when Shinjiro walks past, apparently having no qualms about being childish.

The process of getting his tea ready to drink is... soothing. Rich watches the milk poured into the coffee in little cloudy swirls, before adding a spoonful of sugar and stirring slowly, listening to the clink of the cutlery against the ceramic. He looks up to Shinjiro with a wry smile. The offer is nice, but Rich isn't going to take it completely. He can at least be honest, if not completely forthcoming.

"Nah. More... paranoid, I guess. Kept feeling like I was being watched. Couldn't sleep."

[hoboagogo]

He chuckles lowly at Rich's still-drowsy mutterings. He knows not everyone sleeps like shit and wakes up at a moment's notice, alert and ready to fight off some asshole trying to search his pockets for any cash. Sleeping on the couch here must have been the first time in a while that Rich was able to actually let himself rest.

He shifts on the table, crossing one leg over the other and hunching forward in his typical shitty slouch, taking a sip of his own coffee. And maybe, when Rich is done, he'll even help himself to some of the milk, letting a splash of it into his own mug. Might as well give himself some kind of treat, if it's already out.

"Yeah? That's a shitty feeling." One he's all too familiar with, and one of the main reasons he still can't get himself to sleep before midnight, entirely too used to having to be on guard. He'll take another drag of the coffee, before shrugging.

"Anything got you feeling like that, or is it just leftovers from back home?"

[firewalled]

Rich really did rest surprisingly well, which is probably why he's so tempted to pass out again. It's... nice to actually sleep without listening for any slight sound, without feeling like any moment, he'll hear his mother's voice and smell smoke again. It's nice to be woken with a much more pleasant scent, and he actually takes a moment to just hold the mug in his hands, inhaling the scent of the coffee before taking a small sip.

When he's done, he looks at Shinjiro, hesitating, before looking back down at his coffee. He doesn't take another sip, but just stares. Just when Shinjiro might be getting worried he won't answer, Rich speaks up.

"Hey. Remember that supercomputer thing I told you about? This is gonna sound stupid, but...What would you say if it turned out to actually be here? Like, in a human body now."

[hoboagogo]

He pauses at Rich's question, as though considering it. And he's torn between telling Rich not to hide behind that kind of hypothetical talk and just shoot straight about it, but holds off. Even with how little he knows the other guy, he's gotten the sense that it needs a bit more delicacy in how he's talks about it.

Which blows, because delicacy was never Shinjiro's strong suit.

And so he shrugs. "I'd say that sounds like the kinda bullshit this place'd pull." Another pause and he takes a longer gulp of his coffee, so as not to let it get cold. "And wonder how the much turning into a human scrambled his circuits. Computers don't got feelings."

Well... usually. Aigis definitely did, as incapable as she was of seeing it. But she was specifically designed to have a sense of self and strong identity to b capable of using a persona.

"So I'm guessing that happened? Otherwise I dunno why you'd be asking."

[firewalled]

He's not good at handling people being blunt with him. Blunt, sudden truths usually could be absorbed with some time, but not before Rich did a lot of lashing out. It would likely cause quite a bit of tension. And maybe Rich should be better about that kind of thing, and stop letting his trauma impede him like this, but... it's only been a year. Only half the time Rich had the SQUIP. Can he really heal in that time?

Apparently not, especially with it lurking in the shadows again.

"Yeah. I don't know much about that. If it's bothered about being human, it's sure not showing it." He gives Shinjiro a half smile, realizing he jumped the gun.

"Guess that answers your question. Yeah. It's here. And it's being a huge dick, honestly."

[hoboagogo]

That gives him a moment of thought. he sure as hell doesn't know much of anything about computers or how they think, but he's gotta think taking a supercomputer that melds with people's brains and putting it in an independent body is sure to end up.... real mixed up, if nothing else.

"I dunno if it'd bother it but like... Computers usually ain't got real brains or feelings, right? They just do what they're programmed to, whatever the hell that means. So yeah, I'd be surprised if it didn't end up as a crazy dick to us."

Something coded to force changes in behavior, no matter the cost? Reliant on the pre-existing mind and personality of the host? Even as little as Shinjiro knows, he can guess how fucked up that would end.

"So it's the same one you had in your head?"

[firewalled]

"For something without real feelings, it sure does seem real fucking proud of itself when it's fucking with me."

Granted, that's probably just Rich projecting feelings onto it that it doesn't really have. Even if it has a human body now, it can't just get human feelings designed for it, right?

That said, it's certainly... weird about its attachment to Connor, in a way that doesn't solely seem to be out of a desire to have a willing pawn around. Rich doesn't really get it.

"It's not, exactly. It belonged to a friend of mine, Jeremy. It sort of helped control me when our SQUIPs synced up, though, so it still doesn't seem to be a huge fan of me."

That probably goes over Shinjiro's head, but how does he even begin to explain?

[hoboagogo]

It goes exactly over his head-- but really, Shinjiro doesn't mind too much. He's kind of used to not understanding all the weird things going on, and trying to sort out what information he actually needed and what was just going to confuse him. It helps, though, that this is a situation he feels entirely disconnected from. As much as he likes Rich, these are the other guy's problems to deal with.

Still, he nods, taking another sip of his coffee as he thinks. So it was a different computer, but they had.... what, linked up over the internet? Made sense enough.

"Well yeah, I'm sure it's real happy when it does what it thinks it was programmed to do." Sticking to the mindset that was ingrained in it, but now getting endorphin rushes or whatever as it did so? Or however brains worked? Yeah, recipe for a nightmare.

"So, what, you just gonna give it some space? If it's just a person now, you don't gotta worry about it getting in your head."

[firewalled]

They are his problems to deal with, and Rich is a firm believer in that. He can deal with things on his own... even if his head gets so mixed up that sometimes, he feels like he has to blurt it out just to lessen the pressure of all the voices in his head.

There are a lot of voices in his head right now. He takes a gulp of his coffee, the burning liquid muting them momentarily.

"Yeah, you'd think that, but it's still finding ways to get in there. It's a Witch here. And it looks like it's learned a couple of charming spells. Plus, with that fucking weird dream, he took the chance to do more." He grimaces, his hands trembling around the mug.

"I can't let it have that chance again."

I RETURN FROM VACATION....

[hoboagogo]

"Is that even legal?" --Actually, stupid question. How in the hell would someone even regulate magic like that? Legal or not, if someone was possessed of the ability to make their will reality, they'd find a way to do it. And wasn't that what witches were?

Either way, he seems to acknowledge his mistake of the question, shaking his head as though to indicate that Rich doesn't have to answer that. "Actually, forget that. Not like that thing'd care. Guess I should be asking if you even can do anything about it."

He takes another drink of his coffee, considering for a moment. "Or, if not, if the coven could."

WELCOME BACK I HOPE YOU HAD FUN!

[firewalled]

"Yeah, it didn't really give much thought on what was legal or not. I mean... I bought it at the back of a Payless, so it's not like it was ever legal in the first place. Guess it's just sticking with its origins."

It's kind of weird to talk about buying it, though, like that scary stockboy had just pushed a handsome Japanese model into his hands. Was buying Rich at the slave market some sort of weird revenge.

"I don't know. I'm going to the Coven with a friend of mine to talk to them. And... I might have an idea of how to get it to stop, but I need to find a witch to help me out."