002 - open & closed

[groundzeroes]

🧙 WHO: Rei & company (closed prompts in comments0
⚔️️ WHAT: 👀 ghosts! scamming! a baby! (ghosts are not scamming the baby)
🕒 WHEN: deeecember
🗺️ WHERE:Camelot, Land of Maidens
⚠️ WARNINGS: Tiger's Eye quest threads are raunchy by default ww

1. Land of Maidens, Baby [open]

Mazoe TDM prompt
[Somehow, you've ended up in Mazoe's room on childcare duty with Rei, of all people. Rei dresses like the world's most terrible bachelor, so he looks wildly out of place. He places his sunglasses on top of his head with a sigh, peering down at the currently-quiet baby in their oversized crib.]

Yeesh. Good thing this kiddo looks older'n six months. How would you support the head of an infant that's bigger than you?

2. Crossing the Lands of Maidens [open]

Gliten and Glitonea TDM prompt
[The Camelot Gang (tm) has been finally tasked with crossing a bridge blindfolded. Rei grimaces as he puts his blindfold on. The two sorceress sisters didn't elaborate much beyond the need for a blindfold, but there's no way this is going to be all there is to it. Is there?]

You get the impression that this place is a little obsessed with weird bridges? [And why is it called "whisper" bridge??!?!?!? (You're about to find out, Rei.)]

3. An Eye for a Tiger's Eye [open]

Go Get 'Em Tiger quest
[Rei eventually does make it back to Camelot, thank god. Anyway. Wowwww, the dark web is SPICY this month!!! A whole entire orgy, huh??? Too bad it's literally outside in the chilly winter air. Rei is a pretty nasty sort himself so he won't rule it out, but right now there's something more appealing about this quest than actually fulfilling it.

That's right. The tiger's eye jewelry requirement. It's scalping time.

Are you in a gem shop? Are you looking for a tiger's eye of any sort? Maybe it's taken you a while. Maybe this is the third gem store you've checked. However long it's taken you, there is at least one in front of you right now. Huzzah! your pre-quest quest is over! You just gotta grab it and--

Oh, oops. Rei draws his hand back from reaching for the same stone.]

Oh, pardon me. [He looks at the jewel, and then at you, a knowing grin plastered all over his face. (How he manages to look smug despite clearly having a shopping basket full of the things is anyone's guess.)] Don't let me stop you. [w i n k]

4.Ship Ghost in a Bottle [open]

Ghostbusters/Who You Gonna Call? quest(s)
[Rei is no death mage, so he can't really find ghosts on his own. But he's been watching the whole debacle unfold on the dark web forums, and since he sort-of knows Hijikata... well, it would be worthwhile to deliver the ghosts back to him, or at least lessen the supply of ghost-storing bottles floating around by buying them up.

So, if Rei happens to see anyone who's got a Bottle (ghost or no) and looks even a little bit unsure of themselves, ... he'll approach.]

Hey there. [Not suspicious at all.] Fancying yourself a ghost hunter, are ya?

5.Wildcard

You know the drill. Spinoff of one of the above prompts, make your own, or come chat with me here on the CR meme!

Comments

closed to ichiro

[groundzeroes]

[Well... he can't put this off forever.

Rei had kept an eye on Ichiro from afar during his first month. (And from up close, just once.) The kid's... been his usual self. Forthright, honest. Running himself nearly ragged helping out, looking awkward as he grows out of his boyish discomfort. But he's still alive, most importantly.

...No sense in beating around the bush.

Getting Ichiro's contact information is easy once the kid has commented to a few public network posts. Rei sends him location coordinates, and a very simple message.]

Come talk.
Yamada Rei

[The location is a park playground, deserted in the chilly, dismal weather. Even the playground's cheerily-colored equipment looks dull in the dim light of a gray winter evening.

Rei sits against the back of a bench, smoking, staring off into nothing. Princess is nowhere in sight-- this is a conversation for not even her.

Hi, Ichiro.]

[ichibukuro]

[Ichiro has remained blissfully unaware of Rei's presence in Avalon since his arrival and so the sudden message is a rude, rude awakening.

