speedweed | IC Inbox for Ryslig

[The lower floors are certainly all in a similar state- it's difficult to tell of course- the first one up they can only really see because the door to the apartment is gone and the inside seems mostly gutted, load bearing walls marked as such and everything else tacked with a big X and so on- but after a bit of climbing Jonathan pauses.

Until now, the stairs have been open to the below. But as they turn the corner from the hall outside of apartment 3- though there was technically an apartment in the basement, so perhaps it's apartment 4?- there appears to be a full wall and door in the way.]

Oh.

The stairwell..?

[Odd.]

[This whole place becomes more of a mess the higher they go and he can feel his heart start sinking into his stomach. Until they're met with a wall and a door, odd.]

Per... haps? Go on, open it. There's no sense in making questions while we can simply just open the door and find out instead.

[He's hoping there's an Actual Apartment here somewhere and that this wasn't some sort of weird gotcha moment that he wasn't aware of. Tsukikage is better than that, certainly...?]

[Welp. The keys go in, and the door is opened.

Immediately, Jonathan blinks. Though the air is stale with dust, it lacks the edge of outdoor influence that the rest of the building carries, the choking scent of drywall instead replaced by stagnancy over all. Glancing briefly back to Speedwagon, he begins to make his way up what have felt like somewhat roomy stairwells thus far. Around the bend- there are coathooks there, he notices- and then up...and...]

Oh my...

[He appears to have exited into a large, open concept living-dining-kitchen area.

Hopefully Speedwagon can get out around him.]

[At least it's not drywall, he'll take this new smell over that construction smell pretty much any day of the week. He's quietly following after him until Jonathan stops, directly in his way. But that's... fine, he can probably maneuver around him.

Even if it means ducking under and around Jonathan's arm and side to get in.

And...

Oh, oh he can see why he stopped where he was.]

It's better than I thought it would be. [There's almost amazement in his tone of all things.]

It's...It's so open..! [Jonathan chokes, looking about with wide eyes.] Everything is practically in the same room! I knew the technology for cleaning and the like had improved significantly, but to think they can simply combine rooms this easily..!

[He'd seen the staff's kitchens- admittedly when trying to sneak apples- but those rooms were Not very clean. And they always had a separate room for the real messes for that matter.

He can't see where one of those would go here at all.]

It is. [He rather prefers the openness of it all, makes it easier to move between one place and the other. If they were to be monsters, then they could possibly become much larger than they already were, so being open was a good thing in his mind.

Of course he's already moving forward to investigate everything he can to see what needs to be done in the future to make this as comfortable as possible.]

It will certainly need a good dusting, if not a proper clean, but I think this is as good as we could have asked for. If we weren't looking for something mobile. [His only gripe is that it's an obvious space, with the shape of the building, but it's a minor thing at best.]

Indeed...I can only imagine how the bedrooms must look, with all of this...

[He. Hopes those have walls. Please have walls.

Beyond that actually-] Just how could a home be mobile, exactly? I do recall reading tales about a 'camping caravan', and I suppose there have been other such wagons in the past, but are you speaking of those?

[Of course this is Jonathan's first minor complaint,]

Certainly the bedrooms have walls. [If not, he's going to find a way to make some damn walls, just you wait and watch.

Please don't actually make him have to make walls.]

... Something like that, yes. I dare say, with the transportation I have seen around here, there's probably better versions than those around here somewhere. It would be nicer in the spring and summer months, to be able to roam the land freely.

[Jonathan, he likes to travel. A lot.

Deal with it.]

[Certainly, certainly-

He moves about, so they can actually check that for themselves.] I see...

I will confess, it sounds a bit cramped...but I suppose ultimately it would be no worse than staying in a motel room for a time- and certainly more exciting at least, [He admits with a nod.]

The winter at least will give time to look into what options would be then.

[There better be bedrooms with walls here, or else there will be a legitimate problem to be solved.]

