Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Ran Itoh     Ran and Hikaru share an apartment in a completely average, completely middle of the road Alberichstadt neighborhood. The apartment itself isn't much to write home about: a larger main room with a kitchenette behind a breakfast bar, two bedrooms on opposite ends of the place, and a bathroom. Its only real distinction is the /absolutely uncalled for/ amount of kitschy and cute items that peek out from every corner. There's a pile of soft novelty cushions on the sofa, some of which are shaped like animals.

    Ran Itoh, hardworking school nurse and part-time explorer of the Collective Unconscious, is standing at the breakfast bar, carefully cutting apples. Everybody invited has a standing invitation to just waltz right in, because answering the door with a knife in her hand has nearly gotten her evicted once already.
Emily Branford     There is a very nice car outside. It is probably sleek and black and sporty. It is probably not hard to guess who it belongs to.

    Because of course, Emily Branford is there too. She is butler. There is party. Help is being given, and there will be no arguments brooked on the subject, thank you. Pass me the knife, please.

    The butler is currently making a very dedicated, well-practiced showing of cutting up fish into strips, breading it, and dropping it into a deep fryer she's brought herself. There is also a small batch of fries cooking in a basket; if she's going to make finger food-style fish and chips, she's going to do it fresh, gosh-darnit. Not old, not frozen, but on-the-spot fresh.
Ainsley     Ainsley managed to get to the apartment without issue, which is quite a feat when you consider what she's wearing. She is dressed like a lunatic, covered head to toe in winter gear because she can get away with it due to the reptilian qualities of her body temperature. She looks like even more of a lunatic because she was carrying a glass dish covered with aluminium foil, the promised Southwestern Cornbread Casserole. When she steps inside, she seeks out a convenient place to set down the dish.

    And then she peels off the layers of clothing she used as a disguise to hide the fact that she is a lizard. It would probably be less weird if she didn't wear it at all, but she has demonstrated a distinct ineptitude at pretending and lying.

    And then she walks around the apartment picking up the cute little bobbles and knick-knacks to marvel at them, her feathers puffing up and her mouth cracking open in obvious joy at each and every cutesy object. She is VERY CAREFUL to place things exactly where she found them. Eventually she is barely able to contain her dumb, girlish noises at the overwhelming amount of cute around her. She only stops when she ends up sitting on the sofa with one of the animal cushions hugged to her chest.
Alexis Maaka     Maaka heard there was a potluck going on, which is why she insisted on enlisting some help. Choi's wife and oldest daughters were decent enough chefs, so when she asked for some assistance they were quick to begin whipping up some Korean BBQ for the group, delicious Gogi-gui. She also grabbed sandwiches too; BLTs, meatball subs, panini, and to top it off, pizza.

    Once the cyborg is done producing each meal from her Matter Manipulator, laying them out on the kitchen counter, she produces one last thing: Sweets! Candies of all kinds from chocolates to sugar skulls (???!!?!?!) to cookies, she's picked out the sweetest most delicious snacks.

    "You cook, clean, AND fight evil? Where can I get a butler like you to hire?" She asks Emily with a teasing grin, as she offers up some delicious chocolates to a certain lizard.

     She remembers that one incident with Ainsley, and she slides over some chocolate truffles for her.
Rebecca Chambers Rebecca also got here fairly quickly, thanks to her knowledge of how things work around here as well as previous encounters and things like that. All in all, it doesn't take her too long to arrive. The only reason she arrives a little late is, if anyone asks, because she got held up with an emergency medical procedure. Once that was taken care of, Rebecca got on her way.

Rebecca even managed to whip up a little something for the potluck dinner. She put together a pie that could easily be described as a Boston Cream Pie with a chocolate crust, except Rebecca's not from Boston, so what would it be? Raccoon Pie? (YUK!)

Once she makes it there, Rebecca takes off her jacket and hangs it up before finding a place to set down her dessert and then greets the hosts. "Hi everyone! Sorry I'm a little late, had some problems before coming." She smiles a little.
Janine Liberi     Janine arrives as the mighty thrum of a car engine cuts. One would almost think she hadn't been thrown out of her home, showing up in a vehicle like that. But it's Emily behind the wheel, so that makes sense.

