lifeaftr | October Intro: Aftermath Mingle

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October Intro: Aftermath Mingle

Who: All!
What: Now that you've all committed monkey genocide, it's time to clean up and go home.
When: Evening of the intro log- and onwards!
Where: The Monkey Compound, Islets, etc.
Warnings: Mark as you go!

Congratulations on effectively reversing the tables, adventurers. As the hunted become the hunters, the remaining simians begin to retreat into the jungle, disappearing from sight as the drumming dies down, before extinguishing entirely.

It appears that you have won.

Now it's time to clean up.

Those still in the Monkey Compound may wish to begin scavenging what they can, from multiple coconut guns to rudimentary spears. There's a flock of Bludroc happy to be herded to a new home, several stashes of fresh fruit to be found... and a rather large iron pot, for the particularly bold.

Others may be more concerned with returning to the islets and securing the personal belongings that were left behind. There are new people to settle in, as well; and undoubtedly, a few injuries yet to be healed.

Reunite, rejoice, recover. And perhaps, should you see the Storyteller about- ask a few questions.

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Of all his feline features, an enhanced sense of smell is unfortunately not among them. Otherwise, he may have scented the little Cubone before she scampered up and did him a frighten. When she speaks his name, his spine rams straight, both ears swiveling madly for a moment. Then he turns and searches out the source of the voice with wide, slightly dazed eyes, giving every impression of an immediate intent to streak away like purple lighting as soon as he pinpoints where the threat is.

He's looking up high, so he sees nothing at first. Only by process of elimination does his gaze slowly lower, and eventually, pin itself to Tibia... with no signs of recognition.

At first.

It takes a few solid blinks, the black tip of his tail twitching back and forth as if he's struggling to process her as familiar or closer to the realm of prey. Then his fur begins lying flat, his stiff shoulders relaxing, and he slowly lowers himself back onto his haunches.

"... T... T-Tibia-chan."

She doesn't recognize the honorific, but it doesn't matter. Her heart gives a little dip in her chest as he looks at her with no sense of familiarity, but when his expression suddenly brightens with clarity, and he speaks her name in that soft deep voice, she feels a relaxation of her body that she hadn't realized she had been tensing. She wiggles her claw slightly in a wave, still hanging back from approaching him-- but her stance is not one of anxiety, but of shyness.

Are you okay?

The blood on his clothing worries her. He doesn't have as much of it on him as Chara had, long ago, but blood still belongs on the inside. She's aware of Wade's ability to heal, but as far as she knows other humans don't have that ability.

Sadly, the precise moment he recognizes Tibia also appears to be the precise moment he stops paying attention to her. He turns wildly this way and that, only seeming more distressed than he had moments before, and drops back onto all fours to pace distractedly back and forth in front of her.

Why is she alone out here in a place like this? Where the hell is her dad? Freaking... dino-fucker. Damn it all.

With a rumble of displeasure, Ichimatsu abruptly rears back onto his haunches and sets to the immediate task of wrestling his hoodie off. It serves to reveal his black undershirt and his pale arms, showing off nothing but a few minor lacerations and bruises, but Ichimatsu seems a hell of a lot more focused on spreading the hoodie flat on the ground, loosening the hoodie strings, and reaching right over and picking Tibia up under the arms.

Swiftly -- but taking care not to cut her with his pointed fingernails -- he lowers her into the neckhole of the hoodie, pulls it up to her armpits, and tightens the drawstring. Then he folds the bottom of the hoodie up, twists it, and forms another rapid knot with the sleeves, fashioning the article into a crude but functional sort of pouch... with Tibia as its occupant.

Honestly, if she were just a kitten with a scruff, this would have been so much easier. But it's not her fault her dad fucked a dinosaur and not a cat.

Satisfied, Ichimatsu falls back onto all fours and seizes the hood between his teeth. Then he's taking off at a pelt towards the nearest pile of sticks these dead assholes called shelters.