There are ways to make use of a space like that to be less cramped, but most aren't nearly as tall as you are, Jonathan. [Most people aren't giants, is what he means.] I would rather explore when we have a chance, anyway, since I doubt we'll learn anything of real value here if we just stay here.

[He's humming for a brief moment as he takes note of all the furniture he can and then goes to inspect the state of the kitchen.]

It certainly would and it would give us time to plan, on top of that.

[That will certainly be an experience.]

That is part of what concerns me... [He admits a little sheepishly.] The carriage to Windknight's Lot was already rather challenging...

That's a fair point however- this is hardly a country either of us are familiar with, and it would do us both well to unearth what secrets it could hold...

[The kitchen, as Speedwagon inspects it, is filled with modern necessities. Some might even be More modern than the rest of Bavan...which. Is frankly odd and likely confusing. There's even a dishwasher.

But hey, the power works, and the sink is nice, double, and deep. There's also an electric kettle.]

I'm almost certain we can figure something out to accommodate that. [Just more room for the giant, it's fine. It's not like he's not used to living in confined quarters, himself, after all.]

That's part of what concerns me, the secrets this place may hold. If things such as turning into monsters and the like aren't considered such, then what do they consider worth hiding?

[How strange, some of these appliances. He can understand some of them as a different version of what he's used to, but others just confuse him even further. But he's quietly running a hand over the edge of the sink with an appreciative hum.]

I think with a little cleaning even this kitchen will serve us rather well. A deep sink, an electric kettle, and some of these other ones seem like a newer version that what I'm used to. It may be a bit of a challenge to figure them out, but I suppose I can manage.

[Way to bring out the conspiracies!] Right. Here, the matter of monsters seems just as scientific and widespread as information on common illness would be- compared to where such things were mere myth and stone in our own realm, I find myself a bit concerned about what lurks in the equivalent shadows.

[Anyway, erm...he hesitantly moves over to inspect the kettle.] It's certainly an odd shape, but it can't be anything but, can it...

...I think one can even see through to the inside through the measuring part here, [He murmurs, thinking upon the devices he'd see in science labs at the university.] The sink though... ...I take it you know your way around a kitchen then, [he remarks, half questioning and half awestruck if anything. No offense to Speedwagon, but he didn't think of the fellow as the cooking sort.]

[It's not his fault that this place gets more suspicious by the day!] I would assume that fog god would be included in the shadows of this place, but that is merely taking the obvious answer. [How much he detests not knowing what really goes on in this place...]

Why else would it be in the kitchen if it's not a kettle? [Honestly, he's pretty sure this particular answer is obvious at this point.] If you can see the measurements of it, then even better, takes the guess work out of measuring out your tea or coffee. Handy.

[Aaaand there it is. He's pausing and turning to look at him, a brow slowly raised.]

Jonathan. I lived by myself in what was essentially the gutters of London and had no intentions on taking a wife. So of course I know my way around a bloody kitchen. I would have starved otherwise. [... Valid, honestly. Don't question the reasons.]

From what I've gathered, the fog god herself is easier to find than much else, [Jonathan corrects with a frown.] The trouble is being able to match her, it would appear.

[Ah.........he blinks, and looks a little sheepish.] O-of course! I suppose that's the case for quite a few... [Just why didn't he think of that! Ooof.]

...You are right about this kettle though... [Smooth dodging, Jonathan.]

I'd rather her never be visible in my vicinity for whatever damn time that I am to be here. [He's still salty over the weird zealot he met and also the fact that he's even here to begin with, of course.

And then he can't help but not be mad when he's being that ridiculous. He's the only person capable of saying something entirely stupid and remotely offensive and then immediately making him not be upset at it.]

For everyone in the city that did not have money, yes. [You either learned to survive, find a woman who could cook, or you died. Life was never that simple to begin with.]

It's a kettle. How are we looking with the bedrooms?