    When Janine arrives with the butler, she looks better than she has in weeks. Her hair is washed and the bags under her eyes are less dramatic, indicative of actual sleep. She's also carrying a bag with some tin foiled trays loaded up with meatballs and a container of homemade tomato sauce. "This all needs to be reheated... got space in the oven?"
August Kohler August's arrival is rather polite despite the standing invitation. He knocks on the door before entering, waiting for a verbal invitation at the least, and then steps in, carrying a bag of something that smells good and like pastry. Once inside, he politely bows to everyone and moves to the kitchen, pulling out what he's brought in a tupperware container. It's several pastries, covered in sugar, which he sets out. The boy himself looks exhausted, bags under his eyes and a sigh, but is trying his best to /smile/, for the party. "Quarkkäulchen. Made from dough, quark cheese, mashed potatoes, eggs, and flour, spiced with cinnamon, with plenty of sugar. My mother made it." And then, after depositing it, the redhead disappears as Ainsley arrives, glancing at her cornbread, before finally realizing what this apartment looks like. "Christ, Itoh, Kurosawa, how do you ever have guests over?"
Hikaru Kurosawa     Hikaru is busy in the kitchen! An adorable little cat figurine or three have been moved aside to make more room for one of the recipes August's shared with them: Bratwurst stewed with sauerkraut. Much of the work has already been done, including a disastrous first attempt which Ran has been SWORN TO SECRECY about; he's currently simmering the mixture over the stove. Their kitchen's not very large, but somehow he's made room for Emily's machinations, Ran's apple-carving, and all the dishes people are droppping off.

    "Of course, of course!" Hikaru smiles to Janine, stepping aside so he can open up the oven for her meatballs. "It's at one-eighty right now, so just give it ten minutes." Once the meatballs are safely secured, he goes back to taking care of his own creation. "You're all bringing such cool things," he says, directing his voice out to the living room where Ainsley will no doubt find /a throw pillow shaped like a toucan/. The couch is big and comfy, and there's a chair or two for visitors, but they may well have to start spreading some of those throw pillows on the floor to make room for everyone. "This is gonna be great!"

    Lowering his voice back down to kitchen level, he asides, to Emily: "And I'm really impressed by the efforts you're going to, Emily. The last time I saw someone breading fish like that, it was Yoshihiko making German-style fish fingers to surprise Anna. It was such an interesting style of making food, you know? So much different to what I was used to."

    August's arrival - Hikaru of course invites him to come in by calling out, "Come on in, August!" - prompts a grin from Hikaru. "I can't wait to try it. And really, we've had friends over! They think our place is adorable!" They typically also think the pair are weird foreigners, but Hikaru leaves that part out.
Ran Itoh     "Hi everybodyyyyyy~" Despite her lack of actual finesse in the culinary arts, Ran can cut an apple bunny with the best of them... but only because it's how she practiced getting used to the feel of a knife in her hand. "Find a seat wherever you can! Sorry it's kinda crowded..." People are almost certain to end up on the floor at some point, but maybe if enough people are able to squeeze together on the couch...?

    And it's not like she's too good to stand at the counter anyway.

    The apartment sure isn't spacious at the best of times, and with so many guests...! Ran bravely takes the initiative as August and Janine slip into the kitchenette to slip right back out, depositing her knife in the sink as she goes. She'll rinse it off later when there's less chance of getting burned, or filleted, or... something.

    The fact that Janine looks relatively great while August looks like hell warmed over doesn't escape her, but... what could she say? Ran is just glad to have everybody under one roof, even if it's just for a single evening. "Everything smells amazing!" She might just have to sneak a bite of that yellow-brown thing Ainsley brought because /what is that thing/.

    Making sure there's space for Rebecca and Maaka's things as well (she's never going to get used to the space future tech people have out in the multiverse, is she?), Ran escapes to the safety of the living room.

    "Er..." the nurse hedges a bit towards August, "We... don't usually?"
Emily Branford     Somehow, Emily manages to never once be underfoot. Her ability to not be in Hikaru's way, or blocking Ran, or preventing any of the arrivals from setting their food up, is nothing short of uncanny. And it's not long at all before the butler is setting out a plate filled half with chips (but not crisps), and half with cod deep-fried in a batter seasoned to have an interesting tang to it. She's even set out a bottle of malt vinegar. "Well, that depends. Do you happen to have a winning lottery ticket or a genie's lamp on hand?"

    Hikaru, meanwhile, earns a smile. "I'm making a dish from home, for once. Got to put my best foot forward, don't I? I can share the recipe for the breading, if you decide you like it." She's still working with dedication; building up an extra stock of both fries and fish in case the main plate should start running out.
Janine Liberi     "Get your own, she's mine," Janine says to Maaka as she carefully opens the oven, peels the foil from her tray and slides the dish in. Looking around at the tiny apartment (all while pointedly not looking at August), she comments, "Yeah, it is kind of small. Is this how plebeians live?" The tiny smile a ghost of the wry smirk she used to wear when making comments like that, but it's a start.

