daybreakacademy | Everybody's Working for the Weekend!

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Everybody's Working for the Weekend!

WHO: #1: Peter Parker [Closed]; #2 Tokidoki Rikudoh and Noboru Gongenzaka [Closed]; #3: [OPEN!]
WHAT: Weekend antics! Whether it's getting to hear Peter's crimefighting stories, fighting deep-set mental trauma, or running around Soleil shopping for sewing materials and spending time with friends, Orihime is guaranteed to never be bored.
WHEN: January 19th-20th, 2019
WHERE: #1: On Campus, Peter's Dorm Room; #2 & #3: Soleil

[Log #1: Peter Parker and Orihime Inoue]

[When Orihime arrives at Peter's dorm, she has a backpack slung over her shoulder, sagging heavily with the sheer weight of all the soda she brought. She couldn't decide on what to get from the vending machine, so she just pumped in her coins and got one of everything. Why not? She can splurge for this.]

[As she waits, it hits her that maybe...maybe...she really shouldn't be hanging out in a boy's room. It's not very proper, and she wouldn't want people to start getting the wrong idea. But no one seems to be around to take note (yet), so...maybe it's fine. She's heard that boys and girls sometimes room together, so maybe that kind of thing just isn't a big deal in France.]

[It's fine.]

[Besides, she's excited to hear about his stories. A real superhero...! And he's so young, too! This is going to be amazing and spectacular.]

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[Log #2: Noboru Gongenzaka, Tokidoki Rikugou, Orihime Inoue]

[After meeting with White Chain, Orihime's definitely glad for a chance to catch her breath and be around friendly faces. Tokidoki is always positive and cheerful, and she's looking forward to spending more time with him. While she's never met Gongenzaka, he seemed pretty polite when she spoke with him over the network.]

[She waits for them just outside the school gates, gloved hands behind her back, nuzzling her nose into her scarf and exhaling to warm her face with her breath. She's got a list of measurements and notes in her pocket so she can get all the things she needs for her massive sewing project. If she can earn enough, maybe she can invest in that runic armor equipment that Gunvolt told her about.]

[Hearing footsteps crunch in the snow, she perks up and turns to greet the first person to arrive.]

Good morning! Are you ready to go?

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[Log #3: [OPEN!]]

[There are plenty of people who seemed interested in going to the sewing supply store in town to choose the materials for their formal clothes, so Orihime is more than happy to walk them around and point out good bargains, as well as mentioning the pros and cons of good quality cloth versus something cheaper but easier to clean.]

[But she could be spotted anywhere in town, especially near the bakery where she stares in awe at the display case through the window. Someday, she'll have a fancy cake store of her own. Or at least a part-time job at a place like this! ...Maybe... Now that she knows about the impending doom of Nightfall, a cake shop isn't as important to her future as it used to be. She should be sad about that, but...she's not. It feels good to do something important for a change, and to get strong enough to protect the people she cares about.]

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"Hey!" He calls again, but of course, still nothing. Is this guy deaf? Ignoring him? Well he's not going to just let the guy stay there, there's got to be something he can do.

He looks around, searching for a solution, only for his gaze to go to his owns. Alright. If this is how he's got to play, he'll do this. Steeling himself, he creeps around the guy-- not as if he's even paying attention to anything but the windows of kids anyway, but precaution is important all the same. He moves to the closest tree he can and steps behind it. Then, with a breath, lets his power light. The markings glow first, then the rest of him, and in no time he's shifted to his skeletal self.

He peers around, checking to see that the man is, in fact, still there. Then, plucking his hand of his wrist, he curls those fingers into a ball and holds it in his other hand. His arm goes back. Three... two...

Meaning to latch on with his skeletal fingers, his left hand is lobbed at the guy's back.

That seems to do it. The gloomy glaze of his stare is washed away, clarity restored with each startled blink. He turns in place, trying to see what's gripping the back of his suit. He's confused, but not frightened.

At least, not until he sees the skeleton on the ground glowering at him.

"GAH!" he yelps, arm jerking upward. "What do you-- You can see me?"

He means to slip back out of the way, get hidden after he's got the guy's attention... pull his hand back before he shifts or else that would be a mess... okay, he didn't time this great but, on the positive, the man doesn't seem to recognize him which means he's still got his cover for now.

