jigokufever | AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

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AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

1. SHUTEN TERRITORY - Muscling In

art by tohdraws

In the aftermath of the curse crisis, the Shuten Clan forgave a bunch of protection payments in the region, and helped cover the costs for rebuilding. Unfortunately, some of the street gangs in the area are much less civically minded. They have used the Shuten's relaxed policies as an opportunity to turn their own screws on the local business owners. These unaffiliated youth gangs have been much rougher with the locals, and have been asking for even larger collection fees. This has pissed off the folks who are just trying to get their lives and businesses back on track!

Unfortunately, the opening of Sai no Kawara in the underground drew so much of the clan's focus and manpower, that the issues up top just slipped through the cracks. Until now! Toraguma is in a bad mood and is looking for people to take it out on: the youth gangs will do just fine.

Volunteers are being solicited to join the regular Shuten enforcers in driving these interlopers out of Shuten territory. The gangs are wise to the usual Shuten tactics, though, and they're prepared for a fight. They are also appealing to the influx of Lost Souls: they act as though they're the victims of the factions' power struggles! They propose that taking up arms against the Shuten Clan will win them favor with the other groups in the city. (It will look less good with the Shuten Clan, should you be assigned to them.)

Fight with the Shutens, or with the gangs. Either way, a fight is coming.

2. TAMAMO TERRITORY - Throat Goat (NSFW)

at by akai riot

This prompt is overtly sexual in nature. Please use the proper NSFW labelling in your top levels and threads.

While the Palace of Sai in the underground is doing well, that doesn't mean the other businesses in the Tamamo Clan's collection have been slacking. One of the least "classy" soaplands has decided they're going to hold a contest to drive up business for themselves! They are partnering with some of the other sex clubs in the area for the sleaziest of events.

The Hyottoko Cup is looking for volunteer participants! The competition is pretty straightforward: a ruler is drawn on the throat of each participant and an array of members is presented to swallow. Whichever contestant can take the guests deepest and longest will take home the "coveted" Hyottoko Cup! Ok, there's a little judge favoritism involved too, so put on a show.

The guests have likewise been pulled in as volunteers, with instructions that they don't have to make this easy on the participants. Guests are provided with special seals that they can use for the length of the competition to enhance their natural assets. For those lacking the equipment entirely, there's a seal for that too.

Have fun and play nice.

3. TAMAMO TERRITORY - Strike a Poise (GEN)

Other businesses looking to jump start this month's earnings are also getting in on the spirit of competition! Businesses less oriented towards sexual service have come together as a means to draw in the high dollar clients, and one local club has proposed something old school.

Sign up for the Poise Contest, where contestants are placed into more and more ridiculous geta while tasked with serving drinks to the guest. Spills are expected, and the guests are cheerfully kitted out with cheap club-branded ponchos to protect their clothes. (Marketing, am I right?) While spills are expected, the contestant will lose points for each of the spilled drinks. Try to keep your balance as you attend to increasingly absurd drink orders. The intensity of the traditional footwear will only make your job that much harder.

Do you have what it takes to pour a champagne fountain while wearing teetering tengu geta? Prove your balance and dexterity is the best and the take home prize is some sweet cash. For Lost Souls freshly in the city, the chance to win some extra money can't really be passed up, huh…

4. SUTOKU TERRITORY - Jigokucho's Got Talent

Ever since Moonday's beloved singer – Ringo-chan – was kidnapped at the Tanabata festival, the band has had to cancel all of their scheduled gigs. Unfortunately, they were a hugely popular act, booked solid in most of the Sutoku Alliance's various nightclubs. This has left a ton of empty spots that need to be filled quickly, before the crowds get upset and demand… refunds.

That's where you come in, Lost Souls! Desperate promoters and talent bookers are literally grabbing Lost Souls off the street and begging, pleading, with them to perform a set for the night. They just need to have something to fill the space Moonday would have otherwise occupied. At least give the crowd something to see!

