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[OPEN] WATCH THIS MADNESS
WHO: Baren & YOU!!
WHERE: by Recollé Woods, or somewhere in the city, wherever your chara is!!
WHEN: forward-dated to September 7th, and ensuing time periods after!
WHAT: a ) Baren becomes a literal walking dumpsterfire. that's the log. But also b ) Baren Kaiyou: Found Dead in Miami (jk) and c ) tanuki deliveries!
WARNINGS: fire trauma in prompt a. possible mentions of child neglect, alcoholism, and suicidal ideation but those can be avoided and will be marked in threads if/as they come up.
[ A : JUST LIKE FIRE, semi-closed to existing cr ]
What he'd received instead, what was bundled in his arms now as he makes his way out of the bright lights of the city, was a reminder of a past that he'd long since tried to hide. The cloth of the haori feels natural against his fingertips, it fit around his shoulders perfectly in the brief minute he'd allowed it on his person, and everything about it feels like fate. Certainty. Home.
He feels like he could retch.
It's on the outskirts of the forest that he parks his car and gets out, makes a haphazard fire pit, and throws the haori into the dirt along with pieces of brush and dried grass. It sits upon the mess, the kanji for 'Kumou' obvious and stinging Baren's eyes before he even finds his lighter. He scoffs. The words leave his mouth like every syllable is dripping with poison.]
Who's a Kumou anyway, huh?
[How could he face his mother and sister like that?
When he lifts his hand, flicks his lighter open and watches the flame dance in his fingertips, he feels the swirling pit of hesitation in his stomach. Something - his conscience? when had he last listened to that - warns him that this is a bad idea. Don't set this cloth aflame, because it meant something. In the end, he's meant to be a Kumou, no matter how far he runs or how hard he tries.
But those feelings aren't his.
He drops the lighter and watches the embers begin to burn.
ii ) For those who won't travel to the woods at night by themselves, they're in... luck?
Wherever they are, whether it's at home, they're on a walk, or otherwise, Tanuki will find them. If they've met Baren even once, he thinks that's good enough. He's still small, going up to their legs and grabbing on. The noises he makes are distressed, short, worried. His breaths come in quick puffs and he starts to wander off, looking back to make sure they follow.
A shake of his whole body, then his teeth nipping at their clothes or briefly at skin to grab their attention if they're still not.
Hey. Pay attention to him.
His family is in trouble.]
[ B : THE AFTERMATH, open ]
[As soon as September 8th, the magazines and tabloids cover the announcement in a series of headlines: Baren Kaiyou Ditches Modeling, Baren Kaiyou Says Bye-Bye, RIP Baren Kaiyou.....'s Career?!, and oh his favorite.
Baren Kaiyou - Leaves Modeling to Join Traveling Circus.
In all honesty, Baren Kaiyou is actually standing in front of the magazine stand, musing over it all. He wears dark sunglasses today instead of his eyepatch, his hair done in a bun instead of the classic ponytail with feathers and bells. The only extremely odd bit is that he seems to be wearing a long cardigan in the still warm early days of September, hands shoved in his pockets. Otherwise, he still looks every bit the ex-model that's featured on the covers.
He reads over them one more time.
Tilts his head, muses out loud:]
Well, who wouldn't leave modeling for a traveling circus? Better that than some shitty meme about being found dead in Miami....
[ C : THE BEST PROMPT, open ]
[Sorry, make way!
As you walk about your day, it looks like there's a furry tanuki friend crossing through the sidewalks, dodging this way and that between people's legs. In his mouth he carries a wrapped up box in a handkerchief. He's on a mission.
But he's still a tanuki.
Did he bump into you? Is he about to run into a busy street? Want to try picking him up?
Where's his owner anyway?
This version has considerably less trauma.]
WHERE: by Recollé Woods, or somewhere in the city, wherever your chara is!!
WHEN: forward-dated to September 7th, and ensuing time periods after!
WHAT: a ) Baren becomes a literal walking dumpsterfire. that's the log. But also b ) Baren Kaiyou: Found Dead in Miami (jk) and c ) tanuki deliveries!
WARNINGS: fire trauma in prompt a. possible mentions of child neglect, alcoholism, and suicidal ideation but those can be avoided and will be marked in threads if/as they come up.
[ A : JUST LIKE FIRE, semi-closed to existing cr ]
( content warning: threads that fall underneath this prompt will include reference to fire trauma.[ i ) And here Baren thought that he and Retrospec had some kind of truce.
they might mention child neglect, alcoholism, and suicidal ideation. if you'd still like to engage in this prompt, but would rather one of these topics be left out of the meta, just let me know! they will be dodged. will mark subjects if these arise in any thread regardless. feel free to hit me atevergrace if you want to work something out. )
What he'd received instead, what was bundled in his arms now as he makes his way out of the bright lights of the city, was a reminder of a past that he'd long since tried to hide. The cloth of the haori feels natural against his fingertips, it fit around his shoulders perfectly in the brief minute he'd allowed it on his person, and everything about it feels like fate. Certainty. Home.
He feels like he could retch.
It's on the outskirts of the forest that he parks his car and gets out, makes a haphazard fire pit, and throws the haori into the dirt along with pieces of brush and dried grass. It sits upon the mess, the kanji for 'Kumou' obvious and stinging Baren's eyes before he even finds his lighter. He scoffs. The words leave his mouth like every syllable is dripping with poison.]
Who's a Kumou anyway, huh?
[How could he face his mother and sister like that?
When he lifts his hand, flicks his lighter open and watches the flame dance in his fingertips, he feels the swirling pit of hesitation in his stomach. Something - his conscience? when had he last listened to that - warns him that this is a bad idea. Don't set this cloth aflame, because it meant something. In the end, he's meant to be a Kumou, no matter how far he runs or how hard he tries.
But those feelings aren't his.
He drops the lighter and watches the embers begin to burn.
ii ) For those who won't travel to the woods at night by themselves, they're in... luck?
Wherever they are, whether it's at home, they're on a walk, or otherwise, Tanuki will find them. If they've met Baren even once, he thinks that's good enough. He's still small, going up to their legs and grabbing on. The noises he makes are distressed, short, worried. His breaths come in quick puffs and he starts to wander off, looking back to make sure they follow.
A shake of his whole body, then his teeth nipping at their clothes or briefly at skin to grab their attention if they're still not.
Hey. Pay attention to him.
His family is in trouble.]
[ B : THE AFTERMATH, open ]
[As soon as September 8th, the magazines and tabloids cover the announcement in a series of headlines: Baren Kaiyou Ditches Modeling, Baren Kaiyou Says Bye-Bye, RIP Baren Kaiyou.....'s Career?!, and oh his favorite.
Baren Kaiyou - Leaves Modeling to Join Traveling Circus.
In all honesty, Baren Kaiyou is actually standing in front of the magazine stand, musing over it all. He wears dark sunglasses today instead of his eyepatch, his hair done in a bun instead of the classic ponytail with feathers and bells. The only extremely odd bit is that he seems to be wearing a long cardigan in the still warm early days of September, hands shoved in his pockets. Otherwise, he still looks every bit the ex-model that's featured on the covers.
He reads over them one more time.
Tilts his head, muses out loud:]
Well, who wouldn't leave modeling for a traveling circus? Better that than some shitty meme about being found dead in Miami....
[ C : THE BEST PROMPT, open ]
[Sorry, make way!
As you walk about your day, it looks like there's a furry tanuki friend crossing through the sidewalks, dodging this way and that between people's legs. In his mouth he carries a wrapped up box in a handkerchief. He's on a mission.
But he's still a tanuki.
Did he bump into you? Is he about to run into a busy street? Want to try picking him up?
Where's his owner anyway?