    She stakes out a stool at the breakfast bar for herself, and watches as Ran cuts apple rabbits. "Christ, that's some deft knifework," she comments, watching carefully.
Rebecca Chambers Meanwhile, Rebecca says hello to Janine and the others before looking for others to greet and mingle with. Some might find it weird that she's wearing her uniform, but given that she just got off work (loosely speaking, since technically she's always on duty) it's only natural she look like this. Nevertheless, Rebecca has a pleasant smile and a cheerful attitude that looks like it could be spreading rather easily if someone were to come up to see her.

"It's nice to actually be here without having to worry about problems for once," Rebecca comments to herself. "It's so easy to see things a different way."
Alexis Maaka     Maaka just chuckles. "I wish. There goes my counter offer." She teases Emily and Janine both, not that she'd try to separate the two. She grabs a plate, some fries and fish from Emily's contribution, and gogigui to start with, as well as a BLT. "Been forever since I had fish and chips, you just took me back several years." She says to the butler-vampire hunter.

    "No kidding. I could do with just dinner and company without being set on fire for once." She says Rebecca's way. "You couldn't have picked a better time for this, Ran, gotta say."
Ainsley     Ainsley is all smiles, watching people mingle, and digging into the chocolate truffles she has been given and utterly ruining her appetite but whatever it's f***ing chocolate. The lizard crams the little treats in her face, but carefully, trying not to make a mess of powdery chocolate on the animal cushions.

    When she's doing this, she observes everyone's behavior, those she can see from her seat from the sofa. The reptile wall flower is content to just do that, happy to just be here.
Ran Itoh     "Aheh, you like it?" Ran beams at Janine, carefully gathering up a plate full of, well, a little bit of everything (except the meatballs that need to warm up again). "Hikky taught me the basics, and I needed a hobby to keep me sane while I was in nursing school so I kinda just..." She shrugs. "Practiced." She /does/ shoot a wry smile at the fencer, however. "Well, we can't all be rich, right? Is your bedroom at home bigger than our living room?"

    To be honest, she's expecting Janine to reply that it's bigger than their entire apartment. Who knows what kinds of rooms rich people have? What if it's got, like, marble floors and gilt ceilings and a fountain next to the bed?!

    Taking a seat on the floor (because guests should have the Actual Seats), Ran balances her plate on her knees and smiles at Maaka. "Thanks! I just hope this'll give everybody a chance to relax for a bit before we have to start thinking about our next move..."
Hikaru Kurosawa     Of course, Hikaru's assertion that their friends have no problem with their home is quickly vanquished by Ran pointing out they don't normally visit. "Well, you know, if they did come over..." No, it's too late, they've been revealed as losers. Hikaru waves it away with a hand and a grin, and turns his attention to Emily, that grin tuning down into a warm smile. "Ah, a home recipe? We're honoured! I'm definitely looking forward to trying it." Luckily, Emily brought a deep-fryer with her, because Ran and Hikaru definitely don't have anything that fancy and specialised on hand.

    That smile remains as Janine makes her jokes. "The common folk make do," Hikaru comments, cheerfully, continuing the joke on-beat. He glances to the kitchen clock, both to get a measure of how long he's been simmering and how long the meatballs have been in the oven. He puts the sauerkraut mixture off of the heat, weaving between the other people of the kitchen to get a big bowl to dish it into and tongs to help people get it out. He's already prepared buns for people to put the mixture into, like weird German hot dogs, because it would be difficult to eat with their hands otherwise. Of course, there are plates and utensils out too. "The meatballs should be hot soon, too," he says, as he sets out what he's been working on. "Want me to dish them up when they're ready?"
Rebecca Chambers "I hear you there," Rebecca replies with a smile to Alexis. "The simple joys in life are the best ones sometimes." She chuckles a little at that before finding a place to sit down and relax a little. Still smiling all the same though, so she's not bored.
Emily Branford     "I've not been back to Britain in a good while myself," Emily replies to Maaka. "Much as I might tease my homeland about the cooking, a taste of home now and then is rather nice." She glances up at Janine, not letting the smile reach her lips - but it's certainly there in her eyes... until Ran speaks up.

    It's a rare instance of the butler having to turn away due to a complete loss of poker face. Wince.

    But work work work, that's a good way to be distracted. "Save a few for me, would you?" she adds in response to Hikaru. The meatballs have been tantalizing her for ages already.
Alexis Maaka     "No kidding. You want anything?" Maaka offers Rebecca a plate, motioning to the food she brought. She definitely has enough for everyone, as she goes to join the medic. "Yeah. I'm Ozzie by birthplace, if the accent never gave it away. I guess it's why I'm such a fan of barbecue." She grins to Emily, taking a forkful of marinated pork and dining happily.
Janine Liberi     "Ah, fair. Is it a Japanese thing, or...?" She waits for an answer... but gets a cruel reminder instead. She looks away too, biting her lower lip hard before shaking her head. "Not that big, no."

