OTA | September Catch-All

[bakudan_bambino]

🧙 WHO: Gokudera and YOU
⚔️️ WHAT: Birthday stuff/ Open and closed prompts/ Catch-all for September
🕒 WHEN: Throughout September
🗺️ WHERE: Various
⚠️ WARNINGS: foul language; mentions of murder; will update as necessary



A. A boy and his leopard

Gokudera doesn't let Uri out very often. For starters, the teenager does not have animal magic and can't tell when his weapon-turned-pet is feeling any sort of way. The young adult leopard is well-fed, growls a lot, and stalks about in his attic apartment, climbing the indoor tree, but he won't deny it freedom. He could put a leash on Uri, but that doesn't seem right. Maybe because he has a collar about his own neck, and this animal is not just some house cat. Uri is... or was an extension of his spirit. To have the Storm Leopard now just a leopard feels unfair. Their connection is lost, and he won't demand the creature stay inside.

Uri hesitates to leave the apartment at first when he welcomes the cat outside, but once he coaxes the cat out, it's staying close, hunkering down, and growling at anyone they pass.

He can be seen walking down the streets of New Camelot with the leopard sticking to his side. Once they are out on the training grounds, Gokudera is sitting down with the big cat, trying to talk with it.

"I hid some food out here for you earlier. You want to find it and take it home to your tree, or should we look for a new tree out here?"

The leopard licks at its paw and gives a rumbling purr before rolling about.

"Uri, you can nap when we get back home. You're supposed to have fun out here..." He pleads, looking apologetic. The leopard doesn't seem upset, though, and gets up before jumping at his back and pinning him down. It's licking at the back of his head, and he's letting out a muffled, distressed yell. That tongue is rough and his neck is sensitive. To anyone who knows anything about his problems with his collar, they can probably tell that this activity probably isn't pleasant for him.



B. Wild accusations | TL;DR Gokudera is accused of being a Selkie

[Gokudera is talking to a man at the Lake, and there seems to be an argument. It seems the boy is arguing that he saved a selkie woman and the man is accusing him of murdering a fisherman who had trapped her.

Aggravated, the boy throws his hands up and turns. He stares out at the water and then stops talking and just walks into the water, further and further in. A few bubbles rise to the surface, then abruptly stop. Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen. The boy does not come up, there's no sign of him.

But the real Gokudera is looking for anything that may have been left behind by the selkie he and Yamamoto saved some months ago. The late fisherman's house seems in a state of disrepair, relatively vandalized, but still standing and sturdy.

He leaves carefully and quietly with a bag of fabrics, his old bloodied clothes he'd hidden from before. It'd be a sneaky escape, but the man he'd fooled turns and catches him. He's accusing Gokudera of all sorts of things, and then backing the boy into the water of the lake. Gokudera turns and dives in, swimming off as far as he can go until his familiar cloaks him.]

If I ever see you again, I'm taking your skin!

[Gokudera can hear that angered yell over the water and he can be found later on bobbing about in the water. Try to convince him to come out? Ask him what happened? Swim right up to him? The weather isn't cold enough for the water to be too unpleasant, and the angry man is leaving so maybe the boy will get out of the water. He's going to take out his device and ask for help.]

What should I do to prove I'm not a selkie?



[Feel free to put up your own prompt. Also! Prose/brackets are fine! I'll match whichever]

Comments

Closed to Tsuna

[bakudan_bambino]

It's been a very long time since Gokudera has played a video game. Back in Anchor, there was a VR room, and apparently, Takeshi had been in there with his collar and it had interfered with whatever memories he was trying to relive. The Tenth has been, he knows, and so he puts his caution aside.

And... without telling anyone that it's his birthday, he'd like to spend the day with his boss. If the Tenth doesn't know, then it's all the better! There won't be any expectations, and they can just have fun together.

"Which game was your favorite when you came here last time?" Gokudera asks, looking over what he feels can only be described as a magical high-tech arcade. His boss had gotten stuck, but the bomber wasn't going to get him out. That would have ruined the fun of being in the game in the first place. There have to be some good multiplayers...