Acts do not need to be of the musical variety. Any performing talent is accepted, no matter how esoteric or bizarre! If it can fill out a 15-30 minute set, the club owners will be happy and the customers will at least see something interesting; even if it's a bad kind of interesting. So get on stage and show this city what you've got!

( Help us fill our time slots, please! We're desperate! 😩)

5. DEPARTMENT OF THE ENMA - Sticky Paws II: Outta the Bag

The Enma Department is busy: they have a kidnapping to investigate, a primordial god to pin down, and the crisis of their ever-shifting public image to manage. However, crime never sleeps and is always there to add to the troubled Department's workload. Worse still, we thought this little crime spree was over six months ago! But here it is again, much to the Enma's chagrin.

Cat cafés are a popular tourist attraction all across Jigokucho. About six months ago, a gang of bakeneko infiltrated several of the cafés to rob customers occupied with kitty bliss. Wallets, jewelry, and anything else those sticky paws could snatch away were being picked in droves. The cat capers are afoot once more!

Are you a hapless victim of these furry thieves, or are you helping the Department of the Enma track down these cat burglars? Unfortunately, the bakeneko are exceptionally clever and are using a seal to disguise their secondary tails. This makes them look just about like any normal cat. Better make sure your lead is good, or you'll be chasing down an ordinary Felis Catus. Soft to pet, but not going to return your pilfered cash.

Of course, the café staff might be in on this caper too… It's never easy to tell who's getting a cut of the profits. Be careful who you trust out there.

6. ALL OVER - The 100 Billion Yen Man (PLOT RELEVANT)

The local TV news has been announcing that Kaberou Kannazaki – the legendary finance wolf and the father of kidnapping victim, Ringo-chan – will be making an announcement this week. People have flocked to television sets throughout the city; at the squares, around TVs in bars, electronic stores, each other's phones, and any other venue with a connection. The kidnapping has been a highly public ordeal and the talk of the town. Many of the locals were present at the festival and witnessed the crime. They want to hear what the word is!

The public doesn't have to wait long. Wolf-eared Kaberou sits at a press desk, surrounded by microphones, and dazzled with flashbulbs. He clears his throat and, as he begins to speak, he is direct and to the point; not unlike a wolf lunging for the throat.

"As of today, I am issuing a bounty on the man known as the Iron Bear, who has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of my daughter, Ringo Kannazaki. The payout to the party responsible for bringing me Iron Bear, dead or alive, is 100 Billion Yen. Individuals or groups, I don't care. Just bring my daughter back to me, and the money is yours."

Well! The Department of the Enma's hopes of an orderly investigation have been dashed, but this is certainly an opportunity for anyone brave enough – or, more accurately, stupid enough – to traverse the Wasteland. Maybe one of you out there will find the legendary Iron Bear and bring him to some form of justice.

Local businesses are quick to leap at this opportunity, too. They begin to aggressively push sponsorships at would-be bounty hunters. Weapons? Armor? Survival gear? All at discount prices! Each faction has their interest in collecting the massive bounty as well. They will all be putting a lot of pressure on recruits to get ready to head out to the Wastes.

If you just got here? Well, it would definitely be in your interest to start finding gear, and finding people willing to collect that bounty with you. It could mean a big step forward toward your eventual contract, after all.

Welcome to the test drive meme!

First of all, big thanks to our discord chat for the "Throat Goat" prompt idea. Stay golden, gang.
IF YOU'RE TOP-LEVELING A NEW CHARACTER, post it here!
Characters already in the game can top level as well.
Threads here can be considered game canon.
Characters can be recruited to do work for any faction until they're given their official assignment.
If you have any questions about the TDM content, please ask them here! You can find information on the story so far here!
If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.
Reserves are open until September 5th.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ she doesn't entirely get it. leviathan's strange, after all - a stranger in a strange land. but she's able to recognize stress and tension when she sees it, a lifetime of helping people rest and massages and sleep clinics having taught her well. so she walks a tiny bit ahead of levi, giving them a figure to follow; she brushes the other's arm every now and then, less sensual and more a reminder of existence; she walks in peaceful silence, a familiar sort of feeling even this earlier in the night.

when levi finally starts speaking again, nazuna chips in like nothing even happened in the first place. ]

Sounds like a plan.

