Fantasy Noah's Ark | IC [CLOSED]

[Quark]

RUKI YOKOKAWA

Ruki hummed and nodded eagerly at Luca’s suggestions. Seeing his pause a little while later, she followed his line of sight. Unable to recognize the unnaturalness in Glenn’s smile, Ruki wondered if he was talking with a friend. From the distance it was hard to see the facial features of Glenn’s conversation partner. Just by silhouette and height, it didn’t seem like someone she got acquainted with earlier in the day.[1]

As the two continued their walk with the dogs, the conversation for the next 5 minutes was starting to channel other various topics such as food or the café’s animal residents. About to ask about the Julius the rabbit, Luca suddenly brought out his phone. Giving a light tug to Nari’s leash, Ruki gave a signal for them to stop to wait. [2]

She leaned over to read the text message, eyes suddenly beaming.

“He remembers my name!” Ruki burst out, before remembering to pay proper attention. “…A-Ahem. I mean, aye aye, Luca, let’s help check out the lighthouse!”
… …

About 10 or so minutes later, they had arrived at the pathway leading to the lighthouse. Since there were no lights along the path, Ruki lifted up the torchlight from her phone.

“Hm, hm!” Ruki said, a little louder to talk over the rhythmic rushing of waves over rocks. “Like you said, there doesn’t seem to be anything suspicious!” [3]


NOTES
[1] Referring also to anyone she got to know better during the day at the beach, since she’s barely at the café often

[2] Ruki isn't sure yet if Nari's the type to stray far or not, so just doing to give Nari a heads up to stop.

[3] Please assume they haven’t walked very close towards the lighthouse yet. At this point if there was anything odd, please assume that Ruki hasn’t noticed it in the dark.


Tag: Nano

Elegy CS link

 

[Dawnsx]

Juli's heart was still thumping from his unfortunate encounter with the raccoon and the subsequent collision with the mirror. Now? It was hammering away at the thought that something sneaked out. Something big enough to knock Ethan off balance. He swallowed and jerked his down in a nervous nod.

"Y-yeah, good idea."

As they began making their way down, Juli noticed that the lights in the room were off. A precursory glance around told him that the rest of the house seemed to be shrouded in darkness too. Either a blackout, or whatever they unleashed into the house was an evil spirit with evil magic powers- Wait, Regrets were sort of just evil spirits with magic, right? Did they just let loose a Regret, of all things?

"Uh, you don't think that's our fault...?" Juli asked his fellow raccoon-hunters, making vague gestures towards the general darkness. His increasingly anxious musings were interrupted when he heard a clamor from the living room. Sounded like people were beginning to congregate there... Which also may have been their fault? Juli was beginning to think that coming to the attic was a bad idea, but he'll do the logical thing and push all the blame to Glenn. "We should let the others know what happened. Y'know, so they don't get mauled by a raccoon on the loose."

Upon arriving at living room, Juli found everyone except Luca and Ruki already gathered.

"We're alive!" Juli announced, and scratched his head sheepishly. "We found raccoons in the attic, and uh, something else, maybe? But that something else kinda sneaked out of the attic. Did you two see what it was?"

He turned to his two companions, hoping they had more useful information than what he had to offer.

Nano BondChu

 

[Nano]

» Ethan Lefebvre

『 TAGGED 』 @

everyone

Feeling the faint thrum of the restless murmurs from the floor below, Ethan nodded curtly at Juli. He rubbed his sweaty palms on the sides of his pants while muttering, “at least I hope it’s just a seriously overgrown raccoon.”

Given that the mysterious entity had crashed into his shoulder, he was beginning to doubt that was the case, unfortunately.

Upon stepping through the doorway to the common room, Ethan squinted through the darkness that was lit only by the glow of a small lantern. Was it a blackout, or had someone purposefully turned the lights off? While Juli explained the situation to the others, the redhead wandered off back towards the door and slid his hand against the wall. When his fingers came into contact with the familiar switch, he flicked his wrist up and blinked rapidly when the lights came back on with a flash. Good. It was the latter.

With the room properly illuminated again, Ethan returned back to the rest of the group to provide them with his own information, not that he had much to say in the first place.

“It seemed pretty big. At least the size of a person, so the chances of it being a Reg-” Ethan paused abruptly as his breath hitched, interrupted by the creaking of the door on the other side of the room. By the time he jerked his head towards the noise, the door that he was sure had only been left slightly ajar was now wide open. A cold shiver went up his spine as he paled dramatically. What did the scientists say about doors opening on their own again? The air pressure? Something about how houses settle over time and cause the floor to become unleveled?

“Gho- No, we- I uhhh,” the redhead stuttered unintelligibly while pointing at the door. It seemed that he wasn’t going to be of much help.

code by Nano

 

[voracity]

"Gah," Thea hissed half-heartedly as the lights came back on in full. Her racing heartbeat had slowed gradually as thundering footsteps - something that she could recognize and confidently identify as human sounds - all eventually congregated into the common room. As the room became more and more occupied, the more ... secure she felt. Strength in numbers, she deduced quickly as she wrung her hands, listening to the three who probably knew most of what was actually happening, from their excursion into the attics.

Something sneaked out of the attic? People dropped down from the attic, raccoons probably fell out ... but what on earth would be sneaking down from it? The answer was likely on everyone's minds, and just as Ethan was to give voice to it - the doors unhinged themselves, as if silently tipped, but there was clearly no visitor nor intruder.

Thea wasn't going to dismiss the possibility that this was a huge set up by Glenn, but seeing Ethan shaken and without his usual prickly composure, Thea thought it best to lighten the situation, and maybe get a personal hand in on it before something worse came out.

"Right, okay," she groaned, coming up to her feet. "Looks like this entire house has got to go," she announced. "It's just Glenn's dusty old summer house anyway, right? It can't be worth that much, hm? Hm?" She winked at some of the senior members, clearly making a dig at a common enemy, who was hopefully more than likely to be just as cheap and forgiving as she implied. "If we're lucky anything crawling and hiding around in here will go up in ashes with the rest of the walls - abp abp abp!" She swiftly babbled, interrupting what might have been questions, retorts, and eye rolls, "I know what you're thinking - fire control, right? Well, I saw a giant bottle of Ajax dishsoap in the kitchen, and we have water guns," she brought up two fingers, finger gunning at just about everyone as she tried to dash past Lance and Rosie to make for the kitchen ... and the dishsoap.

Tagging: Specifically A Murder Of Corviknight for direct mentions - anyone else is free to intervene ... or you know: help me get the water guns.

 

[s e v e n]

mood

i am confusion

location

living room

tags

voracity

"Will you ever be fast enough to outrun your past?"

Volleyball and mishaps, tales of raccoons that are ghosts or ghosts that are raccoons- or perhaps just raccoons, really. Regarding the little bet they have made before, they won- how did not really matter as a win is still a win. Apologizing profusely towards the young girl whose head he accidentally hit with a ball aside, the day went on smoothly. Knowing his peers in Noah’s Ark, even a bit too smoothly. Well, if one were to cast a blind eye over their little cleaning task, yet it was nothing too out of the ordinary.

