[OPEN]

[showmeanguish]

Who: Vanitas and YOU!
What: A late onset (or singling out) of a de-aging curse. Vanitas will be his newly created self for the next few, in-game days, and will have no memory of his previous life.
When: Day 128.
Where: Hel and later Gefion Park.
Rating: G or PG, probably no more than that.



[Scenario One: Morning in Hel. There's a kid decked out in the weirdest spiderman costume ever, complete with helmet, prowling around the lower hallways. He looks like he could be lost, and when he spots the nearest inhabitant (lucky you if you happen to be just stumbling out of your room from sleep), expect to be accosted with questions.

"Who are you, and where am I?"]

[Scenario Two: Sometime after lunch, the masked boy has managed to wander out to Gefion Park. His attention's been caught by some geese... or actually, accosted, after he'd accidentally walked over their nesting site by the pond. And they seem to be intent on driving him as far away as possible by flapping their wings and nipping at his back as he tries to escape. Little help?]

Comments

2 8>

[occulthymns]

[Euri happens to be out in Gefion this afternoon, gathering flora supplies such as leaves and flower petals and cuttings. Perfectly normal okay!

But when she sees some weirdo getting attacked by geese she's going to stop... and stare... and eventually speak up, not recognizing him due to the helmet.]

Hey!

o7

[showmeanguish]

[The person is also notably shorter than the Vanitas she knows... around 5' or so. And he's trying to block what attacks he can, while retreating.

The geese aren't giving up easily though, and one manages to trip him up with a sudden take-off from the ground, which knocks him forward as the bird circles back towards the nest. But the other goose continues to stalk with it's neck lowered, menacing him while he tries to get back to his feet.]

[occulthymns]

[She has noooo clue. And she's debating just leaving him to the geese but... he looks like he could use some help.

She'll just watch another minute or two before gathering her bag up and heading over there. Once she's within range she'll start swinging her bag at them - not to hit them, but to scare them off.]

Come on, you stupid geese! Move!

2

[darkbreak]

[You know, he was having a good day, making a trip to the park to see what was up.

And geese are... well, they're pretty normal.

The kid they're assaulting though? That gets Riku to stop in his tracks. He doesn't recognize the kid with the helmet, but that Dark Suit... that already gets Riku's back up and tense. Someone else has that dark power, or was used by Xehanort.

He won't make a move just yet. He'd rather find out who the hell that is first. So for now, he'll just be casually leaning against a tree, but will be watching extremely carefully.]

[showmeanguish]

[Well, look out 'cause Vanitas is about to high-tail it up the same tree, in an attempt to escape the attacks. Geese can still fly, but they'll probably be less inclined to follow him up, if he can wedge himself on some good branches.

Hopefully they won't turn their fury onto Riku, instead.]

[darkbreak]

[Indeed, one or two aren't smart enough and try to nip hard at Riku's legs, but he just tries to shoo them away or keep them at bay using his Keyblade as a barrier. Dumb birds, you're real target is in the tree.

Once some of the featherbrains have given up, while some others are trying to compose a new song at the base of the tree, Riku glances up, still silent, and watches Vanitas in that tree.

Throw him a bone, bonehead. He needs to know who you are.]

1

[parasiteye]

[ Oh Vanitas :'> Kaz recognizes that outfit....and he remembers how awful he smelled in it last time he saw the twerp in it. So don't mind him as he leans back and wrinkles his nose, staring down at him and completely ignoring this accosting. ]

Why the heck are you wearing that stupid outfit again? Do you want to damage everyone's noses?

[showmeanguish]

[Kaz will find himself staring down a bit further than usual, as it seems Vanitas has shrunk a good four inches or so since they last saw each other. The suit, too, doesn't have any rips or tears in it--no evidence of him having cut it off of himself.

The reaction does cause him to glance downward at himself, though, in mild confusion.]

Answer the questions.

[parasiteye]

[ Strange, strange... But Kaz is less concerned with his apparent shrinking than he is with the whole suit-thing in general, so he folds his arms over his chest and lifts a brow ]

Or what, you'll stink me to death? Just go back and fucking change out of that stupid suit before you start smelling like ass again.