He nearly deletes the message without a second thought. They have no reason to interact here. Their shared blood is their only connection. No Hypnosis Mics, no Party of Words, no Chuuoku. No little brothers for Rei to try to steal. Ichiro wants nothing to do with Rei - and yet, he hesitates.

You only get one dad. He'd said it himself. You only get one dad, even if they are shitty.

Fuck. Fine. He resolves to meet him. Just this once. Rei can say whatever he wants to say and that'll be it. They'll be done. No more reason to meet. Ichiro can wipe his hands clean of him.

But fuck Rei for choosing this place to meet. Everything he does is shady and calculated, so what is he trying to do here? Get under Ichiro's skin? Well, it's working.]

Give me one good reason why I should listen to anything you have to say.

[Yeah. Hi, pops.]

[groundzeroes]

[Rei stares at his son wordlessly, expressionless, before he slowly cracks half a grin. Fiery as ever, isn't he. Well, good. It would be... concerning if he was quiet and miserable. No, that's not what he meant. It would be... less fun. That's it.]

You're new here. Figured I'd help give you a leg up. Ain't that what families do?

[Rei chuckles at his own joke. It's hollow and dry.]

Well, I already know what you think about that. [His eyes idly follow the trail of his cigarette smoke as it disperses into the cold night air between them.] So let me put it this way.

[His voice drops its humored lilt. Green eye pierces green eye.]

Your goals. My goals. They're unreachable while we're here, frozen in time. Right?

[ichibukuro]

[There's really only two directions Rei could be going with this - or so Ichiro assumes. He either wants them to stay out of each other's way which, despite Ichiro having every intention of doing that anyway, is infuriating. Or he's going to suggest they "get along," which is unimaginably infuriating.

But he can never know with the old man. So Ichiro will let him continue. He lowers his chin, shifting his field of vision so Rei's gaze isn't so piercing.]

Right. And?

[Get to the point.]

whisper bridge because i'm awful

[currysseur]

( of course she ends up on this particular quest with Rei-san. why wouldn't that be the case? but it'll be fine, right? she's pretty sure neither of them have murder in their hearts.

... probably!

well. Sakyo-san isn't here to have a heart attack about this, so she's just going to go with this whole thing and hope she's not wrong to put some faith in Rei. )

I think they're usually symbolic. ( random things you learn in the theatre include stuff like mythological and magical significance of things like bridges. ) Like...

( ah. dang. there's only one kind of mythical bridge coming to mind right now, and it's probably not the one anyone should be thinking about right now. )

The, uh, bridge to the other side.

OH BOY

[groundzeroes]

[Rei actually guffaws, a loud, dadly kind of noise, at her extremely unfortunate example.] It does feel like we're in hell sometimes with the shit they ask of us here.

[Like, what's being asked of them Right Now. This bridge doesn't have handrails!!! And if you fall off it's JUST SKY DOWN THERE!!!! This is terrible design. Were they cutting costs or something? Whoever was on this island planning committee should get fired.]

Better keep up a conversation so one of us doesn't think the other pitched over the edge halfway through. [That sentence was delivered in a light tone, but yikes, how grim.] You wanna go in front or should I?

i mean, i'm sure there are worse options i could go with

[currysseur]

( it's unfortunate but... maybe not entirely wrong.

gulp. that's a steep drop. )

Uh... ( neither of those sound like appealing options. are we sure they can't just circle back and go get mimosas or smth? ) I'll go first.

( she does Not sound certain about that. but she's got to push through and go for it, right? )

... Do you think our magic could help?

( can she shield them from walking too close to the edge, maybe? )

[groundzeroes]

Hmm. [Rei fishes out his cell, flipping it over idly as he talks his way through his thought process.] I could get Iris [(his technomancy assistant. no, he isnt going to bother explaining that... thanks Rei)] to guide us through the phone camera, but that may piss the witch girlies off. Might circumvent some "seeing" rule, and I'd hate to walk over that damned thing twice.

[Still, he keeps the phone out. Fuck 'em lol]

What's in your arsenal, Izumi-chan?

closed to rosho

[groundzeroes]

[Rei is home from the Roost early. It's a quiet evening in the Dotsuitare Hompo household, Sasara's absence made obvious by that quiet existing in the first place. Rosho's got one of his documentaries queued up, the narrator's even volume droning sleepily through the room. And Rei is... not... all the way there?

