(no subject)

[huitzilin]

WHO: Aracely & lots of people (Titan shifters, Haru, Peter Parker, Robbie, etc.)
WHERE: Residence #001, Nonah
WHEN: Backdated to the few days Kaine was missing (Sept. 14 - 18)
WHAT: Kaine's gone, Aracely's freaked, and so people come around for
WARNINGS: EMPATHIC AND TELEPATHIC GIRL CAN HEAR U.


[ after her first outburst at Kaine's sudden disappearance, she becomes a bit more subdued. while there are times that she still remains enthusiastic (over bowls of cereal, friends coming over, and barbecue), her overall disposition remains uncharacteristically hollow. she's a tad quieter, keeps her toes on the ground, and manages not to be as nearly as boundary-invasive as she usually tends to be. it all seems a bit off. not being able to connect with Kaine makes everything all the more quiet, both to her and to everyone else. even when Kaine had left, it was nothing like this poof, this disappearing completely.

there's still a sense of foreboding that makes her hesitate. a sick sense that tells her that if Kaine doesn't come back soon, that something bad might happen.

school's a forgotten hobby in the midst of this new development, and the phone is ignored when demands of why she's skipped are made. she can be found anywhere from the kitchen table to the roof to the porch, sitting like she's waiting. ]


OOC | please feel free to jump in whenever! jump each other, make a top level or what-not. Kaine's gone from the 14th - 18th, so if you want to say what day it is, that's also cool beans. thumbs up.

Comments

early morning of the 15th

[fishhumanalien]

[Haru feels Aracely's distress from far away. His mind automatically adjust to protect himself from intrusion, a golden, almost crown-like halo shaped like a triangle floating gently above his head, spinning.

As he approaches the residence, he briefly considers what it might take to extending his shielding, pushing his power onto anyone else who might come to be effected by this leakage in order to protect them. It's not an impossible task, he's done far bigger before. However, the situation is unknown, and Haru wouldn't want to suddenly block Aracely off from everyone entirely. That could definitely make everything worse.

She hasn't hurt anyone, anyway.

Haru approaches, and knocks on the door.]

ARA-CEEEEEEEEE-LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL-Y! [knocking] GOOOD! [KNOCKING] MORRRRRNI! [KNOCKING] NGGGG!

[Whoever answers the door will find Haru, a small pale-haired young man in a bright pink shirt printed with rainbow shooting stars, multi-colored, fish-printed swimming shorts and chartreuse aqua socks, carrying a green water pistol in a real side holster. He's illuminated briefly by the halo, which quickly disappears when he begins talking again.]

Hi! Hello hello!

[huitzilin]

[ she can hear him coming before he arrives. she's already making the pathway to the door before he knocks, padding down the hallway in bare feet. ]

Haru Fish ...

[ the door opens wide without a second thought. she looks a little more subdued than she normally does, her emotions hardly buzzing at such high frequencies as they usually are. there's a cloud of desperation around her that comes from a visceral emptiness. one that pangs deep in the gut.

it's good for the shielding. ]

[fishhumanalien]

Aracely. [Haru's voice drops to a gentler place tone. Without a second thought, Haru steps in enough to put his arms around her briefly. He's not really that familiar with hugging, having sent a majority of his Earth-time in Japan, where it's not really a thing. But he's seen it before, between friends, lovers and family, and somehow he just feels like Aracely might need it.] Let's go take a bath!

[huitzilin]

[ he's not that familiar with hugging, but she definitely is. and she has no qualms stepping in easily and giving him an enthusiastic squeeze. physical contact between people always solidified bonds, and she wasn't aware of it, but it did brighten the sort of gloomy mood that was hanging over her like a gray cloud. ]

Okay! Let's take a bath!

[ and she takes his hand and starts leading him to the bathroom. ]

[fishhumanalien]

[Haru happily links their fingers, following her into the bathroom. American bathrooms seem strange. The toilet's in there too, and most bath tubs so small!]

You should run the bath so it's the temperature you like. I don't really care! Water's water to me. Then we get in!

[Haru pulls away, taking off his shirt.] Do you have a swimsuit or something? We need to be touching as much water as possible!

[huitzilin]

[ she doesn't seem to find any problems at all with leading Haru to the bathroom, stopping in front of the porcelain bath basin and putting her hands on her hips. she also has no trouble stripping herself of her shirt, and then of her pants, because really—a swimsuit was the same thing as underwear, anyway. ]

Okay, all the water then.

[ there really wasn't anything lecherous in Haru's mind. ]

[fishhumanalien]

[The nuance of "clothes cover nudity, clothes are necessary because nudity is sexual" is not entirely lost on Haru - it's why he wears clothes at all, and has worked hard to understand the purpose of various items, including swimsuits. He usually understands the function of clothes, if not necessarily the sentiment or ritual behind their use. He understands that stripping and getting into a bathtub with someone is not something humans do past a certain age (much to his disappointment!), which is why, in his mind, he is showing proper respect by making sure they wear them.

