epidemiology | [OPEN w/ closed prompts] i woke up thinking about Turkish drummers

[Timing things from Elias's Solstice celebration exactly, by his calculations December 31st and January 1st passed without preamble and without notice. Urahara celebrates quietly alone, and makes no particular fuss about it, even though it does weigh pretty heavily on his heart to not have Yoruichi here to celebrate. That hasn't happened in a very long time. Even when things were difficult- she was traveling and he was building his life in Karakura and they lived through some trying experiences in the Living World- she found some way to make it back. After all, having birthdays during a major festival time in both Soul Society and the Living World meant that they had only one another to be certain they weren't ignored.

Well. It can't be helped.

If it makes him a bit more mischevious than usual, that also can't be helped.

He's got better things to do than occupy himself with silly phone games, but he messed around with "Magimon Go" enough to figure out the basics- and more, importantly, how he can mess around with people with it. At the moment, he's taking advantage of one such trick- having placed several "lures" around the hot springs to draw people to it, making it either impossible for anyone to have a relaxing time without anyone hovering about with their phones or otherwise embarassing people who didn't expect to find half-naked people in the middle of their fun and games.

Urahara, himself, is completely innocent, sitting on one of the docks with his pant legs rolled up and his feet in the water. He's just relaxing, okay, and if he can do that while people stammer in embarassment and sulk around, then it's just a testament to his ability to stay chill in any circumstance.]

[New Year's festivities come a bit late... or possibly the time they're supposed to- he and Elias may have been wrong in their calculations, since it's difficult to pinpoint an exact calendar around here. It's all a bit more subdued than what he's used to, but he is grateful that the banquet included some traditional dishes, even if it is quite a far cry from Tessai's ozōni.

The fireworks are probably the part that's the most entertaining to him, even though the kind of nostalgic he banished almost a week ago with his projects and various other activities. It's hard to look at them and not be reminded of the Shiba family's impressive displays.

He's sprawled on the ground outside with his hands behind his head, an abandoned plate of half-eaten mochi beside him, observing the fireworks, a look of pure nostalgia on his face, as if he's looking at them and remembering something else.]

[Perdition's Rest had been a fairly trying time, one that ended with him relying more on brute strength than his head, which isn't how he particularly likes to do things. Without knowing what the next mission will be, he can't exactly prepare for it, so he just prepares other things, instead.

Taraxa blood samples taken from the ones that didn't survive, so he can analyze the make-up in the hopes he can create an early warning sign for any Zymandis infiltration agents that may sneak up on them again.

Some form of eyewear that will allow him to see Lucy's vectors, just because he can't bear the idea that he can't. And it might help if other worlds employ a similar type of weapon.

An object capable of storing reiatsu to be drawn upon under the right circumstances.

Something capable of analyzing the properties of the mist.

And that's on top of all the time he spends in the library, researching everything he can. There's been times when he's just forgotten to eat or sleep, because he's been so wrapped up in working. In fact, it's bad enough that while in the library, he's actively faceplanted onto the book he's been poring over and snoring lightly.

Probably better to wake him up before one of the librarians does.]

Edited 2017-01-02 20:48 (UTC)

[When Urahara calls Jin to meet him, he doesn't instruct them to meet in the training center, which is probably a surprise in, itself, instead he insists on the deserted village, now dead and lifeless again.

He has his reasons. Most of them are that he has less chance of breaking something important if they do it out here.

Once Jin arrives, he paces back and forth in front of him, tapping his cane against his shoulder.]

The first thing we should get out of the way is what exactly you plan to take from this.

[Like Jin, when Rey is called for her training, it's not to the training center, but for her, he has a much different reason to bring her to the deserted village, and it becomes clear when instead of beginning on the empty streets, he leads her into one of the broken down homes, sits her down, and lays out the situation.]

I don't know how different the Force works from what I'm used to, but this place has the highest concentration of reishi in Oska, which means it might weigh more heavily on your senses than anywhere else, too.

[he leans back, sitting cross-legged in front of her.] So this is the place we'll begin.

[As his one student he isn't training in combat, Olivia gets a much more relaxing environment to train in- specifically, the squidge park, which is probably more about Urahara wanting to play with the squidges for a bit before they got started.

When she arrives, he has larval squidges cuddling up to him, while he plays upsy-daisy with a particularly brave little one who doesn't seem to mind the great height as much as its brothers and sisters. ] Good afternoon, Olivia-san~

Edited 2017-01-02 20:52 (UTC)

[he promised Nyuu (and Lucy) that he would work towards finding a way for the two of them to control their transformations at best and a way to communicate with each other at the very least. the first one seems a bit difficult to reach right now, but the second is almost too simple if he can apply a discipline taught to all Shinigami to Nyuu.

