(open) what we studied was inner life.

[wordcarvings]

WHO: Koutarou & You
WHERE: Anywhere (choose your own location style)
WHEN: 6/1
WHAT: Drawing in various locations. Possibly where he’s in the way.
WARNINGS: The thing he’s drawing today might look a little creepy.

[ It’s not that often that he “remembers” things while he’s sleeping. The memories comes to him during the day, just after it’s been triggered. This time though, he was awoken by it. At first he thought it was just a nightmare, but then the floating letters in the sky would not have been there, would they? And the beast.

While he has class at the university today, it’s another of those days that he can’t really focus. This time he’s constantly, wherever he goes he ends up leaning against a wall, usually sitting in a crouch or with legs crossed, but sometimes he stops in the middle of the sidewalk, a lane in a store or other, or elsewhere, without getting out of the way first. He stops to draw more sketches of... of whatever that was. He can’t really grasp it. What sort of monster is that and why was it in that other world? Because it has to be another world, or the sky wouldn’t look that way.

He'll have to change the bandage around his left hand on more than one point because he gets graphite on it, but the light burn he got half a month ago doesn't hurt any more these days, which is good.

Sorry if he ends up blocking the way or making you walk right into him. Or if he’s sitting in front of a door or just is acting like a weird person by only moving from one wall to the next. ]

Comments

[true_noir]

[She almost did walk right into him. Chloe was looking or a pleasant place to have lunch while she tried to ignore the drab, gray sky. But, as she came face to face with Koutarou, she decided the spot next to where he was sketching from was good enough. Settling down against the wall, she looked in the same direction, a bit of curiosity there.]

See something interesting?

[wordcarvings]

[ It takes a few moments for him to look up, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. While he draws, his reaction time gets a bit slow. ]

Oh. No? I’m not really getting anything from this world right now.

[ He’s starting to think that his alter-ego or whatever it might be going on with these memories are is an alien or from another world. ]

Hello, Chloe-san.

[true_noir]

The colors do make it a little bit difficult to find the inspiration that you might want. Perhaps you could try something where the colors wouldn't trouble you?

[She smiled and nodded to him.] Hello Koutarou. It's nice to see you're well at least.

[wordcarvings]

You as well, I hope you have been doing well despite everything that has been happening.

[ He sighs heavily. ]

But they do. To be honest it makes it a bit hard to look at. [ He loves colors, so it’s a terrible insult to nature and the colors themselves that some of the colors have been drained. He really hopes that this isn’t lasting. It’s even worse than the previous things that have lasted. ] I don’t know what I could do to stop them from troubling me.

[true_noir]

I've been... a bit of a wreck lately, but I am feeling better. [She reached her hand up to brush through her hair.] I suppose maybe Simone was right. The more I think about it, the more we really were growing apart.

Hmmm, do you like to paint sunny things? we could always take you somewhere that reds and oranges predominate, and where there's nothing blue or green. It would be forcing it and cheating a little... but it is an option.

[wordcarvings]

[ He frowns a little, out of confusion. ] It sucks when you grow apart from someone you like, or get along with. I’m glad you’re feeling better though.

[ He doesn’t know what’s going on but he sympathizes. Things have been weird between him and his girlfriend lately, and it might be because of the memories that has been appearing in his mind. ]

I do. What kind of places are you thinking of? Deserts, sunsets or sunrises?

[true_noir]

I... wouldn't say I'm feeling a lot better yet, but it's a dull ache, not a burning spear through my chest. When I'm feeling better and not confused, maybe it will be time to move on.

Hmmm, I was thinking perhaps of something with a bit of a desert theme, but I am not sure what we have that is good for this. What about the zoo? I am sure that there must be exhibits with animals that are not affected.

[wordcarvings]

Confusion is something that can last a while, I’m afraid. [ And it doesn’t help when memories appear to fortify that confusion. ]

Are you thinking of a miniature desert at the zoo? If they have any of those. It’s been a long time since I was there.

[ Last time was three years ago, when he went on a date with his girlfriend there. ]

[true_noir]

[She sighed.] In the end, this time it probably won't last. The pain might, but not confusion. She changed her number and did not give the new one to my mother, and now lives in Paris. It's done, and I can't fix this. And I won't allow myself to fall in love with a girl that does not exist, so ... I'm not going to let myself be confused much longer. I just need to get past the pain, to be 'me' again.

It's been a while, but even if they don't, they will have something.

[wordcarvings]

Well...If you do decide you want to contact her, maybe a private investigator could find her contacts for you? Those do exist for real, right? But you’re the only one who can make that decision. The pain might pass at some point.

Do you think so? I will take the suggestion into consideration.

[okitactless]

[It's only sharp reflexes that keep Yamato from tripping over Koutarou as he rounds a corner, stuffing a textbook back into his bag. He's always considered himself to be a fairly good student, but school is seeming less and less important these days, and his own focus is elsewhere too.

Thankfully, he manages to stop himself just in time--but it's not often you see people curled up out of the way like this, and with Koutarou's back to him, his first assumption is unpleasant.]

Woah-- hey, are you okay? [DON'T PASS OUT ON THE SIDEWALK, KOUTAROU]

[wordcarvings]

[ It might seem even more as if he has passed out at first. After all, he doesn’t react to the voice addressing him. But he’s definitely not passed out, and he eventually realizes that someone spoke to him. Once he does, he looks up, blinking a few times. ]

Hm? Ah. Yes, I’m okay…?

[ He’s confused because why would he not be okay? ]

[okitactless]

[The lack of reaction is definitely a little worrisome, but just as he circles around to take a look at Koutarou's face, the sketchbook and that reaction clear things up. ...Well, sort of. He still looks a little concerned...]

That's good. With you down here like this, I thought you might've felt sick or something. [But no, just art, it seems! And since Yamato is shameless, he leans forward, peering curiously at the sketchbook.] This probably isn't the best place for that, though.

[wordcarvings]

[ The slow reaction is actually normal, it tends to be that way when he is sucked into his art. ]

Oh? Oh... [ That clears up the confusion. He smiles at him. ] I’m not, but thank you for the concern. [ He wasn’t really hiding what he was sketching in the first place. ] It’s not?

[okitactless]

[Koutarou is so patient, dealing with his nosy ass...]

Wouldn't it be easier to find a table or something? It can't be comfortable crouching down for so long. [Assuming he's the same as the other creative people Yamato knows, the type to focus so intently that oops, three hours have gone by, how did that happen?] What is that, anyway?

[wordcarvings]

Perhaps, but I can’t always find one the moment I feel the need to pick up a pen. And it’s not that bad. [ And that is exactly the type of person that he is, though some times a whole day or more has passed before he realize it. ] I don’t really know, it’s...something that I saw in a dream. [ Are you part of the Retrospec phenomenon? He doesn’t know yet. ]

[surprising]

[ the first thing that rindou notices is not the fact that someone is dozing out here on the sidewalk, but the sketchbook on that person's lap. of course, as a fellow artist, he has to sate his curiosity; so he eagerly crouches down next to him, giving his shoulder a gentle nudge. ]

You're alive, right? What are you drawing?

[wordcarvings]

[ Koutarou is a little startled by the sudden nudge, but only for a few moments. Then He nods, as the words register. ]

Yeah, I’m alive. And I don’t really know, it’s… something.

[ It’s not like he’s hiding what he’s sketching, it’s easy to get a look. ]

[surprising]

[ now that he's made sure that koutarou is — in fact — alive, he'll lean closer to get a better look at the contents of the sketchbook. it goes without saying that the sketch was done by a skilled hand, but the design itself reminds him of a boss that he might fight in one of his video games... ]

That's... something, alright. You're not a character designer for a video game series, are you?

[wordcarvings]

[ While he was seeing the vision, the creature had seemed a bit terrifying, with the way it moved and sounded and the sense of wrong it gave off, among other things. ]

No? I’m just a normal painter who don’t know anything about video games at all.

[ And he puts in some time as a teacher but that’s part-time, while the art is full-time. He still doesn’t know a thing about video games though. ]

[surprising]

[ that does surprise him, a little bit; an unsettling, eerie creature isn't what he imagines that a painter would sketch in their spare time. ]

That's pretty cool, actually — I'm just an art student, myself. Last year of university, and all of that!

[ in hindsight, koutarou is probably his post-university career goals, minus the teaching portion that he doesn't know about. but if he's not character designing, then it had to have come from somewhere... ]

But if not video games, then it looks like it came out of a horror movie... or something. I mean, you've probably seen it before, right?

[wordcarvings]

[ It’s not what he would sketch normally. It’s what he can’t stop sketching right now, though. He has several pages of this thing by now. ]

You are? I hope you enjoy it, the university here is very nice to study art at.

[ He studied there himself, after all. It was one of his old teachers who got him his part-time job there, and who recommended him to teach once in a while at the elementary school. It had been some years since he graduated, but he had enjoyed the time as a student and has many fond memories. ]

I saw it in a ... dream, I suppose?

[ It’s true, but the clarity and the feeling of it was the same as that very first one that he had, the one where he went on a walk along the crater of Vesuvius with the person who apparently was supposed to be his wife. It was similar to the much more recent dream of Tsushima-kun and the other Chuuya. So it had to be a hallucinomemory appearing in dream form.

But he doesn’t know if he can tell this man that, as he doesn’t know if he’s one of the Retrospec users. ]

[surprising]

Mhm! I like it a lot.

[ his years at the university so far have been nothing but enjoyable, of course!! however, it's the bit about dreaming that catches his attention; it's been no secret that people have been experiencing dreams and/or hallucinations containing odd memories, himself included. so he pauses for a moment, his expression growing serious. ]

I haven't had dreams, exactly, but I've remembered strange things out of nowhere, if that helps.

[ he doesn't know if the other man is a retrospec user either, but heck, he's going to go out on a limb and risk looking crazy, it's fine ]

Like... I apparently knew someone who had a pet fox that liked to sneak into my room — but if you ask me that now, I don't know anyone who fits that description.

[wordcarvings]

I did too, back when I was a student.

[ At least it seems he may be involved with Retrospec just as Koutarou is. How long? How many things has he remembered? How strange? ]

That would be the sort of dream that I’m talking about.

[ Some of Koutarou’s relationships have become pretty weird thanks to him not being careful about who he talked to, so he wants to be at least a little cautious. ]

That’s a pretty peculiar thing to remember, and pretty specific, too. It’s not every day somebody with a pet fox shows up. Though, there was a boy who was sent a tiger cub a while back.

[surprising]

It looks like only people with the app have those weird dreams and flashbacks. At least, that's what one of my friends told me.

[ honestly, he'd believe any funky phenomenon he hears at this point; with people's eye/hair colors changing, along with strange flashbacks, he'd be foolish not to. just the other day, someone told him over the network that they were immortal, and he didn't question it at all... he's Nonjudgmental™ when it comes to those things. ]

Personally, I haven't been sent anything yet, but a tiger cub? Isn't that kind of dangerous to send to someone, though?

[ tigers are nice and all, but what if it grows up and gets loose one day... ]