001. every story is a song // open post.

[kyriff]

Take a prompt, take some time, drop in whenever you like.

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Late January, 2043

[kinesthesia]

[ She wanders down long after Cen has left and the noise from Haven has quieted. She smiles when she sees the staff, asks in soft tones if she can steal just one glass and if the bottle she'd purchased and set aside can be brought out.

Side-benefits of being the wife of the proprietor of a club means that the people who help keep things smooth and moving know you, know your habits.

Cisco is grateful. And they know it. It's that month. This is old hat. ( And the fact that Hikaru Shinta passed away only months before makes this year potentially harder. ) ]

[kyriff]

[And thankfully, he's wrapping up his set just as he spots her coming around. It's enough to get him to rush just a little bit, and leave another DJ to end things for the evening/morning.

He approaches quietly, and with a smile.]

Mind if I join you?

[It's been a while for the both of them.]

[kinesthesia]

[ She smiles back, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes. January is the coldest month, moreso when she and Cen part ways as he goes off to deliberately spend the following weeks in Sagada, coming back only when Spring thaws and the twins' birthday approaches. ]

I never mind.

[ She pours him a glass, slides it over. ] I like that new mix you slipped in earlier.

[kyriff]

Thanks. I was trying to follow Aidan's advice on something.

[But the truth of the matter was, Rethe had wanted to go for songs that sounded like a nice blend of country/folk/blues and EDM, because Aidan had a fondness for the soulful guitar rifts, the driving beat of the so-called Music of the Devil.

Enough about that, though. He's about as aware of the time as Cisco is, and knows, just as many others know, why she is here and why she is alone.]

When is he going to go?

[There is no point to being graceful for the moment.]

March 2040 | It's Hard Being The Good One

[renascens]

[ He crawls under the baseball field bleachers and tugs absently at the sleeves of his sweater with his thumbs, worrying the fabric.

There's a part of him that feels bad that he'd run off to call Miss Rebecca after Maggie dragged Alan off by the arm, but after he'd seen the bite mark on the other boy's arm, he knew he was right for following his gut.

It's been a tough couple of weeks at home. Worse, somehow, with their mother off on an engagement and though the Dovetailor ( Aunt Sawyer, he reminds himself ) has reassured them that she'll be home soon -- he's not entirely sure that Maggie will last long enough.

It's hard, he knows, living with their uncles. It's not even that they're terrible people, because the Montelibanos aren't, not in the least. Their Tito Chris takes them places, their Tito Tim is a pretty awesome resource since he teaches at their school, and it's hard not to see how much Tito Seb and Tita Giselle enjoy dropping in, since their own kids are more or less grown. It's just that dinner is always so terribly awkward -- at least when their Tito Nathaniel drops in, which, if their Tito Virgil's comment is to be taken into consideration, a lot more than is normal for the Watcher. And while Tito Carlo mediates well enough as the quiet though stern-faced patriarch, in tandem with their doting Nana Rielle... it's just hard.

These people are relative strangers. Family, yes, blood of their blood, true. But strangers in a way that Alistair Mordechai is not.

( Mom had never told stories about them. Not even Tito Chris who was a fox like her; like they could one day be. )

He leans closer to the stands, folds his arms and rests his chin over them, a soft sigh of worry leaving him as he whispers: ]

Please don't eat my sister, Father Clayce.

[kyriff]

[He was late, embarrassingly late, so late that Calintz had to proxy for him and keep Aidan company on the inspection of Balamb. In a way, though, this is good: he knows, after all, what happened by now. He knows exactly where Aidan is, who he is talking to, and why.

And that is the reason why he's coming around, pausing just for a moment to watch Renae Montelibano from a safe distance. He can feel the worry emanating from the boy, and is, of course, amused when he picks up on what he says.]

Don't worry about it. Aidan's a nice dragon.

[renascens]

[ Starting, a little -- shoulders up and back tense when her catches that voice.

Turning around slowly now, and feeling like someone who'd been caught doing something he shouldn't, somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

Tiny voice now: ] I..Inquisitor Kyriff-Clayce. I-I was just... [ cue awkward motions of the hand. ]

[kyriff]

[He's just going to smile, and smile, and wait for the words to stutter away. No judgment from this one. None at all.]

Worrying over your sister. I know.

[And now he's going to sit right beside you, and turn his gaze to where the only man he has ever loved is doing what he does best: saving another life.]

Waking the Dead 2.0 | Timeskip Shenanigans

[larue]

[ It's a little strange to know that he can't just wander up to the dorms to see Yulia and Stanley right before breakfast anymore. It had never been a thing, really -- they'd all had their morning routines to adhere to -- but the knowledge that the three rooms they'd taken for themselves on that first night at Falner are now free for other people to take makes him feel a little nostalgic.

So he finishes his jog, makes use of Balamb's shower rooms when he's done, and wanders over to the Great Hall for breakfast; where he grabs food, coffee, and settles down to watch something on his tablet, earbuds in place. ]

[kyriff]

[And about an hour later, there will be a Presence just over Josh's shoulder.

Somebody's watching with you and trying not to be too obvious about it.]

[larue]

[ He's actually watching Remember the Titans. He hasn't seen this one in a while, and learning that he could purchase the movie online with barely a fraction of the money he hasn't so much as touched from his universal credit card into his Vice tablet is something that pleases him. Incredibly.

He's quiet though, as he watches a bed-ridden Bertier calling out to the nurse why she can't see the family resemblance between him and his black teammate and finds that he has to pause the movie.

It's hitting a little too close to home.

Funny, that.

So yeah, he's finally noticing that Rethe is behind him and ducking his head sheepishly. ] H-hey.

[kyriff]

[Welp. He's just as embarrassed as you.]

Oh. Um. [Herp. ._.] Sorry. Hi.

Waking the Dead 2.0 : 22 May 2063 | "do you got room for one nore troubled soul"

[larue]

[ Josh gets back to Falner close to midnight, having decided to put in an extra hour ( and then some ) at Rhiannon before finally calling it a day. His body is mostly accustomed to his unconventional schedule by now, the time shift and extra exposure to daylight making it seem like his days are longer than they really are, but tonight he feels more wide awake than usual.

He heads to Haven then, wanders in still in his crimson suit, except the collar's undone to give him room to breathe and his tie pocketed in his coat, tucked away.

When he steps through, the music washes over him like a wave and he makes his way to the bar.

Rethe is spinning tonight, and listening to his former mentor ( and now friend ) play is always a good way to end a long day. ]

this is going to be fun.

[kyriff]

[And Rethe Kyriff is having the time of his life.

To be fair, it is always like this for him. Even when he had been part of the Heavenly Host, human music had fascinated him, Beyond the fact that all music was beautiful, the effects that they had on the human mind were equally interesting. Immersing one's self in the rhythm and rhyme in what he considered to be the purest interpretation of life was a spiritual experience. Part of the reason why he DJed was to convey that to others, and share it with as many people as he could.

It'd be obvious to anyone watching Rethe that he loved what he was doing: it was written all over his face, his body, and in the collection of tiny gestures that he was at that moment (the bob of his head to the rhythm, the sway of his body, the way he occasionally closed his eyes to feel what he was doing even better than he already was, the part of his lips and the reverent way he whispered to himself/to nobody at all at each new turn in the mix). He made it look so natural, as if he did not spend nearly every spare moment he had listening to pieces old and new, finding every single possible way to make something better, or maybe just different in the most intriguing fashion, in ways that might just leave one with the question How did that even work?!. And that might be the reason why he's too busy to check if there's anyone familiar in the crowd tonight. He's riding on the highs of their emotions, and doing everything in his power to keep the party going.]

this is going to be cruel -w-

[larue]

[ He settles by the bar and leans over the counter to ask the girl manning it if Rethe's favorite bottle is in stock ( yeah, it is, do I bring one out? ) and tells them to set aside a couple cans of coke as well, since Jack & Coke is the psychopomp's choice drink.

That done, he leans against the bar to tune in and lifts his own bottle of Corona to his lips before he shuts his eyes to absorb the music -- songs from 2013 to 2015, personal favorites with a brand new twist. ]

[kyriff]

[He knows his time is almost up when he feels Selene Vega's approach. They don't say anything; they don't even look at each other. There's just her stepping up and bringing her equipment in, and him turning his mix down a different direction, one that will seamlessly weave into Selene's kind of sound.

Once the transition's complete, he's signing off, and Selene is picking up the pace. That means that he's stepping down from the turntables, pushing his headphones down from his ears, running a self-collecting hand through his hair.

He can't wipe the grin off of his face. He knows that he really should, but... he had fun tonight. Now he's wandering down to the bar, and --

Well.]

Hi.

[Sliding into the stool beside Josh, still smiling. It's nice to see a friend after a run like that.]

Waking the Dead 2.0 : "a lesson in the worst kind of way"

[larue]

[ Josh wanders out onto Brianna's front porch and lights up a cigarette, his thoughts turning to the way Hikaru's words had rung in his ears I don't like movies and how his immediate thought had been Rethe would have liked 'The Land Before Time'.

He's looking out into blank space, taking a puff and exhaling a breath as he remembers how, at Zangyaku right after the War Hounds sans Stanley had come back from Aokigahara, he'd finally gathered the courage to approach the Voidspeaker to apologize for his monumental fuck up. It had surprised him not that Aidan had only sent him a sad and understanding smile, but how much the words He doesn't have many friends, you know had stung. When Rethe had shown up shortly after, walking by Death's side, Josh had finally looked up, offered a hand in greeting and a weak smile of his own as if to say: I'm sorry.

He missed the guy. It was as simple as that. He missed the angel's quiet and solid presence, the peaceful reassurance of being around the person who had seen him break down for the first time in six years over the loss of a life, of the family he'd left behind, only to offer the option to have it all back.

When Hikaru peeks out to check on him, Josh manages a faltering smile, informs the Blade King that he's going to head off early, before moving back inside to get his bag and tell his blade mates that he'd see them in the morning.

He wanders around a little, realizing only halfway to Haven that he hasn't taken this kind of time to just... walk... and appreciate the world around him, no matter how familiar Falner has become. Not since that last walk with Rethe where they'd found those ghost kittens looking so lost because they couldn't find their mother.

He stalls a little, outside of Haven, duffel slung over one shoulder as he ducks his head in greeting to three members of the bar staff having a cigarette break right outside the back entrance before finally going in.

As always, as before, the music washes through him and he pauses, letting it sink in and opening his eyes as he sifts past the signature of Rethe's style to unearth the core tune -- Norwegian duo Röyksopp's "Only This Moment", released in 2005.

Josh bows his head then, lips pressed together as he hunts up a spot in the darker corners of Haven, close enough to see the DJ booth without obstruction, but far enough that unless one knew where to look, he wouldn't be seen.

It's been a while since he allowed himself the luxury of just watching Rethe work, without his mess of emotions making him doubt whether he should be allowed to do so. And it drives the point home: he misses his friend.

( --Top five favorites?
   Well, it's kind of hard for me to choose... I have a list for every decade.
Every decade-- )

A whole fucking lot. ]

[kyriff]

[And it's hard to describe the kind of feeling you get when you look up and see a familiar face in the crowd, the face of someone whom you had thought, for only too long, you had lost.

The smile on his face is easy to misinterpret. Maybe he was just enjoying himself. Maybe he was pleased with his work.

Nope. It's all because of that.

This is reason why, once he's finished with his set, he's giving the booth over to Selene with a kiss to the cheek and walking right over.

The doubt is still there, of course: it's written all over his movements. But maybe - just maybe - he should make that leap this time instead of turning away.]

Hi.

[larue]

[ He feels, in the simplest of terms, like the biggest shithead to dare to breathe the limited oxygen on this planet.

He can see the hesitation in Rethe's gait, can tell by the look sent his way that it's as if the angel is asking, with each step: Is this okay? Can I approach?

( Rethe, you said we're friends, right? )

Josh falters a little, and then, as quietly as he can manage without it being drowned out by Selene's introductory set: ] Hey.

[ Hands in pockets now, equally hesitant. ] Great set up there.

Waking the Dead 2.0 || June 10, 2063 || Sunday

[ktotheatothez]

[Sure, he said he got this, but while he'd talked to Aidan often, sat around comfortably with them in silence, he's never really talked to Rethe. And truth be told, he's always been a fan of the angel. So when he makes his way to the Great Hall to check if Rethe's there, he may be blushing a little.

It's logical, I mean... It's kind of like how Selene mixed for Brianna. It makes sense that Josh's best friend mixes for his party.

He nods and walks into the great hall with purpose in his step (or are those nerves?)]

[kyriff]

[Thankfully, Rethe is sitting by himself at the Malice King's table. He's on his laptop, watching something while finishing his food.

Pitch Perfect is a surprisingly cute movie. o_o]

[ktotheatothez]

[Oh help, Rethe's right there. Be cool Kaz, he's just Josh's best friend, and an angel and a Malice King and a world famous DJ, no big deal.

He doesn't ignore his stomach's growling though, so he grabs some food and a drink and heads over to the Malice Kings' table.]

Uh, hey Rethe... Mind if I join you?

Waking the Dead 2.0 : on the plane ride to ireland : "a sign somewhere between the lines"

[larue]

[ This comes Rethe's way while Josh is midway through his flight.

Don't ask him the time. He can't timezone right now. ]

i know we saw each other for a bit
in south africa (thank you for that, btw)
but we haven't really touched base in a while.
i'm sorry about that. i owe you movie things.

[ He's looking for company. 13 hours is a long time to he stuck on a plane. ]

[kyriff]

[He gets the text while he's flopped in bed with the laptop, fiddling around with another mix. A smile touches his face the moment he sees who it is, and what the message says.]

You don't owe me anything, Josh. I get it. It's been busy for everyone lately.

[larue]

[ When the reply comes through, he's gratefully looking down at that message and pressing his lips together. ]

nah, i definitely owe you movie things.
i promised. i keep my promises.

[ He sends that off, and then follows it up with a second message. ]

i hope i'm not bothering you, though?
i'm on a plane en route to ireland right now.