[ dark nights and fast motorcycles and alcohol. those still sound like fun to her, honestly. those are what her best nights are, even if some of the worst nights feel that way too. ]

The city was kind of like that back home, yeah. [ she thinks for a moment, letting the silence echo out. ] But... there was plenty of time to sit around, too. Videogames to play and play again, yeah? You ever play any of those?

[ she doesn't need to be told twice. she's already making a beeline down that road - she hasn't had a beer since she arrived, man, she needs a little sippy! ]

[they have long since stopped believing in a god capable of helping them without hurting others, but all the same: thank god. this is something they can discuss, and the anxiety, the fear, any other emotions unpleasant for their heart but not their brain disappear. it's like a finely tuned engine starting back up.]

I'm not one to brag, but I've won a few eSports championships back home. Mostly in FPS games, things like Apex, but the occasional MOBA as well when I can find the time to make a bigger team. And of course, I try to play casually when I can to try to burn off excess energy... and because it's fun to do something I'm good at. If I weren't with the NSO, I could probably make a living playing video games professionally.

[they just sound genuinely confident in that fact by the time they finish. and as they turn their head to look at nazuna, they catch the bar sign and point.] It's right there. How about you, what games do you like?

Heeeeh? You're in eSports, is that right?

[ there's absolutely no indication of what comes after that: ]

So, FPS, FPS... ah, that's the stuff like Duke Nukie, right? [ duke. nukie. ] Ah, those are fun enough, but you get tired of playing them alone after a while, you know?

[ well, if that weren't the saddest goddamn thing nazuna's ever said. she ducks into the bar without even acknowledging it - like it's a perfectly reasonable thing and not kind of vaguely depressing. ]

I just kind of play whatever looks good. M*rio Kart, Street Fighter- ah, don't play the first one on that, it's trash, just skip to the second, you know? It's way better- you know, that kind of thing.

[ just... how old are her tastes? ]

-ah! Actually, I just got a new game the other day. Had to buy a whole console to make it work. [ she plops down at the seediest table she can find, immediately propping her legs up on a nearby chair. ] You start by punching logs, right? And then you make tools and start digging. There's no point and there's no way to win! It's great!

[ sorry, levi. not only is nazuna an older gamer than you...

she's a fuckin' casual. ]

[listen. listen. levi is in a good mood about their games, so they listen very politely to nazuna describe games that they have only heard about as archived software, they ignore the now third time that nazuna has censored something with her own mouth, and they just settle into the bar so easily they almost feel at home. it's not something, they think, that they should've gotten used to, and yet here they are.]

Oh, you're talking about the game that that one virtual singer made about a century ago? [they are talking about it so sincerely that there's no way they could be joking.] I've heard a lot of good things about it. I haven't actually played it myself, but people still like it even in 2120.

Things like Apex, though, they're team games. Three on three, mostly. They're fun if you have the patience for other people not being as good as you. [ah, yes, competitive gamer moments.] If not... well, let's say it's a good thing my usual gaming rig has a grounding rod attached to it. [a joke! not really.] I've tried fighting games, but I could never really get my head around them... they're complicated in a different way.

[see, the thing is that they're talking so openly and casually right now that it might well seem like a totally different person. nazuna really has gotten them into a comfort zone of theirs, whether she'd meant to or not. it's enough to take their mind off of almost everything else, and they're just smiling and talking and acting normal the whole time. (they do not notice this in the moment; they will later, when they replay this conversation a thousand times in their head.)]

2120? Ah, so that's it, huh?

[ don't worry, leviathan: nazuna has been on the internet exactly twice in her life. if you told her miku made minecraft, she'd believe you wholeheartedly. ]

Fighting games aren't that bad! You just gotta put in the practice, is all. [ a beat. ] Us vampires have a lot of time on our hands, you know!