This version has considerably less trauma.]
no subject
Baren is aware of.... enough. Despite himself, he let himself lean into Nikkari's touch against his face, doesn't say anything about being pulled closer. He's asked to talk and he laughs - hollowly, without any amusement.]
What do you want me to say...
C'mon - Tanuki can take care of it.
no subject
[he says this as he's putting Baren on the bigger tanuki - questioning it right now wasn't going to work. he can freak out later and also pet him for being the best weird raccoon dog there ever was.]
no subject
... Hospital.
[not that he doesn't trust nikkari but
baren's always been the level-headed one when it comes to the dangerous things]
no subject
[something something about the oil flaming up and the stove. he'll atone for that kind of lie later, it's easier than explaining that Baren stuck his hands into fire - and speaking of, before Nikkari gets on Tanuki, he grabs the haori as well, to take with them. if it's important enough to reach into fire for, they're not leaving it behind.]
Does he know the way?
[later he can question asking a tanuki about this. later.]
no subject
[That's not an issue. Neither is Nikkari's explanation. Tanuki starts his way over, not moving too fast just because he knows that Baren has no way of actually holding on... and it's instead something almost leisurely, if not for the worried little huffing noises and he's making, along with the occasional glance back at Baren.
While Baren instead chooses to lean back against Nikkari - because he can.
Because Nikkari is something constant, even when Baren doesn't think he deserves it.]
no subject
the why will come, in time. even if that is slowly, and carefully, and with Nikkari prying out small chunks.]
no subject
tanuki continues to bring them to the hospital. from there the procedure is typical - baren goes in to see a doctor and receives treatment for his burns. he sticks as close to nika as possible during the whole thing as tanuki is waiting outside. even now, he looks for the familiar. as the doctor tells him that it's second degree burns and there stands a chance of scarring, but nothing life-threatening.
as they start to exit outside, baren speaks again - ]
... Nika, you can go home.
[can continues to be the operative word. but it's still soft. an option. a chance for nikkari to leave if he wants.
even if that's clearly not what baren wants]
no subject
[Nikkari had been attentive - listened to the doctor, fielded questions, stayed close if he couldn't be right next to Baren the while time. he knows now how to take care of the burns at home, and while Baren might want to go back to his own place - a location Nikkari cannot follow him to - the offer is still open. Nika's place, falling asleep in a familiar bed in a familiar room, with him not leaving.
he won't leave, he can't. if Baren told him at that moment he was going to the airport and going halfway around the world, Nika would ask when their flight departed. when this solid, strong loyalty to another (and he never calls it that, in his own head, he never labels it) started, he doesn't know - only that he noticed once it was in full swing.]
no subject
It's a simple invitation to someone else's home and it's not like Baren hasn't been there before. He's lost hours to time with Nikkari, doing nothing and yet having it mean everything for that moment. Some part of it rattles him a little bit, the insistence that they not be separated.... and it's what makes him step forward to close some of the distance between them.
There they are, in the hospital parking lot, and Baren lets his head fall to rest on Nikkari's shoulder with a small shudder of his own.]
.... okay.
[Okay.
He'll go home with you.]
no subject
[Auntie will understand, if he's there and Nikkari looks at her in a way that says please don't ask and he just lets Baren exist there, in safety. but he's not taking him away if he doesn't want to go - though his arms come up to wrap around Baren and properly hug him. half the time if he tries this it doesn't end well, but it's not playing - it's letting him know that he's just still existing.]
no subject
There's no answer from him, quiet as he continues to lean against Nikkari. He lets Nikkari hug him and - it's painful, it makes him wince even though he tries to suppress it - but he lifts his hand to curl around the hem of Nikkari's shirt to curl his fingers uncomfortably into the fabric.
It would be too pathetic if he didn't even try to return what Nikkari gave him.
Hopping out from the bushes, Tanuki returns. He grows bigger silently again, laying down by them - he'll be their ride when they need it.]
no subject
Tanuki can come too, if he gets smaller again.
Nikkari's house and his room are a familiar place. not perfectly clean, but good enough, and Nika tries to get him to sit on the bed, careful and not letting go all the way if he can help it.]
Do you want anything? Water, anything else?
[in this state, he doesn't know if Baren would even ask.]
no subject
Now they're both tired thought.
Baren doesn't mind sitting down on the bed, even though he looks up at Nikkari and tilts his head - ]
... for you to not treat me like I'm fragile.
[Because he knows Nikkari is holding onto him like he's nervous Baren is going to fall apart.
Still, he leans his head against Nikkari and shakes his head.]
... just don't go anywhere for now, either.
no subject
they sit like that, and it's only after a time that Nikkari gets up, staying in sight for Baren as he gets something from one part of his room and comes back. quietly, he holds it up - a comb. the offer doesn't need to be spoken, but he'll let Baren choose. practically, it makes sense, with his burned hands, and emotionally...it's just taking care of him.]
no subject
Baren blinks - right, he can't fix his own hair right now. That's pretty pathetic. Even if he wants to fix the problem as soon as possible, he can't do anything for himself right now. Hair. Eating. Opening doors... he closes his eyes in irritation... before managing a short nod. If Nikkari doesn't mind.
It'd give him something to do, anyway, while Baren figures he has a story to tell.]
... Nika, you haven't started seeing weird things yet, have you?
no subject
[with permission, he starts to work on Baren's hair, touch ordinary - he's taking that "don't treat him like glass" to heart.]
Is seeing weird things why you threw that into the fire?
no subject
Yeah.
Now's as good a time as any.]
.... Weird things like.... a little town in the Sengoku era. Nothing extravagant, just a village with ordinary people and the family that watched over them. The Kumous. Where the family was small, but happy. Sure, they were some kind of family line but... in the end, it was just a mother and her twins, where the mother was properly like the sun. Sweet. Everyone loved her... laughed at her twins, even if they were a handful.
... but especially weird when you think about things in reality, where stories like that don't happen. Where the Kumous are a family in Japan too big to count with some kind of old, ancient history that makes them think they're better than anyone else. So that some branch family bigshot can take a woman and promise her everything, then leave her with nothing except two troublesome twins.
[ . . . ]
That doesn't make sense, right?
[Almost a gauge - does Nika get it? Even though Baren refuses to own either of these stories, as if he's still afraid to admit that they belong to him, does Nika realize how much he's sharing?
That he threw the haori into the fire because of a past in Japan that he'd never told Nika about... never thought he'd have to?]
no subject
[carefully, he picks out his words as he tends to Baren's hair.]
People have been talking a lot about memories - things that don't make sense other than that they happened. They're certain of it. Weird, maybe, but if that's their truth, then I say it's true enough.
[which is his way of saying that he understands. he knows how big it is. Baren, who hides behind whatever mask he wants the same way Nikkari hides his eye behind his hair.]
They can both be real. Whatever that ends up meaning, if that's that a name can contain sorrow and happiness both.
[Kumou. a heavy name to carry. what kind of person was he before? what kind of person will he be? none can say for certain.]
no subject
[Even if he doesn't like to accept it.
Still, he lets Nikkari tend to his hair. He lapses into his silence for a bit longer and if he closes his eyes, he thinks he can remember a memory like this - the one that belonged to the other Baren. When he was a child and others would have to place his bells into his hair for him.... the warmth of another pair of hands, being doted on by someone who cared.
Will there be a day where Nikkari stops caring too?
Baren hopes not.
But.]
.... if you remember something like that -
Don't carry it alone.
Okay, Nika?
no subject
[it's easy to promise, with how much he shares with Baren. with how he's a part of his life - and how he had learned that both joy and sorrow both coulD be shared with him. and now, he needs it more than ever, if he knows he can't turn to his family. his friends are the only people who know.
and it's easy to be gentle and caring, to give Baren a safe place to be. maybe it would still be scary and questionable in the morning, but til then....til then he can rest here, surrounded by what he knows.]
Just...keep doing the same. Promise I'll listen.