Game 028 [Action] - It Was Worth a Shot...?

[neverplaysfair]

[ Hey Luceti, who remembers that stunt Joshua pulled ages and ages back?

Well, guess what. He's trying again, in a different place. Because the ever-so-lovely earthquake has resulted in a shift of what he thinks is Luceti's center, but pretty much no one but Josh cares about that anyway.

Let's hope there aren't too many people in House 29 in the wee hours of the morning, because between there and the ruins of what was once House 22 stands Joshua. He's still for a moment, hands raised to the sky, murmuring to himself.

Suddenly there's a flash of light.

Then loud, echoing, sharp enough to feel like a punch straight to the chest, ]

CRACK!

[ Yup, he failed again. This time around, though, he's lying crumpled on the ground, completely unmoving. Occasionally there's a faint crackle as a soft wisp of power flickers across his skin and vanishes.

Um. He might need help. Beware the zapping. ]

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[nattocat.livejournal.com]

[ His fingers land on Joshua's, the world shifts, and quite abruptly they're not outside anymore. Sanae's bedroom looks much like it did the last time Josh had seen it; there's more art now, new sketches tacked to the walls and new paintings of Shibuya standing on canvases, but no murals and no traps. Nothing to bring pain or Erasure or even hold him still. While Joshua has been covering his walls with art that keeps people locked out, Sanae's been preoccupied trying to comfort himself with drawings of home.

He's brought them right to the bed -- the lack of a power cap certainly helps his accuracy when it comes to things like this -- so that Josh has got somewhere warm and soft to rest and recover, assuming this is the sort of thing that'll fix itself. The instant they've gotten their bearings, Sanae is on the defensive again, backing up to put some space between them. ]

[neverplaysfair]

[ The shift is what catches him. He wants to startle, but all that does is send out more shocks along his skin. For a moment, he's waiting for it, if not expecting it: the pain, or the traps, or something that isn't going to be pleasant. Power wisps across his skin as a substitute for him being tense for a second... two... three... and after a bit it dies down by degrees when nothing comes.

Joshua chances a look around to see if there are any traps like his own, and his gaze freezes on the first canvas he spots. It's Cat Street; he can recognize it instantly. He's startled for a moment, but then the pain of separation he'd been feeling not moments ago hits him hard once more and he turns away... only to see the Scramble Crossing with 104 looming in the background.

Joshua makes a face, disgusted and pained at the same time, and lifts his gaze to the ceiling. He swallows thickly. ] You're disgusting. [ But there's more pain than conviction in his voice. ]

[nattocat.livejournal.com]

[ He shakes out his hand like he'd been burned, having caught the very beginning of that attempt to go tense, and says nothing. That hurts to hear, particularly because of why he's hearing it, because of how he'd been hopeful that the bedroom would be well-received; after all, there are no traps and no sketches of Joshua's head on a pike or some such. Just Shibuya and the comforting familiar places in it that he paints before he starts to lose the details. The mental images he puts down on paper while he still can, even if there's an ache to it.

He hadn't thought much on how Joshua would respond to the art in the bedroom, other than hoping the guy would appreciate that none of it is deadly. Sanae is confident enough in his powers that he's willing to leave his room open to all, and has a certain amount of faith that Josh isn't acting on the offensive and will stay that way. There's no one to protect himself from, so the bedroom stays unguarded.

But. ]

If the art's freakin' you out, I can move it.

[neverplaysfair]

[ Oh, it's being better-received than Joshua's indicating.

It just hurts to see scenes so familiar, so familiar and they're almost a part of himself. They should be, at least, but they aren't anymore, not here, not in this place. That Sanae would be the other to paint her, to remind Joshua of just what those familiar streets and buildings looked like, hurts him in a way that he knows isn't entirely rational.

But when Sanae was the reason that Shibuya almost fell far beyond the point of no return, Joshua feels a bit entitled to his indignation. ]

That's not the problem with it and you know it. [ He can just barely force the edge that he's entirely too exhausted to be using. ]

[nattocat.livejournal.com]

We've all got our ways of coping.

[ And that's all he says. There are drawings of things besides Shibuya, sketches of damaged wings and of Angels he'll most likely never see again, drawings of places and people he's come across in Luceti. Shibuya dominates most of the room, though, in both drawings of Noise and Reapers as well as the places they're both so familiar with. He couldn't help but try to save those memories before they faded. He needed a little piece of home to be here with him, even if it's only a pale copy of the original.

He doesn't blame Joshua for the indignation or the edge in his voice. But he isn't planning on abandoning this pastime and this means of comfort because he might not, in Joshua's eyes, deserve to pursue it. ]

[neverplaysfair]

[ There's more sparks across Joshua's body, but lo and behold, his hands clench into fists, gripping the blanket beneath. It occurs to him that he might be exhausted due to how much power he's wasting, but it's hard to not do anything to trigger it.

Being in Sanae's place again after so long is not a comfort; far from it. He's on edge and vulnerable and still has a screaming headache besides. Still, he keeps his gaze on the ceiling, because congratulations Sanae, not having Shibuya hurts him more than he's paranoid of you. ]

What will you do when They bar you from her, then?

[ It's half said with the intent to hurt, and half a genuine question. ]