lostcarnival | Non Nightrunners Need Not Apply [OPEN]

Entry tags:

Non Nightrunners Need Not Apply [OPEN]

Who: Mari Makinami Illustrious and YOU
What: Come hang out with Mari at the mall! She doesn't actually want you here.
When: Early on in The Matrix
Where: Local mall, or it's up to you.
Warnings: None

There's no nice way to put it. The Matrix is Fucked Up. It's immediately obvious to anyone with half a brain--or, well, half a brain that's willing to question the difference between the perceived self and the self that acts in reality, anyway. Which is to say, the Matrix isn't very difficult for Mari to wrap her head around, which is exactly why it's inevitable she'll be spectacularly insensitive to anyone struggling with it.

But she's a lot more excited than she realised she'd be. Excited to look like herself again--a version of herself that (despite everything) she still thinks of on some level as the "real" her. A version that doesn't have to worry about how many eyes she has visible at any given time and can see her own face in the mirror. For those who haven't been around the carnival terribly long (or just less than a couple years), she's barely recognisable: a bright eyed, energetic teenager with the same two-ponytail hairstyle and glasses she's always had, but human limbs and human legs--a wingless, tailless girl like any other, more concerned with herself than the world at large.

It's the perfect cover. After all, she has a job to do. One where drawing attention to herself is Bad News. So she's not so much "actively staking out" as she is "excitedly running around shopping malls and drinking caramel lattes conveniently close to the machines' agents."

And she's keeping an eye out for anyone else from the carnival who might give her away. Anyone else. If you're not a Nightrunner, you're a liability. Distancing herself from you won't work. Not this time. That's just gonna make the trouble go to you and not to her, where she can keep her eyes on it.

So. What are you up to?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's weird but kind of comforting to be in a somewhat normal city again. Chiaki's been exploring every chance she gets, and today she's sitting at a coffee shop in the mall, half-playing her game and half-watching passersby.

The trouble, which she did not think of, was that the Game Girl Advance wasn't actually released until 2001. So she's getting the occasional odd stare from the more tech-savvy passersby.

At least her ears are safely hidden under the buttoned-up flaps of her hoodie, creating a larger-than-usual lump underneath her head. Which, on the other hand, makes her easier to sneak up on from behind. The price of blending in.

Unfortunately for Chiaki, Mari is fundamentally incapable of greeting her in a way that doesn't take advantage of her new, significantly less guarded rear flank.

Which is to say, she strolls right up behind her, leans in really close, and stage-whispers the word "boo."

One of these days she's really going to get used to people sneaking up on her. She's gotten better at it, but with her ears all folded up and listening better to the inside of her head than to anybody around her, the game console goes clattering to the floor.

She twists around to see who it is. Some girl -- a bit taller than her; well, much taller, actually, but only a bit taller than she used to be. "S-sorry? Is everything..."

The glasses. She does recognize the glasses. "...Mari?"

Mari's smile just about splits her face. "Bingo~!"

She stands back up, brushing off her skirt, and touches one finger to her glasses--pushing them back up, obviously, but with style.

"You've still got your hood up--do you like the nekomimi look that much? You can do away with it if you want here. In fact..."

She narrows her eyes just a bit over her smile, then glances down, touching the gamegirl with the tip of her toe and pushing it back towards Chiaki as she locks eyes again.

"I'd really recommend it."

Chiaki leans down to pick up the little machine, and tucks it away into a pocket of her hoodie.

"I kind of rushed here, I guess." She pats down the bumps atop her new hoodie uneasily. "They aren't showing, are they?"

She's kind of marveling at how different Mari looks. Almost normal.

Almost?

Rude much!

Mari rubs her chin speculatively, tipping her head. "I guess it could be hair if you weren't looking for it." The corners of her mouth pull down, though, and she places a hand on Chiaki's head, flattening them further. And she leans back in, lowering her voice in what probably seems uncharacteristic seriousness.

"They are looking, though." She looks at Chiaki from the corner of her eye, still pressing down the top of her hood. "Maybe you didn't hear, but Ring Master wants us to keep our heads down, you know? We're trying not to cause a bunch of trouble here...."

