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

spoilers it's the Dormitory

[morituramfides]

Jin didn't wake up for awhile-- he didn't even notice when he was actually awake and just under sleep paralysis. All he could think about was opening his eyes to those goddamn florescent lights, and sterilized white walls and the smell of sterilization and metal and pricks and the bruises and the shocks and the--

But then he realized that there were no more restraints; nothing tying him down, no tubes in his veins or wires on his head. He squeezed his fists closed; both hands, no obstructions.

He inhaled as deeply as he could and shot up to a sitting a position with a start. The walls were white, and everything was-- stale, but not sterile. He grabbed at the collar on his neck (yep, that was still there), and rubbed his arms as if they were, as if trying to confirm that all of the needles and wires were gone. He stared straight forward without really seeing anything, and his stomach felt nervous and sick. And he didn't notice Shinjiro, too busy lapsing into the neurotic mess he was as a kid in the laboratory.

SHOCK AND SURPRISE

[busstopsign]

That was alright. Shinji had time to spare and think about his own dreams, during that part. How real everything had felt. How helpless he'd been...goddamn bastards for just toying with their emotions like that.

By the time Jin did wake up, he had already go and went off of to the cafeteria to realize all they had were nutritional bars. And water. Wow. Great. If that hadn't wanted to start cooking his own food before, that sure did jump-start it. He was back to leaning on his bed, thinking.

Like Shinji was going to speak right now. Just watch him at the corner of his eye.

I KNOW RIGHT

[morituramfides]

It took him a bit, but eventually Jin was able to calm himself down. His arms dropped back to his sides and he adjusted his glasses on his nose so that he could actually see clearly again.

He finally got out of his own head long enough to notice Shinji in the room-- though the most he did was narrow his eyes. He didn't have as much interest in talking to him unfortunately, and he rotated his legs to hop off the bed, making his way towards the door and hoping to avoid a conversation this time.

Floor 6

[fallen_stage]

[The animals might be twisted, but to Kuja, they were still more animal than monster. Animals followed basic patterns of behavior, weren't as pointlessly aggressive as monsters tended to be.

Who knew the fanged pheasants would eat those awful food bars? Enough to be literally eating out of Kuja's hand at that. When Shinjiro finds him, Kuja will be petting one in his lap, two more after his food.]

flower meadow; WELP let's do this, prepare your feels

[complementing]

[If Shinji ventures in a little further in, he'll notice Minako laying stomach down on the ground, head resting on one arm while the other reaches out to grasp at flowers just out of her reach. Her eyes are puffy and the rings under her eyes are pronounced.]

[busstopsign]

Oh well then, guess he was gonna have a problem with that.

"Here." Shinji tossed him the remains of his own pills that he'd gotten in his chest. "You can keep 'em." He didn't have a use for them anymore. He couldn't even remember how much he had paid for those too. Most of his last paychecks at the time. Money didn't have a use here.

[morituramfides]

Jin stopped when Shinjiro said something (damnit), turning around just in time to catch the pills as they flew towards him. He looked at them with a look of dull surprise, before looking back up at him.

"What...?!" Maybe he was a bit slow, but he...wasn't really quite processing it. How was it possible that someone didn't need them anymore?

[busstopsign]

"You heard Castor. Only took 'em cause I was afraid he was gonna act up." And there you had it, Shinjiro actually admitting he had been scared of his own Persona acting up. "You guys need 'em more than me. They're more powerful than the ones found in the infirmary, right?"

At least he had asked them too. Hadn't really cared how dangerous they could be for the body either. He crossed his arms, and there was nothing else from him. No 'so why'd you kill my girlfriend, you bastard' or 'hey remember when you killed me so I could let the others escape you, good times'.

[busstopsign]

[The hell was this guy. Shinji turned the other way, because if he was gonna have Snow White following him trying to tell him it was wrong to kill the animals, he had another thing coming.]

Oh poor, naive Shinji.....

[fallen_stage]

[The birds have sharp ears and all stare as one at the rustling nearby. Kuja is likewise on alert. Another beast..?]

Is someone there? I'm going to assume you're a monster and attack otherwise.

OH BOY I GOT MY FEELS READY

[busstopsign]

[He does, although at first he's not sure if he should at all. He's...spent four days of live televised nightmares of trying to rescue her before Castor breaks out, and even now there's a small fear...no. No he can control Augustus. He knows this.