He's on the couch, he's got a drink, he's ostensibly watching... but his expression is strangely far away, his replies to any of Rosho's idle comments noncommittal.]

...Rosho.

[Finally, he addresses his teammate directly.]

You meant it when you got all pissed last time about not comin' clean with secrets, right.

[glossophobia]

[ Meanwhile Rosho's rapt attention has remained on the documentary the entire time its been on, a fascinating narration of the seasonal flora and fauna of Avalon through its various regions. He hasn't even cared about the lack of engagement Rei has been giving him. As long as he sits put and stays quiet, that's all Rosho could ask for during his documentary nights, seeing as any time Sasara tries to involve himself he can't do either of those things.

Suddenly he hears Rei's voice speak up again, but Rosho doesn't pay it any mind until he keeps talking. It takes him a moment to think about whether he wants to tell Rei to wait until the end of the documentary or just let him speak now, but from the sound of it, this is pretty important. Sort of abrupt and strange, but he doesn't want him to change his mind. Begrudgingly, he turns the TV off. ]

Ya know, I thought I'd be more relieved about you actually takin' my words to heart, but instead I'm about as worried as usual.

[ Of course a part of him likes this turn of events, he just has no idea what Rei would be wanting to tell him about at this moment.

Rosho picks up his mug of hot chocolate for a sip. ]

All right then, lets hear it. What'd you do this time?

[groundzeroes]

[Interrupting the documentary probably doesn't do Rei any favors, but if he waited till the end and then Sasara came home in the middle of their talk he would probably get his head chopped off. (Sasara, Sasara would get his head chopped off. He's doing this for you, asshole.)

"What did he do this time" is honestly a funny question, though.]

This was s'posed to come out at the DRB, but nothing can account for the end of the multiverse I guess.

[This feels so goddamn awkward to Rei. When was the last time Rei admitted to something, voluntarily??? For no reason but to inform another person? Like, years and years?? It feels wildly unnatural, which shows on his face.

He sighs.]

Kid'a mine's shown up in Avalon.

1/3

[glossophobia]

[ Its so strange to see Rei hesitant like this. He's not sure if he's annoyed or embarrassed, but whatever it is, Rosho puts his mug back down so he doesn't risk spitting it out all over Rei from whatever it is he has to tell him about. A good idea, seeing as the words that follow are absolutely not even close to being on the list of things he thought Rei would tell him.

He stares, baffled, trying to process the information. ]

What...? What does that mean, a kid of yours? You, you don't mean...?

[ "A kid of mine". Not like, some random kid he just knows, but one that he says is his. When a person says something like that, they usually mean its

their child

like, you know

as if he's some kind of father

like he has a child, because he's a parent, so that's why its "his kid" ]

[glossophobia]

[glossophobia]

—eh? You, someone like you, is a father...?

3 sorry rei

[plenilunium]

[Jyushi has never once looked at the dark web quests. He does not know they even exist. Which is very unsurprising, all things considered. And really, Jyushi isn't usually the type to like jewels but the tiger's eye is very pretty. He feels like it could go along with an outfit or something? It almost matches his hair!

He sees Rei and as always, becomes a little flustered. Even after the drama of everything, Jyushi can't help who he's attracted to!]

Oh, I'm sorry! I don't know if I'm going to buy one...[He does not mean to buy one for its intended use but does Rei know that? Nope.]

[groundzeroes]

[Rei has seen a lot of shit in his life. Scams, white-collar crime, government corruption, brawls, backdoor deals, assassinations. His children nearly got sold off by their orphanage director. People have died right in front of him.

None of that prepared him for a teenage boy with a crush on him to insinuate he might be going to an orgy.]

Oh, yeah? [Rei manages to limit his physical reaction to raising his eyebrows. Augh.... Jyushi is a sweet boy but he's also kind of edgy so it could go either way. Time to probe his answer as casually as possible.] Not really your scene after all?

[plenilunium]

[Not many times could one say "poor Rei" but in this case?

Poor Rei.]

Mm, I'm usually more into lace. I have worked with leather a bit. [What could that mean? He's not exactly being clear this is about fashion.]

But it's important to be adventurous, right, Rei-san? [Poor Rei.]

1/2

[groundzeroes]

[........

--No, no. It's fine. Jyushi is so shy. He would NEVER, right? It's probably fine. He doesn't mean what Rei thinks he's saying. Rei only understands about half of what this kid says in normal circumstances, so this is definitely one of those times.]

Sure. Not like it'll kill you, right. So long as you've got that, then come what may.

2/2

[groundzeroes]

[Oh, God. He's going to have to text Hitoya.]

(looks at rei suffering across all these other threads) anyways, babies,

[tsumtsuki]

[ Well. They sure are a pair of babysitters. Tsumugi doesn't have much experience with small children (yes, he tutored back home, but primarily high schoolers) so he's honestly a little relieved to be here with someone who sounds like they know what they're talking about, like Rei. ... even though, quite honestly, he didn't expect Rei to have this knowledge, either. ]

I'm not sure... [ Tsumugi's voice is always soft, but now he's not much louder than a whisper, lest he disturb the baby. ]

She didn't say how long she'd be gone for, did she?

8') babey

[groundzeroes]

Nah. [Rei gives the sleeping kid one more once-over, then turns to leave the room as quietly as possible. He closes the door behind them.]

Probably a few hours at least. Who knows how far a fairy has to go to do fairy errands. [Rei checks his watch idly. If they're lucky, the baby might sleep for an hour... but they will definitely wake up before Mazoe returns.

He looks back at Tsumugi, appraising him.]

You ever bottle feed a kid?

[tsumtsuki]

[ What even are fairy errands...?

Well, regardless, ] I'm afraid not. I haven't really had the chance to before... [ #OnlyChildLife. And while Tasuku is younger than him, that's only by two months... and, rightfully so, neither of their parents trusted a baby to bottle feed a baby. ]

But I'll help however I can.

3

[mayoninofukucho]

[There's a break in Hijikata's ghost rescue efforts as he has his subordinates back together - for now, because the damn ghost hunters with their accursed enchanted jars are still out there, and like hell will the Yuureisengumi stay away from Camelot and give those bastards free reign! But still, right now he has both divisions back at the outskirts of the Forest of the Felled for regrouping, and before they're ready to be redeployed he may as well take part in that... special quest.

Or so he thought, until he saw Rei, and the big knowing smirk on Rei's face, and the dozens of gems in his shopping basket. What the hell?! Just how many people is this guy planning to screw?! Or is he the co-organiser of the orgy or something?! Well, it's not like Hijikata will ask, because this quest is now off the table for him. He never even heard of it! He won't die a social death here today if he can help it!!]

Hah? No, go ahead! I don't need it.

[Before Rei can voice any doubts he quickly steers the conversation elsewhere.]

It's lucky that I ran into you, though. If you have a moment after this let's talk.

[After he's paid for his astounding amount of tiger's eyes, he means.]

[groundzeroes]

Yeah? If you're sure... [Rei's expression is devious. Poor Hijikata and his sense of shame... if he doesn't swallow his pride and buy this one now, he may very well have to buy one of Rei's marked-up ones later on. The thought of that is so funny Rei has to struggle not to lose it on the spot.]

Gimme just a minute. [Before Hijikata can change his mind Rei does in fact take the last tiger's eye like a giant asshole and turns to the checkout counter. If Hijikata follows him, he can at least enjoy a "what the fuck is going on" look with the nonplussed cashier.]

You've been pretty busy, haven't ya? [Grin! He's seen that ghost shit, boyo!] Thought I'd be hearing from you sooner rather'n later.

[mayoninofukucho]

[Ughhh. That goddamn glint in Rei's eyes..! Hijikata doesn't know it yet, but he almost certainly will end up paying his scalper price later. For now he just glowers while the cashier tries to handle to flood of tiger's eyes and maintain a customer service face at the same time.]

Then why didn't you seek me out?!

[That'd have been some nice proactive customer service, Rei!]