what it all comes down to [closed]

[papartner]

Who: Kazuki Kurusu (papartner) & Rei Suwa (dadinside)
Which: Closed log
Where: Wherever a cat goes, Reverein
What: Tackling dream board quest 1005!
Warnings: Shouldn't be, will be edited if needed!



[ It's been a busy few weeks. Fortunately, busy is kind of the way Kazuki likes it. After being brought here, dream or not, he's been getting more than a little restless. Walks around town only do so much, and they don't need money, so... so what is he supposed to do? He knows he should try to get a job or something, but working for someone in a normal business is not exactly his style...

So the dream board it is! Most of the time, the jobs were pretty straightforward, and would get him a little of this and that to barter, or something he could use himself, or whatever. But this month he didn't wanna work on anything alone. So getting Rei's buy-in would be important. Which made the decision of which job to take pretty simple, actually...

Well, "simple" is a relative term. Kazuki did have to half-drag him out of the treehouse, but "we're going out looking for someone's cat" had made him a little more amenable to the idea. That said, there might be a bit more to it. After talking to the lady, she said something about a ghost, which did make the hairs on his neck stand up... but y'know, this is for a good cause...

Unfortunately this is how they find themselves in the edge of town after tracking the cat down to this location. It's an old house of some kind, though outside is a weird hedge maze, already decorated for Halloween (not even the kind of Halloween Kazuki likes...) ]

Sure hope this lady makes this worth our while once we get this cat back. This place is huge.

Comments

[papartner]

Thanks for your support, Rei.

[ Kazuki's not sure what else he expected. This is Rei, through and through. Can Kazuki's hands go any deeper in his pockets? (No.) ]

Sun's going down and it's gonna be a pain in the ass to find a black cat in the shadows. You see anything?

[ Rei has good eyes and he did catch him looking around... Kazuki's trying to do that now too, but all he notices immediately is the way the breeze rustles some of the leaves. ]

[dadinside]

[You're welcome, man. That's what he's here for.

Anyway, finding a black cat at night would be a pain, especially without his night vision goggles. As it is though, he's been looking around and so far nothing.]

Would've told you if I did.

[But right on cue, Rei catches a slight rustling in the hedges they just passed, and he whips around to stare in that direction.]

Wait-

[He holds his hand up for Kazuki to be perfectly quiet, then indicates the corner of the hedges to their right. Might be nothing, since he didn't see what caused the noise, but it's worth checking out.]

[papartner]

What..?

[ Kazuki's voice drops to a whisper, and the only noise he makes is his feet crunching through gravel for another few steps. Maybe cat? Please be cat, and they can go home and --

Then, any attempt at quiet is shattered as Kazuki turns the corner, and a 4 foot tall plastic skeleton head and chest pops out of the hedge, laughing spookily (tm). ]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!

[dadinside]

[Rei had no reason to reach for his gun until he noticed the rustling was higher up in the hedges now. Ever so slowly, he's got his hand positioned behind him, as if getting ready to draw his weapon, when the plastic skeleton pops out instead--

Kazuki's scream pierces through the crisp, fall air, startling nearby critters.

Rei's hands drop to his sides, his demeanor completely unfazed, the plastic toy eliciting no further reaction from him.]

That's not a cat.

[He replies, completely ignoring his partner's panicked state.]

[papartner]

No shit, it isn't!!

[ he all but screeches out, hand grasping the front of his coat just over his heart like he's waiting for the heart attack to hit. He is seriously not having a good time with skeletons lately, if this and Ereshkigal's summons are anything to go by...

Kazuki takes a moment to gather himself. He also reaches up to grab the damn thing from the hedge and toss it on the ground. Screw you, plastic skeleton, screw you. ]

Okay, let's try this again...

[ With less screaming this time.  Hopefully that didn't scare the cat away, if it had been hanging around in the first place. ]

[dadinside]

[He doesn't flinch at Kazuki's outburst, completely used to it. Rei looks around them at the hedge maze, sensing no further movements and grumbles lowly in his throat.]

Are you even sure it's still here?

[Even before Kazuki screamed. The cat could've ran away the second they stepped onto the property.]

[papartner]

I mean, no... but it's chilly out, maybe someone brought it inside the house.

[ It would be the right thing to do, after all. However, it doesn't mean they don't still have to get through this hedge crap first. ]

I don't exactly have a ton of leads here, okay?

[dadinside]

[So all this could be a big waste of time. He looks over at the decrepit house beyond the hedge maze, feeling his gaming time slipping away from him. The house has seen better days, like ages ago. The roof doesn't appear stable, the paneling on the side is chipped and rotting away.]

Doubt anyone is living there.

[Seriously. If they had some food, treats, it's favourite toy, literally anything, Rei could've set up a trap for it. The old lady might not have given Kazuji anything, but he could've at least asked.]

[papartner]

Don't judge someone by the state of the house, man.

[ Kazuki has lived shittier places than this, probably. And honestly, Rei's place might have been nice on the outside but the inside was a completely different story before Kazuki got there. ]

Besides, I totally see a light up on the second floor.

