(open & closed) december catch-all

[shadowier]

WHO: fushiguro megumi & others
WHERE: all over stygia
WHEN: throughout december
WHAT: event & notice board shenanigans
WARNINGS: n/a - will update as necessary!

( please feel free to hit up his inbox at any time, or plot with me over here if you'd like a closed starter! )

Comments

open — mistletoe

[shadowier]

( winter is here, which makes him think of a couple things that he would rather not acknowledge--the passing of time is one, and the fact that he remains here seems to mean that he may still be here for quite some time yet. it would mean that a lot of what he's considered about his origins to this place are, unfortunately, true, and the fact of the matter is that he may no longer be living in the world where he came from: he had believed that, with some measure of frustration, since the beginning. it would be an impossible trick otherwise. other than that, there are some events as it gets closer to winter that reminds him of back home, too: events that likely don't matter anymore, being in this place.

still, there is a part of him that is bound by routine, and so he takes to the city in order to find, hopefully, some kind of sweet treat as a private indication to himself of the time passing. another year, which puts him older, or does that matter? it's something he considers almost wryly. it doesn't take much time to locate a bakery, but to his surprise, they're nearly sold out due to the festive parties happening so often, and he manages to purchase a very sorry cupcake with his meager amount of coin.

outside the shop, he's holding the sweet in the palm of his hand when he realizes, abruptly, that the mistletoe is hanging overhead. he's heard a bit from others about the consequences of such a thing, but he hasn't quite experienced it himself--which is why his eyes go almost owlishly wide, as someone approaches the shop, peeking in the window next to him and landing themselves under the mistletoe with him.

awkwardly, he clears his throat. ) Excuse me. I'm sorry to trouble you, but I feel like I need to warn you that... ( his free hand gestures upward, hoping the person will take notice of where they've landed themselves. )

closed — shalem

[shadowier]

( it's written almost immediately on his face, as soon as the artist speaks: no, he will not be doing this, and no he is not comfortable with it.

the ad, he feels, had some vague sense of the word modeling to it, or perhaps it's more that he didn't take the time to read it, fully, more concerned with getting coin than the prospects of what might be waiting for him should he take the job. granted, he isn't alone this time, given that he'd awkwardly invited shalem along as a show of friendship, or something similar to it: and now he regrets it, regrets that he dragged him along to something that he won't be following through with anyway.

the artist, of course, tries to comfort him--behind his back, where he's turned away now, he can hear her saying that it's totally normal, very relaxed and he brings a hand up to rub at the side of his face, grimacing slightly. shalem is standing in the doorway, and he realizes that he'll have to politely maneuver past him to get out.

with a soft, strained voice, he shakes his head a little. ) ...It's nude modeling. You heard that, right?

( already he can feel his cheeks heating. ) We can just go, right?

( somehow, by the look on shalem's face, he thinks it's going to be hard to convince him to have both of them leave. )

[prozaic]

[sorry, megumi. he can't respond right now because he's too busy laughing.

at the very least, shalem has covered his mouth so he can preserve some dignity while trying to breathe through his laughter.

like megumi, he thought this was going to be something more advanced, like the study of wrinkles and folds in fabric and the body in motion, not... a beginner's class to figure drawing with nude models. he's laughing at the mistake, but also megumi's reaction. with how stern he tends to be, sometimes it's easy to forget that he's pretty young and inexperienced.

and that not everyone is as accustomed to showing skin like actors.]

That-- that's up to you. [he breathes deep so he can speak properly.] I've no problems with that, really. I could be the model myself, if you truly need the money.