She hardly even has time to react, much less to ask him what he's doing. One moment he's looking around with the panicked disposition of a prey animal, and then the next minute she finds herself inside of his hoodie, dangling from his mouth as he takes off at a dead run on all fours. The scenery races by in a blur-- Ichimatsu is amazingly agile for a member of a species no longer used to running on quadruped. Tibia's thoughts are in a blur too, dizzy from the sudden shift in their encounter and the pungent, mixed scent of blood and Ichimatsu's body.

It probably sounds romantic, but honestly the man's unwashed musk is rather awful. All things considered, she probably would have preferred riding on his back.

It doesn't take them long to find Wade-- the man is virtually tearing apart every shelter he can find, frantically calling out Tibia's name at random intervals, and the panic in his voice causes the little Cubone's stomach to twist with guilt. It occurs to her, in that wave of solemn certainty that young children have, that she is in Big Trouble, and she finds herself sinking further into Ichimatsu's hoodie as he quickly closes the distance between them and Wade.

The first shelter they come across is a no-go: even without heightened senses, he gets one whiff of carnage from its opening and knows that Tibia doesn't need to see whatever the hell is in there. He screeches to a halt, awkwardly leaning forward to keep from jolting Tibia too hard, and glances rapidly about for his next option.

That's when he hears that voice again... calling out in its familiar, panicked cadence. There's no ore-chan this time, but just as it had served to break through Ichimatsu's last daze, it effects a similar change here -- Ichimatsu springs around the hut in the direction of the noise without hesitation. At least he's nearby, but how irresponsible can you get? Letting his freaking kid out of his sight in a bloodbath like this... why would he even bring her here?

When he sees the figure of Wade frantically bent over in search of his kid, an instinctual curl of disgust bottoms out in his gut. His more feral instincts, thankfully, still manage to override his human pettiness.

"Oi!"

With the cloth of his hood still clenched between his teeth, the call comes out muffled -- and likely a bit uncomfortably loud to Tibia's ears. Ichimatsu staggers to his feet and lopes forward at a hunch; hands shoved into his sweats pockets, tail lashing furiously.

"Lothe thomething?" he slurs, eyes narrowed and dour.

The voice catches Wade off guard, and his hand is already on his holster as he turns around to face Ichimatsu. The sheer strangeness of the sight-- the cat ears and tail, the hoodie papoose, the fact that Tibia is currently dangling from the NEET's mouth-- doesn't even register with him. Wade's face shows residual panic at losing his dino-daughter, but as he focuses on the contrite look on the young one's face, his expression changes to barely-controlled fury.

"What did I tell you about wandering off like that." It's not a question, and his voice trembles with the effort of keeping his anger in check. "Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?"

Tibia flinches at his tone as if he had shouted at her, and her fingers fumble at signing an explanation.

"No! No. Don't even talk to me right now, Tibs. I'm not in the mood." One hand comes up to pinch the bridge of Wade's nose, as if he's nursing a particularly bad headache. The other hand digs into his pocket and brings out a small spherical object. "We'll talk about this when we get home. Ball. Now."

It's clear that no amount of apology or excuse will persuade him when he's this angry at her. Tibia lets her arms fall to the sides, her head bowed in guilt. A beam of light shoots from the object in Wade's hands and envelops her, pulling her inward. The ball glows for a second or two before fading, and Wade once again puts it in his pocket.

He takes in a deep breath, blows it out harshly between his lips; pushes his hands in a downward motion in the air as if physically attempting to suppress his frustration. Finally he looks upon Ichimatsu. "The fuck happened to you?"

He seems unaware that he's still got his "angry father" voice on.

Even unable to read Tibia's expression from this angle, Ichimatsu feels her weight shift back into him as she withdraws from Wade's ire, and it causes his eyebrows to pull down faintly. Still, he doesn't interrupt. He's been on the receiving end of enough parental tirades to know that trying to stop it would be futile.

It's only once Wade recalls her into the pokéball that Ichimatsu reacts. He startles at the beam of light, jerking backwards with a lash of his tail, but too late -- Tibia disappears in a flurry of red light, and Ichimatsu is left blinking, his hands drawing out of his pockets to grope stupidly at the now-empty pouch. When it fully seems to register that she's no longer there, Ichimatsu bristles and pins Wade with a borderline accusatory look before his eyes fall to the glowing ball.

Really, the only thing saving Wade's eardrums right now is the fact that he was obviously too relieved at her safety to have done anything bad to her just now.

He spits the hood out, letting it fall into his arms. One of his ears flicks in hot irritation at that tone being directed towards him, and he's sure not to make eye contact as he begins undoing his hoodie.

"... you were too harsh on her. Tibia-chan was freaked out enough just by being here, you know." Ichimatsu pauses to hiss disdainfully as a trail of blood from his arm smears across his hoodie. "What the hell did you do with her just now, anyway?"

If Ichimatsu's hoping for a fight, he's in for a disappointment. Sure, Wade would have definitely read him the riot act about sticking his nose in other people's business, but whether he likes it or not, this man has proven to be a rather important factor in Tibia's life, and that actually earns him quite a few points with the mercenary. Wade fixes the NEET with a scathing glare, the residual effects of his fatherly ire, but as his blood cools the fire in his eyes goes out, and he breathes in another sigh.

"Yeah, I know. I was just worried about her, y'know? Gettin' lost in the jungle is one thing, but when there might be psychopathic apes running around? That's a different kettle of fish entirely. I'll try an' smooth things over when I get back. Still gonna ground her, but since this's her first offense I'll probably give her a light sentence."

He pats his pocket reassuringly. "Don't worry about her. She's safe and sound. I know it looks pretty cramped in there, but that's usually where her kind end up stayin' most of the time. I guess it's more spacious on the inside or somethin'? I dunno-- I never understood physics all that well.

"Thanks for bringin' her back, by the way. She's, uh. I mean, I'm kinda attached to her, y'know?"

"Tch."

That seems to be the greatest amount of eloquence Ichimatsu is capable of in the face of all that tender honesty. He doesn't know whether to be a little bit disgusted or genuinely impressed. Seriously, isn't Wade at least a little bit embarrassed to be spilling his guts out to garbage like that? Maybe it's a father thing. Though Matsuzo has definitely never gotten that mushy on them.

Maybe it's a father-to-a-cute-dino-kid-and-not-useless-NEETs thing. Yeah, alright, that sounds more likely.

Either way, Ichimatsu is a little embarrassed to hear it, and not in small part due to the fact that it's continuing to break down the negative first impression he'd had of this creep. Ore-chan or not, can you really be that hard on a guy who loves a little animal and calls her his daughter? Only bottom-barrel scum would do that. It might be kind of weird, but it's not hurting anyone. Mildly discomforted, Ichimatsu cuts his gaze away once more, putting his focus on getting his hoodie untied.

As soon as it's back to form, Ichimatsu struggles it back over his head, wincing only slightly as it tugs at his abrasions. He pats the fur on his ash-gray ears down with one hand.

"Don't mention it." Really, don't. "She's the one who came and found me, anyway."

To be fair, Ichi, you and your brothers are like... 27. Papa Wolf tendencies tend to increase exponentially the younger your kid is. Regardless, it appears Wade's earnestness has disarmed the pissy emo, but Wade can't help but feel embarrassed at having letting so much slip like that. He's not ashamed of his love for his little Pokebaby, but it's not exactly helping his reputation as a hardened mercenary.

Thank god the NEET decides to divert the awkwardness of the situation by struggling to get that shitty hoodie back on his head. It allows Wade to focus more on the feline attributes currently attached to the other man, attributes that he's sure the guy hadn't had the last time he'd encountered him.

"So, uh... you didn't really answer my question. What's with the...?" He gestures to the top of his own head.

"Eh?" His dead-fish eyes follow the motion, but even with his fingers still poised over his own set of ears, Ichimatsu stares at Wade with a total lack of comprehension. It doesn't even seem to click that he's still got them out until there's a soft rustle of wind through trees, and one of his ears automatically flicks in its direction. He pauses. "Oh, these."

The look of confusion trades for one of complete disinterest. Allowing his hand to flop back down to his side like a dead eel, Ichimatsu shrugs. "Don't worry about it. They'll go away on their own."

Come on, don't just rudely ask people about shit like that. It's not as if Ichimatsu has asked about your dino-fucking.

To be fair, Wade honestly wouldn't care if Ichimatsu had asked about his alleged dino-fucking. His romantic predilections being what they are, it's amazing no one had asked him that sort of question sooner. Maybe they just didn't want to know. Maybe it was a sort of "don't ask, don't tell" situation. Didn't exactly stop Wade from giving out that information freely, in any case.

Wade cocks his head quizzically at the cat-eared NEET, as if Ichimatsu is a puzzle he's trying his best to figure out, and "don't worry about it" and "they'll go away on their own" aren't exactly satisfying answers to his questions. He crosses his arms over his chest, rocking his weight backward on one leg.

"Soooo are you and your brothers mutants or what's up with that?"

His brows furrow deeply at that, lowering enough to be visible past his bangs. He's heard a lot of insults thrown towards his and his brothers over the course of their NEET lives, and he's sure 'mutants' has probably been in there a few times, but this is a totally different context.

His hands tuck back into his pockets. Ears flicking -- he might be doing this on purpose now -- Ichimatsu grunts noncommittally.

"We're just trash. Unburnable trash. Living, breathing garbage... if that's your definition of 'mutant', then maybe."

Cute, Ichimatsu. Very cute. Wade remains unimpressed by this show of melodrama.

"Sorry, I didn't realize I was listenin' to the newest Linkin Park album. That ain't what I meant, smartass. I meant like mutants-- y'know, homo superior? Guys who can fly or control the weather or shoot lasers outta their eyes? Tell me you at least read comic books, for fuck's sake."

The hell is Lincoln Park? He really doesn't care about some American president's reservation or whatever, Wade. One of his eyebrows go back up, accompanied by a soft snort, because he's also trying to figure out if he and his brothers were just called "super gay". Which... well, he doesn't have a problem with it, he guesses. Even though he's not the one who fucked a dinosaur.

Honestly, he hasn't taken anything this guy says seriously from the beginning, and he's not about to start now.

"Do I look like I follow American comics? All I read is the manga Osomatsu-niisan leaves lying around sometimes."

To be fair, one doesn't "follow" American comics so much as try to find one's way through it. It was pretty much like a hedge maze where the exits kept changing-- plot points get brought up and dropped, characterization changes from writer to writer and sometimes (especially in the 90s) continuity was a snarl of confusing threads tied haphazardly together, if it was ever existent at all. Wade can't keep track of how many daddies he's had, anymore.

Still, that doesn't exactly answer his question. "What I mean is, how are you doing that? With the cat ears and whatnot? Is this some kinda weird Japanimation thing I'm not privy to or what?"

Suddenly, he finds himself missing Travis, as intensely and keenly as a Lego embedded in his foot. He was the big weeaboo of the group, after all-- he probably would've been able to figure this shit out.

~~kill me daddy~~

Ichimatsu gives another snort, this one entirely derisive. The tip of his tail twitches in annoyance, the same way an actual cat's might while they're calibrating their pounce -- though if his continued slouch is anything to judge by, Ichimatsu is far from making that sort of effort at the moment.

"Aren't you a bit obsessed with this? It's getting creepy. I'm telling you it's no big deal; if you really wanna meet the weirdest one out of us, wait until Jyushimatsu shows up."

If he does. Ichimatsu violently shrugs off the wave of sentiment for his little brother.

Oh good. Wade needed a reminder of why he didn't like this asshole's attitude. He was almost about to be grateful for him bringing his little girl back to him. Seriously, what the hell did Tibia see in him? She certainly didn't get any of her bad taste from him, that's for sure. In a gesture of unfathomable maturity, Wade rolls his eyes and scoffs at the emo kid.

"Dude, I'm not obsessed. I'm just curious, y'know? Makin' conversation an' all that? C'mon, you can't tell me that you wouldn't start askin' questions if someone you kinda knew suddenly sprouted, like... a lizard tail or something."

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October Intro: Aftermath Mingle

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