Haru personally does not find nudity to be any more interesting or suggestive than being clothed, so such things are far from his mind right now. He does look at her for a moment, curious, simply because he's never seen her tha way before. So that's Aracely in less clothes.

He's like 99% percent sure what Aracely's stripped down to is underwear rather than a swimsuit, which he's always found to be an arbitrary distinction anyway. But it's not like that's going to interfere with what they're about to do, so he doesn't comment. Far be it for him to tell anyone what they should wear, or if they're behaving correctly according to human custom. As long as they get what they need to do done, there's no reason to worry too much about it.]

Okay-okay! Ready-ready!

[He pushes himself over the edge of the tub, turning on the faucet.]

I wish we had a big tub, like at Yuki and Kate's house!

late on the 14th

[walkingballpit]

[Robbie doesn't waste time, really, in heading to Nonah to see how Aracely's holding up. It's still hours before he gets to Nonah and finds her residence. He doesn't have to go and knock, because he can see that Aracely is sitting on the edge of the roof. Looking at the stars, maybe? Who knows.

He's got next to no idea how he's supposed to help with any of it (though 'badly' is the odds-on favorite), but he's here now, so he might as well try. It's easy to climb up without having to be cautious about things like falling, and Rob pulls himself up to sit on the edge with his legs half hanging off and takes off his backpack, resting it on his lap.

So, the roof, huh? You sure you're not from New York?

[huitzilin]

[ waiting, most likely.

Kaine could simply just have gone back home for a while.

she has faith he'll be back.

but that doesn't mean that she isn't left with that sense of foreboding that she's had since he disappeared. her guts still ache, and her head is still swimming, there's still a gap and a silence where he used to be. there's something funny and off-putting about his absence that makes everything a little more or less real.

she does, however, perk up as Robbie arrives. ]

Robbie!

[ she squeaks. ]

[walkingballpit]

[ Subdued is better than panicking , so that's a definite improvement. Robbie still wishes there was someone else that he felt comfortable foisting this onto - which boils down to Vance, although Selah or Sam would do in a pinch. ]

Fancy meeting you here.

[ He wouldn't have sent Faira, though. Nita would be great at it, if she remembered she was Nita. She was always good at making people feel better. He thinks he used to be a lot better with it, too.

That's okay. That's why he brought in a ringer. He saw her reaction to Mr. Whiskers - it was kinda hard to miss. Rob unzips the backpack a few inches and the fuzzy head of a Scottish fold kitten pops through the gap, announcing its presence with a mighty meow. Robbie offers the cat a finger, and he rubs his face against the digit. ]

I think you're supposed to bring food as a housewarming present.

[ Or when people are going through a bad time. Like a death. ]

But you really don't want any casserole I could make.

[huitzilin]

No, you're bad at cooking.

[ she says with a confidence of someone who definitely Knows.

there's a perk up in her expression at the sudden unveiling of her hidden gift. she could feel the small presence, but better once the surprise is revealed. ]

Kitty! Kitty kitty!

[ there's a chirpy quality to her voice. the layers of foreboding and emptiness still linger in the air, but there's a hint of happiness there. her emotions change easily. ]

Ben, right? Kitty's name is Ben.

[ lady kitty named Ben. ]

[walkingballpit]

[ He raises an eyebrow at the tone, but, hey, he implied that he can't manage to make green bean casserole out of a box kit. It's true. He'll let it slide that she seems so certain, especially since Aracely sounded so upset that she couldn't feel Kaine's presence.

Robbie smiles at her reaction to the kitten, because that's about as good as he could have hoped for. He fishes the little cat out of the bag and holds her around the belly, offering her to Aracely. ]

Ben?

[ He glances from the she-cat named Ben and the girl named Aracely. One of them has a stoic sense of irony. ]

Like the song about the rat? [ A grin. ] Sure, why not? You want to hold her?

[huitzilin]

[ she reaches out with outstretched fingers and a subdued smile to welcome the kitten into her arms. there's an easy moment of mental introductions between her and the kitten, and then they're BFF. ]

Mm, yep, that's what I told her. That's what you're called now.

[ she's gonna brush against his mind for that, beep beep beep, looking for the lyrics to a song about a rat named ben. ]

the 14th, a couple of hours after Aracely's post

[shutterbugged]

[Peter comes to see Aracely as soon as he can, as promised, but despite his best efforts it does take him some time: there's Val's care to arrange, the attendant excuses to his housemates (well, to Flash), an overnight bag to throw together, the trips to and from each Porter with all the military bureaucracy to go through, making sure he's got the right house -- finally, he's perched on the wall outside her kitchen window, tapping to be let in. No doubt a bizarre sight to any passers-by, but whether the brightly colored costume makes it more or less so is an open question.]

[huitzilin]

[ she can tell he's there before he shows up. ]

That's a window, not a door.

[ she says it as if it's obvious. but instead of leaving him out to the night, she opens the window itself. she looks a little awkwardly subdued. (the hole in her gut still aches.) she hops up on her toes, and then floats just a bit to reach the window.

her shoulders relax slightly with his arrival. the hole itself is still there, but there's something familiar enough that keeps her a bit more level. ]

You're silly, Peter.

[shutterbugged]

Hey, ix-nay on the eter-Pay!

[He skitters over the sill, almost brushing shoulders with her, then drops off the wall and stands, looking her over.]

Sorry it took me so long. Traffic was hell. But you -- [a hesitation] -- how're you doing?

[That couldn't have come out more awkward. He's not sure how to handle Aracely, who already knows far more of him than he does of her, who seems far wiser than her age in some ways and almost childlike in others. All he really knows right now is that she needed someone, and he came -- and he would have come just for her, but she's important to his brother, too, through a connection that's once again beyond his understanding.]

[huitzilin]

Ee-ter-pay?

[ nope, she doesn't get it. ]

I'm okay, but Kaine is still gone.

[ there's an air around her, and gone is her usual chipper enthusiasm that she usually approaches everything with. it's replaced by a dull ache that's all too contagious, like it's settled in the air and nestled in the density of the atoms. she doesn't seem to notice or care about the projection. ]

I think he'll come back, but he's still gone. I dunno if things are gonna be okay when he's gone.

[shutterbugged]

I mean, [pitching his voice low,] please don't call me Peter when I'm wearing the suit.

[But he can't bring himself to rebuke her too harshly, under the circumstances. It's not the highest priority on his mind, either. Not with Kaine gone.

It's funny. He knew he'd be sad to lose the burgeoning -- whatever sort of relationship he's been building with his clone-slash-brother, but he didn't think it would hurt this much. As though the moment he slipped through the window, a lead weight lodged itself under his collarbone.]

I know it's hard right now, but... you have to try and be brave for him. We have to.

[huitzilin]

Oh. Okay.

[ that sounded a little dumb, but she goes with it. he seems like he means biz right here. ]

Um ... Blue-Red Spider.

[ she doesn't do well to cover the ache and the loneliness—and the foreboding that comes with the package. ]

Something bad might happen without him.

Kaine's my champion.

SEPT. 18/EVENING

[soldiarity]

[ Reiner himself has also been more subdued lately, although it's less obvious with him; he's always had that bit of a 'strong and silent' quality to him and he still manages to be friendly, but he's more distant, distracted. The house feels so much emptier even though they've only lost two people.

But what losses they were.

He doesn't mope, doesn't miss school, goes about his routines as normal except for occasionally being absent from the house from afternoon to evening doing whatever he's doing (usually just walking or running varying distances) until late. Tonight is one such night; he gets home well past eleven PM, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and a troubled, solemn look on his face that quickly turns to neutral surprise when he sees Aracely out on the porch. ]

Hey. It's kind of late to be sitting out here, isn't it?

[huitzilin]

I'm waiting.

[ she says simply. her words have been a lot simpler lately. maybe its in her tone that such simplicity has been matched with her demeanor. with all the enthusiasm that she's usually bustling with, along with the non-sequitur line of thought, it's easy to get lost.

she's sitting cross-legged, not floating, looking awkwardly and particularly normal. ]

[soldiarity]

Waiting for--?

[ But he knows better than to ask; he exhales into the crisp air, burying his hands into his pockets and sitting beside her on the steps. Reiner glances at her, but for the most part directs his attention forward. ]

... Not to be a bummer, but how do you know he'll be back at all?

[huitzilin]

He has to be.

[ she says, with firm resolution. ]

He's Kaine, he may say some things sometimes, but he always comes back.

[ she has to believe that now. even with the foreboding that's still boiling inside of her. ]

Robbie brought by a kitty.

[soldiarity]

Okay. Maybe you're right.

[ He knows better to argue the point; there's no reason to, and he'd rather try to cheer her up than be a buzzkill. Reiner moves his hands out of his pockets so that they hang between his knees, one gripping lightly at the wrist of the other. ]

Are you keeping it? [ A pause, then: ] Who's Robbie?

[huitzilin]

Robbie's the person I'm in love with.

[ like she says that every day. she quirks her head at him, over her shoulder. she seems a little more subdued now, the lack of presence still aches, and there's still the foreboding that something terrible is going to happen. it's just something that she's gotten used to. ]

Mm, I named her Ben. She's itty bitty! I think she likes pumpkin.