What is love?

[peninhand]

Who: Monika, anyone
When: October 09th-13th
Where: Curti Center, Nakagawa
What: Catch-all for Monika, who is back after having secluded herself in the Arito library and its book for a month.
Warnings/Notes:

A | Back to the Center (Curti Center, October 11th)
For over a month, Monika had pretty much lived in the library of Arito, so no one could see her and so she would have enough books to distract herself, in an attempt to not lose herself entirely to the sadness. She had completely ignored Mognet, the Custom Jobs and that whole Bahamut business. Why, she had even ignored her own birthday. And the idea of that dreadful eidolon killing her didn't sound that bad... But her temporary retreat had worked, to an extent. She felt much better, even if the sorrow still lingered under her facade. When Monika arrived and left the airship hangar, she didn't look any different from the way she had been before her departure.

Her Moogle did look quite different, however. Exhausted and desperate. Perhaps she just wasn't as good as Monika when it came to internalizing her feelings. Ah well. Regardless, Monika was all smile and soon went on her merry way to settle some things before going back to her house. She would greet everyone on her way with a "good evening" or with a smile, feel free to reply to her!


B | A Place to Call Home (House B-10, October 12th)
Monika had been supposed to relinquish her housing, but with the change of rule... She wasn't too sure.

As she stepped in, the first time in over a month, she took a look around. Ena had already left, hadn't she...? She wondered if they had already found a replacement for her... Not that it mattered. This place felt so empty and dead now. As if someone had ripped its heart out. What had once been a comforting and warm place now felt just sorrowful and painful.

She waved for her Moogle to leave and threw herself onto the sofa, grabbing a pillow and juggling it in the air absentmindedly. Well, if there was no one at least she didn't have to remain all well-mannered and could relax without a care in the world. Small comfort.


C | Unnatural Disaster (Island of the Curti Center, October 14th)
Ghoul Powder. That was probably the most distasteful skill available to Necromancers. But it opened many doors! If Necromancers could concoct potions that turned living being into monsters, surely they could make potions that affected them in far less drastic ways...? Like affecting the chemical balance of the brain to change one's emotion. Changing sadness into happiness, fear into joy, or perhaps even inducing love where none exists... A Chemist would be far more apt to making non-destructive potions, but she didn't have the asterisk. Not like she would use it anyway. Forcing someone to love you through the use of some potion? That was wrong on so many level...

... Though she was curious if it could work at the very least. Hence why she was on her own outside of the Curti Center, where hopefully no one could see her. There was a Geezard at her feet, one she had captured. It was the best kind of test subject she had thought of. She couldn't test her concoction onto an animal, let alone a person, and much as Papyrus would argue otherwise, those monsters had no soul or character to them. No one would miss the thing.

Hence she grabbed a vial filled with a black thick liquid before pouring it onto the captured creature. At first nothing happened but soon... The Geezard stopped moving altogether. Its body grew black and started smelling like rotten meat. It was dead.

"Oh..." Monika was expressionless as she looked at the now dead monster, though she sounded a tad surprised. "Oh."

Well. That hadn't turned the Geezard into an unstoppable demon, that was.... Progress? She sighed, why was she even pursuing such endeavors?


C | Friendly Visit (Nakagawa, October 10th, Locked to Dylas)
Before going back to the Curti Center, Monika had wanted to see Dylas. She hadn't seen him in quite a while nor had she heard anything about him. Nothing surprising given she hadn't paid attention to Mognet, but she couldn't help and worry a bit. Hence why she stopped by Nakagawa and headed for his house.

"Anyone here?"

She stopped by the door and knocked on it, was that the place...? She'd never come here before, but she knew he was supposed to be living with Yue.


D | Drown your Sorrows in Ice Cream (Curti Center, October 13th, Locked to Okuyasu)
In spite of putting up a strong facade, there was only so much one could internalize before needing something to drown it all. So far, it had been books, but there weren't really any that interested her here... Perhaps she shouldn't have come back and should have placed a job request to work at the library. That was a good idea, actually.

But in the meantime, she had found something to help her: Ice Cream.

So much ice cream actually, there were enough empty cup around her, one could think an entire Blitzball team had been there. And yet she was the only one there, slowly but steadily emptying the Curti Center's reserves.

Comments

D is for Don't Do That

[righthandstand]

Okuyasu loved ice cream. It was a treat that he bought himself weekly to motivate himself to power through the rest of the week. Even for a penny-pincher like him, he was still human. A life devoid of little indulgences wasn't worth living for. He wasn't a robot.

