[PRP] Hide-and-Seek

[kotaline]

who | Yuri and Vesna
where | A Halloween-themed outdoor market at a Durem shopping plaza
when | Late evening
weather | Clear and crisp!

______________________________

So far, Vesna's life had pretty much slotted neatly into the various celebration holidays. Lorenzo said he captured her soul on New Year's Eve, she was born on Valentine's Day, and she got to have her first holiday outside the office at Easter. Now it was Halloween, and while Lorenzo had pretty much monopolized every holiday so far, she had made the executive decision to experience this one for herself, a) because he was making it an Undead Rights Issue, and b) because he was so busy making it an Undead Rights Issue that he had no time to spend with her.

Not spending a holiday with Lorenzo was different from spending a holiday alone, though, and so she had texted her nearest friend, looking for a partner in crime, so to speak. Yuri had replied positively, once he had figured out how to reply, and slowly, they cobbled together a plan involving the local shopping center and their Halloween festival. There had been some discussion about spookier activities, but it emerged that after living with a necromancer for half a year, spooky activities like visiting cemeteries after dark, haunted houses, and exploring decrepit buildings only reminded Vesna of Lorenzo's various Undead Rights Issues pamphlets. The shopping center was hosting a stamp card contest which involved chasing down a (fake) masked criminal, which turned out to be more interesting to Vesna than trying to summon the dead. Lorenzo made all that seem Pretty Boring, but Vesna had experience as an undercover investigator thanks to the fel essence hunt, so the grand prize for the scavenger hunt was pretty much as good as theirs, she reckoned.

The masked thief was supposed to appear soon, so Vesna looked around discreetly from where she was waiting for Yuri. Vesna wasn't super comfortable around Real Boys generally, but she felt a little more comfortable around Yuri, partially because he looked like an anime character and partially because he seemed to have an earnest and easygoing vibe about him. He liked Buddy, after all. She had asked Eden what to do when she was alone with Boy Friends as research, but Eden had just told her not to come on too strong. Vesna figured that since Yuri looked like the strongest person she had ever met, this would not be an issue. She had absolutely no hope of being stronger than him, even if she was extremely energetic.

"The scavenger hunt will start in ten minutes!" a shopkeeper shouted, thrusting a card at her as they passed by. "Come get your stamp cards if you haven't yet!"

((HOLY s**t IM SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO SET UP LMAO))
 

[Logue]

It had taken some convincing, but Yves had finally agreed to let Yuri go out to hang out with a friend without the ball and chain that was his guardian breathing over his shoulder.

Of course, he never called Yves a ball and chain to his face. Yves was a good dad and he tried his hardest, something Yuri noticed and appreciated. Still, it got boring, being cooped up in the house so often. He was almost a year old, wasn't he old enough to go out on his own?

He'd fumbled with his cell phone when Vesna had invited him out, being very careful not to break this one. They were so fragile and he hadn't realized that when he'd accidentally snapped the first phone in half. Eventually he figured out how to text like a normal person and had excitedly responded.

He liked Vesna, she was like him and she was really nice. And her cat was definitely the coolest cat he'd ever seen. He felt like she understood things like skeletons and ghosts better than anyone, and that was really important. And when he didn't feel like talking, she was always ready to fill in the silence with tons of interesting chatter. Vesna was his friend and he was very excited to hang out with her.

When he arrived, the shopping center was much more crowded than he'd anticipated; he once again held his cell phone up to his face, glaring at it while he tried to remember how to unlock it. Once he had successfully broken into his own phone, he sent a quick text to Vesna.

Where are you?

The crowd milled about, voices loud as everyone tried to be heard over everyone. Someone said something about the scavenger hunt starting soon, which caused a small bit of panic to well up in Yuri's throat. He had to find Vesna or he'd ruin everything.

He tried to calm himself down. What did she smell like? Maybe he could sniff her out of the crowd. He tried, but there were too many people, and his nose wasn't as strong as a regular wolf's. His shoulders slumped and he began to feel more anxiety creep in, until the familiar color of her hair stood out to him amid the crowd.

Yuri immediately made a beeline toward his friend, weaving between people with some difficulty. He liked his arms, but sometimes they got in the way.

