recolle | semi-closed

Entry tags:

semi-closed

WHO: Tatsuo & Friends
WHERE: Various locations around town
WHEN: First two weeks of September
WHAT: Tatsuo not dealing with his issues
WARNINGS: Alcohol???

Look, Tatsuo knows he's not dealing with August appropriately. And frankly, he kind of hates himself for dealing with it this way. Like, really hates himself. He knows he should ask for help, but he's never been big on asking for help in the first place. Beecause it's 'working' for now, at least, that's what he tells himself, even though it's like putting a bandaid on a wound that needs stitches.

[ OOC: If you have CR with Tatsuo and would like for your character to run into him at a bar, feel free to whip up a starter. Otherwise, this is a closed log. Also, restricted to characters 21+. Tatsuo does work with police after all. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's the basic idea, I think, seeing their memories from their point of view. It's kind of hard to imagine the whole thing until it happens to you. I thought it was pretty bullshit myself until a little over a week after I got the app. I realized I had a recollection of standing in a Japanese bathhouse with some guy with a tattoo on his back.

[Tatsuo taps his finger against the table in thought]

There was a kid I was talking to the first couple of months. I haven't seen him on the app for a while, so I'm seriously hoping he got reset. Because I think he might have been in elementary school, middle school at the most.

Aren't tattoos considered controversial over in Japan? I swear I read something about that once.

[ Their waiter stops by to hand out menus and take drink orders. Matt asks for a beer and waits until she leaves to continue the Retrospec conversation. ]

So are the memories strictly visual and auditory like watching a movie? Or can you remember the feeling of the bathhouse floor?

God. [ He frowns. ] I'd like to see every minor reset if it's possible. These kids deserve to have normal lives. None of that jungle danger or bad memories. I doubt I'll get a response but I want to try asking Retrospec why they're involving children.

They're associated with the yakuza. But it was small for a yakuza tattoo, just covered his upper back and done with a single color.

[someone's been researching yakuza tattoos...

when the waiter passes by, Tatsuo orders his usual Americano ~~having already checked the restaurant's drink menu ahead of time to make sure they'd have the ingredients on hand~~]

Yeah, there's tactile and olfactory information as well. There's one memory I got where he was in a burning building and I could smell the smoke and feel the heat from the flames.

[the only thing he can't confirm is taste, but he's willing to bet money that it's included]

There are a lot of adults that want to know why so many minors have been involved.

All that from hallucinations. Feeling and smell... Running into a possible yakuza member...

[ He's about to comment on it when he's suddenly plunged into a sea of sensations and information. From Tatsuo's point of view he remains still as a statue in his seat, that telltale blank expression on his face. To others it might be mistaken for a long confused pause; a blind man's eyes were always staring into space in one direction or another but to someone who knows Matt as well as Tatsuo does it would be clear he wasn't simply mulling something over in his mind. He didn't bite or lick his lips, or take a deep breath like he normally would.

Matt finds himself panting and yelling as he strikes a man beneath him with clenched fists. They're in a city alleyway alone, the man crying out in pain as he gets pounded into the wet pavement. He can make out the horror on the man's face and the way his body tenses with each blow and yet the image is nothing like the sight he once had in his youth. His entire body, all his working senses are overwhelmed. The chill of the night air, the body heat of the man below him and his own as he yells, enraged. He can smell their sweat and the dirt and trash in the alleyway and the food cooking in multiple restaurants up and down the street. He hears pigeons on rooftops and the mice crawling in the walls of nearby buildings. There are people surrounding him in the buildings and on the sidewalks and in cars driving by, their voices a chaotic blur. He can taste what he somehow knows is blood in the air as he strikes again and again until finally the man below him goes limp, face swollen and nose broken. He knows the instant he broke that nose, he heard the bone crack under his fist.

And then he's back, heart racing like it was in the memory. He sees nothing, only hears or feels as much as he normally does. Matt reaches out and grips the edge of the table in front of him with a white knuckled hand. ]

[Tatsuo's eyes narrow as Matt trails off... and then widen when his friend's face goes blank. Oh boy. Tatsuo gives it a few seconds, checking to make sure this isn't just Matt getting lost in thought, but no, he's about 99% certain this is a memory.]

Matt?

[No response. Yeah, this looks like a memory.

