dhaosu | 9:30 PM, Thursday evening, Week 8

[CONGRATULATIONS, DHAOS. SHE'S ACTUALLY IN HER ROOM, AND NOT KILLING ANYONE. When she answers the door, however, the ever-present dark circles under her eyes are even more pronounced than usual. Someone hasn't been sleeping well since the motive announcement. As usual, there's paper strewn all over the room - it looks like she was writing something recently, if the small stack of papers on her desk is any indication.]

Dhaos. Were you worried I was going to be out killing someone?

["Were you worried" is in a vaguely sarcastic tone, but she drops it after that, making the question sound halfway between a joke and a real question.]

Edited 2016-04-05 05:43 (UTC)

[ More like... he's making sure you are in your room, safe and sound. He was still concerned she might have made one trip or if she were going back to her room someone might have blindsighted her and...

His eyes flicker a bit downwards, with a tilt of his head, and of course due to how tall he is it means he easily meets her eyes.

He catches the sarcasm, but he cannot return it for the moment...or joke because he can't think of one. ]

If I am being honest, no. I was making sure you were doing alright, as well as being present. There are other reasons why you may have not been in your room.

Although, it's not just that, either. If you have some time... you do look a little tired.

Edited 2016-04-05 06:13 (UTC)

["A little tired" may be an understatement.]

I'm not foolish enough to go wandering around by myself at night. Though Koke is, of course, ready to defend me if it did come to that.

[The cheetah behind her makes a noise as she steps aside, allowing Dhaos in.]

I'm not getting any sleep tonight anyway, so you can stay for awhile if you'd like.

Mm.

[ Dhaos steps in and closes the door behind himself. Then he nods, seating himself in the stand-issued chairs in the rooms. ]

Very well...now that such a thing is over with-- do you know of the ghosts within this town?

[ He figures he'll start there, because well. ]

I've heard them mentioned a few times. I haven't been able to sense or see any of them for myself, though...ah, except for the dog. If he counts.

[Even now the dog is the priority.]

The dog counts. I have seen the dog briefly myself, playing around with Lucy. Although, I am not sure the significance of a dog's ghost would have in revealing knowledge about that town. Feel free to enlighten me if you do know, however.

[ Every little thing adds up, he thinks. The only thing he believes that is quite the pity is that he didn't get a chance to tell Gilbert more, however. ]

The other ghosts I have become aware of do have names. One of them is Marta, Miata's sister, another is Edita a woman who was once a teacher in the school house. Another's name is Mayor Bačiulis, a man who we should be on the look-out for. As far as I know, however, he's remained ever the so elusive.

Edited 2016-04-05 23:01 (UTC)

He has a name too. It's Jurgis. I asked Miata about the tags on his collar. This is what was on them.

[She picks up a beaten-up book from her desk and flips to the last page, then shows it to Dhaos.]

Karvelis is the surname of the family he belonged to. When I asked Miata about the name, she told me that it was her neighbors'. The rest seems fairly useless, though - it's just the address they lived at. Which I'm sure would be useful if it meant anything, but I hadn't heard of Lettland at all before arriving here, so it doesn't seem like anything worth paying attention to.

[She hesitates for just a second, then tears the paper out of the book.]

You can hold onto this.

[ Well then. Dhaos certainly listens to her as she explains and he takes the paper. ]

Thank you. Perhaps it could prove to be certainly significant later on. Buildings oft have numbers upon them from what I understand to denote their location.

[ He can try to see later on if the buildings they can access did and maybe be a clue as to where this house is. ]

... Lettland seems like it had a troubled history at one point, however. That teacher at the school said she had been staying more at the building due to the "crisis". She mentioned that most of her students had wound up gone due to it. I had wondered what type of crisis it was, but I believe it may be war.

Lithuania said that the sirens going off were typical for warning of a 'air raid'. Which means to signal or warn of a attack from above, if I remember correctly, which would help support this theory.

Edited (friick. words.) 2016-04-06 00:08 (UTC)

An air raid?

[For some reason, that sounds familiar. Maybe it's better not to think about the time her pet went nuts and nearly carpet-bombed the surface.]

...In any case, if there was a war, why should that matter to us? The affairs of the surface dwellers and how they choose to kill each other isn't something I'm concerned about. I suppose I'd have a reason to worry if the war were still ongoing, but it sounds like the ghosts are reliving their experiences in life - and we haven't seen any signs of active war, so as far as I can tell, it's over.

Edited 2016-04-06 00:12 (UTC)

Usually, I'd say it wouldn't matter either, but knowing this much could lead us to knowing one piece of why we're in the situation we are in now.

[ Honestly, he thought the same. But he knew when times got desperate, humans did foolish and reckless things. ]

Perhaps, because of this war, someone decided to try their hand at forbidden magic. Hence why demons are involved, amongst these humans.

