Logs: Encountering Blaise

 Mikage-cho W - St. Hermelin???
      St. Hermelin, on the surface, is identical in Mikage-cho. This notion would be discarded somewhere along
the way of witnessing people not being quite what they were! Between the feared Dean Harding becoming a caring
individual and a popular educator turning into a mute - among other things - it's not long until any sense of
familiarity goes to the wayside.          
      The school appears as it was in the 2008 school year. The old gymnasium hasn't been expanded as it was
early in 2009, and there's no hole in the wall. Most of the classrooms do not even see use, the school
population notably smaller. The library has undergone the most peculiar change - a foreboding black doorway
sits near the back, the whole room coated in butterfly markings. Nobody is sure as to its purpose, or even
how to open it. A loud heartbeat can be heard if you stand close to it.          
      People here live in fear of a girl in black, whose influence sometimes rearranges the school into a
twisted set of corridors and dead-ends full of demons. Even a trip to the bathroom, in the best of times,
can spell disaster.

The highschool, a 'safe haven', but full of people... Blaise simply cannot trust. Not since what happened yesterday. Isolation is a terrible thing for the Lovers, but it isn't self-imposed... is it? He tries to reach out to people, and it ends in pain. In one way or another, it always ends in pain.

So logically, he must avoid these people for now. Avoid until he can achieve some degree of normalcy. Or unless they're put in danger. Or unless they need him for something. Or... augh, dammit.

He's wound up at the school, despite it all. But he's keeping away from most of the other groups, the cliques. The young fighter is in the library, having discovered a certain black doorway. His hands are pressed against the frame, ear against the door, listening to what sounds like.. like a heartbeat.

A-ko is completely oblivious to whatever might have happened to Blaise yesterday that made him so paranoid of people. Of course, she's also oblivious to his general existence, so it sort of balances out in the end. She's taken to sticking around the school even at night; there's places to crash, and it means that she doesn't have to risk going outside when she hears the demons have been getting meaner. It doesn't mean a *ton* to her, but she's not going to be stupid! ...even if she *has* been a space case.

She's passing by the library, and almost sweeps right by it--when she stops and leans her head back, blinking widely. Huh! Someone's standing in front of that weird door in the library. Wait, was there always a weird door in the library...? She finds she can't remember, and that alone prompts her to slip inside and come up near the other teenager.

"...is that a heartbeat?" she observes, a little surprised.

Ba-bump.

Ba-bump.

Ba-bump.

A hand slips to the flat of the door, trying to feel a rhythmic vibration from each beat. But before he can really devote his attention to that, he hears a voice.

No talking in the library! Amirite?

He whirls around quickly to face her, startled, but quickly relaxes back against the portal. "Y-yeah.. I think so," he says quietly, tilting his head towards it.

She's given a quick once-over, and a tiny, modest chuckle escapes him. She's wearing the local schoolgirl uniform. He must look absolutely, wildly out of place in his duds. Especially with a lightsaber handle secured over the right shoulder.

The girl with the headphones *is* a St. Hermelin student! That said, she doesn't seem especially bothered by Blaise's appearance. Not everyone she's met lately has been in a school uniform--come to think, she doesn't think *any* of them were--and, come on, an American in Lunarvale? Who's really going to be surprised by *that*? The lightsaber handle thing does get a curious look, though, before she gives him a smile. He's pretty cute! Tall, with nice, light brown hair~ Maybe not quite as handsome as Yu, but not bad!

"You look pretty nervous!" she tells him, before giving him a fetching grin. "Is the heartbeat really *that* freaky?"

His blue-grays study her face for a few seconds before returning slowly to the door - and the strange heartbeat therein. The hand on the flat surface rubs over it slowly, as if trying to work out a crease or somesuch. His eyes lower slightly at her observation, and he exhales a quiet sigh. Turning back towards her, his hand drops from the door and he gives her a tired, worn down smile. "It's freaky, but.. not /that/ freaky, no. It's just not been an easy time for me out here."

