recolle | (Open) Spoopy Month

(Open) Spoopy Month

WHO: Iwai and OPEN
WHERE: Various locations
WHEN: Throughout the month
WHAT: Between nightmare scenarios and a ton of roses, Iwai has a full month.
WARNINGS: Some violence, some suggested Persona 5 spoilers (you will be safe if you want to tag though so just let me know if you'd like me to be extra careful for your tags!). Will be updated as necessary but some necessary content warnings will be at the top of scenarios.

10/3-10/5 - Out with the Roses

That damn Baren. Iwai frowned at all the roses off to one side of his shop as he chewed on the stick of his lollipop. He'd told those working for him that it was up to them to figure out how they were going to get rid of the things. An entire truckload of damn roses. And with the fog and the nightmares going on these were just extra irritating.

(And no way was he ever thanking the guy for at least making it so he could do a nice gesture with three of them. Nope. No way, no how.)

Which meant that for a few days his employees and customers were very likely to see a giant pile of roses in the corner until he could get them cleared out. That should be fun, right?

Nightmare A - Neglect (CW: Child neglect, drug and sex talk within)

The vision was that of a small boy sitting on his futon with what looked like a small sandwich. A sandwich of bread. All around him was trash and there's even unfortunate things like condoms just scattered about. The boy continued to eat as he watched the door earnestly. It looked like there was nothing in the outside world beyond the windows.

That door opened and a woman came stumbling inside with a cocky looking man behind her. The boy stood up and the woman frowned at him. "Oh. I forgot I had you here."

She looked back at the man and pressed her chest to him. "Don't worry. He won't bother us. My room is this way."

And then they went down the hall leaving the boy alone before the vision repeated itself.

Leaning against a wall nearby was Iwai watching the whole thing, glaring at it and looking so tense. He'd tried to get out of here but it was like he was doomed to just watch this over. And over. And over. And over...

Nightmare B - Danger (CW: Violence)

This vision began with some rough looking Japanese men in suits holding out guns. Iwai was there too but he quickly ducked behind a box as the shots started to ring out. "Shit..."

Patting his clothes on instinct, he found that he was unarmed. Those bastards were going to kill him. "Shit, shit..."

The footsteps were getting closer now as the shots stopped. Here in this shipyard they were going to kill him. They'd actually tracked him down before he could leave Japan. That was what it was, wasn't it. It had to be.

The steps were closer...

He was going to die here...

Fog - Vanishing (Here be the vague spoilers. This will be rather vague here so if you would like it kept that way please let me know in the subject!)

Iwai wasn't sure what was going on. He'd been on his way back to his place when all these people around him had appeared. They were coming towards him with terror in their eyes and arms out stretched. It was like some kind of damn zombie movie if it were a film about scared crowds instead. And why they were all looking to him was beyond him but he knew better than to stay in their way. Survival was important here.

So he ducked into what had to be the park and got behind a tree, poking his head out now and then. Just in time to watch some of them scream as they started to just...ripple out of existence.

"Damn it..." What the hell was this? He didn't have anything to deal with things like this! Biting the stick in his mouth, he froze when he heard what some of the screams actually were.

"Save us!"

"Save us, Iwaaaaaaaaaaai!"

What? Why him?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Iwai stared at Fai like he might be insane when he had them stop but immediately went to body block any of those people from getting to him. What he witnessed though had his eyes wide as he looked around them when the barrier was done. People beating on it but melting away. It was...weird that it was beautiful and terrifying at once.

"Damn."

He was really impressed to say the least. "You sure did say you could do magic that one time. You weren't kidding."

Fai remained tense next to Iwai until the first of the fog people closed in to beat on the shield and the magic held up. He couldn't feel the magic tearing or stressing, not like when the hellbeast back in August had been able to rip through his shields with hardly any effort at all.

He turned to Iwai, and when the other man didn't seem afraid or completely creeped out a smile spread across Fai's face. He took the opportunity to curl up against Iwai again, tucking himself against his side and laying his head on the other's shoulder.

"Nope, I wasn't kidding. I still can't do much with it yet, but I can make shields pretty well."

"But... now what?"

Iwai lifted a hand up to feel the back of his neck and brought his fingers around. A little blood but he'd had worse in the past. He definitely had the scars to show for it too. He could live with this.

"Still trying to figure that out. Guess we've got some time though if you can hold this thing for a bit."