    This is awkward, so she quickly changes the subject. "So, what's everyone been up to? I've not been paying attention to Multiversal nonsense. Anything crazy?"
Alexis Maaka     "Eh, work. Been doing some shit in Bolivia back home." Maaka shrugs at Janine. "Nothing to really talk about, not that I can with the NDAs."
August Kohler When Janine makes sure to not look at August, he seems to realize it, as he doesn't interact with her or go near her, or even look at her. Instead, he glances at Hikaru's response, and then smirks at Ran's. "Aren't adults your age supposed to have friends and be partying and hanging out-" And then a glance at Emily, "or have really nice suits? I guess you're not cool ones, then." Ribbing at their expense, as August spots the cornbread casserole, takes a piece to bite into, and then spots the chocolate truffles, ignores the fact his MOUTH IS BURNING, and runs over to dig into them.

And then, someone asks about Multiversal nonsense. August freezes for a moment, sighing, but he should probably reveal it publicly. "If you haven't watched the news, I'm on it. You know that group of freedom fighters and stuff, the Watch? Yeah, I'm...one of the leaders, and it's public." Another bite of chocolate, because this is even more awkward. "You're not always thinking about your next move, Itoh?" No wait, that's the bad topic to move into, bad topic!
Alexis Maaka     "Wait, that was you?" Maaka blinks. "THink I caught your stream once or twice, actually." SURPRISINGLY, she doesn't stand up and go draw her gun. That's not what she's here for, not that she didn't have suspicions. August isn't as good at hiding his affiliation as he may think.

    "You know, I do have to ask. Why is the masquerade such a big deal here?" She asks suddenly, mostly looking to the locals for answers. "I mean yeah it's one thing keeping a low profile, but you guys go to great levels to keep civvies out of the loop."
Ainsley     Ainsley looks up from what she's doing -- a fat lot of nothing, lazy lizard -- to August as he openly reminds and informs that he is, in fact, some kind of leader for the Watch. She looks square at him for a solid ten seconds, weighing whether she should say anything about that one way or another. Then her brow knits as she recalls being set on fire while trying to stop August from setting Janine on fire. And then there's an awkward silence as she turns her gaze away and frowns... kinda intensely.

    She refocuses her attention on animal cushions. Animal cushions can't betray her or hurt her friends and allies.
Hikaru Kurosawa     Oh boy, that was a bad turn of phrase, though Hikaru knows why Ran said it. He glances down, letting the topic move as Janine wills it. Of course, August is there to distract. "Oh, we're not /completely/ boring, we just prefer to go out than stay in unless we're just chilling out together," Hikaru says, gesturing with a hand. "But you've got us on the suits thing. Welp, Ran, it looks like we're terminally uncool." He grins to her, because they /both/ know they've got decks of several types of card games stashed in the drawer on the end-table of the lounge.

    Ten minutes tick over, and Hikaru pulls out the tray of meatballs and starts serving them onto a platter. (He puts a couple aside on a plate specifically for Emily, as instructed!) With all the kitchen things he's in charge of finished, he gets a plate and grabs some of the food for himself, getting a little of everything. It's an eclectic plate which he sits on the one of the floor-cushions with, and of course he eats the truffle first. It's about then that the topic goes to the Multiverse, and August speaks up again. "So you're...?" Blink, blink. Hikaru /doesn't/ really keep up with news of the Multiverse, because it's just so /big/, and there are so many problems local to home. He doesn't miss the way Ainsley stares at him, but Maaka's questions are so much easier to answer. "This world has no clue that supernatural anything exists," Hikaru says, gesturing to the window through which a normal street can be seen behind closed cupcake curtains. "Not even Persona stuff. If everyone suddenly learned that their subconscious was sprouting literal monsters, there'd be widespread panic... so you can imagine what would happen if everyone learned we were just one little world in an entire sea of them, some far more fantastical and strange than what we write about in stories. It's just not a world equipped to handle that sort of strangeness."
Emily Branford     "As a counterpoint," Emily says as she steps over to lean against the counter, "There's quite a few worlds that have endured just that and come out well enough. I think the real issue is that most of those worlds don't have a world of monsters tapped into the collective unconscious. I shudder to think what the panic would do to the Forest."
Janine Liberi     "Yeah, I know," Janine says to August. "Real big-shot now aren't you?" She doesn't sound bitter. She doesn't sound anything really. Very carefully neutral. She peers hard at Emily and says, "You sound like you know what you're talking about." She still doesn't know all that much about the mysterious butler, and this seems like a hint.