The hours of the day went by as fast as he could blink. Despite his initial reluctance, Florian found himself enjoying the day a bit more than he thought. Cold drinks, playing cards, and even that dastard volleyball game. Yet all things must come to an end. So, it was perhaps evening or nearing it, he was not sure. A little breather away from the crowd, sinking his feet down the dampness of sand and seawater. How long since he had the time to breathe, do nothing and enjoy the view? Abrielle would have loved this. He considered giving her a call.

It was also that he had not noticed when the sun has truly set, being lost in his own thought. Did he doze off? It could not be. Peering back against their main area, he noticed that no one was left. Once again, the young speedster found himself late, as though this was anything new to begin with. Did everyone forget him? Flo could not help but feel slightly betrayed, but it was not as though anyone told him to stray that far from the group.

“OOF!”

What was going on? Why was everything dark? He heard voices in the distance- that was Ethan’s, he recognized, and then some others. Distant, somewhat muffled. His eyes had yet adjusted to the darkness from moving too fast, and now his nose hurts from bumping so suddenly with a piece of concrete. Grunting, he rubbed the tip of his nose with his finger, blinking a few times to try and get a grasp of anything in the scarcity of light. He was about to say something, but right as then, the lights flickered- once, twice- before fully illuminating the room.

There were more people gathered in the room now, some as confused as he is. Something was going on, and it was a bit more terrifying for he understood nothing from it. When Thea spoke, his eyes immediately darted towards her direction. As the girl walked away, Flo tried to follow her, excusing himself as he stumbled and bumped shoulders, rushing to walk by her side.

“Hey, hey,” he tilted his head, bending his body slightly to peek at her. “Lemme give you a hand. But mind telling me what I missed?”

Florian Hamilton

code: s e v e n​

​

 

[A Murder Of Corviknight]

Flicking off the lantern and setting it gently on the floor, Rosie nodded at Ethan. Multitasking as per usual, she gripped the shirts of both Thea and Flo and elbowed Lance for a good measure when he tried to go with them. She ignored the incredulous look that Lance sent her and instead eyed the wide open door warily. “Let’s try to stick together.”

“Yes, it’s most likely either a regret or someone who has been living here without Glenn knowing. If it’s a person...well it can’t be helped. We’ll just have to...no. After what happened with--” Rosie vaguely shrugged. She let the other two go and grabbed a spare blanket off one of the couches. “--Them last time, Babel won’t appreciate another...incident.”

“And if it’s a Regret?” Lance asked dryly, warily eyeing the roll of duct tape on her wrist and the blanket in her hands. He couldn’t tell who exactly he should be worried for--

“CRASH. RATTLE.”

The lantern rattled and rolled across the room as if something had tripped and kicked it. Quick as someone who has, at one point, been tasked with catching animals for baths, she moved after the noise. Rosie tossed the blanket into the general direction of what she thinks is the Regret based on the path of destruction before yanking on the corners of the blanket telekinetically.

THUD.

“Well it looks like it’s a Regret.” Rosie said, expression strained with her ‘I’m at my fucking limit and Glenn is dead dead dead’ glare.

...But it could also be the strain of restraining something struggling against you.

The blanket made the distinct sound of tearing stitches and threads as it was stretched this way and that. But it still showed the outline of a person shaped thing trapped under the blanket.

------------------​

NAME. Lance and Rosie
OBJECTIVE. Someone help Rosie l-lol
MOOD. Rosie: I’m at my fucking limit | Lance: I wish I never got up this morning
NOTES. ^[1]If you need clarification let me know because this is a terrible post and it’s terribly rushed.
TAGGED. The main group in the living room

 

[Quark]

EMIYN YUEN

A yelp jumped out from Emiyn’s throat. Covering his mouth immediately afterwards, he glanced upwards at the ceiling in the moment of silence among the group. [1]

As footsteps gradually got closer, Emiyn was about to get up from his chair when Juli’s face peaked from the door. Juli turned to Ethan to explain about this “something else”. So Juli and Lane probably didn’t see it, he thought with a skeptically-raised eyebrow, briefly following the direction of where Ethan suddenly jerked his line of vision to.

Despite the light-hearted reaction from Thea and Florian, the anxiety lingered. Was it because this was the first time, he had seen Ethan looking unnerved? [2]

But all it took, was for Rosie’s action to reveal the true horror in the room.

Emiyn bolted up, and the chair answered with a dull screech. Sophie who was curled nearby suddenly hissed. But not at the offending chair.

Every pair of eyes probably witnessed the blanket thrashing aggressively, despite the strength Rosie seemed to be using. The tugging blanket was beating against the floor louder, but the room was hauntingly silent of any yells of a desperate struggle. [3]

It was a Regret, one that could hide itself from others’ vision and hearing.

Too panicked to realize this fact himself, Emiyn’s attention was on Sophie wriggling her back and tucking her legs. Seeing the pouncing position, he stumbled forward to scoop up the cat.

Amid the struggle with Rosie, a sudden stronger tearing sound stretched into the air. A wide hole gaped open in the blanket, and the blanket was quickly flattening.

“The black thing - !” Emiyn yelled in terror at something on the wall, arms stiffening with Sophie trying to jump out. “It’s floating! ”

A small, diamond-shaped object of ominous black, emerged from the blanket. it was quivering just as aggressively in the air by itself. [4] Unknown to the teenager, but probably more noticeable to everyone else, was the half-torn blanket making an even stronger, jerking pull. [5]


NOTES
[1] And hoping that no one in the dark lighting see his face flush red from embarrassment

[2] From all the previous times Emiyn has seen Ethan, or heard about training with Ruki, Ethan seems like he would hate showing nervousness or fear on the outside.

[3] I don't mean the room is silent from all sounds here since I’m not sure if the others will say anything, just that there is no sound coming from the Regret. However, the sounds of blanket fabric tearing will be there because it’s sound made from the inanimate object directly.

[4] This is the pure black icon that Emiyn sees hovering above the Regret’s head. This will be the first time Emi sees an icon that is completely black. Previously, he would never have thought to look for a black icon in a room of bright red icons floating above people’s heads, especially during lights out during the ghost story session.

[5] The Regret has stepped on the blanket and is going to escape! Quick, quick!

Tag: everyone in the living room

Elegy CS link

 

[Nano]

» Luciano Bianchi

『 TAGGED 』 Quark

Squinting out into the poorly-lit path, Luca nodded in agreement. From the looks of it, Glenn’s supposed “old friend” had most likely been mistaken about there being something on the docks. Aside from the eerie atmosphere invoked by the lack of lighting near the lighthouse, nothing appeared amiss.

“Let’s check around the back and then look for a good spot for pictures,” Luca suggested while urging Chase forward. However, another minute of sauntering closer to their destination resulted in the dog halting and lifting his head to sniff at whatever was carried in by the seabreeze. When the brunette tugged on his leash, the dog stubbornly stood still, letting out three sharp barks directed at whatever had agitated him.