Benihime is in shikai when Nyuu arrives at the designated meeting place in the courtyard to find him sitting with his legs crossed and his sword in his lap. It's a cold day, though he doesn't seem to mind- if anything it might help the focusing they need to do.] Are you ready to try this?

[ Sonia had a similar idea in mind, but also as a means to keep her occupied now everything isn't going up in flames. She's used the training centre, she's stayed in her room, she's gone outside... but really this is the room that most feels like home. It's quiet, and the smell of books is familiar. Back when she was studying her languages, studying politics, law, economics and medicine, she had stayed in the family library. This is no different.

Seeing him flopped out across the desk has her pause on the way, books in her arms. She steps over, understanding all too well what the librarians might do if he's caught like this. She isn't harsh in the way she moves, placing her books onto the table by sliding them onto it, nice and quiet. She takes the opposite seat, opening the top book as she watches him quietly. It probably would seem really weird, but she knows it might be some of the little sleep he'll get anytime soon.

Instead, she takes the bottom book from her pile, careful with it, and props it up to block the librarians from the both of them. She pulls out paper then, making it seem like they're working on something together.

Hopefully his snoring isn't loud enough to attract the librarian over--but it might be a surprise when he eventually wakes up to find her sat there studying a medical book. ]

You know about as much as I do, then.

[ She's going into this blind. But something has to be better than nothing. She settles down onto the floor in front of Urahara, taking care to mirror the way he crosses his legs as though that detail might somehow be significant. ]

[it doesn't take long for him to stir- the fact that he can fall asleep anywhere is countered by the fact that he's a very light sleeper, usually jumping at any small movement.

...usually.

the fact that it takes him a few minutes after Sonia has shifted some things around is a testament to how exhausted he is. he makes an undignified noise as he starts awake and lifts a hand to rub at his face, knocking his hat askew.] Hmm?

[he blinks blearily, eyes wandering to the new books (did he stack them like that?) until he finally finds Sonia.] Sonia-san...? [he yawns.] Was I out long?

[time has no meaning when you're running on nothing but power naps and black coffee for the last 72 hours.]

The good news is you have a lot of raw talent- it helps, even if that alone will stop being enough after awhile.

[he's not willing to sugarcoat that- he might not be an ideal teacher, but he can give her more to work with than just letting her run about swinging that lightsaber and using that power of hers like it's a plaything.]

Do you feel anything significant about this place?

[this dried up husk of a world. that's why it's covered up in reishi, the dust left over from the transition from life to death and back again. it doesn't vanish when there's nothing left, it just settles on everything to remind those who know it's there that once there was life here, and one day there will be again. the cycle will continue in this and in all worlds, so long as they're still able to function.]

[It'd probably surprise most of the people he's met here how much time Giorno spends in the library. That's deliberate, of course. He doesn't want to seem smart--or if he does, he wants to seem streetsmart only. Shallow to civilians, knife-sharp to people like the Crows, and to Urahara . . .]

[Well, he doesn't know what he wants to be to Urahara. He isn't expecting to run into him in the library today, so he's not prepared. He's got a small stack of biology and related textbooks tucked up under his arm today, on the way to his favorite table in the corner, when he sees Urahara snoring and drooling a little on his book. Gross.]

[He pauses for a moment, weighing his options. Then he strolls over, snags Urahara's hat, flips it onto his head, and dumps his books on the table with a loud thunk.]

Buon giorno. What are you reading?

[THE INSIDE OF HIS EYELIDS GIORNO GIOVANNA]

[it's really the grace of exhaustion that while Urahara does start awake when his hat is removed, his attempts to actually grab it back before he's fully gotten his head off the table are met with him snatching dead air.

it does prove one point- this weird bastard has insane reflexes.

the rest of him is more sluggish and less on point. he lifts his head up, realizes there's a sheet of paper crowded with his chickenscratch penmanship stuck to his face (the ink on which is smearing- because drool- and staining his chin a bit), as if to prove he can definitely look more like a homeless hot mess if he tries hard enough.

he blinks a few times, mildly irritated- though whether that's because he's been woken up or because GIRONO IS JUST WEARING HIS HAT LIKE IT'S NO BIG DEAL is not clear- and slowly begins to register the question.

and he has to look down to check what the hell he was reading. after awhile, he just sort of got curious about things, and went a little overvoard.] Apparently, the cultural practices surrounding death in the... [squinting at the title] ...Something or other Nebula. How do you pronounce something with that many X'es?

