kaisou | SeeD 7 - The Jigsaw Blown Apart

Entry tags:

SeeD 7 - The Jigsaw Blown Apart

WHO: Libra, Wolfwood, Vash, + anyone who might visit the cottage, + people on Libra.
WHERE: Libra App, as well as Persephone's Cottage.
WHEN: Early June
WHAT: Wolfwood comes home with some socks. Apparently, there was a ghost haunting them. Now there's a ghost haunting the cottage.
WARNINGS: Chaos, probably.

01 >Action, - A ghost in the walls (for anyone who might come visit the cottage)

[ He's still getting used to his new arm. it's taking a lot of extra practice, what with how it doesn't move like it's part of his body like the old one was. But it's so good to have a second hand again, even one that he has to manipulate a little with his good hand that he hardly cares.

So here he is. In the kitchen. Minding his own business, cutting up carrots for stew that he, Libra, Wolfwood, and any wayward visitors are going to have for dinner tonight. Cooked in a wrought-iron pot over live flame--when a jar of peanut butter he'd recently bought flies off a shelf, and almost hits him. Directly in the head.
Fortunately, his reflexes are still intact, and it narrowly misses him, by an eyelash--the fortunately-plastic jar tumbling down to the floor...

And he shoots his roommates an almost accusatory look. Wolfwood, who is over at said cupboard, who was SUPPOSED to be getting flour ready for some fresh baked bread. ]

--I know you're mad because of the tail thing but can you not throw groceries at me, Sheesh.

Libra, can you believe this guy. [ he turns his head to look at his other roommate, who had been cutting potatoes, only just in time to see ... three of said potatoes floating in front of the other priest. ]

...Whoa okay, hold up. What's that.

02, Text, - okay so nobody panic but (ota, network post)

text: un: ♡☮STAMPEDE

ok so before anyone says it i KNOW i live with two priests but neither of them have the apparent skill or training to deal with this sort of thing

i think my house is haunted and

nope
hold on wait just a second

[ there's a pause because he has to go stop the ghost from throwing his gun into the river ]

ok so anyway uh ghosts are real or at least i think this means ghosts are real oh my god how do you make it stop

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

you named it and everything!!! or is that like the name your ghost gave? ours isnt even speaking, it just cackles every now and again while it throws my cushions around

i wish mine would do the dishes, that sounds actually fine to have around

id love to like
feng shui the place
maybe that will chill him out but uh
i live in a cabin out in the woods...

Oh we named him after Luca’s fish back home
He was a mischevis fish… a mischiefish…… 😬🐟
We dont know what giuseppes REAL name is. I guess he probly had one before he was a ghost. Unless he’s alwsys been a ghost. Honestly I don’t know I’m not a ghost expert 🤷🏽‍♂️👻👀

I know about OUR ghost. He seems ljke hes chill I think, just playing around? Its never seemed MEAN. just a little creepy. He doesnt laugh but sometimes he randomly talks through our furby Annabelle and I do not like it. 🫥 he throws our cushions around too and other annnoying stuff but whatever. We’re used to it now 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️👻🦉💬

mischiefish
that's a good one
im keeping that one thank you

and hm i see, i guess that makes sense
ghosts cant really talk, maybe? because they don't really have vocal cords or... something...
or maybe theyre shy
i wonder if there is someone in the city who is a ghost expert

...

hold on wait, i hate to like derail
but
whats a furby

Edited 2023-06-10 20:48 (UTC)

oh Giuseppe isn't SHY believe me 🙄

anyway THIS is a Furby hold on

[ Incoming video call from un: signorvespa... ]

Okay, so. They're these little robot birds, see, and you just—

[ He's speaking in the background, as he turns his phone around — not his camera, his actual phone, so he can't see the screen well to see if he's actually got the Furby in frame at first... As he's lowering it and fussing with the shot, Vash gets to see a glimpse of Alberto's home, an unintentional panning shot across his table of 'special stuff' — which... includes the Furby, evidently. ~~Luca's a lot more fond of it.~~ Alberto crouches down and holds the phone up close to its face. The Furby's eyes flutter open, and it's ears start wiggling up and down. In its unsettling, raspy, Furby voice, it greets them: ]

Woah! Big Light!

...Wake it up, and it talks... Sort of. It can't really understand, it's not alive. I don't think. It's just creepy.

[ It chirps happily, wiggling its ears, then goes still for a second. Alberto starts to pull the camera away from it, flipping it round to face himself again, the rest of his special stuff still in the background of the shot. But just as he takes the spotlight again, the Furby abruptly speaks once more. ]

Hey! Me no see you.

[ Alberto's face goes cartoonishly sour in a split second, reeling around to look at the Furby again. It just wiggles its ears. He turns his wild eyes back on the camera, addressing Vash fervently. ]

See?! Like I said— Just creepy!

Maybe... Me scared... ...Yoo...?

[ Alberto's eyes go wide and he just frowns deeply, raising his brows incredulously at the camera. An extra exaggerated "See what I mean?!"-type look. He shakes his head uneasily. He may be hamming it up, but it's clear the ghost must have good comedic timing to mess with him through the Furby — probably just because it gets such a reaction out of Alberto... Every time, too! He brings it on himself, really. ]

[ oop, video call!! He'll answer it right away of course--and lean in a little to take a look at the video he's being shown. Video technology is honestly rad--it'd been over a hundred years since he's seen it able to function, the technology having been lost on his own planet. And it's so clear, too--he can see the cluttered but exciting-looking living space that Alberto lives in.

And then he finds himself face to face with a modern-day horror.

Because how else could one describe this furby creature? It's robotic--he can tell that much--but it spoke with a frankly uncanny synthetic voice, with terribly broken english, in a way that suggested it was definitely not of this world.

Not much gave Vash The Stampede chills, but he's decided here and now--Furbies were evil.

He squares his shoulders when Alberto returns the video feed to himself, and Vash's expression DEFINITELY mirrors Alberto's Own. ]

...I've seen a lot of weird things since I've come to Kaisou.

That was, by far, the most unsettling.
Creepy isn't even the word for it.

[ he suddenly feels less creeped out by his own ghost situation. at least his can't talk through a NIGHTMARE doll... ]

[ These two feed off each other's energy. Alberto just draws the same expression even more exaggeratedly over his face, shaking his head at the camera, throwing his free hand up in outraged emphasis, ever-expressive in his body language. He rolls his eyes, then feigns a calmer demeanor, though he keeps his deep frown on. ]

I didn't say any of that, but. Yeah. [ He speaks as if addressing the room itself. Ahem. Giuseppe, Alberto's hands are clean here. ]

Luca likes Annabelle, and I mean, she's— ...cuuute... She's very— ...she's pink.

[ Tries and fails to reach for a convincing compliment, so just goes with a neutral fact, fail-proof. He glances suspiciously over his shoulder at the thing as he describes her, facetiously grimacing at Vash again once he returns his gaze to the camera. ]

I had a white Furby once, too. His name was Enrico. But he was extra long, like a worm but a— owl...? A wowl. [ He says this so matter-of-factly, decisive and maybe slightly disparaging. ]

He's rotting at the bottom of the sea in the Spirit Realm now, I guess. Or, I dunno, swimming around out there, seeing the world. Buuut he's probably dead.

[ ...He says that very matter-of-factly, too — but way too dismissively for talking about anything "rotting at the bottom of the sea," creepy Long Furby or not. RIP Enrico...

Nevermind the more disconcerting undertone is this wavering indecision whether Furbies are alive or not. Ahem. ]

[ oh, oops. Vash, for all the brains he has, is absolutely not someone who thinks before he speaks sometimes. some things just don't change, regardless of age.
he puts a finger in front of his lips, but doesn't keep the cheeky grin off his face. Right, his poltergeist was a cheeky asshole who reacted to insult, too. ]

--That's right! It was me, not Alberto! [ see, he's helping. ]

[ but maybe not for long, as the image of a long worm furby is making the back of his neck prickle, what the FUCK man ]

Mmmmmight be for the best that Enrico is down there. I don't know. One of those things looking like a worm puts me in flight-or-fight mode.
Should I ask how he got down there?

Dropped it by accident? Probably just an accident...

No. Our boat got squashed by a giant squid.

What do you mean a giant squid?!

Ehhh, well, squids are like, these— long squiggly guys— they live in the ocean... obviously.

[ As he answers, he and the phone are traveling to a strange makeshift art station in their apartment, a roll of butcher's paper held up on a curtain rod improperly bolted to the wall (without Zodiac permission, naturally), with an open old hardcover suitcase overflowing with seemingly endless markers, color pencils, and gel pens. He takes to the page with one hand, holding the phone with the other, with no apparent preference as to which hand does which. He may even switch at some point as he draws and chats. ]

Squids are kinda like octopuses, but they're not as smart. And they're pointier. And meaner. They've got like six arms and a beak and look kinda like this—

[ The approximation he draws on the roll of brown butcher paper is just that — an approximation. Could he have just as easily texted Vash an actual photograph of a squid, like he'd done with the hippos? Yes. Did he take the artistic onus upon himself out of sheer boredom and blind impulsivity? Also yes. Always yes. ]

Anyway, there was this giant kraken-squid this time last summer, and he crunched our boat into pieces. That's how I lost Enrico, in the shipwreck. Squidwreck?

[ alberto was a funny guy, huh? the way he talked and gestured, how easily he was convinced to explain something with such effort behind it instead of a simple, dismissing explanation--it made vash smile, honestly. a calmly zen look on his face as the guy moves over to that art roll to doodle out the squoogliest squid he can manage.

vash remembers well the picture of the hippo alberto sent, an absolute truck of an animal that vash had later googled to find out that they were somehow one of the most dangerous animals on the planet--he's now got it on his mind to google squids now too, but

isn't sure he's ready for another crisis in animal form.
theyre in water. got it. another reason to be terrified of water. hippos and squids. ]

And you just. Met this nightmare beak creature casually while in a boat.

[ vash is totally zen. smiling and speaking calmly, despite how he feels like hes screaming inside.

water is terrifying. ]

[ Alberto has a passion for teaching.

He turns the camera back on himself as he talks, but holds it kind of low as he's walking, so mostly all that can be seen is the ceiling, which is dappled in plastic glow stars, papier-mâché planets dangling by fishing wire, and hand-drawn stars and nebulas... How did they manage to draw on the ceiling, you ask? Ambition. ]

Well, technically we were on a pirate ship. But we weren't pirates. We were just, y'know, Kaisou people. The ship took off with everyone on it. So we sailed all over to a bunch of different islands. Which were all equally terrible. In my opinion.

[ He rolls his eyes thoughtfully yet dismissively as he tags on yet more disturbing details. It's increasingly clear that's A Thing with him... ]

Eh— Maybe the not-dead murder-skeleton island was worse than the others, actually. Second worse next to the kraken. Then the sirens.

[ it's a neat little space, to say the least? A place made by young minds who wanted a fun space that's theirs, and vash can't help but to be warmed by it. He's never really tried to personalize his own space--maybe because he felt he was only borrowing it--but. The stars are giving him an idea. ]

Oh, was it one of those missions given out by Zodiac? Those can get pretty scary, no wonder there was mythical monsters involved. The spirit world can be dangerous, from my own experience...

[ god he knows what a siren is, help. ]

My mom once read me a story about a siren almost crashing someone's ships onto a stone. They narrowly avoided it by putting cotton in their ears...

[ Alberto nods when Vash asks if it was Zodiac-related — of course it was. It always is. ~~It's sus af.~~ But a darker, awkward look flashes over Alberto's face when Vash comments on how dangerous the Spirit Realm can be, glancing aside uncomfortably, some unspoken bitterness tugging his brow. He quickly pushes on, but it's always those little easy-to-miss blips with Alberto that hint at how much must be left unsaid behind his nearly perpetual smirk and nonchalance. Which, naturally, he slips right back into. ]

Yeahhh, cotton would've been useful, cuz the sirens sucked. I had to save my friend Luisa and Luca had to save our friend Luz. Plus me and Luca met the sirens, y'know, to try and convince them not to eat humans? Buuut it didn't work. To put it lightly.

[ ...Y-Yeah, so, so many disturbing details always seem to be left between the lines... ]

--They eat humans??

[ because that's not what he wanted to hear. YIKES. ]

The ones from the story my mother told just led the men to dive into the sea and they drowned, but ugh--

[ the thought makes him shudder. ]

Trying to talk them out of it would be my move, too.
You guys must have been real slick to get outta there alive.

Oof, yeah. They didn't wanna eat us, and their song didn't work on us cuz, uh— well, multiple reasons, actually, ha — but they did wanna kidnap us, so. That was awkward.

[ He throws a facetious pressed grimace to the camera. And, again, just— tags on more horrifying details as a second thought, so casually. Give the kid an ear and he'll talk forever, though. ]

Oh, but then they did try to kill me again the next day, cuz the sirens were mad I kept ruining their murders. Aaand I'd also kicked one in the face, so. They were mad about that, too, probably.

...It's really impressive you managed to get out of that situation on your own. It couldn't have been easy.

[ he seriously is impressed! and he doesn't mind having his ear talked off--vash is noisy and chatty on the best of days. ]

This place can be pretty dangerous, I've experienced some of it myself. But you know, if you ever get into danger like that again, I'll come to your rescue, yeah?

I'm pretty quick.

[ And there's that face again. Uncertain, uneased, something obviously unspoken. But this time it's more than a blip. He quietly stares at the camera for just slightly too long to seem normal, brow knotted gently. A look like he's torn somehow, deliberating, conflicted. But as always, he recovers gracefully and presses on without any ado. ]

[ He smiles softly, warm and lopsided, but that distant bittersweet look still lingers in his eyes. ]

...Thanks. But we're okay. We've been here a long time and—

[ He's about to say "nothing bad has happened," but so many bad things have happened... He catches it quick and veers toward a different lie instead. ]

...it's not that hard. Besides, that was like a year ago. We're better at stuff like that now. We've got this.

[ Vash isn't questioning whether or not you've "got this," Alberto. And, really, he knows it. Vash is just a helpful guy. But— deflecting help is still Alberto's knee-jerk reaction. Kaisou hasn't fixed that problem in his life. If anything, it's gotten worse. His life in Kaisou has solved many problems — and created many new ones — but some habits die hard. ]

[ ah... the tone shift, the bittersweet look. he's got eyes that can track bullets, Alberto--sorry to say that he's caught the look in your eye here before you could cover it up.

He understands, though--how many times had HE deflected just like this to others?

It hits home in a way that nearly makes him laugh. ]

--listen, I wasn't implying you guys couldn't take care of yourselves.
You've been here a year, clearly you guys are real capable.

What I'm saying is, we're buddies. Which means that you've got me in your wheelhouse from now and in the future. You know?

[ Alberto wasn't expecting that response. It also hits close enough to home to draw a little smile on his face again — a genuine one. They're buddies. Right. He loves hearing that more every time. He just smiles at the camera a second, then nods enthusiastically back. ]

...Thanks, Signore. And, you've got us in your corner, too! Well— me. But Luca'd help anyone I'd help, I think, hah. If you ever need anything, I've taught my friends how to do all kinds of stuff. Sewing, cooking, swimming — you name it. If I can help, I'll help.

[ A seriously sincere offer from Alberto's standpoint. He's an 'action speaks louder than words' kind of guy, through and through. ]

That right? Honestly, I'll take all the help I can get. I'm pretty helpless when it comes to a lotta stuff on this planet, you know?

[ it isn't just lip service--he's serious. ]

If I ever feel that I could use your help; I absolutely promise you'll be one of the first people I talk to.

Count on it.

Theeeere's a lot to learn. But! I've been here like... [ He pauses, looking up thoughtfully, visibly counting, his lips even vaguely mouthing the numbers as he counts... ] Six seasons? Let's say six and a half, though, because my first two months "here" were really like four months in the Spirit Realm. So six and a half seasons. Lots of time to learn lots of stuff. Whatever you're having trouble with, let me know, I bet I know how to fix it.

[ He literally gives this attitude about everything he and Vash have ever talked about... It's uncanny. ]

You--spent four months in the spirit realm? I sometimes go there for a few days but man. Going for that long. [ he sort of wants to ask, but now he remembers Alberto's story about the Kracken and--god, he shudders. ]

You really are a fix-it-all-guy, huh.

That's the kind of attitude I aspire to, too.

no subject

no subject

no subject

text » video;

Re: text » video;

/wipes the sweat from my brow for running so late

GIVES SOME ICE WATER <3

<3 <3 <3

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

Re: 2/2

ffff wipes sweat from my brow running so late. we can drop or continue as you please!

u kno me

<3 <3 <3

no subject