    She breathes through her teeth and says, "This is a bad conversation. I think we're boring Ainsley, she's looking away," she comments, smirking lightly. "Everyone talk about yourselves. I realized I don't really know any of you that well."
Alexis Maaka     Maaka thinks, before she nods. "Yeah. Uh, after the other night I'm inclined to agree with you, Lanford. Never said I was against it, long as it keeps your average nobody out of the way." She remarks, pinching some fries to nibble on.

    A shrug is given to Janine, "Ehh, not much to tell. I'm a gun for hire, and I've been unified for some time now. My world's basically a privatized war zone, there's robots, and cyborgs like me aren't too terribly uncommon." She eventually explains. "Thing is, I didn't get augged out of a desire to serve my country or employers."
Ran Itoh     The evening started off so well, too!!

    Ran doesn't realize just what she's said wrong until that moment of awkwardness creeps across the room. ...Oops. She has the good grace to turn /bright/ red, and intelligently horks down half of her glass of water in one gulp. Guh.

    "Yeah! Our movie and game nights are legendary," she pipes up in a somewhat desperate bid to steer the conversation FAR AWAY from any more potential upsets.

    And then August Doesn't Help.

    What are you supposed to say when your sorta-friend tells you something like that?????

    So Ran doesn't say anything, which is probably not what August wanted... or maybe it is?? Why is socializing so hard?!

    She turns a hapless gaze towards Hikaru, and Ainsley too when she's reminded that the lizard woman is being even quieter than normal. "I mean..."
Hikaru Kurosawa     Hikaru smiles to Janine as she nudges the topic back, and turns his attention to Maaka as she starts talking. "So, you're a cyborg? That must be pretty cool! I only really used to know cyborgs from books and movies until recently, but I'm definitely expanding my horizons these days." Ainsley knows all about his Multiversal culture shock, since hers was the first new world he visited on his own, and he shares a smile with her in remembering it.

    "Ran and I came from Japan," Hikaru says, gesturing to the other woman on the floor. He can tell that she's embarrassed by her gaff, so he goes ahead and tells the story. "I moved in with her when I was a teenager, so I ended up kind of raised by her family. They're all really cool! Yoshihiko Itoh taught me how to cook, and Anna Itoh taught me all about Germany. We decided to move here once we'd finished with our degrees, and ended up getting jobs at Drachenblatt, and... well, here we are!" He grins, and nibbles on a fish finger once he's done with their story.
Emily Branford     Emily starts in on one of the meatballs, though she's taking it nice and easy so as not to be too messy with it. "Well, naturally my own world had something of a task before it, accepting the supernatural and hypertechnological within the Multiverse. Or most of it did, I suppose. But I was busy in butler training at the time, so I didn't heed it much. I did do a spot of research before I went out into it, though."

    But that's a good segue into her own story, or what she'll share of it, anyway. "Well, Janine already knows all this, but I'm from England. Some years ago I felt like a change was in order from previous work, so I leaned on some acquaintances to get me a recommendation to Buckingham Palace for butler training. Put everything I had into it. I like being able to take pride in my work, whether it's as a butler or bodyguard. I came into Janine's service not long after all that nasty business with that Valeth man."
Alexis Maaka     Maaka gives a sad look to Hikaru, shrugging. "Not really. Imagine having to look in the mirror, but you see something completely unlike you every morning." She says after a pause. She could go on, but this isn't the night. So she just falls silent. "...sorry."
Hikaru Kurosawa     "Oh, geez," Hikaru frowns, shooting Maaka a conciliatory look. "Sorry about that." He doesn't push the subject any further, considering her silence. Chalk another one up to cultural ignorance.
Alexis Maaka     Maaka just shrugs again. "Don't sweat it, I'm used to it, I'm over it. Just...it's just not quite like in the movies. Or more like it than it should be. I dunno."
August Kohler As Ainsley stares at August, he averts his eyes, and moves to respond to Maaka, but Emily says what he was going to say. "Pretty much. If the horrors in there are already influenced by our thoughts and fears, what happens when everyone learns about them? They get worse, and they get /stronger/." It's mostly theory, but he believes it.

And then Janine responds to him uncharacteristically. She doesn't sound bitter...or like Janine, even. Not the one he thought he knew. Normally, that sort of quip might cheer him up, a bit of snarky emotion, but it has none. Sighing heavily, August turns to her, and proceeds to make some manner of mistake. "Look, Janine. I tried to give you space because you were avoiding me. I'm trying not to get in your way or upset you. But I can tell you're mad at me, or /something/, so why? What did I do to you?" His face has a mixture of genuine concern and...a bit of confusion. Like part of him really doesn't understand what he's done to get this reaction. Or is trying not to understand.
Emily Branford     There's a brief pause.

