video; one

[hairswirls]

( the feed opens up to kirie sitting on the sidewalk, her entire face and arms covered in red bumps and bites. one minute into this place and somehow she's already managed to summon large swarms of mosquitoes to her, only to have the suckers all attack her. she's scratching herself all right, her face pale and twisted to an annoyed expression. )

I'm not sure if this is some kind of cruel joke or I just really have bad luck all over me...

( scratch break. )

So far I've discovered two powers and I'm afraid to discover more. Does anyone have any tips for controlling powers? It took me a while but it seems like they become activated when I get stressed out or really anxious...though I could be wrong.

( as she speaks, she leans back against the sidewalk, her hands resting against the floor. she begins to sigh heavily and as she does, her body begins to darken. )

Worst of all I've got a really weird and probably another cruel joke of a job. I mean...I don't have anything against hairdressers but there was a point in time where my own hair tried to kill me.

( though that was really more of a curse from the spiral that held her town captive.

as she finishes her conversation, she begins to darken even more, eventually becoming the shadow reflected behind her. )

Comments

Video;

[fridgeflower]

Oh. Are you still--? [ Is that, like, a shadow meld? Some form of invisibility? Or something else entirely? ] Um.

My powers are tied to my feelings, as well, and I couldn't control them for a long time. I can try to tell you how went about it, but I don't really recommend it for the long term.

Being in this situation is probably stressful in itself. I can probably help with that, too, if your powers are giving you grief.

[hairswirls]

( laurie isn't the only one surprised. the moment kirie realized she couldn't see her own hands, she became even more nervous about the situation. this is the first time she's dealing with this. )

What....what exactly are your powers if I might ask? When I first got here, I walked out on my own and all of a sudden I was swarmed by large bodies of mosquitoes. The more I ran away from them, the more I screamed, the more they attacked me.

It wasn't until I took a deep breath and counted to ten that they began to fly away.

[fridgeflower]

I release pheromones that control other people's emotions, so... Nothing like swarms.

I used to to just be constantly emitting them, though, and people would feel everything I felt, so I had to learn not to do that.

[hairswirls]

That sounds....intense. It must have been hard to deal with. I'm just not sure how to deal with all of this or what I can even do with it.

( perhaps she could become a hero like she was told to be or simply be a hairdresser.

either way she needed to control her powers. )

I'm guessing you can remove my stress if we were together though right? In person.

text;

[reexamined]

Maybe your third power is bad luck.

[hairswirls]

well it could be but I've been pretty unlucky for the past few months so....

I just think I drew the short stick on powers.

[reexamined]

[Hmm. That shadow...]

What are your powers?

[hairswirls]

Well when I got here I discovered I can summon large swarms of mosquitoes....

and now this.

( yes the shadow.

she's still unaware of one more power but it's best if she doesn't realize what it is just yet. )

I guess I could make a swarm of frogs happy?

[reexamined]

A large swam of mosquitoes. That really is unfortunate.

And becoming your own shadow? Very specific. I have seen useless powers, but none that seemed so outright detrimental.

[Text]

[granddevil]

Just get a different job if it's that traumatic.

[fridgeflower]

Mm-hm. [ An affirmative hum. It comes coupled with a nod before her expression settles into (what she Hope's is) calm comfort. ]

Yeah. I could do that. Helping people in similar ways is actually something I'm trying to get more proactive about.

Would you like to meet?

audio;

[uzumaniac]

[He stares in disbelief for a while, crouched in his unattended to room, in darkness, in solitude. He stares at the video wide eyed and his hands tighten on his phone, thumbs lifting to reply, to start his mic but-

Then he stops quickly, swallowing hard as a realization takes him over.]

[There were good things about this, selfish good things, but at the same time...]

Kirie.

[He finally said, simply just her name in a voice she would recognize, weak yet familiar.]