As if on cue, a bright giggle was followed by a lone figure standing up from where it had been resting by the side of the lighthouse. No, it was two, Luca figured when he finally spotted the vaguely human-shaped body crumpled at the girl’s feet.

“He said that he’d be leaving you guys a gift, but I figured you’d want something more exciting than this thing,” the mysterious green-haired girl emphasized her last word, lightly kicking at the “thing” she had been referring to. When she suddenly and brutally dug her heel into the body, Luca flinched at the sharp crack that followed, and he held his breath at the familiar signs of a Regret’s process of disintegration.

Luca swallowed nervously. Deciding to test the waters, the brunette opened his mouth hesitantly, “Who’s ‘he’? Glenn?”

Upon hearing the blonde’s name, the girl’s expression turned sour. “What? Don’t know him. Cyril told me he’s a sicko, though. And coming from Cyril...”

While his curiosity tempted him to focus on listening to the girl’s story, Luca took the opportunity to slide his phone out of his pocket while the girl was distracted. Whoever she was, her attitude made it clear that she wasn’t some member of Noah’s Ark that Luca somehow wasn’t aware of. It didn’t seem like she was with Babel, either. Worst of all, it was clear she had a partner, though he couldn’t tell if ‘Cyril’ was nearby.

Rogue? Lighthouse.​

The text Luca sent into the Noah’s Ark group chat was short, but he hoped it got the point across. If anything, they should be able to tell it’s urgent based on the message’s brevity.

“Anyway,” the girl snapped, bringing Luca’s attention back to her, “Celine. A pleasure, I’m sure.” Purple eyes locked on to Ruki as a wry grin snaked its way onto Celine’s face.

A rough yank from the leash still tightly wrapped around Luca’s hand caused him to stumble to the side, and Chase let out a warning bark towards Ruki right as the green-haired girl jumped impossibly high, seemingly intent on landing where the tiny brunette was standing.

code by Nano

 

[voracity]

It was quite the fine squad that had volunteered their lives away for her to command: Flo who was fast enough to keep himself safe from any surprises that awaited them, and Lance who she came to know as the most perfect lightning rod for any troubles big and small. All her jokes aside, she had been hoping that the Regret might find it most enticing to tussle with a small, mostly defenseless-looking group splintered from the crowded, well-lit area, that had well over 10 people inside.

It's what she would have done - as an angry vengeful spirit kept locked inside a dusty old summer shack, disturbed by a whole flock of loud humans. Picking them off one by one, limb by limb, until nothing but nails and teeth were left to write the tale ... so when Rosie had captured something with her makeshift net, Thea was more than ready to chalk it up to another raccoon who unfortunately crossed paths with the dark haired woman.

Until the blanket tore itself asunder, but there was no crowing or cry of victory that accompanied the partial freedom that the creature had achieved. All there was for them to witness, was a horrible mauling of the fluffy material, a struggle that was soundless, yet utterly brutal from every perspective. When even the struggling, and violent rips start to settle, a chill ran down her spine.

Emiyn's cries came through as absolute nonsense for Thea, who then roared over the sound of the last of the shredding and silence, "it's not going to stay down forever," she exclaimed, pushing aside Lance and Florian, and bumping Rosie aside to act as quickly as she could. Pulling her right arm back, and making an overhead throw, her chains snapped out without much concentrated effort. The tipped end flew true, and ... merely stuck itself into the center of the blanket. There was no weight, no figure or form that it had collided against. It was only then that Emiyn's words seemed to make most sense to her - it was floating!

"Don't let it leave this room, we're cutting it off right here and finishing this!" She turned to Enoch who was closest to the windows that overlooked the sandy shores, and calm waves. Trusting the reliable man to quickly catch on with his role, she turned to the other side of the room - spying Ethan, she remembered that she had to be nice to him, as he had been the most affected by the prospect of a ghost, unfortunately, her crass and uncouth mouth could only come up with: "If you're going to cry, get out and sit against the door while you do it! And no one gets to shoot at anything until we can all clearly see the mo- Regret we're dealing with. The room's too small for anyone just fire wherever they want to all at once!"

Taking her own advice, she took a step back, her chains withdrawing from the blanket, and from the room (1), only to be shot off once again, alongside another that slithered out from her other forearm, around where she, and a few others were standing around. They flew up, penetrating the ceiling, and then down, digging underneath the wooden floorboards, just four times, crossing at a middle intersection, creating a flat web (2) at their immediate left and right, that the Regret would not be allowed to slip and slide through, nor tear through it so easily as it did a blanket. If it tried running through all of them through the doors that led to the rest of the house, at least Thea could tie it up real nice with just a clench of her palms. Given the way it had struggled against the blanket earlier, and used the door pointed out by Ethan earlier, it clearly didn't have the ability to phase through things the way actual ghosts did - so their Last Words - all their Last Words could trap and hold the Regret down for sure!

With exits (in the middle of) being covered, all that was left was to find the Regret before turning it into a pin cushion. "Emiyn, Alex - keep everyone else in the room at a safe distance - the rest of you, outline me a target already!"

Tagging: A Murder Of Corviknight Cryptids Nano s e v e n Quark Dawnsx + any returning active members, please consult the playbook in discord server first!
Notes: The Regret's plans is just to escape.
Edits: (1) clarified that first chain is outside of the room (2) given dimensions and some math, changes are made

 

[Dawnsx]

Aria & Juli

"I thought this was supposed to be a vacation," Jerod muttered after Juli broke the news of possibly a raccoon, ghost and/or Regret on the loose.

"That's what I thought too," Aria sighed. She was already on edge from the ghost stories, and the bad news from the attic group didn't help at all. For once, Thea and Flo's antics failed to alleviate her anxiety towards the situation. And even though Rosie vetoed the duo's plan to split up, it looked like they were still going to look for the attic escapee. Jerod being on her lap was probably the only thing keeping her from floundering in fear, but she reluctantly pushed him off and got to her feet to herself for whatever course of action the group decided on—and just in time too.

Aria yelped in surprise at the sound of a crash. Before she could even see what got knocked over, Rosie was already spurred into action. The woman managed to wrap a blanket around—something. Aria could recognize the shape of a person despite the wild thrashing beneath the covers, which made the silence of whatever Rosie caught even more jarring.

"Is it just me or did I not see what Rosie caught?"Juli squeaked, jumping back from the struggling entity. Despite the terse situation, Juli lifted his camera and took a few photos in burst mode. "I know Regrets don't show up in photos but- Oh crap!"

He leaped back another few feet as the blanket began to rip and tear. And, huh, it really was an invisible Regret. Thea, ever so reliable and experienced, shouted out instructions to everyone to keep the Regret in the room.

"Okay, okay, we need an outline. Uh, uhhh," Juli whipped his head back and forth, desperately searching for something to fill Thea's request. God, two years with Noah's Ark and the mind-numbing panic that emerged from facing off with a Regret was still ever present. Just as he started to consider taking a backseat and letting the others take the reins on this one, his eyes caught a rumpled bag of Doritos sitting on the couch, right next to where Aria had been sitting. That- that'd work, wouldn't it? Here's hoping the gang didn't inhale all the crumbs already. "Aria! The Doritos! Hit it with Doritos!"

Aria's face twisted in confusion.

"Doritos? Why Dori- Oh! The crumbs!'

"Already on it!" Jerod snatched up the bag and squashed down whatever was left inside before holding it up for Aria. She grabbed the crumbs with both hands and promptly fell into a dilemma. Where was she supposed to throw it if she couldn't even see where the Regret was? Well, nothing to it except to pray that Dorito dust sticks to Regrets. Aria drew her arms back and tossed the Dorito crumbs towards the vicinity of the blanket. She grabbed another two fistfuls and hurled them into the other corners of the room, trusting her coworkers to find the outline of their foe.

 

[Quark]

RUKI YOKOKAWA

Ruki felt the sharp tug of Nari’s leash when her walking stilled abruptly.

The disintegrating embers… it was unmistakable even at night.

“HEY!” she gave an upset yell at hearing the loud crack on the Regret’s body, but Luca’s question stopped her next words.

“….” Not giving her own introduction [1], Ruki flicked her wrist around the leash, hoping Nari would come closer.

… …

Suddenly the girl disappeared; Chase barked loudly, and Ruki’s head snapped up.

Quick like a cat she lurched back. The immediate impact pushed her body to stumble back, and Nari’s leash slipped out of her hand. [2]

When finding her footing again in the dark, the next attack sliced through the air. Ruki raised her arms against the forceful wheel kick. [3]

The arcing kick finishing [4], Ruki lunged forward. Instead of an attacking in an opening, she slid past the girl. Skidding to a stop, once she settled into a defensive stance so she could finally catch her breath, with Luca a few feet behind her.

Feeling her heart hammering against her chest, Ruki exhaled a deep breath to calm herself.[5] Something about the trajectory was warning her to keep low to the ground, to focus on not letting her pass to Luca. [6]

NOTES
[1] Beware of stranger danger, kids.

[2] She dropped her phone as well, but this whole scene is so quick she hasn’t realized it yet.

[3] arms in right-angle position in front of face for defending

[4] At the end of a wheel/hook kick, there’s a small window of time when the attacker recovers back into a neutral/defensive position. After evading the incoming offense, this is a good opportunity to counter-attack.

[5] Heartbeat is now speeding up a little. Please assume LW is activated (at a moderate level) from here onwards until mentioned otherwise.

[6] To make things easier. Summary of post in chronological order.
-> Celine plummets to the ground
-> Celine changes stance from the impactful fall, Ruki staggers back loses footing
-> Ruki finds footing again, Celine prepares for wheel kick
-> Ruki blocks wheel kick
-> Celine recovers stance from the kick, Ruki barrels forward and past Celine to get in front of Luca.


Tag: Nano

Elegy CS link

 

[BondChu]

Rushing back down the attic to regroup with those still in the living room, Lane followed Juli and Ethan close behind. Whatever it was that got out might already have been come face-to-face with his fellow Elegies. Upon their arrival, he feared the worst after noticing the lights were out, but was put at ease after Ethan switched them back on, proving that it was deliberately turned off at some point before.

He was going to let Juli and Ethan speak their minds first, especially because it was the red-haired fellow that seemingly bumped shoulders with the entity earlier, while he formulates an explanation of his own.

A creak. A crash. Silence broken just in time to give them an image of what they're up against. What feels like a blur as his heart rate picks up, from the blanket being torn to scraps to Thea going ham with her Last Words.

His first taste at seeing Elegies in action.

He reckon at times such as these is when one would wish their Last Words to be more direct in nature. Hiding in the dark is not much of a help in restraining something that undoubtedly has superhuman strength. If the Last Words of a senior Elegy with much more experience than him can't hold the thing down, what hope does he have?

...Although being pessimistic is not much of a help either.

Going back to racking his brain, he mentally cycles through his memories, seeking for a specific solution to solve a specific problem: on how to detect -and keep track of- invisible beings. He might have read that on a book somewhere. No matter how hard, though, he couldn't think of any methods quick nor efficient enough. Not wanting to cause more problems than they were already dealing with, he readies himself just in case, unsure of what else to do other than following the senior's lead.

 

[Cryptids]

The moment he heard Rosie’s lantern rattle across the floor, Enoch jumped to his feet, on alert. Hardly seconds later, seeing something distinctly not raccoon-shaped thrashing beneath the blanket his coworker had thrown was enough to get him moving on instinct. He snatched his bag from where it’d been sitting beside him on the couch, reaching inside to flip on the portable LED lamp. It took a moment of deliberation to decide which of his emergency seeds to use, but only a moment—regardless of what kind of Regret they were dealing with, thorny bramble vines usually managed to be useful. The fact that it’d been caught with a blanket already proved that it couldn’t phase through solid objects.

Well. Hopefully. There was a chance that it simply couldn’t phase through fluffy objects...

The seeds had just begun to sprout when the blanket tore, and the first thing that occurred to Enoch was that no other sound accompanied it. No howl of bloodlust that he’d witnessed all too many times in battle with Regrets, no screech of rage, not even any grunt of effort from breaking free. Only the sight of the scraps of blanket and clumps of cotton floating noiselessly to the floor.

Which led him to his next realization: the Regret was invisible.

Before Enoch could think of what to do with that information, Emiyn’s shout distracted him. Black thing? Where? Squinting, he tried scanning the room for what it could possibly be, but could find nothing. Then Thea’s chain pierced the shredded blanket, missing their target. Which meant that the Regret had moved, so what Emiyn had said about something floating…

"Don't let it leave this room, we're cutting it off right here and finishing this!"

Thea met Enoch’s eyes, and he immediately understood the message. By now, multiple leafy, thorn-covered vines had sprouted enough to wrap around his forearm, and he directed them towards the exits of the common area. It would take too much time and effort to form any kind of sturdy barrier, but he could at least loop them in such a way that anything attempting to escape would be forced to tear through the vines to do so.

Although, ideally, he would be able to snag the Regret with them before that happened.

Enoch willed the plants to grow faster as he positioned them, shoulders tense with the effort. He surveyed the room from where he stood, watching for any hint of the Regret’s position. A tap against a vase. A nudged bookshelf. Anything.

That was, until Juli’s (frankly brilliant, in his opinion) idea to hit it with Dorito crumbs. Enoch watched as Aria tossed them into different corners of the room, only to witness the handful he was focused on, the one furthest away, fall straight to the floor.


NOTES: Bramble vines can get up to 8 feet long, so I'm just assuming 2-3 would be enough to cover what's not already taken care of :0

TAGS: Living room gang!

 

[Nano]

» Ethan Lefebvre

『 TAGGED 』 @

everyone

Ethan’s thundering heartbeat steadied as he watched Rosie tussle with the spectral blanket burrito. The suddenness of their invisible enemy’s entrance had startled him silly, but his sense of reason gradually returned once that chilling shock had receded. If it could be trapped within the fluffy confines of a blanket, it was more than certainly a Regret rather than a ghost.

