[just 'cause baren somehow got an invite for a wedding on the 1st, no one knows how it happened -
but here he is at the library. topics on his radar today: the brain science of memories, whale personalities, and assorted japanese poetry. all of these books are in his stack today but as he's walking by the tables, he blinks as he recognizes someone who - well, oda isn't familiar exactly, but he catches baren's interest anyway.
he slides into the seat across from him and starts immediately - ]
You're Chuu's new hire, right?
[ - because the thing is that baren's icon on the app does not at all match up with his appearance. his name is familiar only to those with an interest in fashion, but otherwise the only times they would've even vaguely crossed paths would've been during baren's occasional appearances a the Inkwell. and then as he catches sight of what oda seems to be writing, he adds on:]
[ with a small stack of books on one side and a laptop on the other, odasaku has absolutely lost track of time in the public library. why he's here, is something that he himself can't figure out.
cabin fever, he supposes. being forced to keep up bed rest is too much effort, even with shuji's occasional visits. and after hours of being propped up on a chair, his broken leg has stopped complaining, so who cares?
he's so focused in his work, that baron's voice barely registers in his ears as he continues to type away on his old laptop. he must be talking to someone else, sakutarou thinks, before realizing that there's no one else besides him.
at that point he turns around. ]
I'm-- a writer, yeah. [ no baron, he doesn't remember the conversation. ]
[ in all honesty, odasaku was asleep when souji knocks the door. the sound wakes him up, sure, but he’s clearly groggy from both sleep and pain killers. the only thing that goes through his mind is the question of who would visit me this early?.
[ Since Oda invited him voluntarily despite Akira's pressure, he's going to take up the offer. Of course he's prepared by bringing a gift for his host (a small fruit basket and a blank notebook), but also a notebook of his own ideas for mysteries and fun scenarios. They did mention they would share once in a while—today will be THAT DAY.
Standing in front of Sakuoda's place, he hesitantly raises his hand, hovering it over the door for a moment longer before knocking. ]
[ sakutarou had barely done anything today. too engrossed in shuji's book, he's barely even bothered to get out of his sleeping clothes or get any sort of food. it's been that way for maybe about a day and a half.
so when he hears the knock on the door, odasaku nearly jumps out of the sofa he's laying on. but he manages not to do that and he actually manages to open the door to see akira. because, of course, they had agreed to meet. and, of course, odasaku had forgotten. no big deal. ]
Come in.
[ he'll open the door further to let akira in. ]
You can sit on the couch. [ a pause. ] Let me just...get changed.
[A text comes to you in the late afternoon of February 3rd. The sender's name has been encrypted and errors out and there are no signs of who the message belongs to. Clicking on the profile of this Retrospec user brings up a picture of the Retrospec symbol.]
How would you like to help us help you out? Your observation period's up and I want you on this particular assignment. You'll be fine, you're probably not going to die, and we'll be able to monitor you from here. We need help. You've got the skills needed even if you don't know it yet. I know it and that's what counts.
You'll be working with a group (wish I could give you the names, still putting the lists together), but your assignment partner is Howard Phillips Carter. Should you choose to accept this assignment, you will need to meet at Peach Beach tomorrow morning and we'll go from there.
You'll be rewarded for your success, of course, but this is only if we have an agreement. Do we have an agreement?
[No other messages will be sent from this account at this time.]
[ooc: Hello! You've been sorted into group 1. Your event log will go up at 9pm EST along with all of the other logs. We encourage you to read the main event log as well for more information about your recruiter and this note. In the meantime, head on over to this thread on the latest mod post to meet your teammates! Thank you!]
[There is for sure a totally logical and not at all worrying reason why, when Shuji stopped in Oda's apartment today, he wasn't there, and he wasn't in his usual haunts either. There is a completely normal reason.
So Shuji will give Oda a chance to provide that normal reason without guilting him or showing him that he's worried sick already.]
Since your leg's been healing up and the sun is out again, I was wondering if we could go to the park today? The weather's really nice for February and it seems like a shame to waste it in our apartments all day.
even if shuji's trying not to guilt him, oda already feels incredibly guilty of what he's done. he can already imagine shuji worried sick so clearly... goddammit. ]
Congratulations on the cat. I honestly thought you might abandon Cali when given the opportunity but you didn't. This will help you mend your ruined self some, I think.
Also, to ease your worries, I planned on giving the cat to a cat fanatic. So no need to wonder what would have happened if you didn't do anything.