A fine day for stopping by the Research Center Ice Cream Shoppe - an odd but useful addition to the building. There were many perks to being a scientist. He entered the door--

"Huh?" It wasn't the girl sitting there. Yeah, it kind of was, but that was too much ice cream to have gone missing.

"Don't tell me - did you run out of strawberry?" If she ate it all, he would never forgive her. For a year, maybe.

[peninhand]

Oh for the love of—

She didn't want anyone to speak to her when she was so close to tears and drowning it all in sweet ice cream. But oh, it was far worse than that. Out of all the people that could have stepped through that door, why did it have to be him? As a matter of fact, she had two ice cream right before her. A chocolate one and a... Strawberry one. The last of its kind. She hadn't started either of them and of how tempting it was to just sink her teeth in the strawberry ice cream out of pure spite.

"....."

But she wasn't like that. She wordlessly slid the strawberry ice cream to the side, towards the next seat. And took a gigantic spoonful of the chocolate one.

[righthandstand]

Okuyasu debates whether to accept her offering or to refuse and hope that the shop has more. The attendant shook his head the moment Okuyasu looked at him.

"That's the last one, I'm afraid."

It was free. That should be a good enough answer for eating it, but she might have laced it with Ghoul Powder or some weird stuff in the few seconds she saw him come in. Or it would have been for herself, which was weird.

"You ate all this?" He picked up a spoon sat down next to her, checking for any obvious toppings. It looked like normal ice cream.

[peninhand]

Oh yes, yes. She had poisoned and cursed the food she had planned to eat herself. Real bright idea, isn't it? What a way to go that would be. Giving a new definition to stupidity, leaving your mark on history as one of the dumbest individual to have ever existed.

She sighed and shifted her eyes to his side as he spoke.

"When I'm sad and out of books, I eat a lot."

She took another gigantic spoonful. Well, she was probably going to take a couple pounds with that. An excuse to exercise and distract herself further.

[righthandstand]

Plain strawberry was good enough to to lift his mood. Okuyasu scooped with the tip of his spoon and help it up to his lips for his tongue to lick it. It was ice cream, no soul-wrenching side effects. In retrospect, there were other ways he could have tested it, but he was easily swayed by food.

"You should cry instead of eating. Like, I get that ice cream's the best, but you're gonna get so many cavities." And fat, but girls don't like it when guys say that. He gestures at the empty cups with his eyes as he sucks at the residue on his spoon.

[peninhand]

Cavities... What, did he think she didn't brush her teeth? Whatever, perhaps she was just too prejudiced against him after all that had happened. And talks about crying...

"... I don't have any tears left to shed."

She dug her spoon in the ice cream but didn't move for a bit, just staring at the ice cream emptily. That would be nice if she could cry, she certainly wanted to. But she had reached the point where tears just wouldn't flow any more.

C

[changelingdude]

"Dude!!! What the heck was that?"

Whoops, looks like someone saw her. A green boy with pointy ears wearing performers clothes is starring in a mix of confusion and horror. Sure killing monsters was pretty standard practice but was that a fight really?

"Whatever it was, it was pretty powerful Kupo." His Moogle commented sounding less distressed and confused by it. "Practicing a new skill?" She asked fluttering closer while the boy inched closer trying to decide how he felt about the scene.

[peninhand]

Oh no. Why why why. Always at the worst possible time when people stumbled upon her. She immediately turned around and laughed nervously, forcing a stressed smile.

"Ahaha, yes."

Well, the Moogle at least didn't look that horrified... But she didn't care that much about the Moogle. Her reputation with other outworlders mattered much more. Still, she nodded.

"It's Ghoul Powder. That's a really terrible skill. It turns people into horrible demons... It's not something I would ever use. So I tried to tinker with the potion so it wouldn't be as dangerous." She shifted her stare from the Moogle toward the boy with an apologetic smile. "Unfortunately, it... Didn't go as planned."

The art of lying: don't lie, say the truth but in such a way your real intents are hidden.

[changelingdude]

Beastboy still didn't seem sure but he approached cautiously while Melody waved a hand in front of her nose to ward away the stench.

"That's pretty...different. I mean like do you control the demon after you make it?" Beastboy wondered and Melody just shrugged. "Well either way, are you a chemist? I thought about that class for a minute but like...way too complicated for me." He laughed awkwardly.