Agreed- it's why I've not sought her out myself, [he answers- and the unspoken reasoning for even wanting to do so, goes without saying. If he thought he could stand a chance, he would face her in a heart beat to take her down.

But they cannot.

Jonathan looks properly shamed, suffice to say, when it comes to the matter of cooking- he takes the retreat to the matter of bedrooms quickly, nodding and walking toward where they appear to likely be.] Well...at the very least, the necessities of a wall and door has not changed in the 'future', [he chuckles, finding himself in a hall rather quickly. The first door is opened, and he blinks.] Ah- I would wager much more than two people shared this apartment however...there are two beds in here.

[Large ones too- so certainly not for young children.]

[That is the part that bothers him the most, that not even Jonathan could be a match for her. After all that they have been through and all that has happened, meeting a match such as this was outside of his realm of possibilities. And yet, there was someone here who could outdo him.

He could never compete, to be fair.

No reason to be shamed, he's long since forgotten the reason to be upset with him and is taking after him to investigate these bedrooms.]

I... would assume them related or close enough, then. Sharing a room with two beds with a stranger seems... highly unorthodox. [And a little weird, at that. But to each their own at the end of the day, they aren't here now so there's no way to understand the reasoning.]

Indeed- though I suspect the circumstances here may have forced the hands of more than a few, [Jonathan notes, frowning. Considering the attitudes of even the 'kind' people of Bavan, it would not surprise him if family-like bonds came between the monsters of this place over time.

They wouldn't have had anyone else after all.] That's one of the bedrooms then...the other...

[The door opens, and there are again two beds. Though there seems to be a shadow in the room, and as he looks up...

...Oh.] Oh my.

I... suppose that is very possible. [What does one do when your food source is humans and there are numbers of them in this place? Feed and forget they're human, he assumes, not that they need worry about that for a time longer. Hopefully they can find another way to sate their hungers instead of harassing and killing the poor people of this city.

It makes his stomach turn to knots the longer he thinks on it.

But onto the other bedroom and he's shifting past him to get a look at where he's starting and...

Oh.

Yep, he gets it now.]

I... think this one off limits until it can be fixed properly, then?

Agreed. [Oh lord. The more he looks the more things stand out. The netting 'bed' up above. The haphazzard construct that is the 'tent' up there, and-] Is that...Fur?

[Just when one gets to put things like 'turning into animalistic creatures' from mind, they get a handful of proof...]

[The longer he looks at this, the more he's beginning to hate it and is slowly backing out of this room. No thank you, sir, he will completely forget this room exists, instead.]

Monsters, Jonathan. Monsters.

[Monsters.

He swallows, and closes the door.] Let us avoid this room, [he 'repeats', a sense of finality to it.] There...should be a washroom of sorts, yes? Let us see what facilities it has available here.

[He tries not to think too hard about the matter.]

[Monsters.

Right, he can do that much for now. It can be... fixed later, months down the line, if ever at all. There's no reason to think about it during winter, at least.]

I doubt that washrooms would have changed much in such a time span, but I have been proven wrong thus far on numerous items...

It's most likely...over at this side at least, [He remarks distractedly, moving along the apartment to the next 'jutting end'. One door is opened and-] Ah, storage...

[What it says on the tin, really. A storage closet. He goes to the next door.] Then...oh.

Well! [Modern washrooms will Always astound him. Where he was used to a room more or less painted no differently from the rest of the house, the washroom had tile- it also had a massive bathtub, among other features. The dust of course struck this room as well- flicking a switch (and he would truly never get used to that), the lights illuminated all of it, a sad reminder of how long it had been since someone was here.

His footsteps leave marks in the dust, and he pauses at the bath tub itself.] ...Quite a lot of shampoo products...

[He tries not to think about the fur.]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, SPEEDWAGON. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 017.05.186.84 * SPEEDWAGON has joined 017.05.186.84 <SPEEDWAGON>** Still learning, contact if necessary. Physical conversations highly preferred.

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