And this problem to deal with.

"Obviously I can see you, you're right there! I have eyes!" Eyes settled in dark sockets. Not the point. "The real question is, what do you think you're doing? This isn't a zoo where you come to ogle, those are children's rooms! I am not going to say it again, you cannot be hovering out here and if you keep doing it or I catch this again then we're going to have a problem."

"Calm down!" the man urged, holding his hands up in a desperate attempt at placation. "I can see why you'd say that, but that's not the situation!"

He actually seems a little sick at the mere suggestion. He turns slightly in mid-air, glancing back toward the window.

"It's my little sister. She..."

He falters, and pushes his hand into his hair as his brow furrows in a vaguely familiar way.

"She left home a long time ago. This is the only way I can see her now."

He does stop yelling at the guy when asked, but he can't help glaring suspiciously. There had better be a good explanation for all of this and right now he can't think of one.

What he gets isn't... actually that good either. It's not clear. But it does leave a cold and heavy weight in him, enough for his shoulders to drop and for him to glance quick from the building to this man.

"I'm pretty sure there's no restrictions for family going to see family here." He's just going to go with the obvious possibilities here first. "But if your sister isn't comfortable with seeing you then I'm really not sure she'd be okay with this either."

"It's not a matter of comfort," he persisted, keeping his hands up. "She can't see me. No one can. ...Except for you. How are you different than everyone else?" His hands lowered slightly, puzzlement crossing his features.

His eyes flicked down, then back up. Right. There were a lot of bones right before his eyes.

"...I see...you're dead too. But you're more responsive than the others."

He's looking pretty confused himself, eyes searching the man's face for what meaning he's surely missing here. He starts when it's just lain out simply like that; you're dead too.

"...You're dead?" The watching, the floating...

"Wait! Hang on. I'm pretty sure what you just said is a little insulting but I'm going to let it slide because it's not technically untrue. You're a ghost?! Like a real actual ghost ghost?" Sorry muchacho, he's just got to take a second to wrap his head around this. And then once he does, he's frowning again. "But then... are you... haunting your sister?"

A bob of the head as his smile faded. Yes, he was a ghost.

Another head bob. Yes, he was haunting his sister, and he looked even unhappier mentioning it.

But he seemed reluctant to offer any explanation as to why that was. There were no excuses, no attempts to clarify. Either he couldn't think of a way to explain it, or for whatever reason it just simply wasn't within his power.

"Her name is Orihime. Do you know her?"

He never figured out what it was that brought him or any of his primos to unlife. They came up with a hundred ideas, a million comparisons-- the words "unfinished business" came up a lot, but who didn't have that when they died?

This time, Sora doesn't need to explain himself. Héctor looks from him to the windows and then steps forward. The skeletal hand that had been hanging off Sora falls and then quickly shoots back in place at the end Héctor's arm. He adjusts it just slightly before stepping back again to look up.

He didn't know why he was here, but he knew there was just one thing in the world he wanted to race back to with his given time. In Sora's case, he'd already found that most important thing, he just couldn't interact. He's not sure which of them is worse off.

His breath catches at the name, his face showing clear recognition. His eyes close and the markings on his face light, soon followed by the rest of him. In seconds, the skeleton is a man again.

"I know her," He answers sadly. "I TA the evening classes here-- I know a lot of the kids, though hardly anyone knows I'm dead. We share the same dorm actually." He nods his head at Aube. "She's a sweet kid. Real kind, brave. She reminds me just the tiniest bit of my daughter that way..." His frown deepens, eyes dropping down to the grass. "I'm sorry. To both of you."

Edited 2019-02-01 08:14 (UTC)

The ghost smiles faintly, but there's no real happiness there. At least he's focused on Hector now, no longer glancing back at the window.

Which is probably just as well, since she comes jumping out of it, holding onto a web shooter and grinning from ear to ear just before Peter Parker follows suit, and the two go racing off toward the woods. Worried big brothers don't need to see that.

"It seems like she hasn't changed much, if that's true," he answers. "And your daughter? Does she go to this place as well?"

Sora's not facing the window, but he is. There's a moment in which his eyes dart a little, from the man to the girl jumping out behind him. And Peter too. Oh boy. These kids... That's going to have to be a talk later.

"Huh? Oh." For now he's got to focus on the conversation at hand. The dead man's probably been waiting long enough.

His drops a little, a tight and pained smile flickering upon his features. He shakes his head. "No. No, she's still back home. In México. I'm working on getting home to her. She doesn't know I'm dead either."

He wishes Coco were here. He wishes so bad, only less than wishing he was home himself. But there's nothing he can do about that.

"My wi--" He winces and restarts. "...Her mother thought it best for her that she not uproot her life."

"She doesn't know? But...how?"

He seems to reconsider his question, his expression quieting.

"No, I'm sorry. That's not any of my business. But I hope you're able to see her again."

The ghost smiles, and though it's sad, it's less empty this time.

"It's probably best if Orihime doesn't know I'm here. She's living her life happily. A brother...can't hope for more than that."

He winces, but he's prepared to answer the question even despite the pain it brings. Instead, Sora cuts him off with an apology. He smiles back, just as sad, but grateful.

"Thank you," He says. "I'm not offended by the way it's just... a long and unpleasant story."

And speaking of...

"I'm a little jealous right now, truth be told. You get to see your family. But I'm not sure I understand... you don't want her to know? Not even a little? I don't know how you could do it. There's so many things I want to say, so many apologies and... all those words I owe my girl. Like, I love you and good morning and good night..."

The ache is obvious on the man's face, and his jaw tightens as his head hangs forward. Uncertainty glimmers dimly in his dark eyes. "Of course I want to talk to her. Of course I do. But she was so sad for so long, praying at my shrine every day. Now that she's finally living a happy life... Who am I to take that from her by reminding her that her brother is dead?"

He shakes his head. "It's too selfish. She's better off just forgetting me so she can move on. I don't want to see her look the way she used to."

He wonders if Sora really believes that. He wonders if Sora realizes how much it hurts to hear a thing like that spoken. Is it selfish? Is it so selfish to want to see his daughter again? Is it too much to ask to tell his wife he loves her? Imelda thought so. This man seems to think so too. Is he the fool here...?

"...I never knew my family as a kid," He starts, before he's even thought it through. "I don't know if they died or if they didn't want me or couldn't afford me or what. I don't remember. I never got a straight answer when I asked. Eventually I stopped asking. But I always... I kind of hoped they'd just... show up one day. Whoever they were. Say they're sorry. Take me home-- which I always still imagined being at my hometown, but I was never a smart kid. Here, I met a boy. Meddled too much and he's learned all about me. He told me about his family. His parents, his Tío. How happy he would be to hear from them again. And I've been hoping, dreaming, that maybe all that will apply to me too. That I still have somewhere to go..."

His arms go up, crossing over his chest. This hurts. This all hurts, all too close to home.

"...But maybe I'm just afraid. I don't want to be forgotten. Sometimes I feel like... if I can't hold on to this hope of her, if I don't see her again... I'm going to disappear." He suppresses something of a shiver. His eyes aren't anywhere close to the man above. "If you don't want to say something, that's fine. I can't tell you what's best. But I can't help wondering... isn't the worst part of death for everyone being cut away from all you loved? Do you really think she'd feel that differently?"

"Ah...ah, I apologize..." Sora lifted a hand as if to reach out and touch Hector's shoulder, but he withdrew his fingers and let his arm drop back down to his side. "In truth...I don't want to be forgotten either. But if being remembered only causes pain..."

He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, his shoulders tense.

"I just...want what's best for her. But it's been three years. I don't even know what that is anymore, and I'm terrified of breaking that fragile happiness again. "Maybe I'm just a fool. I never knew how to raise a little girl, but I knew I could do better than they did."

He looked at Hector for a moment. Then he did reach out, settling a cool and ghostly hand on his shoulder. "But if you know her now, then...may I ask you to make that decision based on your own judgment? If it won't hurt her, then just tell her I love her, and that I'll keep watching over her. Just...help her be happy."

He withdrew his hand, then bowed low at the waist. "And I hope you can reach your family too. I'm sure you'll see them again."

His head lifts at the apology. He doesn't really want the man to apologize. He doesn't want his feelings coddled he just wants to choose the right thing, filled with just as much uncertainty.

He can relate too easily. He can finish the sentence left to trail if he wanted. If being remembered only causes pain maybe they're better off forgotten.

Three years, he hears, and he's not sure if he wants to laugh or cry. He hasn't seen his daughter in ten, and this man doesn't know his sister from three? And Better than they did. He could ask, but he doesn't need to. Even the worst of his fosters wasn't so cruel but it doesn't take a genius to work it out.

It also meant that Orihime was alone and that thought holds him just as cold as Sora's hand.

"That's a lot in my hands, amigo," he says sadly. But if it's up to him, then he's already made up his mind. He rubs at his arm uncomfortably when Sora bows. Cultural thing or no, it feels like far more than he deserves. But he can hold out his hand to shake when Sora rises.

"I'll do my best for you two. Least I can for a fellow dead man, right?" He tries to smile.

Sora lifted himself up slowly, looking at the proffered hand. He gripped it, shaking it slowly with a lopsided smile. "It would mean a lot to me. I'm grateful."

There was another bow before he let go.

"Can I do anything for you in return? Without a body, I'm somewhat limited in what I can do, but if there's anything at all, please name it."

The handshake is much more his style. He gives a good shake and grips that cold hand, meeting the smile with a wide grin.

"Ah, hm. Well we can always use more eyes around here. These kids are crazy reckless." Like Peter and Orihime in fact. "And you know, company is nice too sometimes, how quiet it is at night." He doesn't know if Sora ever see or talks to ther dead people, if there was somewhere he could go, but if not it's probably something the man could use as much as him.

Though, in thinking of going places, a thought occurs.

"Actually... can you go places? Like... anywhere in the world...?"

Sora seemed surprised at the feel of Hector's hand actually making physical contact with his. It's enough to make him chuckle before their palms part.

"Yes, they are. I can't say it doesn't worry me," he admitted, looking back at the window. The lights were still on, so there was nothing to indicate that his sibling had already flown the coop just yet. "But I'll do what I can. And it's nice to talk with another person after all this time," he admitted, smiling quietly.

It was the last part that brought his attention back to Hector's face. "I'm not sure. I think I'm tied to Orihime. Wherever she goes, I'm forced to follow. I don't know how far apart we can be. But I can try. Why?"

He has to agree. While he's never had the bad luck to be unable to talk to anyone, it could get lonely sometimes among the living, with so few people. And so few who understood what it was like being dead, even if differently.

That's a sad thing in and of itself, to be tied to one person but not to be able to engage. At the same time, his hope blooms and he tries not to let it overwhelm him. They don't know this can work.

He rubs uncertainly at his arm. "I was wondering, perhaps, if you could visit my daughter. In Santa Cecelia, México. Not invade her privacy of course, nothing like that but... I haven't seen her. Or heard from her... It'd be nice to know, maybe, if she seems... happy? If she's got friends or what she likes or... if she..." If she misses him.

Sora held his chin, turning his head as he hummed in thought. "Mexico is a long way away. I'll do my best to reach it. But there's no guarantee she'd be able to see or hear me. Still...I can at least let you know if she's in good health, and how she spends her days."

It didn't seem like there was any downside to making an attempt at the very least. If it failed, Sora wouldn't be in any danger. They would just have to try something else.

"And you'll watch over my sister while I'm away?"

"No, no, I don't expect her to see you or anything. She's a half mage but I don't think she would know stuff about seeing ghosts anyway." For all the rumors about the Riveras being death mages, and for as little as he knew about that world, he knew they weren't the necromancers everyone thought them to be. Things would probably be very different if they were.

"Just knowing about her would be--" Enough? No. "It would be a miracle." He smiles soft, then says, "And of course. They're good kids here, I try to look after who I can anyway. Thank you, Sora. You don't know how much this would mean. Even if you can't get there." But so much more if he can.

"I'll do what I can. It might be a nice change of pace." He took a quick breath to steady himself and straightened his shoulders. Hector's agreement and gratitude seemed to be enough to convince him.

"Well then... I'll be going." Closing his eyes, his image blurred and faded away as he was swallowed by an iris of darkness.

His presence could no longer be felt.

"Whoa, wait, what about--" But before he can say any more, the man is gone. His hand falls back to his side from where it had risen.

There was nothing to make one more lost in this world than seeing first hand how little he knew things beyond himself worked.

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Everybody's Working for the Weekend!

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