Wrapping arm around Fai, he held him close to him. Protectively. Sure Fai had made sure they were safe but his instincts were strong. If nothing else he knew he could offer protection in the form of comfort at the very least. A steadiness to help the guy know that they were going to be okay.

Because he cared about Fai too much to let anything happen to him.

"I still don't know why they want me to help. Not like I have any powers. Far as I know I've just always had a rough past."

It would have been hard to miss the blood on Iwai's fingers; Fai frowned and shifted against Iwai's side to try to get a better look at the scratch on the man's neck. They'd have to take care of that as soon as they could get away from... whatever this was. Fai was hopeful they'd be able to get out of this with nothing more than that scratch, although that optimism had more to do with the arm around him and the solid, reassuring presence against him than his own magic.

As far as he knew? "You think this might be a hallucino-memory?" Fai wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of that sooner, except that every hallucino-memory he'd ever had or heard about had been the 'suddenly remembering' kind, not the 'night of the living dead' kind.

"It seems like everything in this place seems to revolve around those somehow." He sighed. "My memories just tell me that I used to be yakuza but I got out of that life. Being yakuza doesn't mean I've got impressive abilities like your magic though. I'm just a guy."

Not that he wanted magic or powers or anything. He really didn't mind being a normal person. Just your average human being with a shitty past. It was okay with him if others had more power to do things than him because he had other ways he could help out with things. Not everything had to be flashy.

Guess it was a good thing Fai didn't mind that he might not ever be someone with super powers or whatever.

"But it doesn't explain them wanting me to help given what I remember so far about my past in that other life."

Yakuza. Just like Kiryu. How many other friends of Fai's would end up being former yakuza too?

Not that he minded. The organization didn't mean much to Fai, not being Japanese and having never dealt with it, and he would never hold something done in a previous life (or an alternate reality, or whatever the memories were) against someone. Especially someone he cared about, like Kiryu or Iwai.

"I told you, you don't need magic," Fai said softly, just enough to be heard above the noise of the fog people surrounding them outside the shield. He snuggled closer to Iwai. "I like you just the way you are."

He cringed as one of the fog people struck the shield just behind him. "I wish we knew what to do to help them. Maybe if we could do something for them, they'd stop panicking like this?"

There wasn't anything they could do. Fai was pretty good with some of what he could do with magic but he wasn't an expert or anything. He knew he was still learning this stuff because he'd just gotten some of this stuff not that long ago. It made this shield good but it wasn't really a way for them to handle this or whatever.

Iwai took off his coat and put it around Fai then tucked him behind his back as he moved to the edge of the barrier.

"Look. I can't help ya. I can't. There's someone else out there who can help you and it ain't me. They're the ones you need and they'll find a way to get you back somehow. They've got powers I don't have." He didn't know if that was true but he had to believe it. "They'll save you."

Fai hugged the coat tight around himself, although at the same time his eyes went wide as he tried to figure out what Iwai was up to. He wasn't going to try to leave the shield, was he...?

But this was Iwai's nightmare or... whatever it was. Even if Fai were better at magic, if he'd practiced more and knew more spells, he didn't know how he was supposed to fight this. Maybe it was just something Iwai had to face.

Fai held his breath as Iwai approached the edge of the shield and started talking to the people in the fog, watching to see what would happen and bracing to adjust the shield around him if necessary.

They faded. Outside the streets looked like hell on earth in Tokyo. Blood seemed to rain from the sky. There were people scared and then there were people...cheering. For someone. It was hard for him to tell who they were cheering for.

Then he remembered some words.

"It may not look like it, but I've got high hopes for you guys. You better win this!"

And then...everything was gone. They were alone in the fog. Iwai brought a hand to his head. That memory. That other part. He knew that one had been real somehow. The part where they weren't calling to him but rather terrified and cheering? When he was offering them support even as he supported...whoever those other people had been?

That memory was even more confusing than anything else he'd ever experienced before. Because that had been...supernatural.

By this point Fai felt like an intruder in Iwai's memories. He wasn't supposed to be here, wasn't supposed to be part of this. Didn't have any idea what was going on--although judging by Iwai's posture and the hand that went up to his head, Fai guessed that the other man didn't have much of an idea either.

(The blood rain was... a nice touch. In a kind of terrifying way.)

As soon as everything faded, Fai took a step forward and slowly reached for Iwai's shoulder, careful not to move too fast lest he startle him.