[wingblades]

[So geese versus a masked boy. Hm, whose side does he take.

It's a no brainer who actually inflicted the damage first, so Ven takes a while to actually step in.

Then he reminds himself that the last time he faced Vanitas, it was an unfair two versus one fight where he socked the asshole when he wasn't looking.

That was kind of against Ven's morals.

So after a few minutes of watching on the sidelines and taking some kind of smug pleasure about his peril, he finally comes over.]

Hey, guys, come on, shoo!

[showmeanguish]

[They are not having it. Vanitas is slowly being buried under a mob of flapping wings and pecking beaks, but thankfully isn't getting too injured thanks to his armor. Ven, though, is another target to them for trying to interfere in their business of punishing their offender.

And for his part, the masked boy is trying to fend them off, but pauses when he sees Ventus. And that pause allows them to swarm him again.]

Gh!

[wingblades]

[Stupid morals :'|

He takes his Keyblade but instead uses the handle to gently bat away at them, not actually enough to hurt them but flailing it around to try and fend them off :'|]

Go on, shoo! What did you even do? Augh... why am I doing this... Hey, shoo!

[Here, he'll try to actually pluck the feathery things away from Vanitas REAL SMART, VEN :'| Sob this is gonna hurt.]

And something completely different.

[key_illusion]

[Considering how long he's been asleep, ???'s disorientated enough to decide on a quick trip through each district once the sky has grown dark. It's more of a check-up, really. Just to see if there's been any environment changes, observe how much "life" has returned to the city, and check to see if there's any particular changes in thought patterns within the natives. Normally he would check the Network first before all of that, but after staring up at the ceiling and doing system checks, he's a little sick of his room. (Oddly enough.)

So ??? will be roaming out among the alleyways, hood up and scanning around telepathically.]

/o/ hoorraaaaaaay

[showmeanguish]

[It just so happens that Vanitas has wandered away from the park, and is exploring a side street. More accurately, he's standing and staring at a ball sitting against a fence, that some kid must have left there.

Walking over to it, he cocks his head slightly before reaching down to pick it up, turning it over a couple times in his hands and brushing dirt off it.

Ventus, would probably play with it.

'Playing' was something he was no longer inclined to do though. Holding it, looking at it didn't stir any concepts of fun in his heart. There was no potential for joy. It was just a tool he had no use for.

He couldn't even entertain himself when he was alone, anymore. Not with this. Something like him couldn't feel any satisfaction from meaningless things... not a--]

...creature.

[key_illusion]

[??? doesn't need to catch the full thought-- just Ventus' name is enough to stop him in his tracks and focus all his attention the one particular mind that the thought echoed from. He's somewhat wary, but the fact that he has his two swords slung over his shoulder, he allows himself the moment of curiosity as he begins moving towards the person. It doesn't take him long to find Vanitas either, but he has to stop and stare from the shadows when he does...

...Because he's much too short compared to the image he has recorded in his database.

Strange, but he immediately attributes this change to the Gods' antics. What else could it be?]

2 sora is popcorn.gif

[trinitylimit]

[Sora likes feeding animals more than anyone else (except for Fluttershy but she's not here). He has a bag of popcorn in his arm to share with his feathered friends. When he comes across Vanitas fleeing the geese, initially he only watches. He doesn't get a good enough look at his clothing, just sees him scrambling to escape.

He eats a handful of popcorn while the entertainment is still funny. It quickly becomes a sad sight, and his heart tells him to rescue the poor guy. Sora starts tossing popcorn out to the geese, hoping they'll choose food over revenge.]

akfj which one of them's the troll, again?

[showmeanguish]

[Some of the geese are admittedly distracted by OM NOM PRECIOUS GOLDEN FOOD and cut off their pursuit. But a couple very determined fowl continue to try to harrass their target. But two, Vanitas can handle.

One gets grabbed by the neck and thrown, while the other is kicked and sent honking off back towards the pond.]