She's being nice as a favour, Chiaki, but don't blow her cover.

Or yours.

"I did..." She looks around uneasily, with what little movement she has while Mari's pressing down on her head.

"Hold on." It's a virtual world, right? So she should be able to ... shift things around a little bit. She closes her eyes and concentrates, trying to imagine her ears retreating into her skull.

The problem is that while Mari's pressing down on them, they're a little hard not to think about as huge and furry. So nothing's happening all that fast.

Uh?

Well, okay....

Mari waits for a few moments, her hand still on top of Chiaki's head. She straightens up a little, at least--but after maybe a solid minute of curious impatience, she breaks the silence.

"....what am I holding on for?"

She finally stops concentrating and looks up at the taller girl.

"Nothing's happening..." She'd thought her ears would, like. Change or something.

"I can go back to the White Room, I guess."

"... mmmm. It's gonna be reeeeeally weird if you get up and leave, then come back looking slightly different." Mari ponders this for a moment, still leaning on Chiaki's head.

Well. There is one way to get around it. She was gonna save it for when she needed to lose a tail, but...

"So I'm coming too!"

"... Okay."

She stands up with Mari, smiling at the taller girl. "Are you gonna change, too?"

What is Tanyuu doing?

A whole lot of nothing, it seems like. Her curiosity was what tugged her into exploring the 'digital world' or whatever this place is, though the Ringmaster's explanation to the workers as to the goings-on behind the scenes make her a little nervous. Part of her wishes she had a way to help those trapped under the machines's yoke, but realistically Tanyuu knows she would be more of a detriment than a help.

So instead, she's taking advantage of the opportunity to experience something she would never have been able to otherwise: walking like a goddamn normal human being. Or at least, attempting to do so--she's gotten more used to the naga tail than she would normally admit, and even with a cane to help keep her balance it's surprisingly difficult. She has to keep remembering to bend her right leg, and she made a poor choice in shoe selection. Ballet flats might look decent, but they are not good for walking in for long periods of time.

After a few hours of browsing the stores in the mall, Tanyuu decides she's more than due for a break to rest. She sighs and settles down on a bench, not realizing that Mari is sitting not ten feet away from her. "Ah...I wonder if there's a point to buying anything while I'm here."

"Well, the money isn't real anyway, so you might as well, right?" Mari replies, sliding into the chair next to her with an impish smile. She rests one elbow on the table, her chin in one totally normal human hand.

Don't feel too bad for not picking her out of the crowd, Tanyuu. She's not trying to look special--in fact, that's exactly what she's trying to avoid. But also... well, honestly, Mari might not have recognised Tanyuu if she hadn't been here back when Tanyuu first arrived.

And had, you know, legs.

Leg?

Whatever.

Hey, how's that walking thing going for you, anyway?

Tanyuu startles a little and looks over at Mari sharply, and it take a few seconds before she recognizes the girl. Once she does she relaxes considerably, marveling a little at how very different Mari is without dozens of eyes or a face extended into that strange snout of hers.

Really, she's kind of adorable, in that 'clearly a mischievous brat' way.

"That's true, I suppose. Though that then begs the question what I should buy in the first place."

"Whatever you want!" Mari leans back in her seat, making a briefly 'pensive' face at the ceiling; a face that doesn't last at all. "It's pretty much all fair game--oh! Oh oh oh!" She sits back up sharply and leans forward, turning to look the 'older' woman in the eyes.

"What about shoes?"

Edited 2016-12-02 02:56 (UTC)

Tanyuu leans back by a fraction when Mari rocks forward into her bubble, her features wiped blank for a moment by sheer befuddlement.

After a beat, she can't help but laugh.

"Not a bad idea, but I can't help but feel like you're making fun of me with that!" The naga, going shoe shopping of all things!

Mari grins.

"We'll stay away from snakeskin!"

The suggestion was sincere. It's temporary, but for now, Tanyuu has legs, and feet to put shoes on. And since nothing from the Matrix is 'real,' Tanyuu won't be burdened with a dozen pairs of useless shoes once they get back to the Carnival and she's back to her sad, legless existence.

So why not?

Edited 2016-12-02 03:20 (UTC)

Tanyuu actually snorts, covering her mouth with both hands in a helpless attempt to stifle her laughter, and nods after she calms herself a bit.

"It would be a funny bit of irony at least! But--ha ha!--probably tasteless."

Taking in a deep breath, Tanyuu pushes herself back up to her feet and takes up her cane, hoping she doesn't look as wobbly as she feels.

"Shall we go, then?"

The Psionic is mostly up to no good. He is definitely trying to draw attention to himself. He walks through the mall sporting a pair of flowered shades and has a metal spray paint can sticking out of one pocket. His jacket is predictably black and yellow with the &Psi symbol attached boldly to the front. Nothing to out of the ordinary, but nothing inconspicuous either.

Still, the strangest thing about the Psionic by far is how strange he doesn't look. His skin isn't grey and his teeth aren't fangs. There's no set of horns growing out of his head and no antennae either. He looks perfectly human, which is to say that to him he looks completely foreign. He didn't mind terribly, to be fair. In fact, in some ways it was fun to "dress up" for the day. Still, he can't help the feeling of confusion he gets whenever he catches a glimpse of skin and see's a shade he's entirely unfamiliar with. It was strange, and it had him just the smallest bit on edge.

Of course when he see's Mari he recognizes her despite the changes, but does she recognize him? He doesn't even consider the possibility that she won't, pulling a chair out to sit with her in the food court.

"Sore for your eye's sight?"

GET IT? It's a play on 'sight for sore eyes.' God, he's clever.

You know, Mari's done a pretty good job of figuring out who's who in the Matrix. It helps that most people aren't getting too far off their original appearance--and that she's been around long enough to have gotten a glimpse of their "original" look.

But how the hell is she supposed to recognise the literal alien when he doesn't look anything like an alien?

Thankfully, there's always his awful taste in jokes.

"Aaaaaggghhh," she groans loudly, throwing herself back exaggeratedly in her chair. But it's not without humour. She's got one of those big soft pretzels and a pop--she hasn't actually had a real pop in years, though, so she's finding it a little difficult to drink.

"Don't remind me. Four eyes isn't enough any more!"

He laughs, and reaches forward with his hand to try and steal her drink.

"You don't even have four eyes." Here or at the carnival. At the carnival she had way more than four. He looks at her over the shades and she can see the red and blue he hasn't bothered to hide underneath.

"Do you even need those glasses to see? Or is it just a trick?"

Maybe he could steal some of her pretzel too.

"...." Mari almost doesn't even stop him from stealing her drink because he's just pointed out something really, really obvious. She catches on at the very last second, though, and--

Actually, no, you know what, he can have it.

This pretzel is hers, though. She will throw down. Don't test her.

"I could have given myself perfect vision, but where's the fun in that?" She jams the pretzel in her mouth and chews pensively for a half second. Then she speaks--with her mouth full, because Mari Makinami may or may not be Illustrious but no one claimed she was going to be classy while she was doing it.

"No bhug mh' eyes 'r gohgaj."

He pulls the soda towards himself with a grin, eagerly taking a sip as Mari jams the rest of her pretzel into her mouth.

"What was that?" Psi asks absentmindedly as he starts looking around. What was Mari doing here anyway? He knows she won't tell him so he looks around trying to see if he can find anything suspicious.

Puzzling over Starbucks coffee menus, actually.

Mari isn't the only one who's gone back to her roots. Joker has been relatively "lucky" as far as changes go while being in the carnival, partially because he's been fairly sensible and not toyed around with fae magic. So it's a bit easier to recognize him without wings or antlers...

...Although the addition of a new arm is new.

It's clear he doesn't really know what to do with it, tucking it away in the pocket of his (actually quite subdued) brown coat instead of tapping it along his leg like his other hand is. He's squinting up at the menu with what seem like pale purple eyes, mouth screwed up.

"...I still don't understand all these kinda words. Bloody hell."

Hey, hey. 'Not toying around with fae magic' and 'sensible' aren't always mutually exclusive.

Not that anyone would actually defend Mari as any kind of sensible, mind.

Having recognised Joker from her seat by the window, she catches up to him just in time to hear him complain about the menu.