[peninhand]

She smiled and shook her head. If you could control the demon, then perhaps this would be useful a tad...

"No... That's why I was trying to modify the potion. It's so... Cruel and unpractical, don't you think?"

Now, time to shift the topic and move on to more agreeable and less distasteful things. Things that wouldn't involve her having accidentally killed a poor monster.

"Hmmm, I'm not a Chemist but if I was one it'd probably help with that skill! What Job did you pick?"

A

[einspine]

Monika's absence had left Papyrus worried, even if he didn't let it show. Or mention it much. A lot had transpired, between the Empire visit, custom jobs, his own responsibilities caring for Frisks, dates, and general shenanigans. Never mind that he took up yet another job, albeit another part time. Not too bad for someone who seldom, if ever, slept, but a plague of conflicting feelings loomed over him...

And then he spotted a familiar face from afar, and it wasn't long until he came barreling her way. Surprisingly fast for a monster without muscle.

"MONIKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Still as loud as ever, too.

[peninhand]

Of all the people she felt guilty if they had worried too much, Papyrus was probably the top one amongst them. He was too... Innocent and kind, and didn't deserve to spend his life worrying for people who didn't deserve it. Still, she smiled at he came her way.

"Papyrus!"

She hugged him— Tried anyway. How did you hug a skeleton...? That was probably pretty painful. Were his bones even solid enough to wisthand a big hug...? She didn't test it and pulled away pretty quickly. Still, she beamed at him.

"It's been so long! I hope you've been doing well."

[einspine]

Papyrus was going to hug back, but she pulled away a bit too fast. A shame, really. In his less than humble opinion, skeletons were extremely cuddly. And full of calcium, of course. Alas! Still, a big, bright smile overtook his face. What a relief.

"WELL, NATURALLY, I'M DOING GREAT. THERE'S BEEN A LOT TO TAKE IN, OF COURSE. IMPENDING DISASTERS. DATES. ...WELL, A DATE. ALSO HAVING TO BE A RESPONSIBLE ADULT-SLASH-GUARDIAN FIGURE. BUT I DIGRESS!"

He could go on about his experiences, but he wasn't the one who'd gone missing for a good while. "HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?"

[peninhand]

"Ah yes, Bahamut..." A pause. "I'm sure everyone will find something."

That's what heroes did in a video game. Assuming they were in a video game, of course. And alas, Papyrus's existence stood as one of the biggest tell that they might indeed be. Which was a tad depressing in itself...

"I've been good, reading a lot of books, ahaha~ Did you know Arito got the biggest libraries in the world?"

[einspine]

"AMAZING!!! I REALLY OUGHT TO SPEND MORE TIME THERE. I BET IT COULD YIELD FANTASTIC RESEARCH RESOURCES..." Pausing, he taps his chin. "OH! BUT WHAT SORT OF BOOKS HAVE CAUGHT YOUR EYE? ANYTHING PARTICULARLY JUICY?"

Surely, if so much of her time was presumably spent reading, it must've been groundbreaking! Though who knew what else she'd been up to?

C, and I'm sorry, this is long

[sullenstallion]

[The small house in Nakagawa is located right against the water. It's the perfect place for a number of activities. Fishing. Swimming. Disposing of bodies in the stream. Haha. Who would ever do something like that? But despite the picturesque presentation of the house on approach, there are a few signs here or there that something is a little odd. All the lights are off, and all the blinds are drawn shut. There's a note hung on his door, an inquiry from his boss, that has lost its adhesive from exposure to the air.

If it weren't for the black chocobo (Yakitori, she might recall) perched on the roof taking a nap next to a fiercely guarded pile of rocks, it might look even more abandoned.

There's no answer at first, but eventually a Moogle opens the door and steps outside. He doesn't make eye contact with Monika and seems more interested in playing a mobile game on his iMog. It involves navigating a Touch Me through traffic and back to achieve a high score.]

-never thought he'd get a guest a this rate, kupo! He's been in an especially bad mood lately, kupo. It reminds me of that movie 'Midgardsormr', kupo. Have you ever seen it, Monika? It's the one with the group of tourists who end up with a giant snake following their boat, kupo. You can guess what happens to them from there—

[Not only has Salmog never made an appearance with Dylas, he's now opening the door into the house wider to allow Monika in. It's immediately clear that something is wrong (again). Furniture is knocked on its side, there are scratches in the wall. Salmog continues to explain the movie plot and how all these tourists get vored by a snake as he guides Monika to the staircase leading to a second floor.