"Mune-chan? Are you... okay...?"

Iwai turned slowly and then cupped Fai's face. He was looking him over carefully, clearly seeing if he was hurt or not. As soon as he saw that the man hadn't been harmed, he pulled him close to hold him for a second. Fai was real. Fai wasn't confusing. It was grounding to have him there when he was trying to figure out what that memory even meant.

"Let's get you home. I'm fine."

Or would be anyway. Right now he just wanted to get Fai somewhere safe more than anything else. That was what was important to him.

For once Fai even forgot to blush, with his face cupped and Iwai's eyes on him like that. This situation had been altogether too weird and stressful for Iwai to worry about blushing like a schoolgirl. Although far be it from him to pass up an opportunity to have Iwai hug him close again, ahem.

"Mm, okay. But you're coming with me. We need to get that scratch cleaned up." And possibly get some food into Iwai and settle him down on the couch with the kitties. Any kind of comfort like that should take some of the stress away.

Fai shifted himself carefully to Iwai's side to tuck himself under one arm, so he could wrap his own arm around Iwai's waist. This way he could stay close and be supportive... and maybe lead the other man along if necessary, if it came to that. "You drove, right? Do you mind if I drive your car?"

"Yeah. Here's the keys." He knew better than to drive right now. So if Fai wanted to drive then he was all for that. Handing the keys over, he kept his arm around the guy. He was a little shaken up but he knew he was okay at least. And it helped that Fai kept tucking himself close like that actually. He'd never realized that would help but there they were.

"It's probably not that bad." The scratches he meant. Still, getting them cleaned up would be good.

Sinking into the passenger side of the car when they got there, he reclined the seat and put his hat on his face for a moment. Just enough to give him a second to breathe. It helped a lot actually. Even if tilting his head back made the stupid scratches sting annoyingly.

"You were great out there," he said from under the hat when he heard Fai was in the car.

Hey, if Iwai needed a bit to just lay there with his face hidden, that was okay with Fai. God only knew Fai had had more of those moments himself over the years than he'd care to admit. He buckled himself into the driver's seat and started the car, nudging the dial toward heat given the chill in the air.

"Aw, thanks! But I think I probably would have panicked if you hadn't been there." Which was absolutely true. Fai knew how to react in a fight now, thanks partially to some of the things he'd remembered and partially to the experience of fighting so much in August, but by himself.... Well, it had only been when he'd seen Iwai hurt that he'd reacted without hesitation.

He pulled the car out onto the main street that would lead them back to his apartment complex and reached for the radio dial. "So what do you listen to? I'm not going to hear Britney Spears when I turn up the volume, am I~?"

"Pretty sure you'll hear some news station because I was keeping track of weather reports."

Not that it helped. The people here figured the fog was perfectly normal. Just like every other mass weird thing that happened around here from the looks of things. Putting his hat back on his head instead of on his face, he glanced at the radio.

"You can put on whatever you want though. I don't know a lot about American music anyway."

Sure he'd been here twenty years but that didn't mean he was an expert on American pop culture.

"Whaaaat--?! Unacceptable!" Fai's indignation was largely put-on, but the grin a moment later clearly cemented that he was just being playful.

Well. Maybe a little indignant. (Music had always been his passion, after all.) But mostly playful.

"That just means I'll have to teach you! I have a lot of great music back at my place, but I'm sure I can find something--" He fiddled with the dial for a moment until landing on a classic rock station.

"Perfect! Lesson number one: Kansas." They didn't have much more of a drive before getting to Fai's apartment anyway, so Carry on Wayward Son ought to fill in that time nicely.

Iwai frowned. Not because of lessons or the music type or any of that though. "They're called Kansas?"

Song had a nice beat to it though. He'd give it that. Iwai scratched his chin then closed his eyes so he could listen to it. It wasn't often he was actually the passenger in a car. It was a nice change honestly. Meant he could relax for a moment.

"They're good even if their band name is just a state."

Fai shrugged good-naturedly. "Yep, Kansas! It was prog rock in the early seventies, what do you expect? One of the most influential prog rock bands of all time was named 'Yes.' Just that. 'Yes.' And then there was 'Boston,' 'The Alan Parsons Project'...."

Don't get him started on music, Iwai. Seriously.

But Carry On was a great song and Fai quieted back down to let Iwai listen to the rest of it. If he was going to get the guy interested in learning more about Western music, he couldn't have asked for a much better introduction. (Maybe Billy Joel.)

