OPEN SEASON.

[crawly]

1. pick a character.

☛ optional.
☛ character list here.
☛ full list.
☛ specify in the subject line if you want one character in particular.

2. provide a prompt.

☛ image, words, music, whatever you want.
☛ i like to think at least one of my three tumblrs has something interesting. (be warned that all three blogs contain nsfw material, including porn.)

3. gotta go fast.

☛ not actually. this is a permanently open post! tag at your own speed.

Comments

[theblonde]

[she lightens up, posture straightening.]

Really? It wouldn't be too much trouble, would it?

[allures]

[effy shakes her head, rolling her eyes. she pulls out a lighter -- which she found on her second escapade around the club -- and her pack of cigarettes.]

Idiot.

[dogbites]

Seriously. I'm not hungry.

[ also, she thinks she might throw up if she eats anything this covered in powdered sugar. ]

[nedly]

Of course it wouldn't! It wouldn't be any trouble at all. Um, Olive really knows more than I do about the business, but I can start showing you the ropes if you don't... have plans..?

[ hopeful smile. look at this dork. ]

[shooteverything]

[ hey, that's a mean thing to say... but also true. ] What do you mean?

[ he eyes her cigarette with some desire, but ends up just looking away again. he doesn't exactly make it a habit to hang out with people. ] 's not like I did it on purpose.

[unconned]

[Seeing how much she focuses on him, Matthew resists the urge to run a hand through his hair lest he drops her and has a sullen Shijima in his metaphorical hands. It also takes all his strength to not laugh because fuck. It's been forever since he had contact with someone from the past. Physical contact that didn't end in bitterness or pain to boot. He gives her an affectionate look and then heads off towards his car.

It wasn't the most impressive thing in the world. A battered up Cadillac with its glory days clearly over with the scratched paint and dusty coat of grime and dirt under the layer of snow. Matthew opens the passenger door and holds his arms out for Shijima to take a 'seat there, the backseat not an option with how it was dominated by suitcases and bags and boxes of miscellaneous items. Signs of a man traveling for a long time, signs of a man who had no intention of stopping.

If there was one thing that hadn't changed about him was his love of playing cards. Solitaire set up on the passenger seat that he brushed away when he had opened the door, an Ace of Spades and Queen of Spades taped to the dashboard with some note written across it and an unopened deck of cards on the seat. Recently bought if the receipt next to it is any hint.] Home sweet car. Don't mind half the rubbish here. Been meaning to organize things back in Canada but things occurred there and had to split sooner than I hoped.

I think they've given up on finding me. I think.

[undeaths]

[ if he dropped her, she'd be suitably upset. it's not a question of landing, but it's the principle of the thing!

as it is, shijima's happy to jump out of his arms and neatly into the passenger seat. she sits there for a moment before padding around in a circle and then sitting down.

she can see all the cards, but she sits down on them without hesitation. some card game isn't as important as she is. but after a moment she sits back up to look at the cards on the dashboard, and then back at matthew questioningly. ]

[oxidantshappen]

Then thanks!

[He takes the plate, takes another large bite-and the phone he has starts ringing. Dropping the fork on the table, he hurriedly answers, chewing and swallowing.]

Yeah?

[His expression darkens as he listens to the person on the other end. Really? Fucking really? Not so surprising as it is rage-inducing to find out where their lead was.]

...Okay, and you said Twenty-Third? Alright, thanks.

[Hanging up, he jams the phone in his pocket and wolfs down a few more bites.]

That was what I meant by not sitting on my ass. And speaking of-[He stands, throwing on his jacket.] Now I'm not sitting on my ass at all.

[unconned]

Don't mess them up too badly. I'm this close as to getting one suit completed. [It was the only way he's been entertaining himself when it was just him, the car and the road. Not that it sounds like he cares too much if the round was ruined. There was always another time.

Shuffling in, more slowly and carefully like his joints would protest at any sudden movements, he shuts the doors and starts the engine. Stays there for a few moments, trying to warm himself up from the winter's embrace.

It was then that he noticed Shijima's questioning(?) stare she was given to him and he looks back, wondering what's that about. Looking around to see what could have caused it, his eyes land on the dashboard themselves and he grins a bit. Almost looks a bit like his oldself.] Those? Oh -- They're notes from some people I got to meet a few months back in Paris. Didn't know they were even alive! We chatted a bit and I asked them to write some contact information. So we could keep in touch.

Pretty sure they're fake and if I use them, I'll just get hot air but I want to keep them. Better to have something of a loved one than nothing of a loved one.

[dogbites]

[ she can barely believe that this guy is actually saying these things. but! more importantly, charlie wants to see this firsthand. ]

Someone who's been infected?

[ it sounds like it, but she can't be sure. she casts one last distasteful look at the plates before standing up, picking up her jacket as she goes. ]

[theblonde]

Yeah! Yes, I have time. I don't have any classes today, so .. yes, that would be great.

[she offers a wide smile back at him; what a sweetheart.]

[allures]

If it was a job, you did it on purpose.

[she holds out her cigarette. a hint of smudged pink lipgloss can be seen on the end of it under the park lights.]

What was it?

[undeaths]

[ a suit? like the little marks on corners, she guesses, looking at the layout under her paws.

shijima sits down on them again anyway.

paris, huh. that's very far away. she blinks at the notes quietly, as if absorbing every detail of them.

maybe she is. her face is rather more difficult to understand when she's a cat. shijima settles down and waits for him to drive. she'll have questions and words enough to ask him once she's clean. ]

[nedly]

Great. Well, once you finish your coffee, I'll show you around the back so you can find... things. Important things.