"Omg, is this your first time? Wait here--I gotcha!"

And without waiting for him to... oh, say no or something, she shoves her (mostly empty) venti caramel latte into his hands so she's free to move as she trots confidently up to the register.

Mari is absolutely not any kind of sensible, but Joker is also not in any position to say anything against this, on account of being himself. Instead, he just makes a noise of surprise as she appears as if out of nowhere, unable to stop her from shoving her drink in his hand.

“Whoa, hey there-” Well, she can’t just say that and then leave him in the dust, can she? But Joker isn’t going to stop her as he trots into place behind Mari, instead more curious than anything.

The newest member of the Nightrunners didn't really get the memo of "be inconspicuous:" Jonathan Strange is living up to his name and still wearing his 1800s attire (long black slightly frayed coat) and his hair's all over the place. But in Strange's defense, he signed on one day, was thrown into the Carnival the next day, and tossed into the Matrix soon afterwards. Add in the fact that he's already not doing too hot on the sanity scale and a small little trip on the struggle bus seems a bit inevitable.

The fact that he's sitting at the table next to Mari, idly sipping on some sort of chocolate coffee concoction that's more whipped cream than coffee, and reading A Children's Guide To Magic (purchased from the not-yet-out-of-business Borders omnipresent in malls everywhere) isn't helping that image at all.

"This makes no sense," he can't help but grumble as he looks over to Mari, pulling her into this conversation whether she wants to or not. "What sort of book of magic doesn't even mention the Raven King?"

.... omg.

No way.

Mari is not seeing this shit.

Except obviously she is. And so can everyone else in the near area.

Johnathan doesn't get more than a sentence out of his mouth before one hand (teal-painted nails and all) shoots out to seize him by the nose and shake him a little.

"Tssssst!" she hisses--but not too loudly.

"Are we hosting a costume party? What the hell are you doing?!"

He has no idea what's going on. This is not helping matters.

Strange can't really do anything as Mari grabs his nose. Likewise, he just looks kind of confused as she shakes him a bit. His mental state right now is just a series of question marks as he has no idea what she's doing and then asks him, what's in his mind, a really stupid question.

"I'm reading a book," said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Of course, his voice comes out a little bit weird because again, she's got a pretty good grip on his nose and Strange is just too confused by the situation to attempt to move. Still, he's at least matching her loudness as he speaks.

What a stupid question. Of course he's reading, what else would it be? The fact that he hasn't even tried to blend in is just going straight over his head.

Mari stares at him for an entire second. Then she pulls him toward her, yanking him by the nose closer to her face. Then she thinks better of it and lets him go, but mostly because she can't drag him by the nose all the way to the nearest phone.

Okay, she probably could. She definitely wants to. But that's.... well, not a good leader thing to do. Time to stop being a friend. Time to be the Boss.

"I hope you know what a phone is, because you're going to the nearest one and meeting me back at the carnival pronto."

It's amazing just how little Strange is protesting getting yanked by the nose. He's just regarding the whole situation with a mix of confusion and curiosity. This is happening, right? He's used to thinking things are happening but in reality they're not happening (like pineapples. Don't get him started on the damn pineapples.) It's only when Mari slips into business mode that it seems to dawn on Strange that ah yes, this is definitely happening and he's totally getting his nose yanked by this young woman and the indignant expression finally settles on his face.

...only to swap right back to confusion for a second because phone? Thankfully, meeting her back at the carnival is enough of a context clue that Strange is able to piece together what exactly a phone is.

"So that's what those things are called," Strange mutters in a tone of pure 'oh hey, who'd have thought it.' Someone definitely gave him an explanation of how to exit and enter the carnival, he got that much down pat. But...when you've got an attention span prone to distraction, you miss a couple of things, like 'terms' and 'the instructions to blend in.'

"Very well then," said with as much dignity as one can muster after having had their nose grabbed. "I shall meet you back at the carnival in a moment's notice." There's a pause, as he straightens up, puts the children's book under his arm, and...pauses for a moment. "You wouldn't happen to know where the nearest phone is to begin with, would you?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Non Nightrunners Need Not Apply [OPEN]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject