these days have opened up my eyes; [Open Post]

[miseris_socios]

Who: Ken and whomever wants to encounter him.
Where: Kitchen, training gym, games car. (And wildcard option.)
When: Between February platform and the healing/time reversal plot.
What: Ken's getting used to train life... and also makes A Mistake.
Warnings: Training prompt has suicidal imagery (thanks Persona 3) and the closed prompt has severe depression warnings.


[Kitchen Duty]

Ken is on red team, despite the orange hoodie he's wearing, and that means apparently one of his chores is to make food for other people. It might not be the prettiest, but he'll do what he can. He doesn't bother much with the avocado though, instead serving up a couple of plates of omurice to set out for whoever drifts past. It takes him a little bit to start working on some of the other things - the pasta is boiling away and he's wandering around trying to familiarize himself with where everything is.

Sometimes he's poking around looking for storage containers or having to climb up onto the counter to reach things, but he's always careful to clean off the counter afterwards.


[Training] (cw: suicidal imagery)

Ken is no slouch when it comes to training, and he's found the climbing ropes. He scales the large structure easily, rolling off of it onto a mat and springing up, miming stabbing a spear into something. He can easily be found doing handstands or practicing rolling or doing all manner of gymnastic-like exercises.

When no one's looking, he takes out his Evoker and presses it to his head, pulling the trigger and letting Nemesis take some shots at a training dummy with lightning. He presses a hand to his chest when she manifests a spear and stabs the dummy herself. It hurts, but it's the only spear he has right now.


[Games]

He can't practice forever. Once he settles down a little bit he heads into the game car on occasion. He's not all that hard to find - occasionally he's on one of the VR games, but more often he's playing solitaire or looking at the Duel Monster cards. He's studied the notes left nearby carefully, so all that remains is to try to build a deck.

... Somehow.


[Wildcard]

While he's found a few cars to frequent, he's still exploring. It's easy to find him in practically any car.


[Field Trip to the Darkness] (closed to Vexen) (cw: severe depression)

Vexen is not a hard person to find. He's very tall and the black cloak makes it easy to pick him out, even from behind. He's about to call out to the man to say hello, but suddenly a dark-colored portal opens up and the man disappears into it. Frowning, Ken runs in after him.

That was a mistake.

It's dark, so dark, everything is dark. He can feel something cold gripping onto him, Nemesis' whirring getting louder and louder, somehow sinister. What is he doing here? What is he trying to prove? There's nothing he can do to make anything right. There's no point in him continuing to pretend like he's innocent at all - he hasn't been for a long time. He can't rely on anyone here.

Better to just be alone, or just be nothing at all.

He suddenly stumbles out into brightness, a black-coated individual in front of him, but he's not really seeing Vexen. He's trembling, suddenly freezing and pale. His knees hit the floor, followed by his arms and head right after.

Comments

games

[blue_ice]

Seto, still riding the high from the last few days, enters the gaming car with an intent to play. He's not sure what yet, but something.

That matter is decided when he sees a new passenger shuffling through the cards, and he moves to join him at the table.

"So you want to duel?"

[miseris_socios]

He opens his mouth to snap something back before he realizes that the guy means in the cards that he's holding, obviously. It's called Duel Monsters after all.

"Um... yeah. I read all of the instructions... I just don't know what to pick out of all of these cards. It's kind of a lot."

[blue_ice]

"I don't think we've met---my name's Seto Kaiba, and I have some experience with dueling."

A small chuckle, his own private joke. But he leans in to look at what Ken's picked out.

"Before you start picking cards, decide what your strategy's going to be. Do you want to focus on powerful monsters to deplete their life points as quickly as possible? Do you want to use a certain card to deplete your own life points, then flip the damage onto your opponent? Do you want to use traps or spell to cripple your opponent's monsters, or build a strong defense while you whittle them down? Think about where each card would fit in a strategy."

Worst Field Trip

[thawed_pride]

He'd intended it to just be a quick coffee break from studying in the library, a trip to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee and then back to work. The first half had gone as planned, and he'd headed back into the darkness with mug in hand.

It's a second after he emerges next to the desk he's claimed that he notices something off, and turns to see Ken collapsing in front of the portal as it closes. The mug vanishes in a swirl of frost as he rushes to kneel down next to the boy, one hand reaching out to feel his forehead even as the other presses against the side of his neck for his pulse.

"Foolish child, what were you thinking?! The corridors of darkness are no place to be traipsing through so casually!"

[miseris_socios]

He's definitely cold and his pulse is slow, but he's alive. He tries to focus and speak up but his chest hurts. It takes him a few more seconds of just breathing to be able to think enough to respond.

