2ND BUS STOP | MAZES, HEALING & HUNTING [OPEN]

[busstopsign]

Characters: Shinjiro and anyone else who wishes to interact with him
Setting: Various locations! Fabulous prizes!
Format: Any is fine; I'll follow your lead (I started in prose but do action if you want!)
Summary: A guy who goes around places trying not to think too much about the maze and what happened there.
Warning: SMT is suffering. Persona 3 is suffering.

[DORMITORIES - Backdated to the first day after awakening (Locked to Jin)]
The numbness subsided and he stood up, rubbing his head.

He...wasn't sure what to think, and looked down at his hands, before rubbing his head. Had he really...why was Castor back again it was...

No. No it wasn't Castor anymore. No matter how real everything had felt, those last four days of seeing the orphanage burn again and again, how hurtful it had all been he...he wasn't sure if he wanted to see Minako right now. What if it suddenly...no he needed to stop thinking like that! Concentrate on other things!

There were people to thank, as much as he hated thanking anyone. Shinjiro didn't like to owe favors. Others he needed to talk with. Like that asshole in a bed close to his, still sleeping. How do you even talk with a guy who killed you? Didn't know. Probably was having his own demons to fight off, after all. Maybe it was pity he felt, but...whatever. They needed to talk. He'd wait.

[LEVEL 32 - FLOATING ISLAND (no powers)]
It felt odd, not having the sound of any Persona in the back of his head. Knowing that he was, for a short while, just simply a human. It...felt nice at times, although with the situation, he was getting more and more thankful for the fact he could call upon then.

Regardless, the food this month was a farce. That could not do. A series of bags with him, Shinji was busy gathering roots, fruits and leaves. What he could dry later, he would, but most were going to be used in cooking.

If they didn't provide it, he'd make it himself...maybe a nice mushroom soup.

[LEVEL 25 - FLOWER MEADOW]
Most people only saw them as gifts to give to a beloved one (and to be fair a few of these might be going towards this goal) but for the most part, Shinjiro was picking up roses, clovers, dandelions and lavender. He could prepare tea with some of them, and use the others in his cooking to make a salad.

[LEVEL 15 - WORKSHOP]
For the past few days, Shinjiro had spent most of his time on the 15th level, using the forging tools and materials available to him. That labyrinth had sealed it for him, in a way, and he wasn't going to get caught empty-handed for any reason. If he didn't have his axe, he'd make himself one no matter how long it took. But first, there were a few people he needed to thank, for their help...

[This part is opened to everyone but England, Minami and Minako, if you want to meet him this week, he will have something to give you.]

[LEVEL 11 - OPEN AREA, WATERFALLS, NIGHTFALL]
Floor Eleven. The sound of the waterfalls should be soothing, but Shinjiro wasn't here to admire the view or to plummet himself to death. He was waiting for the night to fall, and the rainbows to flip over. Relenting was hard for him, but he knew he needed to practice fighting more. Was it safe to go by himself? Nope. Did he care? Not really.

He needed the practice and alone or with someone and he was going to do it right here...

[LEVEL 6 - FOREST]
Just eating plants wasn't going to be enough, of course. The animals here might be twisted - the birds might have teeth, but they were still, to their very basic, animals. Meat.

He was a cook, he knew how to cut and take care of one. But he'd never actually hunted for them before. A guy like Shinjiro wasn't the definition of someone who'd be good for that kind of stuff either. Which is why he was using his persona instead. Augustus had a lance. That seemed like the best course of action, in this case.

He just needed to find something large enough so he could feed more of them...but that came with its own dangers, didn't it?

[LEVEL 3 - LIBRARY]
Aki would be laughing at him. Him? In the library? You could almost think he was becoming studious! In reality, he was busy looking at cookbooks, trying to enhance his knowledge a little more - hell if he'd ever be caught dead reading wildlife magazines before, but now they actually were teaching him something.

He sat in one of the chairs, a stack of cookbooks and Wildlife's finest on a table nearby.

[LEVEL 1 - KITCHEN]
The first thing you might have notice, if you were the type to go snooping into one of the fridges was a few animals hung with hooks and dripping blood (but don't worry, he had found a pots for all that liquid to go into). Meat wasn't made to be eaten the day an animal died, but it was still a pretty grisly sight for those unprepared for it. Shinjiro hadn't cut and diced it yet, waiting a day more for the meat to rest.

Meanwhile, he was making what looked to be a few vegetarian dishes, and quite possibly cursing the lack of well...ANYTHING this month. At least his chest had come with some salt for his cooking. Next month he'd seriously have to think about stealing things from here or at least drying and smoking it so it could be preserved for later when they decided to pull stunts like this.

Comments

[busstopsign]

[He closes his arms around her, but if she looks up, his face looks on in utter confusion. Shinjiri has not used the terminals since the Labyrinth so he has no idea what she means. That can't be the talk about Castor, she was already dead...]

...what do you mean?

[complementing]

[Her eyebrows arch in surprise, and she pulls away for a moment to search his face. Then she lightly touches his cheek.]

Shinji, the nightmares people have been having...some of them have been broadcasted to the public. Mine was, after I died. And I saw yours, too.