Miraculously, he stops.]

Wait a second, kupo. Are you looking for Yue? He's not here anymore, kupo. Are you sure you want to see Dylas? He said he's going to eat me, 'po, I doubt he's lying. Look at the mess he's made, kupo.

[peninhand]

[ She blinked a couple times. Who that was Moogle? How did he know her name...? Of course he worked with Dylas, that much was obvious based on what he was saying, but she thought Moogles to be lazy for the most part. Didn't expect them to know the names of anyone but their partner.

Regardless, she followed the Moogle. ]

Ahaha! [A smile.] He won't eat you even if he threatens to~

[ She started understanding his inner working. Dylas had to do some questionable thing, but wasn't a bad person at heart. But he preferred it when people thought of him as one. Well, that was the conclusion she had reached anyway. And what the Moogle had told her... Yue wasn't here. Was he one of those who disappeared? Or had he fled and hid himself from everyone for a while as she had? ]

And yes, I'm quite sure. I was coming for Dylas in the first place, not Yue. Why don't you take a break and go to the city? I'll handle him and do some clean-up before leaving, alright?

[sullenstallion]

[Salmog stares at Monika like she's said something funny before the sound effect of his Touch Me character (Touch Mimi) dying makes him turn his attention back to his pad. He makes a sad 'kupo' sound before frantically starting again with his game.]

Um, of course not, kupo. He doesn't eat people, 'po.

[But as a Moogle, he's willing to lie for Dylas, it's just...not...a very convincing lie. His voice gets quieter.]

I'm going to run some errands, kupo. Um...'po. [He pauses his game.] I've heard him talk about you, kupo! But he's different now...be careful, kupo. He hasn't left his room in a while.

[He unpauses his game and walks away, adding that Monika definitely shouldn't look in the fridge under his breath. If she decides to head up the stairs, she'll find that it looks even worse than the first floor. There are dents and gashes in the walls clearly made by someone with claws who doesn't know how to cope with loss. There are a few rooms—a bathroom, a guest room. If Monika's sharp, she might notice there's no bedroom for Yue on the second floor.

But eventually, she'll come face to face with the door that no doubt leads to Dylas' room.]

[peninhand]

[ Of course, of course he does eat people. Just random strangers whom he doesn't know and doesn't take the time to know whether they're worth killing or not. Well, that's what she assumed following their last conversations anyway. That was bad... Perhaps she could help him. Either get to him the names of people whose death would make the world a better place, or get to him fresh corpses. Having mastered the Necromancer Job, she had easy access to those commodities now.

Ah well, she nodded to the Moogle when he left and made her way up, looking around. It was getting worse and worse... But she wouldn't stop now.

She knocked and opened the door immediately. ]

Dylas...?

[ If she didn't open after all, odds were he'd never let her in. ]

[sullenstallion]

[Everyone can just be thankful that Dylas is dressed when Monika enters the room. It carries a distinct scent—an unpleasant one, but not necessarily one that repulses one into leaving a room. It's a smell similar to what one might pick up near a terrarium or a while handling a reptile. It's a scent Dylas always carries but here, in his room, it's at its strongest.

His length of tail is coiled in a circle beneath him, his chest resting over the middle. There's a light blanket draped over him and the air conditioner in the room is running (it's easier to hibernate when you're cold and you're shutting all the blinds). His iMog is on the floor not far from the door. Like the rest of his apartment, his room looks like he threw a temper tantrum in it, but he doesn't look ashamed when he lifts his head lazily, golden eyes piercing through the darkness where the sun catches them through his blinds.]

Go home.

[And then the thread was over!

Or not. He buries his head back against his arms, speaking again only a few seconds later, curiosity catching him. Maybe worry. He'd known someone was downstairs, but he's surprised anyone came at all.]

Did something horrible happen this month or are you just bored?

[He really hasn't been paying attention to anything on the network.]

RE: C | Unnatural Disaster (Island of the Curti Center, October 14th)

[neverbeamemory]

Sephiroth's first days since disembarking at the Curti Center have been filled with something of a rabid sequence of Stuff to sort; necessary supplies, food, job asterisks and that's not counting however many hours he'd already spent pouring over the iMog Slate, learning what he could from it. However, it had quickly become apparent that far from everything was stored on that one device, which would, in-turn, require him to arrange to tour to other cities and places of interest himself; provided the charity of the Curti Center didn't run out before he'd finally settled into the fact he was going to have to find some sort of employment, and that it was the lesser-frustrating situation to be in.