No, ghosts don’t exist, the redhead thought sorely to himself. Scared? Hah! He had simply been taken aback briefly. That was all.

Still, it was strange how the Regret refused to make a single noise, the only evidence that it was still present being the vaguely human-shaped indent on the blanket and the sound of strings pulling free from torn fabric. He grimaced at the thought. The blanket wasn’t going to hold for more than another few seconds.

Spotting the roll of duct tape still looped around Rosie’s arm, Ethan turned to run to grab for a piece of tape to mark the Regret with. Before he could take a single step, the ominous sound of the blanket ripping free from Rosie’s grasp stopped him in his tracks. Quickly following was a yell from Emiyn and the barked orders of one of the reliable seniors of Noah’s Ark. However, the specifics of Thea’s words when she turned towards him triggered his previous irritation to rear its head again.

Shame tinted his cheeks pink, and his lips curled back threateningly as if to growl. The fuck was that for? he thought indignantly at the unwarranted provocation. Before he could voice his complaints, Rosie cut him off with a sharp glare at Thea and a gesture with her hands aimed at him that looked like a cross between a promise of death should he continue and a signal to cut it out. He secretly hoped that it was the latter rather than the former. There was no way he was going to sit through another four hour lecture on how to properly conduct himself on missions. In the first place, it wasn’t even his fault this time.

The string of profanities Ethan had prepared were promptly swallowed back down. However, he didn't move from his spot before taking an extra second to respond by jabbing at Thea’s command to hold fire until the Regret was in sight. “Anyone with half a brain cell can see that, Miss Obvious!”

As Ethan spoke, a small ball roughly the size of a baseball formed in his hand. Given that their current arena was a very much cramped room, the redhead was wary of throwing sharps around. God forbid he misaimed and hit the wrong target, a blunt object wouldn’t do much harm. If it hit the Regret, he’d hope that the ball shattering would at least help to stun it briefly to give others the opportunity to bind it in place.

A disturbance in the rustling of bramble leaves jerked the redhead’s attention towards the source of the sound. Crushed chips and cheddar powder snowed down in the room, vaguely outlining a cheese-powder speckled figure which he assumed was attempting to climb over the bramble vines before they had finished growing.

“Next to Enoch!” Ethan shouted while rotating his shoulder and elbow forward to chuck the ball in his hands in the direction of the Regret. Fortunately, he’d managed to make his mark. As the projectile splintered upon contact with an applicable body, the body in question stumbled forward and crashed gracelessly into the brambles.

code by Nano

 

[Quark]

.

???

The trajectory of the ball from Ethan’s hand suddenly stopped and it shattered in the air.

Chips and stray leaves crunched louder together [1], to crush into the outline of footprints. Anyone standing would see the footsteps stumbled forward, swerving towards the circle of chairs and table of cards. A chair skid against the floorboard and another swung up in the air.

Losing their balance in the next moment, the footprints on the floor disappeared, and the vague figure tumbled onto the floor. The chair flew out of the invisible hand's grasp, and about to crash directly into someone nearby. [2]

Again what followed was a surreal silence of any crashing sounds… and the Regret began to tear aggressively at the blanket of bramble vines. Just like the blanket moments ago.

NOTES
[1] I’m imagining that while the plants were growing some leaves might have fallen in the midst of the chaos, let me know if this is incorrect. Since the chip crumbs aren’t dense enough to see the body very well, it might be hard to hear when people are talking/yelling.

[2] Free game for whoever wants to dodge a flying chair.


Tag: Living room group

 

[Nano]

» Luciano Bianchi

『 TAGGED 』 Quark

“Oh…” the green-haired girl breathed out, as if Ruki assuming a defensive stance were unexpected. Her disappointment quickly twisted into an expression of annoyance as she huffed. “No! No. You’re supposed to counter! Throw a punch! Or, y’know, just do something other than run.” Each phrase was accompanied by wild gesticulation to place an emphasis on...whatever the girl was trying to get at in picking a fight this late into the night.

Luca gave Celine another once-over. For an individual who seemed to belong to some suspicious group of what he presumed were Elegies, the girl was surprisingly childish. It was as if her actions were driven purely by her desires rather than whatever little mission she’d been dispatched on. Still, it couldn’t hurt to negotiate a ceasefire. After all, if she fought against Regrets, surely their goals would be somewhat aligned, right?

“Hey, Miss Celine? Do you thi-” Luca said, only to be abruptly cut off by the girl snapping her head in his direction far too fast for his comfort. That, and he couldn’t help but raise a brow at the flux in emotions upon her face. The genuine look of surprise on her face made it all the more evident that she’d forgotten about his existence in the span of five minutes. Was his presence that weak?

Unfortunately, Celine immediately shot down his unspoken request with a dismissive wave. “You just sit back. You look like you can’t even run up five flights of stairs without getting out of breath.”

Well, so much for negotiations, Luca thought. He wasn’t entirely sure if the green-haired girl had meant to roast him considering five flights of stairs would wind just about any average civilian, but it was too late to question her words. The moment she’d finished addressing him, Celine dashed towards Ruki once again, sweeping low in response to Ruki’s lowered stance. Her sweeping leg was followed by a flip as she kicked her other foot up and around, ending in a standing position.

The broken toaster that Luca had promptly prepared to throw at Celine was lowered cautiously when the brunette finally took notice of his disadvantageous position. He had thought Ruki had been positioning herself between him and Celine in order to keep their assailant from getting to him. However, it was slowly becoming evident that the green-haired girl had been manipulating her position and sticking close to Ruki in order to make it difficult for him to assist in any way.

code by Nano

 

[voracity]

Sometimes, when she found herself a prisoner to the quiet of the night, filled with thoughts she had been determined to cast aside, a degree of self loathing burned strong in her veins - here and now, watching them all scramble, eyes wide, hands trembling, lips quivering; the frantic struggle for life (none of them truly believed in serving their 'mission' did they?) was something she wished she could rip away from her memories.

She hated the way that Enoch had already been five steps ahead of her, with his strong bramble vines stretching over the windows before the last of her instructions had left her lips. Hated that Juli was used to having to rationalize every option within reach so quickly, and that Aria so reliable in this utterly chaotic situation. Hated that Ethan was predictably and righteously indignant; able to reaching the most perfect of conditions to perform his part without so much of a lick of doubt or fear. They shouldn't have to be alright with things like that.

For all of her bravado, she found herself tired - the way Rosie often was: fatigued and heavily burdened with the involuntary duty to find them a way out the dark of night, so that each one of them could see another day. But being tired would get them killed - or let loose a ghost that wasn't meant to be. And so Thea decided to follow Ethan's example, swallowing every complaint and every little irritation that was building up. A vestige of her youthful recklessness reared its ugly head, and she recalls vividly of her typical brash retorts to the many complainers she judged heavily (often unfairly), "If you have a problem with it, why don't you do something about it already!"

