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[snyaiper]

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October 31st | Action

[unrecovered]

[Wash is bored out of his goddamn mind.]

[He's spent the past two weeks studiously and purposefully ignoring the man in the cell next to him - the man he'd been jailed for apprehending. You'd think he would have learned his lesson about vigilante justice years ago, but...well, here he is.]

[Maybe it's because two weeks is too long. Maybe it's because he's going a little stir-crazy - the brig is a no-magic zone, which means no practice and no Athena. Maybe it's because he knows that half the Bureau is at a party tonight and he's stuck down here.]

[But he takes a breath, breaks the silence, and-]

So are you going as a sane person for Halloween, or is that too scary for you?

[dammit Wash]

[snyaiper]

[He’d been ignored for two whole weeks. Mind you, not for a lack of trying. He’d made repeated attempts at snide and cutting remarks to try and get a rise out of the other soldier. Start an argument. Poke the bear. All that.

Purely because he was bored, too. Instead he’d been stuck bothering Alex amd Lion over the network. And then Sayori, who gave him something else to do. It’s impossible to see what Ogata’s scribbling from Wash’s cell but it surely can’t be good.

Of course this all means when Wash initiates, Ogata ignores him for a solid 30 seconds before responding. He looks up, his face irritatingly nonplussed, at least on the surface.]

I don’t know what Halloween even is.

[unrecovered]

[After the first ten seconds or so, Wash figures he's not going to get an answer, so he shrugs and faces away from Ogata, same as he's been doing all this time. Oh well.]

[He pauses for a moment when Ogata responds, partially because he's surprised he got an answer at all and partially because of the content of the response.]

...sucks to be you, I guess. Not getting the free candy holiday.

[snyaiper]

... I don’t particularly like sweets, anyway.

[There are worse things than candy, for sure. But he’s not going to go out of his way looking for it even if it is free.]

“Sane” is such a subjective term, though. How exactly are you supposed to make that a costume. That is what you meant, correct?
[“Sane is subjective” oh Ogata you could make a fortune designing t-shirts for hot topic.]

audio, after the network post.

[protegge]

Hey. Got a question for ya.

also audio

[snyaiper]

[Ogata's response is slightly delayed. Don't worry about why.]

What is it?

[protegge]

Why’d you kill Alex?

Not morally why. Just, what made you decide to do it. That’s what I mean.

[snyaiper]

[There’s a pause as Ogata decides how exactly he’s feeling like answering this.]

After Wonderland, he came to yell at me. He hit me. That in itself didn’t bother me, I’ve had far worse than a broken nose before. The problem was that he didn’t think twice about it. A boy like him aught to be scared of someone like me.

So whenI found out the Bureau can bring people back to life I decided to do it.

voice, shortly after ogata's post; un: dearsunshine

[hxppythxughts]

[She knows plenty of people wanted to know about this on the post. And she's tried to understand what Ogata said about it in public, but for someone like her it's difficult to wrap her mind around.

Though her stomach churns with the knowledge of what he did to Alex, she sounds remarkably composed for someone who comes off as a total airhead the majority of the time. There's sadness, of course, but it's hard to detect much else.] Did you know that people lose parts of themselves when they come back?

[snyaiper]

[Well, this is easy enough to answer. Even with it coming from Sayori.]
I didn’t know about that, no. I was informed after the fact.

[He could just stop there. It perhaps casts his choice in a very slightly better light. But is there really any point trying to salvage anything? Sayori is a normal person. Surely any good will will have dried up regardless of the circumstances of his crime.]

I can’t say knowing would have stopped me. Whatever he lost, it doesn’t seem to have broken him. I’ve seen people lose far more of themselves without even dying. That’s just what being alive is like sometimes.

[hxppythxughts]

[If she had any expectations at all for this conversation, she can't recall them now. Does it make it better? I dunno if I'd ever do what Monika did, she'd said to Alex, and he said that she didn't have to think about it, because whatever it was didn't really happen. Whatever Ogata would have done didn't really happen, so is it worth thinking about? The way he words it, he doesn't know for sure. Maybe it would have changed something. Maybe it wouldn't have.

She's quiet for a moment. This is clearly not her conversational forte, and she has to consider her words carefully before she says them.] ...you're right. Humans are really strong. Alex— he's really strong.

But we shouldn't try to make it harder on each other just because life is like that. [After a beat, she amends:] Especially because life is like that.

