297 ♫ open ♫ i found myself in wonderland

[blueveins]

Who: Sayaka Miki and anyone around!
Open: Open
When: 297
Where: A few different places!
What: a one-sentence summary of what is happening
Format: Action tags preferred, but I'll match!
Warnings: N/A, will add if any come up

[She means to allow herself a few days to settle, but it doesn't work—the synapses of her racing mind keeps the rest of her nerves jumping so she's got to get moving, she's got to get going; sneaking between her new apartment and the kitchens in an attempt not to catch anyone's attention isn't enough. So today, she's out wandering.]


A: Training Building
[She's tentative about entering buildings, but people have been going in and out of this larger one all day, and the door's been left open; it must be public. Eventually, Sayaka meanders on in to see what all the fuss is about.

Curiosity gets the better of her as she peruses the equipment. She brings one of the light swords to a scrap wood target well away from any other goings-ons; she doesn't trust herself enough to go waving it around with other people nearby.

With a yell, she lunges forward and swings the sword at her target. WHAM! With a swift spin, she slashes the sword against the target's other side. Another holler and a twirl, and she slices the splintered wood.

Though not quite graceful outside of her magical girl form, she's certainly effective—and given the state of the target, more powerful than her fourteen-year-old self gives the appearance of. For what might be the first time since she's gotten here, Sayaka allows herself the slightest smile of triumph.]


B: A Donut Tree
[At first she wasn't sure how to take the whole "there's literally a donut growing on a tree here, like, an actual tree, and an actual donut, an actual whole bunch of donuts good god" thing at first—but y'know? Things could be worse. This is weird, but it's a highlight.

She sits in one of the lower branches of a tree near the monument, munching on her snack and observing passer-bys. Anyone whose glance might linger on the new girl sitting around in the donut tree receives a slight smile and a tilt of her head of acknowledgement. If it lasts, she doesn't even wait until she's done chewing to speak to them.] What, want one?


C: Skyway Bridge
[As the day's gone on, she's noticed people coming and going across the bridge to the Skyway. But why? She hasn't gone back since she arrived at the Bastion; it's no witch barrier, but it's dangerous out there.

She lingers by the end of the bridge. When someone comes to cross it on their way out of the Bastion, she steps towards them.]

Hey. Are you going out there?

Comments

B

[dontyoujustwish]

[Anya isn't quite certain why anyone would choose to sit in the donut trees. It seems uncomfortable and potentially messy. But people do a lot of silly things.]

Maybe. If you're willing to hand it to me instead of lobbing it at me from up there.

[blueveins]

Who'd go throwing around perfectly good donuts?

[And so no, she doesn't go throwing the donut down to her; Sayaka, like a reasonable person, hops down from her perch and presents to Anya a chocolate donut with frosting and sprinkles, as they are the objective best.]

[dontyoujustwish]

You'd be surprised how nonsensical some people can be.

[Anya accepts the donut appreciatively, chocolate is always a good choice.]

Thank you.

[blueveins]

I guess, but just tossing food at people seems like a bit much! I'd hate to waste good sweets. Oh, no problem.

[dontyoujustwish]

Exactly. Delicious food is meant to be eaten.

You only throw rotten food, and only at people who deserve it.

C

[hellpyre]

[Deep down, Rin knows Yukio isn't coming back. Deep down she also knows that Yuki-chan isn't likely to be out there, either.

Yet in spite of all this she keeps coming back every couple of days, lingering by the entrance, holding on to the painful hope that maybe one of them might come wandering through.

They never did, though.

It didn't stop her from doing it, and today she was approached by a new face and a question.]

... I wasn't plannin' on it. Why? Did you wanna go?

[blueveins]

Oh, no, I didn't. [She holds her hands up, almost defensively.] But a lot of people have been going in and out of there. But isn't it really dangerous?

[hellpyre]

Eh, yeah. It is. A lotta people don't care, though. It's how we get stuff to keep on livin' here like we do, and it's not so bad if you go out on a team.

[Hence why she asked if Sayaka was wanting to go.]

[blueveins]

People are that careless..? [The next bit sinks in as Sayaka says it, though, and the sentence drops into a mutter halfway through.] ...So there's useful stuff out there? [The last time she was out there, she didn't find anything—but she wasn't really looking, either. Today, she intended to make sure any potential travelers weren't going alone, but that bit of information has gears turning in her mind.]

[hellpyre]

... they have been.

[Herself included. There was a reason she often kept her shoulder covered these days...

She shifted a bit, actually gripping at the shoulder in question in a subconscious movement.]

We've gotten better about goin' out in groups, though. Doesn't take away the danger completely but it helps get everyone back alright. The stuff closest to the Bastion has been picked pretty clean now, but further out there's still some good stuff to bring back.

A

[kyotoprincess]

[Bon also happens to be in the training building that day, because if nothing else he has at least been trying to keep up on his training routine. Today he is working at a punching bag, though he stops and looks when he hears Sayaka do her thing. And he can't help but stare as she absolutely destroys the target.

He doesn't actually know Sayaka yet, but going by her looks, he never would have expected that she could do that.]

[blueveins]

[It takes her a moment to notice Bon—she's busy smugly inspecting her handiwork on the ruined target. She glances over and catches him staring, though, and it takes her a moment to make the connection that right, middle schoolers are usually not this good with swords; yes she is totally killing this magical girl thing but that's mostly a secret.

Right, she—probably needs some level of cover for this? Or she can just chuckle uneasily and look kind of sheepish. Yeah, that. Smooth.]

[kyotoprincess]

[Yeah, even in his line of work, middle-schoolers don't usually have training like that. True Cross at least is nice enough to wait until high school.

So Bon continues to stare for a moment, wondering if he should speak up, and if he could even think of something to say in the first place. Eventually, he settles on a compliment, to get the conversation going.]

Nice, er, swordwork.

[blueveins]

Thanks! I, uh... [Yyyyeeah, she's got no good excuse for any of this. In lieu of using her words like a reasonable person, she makes a vague flinging gesture with the hand holding the sword and ends up kind of waving the sword around a little in the air next to her.] ...Thanks!

[Smooth.]

A

[bakegarasu]

[Otoha's watching, of course. He spends a lot of time in the training hall, so he's a little surprised that there's someone else there.]

[Once she's done he takes a few steps forward.]

... Nice.

[blueveins]

[Oh, great, this creep. The sound of his voice makes her start, but she keeps the sword lowered, at least, even if she isn't about to let go of it.]

...Thanks. [A pause, and she briefly glances aside.] You need something?

[bakegarasu]

Not really. I was coming here to practice, but if you don't want me to be around...

[He wouldn't blame her. They didn't exactly get started off on the right foot, even if he's not sure what the right foot would be.]

[blueveins]

[She figures he expects her to be polite about this—no, it's fine, I don't mind—because that's how these kinds of creeps work, one inch at a time; she knows the game well enough. But Sayaka's never been the type to censor herself.]

No, not really.

[denied, for now]

[bakegarasu]

[... He doesn't blame her, really. He's never been the sort of person who likes censoring. This does mess up his schedule, but whatever. He can deal with it. He's... what, maybe ten years older than her?]

Fine.

[He turns and heads towards the door. He can just keep walking if he needs to. Maybe he'll head out onto the Skyway. Or nap. Napping could be good. Or maybe he'll just find a tree to beat up or something.]

[bakegarasu]

[Later at the donut tree though... Sayaka will find Otoha just walking up and picking a plain donut out of the branches. He looks up and shrugs at her before taking a bite.]

Have a nice training session?

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[A long-haired and broad-shouldered man approaches from the direction of the river, wearing a tank top, cargo shorts, mammoth-hide sandals, and a glowing-eyed rabbit skull and leg bones spread out along a necklace, with a knife hanging from his belt along with some green-and-black-thing poking out of a pouch or holster of some kind. He's carrying a sheathed hand-and-a-half sword in one hand and a pair of dead mudcrabs in the other, and once he's a lot closer she'll be able to see he has a thick curved barbell through his septum. He looks pretty tough, like he could do some real damage in a fight.

When through her rustling the branches or him feeling like he's being watched he looks up at her. There's a momentary delay before he shakes his head and replies, his voice low enough that it would be hard to hear if there was much background noise.]

No, I'm good.

[..."Conversation" is something that should probably be happening now, isn't it? Um...]

...I'm guessing you're new here? I don't remember seeing you around before.

[blueveins]

Uhh, yeah. I got here a couple days ago. [Give her a second; he's got no less than three dead animals on his person right now along with all of the weapons and that's kind of a lot to take in. The glowing skull in particular catches her attention; she keeps glancing back at it, some mix of unsettled (that is way too many dead animals) and fascinated (but that one glows).] I guess I haven't been out much, though... I mean, I'm still getting settled.

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[He's completely oblivious to how he must look right now, which is progress for him.]

Yeah, I know what that's like. [Though he's perhaps having a better time than others due to him not blindly accepting that his world is gone. He gestures at the donut tree as best he can.] There's definitely some stuff to get used to here.

[blueveins]

[No one's actually told her about the whole Calamity thing just yet, which is probably for the best.

Whatever motion he's trying to make with those dead animals he's carrying around startles her at first—after she jumps and tenses, clinging to the branch she's sitting on so she doesn't teeter off it in the process, she realizes what he's trying to do and grins.]

I don't need any help getting used to free donuts!

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[He raises an eyebrow.]

Not even when they're growing on a tree in defiance of all logic and science known to man?