[ she flips the happy hour menu up - barely giving it a quick scan before passing it to levi and waving down a beleaguered waitress. "beer. whichever one you like most," she says with a grin, and- yep, that's a blush on the waitress's face as she nods. goddamn. why are vampires allowed to get away with it?! ]

[levi watches that incredibly smooth display go down and says, politely, "make that two." they are nowhere near as charming when they say it, but they're still impressed with how smoothly it comes from their own mouth. the waitress nods just as politely and leaves the two of them be for the moment, and levi's attention turns back towards nazuna.]

Well, maybe I'll find some time to practice, if you'd like to be my partner. [they smile, either unaware or uninterested in the double meaning at play.] I still have a little catching up to do to get on your level, I bet, but I really wouldn't mind having someone over more often to do fun things like that. It can really help brighten Hell up.

[ oh, man. the joke's right there and she can't take it. this sucks, man. this suuuuucks. nazuna doesn't let a single moment of realization come through, of course, just grinning lazily and nodding. ]

's probably obvious, but I don't have any of my games with me. [ she stretches, yawns... ] Unless you give me a while, we'll be playing your copies.

[levi shakes their head like it doesn't even matter.]

I don't mind as long as you don't mind sitting on the bed together. I'm still working on getting enough actual furniture. [they know what's important to them, and so far it's been a comfortable bed, hard seltzer, and technology.]

You know, you'd be the first person I really invite over. It would almost be like you're breaking the place in. Oh, is that actually a thing, by the way? That you have to be invited in before you enter a house?

Huh? No way! No, that's not... I mean, we usually wait until we're invited anyway, since breaking in is a bad look?!

[ she's having a bit of trouble focusing on the question after that sitting on the bed together comment. MUST... RESIST... TEMPTATION. she's trying to be genuinely helpful here, okay?! ]

Is... isn't that...

[ OH GOD HER CONTROL'S SLIPPING, ABORT, ABORT ]

...isn't that kind of lewd, don't you think? [ her last bit of self-control flies out the window. goddammit, nazuna. ] Inviting a girl back to your room and sharing a bed with her? Even if nothing happens, that's plenty lewd enough, just having a girl and a...

[ ...ah. she stops in place for a moment, her brain clearly cogitating before she points directly at leviathan. ]

Ah, hold on, hold on. What should I be calling you? [ and then, after a moment: ] I know a real girly guy, and I know a boyish gal or two, y'know? You're not either of those things. So what's the digs there?

[they watch nazuna struggle to find the right way to ask a question that, so far, nobody else around here has asked. in the middle of the rest of the small, personalized meltdown over the lewdness of that sort of offer. it's funny, but not in a way where levi feels the need to laugh at—not even in that gentle sort of way where they're trying to spare nazuna's feelings.]

[instead, they wait on it for a while, thinking on the best answer and only getting interrupted by the server bringing over two pints of beer, heads thick and dark as the night. she serves levi first, then sets down a slip of paper alongside the beer in front of nazuna, and gives her just the tiniest little look before walking away.]

[levi does not comment. instead, they go back to the question and hope that they still have nazuna's attention.]

I don't really have a gender, you know? I threw it away when I turned 18, as soon as I had my own say in things. I'm no one's son and no one's daughter. I'm just... a creature who rose from the deep, formed by the thoughts and actions of people who should have known what they were creating. [they smile a little mysteriously and run their fingers along the condensation of the glass in front of them.] So if you're talking about me to other people, use "they", please?

[ does she get it? well... no. not really. how do you throw away a gender? there's gender, and there's wanting to be something. what does it mean to throw it away entirely? it'd be a lie to say she even kinda gets it.

but the thing is, that doesn't matter. not even a little. levi says they're not a boy or a girl, so they're not a boy or a girl, simple as that. that's all nazuna needs to know. she can ask invasive questions down the line, if she really wants to bother. ]

"The deep," huh? Too bad you're not calling on the night. Sounds like you'd be a good fit, y'know? We'd take you any day. [ she grins, flashing leviathan a quick peace sign. ] Anyway, that person. Gotcha, gotcha.