[snyaiper]

[It's a similar line of thinking to what Alex keeps throwing at him, he thinks. He'd always assumed positive people were that way because they didn't know any better. Because they'd always had it easy. This alternative he's now been given is in some ways more irritating. Honestly, he wasn't expecting this from Sayori. She'd struck him as the blissfully ignorant type.

For some reason it makes the weird feeling he can't find a name for worse. More painful. It doesn't get any better when he starts talking;]

I don't know what it is that lets you and Alex think like that. Maybe it's strength. Maybe you're just both insane. I don't pretend to understand.

If you came here hoping to find some good excuse, let me make it clear for you; I'm not a good person and I like hurting people. There isn't anything you people can do to change that.
[It's strange. He doesn't sound smug or annoyed or anything much at all. Dejected, like he's resigned to it. He didn't mind Sayori, he thinks. It was confusing and strange, but as much as he'd felt the urge to push it away, it had been nice, for a while, to have someone smile at him. But of course, it had to stop. It'd only been able to continue because she didn't know what sort of person he was. That was fixed, now.]

forward dated to the 25th

[dialetheism]

[ Regardless of what Ogata might have been expecting, if he opens his door on the 25th, he'll find an odd, lumpy package wrapped in simple brown paper - with CANDLENIGHTS PRESENT written firmly on the side in big, bold letters - and a short note in Lion's painfully formal handwriting.

"I'm aware that you prefer your rifle, but it wouldn't hurt to have a backup in case the worst were to occur. It's not a precise guide by any means, but puzzles aren't the worst thing in the world to receive as a gift.

If you figure it out, please don't test it on Will. Or if you must, at least warn me first.

- Ushiromiya Lion."

Inside is a thick pile of handwritten notes and diagrams - a copy of Lion's copy of da Vinci's notes detailing the construction and repair of their Winchester rifle. And almost as an afterthought, in a small, hardwood case underneath is both the tools to maintain a bow and a fletcher's manual explaining how. ]

[snyaiper]

[Honestly, once he'd been told about Christmas, he hadn't thought much more about it. He hadn't expected much of anything. Maybe Sayori, he supposes. Something from Lion had been entirely unexpected, as he'd assumed Lion disliked him given his odd relationship with Will.

On top of that, the gift itself was... well, he didn't have any plans to try and construct his own copy of Lion's Winchester. The notes are fascinating enough on their own, though, and he spends a solid hour or two poring over them and the fletcher's manual. This he'll definitely make use of.

If it had been something generic he could have maybe ignored this. But he can't just act like it didn't happen when it's this good and specific to him. However, he's also too... He can't just say thank you. It feels weird to say it. He's allergic to it!! So instead;]

You'll be glad to know the Director has specifically told Will and I we can't continue our competition, anyway.

[dialetheism]

[ They hadn't expected a response, truth be told. Much less something this... well, friendly is the wrong word. Informative? It's kind-of related to the concept of a thank you, if one squints at it.

...Eh, they'll chalk it up as a win. It's still politer then anything they've heard from him so far. ]

Somehow I highly doubt that would stop either of you, if you truly wished to continue "practising."

a few days before the 25th

[eudaimonikos]

[Now, in this case, the ideal gift for Ogata is just. Extremely obvious.

But Michael likes this new poetry hobby he's picked up! It seems good! Non-violent! He's not exactly angry about Alex anymore - he doesn't feel like he has the right on several levels - but it still seems good to encourage any new pursuits. So a couple of days before the 25th, two wrapped gifts are left at Ogata's door, along with a note:]

I hope you have a good time with whatever human holiday you like to experience. If it's Hanukkah, there's still some latkes in the kitchen. If it's not, I'm still fairly sure you're allowed to eat them.

I also hope you'll find these useful.

- Michael

[Inside the gifts are a very nice journal and a novelty pen that is shaped like a rifle. The pen emphatically does not have any actual gun-like function.]

text, the same day

[snyaiper]

[Well. He thinks the pen is weird but if he's honest, he rather likes it, stupid as it is. But it works, so it's allowed to be a bit silly. He likes this gift. However, he's a bit confused as to why he's received it. The note really doesn't make it clearer. He has to ask. Michael, at least, doesn't judge when he's unaware of things.]

I don't really know what holidays your note is supposed to refer to or why you've left these... packages at my door.

[eudaimonikos]

[Yeah, you know, reasonable questions as far as he's concerned.]