After a beat, he gives an awkward bow, clearly not yet used to the gesture. "I'm Blaise. Blaise Cameron. A.. a stranger to this city."

A vagabond.

Awww, he looks so strung out. A-ko gives him a look of sympathy when he sighs at her. Maybe he's one of those people from "outside," like she's been meeting? And the whole... city of demons thing hasn't been kind to him. Some people have been dealing way better... Though, she muses, thinking back, no one really seemed to be dealing with it *that* well. (As if anyone normal would?)

"I'm sorry to hear that," she tells him, sincerity ringing in her voice and expression, before she gives him a friendly grin. "Do you--" Wait. Stop. Blink. 'Blaise'? Her smile flickers as she recalls a description she'd been given of someone like that, by someone she ended up pretty darn mad at. She considers the stranger thoughtfully, hands on her hips. She could have sworn that that girl said he had *black* hair, not brown. Maybe she's misremembering? Or maybe this is just a different guy with the same name. And, well... it's not like she *has* to help that girl...

She sighs. /I'm just too nice for my own good,/ she thinks wryly, before she asks, "Do you happen to know a black-haired girl in a yellow dress?"

Blaise raises from the bow at her question, blinking once.

"With yellow eyes, right?"

That's the exact same description he was giving people just a couple days ago. When he didn't have a lightsaber, but a lead pipe.

"Minagi. I know'er, yeah. Definitely. I was searching the city for her earlier. We were together when..." His eyes lower briefly, second-guessing his wording. "..When.. we were.. 'transported' here, I guess you could say." His eyes lift to the girl's face again. "I had to make sure she was okay."

But he did find her. She is, indeed, just fine. Like a disciple of Midori's religion. She was just fine.

"How do you know'er..?"

A nod! Looks like this *is* the right Blaise after all. Huh. Maybe his hair got... dyed out or something? Or else A-ko's just not remembering right. Her memories have seemed a little fuzzy since she came--the dreamlike quality of the world doesn't help, *everything's* felt like a dream--so that's probably it, she decides.

"She came by a few days ago looking for you," A-ko replies. She smiles mischievously. "She said you were a 'very good friend' of hers~. I don't know where she is, but..." A-ko thinks. There was something about what that girl, Minagi, said... ah, that's it! "I think she said she's at some... Captain Rebellion place? Or something? I don't remember exactly."

"Yeah. I found'er." Or she found him. Something like tha-

Wait, what? A 'very good friend'? The smile on Blaise's features dulls slowly. A 'very good friend', huh? Man, he hates this place.

"Anyway... she was safe. I was, too.. so it was all good. I dunno where she is right /now/, but she's... she's okay." He turns around to flop back against the door. "Anyway, what's your name?," he asks, looking back to her again.

"Oh, you did? That's good," A-ko says, smiling. It metamorphoses into a puzzled stare when Blaise's smile dulls. What? That was sudden! And really quite inexplicable, in her view. She said a good thing, so why's he looking like he's upset? "What's the matter?"

Very confusing! But A-ko goes over to a nearby table and hops up to sit on it, eschewing the nearby chairs for the opportunity to dangle her feet over the edge. Who's going to yell at her for it? She grins again at him, posing while making a V-sign with her fingers next to her face. "You can call me A-ko~!" she declares, perpetuating her little joke. It's fun!

"Not important," Blaise passes off. And he hopes that's the case.

His eyes follow her on her way to the table, and he cracks a small grin at her perch and pose. Okay, so the girl's kind've cute. He'll give her that. But this just makes her stand out a little more in contrast with the world around them.

"A-ko.. is that a normal name in Japan?," he asks. "..We.. /are/ in Japan, right?"

A-ko has no reason not to believe Blaise, so when he attempts to get her to not look any deeper, he is successful. All she does is shrug, then giggle when he proves to be the first to call her on her joke. "Well, I wonder~" she teases. "I'm pretty sure, yeah!"