He takes another step and...nothing happens. No flames. Nothing. Just a bad nightmare. Shinji calms down and walks closer to her, before sitting to be closer to where she is, putting a hand over her back.]

...hey.

GOOD remember to buckle in your seatbelt too

[complementing]

[She shifts to look up. It's the first time she's felt so incredibly small in front of him. But the touch is reassuring, just like his first step towards her was.

It means that, no matter what fate she'd met in their world, he is right here. With her. He's real.]

Hi.

Shinji, I...

[For once she doesn't know what to say. Where to start.]

[morituramfides]

Jin looked back at the pills again (special ones, he remembered), almost dumbfounded by what he was hearing. Shinjiro took them because he was afraid-- not because he needed to. And Shinjiro had dealt with his Persona. He'd gotten a better one. Didn't even need Castor anymore.

The corner of his lip twitched in anger, and he gripped the pills tighter, turning and throwing them at the wall so they fell to the ground near his bed.

"I don't need your pity, Aragaki! I can handle my own damn Persona."

STRAPED IN AND READY wow that sounds bad.

[busstopsign]

[Where to start...yeah.

He thinks back to that time on top of the school's roof, as she laid in his arms and moves his legs so she can rest between them. At least this time, she won't be...]

...I...

[WOW THEY ARE BOTH SO GOOD AT THIS]

[busstopsign]

You attack and I'll fight back, asshole. [Shinji is totally the king of diplomatic talks.]

[busstopsign]

Wow, okay, whatever. He gave him a shrug.

"Never said anything about pity." Sorry, but that was something he'd never be able to give them. Be annoyed with what Kirijo Group had done, yeah. But pity? They'd picked what they wanted to do with their lives. They could have ended up differently, but chose this one. It was harsh and cold thinking, but Shinjiro had made his own choices as well.

Although sometimes he wondered if he had gone with them, would things have been different?

"...we both know that last part's bullshit." He could handle it, but it would eventually kill him. "Unless you were forgetting we were all in the labyrinth."

[fallen_stage]

[Yeah Kuja had enough of that in the maze, kthx. Instead of snarling, Kuja pets his li'l birdie. He is the most diplomatic of men.]

Fair enough.

I didn't think anyone else would be this far in. I was getting sick of the tasteless rations, but then I found myself thrice blessed.

[morituramfides]

"I can handle it!" He said almost violently, turning back to look at Shinjiro again. He knew himself that that was bullshit; their personas were still trying to kill them and he couldn't do much about it. But he'd gone a long time staying sane and keeping Moros in line up until the most recent week, and he wasn't going to lose the control he did have.

"That's not gonna happen again. I don't have your privilege of being able to pussy out and getting over it, but I ain't letting it go batshit like you did."

/snicker

[complementing]

[She finally flips over and throws her arms around his neck, burrowing her face into his shoulder. Breathing him in and clinging to his warmth.]

...I'm sorry. I saw.

You would've found me.

[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?

[busstopsign]

[Shinjiro is the least diplomatic of men. In fact he's more the king of doing his own thing. But he'll converse for now. Doesn't seem to be anything too large around that would make a good kill anyway.]

Thrice blessed?

[fallen_stage]

[What Shinjiro lacks, Kuja can amply provide c=]

As in, I have attracted three pheasants with my gentle offerings of food. I really only needed the one, since I can't eat a whole bird, let alone three.

[busstopsign]

Call him whatever you liked. He knew he had his faults and what needed to be fixed, and was willing to overcome them. The insult passed over his head. He'd heard worst insults from Aki anyway.

"Who says you don't?" No, he wasn't going to suggest a crazy-ass way to destroy their Personas or fix it like some of the others. Just idly realizing that for all their wanting to accept death, then being so gung-ho about protecting each other, they just kept running away from their own problems.

They were alike in so many ways it kinda pissed him off.

Level 32 aka OMG IT'S AN FLOATING ISLAND

[evokingfool]

[Minato's walking around on this island, finding peace in simply...not hearing the voices at the moment. He don't mind their presences, but sometimes he want to hear himself think.

But instead of thinking, his attention got caught by a familiar person.]

...Senpai?

Is it bad I keep imagining it like Angel Island in Sonic the Hedgehog

[busstopsign]

[This was a sight to see. Shinjiro with a basket filled with mushrooms that he knew (because who wanted to die of poisoning here of all things) and a bunch of cattails. He looked surprised to see Minato of all people here.]

...yeah?