    Emily Branford quietly finishes her meatball, then moves over to the sink. Here she starts to run water, and clean the kitchenware that's not still in use.
Alexis Maaka     Maaka stops eating her BLT, as she stares at August like he just blew Janine's head off. She stares and stares, unsure what to say.

    Then she goes back to eating.
Hikaru Kurosawa     Hikaru frowns as he looks from August to Janine. This has the potential to go poorly, but he's not going to intercede for now, because if they can talk out what's bothering them in a neutral environment it might be good for them. Hopefully.
Ainsley     Talk about herself. Ainsley's frown slowly fades, and she stares ahead like this is not an easy topic to talk about because it absolutely is not.

    She was going to, but then August says something that speaks of possible brain damage. She raises from her seat and drops the toucan pillow on the sofa. It's a glimmer of aggression, repressed desperately because she doesn't need to start shouting at him right here in front of everyone. But it's clear she's offended... or just... astounded.

    Is... is she hissing? She's trying not to yell at him, but the sound of hissing still comes out.
Janine Liberi     Janine slowly, deliberately, skewers a meatball with a toothpick, dips it into that sauce, and pops it into her mouth. She maintains eye contact with August the whole time as she chews and swallows it.

    "You tried to kill me August," she says plainly, like she was reminding him about how the weather will change later today. "But it's not that, not entirely. It's a trend, I can see it. You're hanging out with others, doing other things... you'll get sick of this. Alberichstadt, the Forest. You'll ditch us entirely, and I'll have to deal with it on my own. I've seen it happen before. Much easier to hang with people who share your angry zeal, right?"
Ran Itoh     At least they'll always be in good company together, Ran sighs inwardly, and reaches over to pat Hikaru's knee. He left a lot of things out of their story, but he got the important parts. Janine will know the rest of Hikaru's story by now, anyway...

    Ran fidgets a little bit, picking at the pastry-potato-cheese-thingy that August brought. It's delicious. ...Didn't he say that his mother made it? The blonde blinks, and looks over at the redheaded boy. It's easy to forget how young some of them are. August has always seemed... well, kind of a loner... But everyone comes from somewhere, don't they? It's just easier to remember about Janine's family, circumstances being what they are.

    So wait, does that mean Ainsley was hatched, or--??

    /That/ train of thought is derailed by August's clueless question. Ran stuffs the rest of her potato thingy into her mouth and prepares to stand up if she has to take her plate and run away...

    And sucks in a breath through her teeth. "...She's not wrong, you know," Ran continues as gently as she knows how. "You were... kinda scary for a minute."
Hikaru Kurosawa     Hikaru's frown deepens as he puts the puzzle pieces in place. What Ran had told him makes sense in a different context, now, hearing Janine say what happened so plainly. He hadn't been there, and Ran hadn't known how to come out and say it... and now he's left looking to August for answers, because this doesn't make sense to him at all.
August Kohler Everyone's reaction seems to spook August, as he retreats backwards towards the entry area (but doesn't leave). He speaks again, though, when Janine says plainly what her issue is. His reaction is...odd. It's clear he /remembers/ it, and acknowledges what she's saying, but his face has genuine confusion, the look someone has when they don't understand what you're explaining to them. "I...no, I was...I was trying to stop the problem, I was trying to..." And then, his voice seems...he's not speaking normally. Like as if he doesn't /know/ his story, or /know/ why. Either way, he doesn't sound like he normally does. He sounds 'lost'. "Why do you all look at me that way?"

And then, August's face immediately cringes, teeth grinding visibly, as Janine says the second part. The very accusation seems to /hurt him/, and his response is much more like him, much more of that fire in his voice. "No! No, I wouldn't, why do you think I would do that? /Never/, I wouldn't abandon you guys. This is Die Reisende, this is /us/, how could I /do that/?!"
Emily Branford     Emily doesn't turn away from the sink. She doesn't stop in her steadfast washing of utensils. But she does lift her head just slightly, to offer a simple, "Kohler. I think something's interfering with your reasoning. I don't know if it's external or not. But do you remember how your Persona acted in a way you didn't intend?"
Ainsley     Ainsley's anger drains away, because whatever behavior he's displaying is... alien. It's like something in his mind is disconnected. Like something is wrong, like something is influencing him. If Janine's Persona can get transformed into a Shadow and attack them, then something... wrong could happen to August, too. And so she speaks a single word, a word meaning 'mind' and a soft magic glow appears around her eyes as she squints at him during this moment of mental struggle, trying to see mental or psychic forces that may be influencing him the same way some people might see a magic aura. She is trying to find outside influences, the same way she once glimpsed the connection the Queen has on the Shadows of the Mirror Forest, that one time.

    "You're right, August. You wouldn't do that," she says while she tries to focus, "I believe that wholeheartedly."
Janine Liberi     Janine has been confronted with a lot of emotions in situations like this. Denial, scorn, cruel mirth. But she hasn't seen genuine confusion and fear. This makes her pause as she watches August carefully. "... you mean it? I mean, it's okay if you don't. We would die with or without you, and you're important now, so it might be for the best honestly."

    Is this is a ploy, or does she mean it? Either way, she shrugs. "And I know, I'm an obstacle. But you don't sound like you mean it. Everything okay?"
Ran Itoh     Something's wrong.

    There's a horrible, familiar echo of something that Ran has seen all too recently. Nothing as sophisticated as 'the Mirror Forest is eating people's brains or something', whatever has happened to Janine's family to make them turn on her. Just the sudden sick sensation of gears clicking forward another notch, another piece of 'something' out of place.

    Ran looks down at the two tiny scars in the middle of her open palm, and glances at Hikaru with a wordless look of worry.

    "August...?" she ventures quietly. This isn't her wheelhouse and Ran knows it, but her bleeding heart constricts around the way August just looks so... lost. Like he really /doesn't/ know how it happened.

    Deep breath. Exhale. Just what can Ran Itoh do?

    What has she always done?

    She puts her plate down to one side and gets to her feet. Her toes squish into the plush carpet as she pads towards the boy, whiskey-brown eyes soft as she looks up at him. "August?" Ran reaches out for him like she had for Hikaru once, a long time ago, and tugs him gently back toward them all, against herself. "It's going to be okay."
Hikaru Kurosawa     The way August stumbles over himself, trying to explain, breaks Hikaru's heart. His brow creases in sadness, rather than confusion, and he shakes his head as August goes on to deny Janine so heatedly. "I don't think you'd do that," he says, quietly. He might not know much about what's going on out there in the world, but he knows that August is trying his best, and there's something about all this which just doesn't fit together. One of the puzzle pieces is missing, and the picture's incomplete. He shares a look with Ran, and Ran does what she does best, leaving Hikaru to bite lightly at the inside of his lip. He doesn't get up. He doesn't want to overwhelm August.
August Kohler Janine's response has August biting his lip sharply as he speaks, clearly /angry/, but not...at anyone here? "No, no, you're /wrong/, I'm /not important/. I'm just here to fight Shadows, I'm just here to help people, I'm just...!" That statement of 'importance' has him off-guard, hitting him directly where it hurts. And then, Ainsley scans August, and what she sees is...

Emotion. A torrent, a /flood/, of every type of emotion someone usually feels, trying to pour out, but being kept at bay. It's like a valve has been undone, allowing it to release, but at the same time, the plumbers are working to quarantine it. And in the midst of that flood of emotion, which hews towards ANGER and SADNESS when the idea of 'August is important' is mentioned, are...eyes? Gleaming, golden eyes, that feel like they're staring straight at her. And then, it's cut off.

Janine's next statement has that odd confusion from August again. 'Obstacle'? He knows he said that, but..."No, no. You're...you're my...you're not an obstacle." There's a weird cadence in August's voice, as he tries to say something, but is overwhelmed. And then an odd tone to his voice, almost grainy, as he says a specific word. He doesn't seem to realize it, and is still chewing on his lip trying to figure out how to phrase what he wants to say.

But that's interrupted. As Ran comes towards him, August is about to move towards the door again, but he hears what Emily's saying. Something weird with his Persona? And then, he tilts his head. Click. Click. /Click/. "...something's wrong, isn't it?" The redhead just collapses into Ran's hug, the stress getting to him. "The hell's going on?"
Hikaru Kurosawa     Hikaru listens to August stumbling over his lack of self-worth, trying to justify how little he means. "No, August," he says, but his voice is gentle. "Your brain is lying to you."

    It's something he has a lot of experience with.

    There's something in the way he speaks to Janine which unsettles Hikaru, the record-scratch words landing straight in the uncanny valley, and he finds himself wishing he could call on the Fox Sister's sight without summoning her. Emily speaks up, and Ran hugs August, and Hikaru frowns. "Yes, something is wrong. I can't tell you what, not without my Persona, but your behaviour is strange, and..." He pauses, searching for the German. "Your words are tearing." That's not quite right, but it's what he thinks of in the moment.
Ainsley     "..."

    Ainsley calmly adjusts her gloves and considers what August has said. The pragmatic tone, the way he can't reconcile. Whether it's an outside influence or not is difficult to determine for her. She steps up to Ran and August, and she speaks very calmly, like a nurse might do.

    "August." She begins with his name. "Think about what is important to you. Think about what you need to do to keep it safe. What you need to do is keep your friends safe, right? What you need to do is be a good friend." Echoing what he said when he attacked Janine. "Good friends are open. Good friends tell others how they feel... even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts. Because we won't go away because of something you feel, because that isn't all of what you are to us."