[theskyaccepts]

"That's a good question. I kinda tried a bunch but I got stuck in them so that kinda changed the experience. There was this RPG one that was pretty good though, and it's got a multiplayer system so you can form a party!"

Tsuna grins. It's been a long time since he's played video games with his friends. Not that it happened a lot back home (and it was an activity he mostly did with Lambo and I-pin). And he's happy that Gokudera wanted to hang out. It feels almost normal, going to an arcade like this.

"But, what kind of games do you like?"

[bakudan_bambino]

"If we that immersed in a game, I think it would be more challenging." Which is fun, considering he's just very good at reading game guides and solving puzzles. He's a poor sport, though, so maybe an RPG that requires teamwork over competition would be best. Especially since it's with his boss, and he wants to leave a good impression. When doesn't he?

"Is it turn-based? I think I'd like that, since while it can be challenging, the mechanics are easier to understand." Not too difficult, bur not easy.

"I like... sandbox survival games. Like Fieldcraft, or Spaceconvoy."

[theskyaccepts]

"I think is, from what I remember. It wasn't quite like Penultimate Fantasy, but pretty close," Tsuna replies after a moment's thought. He'd been a little more focused on finding a way out. "I think they were just over here."

"But that's cool. I bet you've built some cool stuff in Fieldcraft. I could never make Lambo sit still long enough to focus."

They usually ended up playing games with more competition. Tsuna can at least say he's okay at fighting games now.

[bakudan_bambino]

"I think the story for Penultimate Fantasy is better than the actual gameplay. I know it's a classic and all, but it can be really clunky and every fight takes something like ten minutes. We could spend the entire day in a game like that." Not that he'd be unhappy about that. Too often, Gokudera feels like he's some weird game character anyways, what with powers coming and going, his familiar, and tragic backstory.

"He'd get impatient." Gokudera thinks that having Ipin around would be best. That way the two kids could play together and the Tenth could have some peace.

"What kind of games do you like, Tenth?" They could always play a racing game? Gokudera would enjoy that.

B

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata sees the question pop up on AOL... what the hell did Gokudera get himself into now? This boy really attracts trouble like nobody else.]

That'll be tough since you could only prove that you ARE one if you had a pelt. Who's asking for proof?

[Since he's currently living in a camp close to the lake he could probably make it over to Gokudera on short notice, but right now he's still confused as to what's even going on.]

Text; un: smoking_bomb

[bakudan_bambino]

Some old man by the lake! Takeshi and I rescued a Selkie, and I wanted to see if she left anything behind!

[He’s not going to admit to being involved in a murder. That may be part of why that old man was so angry with him.]

Text | UN: hijikata (I forgot!)

[mayoninofukucho]

[Oh, that rings a bell... Hijikata, too, ventured out to aid the selkie woman about half a year ago, together with Zelgadis. They ultimately simply overwhelmed the fisherman and forced him at harpoon- respectively swordpoint to hand the pelt over to his involuntary wife, but even back then he realised that the situation was happening in one of those confusing time loops.]

I'm coming over (I'm east of the city, where are you?).

[He already starts heading down to the water, planning to move westwards along the beach. At some point he should come across Gokudera. He keeps texting him on the way.]

If the old man is threatening you, tell him you called the knights.

text

[bakudan_bambino]

[Takeshi dealt with the man, Gokudera and Larry went to protect the Kraken, and then when the creature was being safely escorted by the bomber's familiar, the man went to attack Gokudera. Takeshi cut his head clean off his shoulders. So... Gokudera and Larry hid the body.]

I swam out to the middle of the lake. I think he's gone, though. You might see Larry before me.

[Sure enough, Gokudera is easier to spot by the bank, hiding behind a large, half-submerged rock, silvery hair looking darker and metallic as it hangs completely flat to his head. He thinks he notices Hijikata, and takes a moment to come up the bank. The Knight may notice that there is no collar about his neck.]

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata and Zelgadis never even got to see the kraken! Regardless, Hijikata never bothered to check back on the fisherman to see what fate the time loop roulette eventually left him with. When he arrives on the scene he only sees Gokudera, so old man in sight... good. He waves and heads over.]