2

[counterbalanced]

[It's fairly often that Edmund finds himself in Gefion park. Back in Cair Paravel, his haven had been the small, soon-to-be apple orchard they'd planted during their reign. There was something oddly comforting about being surrounded by the tiny saplings that would one day grow to tower over him. Save for the odd dryad or two, he'd mostly been left alone there when he needed his space.

Gefion Park, though much larger than the orchard he'd once liked, reminds him of it.

That why, when the normal quiet of the park is broken by loud squawking, Edmund wastes no time searching out the source.]

Would you like some help? [Though he manages not to laugh, there is a smallish curl to his lips that gives away his mirth.]

[showmeanguish]

[At least the figure seems to be guarding himself competently from all the pecking and flapping, but fending off half a dozen geese is a tall task for one small person. A quick, slightly surprised glance is thrown Edmund's way, before he has to duck and dodge a few more beaks.]

What's it look like?

2! :D

[imhome]

[ Nina arrives at the park to clear her mind of depressing thoughts, when she suddenly notices Vanitas. She dashes to his side, stepping in front of him to prevent the geese from approaching. ]

Shoo! Leave him alone!

/o/!!

[showmeanguish]

[Whoa... that is. Definitely not something he expected to happen.

The geese lower their necks at Nina and hold their wings up, hissing and honking annoyingly as if to warn her off of their prey. Behind her, Vanitas takes a few steps back, but doesn't run quite yet.]

2-LATER

[faints]

[ It's not quite Gefion where Roxas actually runs into him; it's just a bit past that, where Freya intersects with it near the castle on the way to Hel that Roxas actually spies Vanitas.

Except he's got no idea it's Vanitas, since he's never seen him in proper canon outfit and also he's got his helmet on. So Vanitas gets a slight glance, a it of an off look, but then Roxas' gaze quickly passes on as he stops to talk to a shop keeper--he's searching for someone and wondering if she's been seen around here. ]

[showmeanguish]

[Meanwhile, the first thing that goes through Vanitas' mind when he sees Roxas is 'how'd he get ahead of me so fast?'. He's not looking to get into another confrontation so soon after the last, though, so for a moment Vanitas just stands there, staring.]

2

[lethechained]

[Naminé, at least, knows better than to get in the way of the animals. (Especially geese. There may already have been an incident that taught her as much, but it wasnt nearly as bad as this one.) She comes upon the scene with absolutely no expectation of being disturbed from her walk, and so she comes to a stop, sketchbook and drawing materials still clutched in hand, and stares.]

[She's not exactly one for schaudenfruede, being too sympathetic a young lady, but really, her first assumption would be that he did something to deserve that. She still doesn't take much enjoyment out of it save for the natural and unavoidable humor of an undeniably tough but jerky person getting his behind handed to him by angry geese, but that hardly registers on her face because hello, what's this? Something about this doesn't seem right. At first she wonders if it's because she'd half expect him to have beaten their poor little geese faces in by now, then thinks perhaps it's because he's actually in his outfit from their worlds all of a sudden, but soon enough she realizes that he's not tall enough. He's not tall enough and he's running from geese and this... is very suspicious.]

[Have the gods been up to something again? Or is this instead someone else's trick? Her pursed lips pull into a frown. ... Well. Though this is an excellent opportunity for revenge... she carefully sets down her pencils, makes to set down her sketchbook, changes her mind, and moves with it toward the very unfortunate young man and (also unfortunate?) geese. She's not eager to get into a tussle with them, no, but she'd really rather not see the poor geese get hurt, and she also needs to learn to be less nice to jerkfaces. Regardless, she approaches with a firm,]

Hey! Stop it! [At the geese, sketchbook in hand and ready to be brandished if necessary. They might not understand, but the noise should at least get their attention.]

[showmeanguish]

[It does get a couple of their attentions, who turn and start honking angrily in response to her, too. The helmeted head also turns her way, briefly, before Vanitas is too busy fending off flapping wings and beaks again.

Thankfully, their aggression is all on him, not her. For whatever reason, they seem to be targeting him ruthlessly.]