Week 2

[bathymetric]

Good morning, New Rapture. A new day is dawning.

It's now been a week since you were all captured. Perhaps you've already settled in. Perhaps you're already confident that you'll make it out of New Rapture alive. How serious about this could Mayor Fontaine possibly be, really?

While there still may not be much to do in your little hotel bubble, you've at least been granted a little more now - some kind of mysterious room and a sizeable library of all things. And in all the places you've looked so far, you've found valuable information, and even learned some of the story of New Rapture along the way.

Make sure to keep talking to the others! You want to keep those regain coins flowing, don't you?




SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to the second week of Unknown Seas Round 3! Please make sure to mark any investigation toplevels accordingly, and you can reach either Mayor Fontaine or Eleanor for conversations! ]

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[kninja]

[After his failed snooze gambit, a shower and change of clothes, and an actual nap in his room, Obi's been in and out of the meeting room. As much as he can't stand the inaction and futility, he can't bear to be away from his lady too long, either. At some point, he notices that she's given her fur-lined cloak to the girl who reminds him of a younger Kihal Toghrul, the sun-kissed girl who'd looked like she'd just come in from the rain.

Obi sits heavily next to Li'l Daka and keeps vigil with him in silence for some time, watching the people who were supposed to be waiting for them likewise offer each other comfort.

Eventually, Obi glances at him and asks:]

Hey, is your cat okay?

[withagun]

[ The others' hostages have been so kind to her. Hina's a girl who can take care of herself—that's the air she gives off, what he now knows she's constructed to give off. She's good at it. Or, maybe he's just naïve, not seeing what was in front of his face until it was too late.

It's both, probably.

The point is, despite the fact that he's sure she's insisted she doesn't need it, those older than her keep offering her what have to be words of comfort on top of physical reassurance. He can't read lips, but he watches. He knows what she looks like, when she's touched. He's spent so much of the summer watching her, after all.

Hodaka's lost in these thoughts when Obi speaks up. He's been lost in them, barely offering any sort of greeting. It means for a moment, he doesn't comprehend. Doesn't hear. ]

Huh? [ He pulls his eyes away from Hina. ] ...Rain?

[kninja]

[Obi's voice isn't as bouncy as usual, but he sounds, you know. Reasonable and present.]

Yeah. I noticed he wasn't with you, and it's been a while. Someone else looking after him?

[This is how it goes sometimes, he thinks. Sometimes, the only things that get through are competing interests. Other duties. How often have the prince's three aides used some variation on this technique to remind him he's human, with a responsibility to himself, to relationships besides that he has with the crown?

Zen has his friends. Hodaka has his cat. Right now, Obi has Hodaka.]

[withagun]

[ Hodaka can feel his mouth go dry. ]

...No. I...he was sleeping when we were...

[ When the announcement came, from that damn pleasant voice. ]

I was gonna go back and get him, but I...

[ Hina-san, Hina-san, Hina-san, like his pulse pounding in his ears. ]

[kninja]

[He offers Hodaka a slim shadow of a smile.]

I'm sure a scrapper like that's just fine, but he might be wondering if you're all right, Li'l Daka. Wanna go get him now?

[Obi bobs his head towards the glass.]

I can go with you or keep watch here. My Lady won't let anything happen to your girl in the meantime. [And, just in case it holds more weight, and with a trace of amusement, he adds:] Neither will Boss Man's wife, I'll bet. Now there's a spitfire.

[withagun]

[ The slightest trace of a smile curls onto Hodaka's lips, but only for a moment. ]

Yeah... Yeah, there are...good people in there. People who will take care of her. [ But...in this kind of environment? Hodaka repeats it, but he doesn't sound very confident. ] I...need to get him some food more than anything, but...

[ His gaze returns to her. Every moment he's not looking at her, he's afraid. He's terrified. She'll be gone, and not a soul will care. ]

[kninja]

...I won't take my eyes off her.

[It's a promise, if it frees Hodaka long enough to feed poor Rain.]

[withagun]

[ For a moment, it looks like Hodaka may say no. At least, he looks so unsure. So desperate to keep watching her. So desperate to—

He stands. And, gravely, he says: ] Okay. I'm counting on you.

[ And he takes off in a run, not willing to be absent from the meeting room for any bit longer than necessary. ]

[kninja]

[True to his word, Obi hasn't moved when Hodaka returns, sitting as still and intent as a cat at a window. His gaze remains on Hina, though of course, all the hostages are close enough together in that space that he can still see his redhead without turning.]

Welcome back. Everything good now, Li'l Daka?

[He doesn't look away even now.]

[withagun]

[ He returns with both cat and food—for cat. He didn't want to rush Rain, but he needed to eat. When he sets everything down, his little kitten goes to do just that, but not before brushing up against him. ]

Yeah... Sorry, Rain. I left you behind again.

[kninja]

[He finally sighs and leans back on his hands, though the relaxing of his posture doesn't quite translate into a lightening of the mood.]

"Again?"

[withagun]

[ Ah... He stiffens, but then loosens up, mostly in resignation. ]

I haven't...been the best owner, in the past. Rain... I don't know what was gonna happen to him, back home.

[kninja]

...It's tough, huh? When different responsibilities pull you every which way.

[He's not going to say it's okay to leave poor Rain alone or anything. But right now, sitting next to him, watching his charge through the glass... that's how he feels, at least.]

[withagun]

[ He blinks, almost in realization. ]

Is that what...he meant... [ It's soft, mumbled. Right now, though, his hand ghosts over Rain's head, gently. ]

[kninja]

Hm?

[Obi finally looks at him.]

Is what who what meant?

[withagun]

[ But Hodaka shakes his head quickly. ]

Mm, it's not... It doesn't matter. Just someone I knew.

[kninja]

[After regarding Hodaka quietly for a few beats, he returns his gaze to the window.]

...Well, I can't say if he and I mean the same thing without knowing more, but...

[His eyes cling to the lines of the redheaded woman the way his hands can't, on this side of the glass, tense with the need to pull her in and keep her safe.]

What I've learned in my work is that watching over something is a more complicated business than most. It's not something you can pull off in a single effort, and you're constantly juggling factors that change all the time: where you are, who's around, what your charge might need now or five minutes from now. Those things pile up on you. You're not gonna do a good job unless you stay aware of yourself.

[Obi lifts his hand to look down at his palm, then further down at Rain as he eats, and then finally back up to Hodaka.]

The most important thing... is to be where you're needed. 'Cause suddenly, you have a place you belong. Or something like that.

[withagun]

[ A place he belongs, huh? Hodaka's mouth feels dry. He had that. At least, he thought he did. Until everything...

He sits with his shoulders slumped. What does he have now? Even if all of this ends... What does he have? ]

I think...in a lot of ways...I'm still just a kid.

[ How weird for him to be admitting it. ]

Whatever happens...whatever changes... She's always gonna be...my priority. Is that okay?

[kninja]

[What a question. Is that okay? In one way, that's exactly how Obi now lives his life: guided by the single, simple duty of attending to Shirayuki. How that duty plays out in reality, though--how the very act of carrying it out saddles him with new concerns, secondary obligations, other people and things to care about--is anything but simple.

He tilts his head slightly to one side, gathering his thoughts.]

I don't think it's wrong to be clear about that. To know what's gonna be more important than everything else.

[A different man might give Hodaka a different answer, but whatever else Obi has been, he is a knight. In the singular dedication Hodaka's professing (or confessing), he recognizes a compelling purity of purpose, and it resonates.]

Still, other things will be important to you. That's just how life works. [He nods towards the woman he's been watching, who now sits with her knees pulled to her chest, worriedly chewing a thumbnail as she in turn watches her fellow prisoners.] Even if my only concern was My Lady's well-being, as time went on, I'd end up caring about what she cares about. Wanting to protect everything she wants to protect. And the truth is, I do care about other stuff on my own. Friends I make on the job. Kids working hard to be all grown-up.

[He gives Hodaka a little nudge at that. A little smile.]

Maybe the biggest difference between kids and adults is that adults have just had more time to collect things that matter to us. You know how we manage it?

[withagun]

[ That...does make sense. He started caring about the Sunshine Girl job because Hina cared about the Sunshine Girl job. It stopped being some way to make money, because he fell in love with her, and with how happy it made her...before they knew the truth.

Still, he doesn't like it. How overwhelmed he feels, and the little dig. He doesn't much react to the nudge, but he does glance at Obi. ]

...How?

[kninja]

By sharing the load. [A beat.] Eh, it sounds really obvious when I say it like that, but…

[Despite the circumstances, his expression softens.]

I never used to stay in one place long enough for anyone to care or rely on me. I thought that kind of thing would weigh me down. After meeting Master and My Lady, though, I’ve learned what it’s like to carry someone’s trust, and to know that they’ll have my back in return. That feeling… is lighter than anything. It makes even the most impossible wall in front of me look like a cinch to scale, ‘cause if I fall, someone’ll catch me and help me bounce back up.

[withagun]

[ It does seem almost obvious. Hodaka doesn't really react to it, though. ]

Someone...huh?

[ Staring ahead, at Hina. ]

...How...can you be so sure that someone'll come?

[kninja]

Hmmm…

[It’s a good question, actually, to anyone for whom trust isn’t a matter of course.]

Experience, I s’pose. I’ve been with them for a long time, now. It’s like… when you first pick up a hobby.

[He was definitely going to analogize it to learning a new weapon, but remembered in time that his experiences are not universal.]

At first you do it ‘cause it’s fun, even if you’re bad at it, right? But over time, it gets so you can do it in your sleep. It’s like that with them. The good feeling I got about them the first time we met is something way more solid and dependable now, after all the times we’ve helped one another. I don’t know how else to describe it.

[withagun]

[ He turns this over in his mind, lips pressed tightly together. ]

And you're sure they won't double-cross you?

[kninja]

Yes.

[That simply.]

Like I said, I’ve been with them a long time. I’ve made that judgment based what I’ve seen them do with my own eyes, for one another—and for me.