And then just as quickly as Matt fades out, he's back, gripping the table like a lifeline.]

Hey, you alright?

[He keeps his voice low and even, watching for any sign Matt might need to get up quickly to get some air.]

You faded on me for a moment there.

[ Matt takes a moment, checking his surroundings, reminding himself where he was. Tatsuo's voice grounded him again and he slowly pulls his hand back from the table. Does he even need to ask what that was? It couldn't have been anything but one of the memories. ]

It happened. First time. [ He inhales slowly and rubs his head. He could swear his nerves were tingling from all that information he had witnessed in less than a minute. Oh right. He takes a swig of beer while he's at it and tells himself he'll feel better after a warm meal. ]

I uh. Think the guy on the other end has some issues.

Wow, I was wondering when you'd get one.

[Tatsuo let's himself relax a little, settling back in his chair.]

Issues, huh? Like, secretly living a double life issues or constantly fighting with his girlfriend issues or he's the lost heir to the throne but just wants to be a bum issues?

['Issues' is such a vague word.]

[ Matt takes another breath and frowns. His heart is still racing and he hesitates. If there's anyone he'll tell this to so easily though it just happens to be the guy on the other side of the table. He swallows slowly then speaks. ]

Issues like... [ He drops his voice to be sure no one will overhear. ] Beating a man unconscious in a dark alleyway with his fists.

[Tatsuo can't help but take a quick breath in surprise, but he forces himself to let out out slowly.]

Ah. Those kind of issues.

[He keeps his voice low, but from his tone... he understands. Boy, does he understand.]

Mine's got rage issues, too.

Really?

[ He'd hate to think of his relief as happiness that someone else, let alone his best friend, is experiencing violent memories. That's not why he's sighing in relief right? ]

He's a police detective. There was a raid on a night club, looking for the head of an organized crime group. His partner got taken hostage. He might have looked all calm on the outside, but inside...

It was one of those calms when someone is really, really angry.

Did he end up punching someone more than he really needed to?

[ Matt's facial expression stays stone still but his fingers wrap around his glass and run side to side like he can't decide how tight to grip his drink. ]

I can understand why he'd be so upset. How does anyone stay calm when their partner is in that kind of danger?

That's the thing. He was so primed by his anger, the moment he got an opening, he was ready to take it. Snatched his partner to safety and shot the guy in the shoulder.

[which had been an appropriate response really, considering the guy had still had a gun in his hand]

Problem is, he would have gone for a fatal shot if there hadn't been about twenty other police officers around him. He wanted that guy dead.

[a not so appropriate response]

[ A chill runs down his spine and Matt shifts in his seat, doing his best to ignore it. The scene Tatsuo painted brought back the memory of Mariko yelling and the click of her pulling the trigger of the gun she had on the lowlife that had tried to attack them. No this isn't about that!

Matt swallows, hoping the pause in their conversation doesn't give Tatsuo the wrong impression. ]

It still says something that he didn't shoot the man dead doesn't it? People don't always act on their desires after all. The details of the circumstance also make a big difference between cold blooded murder and acting to save someone in danger the way police are supposed to.

In that instance.

[Meaning there were other instances... But Tatsuo doesn't elaborate, because it's not something he cares to discuss in public, even with the fact pretty much no one else around them would understand a bit of what he was saying.]

It's perhaps not my best example. But really, I do understand how you're feeling to a degree.

[Just going to... drink half of his drink. Because this evening has turned out a little more surprising than he's originally planned.]

[ Matt gives Tatsuo a silent nod, concern knitting his brow. He grabs his glass and raises it slightly in a gesture of comradery then takes a long draw. ]

Good thing we already have something to drink. [ He offers a jest and a smile, however forced. ] We might both need some more context to really understand what we're dealing with.

There's a lot going on all at once in that memory. It's strange. The other man sees things but it isn't like normal. Experiencing that memory wasn't like watching a movie through another person's eyes...

[ Their waiter returns to take orders for food, interrupting the conversation and lightening the mood just a little. Once she's gone Matt hesitates to continue with the subject. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

semi-closed

no subject

going to give him his memory in the next tag or two

Re: going to give him his memory in the next tag or two

their conversation topic is actually perfect

;A; maaaaaatt

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject