[010]

[ceiling_cat]

( private | text )

The Composer's Proxy has been brought back to Discedo after a brief disappearance. Presumably, he was returned home during that time: he now remembers the week immediately following the game. However, he seems to have lost all memory of his earlier stay in Discedo. It is possible that he is from a fractionally different world. However, I have not yet observed any differences in his demeanor and his memory of Shibuya and the Game. Memory modification is the most likely explanation.

The Composer...

...If they modify memories, I doubt I'll ever get any of these submitted.

I'm worried about the Composer. His emotional state has not improved during the past month. Although his Proxy's return may move him back towards stability, I have yet to observe any changes.

Mere stability is not the goal I am hoping he will achieve. It would provide no more than a short-term fix: the Composer's refusal to emotionally engage with the world led to increasing dissonance and stagnation in Shibuya prior to his Game with the Conductor. Unless that problem is dealt with, Shibuya's current renaissance will not last forever.

Neku Sakuraba's participation in the Game has come to an end. Nonetheless, the Composer's attachment to him provides an opportunity to induce the Composer to open up to at least one individual. Even if memories are erased in the transition between Discedo and our world, emotional states should be maintained. It is a slender chance, and yet the dangers of allowing the Composer to undergo this level of emotional distress while in his District are too great.
Unfair though it may be, I need to use Neku for this now.

( public | Japanese audio | text translation )

Hey Josh, bad news - looks like the library's lost everythin' except the fiction section and some how-to books. Not that the fiction isn't interestin' stuff. I could probably drop some by your place on my way back home.

That said... it has been way too long since I worked on a canvas that was the right size.

Anybody wanna point me at a boring wall with a good view?

Comments

[locked from Joshua]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

Maybe so. People play games for a reason, though.

[locked from Joshua]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

Like what?

[locked from Joshua]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

That depends on the person and on the Game, wouldn't you say?

[locked from Joshua]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

...Yeah, I guess.

[locked from Joshua]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

[chuckling] Well, I'm off to get something laid down before the sun sets. Wanna meet me down by the front door?

[locked from Joshua]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

...Yeah! Be down in a minute.

[commentlog]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

Smiling, Hanekoma shut the communicator down and stuck it in his pocket. It was natural for Neku to feel drawn to his artwork, given the strength of the boy's Soul and the messages Hanekoma embedded in his art... but, even so, it was way too easy to distract him with it.

The paints Lelouch had found were stacked in a box under his table. He tugged it out, balancing it in the crook of an arm as he grabbed his sketchbook with his free hand. Not much paint, for a mural. He'd have to be creative about where the limited color could fit in... the picture was already forming in his head, intertwining lines and blossoming images pulling him away from the track he'd been wearing in his mental carpet. Josh'd be fine. He was already visibly better. And it was way past time Hanekoma took a break from fretting.

He hummed tunelessly as he headed out, grin spreading over his face.

[commentlog]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

Neku grabbed his headphones out of habit, placing them around his neck instead of on his ears. If he was supposed to be watching for monsters, that probably involved listening, too. Oh god, he was actually going to be able to see CAT at work, in person. If anything about coming to this place counted as good luck, this had to be it.

He opened the door a crack, peering out into the main room. Joshua was nowhere in sight. Good. If he'd been eavesdropping on the conversation Neku'd had with Mr. H, he'd know where he was going. ...Actually, even if he hadn't eavesdropped on that part, he could probably just read Neku's mind, if he wanted to know. Why was he even bothering to think about this, anyway? Maybe living with Joshua was slowly driving him crazy. Sounded pretty plausible. Screw it, they'd be just outside, anyway. Wasn't like Josh ever bothered to tell him where he was going.

He closed the door quietly and started down the stairs, resisting the urge to take them two at a time.

[commentlog]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

Hanekoma glanced up with a grin as the sound of footsteps in the stairwell announced Neku's arrival. The kid looked excited - like he might start bouncing if he stopped paying attention to what he was doing, actually, which made Hanekoma's grin widen a touch.

Hey, who didn't enjoy a bit of flattery once in a while?

"Hey there, Phones. Josh out somewhere, or what?"

[commentlog]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

"I don't know. He was in the apartment while we were talking, but I didn't see him when I left."

How was he supposed to know, anyway? He wasn't Joshua's keeper any more than Joshua was his. It was a very mutual non-keeper relationship, thanks.

Besides, he really didn't want to be thinking about Joshua right now; he was in a good mood. He adjusted the position of his headphones on the neck and shrugged.

[commentlog]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

So he'd picked the "hiding" option. Hanekoma grinned. He'd still bet his entire box of paints on Joshua lurking somewhere in their vicinity to keep his Proxy safe.

Which meant Hanekoma wouldn't even owe him one for keeping the monsters off them.

"Hm," he said. "Well, let's get going, Phones!"

He limped past the kid, heading for the front door of the apartments.

[commentlog]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

Neku followed a few paces behind.

"...Right. There aren't... too many monsters, right?"

If there were, he wasn't going to be a lot of help. 'Oh, look, there's a monster coming to eat us,' wasn't exactly that useful when one of them had a limp. Speaking of which... where had that come from?

[commentlog]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

"Not around the apartments," Hanekoma said, and performed a complicated little shuffle that left him with a hand free to open the front door and an elbow free to push it open. "The closer ya get to the edges of town, the worse it gets - I wouldn't go out there without a couple people watchin' my back if I were you. Around here, it's usually safe ta go out."

He glanced over at the decrepit hulk of a building next door. Not much to look at, but sure enough, the front wall was intact. A little paint would do wonders for the neighborhood. He'd have to work with the broken windows, though....

Maybe if he put those lines he'd been thinking of there and there, and accented them with some of his acrylics to cover the cracks and draw the eye over to the center.

He set the box down, flipping open the sketchbook he'd brought with him. The blank pages were dwindling, but he still had ten left - he'd be down to drawing on the apartment walls soon, but he'd work with that when it happened. For now... he pulled out a pencil, laying down the images bubbling up in his mind. He didn't have nearly enough paint to do this less than perfectly the first time.

[commentlog]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

Neku stood back to watch Hanekoma work, not even trying to hide his fascination, completely forgetting that he was supposed to be watching for monsters. He glanced side to side once--none in sight, okay, that was good enough, right? Right. Mr. H. said there weren't many around here, anyway. Just on the outskirts. They were safe. Relatively.

[commentlog]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

One eye on the wall, Hanekoma let himself get lost in putting down lines. He could work with the windows, and the damage: there was something in that, too, that spoke to what he wanted to convey....

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth as he finished the rough sketch. That'd be enough; now all he had to do was lay down the art on the wall. Stepping forward, pulling out the can of black spray paint, he started to work.

[commentlog]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

He watched, still fascinated, forgetting about the monsters, forgetting about the outside world entirely. Until... wait, was that a movement to his right--

He turned around just in time to see the monster--some wolf-like thing, though he didn't get a good look at it before it was ripped in half, blood and guts splattering everywhere in a shower of red. Neku threw up his arms with a yell to protect his face, blood spattering over his forearms, sticky and still warm and... ugh. Ew. This stuff had better wash out of his clothes, he thought, feeling absurd for even thinking it when a monster had just exploded in front of him. And... seriously, what the hell?

He lowered his arms after a moment, trying and failing not to look at the... carcass. Oh, that was just sick.

[commentlog]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

The brief horizontal shower of blood and more solid things took Hanekoma completely by surprise. He blinked. Blinked again. Then he lifted a hand to the back of his head and wiped the slick of blood away from his hair, flicking it to the ground, and took a step back, staring at the wall and its new, vivid splatter pattern.

Well, damn. That was going to take some work.

"...Give me a minute, Phones, I'm gonna go grab a bucket and a towel."

[commentlog]

[holyjesusbeams.livejournal.com]

Joshua couldn't help himself. He laughed outright from his perch on some rubble several yards away, his vibe slightly out of sync and rendering him a slight blur in the landscape at best.

But still perfectly audible, of course.

[commentlog]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

...Oh he should have known.

"Yeah, great. Does he ever go away?"

[commentlog]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

When Neku was wandering a monster-infested city, in the RG, without any ability to use psychs? Not likely. Hanekoma chuckled, too amused to hold much of a grudge over the blood on his wet paint.

"Sometimes," he said. "Hey Josh, aim away from the wall next time, okay?"

[commentlog]

[holyjesusbeams.livejournal.com]

The shadow wobbled a bit and made towards them, Joshua appearing like a lens snapped into focus, hands in his pockets and looking for all the world like he had no idea what the other man was talking about.

"You make it sound like I have control over everything."

[commentlog]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

"Isn't that because you, uh, do have control over everything?"

The blood was just starting to dry, now, on his clothes and skin. He hoped that didn't mean it'd be impossible to wash out. Thanks, Josh. Thanks a lot.

[commentlog]

[greatcuppajoe.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, yeah," Hanekoma sighed, tossing a glance at the Composer. Nobody had better get shot while he was inside finding a bucket for water, he thought loudly, and headed back for the front door of the more intact apartment building. At least he was on the first floor; the blood probably wouldn't have enough time to dry if he hurried....

[commentlog]

[holyjesusbeams.livejournal.com]

Joshua frowned briefly in Hanekoma's direction as the man left. What kind of thought was that? He'd just saved the both of them. Honestly, expecting Neku to notice anything other than his idol's work? How absurd.

The roll of eyes was quick and brief, but not unnoticeable, before he looked back to his proxy with a wry look. "You let your guard down."

[commentlog]

[iamnotatunaroll.livejournal.com]

Neku glanced between the two of them at Josh's odd expression, then decided, firmly, that he didn't want to know.

"Yeah, and that totally warrants blowing up a monster in my face. Thanks a lot, Josh."