Inspired, with a touch of spite, she took off in a burst into the room. Both her chains pulled themselves free from their positions, although they did not completely retract under her skin once more - not only was it pointless, but she did not have such a fine degree of control over them both to be brandishing them whenever she pleased.

A chair had been roughly pushed aside, another was suddenly airborne. It would have filled her heart with dread but thanks to the wit and efforts of Juli and Aria, she was ready. The outline of the Regret was something she could clearly perceive, and so when the Regret's arm wound back so did hers. Even if she had used the one that was more responsive to her every thought, it would have been impossible to completely stop the momentum of the flying chair - thrown by something not welcome in this world, her feeble humanity presented itself in the worst of ways, causing her to stumble under the weight that her chains, her extension of self, had tried to catch.

Even as she tripped under the unexpected weight though, she had another chain that breached the remaining distance, interrupting the carnage that the Regret sought, a chain wound itself around an ankle - a leg, a thigh, a knee, who cares - and pulled the Regret off of Enoch's defenses, securing its legs tightly as she slowly pulled it from the windows.

Righting herself, Thea grabbed onto the chair itself as her remaining chain went to bind flailing wrists. What now? She questioned herself, and her mouth drew into a thin line when she realized and quickly accepted the only options left to her were her fists - but the Regret was invisible this time, there would be no crying, no screaming, there wouldn't even be much a struggle when she has it in a vice grip, because it was a Regret. Thea was only human, and so she was the one who let out a growl, a grunt really, as she clambered quickly over the Regret, straddling the Regret to steady herself (inwardly cringing that her jeans were forever marred by the evils of cheap cheese dust) before swinging a tight fist down onto its chest.

It nearly bucked her right off, but Thea was quick to grab ahold of something - a shoulder, a neck, an ear, she really couldn't tell - and swung her fist again, this time lower. Another punch was delivered higher, another even higher - it was a soundless struggle, and with every swing of her fist, she eventually got into a rhythm, and every swing came faster, hammering down harder than the last. It was quite the odd sight of a mad woman beating down on something that wasn't quite there, without any cry or howl to respond or accompany the show of violence. When her fist rattled from the last punch, she sucked in a large breath of air - her first?

When she swung her fist down again, this time it flew right through where the Regret had been, and onto the wooden floors.

You're alive!

You promised you would smile

And so, despite the brief loss of her sanity (because surely that's exactly what it appeared to have happened), her lips curled into a breezy smile, chains slacking then retracting all at once. "Whoever suggested we start telling ghost stories ... get over here, you're next," she quipped with a heavy exhale, swinging her trembling fist loosely.

Tagging: Living Room Gang
Notes: This is meant to end the vs. Regret encounter
Edits: Incoming.

 

[Quark]

Luca + Ruki
(Note that this is a collab outline of what happened. Only certain important parts have been given more description.)

Ruki opened her mouth, but remained listening when she heard Luca speaking up to the stranger. Only to be interrupted with a very dismissive tone from the girl.

Celine makes a low levelled dash, and then a kick. Unknown to the girl with her Last Word activated, Ruki manages to evade.

Suddenly, Celine’s pocket produced the sound of a heavy drumbeat followed by a series of muffled hums, startling Ruki causing her to jump a few paces back. There’s a standoff between the two when Celine hurriedly fishes out a phone from her pocket, briefly flashing the name “Sadistic Psychopath” printed on the screen as she picked up the call and brought the phone to her ear. Over the distance and the sound of the ocean’s waves Luca and Ruki were not able to know who was talking on the other side.

“What is it? Huh? How did you know I was…” Celine trailed off. After a brief pause, the girl angrily ground her foot into the dirt and tightened her grip on her phone. “Of course he did. That damn tattletale! I was just saying hi since fighting a Regret on that level would be boring...”

With a final pause and a huff displaying her irritation, Celine hangs up the call, possibly ordered to leave by the other person.

“Well, c’ya Rookie,” she waves without an ounce of enthusiasm while turning to make her escape.

Ruki yells after her indignantly as she leaves. “Oi, you! You… you grass-brained half-baked rocket trash! Do that again and I’ll kick your ass, Ce- ce… Cecil! … Hm? [1] Wait... Argh, whatever! You were cheating anyway!”

Luca and Ruki would see Celine looking like she’s going to send one of her kicks again, yelling back “I’m not that dumbface.” Despite her face showing she might have more to say, Celine suddenly remembers something, and quickly leaves. Her exit was as swift as her entrance, jumping far and high, leaving no hope for Luca and Ruki to catch up to the green-haired girl.

As the situation calms again, Chase and Nari come nosing around both Luca and Ruki, to check on their wellbeing. Chase and Luca are a few paces behind Ruki and Nari while he tries to call the others back in the cabin again.

He sees that no one has responded, nor even read his message. The time is too early for bed, something must have happened, Luca concludes, as Nari barks in the background and Ruki was yelling something again.

They see that Glenn is up ahead in the lighthouse path walking towards them. [2] While closing their distance, Ruki was going to start detailing the very surprising adventure Luca and she encountered.

“And then that stupid, rude girl wa - blood! Blood, Luca! Do we need bandages??”

Once close enough, they could see a fresh cut on the side of Glenn’s neck.

NOTES
[1] Ruki remembered Celine’s name wrong. And the cheating refers to how Ruki expects the person to ask properly for a duel battle before attacking.

[2] Most of the outline is from Luca/Ruki’s perspective, so not sure if the two would actually notice. There’s a moment of slight panic in Glenn’s eyes just before he glances over and confirms that the four are unharmed.

Tag: Nano

 

[Dawnsx]

Aria & Juli

Aria's legs trembled with equal parts relief and fear when the Dorito dust successfully covered its mark in an orangey hue. The Regret was visible now, but just barely with the vague outline of its body. She quickly caught Jerod before he could leap out to engage the Regret and retreated to a corner furthest away from it. They just got him repaired, and Aria wasn't about to run the risk of having to explain to her grandmother about how she managed to break Jerod again in such a short span of time.

On the other side, Juli did an awkward dance across the room to avoid vines, projectiles, and generally just trying to get out of the way. He eventually managed his way next to Aria by hugging the walls. The duo (trio, if you count an indignant Jerod who was still trying to wriggle out of Aria's grasp) came to a silent agreement to let their coworkers handle the rest. And boy, did the Regret get handled. Aria couldn't tell if Thea was desperate, angry, or simply annoyed with the Regret's invisibility, but she suddenly charged at it aggressively, dragging their foe to the floor with her chains and then punched, over and over again. It probably would've been a brutal act had the Regret not been silent or invisible, but even so, Aria couldn't help but shrink behind Juli in response to the display. Even Jerod stilled in her arms to gape at Thea's aggression.

The Regret's demise became apparent when Thea's fist slammed down against the wooden floors. With the impact, the Dorito crumbs that'd been on the Regret scattered lazily around Thea.

"Whoever suggested we start telling ghost stories ... get over here, you're next."

Aria shivered. Even though it was a jest (it was a jest... right?), she still wracked her brain to recall who exactly suggested the idea, just to make sure she wasn't at the other end of Thea's threat.