[ Although, "demons" in the context of different from the ones they're familiar with. ]

Edited 2016-04-06 01:02 (UTC)

So, there was a war, humans turned to magic out of desperation...a third step happens, and here we are.

[It sounds better than anything she's come up with, so she'll roll with it for now.]

There have been some humans who became youkai as a result of learning magic...I wonder if it could be the same for these demons.

[ For a moment, he needs to pause, raising a hand to his forehead, rubbing at it a little, and closing his eyes. ]

Well, I am not surprised that this began with human folly, at any rate. This seems to be rather common, after all.

Although, speaking of humans, I do not know why Miata would think it worth it to work in tandem with people who aren't guaranteed to deliver on letting her go by the end of this.

[ And as far as he's concerned that cemented the idea for him that these people cannot be trusted to uphold a bargain. If even "killing and getting away with it" was one. ]

...For the same reason people are killing with no guarantee they'll live to see the reward, I guess. When all of your choices are bad, you may as well take the one that might get you what you want, right?

[That's basic psychology, and it's not exclusive to humans. Satori's been tempted to kill someone - the motive to correct a mistake was particularly difficult to resist - so she knows very well how that feels.]

[ 'Fix a mistake'... that was one of the hardest motives. If not the most difficult for Dhaos to even shrug off. For a moment, he was even livid during that, and it was thanks to--

He pauses that thought. ]

...Mm. I suppose, but even so-- I'd like to wait and see if there was another choice I could make down the road that could be better. Perhaps it's simply not an option for some, however, depending on their circumstances.

[ He just assumed that Miata had better choices. But it could be she truly didn't. It was the best she could have, even if time passed... for her there was 'no better choice down the road'. ]

[It seems like a reasonable statement, but it's enough to make the exhausted Satori seem a little more awake. She straightens up a little, a pained expression on her face.]

I used to think the same thing, and then I waited too long. And I kept waiting, and waiting, and things got even worse. I waited until after Koishi had hurt herself to decide I wanted to do something to help her. I waited until after Okuu had swallowed a god to check up on how she was doing. I waited until after Orin had already been avoiding me for days to try to speak to her.

I keep waiting, and all it brings is misfortune, but I've been waiting so long I've forgotten how to start.

[Her face is buried in her hands. She's not letting anybody see what it looks like to see Satori Komeiji on the verge of Having an Emotion.]

[ Dhaos watched her carefully... and truly her words rung a chord. He recalled that conversation they had, and it makes him silent. She was trying to hide her expression but he knew that it was because such a thing was weighing so heavily upon her mind.

Still, he is not sure if he wishes to leave it as is. ]

... Satori?

[ Speaking her name now, because he thought about extending his hand towards her or something, but she is obscuring her face. So if anything, to perhaps get her mind temporarily off such a thing (unlikely), or start to bring up something. In an attempt to at least try to help. ]

[Several moments pass in silence before she lowers her hands. When she does, her expression is carefully neutral, every part of her face perfectly positioned to betray no emotions whatsoever.]

I'm sorry you had to see such an ugly reaction. Please do your best to forget you witnessed it.

[It's ok not to process your feelings as long as they still fit under this gross rug you keep shoving them under, right?????]

[ Satori, he should be able to recognize the act...as he utilized it a few times himself. The act of "hiding one's own feelings". ]

... There are plenty of reactions that can be classified as ugly. I will not count that as one of them. It's only natural, concerning your circumstances, and if I faulted you for it, then...

[ He shakes his head. He would have no room to speak. ]

I will make sure to move past this subject, as you so wish, in a moment. However, I wish to remind you that you do not need to feel as if you would be viewed adversely for showing an emotion like that. And if anyone else would judge here, upon seeing yourself being upset as you were now, I would gladly remind them as to how foolish they are for doing so.

[She hasn't taken the authoritative tone very often while she's been here, but it's out in full force now.]

No, it was ugly. The only fool here is the one who let her emotions get the best of her.

[Even if it was only for a moment. At home, she has her pets, and even if she were to lose her ability, she'd know they loved her unconditionally. She'd know she could trust them, and that they would trust her. But here - she can't be sure. She can't be sure, and she can't ever forget that for a second. She can't trust anyone with something as complicated or heavy as her feelings.

Even if she wants to.]

...The only thing worse than being judged is being pitied. I don't need that from anyone.

...It is not pity-- not from my end.

[ He'll affirm that at least, if quietly. He doesn't think he could convince Satori otherwise... that the emotional display wasn't ugly, but he simply wanted to set this straight. At least.

But he'll leave it as is otherwise, until she falls asleep or otherwise. ]

9:30 PM, Thursday evening, Week 8

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I laughed at 'carpet'-bombed.

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