[hairswirls]

( aside from being tormented by her new powers and reminders of a painful past, kirie was just honestly confused. she was confused as to why she was brought here and why she was being pushed to be a hero of all things all of a sudden. a part of her was hopeful that maybe someone else she knew was here but as she looked through the feed and spoke to others she began to think she was alone.

until that soft voice spoke through to her.

she remained silent for a moment, both overwhelmed with happiness and stress. she was also a bit uncertain- it could be a trap after all. )

Is this.....Shuichi?

( if it really is then by all means she’s just gonna cry in both joy and sorrow. sorrow for how they ended their last moments the way they did. )

[hairswirls]

is that even allowed here?

I mean maybe a part of me is afraid of dealing with hair but I also realize I don’t know anything about cutting it or dying it

I’m not sure how well this will all go

[uzumaniac]

Yes. It's Shuichi, Shuichi Saito.

...

Do you remember it- everything?

[He asks tentatively, holding back his own happiness at seeing her here, though he's always been really good at seeming completely apathetic or worried about everything. That seems to be just as true now.]

voice

[queenofseers]

[ Man, what the hell happened to this girl? Whatever her set of powers is, it seems like a real mess. ]

If no one's told you yet, you don't have to go to the job you're assigned. Most of us get something that seems like a sick joke, so you're actually not alone on that one.

[ ...But also. ] Your hair tried to kill you?

[hairswirls]

( his words were like a wave of comfort to her. she sighed in relief, audibly becoming tearful at his words.

as tears began to fall down her cheeks [causing the cement to become wet], she spoke up. )

Y-You were there for me until the very end....and you even pushed me to keep going. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough....

[hairswirls]

( it takes kirie a moment to reel in her words. to suddenly meet up with a stranger, after everything she's been through. she used to be so careless about things but became more cautious with time.

after a few moments of thinking it through she spoke. )

Yes...that would be for the best.

I'm in some place called Heropa? I'm not really sure where exactly I'm at to be honest. I'm not sure how all of this is gonna work.

I haven't really tried moving, so I'm not sure if I'm stuck like this.

( as a black outline of herself. )

[hairswirls]

( ouch. )

yeah well hopefully I'm not the only one like this?

I mean what kind of powers do you have?

[hairswirls]

I don't know....I mean I'm kind of tempted to try it out and see but...

( her parents pretty much drilled a sense of 'obligation' and 'duty' into her. )

Well I don't think it wanted to but rather it was cursed. It would grow and grow and feed on the attention of other people. Whenever I tried getting it cut, it would either strangle other people or me.

[uzumaniac]

Ah- Kirie, don't cry here.

[It's really not the place for that, and he's been trying to avoid talking about everything too indepth since getting here. Plus he just- doesn't really want strangers to be witness to this conversation if it's going to be like this. It wasn't their business. When he says that to her though, it's not with any sort of aggressive tone, it just sounds a little uncertain.]

It happened. There's nothing we can do now. And now we're both here. You just arrived then?

[hairswirls]

( she remained silent at his words for a moment, taking in a deep breath. she wasn't really sure what to do next as far as wiping her tears so she simply let them finish coming out of her eyes. )

You're right...we're both alive and that's all that matters.

( after everything they had been through all she wanted to do was relax a bit and let it all out. but this wasn't the time for it. )

Yes. I thought this was all a dream but I can see it isn't. Where are you right now?

video

[fehus]

[have a Very concerned blond pretty boy]

Um. [is she... still there, even...] I don't know shit about controlling nanite powers, 'cuz mine aren't, but I can chill out your anxiety and stress, if that would help. [we can... work backwards to that hair comment. and the becoming a shadow. and the red bumps all over her] -- And heal you, if figuring them out hurts.

[fridgeflower]

Oh, good. I'm in Heropa, too.

I've lived here for a while, actually. If you can pan your phone around, or maybe tell me a landmark nearby, then I can probably figure out where you're at.

[queenofseers]

Annnnd that's absolutely fucked. [ Maybe not the weirdest thing she's heard here, but close? ]

I mean, if it strangled other people- let alone you- you might not want to go into a hairdresser until you know you're safe. Are you?