auroraexpress | (no subject)

Who: Everyone
When: Day 20, evening
Where: The train and surrounding terrain

[So after all the earlier excitement.... dramatic organ music starts to play through the cars. There's no obvious source. It's just... There? All around you for a while, before fading.

Of course before the music fades there's more things going on. A mist seeps up from the earth outside the train and within the train simply seems to form like it's produced by invisible fog machines. As the mist grows into a thick fog, you can hear eerie noises. Distant wolf howls, the screech of a fox that sounds like human screaming, owls hooting hauntingly, the leathery flap of bat wings, and other, less identifiable noises of the night, strange and otherworldly.

If you go out in it, breathe it in, the mist will chill you. Make you desire... Touch.

The need to hold another person is an almost growing compulsion, but it can be fought.

However things that are harder to avoid are the flowers, night blooming wisteria in white and purple seems to have grown from nowhere in the train cars, hanging down to brush the heads of passengers with sweet scented blossoms, and the floors of the train and ground around it have become endless beds of gently glowing moonflowers.

The only places the fog and flowers don't reach are team cabins.

Effects:

Mist:

Cold that cannot be dispelled without touch, a desire to touch others.

Wisteria:

Purple blossoms cause an empathetic bond with the next person you touch.

White blossoms cause arousal and a mild to powerful aphrodisiac effect.

Moonflowers:

Share memories or thoughts with the next person you touch.

By morning the mist and flowers will vanish.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Honestly, she feels the same way, if not always so totalizing about it- she's okay with sharing some things- but she's just not very good at hiding things away, or at least not so comprehensively as Crow.]

Hmm, valid strategy.

Yeah, that's what I figured. And if we staggered the timing, that'd lower the risk of bumping into each other as well.

Right.

Ah, can I ask something of you? Would you be interested in hunting expeditions into the woods? It seems that Kiryuu needs raw meat for his diet, and the sort provided from a recently living creature would be optimal. I think that you would find these expeditions entertaining as well.

[ His lips quirk into a grin. ]

Sure, count me in! Just let me know when and I'll be there.

Ah, good. He will appreciate that. Hm, I actually have not seen you fight yet. What method do you use?

A couple different methods! One's my guns--

[ He summons twin guns from out of the nothingness beside his hips, holding them up to show off. ]

I also have a battle orbment so I can cast Arts.

[How did he- okay she assumes it's magic, but he must be pretty good at the spell to effortlessly use it without command words or some other mnemonic.]

I presume that that is some form of magic? Well, that is well suited to our purposes, as both of us are close quarters combatants at the moment.

Nah, it's not magic. It's technology. Anyway, two close-range fighters and one long-range.... is it just us three or do you have anyone else in mind?

Hopefully, I will regain some long-range magic soon enough. In any case, Naeva has also expressed interest. She said that Eliza and 80H may also be useful, but I don't know how interested they would be.

Regardless, I think that three people should be enough for a hunting party.

Yeah, you're probably right. I doubt anything'll be tough enough to require more than t hat.

Don't say things that tempt fate.

[ Crow grins. ]

If we do find something that tough I'll welcome the challenge.

[ Congratulations, you found the thing he likes as much as flirting and gambling. ]

I've seen people say things like that before getting killed, you know.

I'm not worried about that. I can handle myself.

Yes, you confidence doesn't seem unfounded. But I want these expeditions to go smoothly, if possible. It will be beneficial to me as well to regularly train in combat situations.