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

Shinji should come with a warning.

[busstopsign]

[As with any of you Arisatos, does he really have a choice in this? Grumble grumble grumble. Fine, just walk over, he's gonna be looking at his basket for a second, wondering if he's ever seen the Shinjiro he knows do any cooking. Considering it was Minato that made him do it in the first place...then again, he has no idea about those recordings of him watching the cooking shows...]

With the crap they're calling meals? Not much of a choice.

[Yes make it sound like you have no choice and not that you actually want to do this.]

Warning: Heart of gold is hard to find

[evokingfool]

[Minato knows all about Shinjiro's cooking skills. He sampled them before, even if they're made by a different Shinjiro.

Walk, walk, walk and a slight knowing smile.]

Their food could be better.

[Does this mean Minato can watch you cook in the kitchen like a eager puppy]

It's in there but you have to overcome a mountain of grumbling.

[busstopsign]

[If he knew, he would be both surprised and wondering how Minato managed that unless it was sneaking into the kitchen.]

Last month gave me ingredients to cook with.Ain't much to do with just nutritional bars.

[DOES HE HAVE A CHOICE?! There's going to be an entire army waiting for him to cook, isn't there.]

But the effort will pay off

[evokingfool]

[Both sneaking in and seeing those recordings.]

Can I help?

[Picking up ingredients with you?]

Re: But the effort will pay off

[busstopsign]

[NEVER TELL HIM ABOUT THOSE. EVER. He already has problems knowing about the recordings in the tower.]

...make sure you ain't picking up anything poisonous.

[That is Shinjiro for 'Yes, if you would like.']

[evokingfool]

Anything I should look out for?

[Traits of poisonous food? Or safe ones?]

[busstopsign]

...What d'you know about foraging?

[He can start you on things that are not mushrooms.]

[evokingfool]

Not a lot.

[There's...really no need to.]

[busstopsign]

Tch. Figures.

[Alright, he's going to put you near a pile of Cattails]

Take the ones that haven't formed their top out. We can eat the root of those.

[Welcome to foraging 101 with Shinjiro.]

[evokingfool]

[Hey, he knows these! Cattails, huh? With a nod, he starts foraging those cattails.]

[busstopsign]

[Good. He walks off to pick off more mushrooms, sometimes looking back to see how he was doing.

Shinjiro almost wishes he could make small talk, but...that only really worked with Minako. At least for now.]

[evokingfool]

[Minato's more of a passive listener than an active talker. He can hold a conversation, but he don't initiate them often.

So far, he have a nice pile of cattails. Hm, does he need to get more?]

[busstopsign]

[Nope. That's more than enough. He mentions for him to stop before pointing to some nearby berries.]

There's wild strawberries in the bushes. Tiny, didn't really bother.

[Read: If you would like some, help yourself, he'll me something with it. And now for true Shinjiaro...isms...]

You been eating well?

[evokingfool]

[Ooooh, maybe he can have something sweet with them. Like jam, or tarts. Minato smiles a bit and went over to forage the strawberries.]

I've been eating fine. These days, I mostly cook my food.

[busstopsign]

[Especially since sweets are harder to get here. Worst off, the more sour ones can be made into a chutney. Shinjiro's gears when it comes to food turn pretty fast.]

Good. Wouldn't want you to be stuck with that crap they serve downstairs. You...hunted for some meat too?

[evokingfool]

Not that often.

[He tried it once. It's messy.]

[busstopsign]

[He's still surprised you did it at all, to be honest, but nods.]

If you do it again, just...tell me or somethin'. I'll clean it up for you.

[NOT THAT HE CARES OR ANYTHING.]

[evokingfool]

[A smile, as he finish picking wild strawberries.]

I'll let you know.

[EXCUSE TO HANG OUT WITH SENPAI? EXCUSE TO HANG OUT WITH SENPAI.]

[busstopsign]

...right.

[GDIT PROTAGS ALL UP IN MY HANGING OUTS.]

How much you got now? Make sure to leave the green ones, we need them to grow again.

[evokingfool]

A lot.

[He moves and show Shinjiro his pile of strawberries. There's a fair number of them to satisfy a protagonist.]

[busstopsign]

[This is acceptable for Shinjiro.]

Right. Let's go to the kitchen. I got enough ingredients I need to prepare anyway.

[And then he goes off without waiting for you. RUDE.]

[evokingfool]

[Picking up his pile of strawberries (probably in a container or something), he follows after Shinji. Not gonna fall behind! /o/]

[busstopsign]

[One fade out and fade in later, they are in the kitchen. Shinjiro isn't wasting time, putting all the ingredients in clean pots and pans. While he doesn't say anything to Minato, he washes his hands, puts on a hairnet and a apron and expect the other to follow suite. He looks into some containers, frowning.]

Tch. Someone's been grabbing more flour. At this rate we'll be out before the end of the month.

[evokingfool]

[He already know the usual routine. So there goes some hand washing and putting the apron on. His hair might get in the way, but that's nothing a hairclip won't fix.]

Maybe they like to bake a lot.

[Walking over to check as well.]

[busstopsign]

If I catch 'em red-handed they're getting a talk.

[Man where was the flour disappearing...regardless, he's watching his ingredients, the annoyed look never leaving his face.]

I'll get the pheasant. Should work with what we have.

[He makes it sound so fancy but he's only got a few of those from hunting.]