All of these insignificant things that insignificant beings wasted their limited lifetime towards just to survive. Even if it seemed there was a great threat on the horizon.

It was the first time Sephiroth had stepped outside of Curti itself, the intention simply to find if there were anything of interest out there. Perhaps he might later make a route to potentially jog along in the mornings; since that was also now a thing to be concerned with now he had a body again.

He might have strolled right past Monika without any mind at all -he hadn't even passed all that close-by- had it not been for the glimpse of a captured Geezard at her feet he'd caught by chance; one of the more interesting things he'd seen all day, for sure. By the time Sephiroth approached closer, though, it seemed the experiment was already over.

"So what's this in aid of, then?"

His curiosity piqued, and therefore demands an answer.

[peninhand]

She shifted, turning her to the side when Sephiroth called her out. Of course, people strolled by always at the more inconvenient of times. As if an invisible hand guided them all so they would meet at the most inopportune of time... Nearly like a video game. She shook her head at the thought, she didn't need to dwell back on that idea.

Regardless, she seemed pretty embarrassed at having been found out.

"Ah, I was testing a skill from my Job."

She showed him the empty vial before kneeling by the dead Geezard.

"Ghoul Power. It's supposed to temporarily turn living entities into..." Well, there weren't many ways around avoid saying the truth for that. "Er, unstoppable demons with a thirst for blood? Ahaha!" A nervous laughter. That's why she should keep to those kind of experiments when she was away from everyone and everything. "I tinkered with it a bit in the hopes of changing the effects but that didn't go as planned."

[neverbeamemory]

Monika's apparent embarrassment seemed almost suspicious to begin with; but then surely if it were that much of something to be kept secret it wouldn't have have been tested out in the open, or at least he would have picked somewhere else that wasn't so visible. Yet, the signal she gave off over being 'found out' seemed entirely out of place to him, once the details had been explained.

If they weren't to trial and error different approaches within the limited means Vaikuntha granted them, there wouldn't be any satisfaction from the efforts made. Sephiroth tilted his head and stepped a little closer to better see the empty vial she produced. Then turned a little away and stepped towards blackened corpse of the Geezard. Lightly tapping the side of the carcass with his boot.

"I see. Well it seems to have achieved the opposite." Sephiroth wasn't phased at all by the smell he noted, or the black hue. He'd not had an opportunity yet to fight any of the fauna described as local to this area.

"Do all monsters go this way when they are killed?"

It was a rather pungent smell for a newly expired living being, yet he's the ignorant one in terms of the natural process of something dying.

[peninhand]

Well, he reacted much better to this than the other boy had. Thinking about it, the man looked a tad more mature than the average Curti Center resident, save for the staff. That and the unnatural hair color and long hair... He would have been right in his element, had he been the main character or an edgy love interest in a visual novel... Ah, now was not the time to ponder on how likely it was for everything to be a video game.

She shook her head and got back up on her knees.

"Ah no, that's... A side effect brought about by my tinkering', I guess."

She poked the dead Geezard with her feet and... It crumbled into dust before their very eyes. Oh dear, she had really messed up with the dosages. She turned toward Sephiroth and smiled nervously. Time for a shift of topic.

"Ahaha..." A nervous laughter and— "Well anyway, are you new here? My name's Monika! It's a pleasure meeting you."

[neverbeamemory]

Just like that edgy love interest might have done, a few finer strands of Sephiroth's hair waft as if caught in a breeze as he once one more turned to watch Monika as she got back to her knees, then rustled again as he looked back again to the dead Geezard.

He frowned a little as the monster crumbled to dust rapidly before their eyes. It's almost as if her powder had not only killed the monster outright, but had aged it's physical matter significantly as well so to cause such an instant decomposition. She might deem it a failure, but he quickly reasoned any number of uses for such a substance.

Not to share them, of course, and besides Monika then changed the subject. So as not to appear caught up in other pondering, Sephiroth side-stepped back to face her. No need to be rude, after all.

"Yes. I arrived a few days ago." It was probably closer to at least a week but details.

"I'm Sephiroth." He answered her introduction plainly, before skipping any other such pleasantry and replacing it with another question.

"Have you been here long?"