[Game Opening, Part 1 - What Souls Here May Bring]

[stringmods]

The drawstrings cut,
my hollow ebony stained wood plomps to the floor—
THUD

Eyes open, souls recollect.
The new me, erect.

I make my own decisions, have my own priorities,
have my own thoughts.

No external force taps into me—
Freedom.
- Jana Bielecki
Who: (Everyone OPEN LOG)
Where: (City Hall)
Summary: (You've just arrived in the city. Welcome.)
Warnings: (Intro logs are pretty warnable.)
Style: (The text is in prose, but feel free to write back in action tags if you feel more comfortable.)

They always say the first day on a new job is always the hardest.

But tell me...did those tasks include being taken from your own homeworld, dumped into a city you didn't recognize, meeting a man dressed in the purest of whites with a butterfly mask, to be bestowed the power of Persona, and then having some Men in Black lead you to the city hall saying you were expected?

...

...at least your things are apparently safe in your new apartments?

...

...looks like you might be here for a while.


What a way to start the first of September...

As they usher the last of you in, you realize that they've been preparing this for quite a while. There is a small table with food on the right, mixed cuisine (although the main theme seems to be Japanese dishes). Some strange computer program appears next to you and seems to be translating what you are saying so those before you understand. Language barriers? Don't be silly!

Most of the men ignore you after that. You are expected to mingle amongst yourselves a bit before the main 'show' starts, it seems....

Comments

[drakenguard]

Yamato was silent for a moment before he erupted into motion, suddenly pushing himself to his feet in one strong movement. He teetered a bit unsteadily, but he caught himself, and without waiting for Hiro - no wait, Kaito, right, Kaito - he spun on his heel and made for the closest exit he could see.

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

Apparently, that was a yes. He just turns to look at the other two, not knowing what to say at first.

"Uh...I'll be back, okay?" Sorry, but leaving Yamato alone while he's like this could be...bad, so off he goes to follow him, going into a job to catch up with him if need be.

[drakenguard]

Yamato felt a little less agitated when stepping out into the wide, open and empty hallway, anxiously pacing about in an aimless line. He recognised a panic attack. He knew what it was, and as mortifying as it was that he was affected by one, he shouldn't allow himself to be ruled by it. He was in control of his body. Him. Not his instinctual, emotional responses.

That frightened him a little, though, that his emotions had thrown him so entirely out of control, simply at the sight of Alcor...!!

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

A bit later, Kaito finally caught up and...well. Just let him pace and whatever else he needed to do. He heard that it helps to give someone something constructive to do, but unfortunately, empty halls didn't provide much when it came to that.

Might as well let him know he's here though.

"Hey..."

[drakenguard]

"Mn."

Yamato didn't acknowledge Kaito beyond that, not even glancing in his direction. This was kept up for several minutes for he abruptly stopped. His breathing was a little calmer, but he was still tensed as if prepared to leap into action at a moment's notice.

"...that was not supposed to happen," he admitted quietly, not knowing what the hot, unpleasant feeling in his stomach represented. Shame?

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

"...Well, yeah," he says with non-judgmental shrug. When's a panic attack ever supposed to happen.

"I'm...sorry I didn't tell you he was here. I was kinda surprised he was here too and...I figured you already bumped into him." Cuz like.

He's a little hard to...miss.

[drakenguard]

"I hadn't."

Obviously.

Yamato ran a hand through his hair, trying to smooth down the somewhat dishevelled locks, and muttered something under his breath when he saw that it was trembling slightly. He stuffed them into his pockets, squeezing them into fists, and glared at the far wall like it was the cause of his shame.

"...I would appreciate it if you forgot about what just transpired," he said, his tone flat and even, "I acted shamefully."

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

He blinks...at him. Really slowly.

"I-It's okay. It's not really your fault..."

They're kind of hard responses to control, dude.

[drakenguard]

"I should not have allowed my emotions to control me like that," Yamato said, his tone slightly sharp from leftover agitation. "A leader is to remain calm and collected - allowing emotions to cloud his judgements leads to mistakes and death."

Yes, he's acknowledging that his emotional attack against Kaito and his friends had been one of the reasons for his downfall. He had gone in with his vision red with anger and betrayal, and even though he deluded himself into thinking that he was thinking clearly...

He hadn't been.

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

Kaito isn't...very sure how to respond to this, because it seems like Yamato is kinda sorta apologizing for his past actions and that's...well, that's good! That's really good. But the logic to get there just sits with him all wrong. Hmm.

Instead of sorting this all out, Kaito just sits himself down, leaning against a wall, but still keeping an eye on Yamato.

"...Thank you. It's all right, though."

[drakenguard]

"It isn't."

Yamato stood there, glaring at Kaito as if aggravated by his demeanour. He sort of was. He had never seen really seen Kaito lose his cool. He was just a civilian, yet he faced down demons, Septentrione, and emotions without barely batting an eyelash or letting it overwhelm him.

...admittedly, as much as Yamato admired him, he was also a little jealous.

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

He startled a bit at Yamato's sudden vehemence, then sighed. Now wasn't the time to explain to Yamato that having a panic attack was nothing to be ashamed of.

"Ahh. Sorry."

[drakenguard]

Yamato turned away with a quiet grunting noise, and a tense silence fell, broken only by him agitatedly dragging his boot over the floor every so often.

He didn't want to go back to the room, not when he knew Alcor was floating about in there somewhere. He admitted it, he was frightened to approach him again, in case a repeat of that panic attack happened. However, Yamato knew he wasn't here for eternity, and it wasn't the afterlife but...

He had died once, and it had hurt and he didn't want to go through it a second time. He recognised the hostile form Alcor took - the Septentrione wanted him dead, didn't he? So Yamato couldn't be faulted for leaping to conclusions, maybe...

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

During the silence, he once again gets a feel for what Yamato might be thinking. And...doesn't know how to explain this.

"...He's stuck. Or, uh. That's what he told me, anyway."

...How does he do it?

[drakenguard]

"..."

At first it seemed like Yamato was just going to ignore that completely, but after a pause he turned back to Kaito. His expression and voice were strangely subdued. "He's stuck?"

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

"Yeah. Looking like that, I mean. He tried to look humanoid again, but he can't and...we don't know what happened."

For once, Kaito is very easy to read right now, and he looks either...worried or sad. Only part that's hard to tell is which it is, really.

[drakenguard]

"Strange."

Yamato's voice is a weird mix of dispassionate and intellectually intrigued. Against his will his mind began pondering over reasons as to why a Septentrione would be locked in its alien form, even as he told himself repeatedly that he didn't care so long as Alcor stayed the hell away from him.

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

"Right? I knew it was weird. He'd totally try to look human when he's in a place with a bunch of other people, wouldn't he?"

Unfortunately, that's about the only form of incognito that he knows how to do, apparently!

[drakenguard]

"..."

On further contemplation though, Alcor being out of his Septentrione form would mean less chance of Panic Attacks. Less of those, the better.

"I will look into it, if you want."

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

Well there's a shock.

"Really?" He thinks about it, because really, he was already trying to think of a way to help and he was gonna ask some of the people here who knew about supernatural stuff. But...Yamato did know about Septentriones and he'd be a huge help!

...Then again.

"Are you sure?"

[drakenguard]

"Yes. The quicker he returns to humanoid form, the less chance of there being another..." Yamato's expression tightened, his tone cooling considerably as he muttered; "attack."

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

"...Thank you."

Because he knows that there's obviously more to Yamato wanting to help than that, okay.

[drakenguard]

Lies. Lies and slander.

"...if that's all, I think I will go to the men's lavatory..." Yamato needed to splash some water on his face to just...cool off or something.