[shooteverything]

[ he gives it a longer look before waving it off. it's not germs that bother him, but possible contact and contact by proxy. kind of like cooties. ]

Stuff.

[ not sketchy at all. ] I messed up. Shouldn't have gotten that close.

[oxidantshappen]

Yeah, and even better-caught some bastard who was sneaking around the area. Might be connected. [As they move, he gestures with his hands as he speaks.] See, we're at odds with this one group in particular, and I mean I'd never want to think awfully of someone who didn't deserve. but they fucking deserve it-there is nothing I'd put past them, if it's engineering some fucking virus or whatnot to destroy the ranks it sounds exactly like that shit in charge's M.O. So I figure, if this guy is related to them, we can say that it's all tied up to them because of what they've pulled in the past.

[theblonde]

Important things-- sure.

[she gives ned a wry smile and promptly finishes her coffee after a minute or two.

she sets her money next to her empty plate and coffee and stands.]

Okay! I'm ready.

[allures]

[she quirks a brow, but doesn't take it personally and withdrawals her hand.]

Wow. Interesting.

[with a shrug of her shoulder, she rolls her eyes.]

You alright?

[dogbites]

Really.

[ she snags another raspberry before they leave the table. she has some vague idea of the gang he's talking about, if he's talking about the 23rd, but whatever group cruz is with is more unfamiliar. ]

Do you have any records?

Not that I don't believe you. [ though, she doesn't. ] But records would be useful.

[unconned]

[It doesn't take too long to coax the car to life so he can start driving.

The driving itself, on the other hand, well... Wherever that cemetery is located, it was best described as distant with how the day starts to become the night by the time they get to the motel. Matthew did his best to keep Shijima entertained. Telling her what had happened since her disappearance from Rapture, with some bitterness over certain things that went down there, and what happened after it.

Describing the motel would be difficult to do as it looked like all the other motels one would see in their life. A block of a building painted in drab colors with a bright neon sign stationed outside of it announcing its generic name and with how it had vacancy. It wasn't the ritziest place to be in so Matthew had no issue parting with some extra money when getting to the front desk and asking for some extra towels to be sent to his room, slipping an extra fifty to the person at the desk to not ask questions about the cat or the bundle of cloth he had in his arm.]

Room sweet room. [He's quick to enter it and quick to lock the door. Like the rest of the motel, the room was generic and simple. Only signs of life was Matthew's rather chaotic sense of organization of more playing cards, books and papers scattered on the bed and desk. The TV was left blaring on, the drone of news a comfortable source of static noise to him.] The bathroom is over there. I didn't take a shower today so I think there should be hot water for you to us.

I'll go check if my first-aid kit is still stocked up. Do you want me to help you with... the injuries or let you handle that?

[nedly]

[ yes, important things. including not the room with the dead fruit. definitely not that room.

but once she's done, ned is booking it back over to her, wiping floury hands off on his apron. ]

All right, let's get started. [ he starts the short walk back to the kitchen, walking backwards very cautiously to make sure that she's following. ] Thiiiis is the kitchen. I'm sure you can slice pies, so, uh, here's a knife. But put it away from the counter edge once you're done! Um, wash your hands, too, but... yeah. Self-explanatory, right?

[undeaths]

[ she's listening, no matter how inattentive she looks. her eyes close every once in a while. her ears keep twitching, though, following his words over the clatter of the engine.

once they get into the motel and they're (relatively) safely in his rented room, she jumps out of his arms and quickly licks over her fur. a shower would be a good idea, probably, but true to her expectations, most of the blood had been dry and came off when she rolled in the snow.

her injuries, too, are mostly gone, fixed with tenpenka. so she shakes her head, a motion that's abruptly human and incongruous with her current form. she doesn't want to change back just yet — she's tired, and she wants to sleep.

after a moment's consideration, she goes back to where his legs are and rubs against them, finally butting her head against his shins before leaving to lie down and curl up on the bed. she's content to stay there, occasionally opening her eyes to peer at him or the television in between dozing. ]

[shooteverything]

[ he really isn't supposed to be talking about this stuff. it's not strictly speaking a legal job, after all, and he's already regretting pretty much everything about this night. ]

Except for this fucking foam.

[ it's still all over his hair, and some stuck to his clothes. gross. ]

[oxidantshappen]

Of things that happened in the past between us and them? Of course. The whole "he said, she said" bullshit's pretty old, so someone a while back figured-we should just try to keep a kind of-well I wouldn't say diary, but...

[unconned]

If you say so. Er. Gesture so, to be more precise.

[Should something happen, he'll jump into action and make sure she's safe. The last he could do considering all the things she did for him back in that underwater hell. If she didn't want to move and just rest, he couldn't blame her.

He sits on the bed, right next to her and unwraps the scarf he wore on his neck and placed it as a bundle close to her head if she wanted to use it as a pillow. He's quick to change the channel to find something they could both watch or pretend to focus on. Eventually he decides to settle on some soap opera, the music and dramatic voices oddly lulling to him while checking his phone and seeing if he had any messages.

No messages so he settles with playing a game app on it. Sometimes he looks at her and catches her look at him. Gives a smile and returns his attention to the stick figures on his phone's screen.

Later into the night, he feels his stomach rumble in need of nutrition. Oh. Right.]

Hey. Hey. [He turns his attention to her and taps the space near her head, deciding not to risk her annoyance and actually tap her head.] I'm going to go out to grab something to eat from here. Knew I was forgetting something when we were driving here.

Anything you want when I go out? Milk? Fish? Mice?