"I - I just thought... that I'd... I just wanted to talk to you and... s - so I thought going after you would be okay... I didn't... know..." It's not fair. It's not fair how other people seem to have powers more useful from day to day. There's no Shadows here, so it's not like he's much help...

[thawed_pride]

"You ought to ask details before attempting to use unfamiliar magic."

He shrugs off his coat, the short sleeves polo shirt under it showing severe burn scars on his upper arms and in a band a few inches up from each of his wrists, and drapes it over Ken, then picks him and the coat both up. He doesn't know how much help the coat's protective qualities will be after the fact, but if nothing else, the boy needs a blanket.

"The corridors are dangerous, that's why everyone who makes use of them wears one of these coats. They shield against the darkness you experienced there."

Training

[firewalled]

Rich usually doesn't want to interrupt anyone else's practice, so he tries to avoid the training room when someone's inside. Maybe it's partly feeling sheepish about his lack of powers... but still. He still doesn't want to get chatty with someone who might not want the attention, so when he sees Ken in the doorway, he's content to walk past-

At least until the gunshot. Then he's scrambling back to throw open the door, just in time to catch an image of the strange creature hovering behind Ken, gears whirring and the scent of scorched wood in the air.

"Wh-what? What the hell- did you just shoot someone?"

[miseris_socios]

The sudden appearance has both boy and creature turn, the Persona fading after a few moments. He looks down at his Evoker, then up again at Rich.

“Um. Kind of? I mean I pull the trigger with it to my head to summon my Persona, but there’s no bullets. See?”

He aims it back towards the dummy and pulls the trigger a few times. Nothing.

cw suicide mention

[firewalled]

"Your... that's a hell of a way to awaken your superpowers, dude." He's maybe a little less panicked, but there's still a crease in his brow as he walks forward.

"You sure it doesn't hurt you? Pulling the trigger like that. Seems like it'd be... pretty shocking, at least mentally."

And this kid is so much younger than him too... how young was he when he started having to do that? Sure, he felt pretty stagnant since middle school, but he hadn't actively tried to harm himself before... well, not for a few years, anyways.

Games

[sizedoesntmatter]

Yugi usually spent his time in the games room when not doing chores, sleeping or as of last week stamina training. But today Yugi didn't have a clue as to what he actually wanted to play so when he saw another he smiled.

"Looks like your enjoying the games carriage to."

[miseris_socios]

He looked up and nodded a little bit. "... Yeah. I'm just trying to figure out what I want to play..." There were a lot of options... only some that he could play on his own.

[sizedoesntmatter]

"I can understand how hard it is. After all, there might be a number of games you've never seen. I know when I first arrived I couldn't decide." And to be fair there are still times when he can't decide even after being here for a good few months now.

"Just think about what style of game you want to play, that usually helps."

training

[controlsthedie]

With Zagreus now on the train, Thanatos has a more tangible, pressing concern beyond worrying about those back home. He means what he said to him. He'd help him. But he thinks about the last mission... and Thanatos feels unease seep into every bit of his body. A liability, a weakness, helpless, he was all of those at the end.

During the next mission, Thanatos can't let the same happen again. He is Death. He can fight. He has those skills, but he is far from a fighter when his divinity is stripped away. So, what does he do now? He knows people practice fighting in the training carriage. Perhaps if he goes there and tries to get used to fighting without his powers...

He hears the gunshot and dashes in. He sees the giant creature and the child looking in pain.

"Run. I'll handle this," he says firmly as he summons his scythe and rises off the floor. Practicing without his powers will have to wait.

[miseris_socios]

There’s an intense feeling, like the vague unease he’s come to accept as a natural part of the Dark Hour. It puts him on edge, only getting more pronounced as a figure rushes in. For a brief moment he sees an expression that reminds him of Minato...

... Oh. There’s a small huff of dry laughter that escapes him, even as he feels that part of him getting ready to fight. Nemesis fades, and Ken clutches his Evoker. Why does it feel like he’s stepped halfway to the Dark Hour? He narrows his eyes at the intruder.

“I can take care of myself. I guess you’d have no way of knowing, but if you hit her - somehow - you’re going to be hurting me.”

[controlsthedie]

As the creature disappears, Thanatos realizes what he sensed (familiar and yet different) came from the child. He lowers back to the floor and vanishes his scythe. He's not going to attack if there's no reason to.

"So, that was your doing." Similar to calling wretches to one's side perhaps. "I did not mean to interrupt your practice. You seemed in pain..."

He can come back another time and make a fool of himself trying to fight without using his powers.

Training, closer to the end of the date range

[nobodys_puppet]

Xion wanted to just lay in bed and think over everything, all the questions in her head, but Axel got upset when she did that too often, and she didn't have enough information to think she'd figure anything out anyway. So she was wandering the train, taking notes and trying not to be seen.