[Baren's just stopping by the Inkwell to pick up a bottle or two of alcohol for his trip - because... why wouldn't he.... - and he raises a brow when he finds Oda working there. Baren's familiar with most of the Inkwell staff, but it sure doesn't help that he doesn't like about half of them.
Oda's on the neutral, edging on the positive, at least. But Baren still grins when he sees him.
It was supposed to be a quick visit but he's sitting on the bar stool now, sshhh.]
[ it's been a slow day in the inkwell-- something that odasaku appreciates. the atmosphere is nice and quiet, and he actually has a book in hand as he waits for a customer to show up.
he just didn't expect that it would be baren.
odasaku looks up, blue eyes wide as he recognizes him and closes his book, setting it to the side. he shakes his head. ]
Got a new one. [ he fishes it out of his pocket for a second, before putting it back. ] You want anything?
But Shuji can't let on that Baren spilled anything, because that's a betrayal of trust, and Oda will never confide in anyone ever again. So he doesn't know anything about Oda right now, including that he's in Magatus and definitely not that he's already forgiven Oda for everything Oda was angry at himself over.]
it was the first of many signs that something went absolutely wrong.
odasaku was lucky that he already had some experience with the magatus curse, when heigo came in burning like an oven and begging for forgiveness. he's not a genius, but it was easy to see the way the man's health had drastically improved the moment odasaku had chosen to forgive the man for his mistakes.
and now, the text? it's too obvious, shuji. it's so obvious, that it becomes a difficult task to keep his straight face as he answers. ]
[Oda not texting him, Shuji could forgive. It was an emotional time, they had an argument, it's probably better to let heads cool anyway. It doesn't mean Oda's hurt or anything like that.
But Oda hasn't shown up to work at the Inkwell for the better part of a week, and that means Shuji's worried and/or mad enough to do something drastic.
Luckily, Oda still keeps his spare key in the exact same place as before.
It's two in the morning. Shuji's sitting in Oda's living room, petting Akage on his lap, when he finally hears the door open.]
[ odasaku knew something was wrong from the moment he saw the light from the windows facing the street. in his head, he had pictured a robbery and ran worry for akage’s safety. but when he saw the door closed and no spare key in sight, he knew something else was up.
part of him even wished that it was a robbery and not what he imagines— but fate never lets him have his way.
standing at the entrance, odasaku stares at shuji’s sitting and, though his face doesn’t show it, he feels something begin to constrict his chest. he’s in trouble, he assumes, but now why? ]
Hey. [ sensing the tense atmosphere, akage jumps off of shuji’s lap, running to the messy room. odasaku closes the door. ] You should call next time.
[Once upon a time, Baren was shocked when Odasaku told him where he lived.
He's still shocked.
But he's glad because it means he can show up at the man's door, knock all of once, realize that there's no footsteps coming, and then pick the lock to get in. Tanuki rests on his shoulder and Baren enters, another bottle of sake in hand as a peace offering since he had a feeling he'd have to do something illegal to get in. He wanders around, ignores the kitten meowing at him because cats just Do That, and tilts his head when he finds Odasaku sleeping.
Then there's a sigh as he heads into the kitchen and - whatever's in Odasaku's fridge is going to be used to make a meal that can feed two.
[ after a night of arguing with shuji and having a chat with kei that was both relieving and unsettling at the same time, odasaku promptly passed out in his bed at about... 6 a.m.
in fact, he's so knocked out, that he doesn't even hear the door open when baren comes in.
but at some point akage's (who hisses at the tanuki as soon as it so much looks at her) meowing starts filtering through his dreamless sleep and he realizes that he needs to get his ass up to start this awful day.
he just doesn't expect to wake up to the smell of food. is that sakura? did she wake up? odasaku basically jumps out of his bed, running to his kitchen to find-- ]
I really need to change where I keep my spare key.
[Oda's seen Shuji's Oda before, even if only in hallucination form, but he probably couldn't have come up with an Ango like in the memory he gets. At least it's obvious whose memory this belongs to.
Shuji will track Oda down after getting a memory in return, if Oda doesn't find him first.]
[ oda would have never imagined such a situation. speaking to an odasaku that isn't himself and with an ango that looks nothing like ango he knows of.
it's strange, but at the same time it makes him happy. happy that, even in his former life, shuji could still have friends like these.
on the other hand, shuji's going to get a memory-- ango, or heigo as shuji remembers, and a dazai. dazai should be able to deduce who the memory is from, although he doesn't speak throughout.
the one that does speak, however, is ango. he has a drink in hand, and looks quite annoyed. "there are those that actually think that abilities can be used to seduce women."