But they sure aren't in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Blaise Cameron saunters from the door towards her, sash wafting after him. "How'd you wind up here?," he asks. A vague smile begins tugging at the corners of his lips as he studies her. "Or are you one of the locals? Me, it should be pretty obvious.. right?"

A-ko has spoken with enough people by now that she understands what Blaise is *really* asking, rather than thinking he means 'from outside Lunarvale.' And, well, it seemed like that Minagi girl was on the same level as Arisa, Himeru, and Yu--and Itsuka, not that she's met her!--so naturally Blaise would be too.

A shadow crosses her face when she remembers the other person Minagi asked after, but... no. She wasn't lying about the demon stuff, so... it was probably just a coincidence. There's no way it could have been...

She shakes her head, and her smile returns. "I fell asleep in my room, and when I woke up, I was in the school," she replies. "I'm from here, but not... *here*, I guess?"

The response gives him momentary pause. He was leaning somehow towards her being a native. She seems so downright relaxed! "Yeah?"

But then again, he thinks back to the conversation he had with Masumi. This place, like a dream, constructed out of whim and design, with shadows of the psyche drifting here and there as 'demons'...

"How long have you been here?," he asks next. But he quickly follows it up with, "I've been around about a week now, I guess. It's hard to tell time here. Like, I can't even remember the last time I ate something..."

When you've got a world of headphones and music that you can tune into, and you haven't really had *that* bad a run-in with any demons, and even the surreality of reality just doesn't fully sink into you, it's easy to have A-ko's attitude. Of course, she may just be weird that way. "Uhmm..." She taps a finger to her chin, looking thoughtfully into the distance. "Leeet's see... I've slept... Four times? So I think I've been here five days."

Oho, so he hasn't eaten? Chaaaance! A-ko hops off the table and grabs hold of Blaise's arm, heedless of how incredibly forward that is, and tugs him towards the library exit. "Then, why don't we go out for some tea? <3 You need to eat to keep your spirits up, and what better way than to spend it with a cute girl like me, handsome~?"

"Huh. So-"

Suddenly, she's hoping off the table and grabbing him by a bracer'd arm. Finding himself suddenly tugged towards an exit, his intrigue is replaced by a guiltily amused smile. Oh, like he isn't in enough girltrouble as it is. Still, this is harmless! And he /does/ need to eat. Even if there's a chance he isn't /physically/ here right now, maybe.. maybe dreaming about food will make him less hungry?

Argh, dream logic makes no sense!

"Can't pass up on an opportunity like /that/," Blaise says, allowing himself to indulge in this much enjoyment. Maybe it'll be relaxing. Maybe it'll help calm his nerves. Could be just what he needs! Plus, the company /is/ kind'a nice...

"You know a place, then?"

That's right, dream logic doesn't make sense! That's why you should just flow merrily merrily merrily merrily gently down the stream~ A-ko laughs delightedly, then pulls harder, letting her hand slip down to his wrist. If necessarily, she'll even drag him physically out, though since he seems amicable enough to the idea of getting something to eat, that probably won't be necessary. She may or may not let go of him. The guy seems depressed, and it's a good way to cheer him up, right?

"Nope!" she says cheerfully. "We can find one when we go out! That's part of the fun of it!"

"O-oh," says Blaise, eyes widening slightly. She's so very positive about traipsing around outside, when Blaise and a couple friends were nearly massacred just yesterday by a psychotic demon! But.. in retrospect, it's better that he's with her. In case a repeat should happen, at least she'll have protection.

Indeed, he's amicable to the situation. Getting food sounds increasingly amazing, especially if this girl knows where to get some /good/ stuff. Though from the sounds of things, they're more likely to just be scavenging.

Alas.

At any rate, he'll go along with it, whether or not she's leading him by the arm. And in the meantime, he's all for chit-chat.

"So, what year are you, A-Ko?," he asks. "I go to Gekkoukan, myself..."

A-ko thus far has been getting along okay just by talking demons down, really. Yu told her that the demons were getting harsher, but that's not a fact that's fully entered her reality. She won't be *reckless*, but it's still a bit of an adventure out there. And isn't that how life should be approached, anyway? It's no fun if you don't enjoy it! Whether that means they'll have to scavenge for food or find something better, well... They'll just have to see, right?