You should've told me you went for a swim! I'd have brought a towel--

[He does a notable double take as he notices the missing collar.]

Wow, you actually got rid of that godawful thing? It was about time! How'd you manage that?

[If Larry is approaching along with his bond partner the samurai will greet him with some head pats.]

Continued from above!

[mayoninofukucho]

[They'll most likely never have any certainty of whether any of them may meet again, but Hijikata, despite generally tending towards reserved realism, can't help but be a little optimistic. He needs some hope to keep pushing forward, not only with regards to Riou but, more importantly, the two women he left behind on Prismatica who can't go back home. Gokudera's story is a welcome diversion from those concerns, given that the coming and going of people across the multiverse is out of their control. He turns towards him and picks up some grapes to snack on.]

You said you wanted to see if the woman left anything behind? Didn't she only take her pelt back and leave?

[Was there more to the quest that he missed..?]

And so the guy moved out, huh. I guess he couldn't stand the memories attached to the place.

[He says it without sympathy; that man was a prick.]

cw: mentions of NPC death

[bakudan_bambino]

Yeah.

[But she'd been living with the man who took her pelt for some time. He's going to give the fabrics to Miwako and see what she may do with them. They may have been worn, but that doesn't make them useless.

Also he's happy to talk about this, and understands how much of a downer it can be to talk about people leaving and maybe going home.]

Moved out?

[He vividly remembers Yamamoto chopping that guy's head off.]

Uh, well I haven't seen him since...

[mayoninofukucho]

[While Hijikata realises that different questers experienced different outcomes thanks to the time loop phenomenon he somehow doesn't expect Gokudera to have killed the man (to be fair, it was Takeshi), but he also doesn't care too much about that part. He's simply curious what prompted Gokudera to go back after such a long time.]

Seems like the fishermen at that beach are a little weird. I guess the guy you ran into couldn't think of any other explanation of why someone would visit that house if not a friend or relative of that woman.

[He lights himself a cigarette, having finished his small bunch of grapes in record time.]

Best don't go back there if you can help it.

[bakudan_bambino]

I was just in the area with Larry... and you saw him. He was disguised as me. I wonder if he did anything that made that guy think something was up with me.

[Gokudera glances over at Larry, who is fast asleep, a snot bubble inflating and deflating with each breath.]

Yeah... it's not like he owns the water. I'm sure if I do run into him again, I can use my magic to keep myself safe, maybe explain to him that I'm not from around here...

[But then what if the fisherman doesn't take too kindly to off-worlders. Gokudera isn't going to let that guy get away with threatening him. He's already thinking of what he'll say or do the next time he sees him.]

Continued from above!

[mayoninofukucho]

Hm? Sure, go for it.

[He'll observe Gokudera's efforts curiously. There are so many possible applications for elemental magic, he's certain that he's far from having uncovered all the ways in which they can be used, and every chance discovery may be valuable.]

[bakudan_bambino]

[He can't control the fire in front of him, but generating his own and adding to it... controlling that, or using this one as a sort of inspiring force is a better option. So he takes a stick and holds it in the fire, and whether it is close enough to actually catch or not, fire lights on the end. He wills it so.

But maybe it's actually an extension of the campfire. He sets the stick down, and knows that it will likely go out, given that there isn't much of the stick to catch fire, and the ground isn't dry enough for it to progress.

So he's basically keeping alive this little tiny flame on a stick on the ground in front of him. Gokudera is putting in focus that isn't entirely necessary, then motioning his hands up, lifting the fire off the stick. It's floating above his hands and slowly changing to a ball of electricity he's casting a light shield around.]

This already makes this camp ten times cooler.

[Gokudera offers up the plasma ball with an amused smirk.]

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata snorts, amused.]

It's more novel than a plasma lamp alright!

[It really is fascinating to look at. The shield glows beautifully, as Hijikata has come to expect from light magic, and the tiny lightning storm is neatly contained inside, contrasting in a more silvery shine.]

Light magic is so versatile, I really like it. If I had it I'd probably fight with a light sword or something. You did the elemental change nicely, too... I haven't practiced that enough; I still always summon one after the other.

[bakudan_bambino]

Wonder if I can change it inside the light shield…

[And he’s definitely trying, so it’s becoming something more like a weather ball, the sparks of lightning turning to clouds. There’s heat radiating from it, definitely, but then it’s fogging up, becoming condensation on the inside.]

Lightning and fire are pretty similar. I think if I just attribute it to visualizations and find connections between them, it’s easier. Also… just my energy acting as elements, right? Your elemental magic is an extension of your energy? So… you’re not controlling outside elements, just projecting your own…

[At least, that’s how he’s coming to understand it and explain it to himself, trying to work out the logic verbally and working the magic to demonstrate. If it were just him alone with a candle, he’d probably not be able to get to this point. He’d have no idea how to shift from earth to water, electricity, and fire. Fire is more an energy source to him.]

Continued from above!

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata exhales. Gokudera looks so moody, he doesn't know whether to sympathise or be mildly amused. He is still a teenager, after all.]

The magic here works in strange ways. In your case it's the light that really likes you, isn't it?

[He himself is still pretty awful with earth magic, but since he barely ever needs them he doesn't sweat it. He gets back to the totem ingredients he left aside, starting to make another one.]

You rock

[bakudan_bambino]

[Moody is Gokudera’s default setting.]

I’ve had it for longer. I just need to practice more with fire…

[And he will keep training, lying awake late at night when his collar wakes him up, just trying to make little flames with his fingers.]

♡

[mayoninofukucho]

Look, fire or no fire, you soundly beat my ass at the tournament. I'd say that speaks for itself.

[Sure, his great control of his other magic types won't help Gokudera make a campfire or light a candle, but he'll get there sooner or later! Hijikata has no doubt. Little does he know how hard the boy will push himself...]

I'll finish up this batch of totems, and then we'll make some food, alright?

[That'll hopefully warm Gokudera up from the inside too.]

A <3

[inaurare]

Gokudera-- oh!

[it's second nature by now to call out to the boy on sight, though his attention is taken by the growl from the feline at his side, startling just slightly. Has... had his familiar changed? Is that even something that can happen, or...]

Is... is that Uri...?

[It's not that Linneus is afraid of the leopard exactly - if anything, given all their time living together on Amoi, he is quite familiar with her, but the growl makes him cautious. Given the size of their home in Midas, she was rarely much bigger than a housecat - less able to have the opportunity to stretch her legs at a larger size.]

[bakudan_bambino]

[Uri stops and hesitates to approach before extending forward, sniffing at Linneus cautiously as Gokudera smiles.]

Yeah!

[Uri looks up at Linneus, then roars at him, though it sounds a bit odd, sort of like a chuff or a growl. Then, he's walking right up and rubbing against the man's legs with his entire body.

Gokudera gives an approving little sigh of relief.]

This is what he'd look like stripped of... everything that makes him a box weapon. Just... a normal leopard.

Misgendering Uri, oops...! Also is this ON Gokudera's birthday, or around it? :)

[inaurare]

[a little noise at that. Linneus doesn't exactly miss the gouts of fire from the creature's ears, but their absence does make Uri a little less... Uri.]

But I cannot say there is a great deal normal about a leopard...!

[though he supposes that depends on where one is from. It certainly isn't for him and his upbringing, and even on Amoi animals were not technically real. But perhaps leopards are more familiar elsewhere - Linneus is quite aware that his own experience is a terrible measure.

Reaching a hand to stroke, seeking Uri's permission before bending down too, his familiar hovering at his shoulder. He glances up at Gokudera]

How are you?

Lol I love it and it’s around his birthday

[bakudan_bambino]

[It’s not like the fire ever hurt anything. Uri used it to intimidate opponents and seem bigger. But now Uri seems less.

But no less intimidating. There’s something much more real about a normal leopard. Gokudera feels the connection between them, but his basic understanding of his box weapons needs are now nearly nonexistent.

Uri nuzzles at Linneus affectionately and lingers, hoping for scratches around his ears.]

I’m alright.

[Says with a bit of uncertainty. He’s better than when he last saw Linneus, but there are obviously still things he’s working through. The pet ring is still around his neck, but he has a plan for removing it.]