[ or does he? There seems to be something flickering up there, if you look hard enough... ]

[dadinside]

[There's no rent in this world and this house looks like it's been condemned. It's less judging and more being logical.

He merely stares up at it, getting an uneasy sort of feeling.]

Worth checking out, I guess.

[papartner]

Even if there isn't anyone inside, if there's a crack or an open window, kitty could have made its way inside somehow, right? So that's that.

[ they're going inside. Once they get there, anyway. This freaking maze is ridiculous. Kazuki hears another rustle like before and he jumps, half expecting another skeleton to pop out.

One does not.]

[dadinside]

[Why does it sound like he's just trying to convince himself that there's nothing unsettling about the house?

Rei glances over at his apparently still panicked partner.]

You gonna be okay?

[Don't worry, he'll protect you from the silly Halloween decorations, man.]

[papartner]

Why wouldn't I be okay?

[ he answers too strongly with his voice cracking just slightly. He's on edge. It's definitely not that he won't be okay. It's just evening, in the fall, and there's weird shit popping out of the hedges. Everything's normal and Kazuki is not afraid, alright?

His steps forward are him stubbornly digging in and denying the idea that he might possibly not be okay. Kazuki is going to ignore any other sounds and just get to that front door which is still further away than he wants it to be. Focus, man! ]

[dadinside]

[So he lets Kazuki take the lead and follows a couple of paces behind him, still on the lookout for the cat or anymore menacing Halloween decorations.

Only several minutes pass and they've turned a few corners, hit a couple of dead ends and had to go back a little. Rei finally speaks up, ignoring all the grumbling and muttered curses from his partner.]

Are we getting closer?

[papartner]

Like hell if I can tell.

[ Kazuki's tall but he's not that tall. The hedges are overgrown enough that it wasn't a big deal to look up at the house but impossible to know either the right direction or how much further they need to go. What they need is more height... He slows to a stop, hand resting on his hip as he thinks. And then it comes to him. ]

I think the easiest way to tell is if you get on my shoulders, Rei.

[dadinside]

[For a moment he considered if it were possible to move through the hedges, but they were really dense. It'd be impossible. He assumes Kazuki had a similar idea.

... Then he speaks up with an absurd idea and Rei just. Stares.]

Pass.

[papartner]

C'mon, man. It's just so you can get a look from above. Get us a better idea of the layout.

[ Does he have to look at Kazuki like that. It's a good idea and it's not like it would take long. Does he have some issue with being on Kazuki's shoulders? ]

[dadinside]

[Yeah, the issue is he's a grown ass man and not Miri.

... Except after an awkward moment of staring the other man down he realizes it's not a terrible idea. And it would cut down on time.

And so, begrudgingly, he acquiesces, with a low grumble.]

Fine.

[papartner]

How hard was that?

[ and Kazuki decides to strike while the iron is hot (and before Rei has the chance to change his mind) by crouching down with his back to the other man.

The only hard part is probably gonna be the back pain later tonight or tomorrow, but whatever. Can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs, or in this case, compacting some vertebrae, every once in a while. ]

[dadinside]

[Luckily Rei isn't too heavy, definitely the lighter of the two, so the old man's back shouldn't be in too much pain, if at all.

For a moment, Rei stares at the blond's back, brief images of earlier events from today flitting across his mind in a desperate attempt to make sense of how they got to this point. Then, with a low grumble of resignation, he slowly approaches Kazuki and awkwardly climbs onto his shoulders.

Feels... not great... and he shifts somewhat uncomfortably before sitting still.]

... Ready.

[papartner]

[ Rei's lighter for sure. One of several reasons why Kazuki didn't suggest he get on Rei's shoulders. His weight doesn't crush down on Kazuki too badly, so... He nods as he wraps his arms around Rei's calves to hold him. ]

Okay, here we go.

[ It's still a lot, but Kazuki does get to his feet with only a little bit of effort, planting them solidly in the gravel to make sure he's got Rei pretty steady. ]

[dadinside]

[Once it feels like Kazuki is steady, he looks around at the maze, taking it all in.]

Gonna need a minute.

[To commit it all to memory. It's long, and there are a lot of dead ends, but it shouldn't be a problem to memorize it all. And while he's up here, he'll watch for the cat too.]

[papartner]

[ Good, that means Rei's high enough. Kazuki's still impressed on some level that he's keeping him as steady as he is, though he's not sure how long that'll be. A minute is always kind of relative. Especially now that they have a kid. ]

Mmmhmm, take as long as you need.

[ of course he's not gonna tell Rei that there's probably a physical time limit. ]

[dadinside]

[While the maze is long, and not overly complex, it still looks annoying to navigate. So, yes, that minute is going to be longer than a literal minute.

Rei would've preferred something more direct, like dreamotion bullets to burn the hedges down, but that might hurt the cat if it happens to be camping out in them. Though, at this point, he's convinced it's not anywhere in this yard...]

Almost done. You doing okay down there?

[papartner]

I'm good, don't worry, I can handle it!

[ His back aside, that is. Even so he's not just gonna admit to that weakness out loud... ]