November Catch-all

[bluecastleace]

Who: Hajime Iwaizumi + YOU!
What: November catch-all log
Where: Various locations
When: The month of November
Content Warnings: None thus far; will add as needed

((ooc:This catch-all will also serve as Iwaizumi’s introductory post! Please feel free to hit up any of the open TLs found below. I will likely be adding them as the month goes on! Please feel free to add me on plurk @ pantheraliam for plotting/updates on TLs being added!))

Comments

[forethinking]

(Bullshit is that answer, to be very clear, but Iwa is already under enough pressure and dealing with enough on itself so he doesn't press it.)

If you say so. (He doesn't buy it.)

I made you curry and coffee. I hope it's good.

[bluecastleace]

[Right. The food - and coffee, which he normally wouldn’t drink, but isn’t about to complain about. Sleeping on that bedroll the last few nights hasn’t exactly been restful, and his entire evening/morning routine has been entirely thrown to the wind at this point. Honestly, he’s exhausted (both mentally and physically).

[Still, the friendly gesture sits strangely with him, if only because he’s gotten so used to be angry these last few days that it’s a little difficult to relax and accept that something not so shitty might be happening right now.]

Right. For the welcome, right? [Awkward. Nice, he guesses, but...awkward - or is it just him that’s feeling awkward right now?] Do you, uh...want some?

[Is it his to offer now? Is that how gifts work?]

[forethinking]

No, just coffee. (And Ren came prepared too, with black opaque mugs inside the bag carrying the curry. He poured some for himself and the other, just setting it aside for a second.)

I figure you must have questions. (At this point, Ren gets to know most newcomers. Heavenly Blanc is the most visible hospitality location in the Void and it so happens to be partly where he used to live prior to the Void... And Ren spends most of his time there.

This time, however, with all the shit that has happened as of late, he wasn't there.)

[bluecastleace]

Too many to ask. [No, seriously. Just thinking about it is overwhelming.] To be honest with you man, I’m just waiting to wake up.

[Though somewhere deep down - not too deep down even - he knows that’s not coming. People don’t sleep in their dreams, don’t hurt. This is real and it sucks.]

[forethinking]

I'm sorry.

(Because it just isn't going to happen. Ren has been waiting to wake up for ages now.)

What's your name? What do you do? (Sounds a bit better than to just get known as The Newbie, and maybe getting to know his interests helps his mood at little. He might even eat.)

[bluecastleace]

Iwaizumi. [He forgoes the “Hajime” bit - just Iwaizumi please.]

I’m a high school student. [Kaiba’s “and?” rings in his ear - not that he has anything to prove, but.] I play volleyball. You from Japan?

[His name sounded like it.]

[forethinking]

(Ren's nothing like Kaiba. He's not here to belittle anyone at all.)

I'm a second year. (But no sports, sorry. Does fishing and batting count?) I am. I was living in Tokyo prior to here.

[bluecastleace]

I’m from Miyagi. Our team is a powerhouse in the prefecture.

[Like that matters here (some powerhouse that can’t even make it to Nationals anyway). He winces a bit under those thoughts.]

No teams around here either way. [Right?] Guess it doesn’t matter.

[forethinking]

A lot of us here are Japanese. (Ren doesn't bother to share where he's from, because well. It's a country-ass city with no canon reference in the middle of nowhere, so well.)

I don't think anyone here has attempted sports yet. (But it could be a good source of entertainment, in all honesty. The Void suffers from the lack of things to do at times.) You should try it.

[bluecastleace]

Yeah, well. [He frowns, takes the mug but doesn’t sip from it quite yet.] A volleyball team needs at least six people on either side. There’s not much I could do by myself.

[forethinking]

I'll see if we can find people who'd like to play.

(Ren... Can? He's not great at it in any way, but he plays it when the situation calls for it. Surely there could be more interested.

Again, the Void can get boring.)

[bluecastleace]

Huh? You think you could?

[Maybe this guy has some sway around here - don’t mind his eyes lighting up a bit as he considers it.]

Three on three isn’t impossible. Even if we could just find six...

As long as they aren’t assholes like that guy, I could show them a thing or two.

[forethinking]

I don't think it's impossible. (Well. He can surely ask.

Ren knows most of the people in the Void at this point, and well, he has a good relationship with most of them.)

Most of us are really nice. (Or well. Try to be.)

[bluecastleace]

[Snort.]

I’ll believe it when I see it.

Anyway, if you can find players, let me know. Clearly you know where I’m staying.

[forethinking]

I'll put a list at the bar.

(Impossible not to see it there. Most people stop by.)

I'm almost your upstairs neighbor.

(If he ever needs any help.)

[bluecastleace]

Yeah, well. I appreciate it. And noted.

[He pauses for a minute, finally takes a sip of his drink. The curry looks good, but his appetite is finicky, and it’s awkward to sit and eat with someone who isn’t partaking themselves.]

Thanks for the food. And the rest. You seem like a pretty okay guy.

[Even if he is hard to make conversation with.]

[forethinking]

You're welcome.

(And to the compliment, Ren has nothing to say. He... Guesses??? Sure?? How do you even reply to something like that?

He smiles though.)

Have you had a chance to look around?

[bluecastleace]

A bit, yeah.

[He neglects to mention that he’s spent most of his time hiding in his apartment, because he realizes how pathetic that would probably sound.]

A lot of weird fucking shit going on around here. Like that beach?

[Actually...]

It was your friend I saw there. The one who ran and got you.

[forethinking]

Yoshizawa.

(In case he doesn't remember her name.)

We're friends from home. Ann as well. (A beat later:) Has anyone briefed you on the different Japans yet?

[bluecastleace]

[Insert some dumb-looking blinking.]

The what now?

[forethinking]

(Ah. There we go.

At least he has been through this enough times.)

Do the words "Medjed", "Phantom Thieves of Hearts", "Masayoshi Shido", or Tokyo's subway accidents ring any bells for you?

(The Phantom Thieves were the news even in America. Surely if they were from the same Japan, Iwai would recognize the name at least.)

[bluecastleace]

[Iwa wrinkles his brow.]

Not really...

[It’s said cautiously. He’s not from Tokyo, he’s only been a time or two - surely it would make sense that he hasn’t heard of those things, right? That doesn’t mean he’s from a different Japan.

[Right?]

[forethinking]

All these were at least national news over the last year.

(He could even have mentioned Akechi, since his opposition to the Phantom Thieves made his popularity skyrocket. If Iwai had said yes, he would have.)

We assume we're all from different realities, since nobody sees eye-to-eye on the news.

[bluecastleace]

[It’s tempting to ask what year - maybe that’s the difference here - but Iwa figures there’s little point. Plenty of people here come from different years, but for a second he’d thought this Ren guy and he had some common ground to stand on. Apparently not. The resigned distress is probably clear in his expression.

[He laughs, but there’s no humor to it.]

Go figure, I guess. There probably isn’t a single person here where I come from.

[How depressing. He wouldn’t even be mad at seeing Ushiwaka right about now (well, maybe).]

[forethinking]

(They still do - it is Japan nonetheless. Just with a different set of events. That's how Ren sees it with all the other fellow countrymen that don't come from the same place.)

Perhaps not yet. (Ren only shrugs before sipping on his coffee.) I was one of the first. The girls arrived recently enough.