Until she saw what looked like a giant heartless in one of the train cars. She dropped her notebook and put herself between it and the Somebody as her Keyblade appeared in her hands.

"Go," she said to him over her shoulder, "I've got this." Fighting... Fighting at least she could do. Tat she understood. She'd worry later about the fact that she used a Keyblade to destroy it, and that one had shown up at all. Both were reasons to be very very concerned. But for now, protecting everyone had to come first.

She charged at the monster, Keyblade high. She had to give whoever that was time to escape.

[miseris_socios]

Ken whirled around at the sound of someone moving swiftly towards him, a sudden black cloak between himself and his Persona. The cloak and the height difference between this person and Vexen made him pause for a second too long. The figure rushed at Nemesis, some kind of weird key in her hands -

- And made contact, to his immense surprise. It was a solid hit, too - and as Nemesis faded away, not because of the attack but because she couldn't manifest for too long Ken jerked back, holding his head in one hands with his Evoker held lightly in the other. "Ow, fuck! Why'd you do that?"

He understood why - she wasn't normally not visible to people who didn't either have persona or the potential to have them and she did look really strange - but he was too annoyed to take that into account.

[nobodys_puppet]

No heart. She vanquished it, too easily for its size, really, but thee was no heart. She was so confused. And more confused by the question. She spun quickly to face him. She wanted to flee but... She lifted her Keyblade. "Curaga!" she called, sending the green healing magic spiraling down her Keylade and towards him.

Now she could leave, right?

TRaining, whenever!

[najaran]

Najaran had been gathering clothes to wash and had gotten lost again. She was totally going to blame the laundry in her arms for how she missed the signs that had been put up throughout the train specifically because she kept getting lost. On a train. That was basically just a straight line. It's a gift.

But as soon as she saw what looked like a monster in the room, and a kid in pain she dropped the clothes and put a hand behind her back. Two cards flew into her hand from the pouch she wore on a gaudy gold and purple belt that did not go well with her team orange gear. Attached to that belt also was what looked like a cane with a man's face carved into one side of it, actual hair making up his drooping whiskers though he was otherwise bald.

"Lady Najaran," the can warned.

She nodded, holding up the cards. "I know." she looked to the creature. "If you are here in peace say so, but I won't let you hurt anyone on this train!"

Ken might notice, or might not, that her bare arms - she had cut the sleeves off her shirt - lacked an SCA.

[miseris_socios]

Ken had been too busy looking at the dummy to notice someone coming in, but he glanced up at the sound of someone yelling. Nemesis twirled and faded from the air and Ken just rolled his eyes.

"She's not going to hurt you unless you hurt me. She's under my control, anyway." Mostly. As much as he could keep self-control over a lot of parts of himself.

[najaran]

Najran blinked for a moment then grinned as she turned to face him. "I didn't know there were any6 other Cepters on the train!" she said, excited. "She's wonderful! I've never seen the like of her before!"

She didn't like fighting, but could do it when she had to. Making new friends was always better than fighting anyway. And it had been ages since she'd met someone else like her! And he didn't seem to be a Black Cepter, so he was safe!

There are reasons people are worried about her, her willingness to trust so easily... is one of them for sure.

Kitchen

[death_from_above]

Someone was cooking? Someone NEW was cooking! The orange cat raced in and leapt up onto a counter and skidded to a stop inches from the kid's hand and proceeded to give him the widest eyed most pitiful starving cat expression he could manage.

No need to let the kid know he could talk, just yet...

[miseris_socios]

He'd seen a few cats around on the train - one that was a talking cat, too. He wasn't sure if they were supposed to be on the counter, but...

"Hey there..." His voice was soft as he reached out to the cat to let him sniff before giving his head a good scritch.

Library.

[guru_clef]

Clef looked up from his notes when someone came in. As usual, Clef was sitting on a large stone in the middle of the library car with three books floating in a semicircle of sorts around him. One was the one he was reading, that was in front of him. To one side was a book tat had been blank that was filling in as he read. On the other side was a notebook where he could make notes.

As for Clef himself. He looked ten. Twelve at most. And he looked like he had dressed from his parents cosplay closet, nearly everything he wore being so poofy and billowy he seemed lost inside it. Laying on the rock beside him was a staff taller than he was and also somewhat ungapatchka.

"Did you require some assistance?" he asked, the book before him shifting to the side so he had an unobstructed view of the new comer.

Re: Library.

[miseris_socios]

Ken just... resigned himself to a weird time as soon as he saw the big stone and the figure on it. Sure, why not at this point?

"Uh... not particularly. I was mostly just trying to figure out what sort of books the place has. I've never seen a library on a train before, but I haven't seen most of the thing son this train on a train before."