"I'm a second-year!" she replies cheerfully, though she lets go of his hand to look at him thoughtfully. "You're in Gekkoukan too, huh? Himeru-chan is too. Do you know her?"

At the mention of Himeru, Blaise scowls a little. "Unfortunately. Try not to get mixed up with her," he murmurs. "You seem like a nice girl." But he continues forward, mood dropped a little.

Himeru. The Hell was her problem, anyway?

Huh. Blaise sure seems sensitive; mention any little thing and his mood drops all of a sudden. A-ko tilts her head over at him. "She seemed nice to me too," she replies, before considering. "Though she *was* awful surly at first!" Maybe Blaise just lacks A-ko's inherent charm. She beams at him brilliantly when he calls her a nice girl and skips on ahead, leading him to the school exit. She's left her broom/makeshift weapon there, and snags it, twirling around, before opening up the door for him.

"After you~" she calls cheerfully. Wait, shouldn't this be the other way around?

"Yeah. Just be careful around her, okay? It'd suck for you to get hurt."

There's plenty of that 'hurt' going around in his life lately. And this girl seemed really pleasant, upbeat - like himself, under normal circumstances. And though he didn't used to think Himeru would ever be downright cruel... well... apparently, it's well within her capabilities.

A broom is picked up, and his head tilts slightly. Bangs waft out slightly. "Street sweeper, are ya?," he asks with a faint grin. As for the door? He doesn't mind. He's equal opportunities like that He's a Californian(!), as he mentioned to Minagi in jest. But this might also be a good way to ensure she's not walking out into an ambush just outside the school. So out he does, surveying the surroundings quickly.

A-ko can't imagine that Himeru would hurt her--but she *is* an innocent girl. It may well be that she can't imagine most people would hurt her. Minagi did, but... she's become willing to accept that maybe it was just a horrible coincidence, and she never meant to. If they ever run into each other again, A-ko will apologize for slapping her.

"That's right," she jokes cheerfully, winking back at Blaise. "Those streets don't know what hit them when I'm around!"

It doesn't even occur to her to check for some kind of ambush once they're outside, so it's just as well that Blaise left first. A-ko marches them right along once they're out. "We don't have to go too far," she remarks then, glancing over at him, "but I'm sure we can find something if we just take a good look around!"

"Sounds like you've gotten pretty used to doing this. Kind'a jealous," Blaise admits as he walks beside her, blue-grays flitting here and there at every little sound. No, he doesn't trust this world. Not even a little bit. "Been too busy tracking people.. not so much resources." He just lucked out massively to grab this lightsaber! Rowr!

"So, have you found any.. /good/ food out here? Like, burgers, maybe?," he asks, grinning.

A-ko just giggles at Blaise's observation that she's used to this. It's perhaps not so much used to it as... she's not letting it get to her in the first place? It really takes a very specific kind of person to be able to manage it, but it seems like she's one of them. Aside from Minagi--and even she was getting along with her before it all abruptly went south--A-ko's been doing an excellent job of keeping people's spirits up.

"That's no good!" she chides him. "People are important, but you need to be able to eat! I dunno about burgers, but there *is* a convenience store nearby, now that I think of it. We could see what they've got!" The Yin-Yang convenience store *is*, after all, pretty... convenient!

[OOC] A-Ko says, "Sorry I've slowed down, still pretty busy. If you want, we could try fading out around now and assume they go off and get some food, then perhaps part ways or something?"

[OOC] Blaise Cameron is good for whatever. Would you rather not have a distraction to focus on your other stuff? o.o

[OOC] A-Ko says, "I think we've had a pretty good scene so far, that this seems like a pretty good place to fade, and I don't want to end up keeping you all the way up to the plot scene tonight!"

[OOC] A-Ko says, "Thank you for the scene, also."

[OOC] Blaise Cameron says, "You, too! Thanks for the scene!"