Just as the song was ending, Fai pulled Iwai's car into a spot near his own pink Prius in the parking lot outside the complex.

So. Americans had weird names for bands. Good to know. Iwai figured that at least this song was a good one which was a bonus.

Bringing his seat up, he got out of the car with a stretch and immediately looked around in the dim light for any signs of other things in the fog. When he didn't see anything, he went around to wrap his arm around Fai for when they went to walk in together. The guy was still wearing his coat so there was no way he could be cold but he still wanted to keep him warm anyway.

And wow did Fai's place look inviting when that door opened up.

(Yep, Fai could definitely get used to this thing with Iwai's arms around him, even though they'd only been out on a couple of dates by this point.)

He flicked the overhead light on as they walked in and both cats immediately stirred from their resting places on opposite ends of the sofa. Fai laughed and shrugged out of Iwai's coat, and stole a quick kiss on the other man's cheek as he passed it back to him. And then blushed fiercely (apparently it was time for that again) as he stepped toward the doorway leading to the kitchen.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'm going to start something to drink. Coffee or tea? Or hot chocolate?"

"Hot chocolate sounds good." Because Fai would never tease him for his sweet tooth.

Going to the couch, he sank down and smiled at the cats who clearly wanted his attention. "Hey guys. Good to see you too."

Carefully, he helped them make themselves at home all over his lap, stroking their soft coats and scratching their ears. Apparently they liked him. At least that was pretty safe to assume based on how they seemed to claim him every time he came over.

Relaxing now, he settled in for just enjoying the comfort of this place and a couple of soft cats making themselves at home on his lap. It was nice.

Nope, no teasing about liking sweets here. At least not until Iwai was feeling better. And even then it would be more like innuendo and less like true teasing anyway~

Fai padded into the kitchen and pulled a saucepan down to start milk boiling on the stove. He needed to get some food into Iwai too, or at least offer it, although they'd only ever eaten together the one time and he couldn't say for sure what the other man would care for. Plus it was getting late, so any kind of freshly cooked meal was going to take them well into night-time. So while the milk warmed, Fai hung the refrigerator door open and took stock of the leftovers he'd carefully saved over the last few days.

"The hot chocolate's in the works," he announced, reappearing from the kitchen a minute later. "Your choices for dinner are lasagna, homemade potato soup, or...." He moved to where he could get a better look at Iwai--and not for the first time ended up kind of trailing off with a silly grin as he realized his cats had claimed the older man.

"Feeding me too, huh?" Giving him hot chocolate, getting him food, letting him pet the cats while he relaxed. And he knew Fai wanted to take care of his neck too. Damn, he was just getting spoiled here. "Either of those things sound pretty good to me."

Warm and filling. That would be good right now.

Seeing one of the cats stretch, he chuckled a big and gave a chin scratch. "Yeah, yeah. I got you. I know that's the spot you like there."

Seriously, he had no problem chatting with the cats like they were people.

"You know what they say about the way to a man's heart~" came the playful, sing-song reply, as Fai took the opportunity to shed his own lighter jacket and shoes and tuck them by the front door where they belonged. Underneath he was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a button-down with a tie, since he'd been heading straight from work to class when class had suddenly been rescheduled. He hooked a finger in the loop of the tie and loosened it, although as he passed behind the sofa on the way back to the kitchen his hand moved to trail his fingers lightly along the top of the couch--and by extension, across Iwai's shoulders (careful to avoid the injured part of his neck). He leaned down as he moved past and said in a low, teasing voice, "Although from the look of it, the fastest way to your heart is to crawl into your lap~"

Neither Soel nor Larg acknowledged their master's apparent jealousy. Larg reached out to knead against the leg of Iwai's pants with dainty black paws.

"I'll take care of your neck right after the hot chocolate's done!" Fai called back from the kitchen. "I just don't want it to burn, and it'll keep you warm while I patch you up." Since both meal options he'd presented had seemed to be met favorably, he pulled out a second saucepan to heat up the soup.

He felt a shiver run through him at the feel of those fingers. Tilting his head back, ignoring the sting of his short hair hitting the scratch, he watched Fai go by. Such a tease. Kinda fun that he was though. Or maybe it had just been awhile so of course he was into it.

.......

No. He was just into it.

"Jealous?" What? He could tease too.

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