entranceway | 12th side [video]

Hey there birdy, hey...

[Yousuke is interacting with a bird in a cage. A little yellow parakeet. It cheeps and chirps and whistles, saying "hello!" several times in a little birdy way.]

Whatd'you eat, little guy? Seeds? Souji's gotta keep 'em nearby-- there!

[He tries to take the empty dish out of the cage to fill it back up. The bird flies about it's cage and chirps incessantly as he tries to get it.]

Yeah yeah, I know. I'm putting it back, just give me a sec!

[Success. The bird goes right about eating as soon as it gets the chance.]

Sheesh. I knew Souji liked animals, but I thought all the birds he kept we're of the paper variety.

[Chirp. Yousuke puts his finger through the bars to tickle the top of the parakeet's head. It seems to enjoy it.]

You're friendly too.

[...Nobody's looking. He opens the cage door again and tch tch tchs at the bird to try and get its attention. It turns its head about sharply, sizing Yousuke up.]

[And it flies out without a moment's notice.]

Augh no! Wait! Shit!

[And thus began the great parakeet hunt of May, 2012 in the Mansion.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Someday Shinjiro will learn manners.

Today is not that day.

But he is grateful. And he whispers some more commands. Er, requests. Instructions?]

Move slow, and start closing the curtains. Leave one alone.

[He then starts whistling again.]

[Yousuke has absolutely no idea what this will accomplish, but Shinjiro has a commanding presence and he feels compelled to comply. He sneaks around as best someone like him can, and closes all the nearby curtains but one.]

[The parakeet naturally goes towards the one open window, attracted by the light and hope of escape.]

[Good. This might not be too difficult. And the cute little bird will be safe in its cage soon, he hopes. Er, just the bird. Yes. Normal bird.

Shinjiro moves quietly around the hallways, pulling birdseed from his pockets and pouring a nice pile of it on the windowsill, Yousuke's coat in his other hand.]

Y'got the cage ready?

[Yousuke darts over to where he'd left the small cage, and comes back with it quickly as he can. Man, he had birdseed too? This guy was prepared.]

[The greedy bird flights down to the seed, picking at it carefully while keeping a close eye on this new person.]

[Shinjiro remains very still and relaxed, watching the bird sample the food.

About a minute or two later, Shinjiro springs into action, covering the bird with Yousuke's coat and pinning it against the windowsill.]

Dude! Don't hurt it!

[The bird makes quite a racket under the coat, sqwaking and squeaking. And then goes quiet.]

Oh, crap, don't be dead...!

[Yousuke doesn't know that's because it's dark under his jacket, and birds sort of... shut off when they think it's night.]

[Now he's worried he used too much force! But the bird should be okay, he knows he didn't smash it. It's just...pinned down rather well. As a tiny lump under the coat.]

Uh...open it...it's sleeping. [He thinks.]

[Yousuke swallows, and open the cage, lowering it towards his jacket. This better have worked!]

[Shinjiro very gingerly places the parakeet back inside the cage once getting a hold of it under the coat, shuddering subtly the whole time.

Once it's in there, the cage door is shut and Shinjiro takes a deep breath.]

[As soon as it's light again, the bird shakes itself off and gets back up, fluttering around the cage like nothing happened. Yousuke lets out a sigh of relief.]

Oh man, safe. I didn't think I'd ever get it back...

[The bird looks fine. A smile briefly spreads across and fades from his face. Mission accomplished.

Oh right.

He holds out the jacket to Yousuke.]

[Yousuke takes his jacket back and shake off some of the feather dust the bird left behind.]

Dude, thanks. I totally owe you one.

[He holds out his hand to shake.]

I'm Yousuke Hanamura.

[Shinjiro just kind of stares at Yousuke's hand. His manners are kind of lacking...that, or the thought of forging new friendships makes him a little uncomfortable.

However, he finds the will to introduce himself.]

Shinjiro Aragaki.

[Yousuke retracts his hand awkwardly when he isn't taken up on the offer... Oh well. Can't force a person.]

Hey, Aragaki. You new around here? 'Haven't seen you before.

[He nods, looking around again. It looks a lot different from when he arrived, but he prefers this setup over the previous setting.]

[Not much of a talker, huh? That's sort of okay though, since Yousuke talks enough for several people.]

I've been here for a year now. You get used to it after awhile.

[Nope, not really. He'll speak up when he needs to, though.

Surprise followed by a little disappointment shows in his expression when he hears that Hanamura's been here for an entire year. It sounds like a prison sentence.]

It's not so bad. Rarely boring at least.

[When you're not fighting for life and limb. He decides to leave that part out.]

Y'forget anything yet?

[Might as well confirm the rumors from his friend's male counterpart.]

Yeah. It was a phrase... a couple of words. It had something to do with a camping trip we went on. It's the weirdest thing. They're just gone.

[Shinjiro listens to him attentively, then starts to let his eyes wander about the room again, deep in thought. At first, a phrase about a camping trip doesn't seem all that important.

But who knows what happened there. The phrase might be key to something bigger.

Damn. What a weird thing to think about.]

And not just random either, I remember it was something I used to say a lot...

[He shrugs his jack back on.]

Our guess is that the mansion feeds on memories. Or that the Queen does something with them. But it's impossible to know for sure.

The Queen?

[This needs investigating.]

Yeah, the Queen of Heart. She lives on the mirrorside and I think she rules them... or something. We're pretty sure she keeps the whole mansion in check though. She's the one that stopped the Jabberwocky when it went rampaging a little while ago.

[Shinjiro narrows his eyes a little. Sure, there are plenty of mirrors here, but just the glass ones. He's yet to see a flesh and blood 'reflection' of someone.

That, and what the heck's a Jabberywocky?!]

[action]

masukukunai - 2012-05-31 23:27 (UTC) - Expand

cookingfordogs - 2012-06-01 08:52 (UTC) - Expand