"but we couldn't use our abilities to seduce women even if we wanted to." the one that speaks this time is dazai, with a charming smile. he turns on his bar stool, his back pressed against the table. "even if we tried to, they'd think we're creepy and we'd fuzz up."
ango chuckles, and then looks at dazai. "fuzz up?"
dazai nods. "yeah. we'd fuzz up." ]
[ oda won't go looking for shuji, but he will send a concerned message ]
I got a memory that I think belonged to you. Is everything okay in your end?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
12/6
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Why?
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1/2?? | action
but here he is at the library. topics on his radar today: the brain science of memories, whale personalities, and assorted japanese poetry. all of these books are in his stack today but as he's walking by the tables, he blinks as he recognizes someone who - well, oda isn't familiar exactly, but he catches baren's interest anyway.
he slides into the seat across from him and starts immediately - ]
You're Chuu's new hire, right?
[ - because the thing is that baren's icon on the app does not at all match up with his appearance. his name is familiar only to those with an interest in fashion, but otherwise the only times they would've even vaguely crossed paths would've been during baren's occasional appearances a the Inkwell. and then as he catches sight of what oda seems to be writing, he adds on:]
The cyborg aspiring writer.
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cabin fever, he supposes. being forced to keep up bed rest is too much effort, even with shuji's occasional visits. and after hours of being propped up on a chair, his broken leg has stopped complaining, so who cares?
he's so focused in his work, that baron's voice barely registers in his ears as he continues to type away on his old laptop. he must be talking to someone else, sakutarou thinks, before realizing that there's no one else besides him.
at that point he turns around. ]
I'm-- a writer, yeah. [ no baron, he doesn't remember the conversation. ]
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12/25
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he pushes himself up to a sitting position. ]
Come in.
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THE GOBLIN APPEARS
Standing in front of Sakuoda's place, he hesitantly raises his hand, hovering it over the door for a moment longer before knocking. ]
BEGONE DEMON MAN
so when he hears the knock on the door, odasaku nearly jumps out of the sofa he's laying on. but he manages not to do that and he actually manages to open the door to see akira. because, of course, they had agreed to meet. and, of course, odasaku had forgotten. no big deal. ]
Come in.
[ he'll open the door further to let akira in. ]
You can sit on the couch. [ a pause. ] Let me just...get changed.
BUT HE LOVES YOu
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misfire
if you try my zucchini
this is cursed
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2/3 text
How would you like to help us help you out? Your observation period's up and I want you on this particular assignment. You'll be fine, you're probably not going to die, and we'll be able to monitor you from here. We need help. You've got the skills needed even if you don't know it yet. I know it and that's what counts.
You'll be working with a group (wish I could give you the names, still putting the lists together), but your assignment partner is Howard Phillips Carter. Should you choose to accept this assignment, you will need to meet at Peach Beach tomorrow morning and we'll go from there.
You'll be rewarded for your success, of course, but this is only if we have an agreement. Do we have an agreement?
[No other messages will be sent from this account at this time.]
[ooc: Hello! You've been sorted into group 1. Your event log will go up at 9pm EST along with all of the other logs. We encourage you to read the main event log as well for more information about your recruiter and this note. In the meantime, head on over to this thread on the latest mod post to meet your teammates! Thank you!]
2/4 afternoon
So Shuji will give Oda a chance to provide that normal reason without guilting him or showing him that he's worried sick already.]
Since your leg's been healing up and the sun is out again, I was wondering if we could go to the park today? The weather's really nice for February and it seems like a shame to waste it in our apartments all day.
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fuck.
fuck.
even if shuji's trying not to guilt him, oda already feels incredibly guilty of what he's done. he can already imagine shuji worried sick so clearly... goddammit. ]
I'm out of the city right now.
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2/4 | text
you're in group one?
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after cat post
Also, to ease your worries, I planned on giving the cat to a cat fanatic. So no need to wonder what would have happened if you didn't do anything.
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broken phone
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3/8 | text
i need to know everything you know about him
not for you
but he knows a kid that i'm
looking after, i guess
[ - and Baren may or may not get a little overprotective.
and extreme.]
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Owns a ramen shop.
Threatened to call animal control on a cat I rescued just to see how I would react.
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3/22??? | action
Oda's on the neutral, edging on the positive, at least. But Baren still grins when he sees him.
It was supposed to be a quick visit but he's sitting on the bar stool now, sshhh.]
Sakkun! Is your phone still broken?
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he just didn't expect that it would be baren.
odasaku looks up, blue eyes wide as he recognizes him and closes his book, setting it to the side. he shakes his head. ]
Got a new one. [ he fishes it out of his pocket for a second, before putting it back. ] You want anything?
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i had to desperately think what the topic of this thread was going to be
baren and oda go to the soup store
why are they at soup
they're buying clothes at the soup store
hey i hate this
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3/10
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he slept! ]
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april, after baren thread, while they're still in magatus
But Shuji can't let on that Baren spilled anything, because that's a betrayal of trust, and Oda will never confide in anyone ever again. So he doesn't know anything about Oda right now, including that he's in Magatus and definitely not that he's already forgiven Oda for everything Oda was angry at himself over.]
Hey, are you busy?
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it was the first of many signs that something went absolutely wrong.
odasaku was lucky that he already had some experience with the magatus curse, when heigo came in burning like an oven and begging for forgiveness. he's not a genius, but it was easy to see the way the man's health had drastically improved the moment odasaku had chosen to forgive the man for his mistakes.
and now, the text? it's too obvious, shuji. it's so obvious, that it becomes a difficult task to keep his straight face as he answers. ]
I'm in Magatus. What's up?
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action, everything is terrible
But Oda hasn't shown up to work at the Inkwell for the better part of a week, and that means Shuji's worried and/or mad enough to do something drastic.
Luckily, Oda still keeps his spare key in the exact same place as before.
It's two in the morning. Shuji's sitting in Oda's living room, petting Akage on his lap, when he finally hears the door open.]
Welcome home.
[Does he sound irritated? Good.]
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part of him even wished that it was a robbery and not what he imagines— but fate never lets him have his way.
standing at the entrance, odasaku stares at shuji’s sitting and, though his face doesn’t show it, he feels something begin to constrict his chest. he’s in trouble, he assumes, but now why? ]
Hey. [ sensing the tense atmosphere, akage jumps off of shuji’s lap, running to the messy room. odasaku closes the door. ] You should call next time.
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??? whenever oda stops going to work | action
He's still shocked.
But he's glad because it means he can show up at the man's door, knock all of once, realize that there's no footsteps coming, and then pick the lock to get in. Tanuki rests on his shoulder and Baren enters, another bottle of sake in hand as a peace offering since he had a feeling he'd have to do something illegal to get in. He wanders around, ignores the kitten meowing at him because cats just Do That, and tilts his head when he finds Odasaku sleeping.
Then there's a sigh as he heads into the kitchen and - whatever's in Odasaku's fridge is going to be used to make a meal that can feed two.
Surprise...!]
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in fact, he's so knocked out, that he doesn't even hear the door open when baren comes in.
but at some point akage's (who hisses at the tanuki as soon as it so much looks at her) meowing starts filtering through his dreamless sleep and he realizes that he needs to get his ass up to start this awful day.
he just doesn't expect to wake up to the smell of food. is that sakura? did she wake up? odasaku basically jumps out of his bed, running to his kitchen to find-- ]
I really need to change where I keep my spare key.
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earlier in may, around 5/2 or so
Which is more important: keeping a promise or keeping someone you care about safe?
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5/9 sometime after his retrospec post
Right now, now that Shuji's been forced to lie to a loved one to try to keep him happy, or at least not make things worse - now seems like the time.]
I'm sorry for what I said during our fight. You were right and I was wrong.
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[ not that he thinks shuji was completely right either, but odasaku definitely doesn't think that he's correct himself.
this is the last thing he wanted shuji to say; even anger is better. ]
What's wrong?
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3/17
hey
what's the best part about gardening
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1/2
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5/26
Bad memory re: my past self's Oda. We don't have to talk about it if you'd rather not.
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memoryswap | idk whenever works for you
Shuji will track Oda down after getting a memory in return, if Oda doesn't find him first.]
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it's strange, but at the same time it makes him happy. happy that, even in his former life, shuji could still have friends like these.
on the other hand, shuji's going to get a memory-- ango, or heigo as shuji remembers, and a dazai. dazai should be able to deduce who the memory is from, although he doesn't speak throughout.
the one that does speak, however, is ango. he has a drink in hand, and looks quite annoyed. "there are those that actually think that abilities can be used to seduce women."
"but we couldn't use our abilities to seduce women even if we wanted to." the one that speaks this time is dazai, with a charming smile. he turns on his bar stool, his back pressed against the table. "even if we tried to, they'd think we're creepy and we'd fuzz up."
ango chuckles, and then looks at dazai. "fuzz up?"
dazai nods. "yeah. we'd fuzz up." ]
[ oda won't go looking for shuji, but he will send a concerned message ]
I got a memory that I think belonged to you. Is everything okay in your end?
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