Freedom can be frightening if you've never felt it [OPEN]

[themortalhalf]

Who: Shinjiro Aragaki (themortalhalf), Minako Arisato (greatseal) and whoever else they run across [Open]
Where: Around Hinoto-Ri, though it finishes in Capricorn.
Summary: After wandering around Hinoto-Ri, Minako and Shinjiro finally arrive in Capricorn to try and attempt to resolve the issues with Shinjiro's persona.
Warnings: Shinjiro is his own warning. Otherwise, will add as needed.
Notes: Feel free to use action tags or prose.



Funny, how quickly things start to settle in routine. Blink, and you'll miss months as easily as you lived them. It had been September not so very long ago, and now they're a little more than a week away from stepping into May. Burgeoning chill has changed into a blooming warmth, and the weather is surprisingly tolerable—it's nothing compared to the damn bipolar mess that had characterized the past December.

It almost feels normal.

Almost.

Of course, things will never be normal here, but Shinjiro will take what semblance of normalcy he can get. There are things he still doesn't like—even some mundane things that, to most, have little in them to dislike—but there's a part of him that that welcomes the new routine, even going to far as to somewhat appreciate the annoying, mundane things that make him feel a little more like the older teenager he's probably supposed to be: get up early, head to school. Finish, go back to the dorms.

Today starts out little different. By mid-afternoon he tells himself he's sick of hearing damn shitty lectures and being told what to do (everything he's told he could probably figure out on his own), yet finds himself back in his desk a half hour later, and listens far more attentively than some of his sleep-minded peers.

When school's over, things continue on as normal life would perhaps see fit to orchestrate on its own. Which means, of course, he gets saddled with a familiar tag-along as he heads out into the city, a tag-along who, perhaps, far more people would recognize on the streets and not feel so reluctant to associate with. He and Minako wander around for awhile, and it wouldn't be difficult for a visitor to spot them wandering around the city somewhere. They stop at a shop or two—and Shinjiro has to pretend to not be interested in the pet store on the other side of the street—and move on, stopping at a small coffee shop briefly on their way towards Capricorn.

After that, they might spend a minute or two briefly checking in to make sure the Naganaki Shrine is still being maintained—and that it, perhaps, has not disappeared unlike some of their universe's inhabitants—before going out into the open fields, away from the main attractions and to where people are sparse and few, though perhaps not uncommon.

And that is where routine ends, and it serves to remind Shinjiro about how abnormal everything still is—how abnormal he still is. He's not in the field completely because he wants to be, but because he said he would, and he knows how to keep his word despite the that he still dislikes it. He's still as wary and doubtful as he had been back in March of any of this working at all—like training will magically fix his problems; he'd rather a pill—but has conceded to giving in to this inevitability.

Comments

[themortalhalf]

He laughs a little at that. "Tch. Gonna start to sound like Aki if you're not careful."

Though, then again, lots of things people say do now.

He keeps Castor moving, turning him in a half-circle before sending Castor lunging forward again, hitting into Thanatos' imposing form, though he feels the attack's complete ineffectiveness—like trying to scratch a damn brick wall. He backs off, reigns Castor back, though he's hardly idle, letting Castor charge in the respite and allow his health to regenerate.

[greatseal]

That was the problem with physical attacks. They took away much more energy than other kinds, and overuse left you dangerously vulnerable. But Shinjiro had always been good at absorbing that damage without complaint.

"Not all his ideas are reckless," she counters. And he's not here to push Shinji himself. "And as the leader I'm counting on your abilities too." She'd never liked leaving any one member to lag behind the others, even if it meant a lot of trips to Tartarus.

[themortalhalf]

"Just enough to keep him happy," is his own countering reply. Not all of Aki's ideas were reckless, but his way of thinking certainly was. It was his way of trying too hard, and if he wasn't strong enough one day, he always promised he would be the next. Training was his oxygen and protein was his blood. Simple enough.

Not that Shinjiro considers their current situation reckless, but precautions don't render unlikelihoods obsolete, even though he recognizes that nothing probably will happen here. He might not like it, and though he has his nagging pessimistic doubts underneath his rationalizing, Shinjiro at least understands that there likely had been a trigger. You had to have fuel to start a fire. Somethiing has to make you go crazy. He just has to act like everything will; otherwise, he's not being careful enough.

He lets Castor go again, tries something different with a wider range. Makes him feel a bit less like a man with only one trick up his sleeve. The impact is harder, but still as inconsequential as it had been, though and some of the trees aren't so lucky, long marks marring their branches from where the assault's power strayed.

[greatseal]

"I think that's common to all boys," she counters, still smiling. And some girls, too, including the one making the comment... but he can come up with that response on his own.

Just having her Persona sit there as a semi-sentient punching bag isn't particularly interesting either, so she lets Thanatos move, trying to dodge Castor's attacks despite not needing to do so. She may not be worried about her own control like Shinjiro is, but she may as well practice manipulating a Persona without the help of an Evoker. It's conspicuous to carry everywhere, even in her purse.

[themortalhalf]

That earns her flat stare in response. "Can't say I've ever jumped across a balcony."

His eyes, however, track Thanatos' movements as the Persona starts to move. His expression thins. Thanatos staying rooted in one place might not have been very interesting, but it was at least consistent. A stationary target. Though he knows that's not the point of the entire exercise, but when he doesn't even know what he should be aiming for, besides the vague goal of control, he almost prefers it. Hell if he knows any of this will constitute much improvement. Or if he'll get that even if he does. Or doesn't.

He pulls back Castor's pursuit after the next attack falls short of its target, then charges so that he keeps to the careful balance he has to maintain if he hopes to pretend to have any endurance to him. Though it also buys him time. It makes reservation look productive. Then he lets him go.

He might not know what he's looking for, but he'll at least fulfill his end of the bargain, even if he wants to do nothing more than dig his heels in and stay where he is. He'll participate. He's not going to be accused for not even attempting to try. He lets Castor follow the evasive pattern Minako is setting, and surge forward when he thinks he's aiming right, then he abruptly pulls back and tries to sever the connection instead of maintaining it or letting Castor's presence fade like he's used to doing. The attack still goes through, along with an unfamiliar mental strain. He feels the energy go out of him as the horsemen bear downs on his target and meets familiar resistance. Then Castor vanishes like a light suddenly gone out.

[greatseal]

"That doesn't mean you haven't been reckless." She knows he still goes to feed strays in Sagittarius, for example. Not that it's particularly reckless for him, but it's the principle.

And then Castor lunges again, following Thanatos. Minako watches as the Persona abruptly disappears. That's actually a good idea. "Were you trying to stop the attack?" she asks. "How about, I tell you when to make him vanish? That way it's spontaneous."

[themortalhalf]

He'd like to think his more recent actions have little in the way of comparison to theirs. He's not going to refute her statement, because it's true enough, though he'd argue that his recklessness is far different from their own if he thought it'd go anywhere, and he was serious about it.

He nods at her question. "That was the idea." He concentrates, calls Castor out again, and sends him charging forward. "...Your call, then."

[greatseal]

Thanatos blocks the attack, and then Thanatos abruptly vanishes as well. At the same time she calls out, "Now!"

If Castor's attack continues, it will plow harmlessly into the grass, but it's a good exercise for what might happen in a fight when the Persona-user is closer to the Persona.

[themortalhalf]

He's wasn't expecting Thanatos to disappear, but he pulls Castor back at her call. It still takes a few seconds to sever the strings—to hold his concentration long enough to reign Castor back and cut the connection entirely. The sensation's slightly less foreign this time, but the horseman still leaves a deep, half-finished furrow in the ground before he's recalled.

And, just as soon, he calls him out. "Again."