Consider it a Candlenights thing, then.
Humans have a lot of holidays around this time, but obviously I've never really celebrated any of them myself.
It doesn't matter very much to me which one it is. I just thought the gift thing sounded fun.

25th

[hxppythxughts]

[A messily-wrapped box, with Ogata's name written directly on the colorful paper. There's a handmade card on top, decorated with stickers and doodles of wintry images like snow, gingerbread men, etc. It's not properly signed, but the signature isn't necessary. On one side of the interior:]

Tall green trees in lights twinkling bright,
Sparkling strands of tinsel and snow pure white,
The smell of hot cocoa and apple cider too,
A very merry Candlenights, from Sayori to you!
[And then on the other side:]

I saw this and I thought you'd think it was funny! The hand symbol is like you're telling someone to get lost except it's supposed to be ruder.

[Inside the box is a set of crossbow bolts and a dress shirt with a pocket on the front. The pocket bears a design of a cat, but inside the pocket is a surprise, with a Faerunian equivalent of the middle finger gesture.

It very obviously means "fuck off" and Sayori was not rude enough to say that.]

backdated Jan 1st

[snyaiper]

[On New Years, there is a package outside Sayori's room, wrapped in butcher paper with a card attached to it. On one side it simply says]

Happy New Year
-Ogata

[However, on the other side, in his neat little handwriting, is a new poem in the same curt style as his first one;]

brilliant sun casting her warmth wide
revitalizing and growing life
scorching like a knife
the ice melting burning
being torn open
remade better
to better hold on to the warmth.

[This surely doesn't have any sort of deep meaning or anything particularly relevant to Sayori!! I don't know what you're talking about. Anyway, the package is filled with ichigo daifuku. They look like they might be handmade, even. Certainly they were selected especially for her.]

present!

[feytality]

[ ogata will find a candy gun, a book on insects in faerun, the closest approximation of anglerfish nabe maya could make, as well as a card from maya! it's filled with doodles of ogata in various poses, such as going 'nya' like a cat, on a roller coaster, shooting a gun, and standing on top of a building. the card wishes him happy candlelights and details how proud of him she is for his progress and that she's happy they're friends! she wishes him happiness and safety and encourages him to keep doing better and keep following her instructions. ]

Backdated to jan 5

[snyaiper]

[Honestly, of all the gifts he's received, Maya's card alone ranks pretty high among them. No one has ever told him they're proud of him before. No one without an ulterior motive, anyway. And then there's that word again. Friends. Maya is his friend too?? This is news to him. After everything she'd had to put up with he's not sure why. But he's sure questioning it won't get him anywhere. So he won't.

Instead, Maya will find a package outside her door on new years day. Wrapped in butcher paper are two filleted fish, freshly caught. Because apparently Ogata genuinely is some sort of cat creature leaving offerings of dead animals on people's doorsteps. In addition, there is a mandarin orange. Along with a tiny cat plush, deviating from his theme of food because he never did get around to winning her that carnival prize.

Atop it all is a card. On one side, the message is simple;]

Happy New Year
-Ogata

[On the other side, though. He's written... a poem?]

Deep down in darkness
Body heavy and static
Nothing but the cold and damp
A hand reaches down
Nails dig into warmed skin
Pulling up and out
Held tight
Into the light

[Guess this is the sort of poetry Ogata’s been writing.]

25th.

[protegge]

[Happy Candlenights! Ogata receives: a book.]

26th.

[rockymountaindie]

[ What the fuck is this. A wrapped present... What's inside? A stress ball in the shape of a cat. And a note.

Figured this could be useful. You squeeze it when you're stressed.

Happy Candlenights or whatever
- Alex

Huh! ]

backdated Jan 1st whoops

[snyaiper]

[Honestly, by the time he got Alex's present, he was no longer that surprised. Yeah, sure, a gift from Alex!!! Why not!!! That might as well happen. He doesn't exactly know what this thing is, but the fact that it is pleasant to squeeze paired with Alex's note gives him some idea. Strange invention.

Anyway, it's not until days later there's any response. On new years, early in the morning, there's a package left at Alex's door. It has three items in it, all wrapped in brown butcher paper. A bundle of freshly cut noodles, itself wrapped in paper. A strange little charm with some symbols carved into it. And a card, with some narrow, neat writing on it;]

In my home, these soba noodles are supposed to symbolize longevity. The charm is supposed to ward off death, though I have no way fo saying whether it is legitimate.

Good Luck in the New Year
Ogata.