[ and that's it. nazuna drops the topic, as easy as that - grabbing the pint in front of her and raising it to her lips. she drinks-

and drinks-

and drinks, slamming down a good half of the pint in a single gulp before wiping her mouth with her sleeve. ]

Pfaaah! Sheesh, Leviathan, you're a lifesaver, you know that? [ she licks her lips. it is, unfortunately, as distracting as you'd expect. ] Damn, that girl's been drinking this? Sounds like someone knows how to party.

[ she reaches forward, plucking the paper off the table and stuffing it into her coat pocket without a second thought. she knows how this whole song and dance works, after all. ]

[they look at nazuna and they don't really know what they were worried about. there's immediate acceptance—hell, there's even the offer of another group to join, metaphorical or otherwise. and it swings immediately back towards appreciating the beer and pocketing the server's number, and levi is reminded all at once of who nazuna is, or at least the template of a person that, if pressed, they could map nazuna to. (they would never admit to doing it, no. but it's helped them in new situations before and it may help now, as well.)]

I don't know what I've really done except get you a beer and someone's number. [they smile, taking a drink themself and setting it back down with a little bit of the head getting on their upper lip. they reach for a napkin and wipe it off, before nazuna can do anything about it. sorry.]

But you said something about the night? You should tell me some more about that. I assume you don't just mean when the sun goes down.

Huh? What else would it be?

[ and if that's not the most nazuna way to answer that question, what the fuck even is. ]

I mean, think about it. [ another sip - this one reasonable, now that she's quenched her immediate thirst. she doesn't bother to wipe her own little 'stache off. ] Most humans get up in the morning, go to work, drink a bit, and then go to bed. Right? That's what day-to-day work means for people. That's life, for most people.

[ she leans in conspiratorially. ]

So what about the people still out at midnight? Are they a part of that life? What about two in the morning? [ she chuckles, an oddly restrained sound coming from someone who's been so loud and full of unlife up till this point. ] When the day's over, you can do whatever you want. Party! Lie down in the street! Head to a night pool and check out all the girls!

[ she throws one hand wide, the other still clutching that pint. ]

The world opens up around sunset. That's the night I'm talking about.

[the passion on display here is stunning, honestly, and they shouldn't expect anything different. they also really shouldn't be surprised that it's exactly what it looked like on the face of things—or that they find themself agreeing with it so much. they lean back, letting her explain and taking calm sips of their beer.]

I get it. [they say it simply once they can tell it's their turn in the conversation.] I did it for a while when I was just starting out. Staying up at all-night LAN cafes playing games until the sun would start to rise, then staggering home and collapsing for another eight hours... it wasn't bad, you know?

[they're talking about it in almost a reminiscent fashion, and the smile that creeps onto their face has a certain fondness to it.] Getting to hear the buzz of neon on a hot summer night, walking to the nearest convenience store and grabbing whatever drink I can get that will keep me going for the rest of the night, seeing the other kinds of people who come out at nightfall. It's got this whole...

[they laugh, quietly, once, as the realization hits them, and there's stars in their eyes. well, in one of them.]

It's like magic. [the words mean so much to them and nothing at all to nazuna, they're sure.] I'm still trying to let myself have some of that here. But it's hard when the world expects you to have a regular job and get by at normal hours, you know? Like with the NSO, back home.

Right. You get it.

[ the grin on nazuna's face at that is softer than any she's shown so far. it's the smile of someone content - someone who's found a kindred soul. ]

Is it really that kind of world? [ she's not being sarcastic, either - the tone in her voice makes it clear. she's offering a real, genuine question. ] This place... It feels alive, y'know? Nothing like the city back home.

[ another sip. she's already gone through a good half of the beer, and shows no sign of stopping. ]

Would it really be so bad to live the way you want?

Well... it's definitely not exactly the same, but I'm still trying to figure out what it is the Daitengu wants for me, you know? So far all my assignments have been to gather information, and a lot of that has been walking around at night, going to seedy places like this one—[they lower their voice as they say it, in case they offend someone even though they're sure that people will freely admit that this place is extremely seedy.]

And trying to learn everything I can about... well, everything I can. And that does have a lot to do with what goes on at night. But... [they don't really know why they feel uneasy about this. maybe it's because of how good a thing the night is for nazuna, or maybe it's because they're getting nostalgic about the ways that they used to be able to live. they gnaw at their lip instead of taking another drink.]

I'm not sure. Maybe that's how this place works. I know that it isn't how the NSO worked, and the philanthropy I did was almost round-the-clock, but it was just... all of it was different. Do you know what I mean? [they're not sure if they're saying it very clearly.] I... the way I want to live is something that needs to take place in the daylight. I think.

[they don't know that for certain. in fact, it goes against everything else they've said so far to insist that it all has to happen in the sunlight. the "i think" carries weight behind it, the same as that genuine question about what kind of place this city is.]

...right, but why?

[ it's not intended to be rude. it's a real question. she's not mad, she just doesn't get why levi's saying it, you know? she takes a longer drink, swirling the beer around at the bottom of the mug before continuing. ]

It doesn't sound like your job is a nine-to-five dealio. And you haven't really sounded like a salaryman or some OL. I can't imagine you sitting around in an office and doing paperwork. [ siiiip. ] Guess I just don't really get it.

[ she pounds back the last bit of the beer, wiping her mouth with her sleeve before clunking the mug back on the table. ]

Well, if it's what makes you happy, it's what makes you happy, you know?

[ the real question is: is it what makes levi happy? ]

[the one thing that levi notices before anything else is that nazuna really does like beer. (they're barely halfway through their own.) but that's just something to, like, distract from the reality of things. because what really matters is that one little question.]

[why?]

[they don't know. they don't have an answer, or maybe they do but it's not one they're comfortable giving voice to in the moment. they look like they're thinking very, very hard about the right way to say something. if nazuna gave them a real question, they want to give a real answer.]

I just look at the way that our factions work... how everything seems to operate on what's expected... but then I look at people like you, or my friends who named the musical group they're in after the hour in the middle of the night when they all get online and work together... [this whole thing seems to trouble them. they reach up one hand behind their neck and rub it gently, and it's not where any of the marker is, which would at least make sense.]

I really don't know. I don't know why I need to do these things in the daylight, and I just wish I had a better answer for you.

You really don't know, huh...?

[ it's not said unkindly. it is said in the tone of someone who might have a thought or two on the topic she's keeping to herself. and instead of trying to say those out loud, she waves to the nearest waitress and calls out: ]

'scuuuusie! [ she grins wide, raising her empty mug in the air. ] More beer, pweeeease?

[ the waitress from earlier runs over, glancing down to the now-pocketed piece of paper before smiling and taking nazuna's mug. nazuna, on the other hand, just grins back to levi. ]

Hey, if it works for you, it works. Just try not to place too much on what people expect, right? Oh Leviathan, "creature of the deep."

[ it's teasing, but not mocking. sometimes, that's just how it is. ]

It... certainly works.

[they say that part in a low voice, unconvincingly, while they continue to contemplate things. it's hard to tell where they're going to end up falling. there's certainly a lot to be said for nazuna's embrace of the night, and the very loud part of them in the middle of all of this is, of course, insisting that levi has already embraced the night in everything but name. it would be stupid to pretend otherwise. but they feel so lost, sometimes, thinking about their place in Hell and what it really means, and...]

[none of this comes through at all, of course. they don't speak it. they're having a good time with this new vampire, and they don't want to ruin the mood with their overthinking. they return to the world around them with a subtle shudder, little more than a tiny shake of their head.]

Well. One way or another, it's what my life is for the foreseeable future, and I'll simply have to get used to it. And everything that may follow with it, including vampirism and swallowing contests. [as though proving a point, they take a much longer drink, all but draining their beer. that might be a problem later, but for now, it's going just fine.]

Right, right! That's the spirit!

[ the next beer comes and is drained much like the first. it's barely ten minutes later when leviathan pays and nazuna stands, brushing off her coat like she didn't just drink a liter and a half of beer. ]

Sheesh, this place really heats up after the second beer, huh? [ a joke! it's a joke. nazuna reaches up, undoing a single button with a clean and quick motion, then throws her coat open. suddenly, the impression of a vampire is much stronger: a cloak, buttoned and tied at the neck, billowing open around her. suddenly, the impression of nazuna nanakusa is much sexier: thigh-highs, shorts, and a top that feels more like underwear than any sort of reasonable clothing. the waitress from earlier looks over; she stares, flushing a bright red. ] C'mon, Leviathan. It's getting past your bedtime, right?

[ another prodding tease - this one a bit more targeted, but still not intended as cruelty. she doesn't bother to wait for an answer, walking out the door before turning to wait expectantly. ]

[levi stands, and for a moment, they are stunned. their face turns as red as the server's, and they share a conversation through glances alone. one says "oh my god", one says "I know", and they do not share a word. leviathan doubles their tip, then stumbles on the way out the door with their heart pounding in their ears.]

No, I think... I think seeing you like that has woken me up a little. [this is as honest as they are going to get about it, or at least as honest as they plan to. the alcohol loosens their lips, though, to the point where they don't quite realize their monologue has gotten external.] Why are all my friends so attractive...?

Hmmm? Ah, is that so? [ even if levi's little monologue hadn't kept going, nazuna would be fully aware of the impact she'd left. the unfortunate truth is this: she's not an idiot, or at least she's not that kind of idiot. she knows full well how she looks, and she knows the sort of effect that has on people - even if she hadn't quite expected levi to be one of those people. ] Blame it on meeting a vampire. Or genetics. I look a lot like my mom, apparently.

[ she stretches once she's outside, grabbing her elbow and raising one arm high above her head. lookit that tum, levi. look at it. and then she stops - looking at leviathan for a moment, from head to toe. ]

Hey. [ she sounds... well. not serious, exactly. but not as flighty as usual. like she's making up her mind on something. ] Do you mean that? We're friends?

[it gets levi's attention. the question, not the tum. well, yes, nazuna's body, too, but—that's not the point. that's so far from the point. when they answer, it's deliberate, like they're focusing on the words instead of something else. like they're pulling themself back to a normal that shouldn't be difficult to return to.]

Yes. Yeah. [they repeat it, knowing how un-casual it sounds.] I know that we've only had one conversation, but this has really been... exciting. I'm comfortable calling you my friend if you are. And I would be glad to help you get acclimated no matter what faction you end up with.

[ the smile on nazuna's face... that's genuine. genuine in a way that levi might not have seen much of this whole conversation, between nazuna's pointed teasing and innuendos and beers. ]

Friends. [ she repeats it, that same smile on her face. ] Yeah. Yeah, I think I can make that work.

[ she approaches levi, calm and steady in her stride. as she draws near, she stops for a moment- ]

-ah. You asked for warnings, right? So... Consider yourself warned.

[ -then crosses the distance between them, places one palm on leviathan's cheek, and leans up to kiss them.

it's not sexual - at least, past the eros of a petite figure suddenly brushing against leviathan's own. it's not romantic - at least, past the inherent heart murmur that comes from a beautiful woman kissing you. and it's not invasive - at least, past the invasiveness of an unexpected kiss from someone you've met an hour or two prior. it's a short kiss, closed mouth, soft lips against soft lips. nothing more to it.

she pulls away, still with that same smile on her face. ]

See you around, Leviathan... My first ever meta-human friend.

[ she doesn't stick aroud. she turns, looking up to the rooftops surrouding them - and then leaps, grabbing onto the edge of a building and flipping over to the top. and just like that, she's out of sight.

probably not out of mind, though. ]

(no subject)

fibrillate - 2022-09-06 22:20 (UTC) - Expand

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