Edited 2017-01-03 06:30 (UTC)

[ She's very careful and holds a very positive kind of aura though, no malicious intent here whatsoever as she keeps herself seated opposite him. Her eyes slide up to look at his face as he rubs his face, knocking his hat a little. ]

You could have slept longer if you would have liked. You were not asleep for very long after I arrived, though I cannot say for how long you were sleeping before that.

[ She flicks a page in her book, grimicing slightly at some sketches and descriptions in there. ]

[he continues to rub at his eyes with the heel of his hand, trying to ward off sleep.] I shouldn't have fallen asleep at all, though I suppose I have been working awfully hard the last few days...

[has it been a few days? maybe it's been longer.]

[ Sonia's eyes do slip back up to his face, wondering just how long he pushes himself not to sleep before he collapses down onto a table like this. ]

If you do not sleep the sufficient hours, of course you will fall asleep in somewhere quiet like this.

[not having Tessai and Yoruichi (and the kids) around to supervise him isn't good for him, he knows. left to his own devices, he probably wouldn't eat or sleep... or shower, though the latter, mercifully for everyone, he's managed because cold showers can at least force him awake.]

True, true. I don't know how much longer we'll be in Oska, so I wanted to get as much done as I could before we leave again.

[ Sonia keeps watching for a moment longer, before she reaches to close her book, then holds out her hand with her palm facing up. ]

Can I see? [ There's a reason she's doing this though. ]

[he looks down at the book he was looking at- something about customs in some cluster of dimensions or another, and hands it over, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand.] I miscalculated how important the natives would be to our mission in Perdition's Rest. If I had paid more attention, I might have recognized they had been infiltrated long before it became an issue.

[he yawns again.]

[ the sight of the wriggling larva tugs a little painfully at her chest, evoking a not-distant-enough memory that she is yet able to shake. it's why she takes care to keep her eyes trained on the man himself, especially as she draws closer, her arms laced at her back in what might have been a very casual stance, were it not for the slight tension pinching between her shoulders.

still, when she greets him, there is an unmistakably bright smile on her face. genuine, too. ]

Good afternoon, Mr. Urahara... [ she pauses, tongue hanging heavy on something on the silence. ]

I'm truly sorry to have wasted your time like this, but I'm afraid I will no longer be needing your services.

[ raw talent was a good word for what had helped her survive starkiller base, for what had gotten her past that swamp monster. but it hadn't come without cost. she'd almost been killed by that swamp monster. her luck was already running out. she didn't need urahara to tell her as much. ]

It feels cold.

[ which, taken literally, is just complaint. but rey's tone of voice says it goes deeper than that. ]

It feels like a shadow.

Hm? [Urahara lowers the squidge he was playing with and genty shoos it and its brothers and sisters off to go to play while he remains sitting and looks up at Olivia.]

Well, that's nothing to apologize for... [he has plenty to do, but he generally multitasks anyway, hence why he's out here in the squidge park, instead of meeting her somewhere more appropriate.] You're a fast learner. I didn't think it would take too long for you to get the hang of it.

[ olivia's laugh is light and soft, and though earnest, perhaps a little too full of mirth to actually be... all that appropriate. she actually has to lift a hand up to stifle the last bits of it, as if she can hardly control it at this point. ]

Oh no no, nothing like that... [ a fast learner though she may be, there are some things even that can't help. like setbacks. ]

I'm afraid recently something happened that threw all our training out the window, [ she sighs, but rather than sound sad about it, she speaks of the incident as if it were nothing more than a wistful and distant memory. ]

But that's okay! I've found other means.

I see... [she picked a good person to try to talk this out with- or a poor person, because the likelihood of him letting it drop when she's trying so hard to hold it together and pretend like nothing is wrong is not high.]

I'm sorry to hear that, but... What other means?

[ there is no pretending here, urahara.

but perhaps that is what's most concerning. ]

I suppose it would be magical, [ she says around a thoughtful hum. the tension between her shoulders has since dissipated, her stance seeming to grow more relaxed in front of his very eyes. seems the effects still take some time to fully sink in, but that's okay, that's okay. that's what practice is for. ]

[OPEN w/ closed prompts] i woke up thinking about Turkish drummers

[open | hot springs] it didn't take long- I don't know that much about Turkish drummers.

[open | fireworks display] but it made me think of Germany and the guy who sold me cigarettes

[open | library] i was thinking about all this to keep from thinking about something else

[CLOSED | JIN] isn't that just what secret police are all about?

[CLOSED | REY] with the weight of approaching dawn

[CLOSED | OLIVIA] and the high vault of heaven looks far away and cold

[CLOSED | NYUU] there's a howling in the factory yard, there's a pounding in my head.

does this one i guess (nottalking)

no subject

he's just so much more innocent when he's... not awake.

no subject

no subject

no subject

very true tbh.... ah

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject