Teenagers Scare the Living Shit Out Of Me etc. etc.

[dyingtohealyou]

[Characters passing by the bulletin board may notice a new message tacked to it!]

Drinking party at the bar at 8pm. Under 21 only. Adults will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Fun and games included, party hats optional. Don’t be late!

[Sure enough, there’s a gathering of teens (and maybe some not-so-teens?) to be found in the bar! While the posting mentions this is a teen only event, adults are in fact allowed as long as they are cool. OOCLY please be aware there are going to be teens drinking alcohol and possibly smoking! Also additionally, please let the teens/players have fun; again, adults are allowed but only if they’re cool enough to play along without snitching them out!

All party game top levels are going to be made under Ahito’s account but please assume ICly that Akira instigated/explained them! Once the game toplevels are up you can also post your own toplevels to mingle freely if you like IDK IT’S A PARTY HAVE FUN]

Comments

[impacter]

Hello, Mika.

Truth.

[shortleash]

( .............................. )

Are any of the stories you told me about you?

[impacter]

[Ah, so he has thought about it.]

Yes.

[shortleash]

( Unfortunately................. But now he's thinking through them again. )

... Why do you always put so much distance between you and other people when you claim to like them?

( Solomon may or may not still obligated to answer this one by the truth enchantment, but there's always a chance Mika may recycle his question for a truth request, should Solomon ask for another, if he doesn't get some kind of answer now. Pros and cons. )

[impacter]

Ah, here I didn't think that was how this was played, Mika.

[But honesty charm is a go, so:]

Because I will always outlive them, I will always have a responsibility that cannot involve them, and I have grown very tired of loss.

[shortleash]

( damn, dude... that's sad actually

Anyway, he thinks he's nailed down a story from that, given Solomon hasn't told him that many, and, well, it does slot together. )

... You shouldn't smile when you say things like that.

[impacter]

Maybe not. But it makes it easier on my heart. I'm still human, after all.

[Which is why he keeps the smile on his face even though this is not an easy game to play.]

Truth or dare, Mika?

[shortleash]

( ...

Crosses arms. )

... Truth.

[impacter]

Do you believe it, when people say they care about you?

[shortleash]

( wowwwww

................. He digs his thumb nail into the hilt of his sword... )

........ I believe it. I don't trust it. ( A contradiction? Clearly not to Mika. Nevertheless: ) ... Someone who'd actually care about me is probably a good person. And good people are stubborn, even when it hurts them.

( They're so... so stupid, and so, so dear. )

But it's frustrating, because... I don't deserve it.

[impacter]

[Mm. Yeah, he isn't surprised.

He has some follow up questions. But he is going to give Mika a breather by playing by the rules.]

I'll choose truth again. [Do you see a trend here.]

[shortleash]

( ......

He has some much smaller questions, but he can't help but ask these broader ones first: )

... What are you actually after?

[impacter]

[That is so broad he can't even feel an answer come to him, so:]

In what sense?

[shortleash]

( He did mean it pretty broadly, so he seems a little annoyed it doesn't work. )

... While in this world.

( ................... )

And with Ginger.

( He's been working so hard to keep focused but that does slip in, alas. )

[impacter]

There are three things.

I will always side with humanity. I want their freedom to choose to remain intact. If I had to fight the entire mansion to ensure that, I would.

I want to find a solution to my apprentice's curse. I want to gain the attention of as many spirits as possible and beg them if I must.

And lastly... I want to go home. The longer I am here, the more I feel my connections vanishing.

...

[And as for Ginger?]

I don't know. I want a pact to satisfy my curiosity. But it won't happen. So I would rather just watch and try to observe, because he is something I spend far more time with than humans back home.

He's a comfortable presence, and that usually means I have to stay wary. I know he will not share my priorities. But I don't have reason to distrust him completely.

[shortleash]

( The former half of the answer is a mix of what he expected, and logical given what else he's learned - which is good. Mika doesn't like Solomon types because they can be difficult to predict and irrational (Ferid, his beloathed). But Solomon is not so extreme in this alignment, and as long as he can be partly predicted - not perfectly, given Mika's hardly a grandmaster - then that lowers his threat level.

Somewhat.

The rest, though: the opening does clearly get his hackles up, but he does not interrupt Solomon's continuing, which does him some good. Mika still doesn't like it, but he can hear him.

... )

... Do you see him as a demon? ( He's extrapolating. But. ) Don't. He's just Ginger. If you actually liked him, you'd get that.

... Truth.

[impacter]

I do. Just as much as I see him as all of his other parts. To ignore that part of him is to ignore something that he wants to improve, something that makes him unique.

[Mika honey you might wanna hold your tongue before you learn too much.

Anyway.]

Do you want to go home?

[shortleash]

It's not ignoring that part of him. Ginger already is more than the sum of his "parts." ( By seeing him as Ginger, you're accepting all of him! Obviously!!! ) Don't go telling him that that part of him is some kind of flaw.

( He doesn't care that Ginger thinks it's a flaw! Don't enable it!!!

He's a bit agitated right now, and the question only leaves him moreso. )

... I don't know. If I go back, I'm going to try to find a way to protect Yuu-chan as a demon, somehow. ( He knows his heart, he knows himself. ) And I should, because it's Yuu-chan, he's my family, and I need to make up to him every way I've failed him. But I—

( All that makes it out easy enough, even if it's a bit grim on his heart. But this... he struggles with. )

... I want to be with Ginger. I really... really want to. But I don't know how much he believes me.

( He feels guilty for remaining attached to Yuu, and guilty for wanting to stay with Ginger. So maybe it's all pointless, and maybe it doesn't matter either way what he does, because he's wrong no matter what and he's failing someone no matter what and both Ginger and Yuu deserve better. )

[impacter]

[He didn't tell Ginger anything of the sort. But he knows this isn't an argument he can have easily with Mika now that it's in his head.

So he exhales slowly, putting his cup aside.]

Trust in him, and talk to him. That is all you can do. Let him meet you in the middle with the rest.

Thank you for your questions. I will not be asking anything else from you.

[shortleash]

( Somehow, that last line... really annoys him. )

... Be good to him. He deserves it.

( He's going elsewhere!! )

[impacter]

So do you, Mika.

[Bye, kiddo.]

[shortleash]

( !!?!?!

Well, he's not taking back his exit now, so things to talk about later. (Or not,) )

[troublereduction]

[ Day's just listening on this, since he has context for some of Solomon's answers. It's kind of awful that he can relate to Solomon on some points, even as he inwardly grimaces at the idea of Solomon being willing to fight the entire manor if he felt he had to.

(He's squinting a little at the mention of a pact, because that just sounds like a terrible idea if you ask Day. But it's also a moot point, so he won't comment.) ]

[impacter]

[It's fine, dont perceive him.]

[foresightis2020]

[ The misfortune of an honesty charm, right...well, it isn't like any of these convos are a secret, either.

For better or worse. But, for certain reasons, parts of this inevitably do resonate within him too. Which, perhaps makes particular things a little ironic in a sense, doesn't it...

(And he hears whatever else Solomon has to say. On his further motivations as well.) ]