"Vesna!" he called, ears sticking straight up with excitement. Shortly after her name escaped his lips, he bumped into someone who'd been trying to walk in front of him, and he fell back with a bright red and flustered face.

"Sor... sorry," he mumbled. The person turned on him like they were going to say something, but apparently thought better of it; instead, they gave him a quick once over, made a strange face, and hurried on. Did he look that weird? He knew he was missing half a body, but...

He shook his head and floated toward Vesna.

"Gosh." He rubbed his arm. "That was, um... embarrassing."  

[kotaline]

"Yuri!" Vesna replied in turn, then winced as he hit a passerby. "Oooo, direct hit." She floated over to her friend and patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry," she said, "That person was super rude." She stuck her tongue out at their retreating back, and advised, "I kinda like floating above the crowd when it's this busy. Lorenzo hates it because he's tragically afflicted by gravity, but he hates it even more when I try to lift him up with me. It probably wouldn't be a problem for you to lift Yves up, though!" She flexed for illustrative effect.

"I was just about to text you back," she explained apologetically, returning to the subject at hand. "I was kind of afraid you wouldn't be able to find me all dressed up like this, especially because of my powers." She had borrowed some clothes from Lorenzo to dress up as a witch, but between her disguise and her magical glamour, she wasn't sure how recognizable she was. "I'm glad you found me, though! You probably used some super cool wolf power or something, right?? Like you spoke with the animals nearby or something--" Was that a wolf power? Based on her data from various manga and anime, it could Probably Be A Wolf Power. "Anyway, I'm glad you made it." she concluded. "It's cool that we can hang out by ourselves for once, but it's kind of nerve-wracking all alone, you know?"

Another volunteer passed by, announcing that the event would start in five minutes in the plaza. Vesna clapped her hands together, and said, "That's right!" Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a shopping center map, presenting it to Yuri. "This is for you, and so is this-" She gave him a magnifying glass, saying, "That's Lorenzo's, it's probably, like, occult or something, but it's fine. It makes us look professional." She unfolded a map of her own and consulted it, "Aaaand, it looks like the plaza is that way. You wanna float over, or should I rough up the next guy who bumps into us?" She punched the air lightly.

Logue

 

[Logue]

If Yuri had a tail, it would have wagged. Hanging out with Vesna was one of his favorite things to do, because she was always funny and full of energy and she never made him feel bad or awkward. He still didn't quite understand what she meant when she talked about her powers; to him, she looked like Vesna. It was difficult to think that someone else might perceive her in a different way, but then again, he still had a lot about himself that he just didn't understand.

He drew in a big breath and let it out with a huff. "I tried to smell you," he confessed, "but my nose isn't that good yet. But I saw your hair and I knew it was you. Um, I like your costume, by the way." Secretly, he wished he'd dressed up, too. Yves was so into the holiday that he'd actually felt too pressured to pick a costume and had simply worn a hoodie over a tee shirt.

"I don't like big crowds very much, but I'm happy to, um, be able to hang out with you, too." Yuri offered her a tiny smile before floating up to get a better look around; sure enough, they were surrounded. The social anxiety in him clutched at his chest a little, but he resisted the urge to drift away somewhere quiet. He drifted back down and peered at her belongings.

With great interest, Yuri took the magnifying glass and held it up to his face, peering through it with raised brows. "This is... very cool," he concluded with a small smile. He held it up to Vesna's face and closed one eye, just like in the cartoons, in order to inspect her more closely.

"Um, we can float over." He let out a short, awkward laugh at her display and lowered the magnifying glass. "You might want to leave the punching to me, though, if it, um... if it comes down to it. I'd hate to see the bad guys get too hurt."

kotaline

 

[kotaline]

"Thanks!" Vesna enthused, striking a suitably witchy pose. She had just thrown her costume together, but she was already planning for next year- the humans she had seen around had a ton of cool outfits on, and even though she had thrown her costume together from things that were lying around a necromancer's office, she was already starting to feel a little shabby in comparison. "Are you going as a werewolf? Grandpa says he always goes as an undead person because he is one already." Although she guessed Yuri wasn't really a werewolf- Lorenzo said it was hard to tell whether Yuri had anything to do with actual necromancy at all, just like it was hard to tell how undead Vesna was. Either way, she knew she was never dressing up as 'one-third of a sad drowned lady' for Halloween, even if every other undead person in Durem told her how great it was to just be themselves this time of year.

"Dad has some cool stuff," she admitted, "Even if he never uses any of it to do cool things." It seemed like everything she saw on television was against the Licensed Necromancer Committee's rules, and even though he resurrected dead animals, like, every week, his office door was always firmly locked when he did.

As Yuri decided to float, Vesna started to head over to the center of the marketplace. They didn't stand out too much floating, she guessed. It was a little unusual, but there were Gaians with wings who had the same idea for dealing with crowds that she did. It was really just the no legs deal that was suspicious to passersby.

"No way!" she refused, countering Yuri's offer to be on punching duty. "We're partners, so we have to split the punching duties equally at least. Anyway, Dad says undead people aren't really super strong. It's just that some of them don't know how to control their muscles at first. But I've been through Dad's whole undeath exercise book, and I am super good at controlling my muscles. I've never broken a door or anything!"

As they approached the center of the marketplace, there was a bang and a flash of colored smoke. A figure in an elaborate costume and a black mask appeared on a makeshift stage and held up a velvet satchel.

"In this satchel, treasures hide from each of the shops here,
The masked thief has struck every one, and left them only fear.

A prize to the bravest souls, who think they can hunt me.
Many guards have tried and failed, so tricky can I be!

But there is just one little thread, you could follow perchance,
For clues to find my hideaway are hidden in five stamps!"

A woman in a makeshift suit of armor appeared on stage next, commanding "Halt, masked thief!" and for a moment it seemed like he was going to. He fumbled with his belt and nearly fell over, and for a second, both actors looked unsure of what was going on. He regained his footing, and held the satchel shakily aloft, but there was an unnatural pause. The knight began to mouth something to him, presumably his lines, but he shook his head. Finally, he responded,

"...Good luck to you... you foolish guard who stomps around so loud..."

Another pause. Vesna leaned forward and frowned suspiciously.

"Watch now... as I disappear... into the... crowd!"

He threw his second smoke bomb and vanished behind the stage. The makeshift knight started giving directions to the crowd about how to find the various stamps, and Vesna took some notes with the Professional Pink Gel Pen she had brought. Around them, some of the crowd were muttering about the masked thief's acting abilities, and as she capped her pen, Vesna turned to Yuri and privately grimaced.

"It wasn't that bad," she defended. "I think maybe he was nervous?" Not the best trait in an actor, but they were hardly going to hire a superstar for a Halloween scavenger hunt.

"It looks like each of the stamps has a letter that'll spell out his hiding place. So," she gestured to her notebook, "We could technically find him even after two or three stamps if we're, like, super good at guessing. Which shop do you wanna look in first?"

Logue

I'M SORRY THIS SETUP IS SO LONG..... LET ME KNOW IF ANYTHING NEEDS FIXING. .. . . . . . . . . and feel free to make up your own additions too, obviously!!

 

[Logue]

Yuri winced when the actor stumbled over his words. It reminded him of how he would be in that same situation: awkward and bumbling over his lines. It didn't matter how much he'd practiced, practice was never anything like the real thing. In front of a crowd of people...

So he didn't think anything of it when the actor hesitated and then picked back up. He chalked it up to some stage fright, an accident. When the poem was done, he puffed his chest and turned to Vesna, eyes serious.

"I would have been nervous, too," he confessed, brow furrowing. Saying anything in front of a group of strangers seemed like the scariest thing on Halloween. His ears pinned back as he pictured himself there, but he shook the thought away and scratched his cheek. "Um, I'm not so good at riddles, I don't think. Maybe you're better? If I picked a place to start..."

He thought about it. For some reason, he felt like the book store would be the place to go. Maybe because Yves liked books so much, or maybe because Lorenzo was always carrying pamphlets that included much Required Reading. Whatever the case, he felt a strong pull to the book store; whether it was nerves or just a hunch, he shrugged at Vesna.

"Um, the book store?" he offered, and watched her face for her reaction. There was suddenly a lot of pressure because she'd said, 'If we're, like, super good at guessing.' Was he super good at anything? He wilted a bit and hovered nervously in place. For some reason, he felt like Vesna was definitely the leader in this mission. He was alright with that.

kotaline