    "This is how I feel, August."

    And she reaches over to rest her hand on August's shoulder. She speaks the word for emotion and gives him what she feels.

    She feels conflicted. She's afraid for him, because he isolates himself. She feels scared that she can't reach him, because he won't let anyone do that, not that she can see. She shows her own anger and sadness to him, and her yearning to connect. That last part is strong, because...

    The yearning to connect is everything that Ainsley is, by this point. It's the root of her magic and how she thinks. It's why she wakes up every day and it's why she keeps fighting.

    She tries to see August's emotions, to further diagnose what's happening to him.
Janine Liberi     Janine shakes her head as she watches August collapse into Ran's arms. "We're a mess, aren't we?" she asks, before letting out a mirthless laugh. "Look. I'll forgive you if you get yourself checked out. Like, magically. Go to that Flamel guy if you need to, or someone else. You're falling apart, and you sound like..." She almost doesn't want to say, in the same way that he didn't want to acknowledge what he did. "Just get yourself looked at, okay? I mean it genuinely, I'm too tired to be bitchy right now."
Alexis Maaka     Maaka is silent. She has no idea what to say, why would she? Ran and Hikaru are counselors, they know what to say. She just sits there, and blinks before she recognizes that weird cadence. She recognizes it from the Intendent, that shadow Mosquito Janine ripped apart when she went berserk.

    "You...you're about to do that thing, like when Janine went crazy. Right?" She isn't trying to come off as offensive, she's pretty new to this. "But y'know, we're here for you. And there's people who can help." She isn't just saying that because Flamel is a coworker, nope. NOPE.
Emily Branford     "I begin to suspect there's not a one of us here who isn't a bit off in some way," Emily remarks, finishing up her task of cleaning utensils. "But that's about normal for the kind of person who'd blindly throw themself into danger against mad monsters from the darkness. Just so long as we're cautious about it." She turns and moves back over to her previous spot, finishing the other meatball at a slow, steady clip. "We all have only ourselves and each other to rely on. And even if you don't think you're worth it, the fact of the matter is that others are relying on you. You owe it to them to make sure you don't fall apart at a critical moment. When that happens, it's..." She trails off, then shakes her head. "...it's never pretty."
Ran Itoh     "Shhh. It's okay." Ran lets August rest against her, leading him gently back to the sofa if he'll let her. "We're not going to leave you alone." There's a box of tissues just out of reach, but she can stretch and get them if she needs to. For now, she just needs to make sure August feels supported.

    Maaka seems to understand it first, and when Hikaru says 'tearing', Ran frowns. She looks over at him, murmuring "<Baribari?>" She needs to be sure the two of them are on the same page, and it's easier to use Hikaru's native language when trying to pinpoint subtle nuances between them.

    With cool hands, she lifts August's bangs to look at his eyes more closely. "It's going to be okay. ...We could all probably stand to get checked out, honestly," Ran admits after a moment, smoothing his hair back down. "Let's /all/ do it. Just to be sure." Hopefully August and Janine might feel a little less scrutinized... and to be honest, she's been worried about the rest of them, as well.
August Kohler Hikaru's words get August glancing at him, but they don't seem to set in. Ainsley's does, however, because she approaches and /makes/ them set in. His reaction is shown on his face, and it's...sorrow. Sorrow that he makes someone else feel like that, Ainsley can tell. But another scan doesn't have that same outpour, and Ainsley can take a better look. August is trying to consider Janine, and the others, his 'friends', but believes he'll hurt them, but his emotions are mostly repressed. They're leaking out, and whatever those yellow eyes were (they're still there, but they're less prominent, and seem to be...smirking?) are helping instigate this lack of control. And there's something else there, something that doesn't match up with the rest of August's feelings, an emotion he hasn't acknowledged.

Hatred. Frustration. Impatience. Directed at /everyone/ but himself. It's almost a polar opposite of the other feeling, the anger and dislike he has focused towards himself.

August shakes his head towards Maaka, glances at Emily's direction briefly, and then finally replies - to Janine. "...Alright. I will." August looks into Ran's eyes, his a dark brown, and while there's no tears, there's anguish. He breaks away from her, and then moves into the kitchen. He'll leave after a bit, after some calming down - fleeing right now would just make things worse, so he'll eat chocolate instead.
Ainsley     Ainsley frowns as August retreats to the kitchen. She considers his retreat, stepping out of the way. She makes sure, before he goes, to say something to him based on what she has seen so far. To tell him a strange fact, that he might not accept. She steps over to him to lean in and whisper it to him in the gentlest voice.

    She even tries to reach out and very lightly touch one of his arms. Very gingerly.