Juli shuffled in his spot hesitantly, as though torn between helping Thea up or staying as far away from her as possible. He eventually settled on the former to offer Thea a hand to get back on her feet.

"Remind me to never get in a fist fight with you," Juli remarked with a dry, I'm-fearing-for-my-life-but-trying-not-to-show-it laugh. "This is also just a hunch, but of all of us here, I think you're the most likely to suggest ghost stories, so uh, good luck beating yourself up if I'm right."

Following her coworker's lead, Aria also came up to Thea, albeit still half-hiding behind Juli.

"Um... Are your hands alright, Thea?" she asked meekly. That final punch in particular must not have been pleasant. Aria couldn't remember if she saw a first-aid kit around the house, but hopefully one of her seniors came onto the trip prepared in case someone got hurt.

 

[Cryptids]

“Next to Enoch!”

Enoch jolted at the words, seconds later feeling a heavy impact against one of his bramble barriers. Acting on instinct, he twisted his hand and clenched it into a first, directing the vines to grab onto and immobilize the Regret as best he could. With only a handful of floating Dorito crumbs to serve as a visual, the effort proved more difficult than normal. Still, while he didn’t manage to bind the Regret completely, it was enough.

Specifically, enough for Thea. She was there in a flash, chains at the ready, expression akin to a warrior charging into the battlefield. A chair that had become airborne did little to deter her. Thea ripped the Regret from Enoch’s vines and, in a display of violence he never would have expected from her of all people, made short work of disposing of it with her fists. The last punch in particular made him wince as he watched her knuckles collide with the wooden floor.

With the immediate threat taken care of, Enoch let his muscles relax a bit. His heart was still pounding, and he had no doubt he’d feel worn out in a few minutes, once the adrenaline began wearing off. Yet the entire encounter couldn’t have lasted longer than fifteen minutes.

He didn’t quite believe the easy smile Thea flashed them, especially given the pain her hand must have been in, but chose not to remark on it. Instead, Enoch let Juli and Aria check on her while he began coiling the brambles (or, more accurately, what was left of them) for easy disposal, gathering them in his hands.

Once most of them were bundled up, he approached Thea as well, standing alongside Juli. “Nice work,” he said quietly. He wanted to ask if she was alright, and not just in reference to her hands, but the answer seemed obvious. At times like these, Enoch wished he could say something encouraging, or lighten the mood with a joke, but neither had ever been his strong suit. Rather than that, he figured he could at least offer help in a more direct way. "I have bandages in my bag, if you need them. Or I'm certain there must be some ice around here."

 

[voracity]

"I thought jinxes wouldn't actually work if I've already seen 'The Great Beyond' already" She groaned to Juli, accepting his proffered hand. She didn't want to admit it, but between physical exhaustion and her fraying nerves prickling at her weakening mental fortitude, she had to end up leaning on him more than she'd ever want to. Hopefully all the chips and biscuits she had consumed hadn't all gone to her hips just yet.

Seeing Aria trot up and drawing close to Juli for comfort, Thea struggled to find the right words to provide some comfort for her as well, given Thea's stellar and horrible performance it was all but mandatory probably even if only to regain even a sliver of the light and cheerful atmosphere that they had all worked hard to foster and safeguard from all the despair that so often brushed by them, but she was left flabbergasted when Aria seemed to beat her to the punch, only snapping out of it when Enoch approached, reminding her of the abuse her fists had endured for the night.

"I have bandages in my bag, if you need them. Or I'm certain there must be some ice around here."

"Ah, I'm sure I'll be healthy enough for another round of ghost stories by tomorrow night then if you and Aria are nursing me back to health," Thea theatrically proclaimed, setting off at once to where Enoch's bag was last seen near the couches. As her hand curled around the bag though, it began to throb and painfully so, but to her credit she bit down on her lip so that no yelp would escape.

"Right. Let's do this in the kitchen so we can get some ice while we're at it," because if she was going to cry from the pain, she wasn't about to let everyone see. Unluckily for her though, the walls were thin, and the doors had been left open, so her sniffles were well heard and her eyes were red rimmed even the others had returned later.

 

[Nano]

At the mention of blood, Glenn’s hand flew up to the side of his neck that Ruki was pointing at. Upon pulling his hand away, the blonde stared at the light smear of blood on his fingers with barely masked displeasure. However, by the time he was facing his audience once again, his bitter expression had already melted away into one of nonchalance.

“Must have nicked myself somewhere while running here,” Glenn said with a shrug and a wave of his hand to reject Ruki’s offer of a bandage. Giving no opportunity for Ruki and Luca to question his weak excuse, the blonde beckoned the two forward to follow him. “Let’s talk while we walk. What was that about a ‘stupid, rude girl’ you mentioned?”

On their short trek back to the house, Luca picked up where Ruki had left off while elaborating on any details that the girl might have skimmed through, in particular their mysterious green-haired girl’s name. Though the brunette’s stare bore holes into Glenn’s face for any hint of a reaction, the older man managed to keep a straight face throughout the entire exchange, only nodding every so often to show that he was listening.

The blonde’s lukewarm reaction remained even in the face of the chaotic setting that greeted them upon moving into the central part of the house. Contrary to the shock of the two accompanying him, Glenn swept a casual gaze throughout the living space, as if he had expected the whole fiasco and was simply ascertaining the damage done. One-by-one, his eyes trailed from the dorito crumbs, the displaced chairs, and to the brambles Enoch had begun to dispose of.

“Hmm. For a couple of raccoons, you all sure made a mess,” Glenn said, without regard for any nerves he might have struck with his words. Or perhaps receiving their ire had been his goal all along.

“You didn’t fix the fucking hole in your attic, a Regret slipped in, and now someone’s injured. If you think we had the time to care about making a mess, think again.” Responding to the provocation in a near snarl, Ethan trained the nastiest glare he could muster on Glenn.

On the other hand, Lance, as someone belonging to the more observant group of members within Noah’s Ark, stepped forward with his usual calm. However, his carefully controlled expression belied the anger hinted within the literal chill in the air. Placing a hand down upon Glenn’s shoulder, the deceptively gentle pat quickly transformed into a threatening grip. “A Regret doesn’t just happen to get trapped in an attic, Glenn. Especially not one so determined to run away.”

Glenn winced, though to a degree where his reaction would go largely unnoticed. In an almost hasty fashion, he pushed off the hand gripping his shoulder. “There may have been a Regret that I recently disposed of in this house. But how could I know it was still around? It was invisible, so I made sure to break every bone in its body in hopes of hitting its tether. Ah, except maybe its skull. Sorry, I’ll be more thorough next time.” In spite of the apologetic words tacked on at the end, the blonde’s tone continued to carry a casual note bordering sarcasm, as if talking about a minor oversight. “Anyway, I didn’t expect a Regret that had initially come on so aggressively to slip away and hide up in an attic.”

“And about our little encounter at the docks?” Luca asked rather respectfully while skirting around Glenn to join the rest of the Noah’s Ark staff. His gaze had turned wary but also resigned.

“Believe it or not,” Glenn said, this time with concern that looked vaguely genuine, “when my acquaintance very kindly reported the matter to me, I’d thought he’d been teasing or it was something you two could handle. I’ve never seen this green-haired girl you mentioned.” As soon as that was said, his expression turned critical and disapproving. “But considering… I see Stella is as cautious and scared about you all as usual.”

“In any case,” Glenn continued onwards instead of elaborating on his previous comment, “feel free to leave the cleanup to me tomorrow. If that’s all, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

[Nano]

▌Chapter 3: Regrets of the Living

“Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.” —Deborah Reber

- - - - - - -​

Date: Monday, August 17th
Location: Noah’s Ark Café
Time: 6:14PM
Weather: Clear (72°F)​

With Saturday’s fiasco out of the way, the following Sunday remained rather peaceful and uneventful save for Stella’s concerned reaction upon hearing a brief verbal report. Nonetheless, the Noah’s Ark staff returned to work as per usual on Monday.

When the bell above the door signaled a customer’s entrance while the cafe staff were in the midst of cleaning, Lulu flew over and perched herself above on the backrest of a stray chair.

“Closed! Sorry!” the bird squawked.

“Oh, hello there,” the girl, a petite brunette dressed in a mint blouse with a darker blue frilled dress over it, greeted the African Grey with a playful wriggle of her fingers. Following that action by tucking a stray lock of her silky hair behind her ears, she looked around briefly and motioned over to the closest staff member. “Excuse me! But is it still too late to order an, umm-” she trailed off. Unzipping her purse and digging through its contents, the brunette looked down at the orange post-it note that she produced from the small bag. “I’d like to order Stella’s secret rose latte?”

It was a question more than a statement, but her intent was understood nonetheless.

“Please give us a moment to speak to our Manager.”

- - - - - - -​

Date: Thursday, August 20th
Location: Construction Site
Time: 6:32PM
Weather: Cloudy (64°F)​

“Aaaaand, we’re here!” Emma announced, moving off to the side with her right arm outstretched to display the scene before them.

Through the past few days, Stella and their client Emma Graf had been communicating about the given situation: a seemingly haunted mansion. According to the girl, their family had initially waved off the strange noises as faulty pipes. Even when an inspection report had turned up with no issues found, the Grafs continued to live in the mansion without much concern. However, when they vacated the estate for remodeling a year later, the workers in charge of construction began to report odd occurrences such as work tools going missing or things they replaced in the house turning up damaged. The final straw was when one worker was hospitalized due to a particularly bad fall from a ladder. Once the man was able to receive visitors, his coworkers noted that the man claimed that he felt as if something had pushed him. A month later, Emma had finally decided to give Noah’s Ark’s services a try.

“Again,” Emma said with her hands delicately clasped together in a prayer-like motion, “thank you so much for taking on my request as well as my conditions.” The brunette lowered her hands and idly twisted the ring on her left middle finger while explaining her situation once again. “My parents aren’t very superstitious, so it took a lot of convincing to obtain permission to get someone to look into it. Unfortunately, they were stubborn about having me here with you all to prevent any ‘funny business’, and I’m really sorry about this. I swear I’ll be as helpful as I can as a guide.”

Her blue eyes briefly flit from the raw dirt, wooden planks, and metal frames strew about the dug up yard and the mansion and back to the crew with a sheepish grin. “And sorry about the mess too. Construction and all. But the inside’s still safe! As long as we don’t run into a ghost or anything, anyway…”

“That said,” Emma glanced around for any signs of questions or concerns, “do you have any ideas on where or how we should start? Considering you guys are probably used to this and all.”

 

[Dawnsx]

Juli

Not for the first time, Juli couldn't help but feel like he and his coworkers were horror movie characters about to die gory deaths by foolishly deciding to explore an obviously haunted mansion. He didn't really believe in the supernatural (other than Regrets, of course,) but he still had a healthy sense of self-preservation to know not to go poking around strange phenomena. But, well, he didn't really have a choice now, did he? Exploring haunted places was basically part of the job description, so he shrugged off the ominous feeling and focused on what Emma had to say. Before long, their client was seeking their opinion on where to investigate.

To be honest, Juli didn't know what would be a good place to investigate either, which was... a bit embarrassing, considering he'd been with Noah's Ark for long enough to claim seniority over quite a few of his coworkers. But, it wasn't everyday that he got to visit a mansion. Even if it was under construction, Emma's home was still quite impressive. They were here for a job, but Juli still wanted to feast his peasant eyes and look around as much as possible. Maybe he could even snap a few pictures if Emma was cool with that.

"Hmm... If you have a garden, maybe I can look around there?" Because gardens were always picturesque, right? Unless the Grafs' garden was also being dug up for a makeover. Juli lifted his trusty camera that hung around his neck. "If you're fine with it, can I take some photos while I'm at it? Not for official purposes or anything. It's just a hobby."

Fortunately, Emma easily gave him permission to do so, along with directions on how to get to the garden.

"Alrighty then, I'm off to the garden, if anyone wants to tag along?" Juli swept a glance at the others, eager to set out before he could forget Emma's directions.

 

[voracity]

Having stepped out from a taxi a touch later than the others, Varona was eager to escape from some of the sterner gazes of her seniors, and took the out offered freely from Juli without missing a beat.

"I can't think of a better way to start the night than to drink in the sights of the best garden money can afford," she dipped her head to Emma upon her passing over to Juli. "Shall we?" She turned to her senior, allowing him and his camera to lead the way.

Following the long shadows left behind with Juli's every step, Varona had the opportunity to let her eyes drink in every inch of the Graf grounds they passed through. There was a porch at the east, illuminated lightly and delicately with dim lights hanging overhead, fashioned into the shape of lanterns, its glass frames stained with the last rays of the setting sunlight. Following both the light and the last steps from the porch, a smooth stoned path stretched out, and the two marched steadily upon the path that promised to take them to the gardens.

Naturally, a few stops were made for Juli. Fireflies had began to flit about, and though there were not many in number, those that accompanied them seemed to provide them (Juli) with a tour of their very own, showing off the wild greenery intruding their every step.

When another stop was made, Varona busied herself with a crinkly package, tearing it neatly to find fry-shaped chips inside ... but a gust of wind blew at that moment, warm and dry, ruffling them both and unsettling the trees about them. And strangely enough, Varona stiffened at hearing an odd splash as the wind gentled out.

"Did you hear that?" She murmured to Juli. "I could have sworn there was a splash ... do you think we'll find a swimming pool back there maybe?" She pondered, her eyes tracking a lone firefly that had deigned to stay with them bringing her attention ahead of them where dark iron bars were held tight together as an imposing display. The only things permitted to touch the cold gates, it seemed, were the touches of green that curled around its sides and top.

And that was a good descriptor for their journey so far. It had been touched with green, but very little else, as if all other colors had been pulled aside by an invasive green. But perhaps she was just paranoid?

"Juli, can I see some of the pictures you've taken so far?" She asked politely.