PLAYER EVENT ★ HELIOLOGY

[ricksybusiness]

INTRODUCTION. It's difficult to tell time without the presence of a sun or moon. There are no stars. The world is in constant blackness, the heavens barely visible from below and the only light artificial. It's been like this for months. Suddenly, those who expressed interest in observing the sun (or lack thereof) will all at once receive a text message on their ALASTAIR jewellery from 82736775: Get your shit and go look at the sky. Now's the time. If you need me, I'm around. It's time to get to work. OBSERVATION. Find the highest point you can and point the telescopes at the sky. Should be easy, right? Be mindful that there are still guards patrolling the city, looking for escaped prisoners, and some citizens would be very happy to tip them off to your presence. There are still animals in the forests to contend with, and there are still nosey citizens who may ask you too many questions. There are also your fellow ALASTAIR agents, who may not be very willing to share the spot they already staked out before you just showed up. People and animals aren't all you need to look out for, either. Seven hours after the observation starts, there is a lightning storm. It lasts for 30 minutes, bolts of electricity arcing across the sky. It might be a good idea to scurry down someplace lower when this happens -- you know what they say about lightning and height. 82736775 doesn't contact anyone after the initial text, so observers are free to give up whenever they decide they've been sitting out in the freezing dark for long enough. [ note: even if you didn't sign up, feel free to tag in! your character won't have a telescope but that doesn't mean they can't mingle. ]

[ previously: ic info | ooc info ]
[ direct questions here! ]

Comments

[digophelia]

Do you think the sun will come back?

[ So much has happened the last few days since she saw him. Alice is still upset with herself for angering Sieglinde, so seeing her friend is a welcome sight from the dark cloud that hangs over her head. She's normally supportive and assertive that things will go well, but not today. ]

[naturallywavy]

Beats me.
_{[ Were you expecting a more fulfilling response? Gintoki tugs the blanket tighter around him then allows a small yawn to pass is lips. ]}

If I knew the outcome, I wouldn't be driven.
The unknown is scary, but exciting. The future can be rough, or smooth as glass. Even so, there are some things that never change.

[digophelia]

What happens if you make a big mistake along the way?

[ At this rate, she trusts Gintoki more than anyone to divulge secrets -- sometimes. It's safe to assume she's not too bothered by their close proximity; she knows Gintoki won't do anything to harm her and feels safe in his presence. Her voice drops to something softer. ]

How can that make the sun any brighter? Especially if you hurt someone.

[naturallywavy]

What kind of pain in the ass question is that?

<sub>[ What happens when you do make mistake indeed? What happens when you let people down and make them sad? Gintoki has come across this problem over and over within his life, and he has a feeling Alice has, too, several times, maybe. He doesn't need to know what, exactly— he doesn't pry.

Gintoki look up at the bleak sky, hoping for a glimmer of something. ]</sub>

Those times— they are the dark times. It's before dawn. It's the darkest before dawn.
But if you look away, you'll miss it, Alice.
You'll miss the sunrise— the things you are to relish within your heart.

<sub>[ How many times has something gone wrong and Gintoki was able to find a silver lining to it because he didn't allow the negative to completely take over his thoughts and emotions? Even with the pain he went through, a part of him didn't regret.

A part of him found sunrise in everything.. even through a painful dark time. If he clouded himself up in such negativity and pain, he knew he would have missed them, and they are what give him life. ]</sub>

[digophelia]

[ What sort of question, indeed. Alice shuffles awkwardly in her blanket, reaching into her pocket to thumb at her sister's key. Gintoki can be very on point with his words, at times like this. It's a rarity, yet for once, she's seeking solace and advice in another. Lizzie can't be around anymore to provide that. ]

I suppose I'm just scared.

[ She has an irrational fear that if she tells Gintoki what would happen, he would be upset, too, and absolves not to give out too much information as a result. And besides, sometimes he has a lot on his mind. ]

It will be nice to see it again. Even the skies in London are bleak, the sun rarely came out.

[ She only saw bits of it through her window, too, at the asylum, so far out of reach. ]

What will you do when it comes back? I think it would be really nice to wander out in a field and lay on the grass, just like I used to when I was a girl.

[naturallywavy]

What will I do?
<sub>[ Gintoki breathes out easily, watching his breath turn into gray smoke in the air before vanishing. He could think of numerous things to do— like adventuring in the wilderness where he can see everything bright and clear. Where, if the temperature permits, he can strip down to his bare skin and bask in the warmth, shaded by a tree— probably take a nap and simply enjoy nature.

Also, if he's bold enough, invite some people to play kick the can with him. He'd enjoy that.

What does he say, though, instead of these things? ]</sub>

Take a leak and not have to worry about where I'm aiming, I guess.

[digophelia]

[ She'll give him credit for saying things to take her mind off the situation, even momentarily. Alice isn't used to his vulgarity and may never be. She heaves a sigh; that's the last thing she wants to hear about. ]

I meant something a bit nicer than that. Don't you want to see what the forests will look like with sun? Or if it smells different when it's arm? Don't you miss it?

1.2

[naturallywavy]

_{[ The forests with the sun— the smell of the sunlight.
Yeah, they're all things he does miss. Though, he can't easily say that— not even with Alice. ]}

Yeah.. I miss.. —
Taking a leak in the sunlit forest and smelling the air while doing so.
_{[ look, this is only going to encourage him further. ]}

2.2

[naturallywavy]

_{[ anyway, his voice lowers. Back to serious mode, he supposes. ]}
Our yearnings should encourage us to progress quicker in this place.

_{[ says the guy always slacking off..? Whatever "yearnings" he is talking about on his part— let's not get into it. ]}

It seems to be an impossible task but I've learned through the years...
Nothing is impossible.

1/2

[digophelia]

Honestly, Mr. Gin.

[ Too English for that sort of conversation. Alice turns around and smacks Gintoki on the arm. ]

[digophelia]

There's barely any sun in London, you know.

[ Alice is back to looking up at he blank, black slate that is a sky. ]

And I haven't really seen it, in all of it's glory in years, now that I think about it.

[ It's not as if anyone could really see the sun and stars in the asylum, not from her room. ]

I don't think it's impossible at all, too. As a matter of fact, I await the day that the sun comes out again. I already have all sorts of ideas of what I'll do when it comes out.

[naturallywavy]

Aaa, is that so? There's too much sun where I come from.
<sub>[ It's hot. The summers are brutal and those are the days he complains the most. Though, what she's saying is kind of sad. He does like nice pretty days when it isn't excruciating and hot.

he's curious, now. ]</sub>

Like what?

[digophelia]

It must be pretty.

[ She has a list already in her head of what she would do out in the sun, going clear back to her first years of the orphanage. ]

Well.

I want to see the forest when the sun is out. You can't really see it very well in the dark, now can you? And there must be other places to explore, perhaps a river or a shoreline. And the children in the Chantes will love it, too. We can play all sorts of games and I can show them how to draw better in the sunlight. Everything will look so much better in sunlight.

[naturallywavy]

_{[ This all sounds good. Very good. Right along the lines of what he would say too. ]}

—You can also take a leak and not worry about where you have to look.
_{[ Gintoki please? It doesn't work that way with girls? But all joking aside: ]}

Hey. Do you know kick the can?
_{[ why is he so hung up on this.. ]}

[digophelia]

[ Let's talk about can kicking, instead, much better. ]

No. Is that some sort of game?

[ The way he puts it, it sounds like it is. ]

[naturallywavy]

<sub>[ It's a game that his childhood friends taught him how to play. All three (and eventually four) would play it during downtime in the war. Gintoki is sentimental— and has often been seen playing the game by himself back in Edo when he was taking a break from an odd job.

He huddles the blanket around him even more, keeping his voice low. ]</sub>

Yeah. Don't play it much, _{[ liar ]} but you might like it.
And the kids you like to talk to. They'd like it.

[digophelia]

If it's a game, then it will be good for them. There's only so much you can play under street lights. Hopscotch isn't any better.

[ Somehow, she has a feeling that cannot be entirely true. Gintoki seems to cling on childish mementos, as almost much as she does. ]

I'd be happy to learn it.

[naturallywavy]

<sub>[ Gintoki lets out a deep sigh, reflecting on how he would play this game back in temple school; how he had to teach Takasugi and Katsura how to play it once they joined him under one roof. He'll do it for Alice, too.

There's a long pause before he says softly: ]</sub>

It'll appear soon.
We've got everyone on this job.

_{[ except Ban who can eat poop. ]}

[digophelia]

Some of us, yes. There are some with good intentions.

[ Hilariously enough, Alice is also thinking of Ban. ]

I don't know how much I can trust some of these people on this so-called "job".

[naturallywavy]

Don't waste your trust on them.
Just trust the ones you believe in.

_{[ He falls quiet, looking up at the sky again, and then carries on with: ]}

There's somebody I believe in here.
And she's sitting right next to me.

Oi, right?

[digophelia]

Even if those I trust are a handful of people?

[ Alice can't say she trusts them absolutely, not in the same way as Gintoki. She gives a bashful smile, dropping her gaze to her hands. ]

I'll promise I won't let you down.

[naturallywavy]

_{[ In a hushed tone, as if he were telling a secret: ]}

You can't let me down, Alice.
Don't ever think that is a possibility.

_{[ Gintoki sighs contently and leans back on his hands, stretching his legs out in front of them. ]}

[digophelia]

[ She hopes that he's right; mistakes are only human and Alice is capable of making mistakes. She fears that she would let him down, along with her other friends. She doesn't express those fears. ]

I feel the same way about you, my friend.

[ Sure, he could be gross and crude, but he hasn't done anything to hurt her. ]

[naturallywavy]

<sub>[ Gintoki feels slightly warm at being addressed as a friend to her. It was something he already knew, but hearing it from her just reminded him of the bonds he had developed back home. She wasn't, by any means, a replacement for anybody from Edo. But she was something he would devote his loyalty to.

He will spend a little while longer with Alice; sometimes talking, but mostly remaining quiet before packing up his things and moving to another area to investigate. ]</sub>