[shadowier]

( great. this is great. he really should have expected the laughter, but even so, it seems to both flicker at his temper and force him deeper into embarrassment; his cheeks go pinker, and frustrated, he lifts up a hand, pushing back through his unruly hair as though that might offer him some kind of reprieve. the room feels warmer all of a sudden, though that's likely because he's absolutely mortified--the kind of mortified that he would attribute to his friends messing with him in front of strangers, and not anything like this.

the offer that shalem makes is kind: but he can't take him up on it. it would be completely rude to force someone else to do work and forfeit the pay; at the same time, he needs the coin, and he doesn't like the idea of giving up on something when he should be pushing himself to continue learning and growing in this place.

with a glance over his shoulder at the artist, and then back at shalem, he presses his lips into a thin line--and reaches, with cold, gentle fingers, to touch at one of shalem's wrists, almost bidding him to come closer. )

...It's fine. I'll do it. ( there, now he's gone and said it. no taking it back now. ) But can you just...stay? With your eyes closed or something?

[prozaic]

[in truth, shalem would have asked megumi the same thing-- look away from the nude adult, and whatnot. if he were with another adult, he wouldn't have minded, but megumi is underage, and thus shalem feels... some responsibility. almost the same sort he feels towards rosa, but she was also his coworker, an intern he took turns watching over as she proved herself, while megumi is a civilian friend that he hasn't seen in a professional capacity yet. still different things.

the snake raises his wrist, and holds onto megumi's elbow.]

You don't have to if you're not comfortable. I don't mind doing it myself.

Of course, if you're set on doing this yourself... Just say the word, and I'll end the session and bring you home.

[shadowier]

It isn't...that big of a deal. ( the touch at his elbow is--calming, in a way, but it doesn't seem to do anything about the flare of heat in his cheeks. either way, he's already decided what he's going to do; his stubborn nature means that he's going to see this task through to the end, whether he enjoys it or dies of embarrassment during. ) Right? No one's going to be looking anyway.

( a shrug of indifference, and he gives one last, lingering brush of fingertips against shalem's wrist before he draws away from him, steeling his breath so that he can turn to address the artist. of course, he's polite about his acceptance, quietly bidding to do as he's told--the artist, seemingly comfortable with maneuvering around his discomfort, instructs him where to move into the middle of the room.

a few steps inward, towards the pillows scattered around a blanket on a round pedestal in the middle of the room; he steps onto it with the air of one moving along death row. )

...You ever do something like this? ( this is to shalem, though he doesn't look to see if he's turned away--instead, he's working on peeling off the heavy sweater he has on, ruffling it off his head and working methodically to draw up the shirt he has on underneath it as well. )

[prozaic]

I've done many things that are... well, inappropriate for such young ears to hear. [that's vague and vaguely suggestive, but better suggestive than the alternative that's quite macabre and horrible. and bloody.

shalem settles down next to the platform the pedestal is on, back against it, and thus facing away from megumi.]

I was trained as an actor before I became an office worker, you see. Sometimes, the script calls for you to do something entirely different on stage, and reservations about our bodies were trained out of us quite quickly.

[but really, he hopes megumi doesn't ask for details.]

closed — grimmjow

[shadowier]

( the last thing he thinks he's going to see, with his hands tucked deep into his sweater pockets, fighting the chill of the cold, is the picture in front of him: that non-human creature grimmjow, practically beaming at the sight of him as though he'd just won some amazing prize, or perhaps like he would rather they meet in any other place than the middle of the street.

it feels a little different than their last meeting, of course, a messy half-altercation with no other motives other than, he assumes, for grimmjow to test his own strength in this place, or to test the strength of others around him. it had been one of the few times that his shadow technique had worked successfully, but even so, evasion had been his key tactic, something strange and unfamiliar; he isn't sure if it had left grimmjow satisfied, but at the same time, he hadn't cared. to see it work once meant that, maybe someday, he could successfully get the technique to work again here: every time he tried to summon his shikigami, it tended to only get half of a body, or slurp back into the shadows without forming a shape at all.

here, he sucks in a breath, even mutters a small curse under his breath. ) Hey.

( and then, because of course the curse would work this way, his tongue forms words that are most definitely a lie: ) I'm really glad to see you.

( immediately, his eyes go round, then narrow in irritation--he shifts uncomfortable in his boots, jerking his gaze sidelong before leveling it with grimmjow again. at least when his mouth opens this time, he feels like he's in control of himself. ) ... Anyway. You looking for a place to get warm? Heard there was a party just up the street.