[busstopsign]

[It...takes him a few seconds before he says anything. Really, what can you say to that? To know that they recorded everything? That everyone who wants to see his nightmare can do so? That he could technically do the same, but like fucking hell he'd ever do that? It's just...this place.]

Son of a bitch!

[He doesn't want Minako to be here. He wants her to be safe, somewhere else that isn't the tower, and he's holding her closer now, gritting his teeth in anger. It isn't a very pretty sight.]

[complementing]

[She lets him hold her as tightly as he needs to, quietly murmuring soothing, nonsensical words to him. Hey, listen to me. It's going to be okay. We're both okay. She continues as long as it takes for him to calm down.]

[busstopsign]

[It takes a while, but he eventually regains control of himself enough to breathe normally, and just hugs her silently for a bit more, thinking and calming the anger in his heart.]

...We need to find a way out of this shithole.

[complementing]

Yeah. It's not exactly the greatest place to stay. [She pulls away, just enough to touch her forehead to his.] Any ideas?

[busstopsign]

...not really. We might need to talk to others about this.

[He sighs again, but hugs her closer some more. It's almost a curse. At least she's here...but damn it, she's here and she could be somewhere safer.]

[complementing]

Yeah. Minato has been here longer than us, we could ask him. [Because obviously Streganato would not like to cooperate with them.] Or any of the older residents here, really. They're probably our best bet.

[busstopsign]

[He nods. He's still confused about that Minato...well both of them, but he does have a degree of respect for him, at least.]

Yeah.

[At the same time, he should make his peace with her, considering.]

I...sorry about what happened out there. In the maze. I should have protected you better.

[complementing]

[She touches his face again.]

Shinji, don't. Don't blame yourself. It was my own fault for getting separated from the group. And I should've run away from him, too, the first chance I got. You heard me and came for me, and that's all I could ever ask for.

[busstopsign]

Tch.

[He has...no idea what to say anymore. She's right in a sense, but on the other hand OVERPROTECTIVE BOYFRIEND. This liking a person thing is hard. Damn it. No wonder he always thought it would bring more problems...]

Stick...closer to me next time.

[complementing]

No argument there, Leader. [She curls into him, falling quiet for a few moments.]

What...what happened after that?

[busstopsign]

...d-don't call me that. [You're their leader, after all.]

I...lost control for a while. [He looks away for a second, then adds,] Guess I still had a lot of demons in me...

[complementing]

[She gives him a wane smile before watching him closely.]

Our demons never really leave us. Do you want to talk about it?

[busstopsign]

[He groans. Loudly. Like 'gdit I know I'll end up talking about it anyway cause you'll find a way to get it out of me' way. HE KNOWS YOU TOO WELL.]

Urrgh. Alright.

..Castor came out.

[He'll let her think about that because she knows all too well of his fears regarding his first Persona.]

[complementing]

[Shinji makes it too easy.

Her brow furrows immediately, and reaches out to squeeze his hand tightly.]

I'm guessing he wasn't very happy.

[busstopsign]

...I completely lost control. I just...wanted Jin dead and didn't really care what happened. The worst part is until the others snapped me out of it...I was fine with it too.

[The squeeze is appreciated.]

[complementing]

[There isn't really any use telling Shinji it's not his fault right now-- he'll still blame himself. But she's going to try anyways. So she draws his hand to her lips, kissing over his knuckles.]

Castor is a part of you, so he knows what makes you tick. He took advantage of your anger and sadness. It wasn't your fault, Shinji.

[legatus]

Tch. Stop it. I know it was my fault...but that was part of what I needed to do.

[He looks upwards for a moment.]

Accepting that Castor was not just a part of me, but me. Once I understood that...guess the rules changed.

[complementing]

[She reluctantly purses her lips to give him time to respond.]

...what do you mean?

[legatus]

[He offers a small smile despite everything. He wouldn't say that right away, not when he can string them out more.]

And tell you everything? Tch. You're supposed to be the leader, you figure it out.

[complementing]

Wh-- [She blinks at him in confusion, but then she sighs and lightly shoves at him.]

I know that.

[She just doesn't feel very leaderly right now. A leader is the person everyone else on the team depends on-- especially in their time of need. She wasn't there for them-- hell, she was practically the first one to go. And now all she wants to do is help Shinji, but even he is being evasive. To be playful, she knows, but...

She closes her eyes. Stop. This isn't about her.]

You accepted Castor...then... [She opens her eyes, a small smile going over her lips in realization.] He evolved?

[legatus]

See, that wasn't so difficult was it?

[Congratulations, you've won. The price is a smile from Shinji, please treasure it considering who it is from.]

...Yeah. I guess you're gonna have to call him Augustus now.

[complementing]

[She gives him a small smile back, shaking her head affectionately.]

Augustus...why am I not surprised he's named that.

[She leans into him, her voice soft as she speaks.]

Well. I-- I'm so sorry that you had to go through hell for it. That you had to see me die before you could do it. And I'm especially sorry that I couldn't be there for you when he did evolve. But I'm proud of you. I'm so, so incredibly proud of you.