( MINGLE - WEEK 3 )

[abhoth]

SURVIVORS: 36 The sun is shining, the air conditioner units hum as they always do, and a gentle morning breeze blows against the windows. The scent of pine cones and evergreen follow you wherever you go in the motel, save for the parking lot and outdoor pool. It seems like someone was very generous with the detergent while moping the floors. The two grandfather clocks (one on each floor) will ring with each passing hour, indicating the time of day without fail. With this knowledge — they'll note the motel will continue to be surrounded by fog until 8:00 AM on the dot. It is at that hour that the fog will begin to recede. Not enough to reveal the whole city, but enough to allow residents to explore some of the buildings surrounding the motel. And speaking of the motel, it doesn't seem like there's anything out of the ordinary on this lovely Monday morning. How quaint. As a reminder, we are now accepting murder proposals for Week 3! If you're interested in having your character commit a murder this week, be sure to send in your proposal before Tuesday, 9:00 PM EST. Without any murders we can't have a murdergame, so go forth and let the bodies hit the floor! As always, feel free to PM us or send us a PP over plurk if you have any questions! ( quick navigation ) ic rulebook | locations | statuses | room assignments private conversations | ic profiles | graveyard | full navigation

Comments

tuesday.

[forlease]

Good morning, Yukina! Oh, you got cards too?

[ The aren't Duel Monster cards, but still...! He didn't think she'd be into any card games. The books go ignored for now - or rather, Ryou isn't commenting on them, but he's taking note of the titles.

It should also be noted, maybe, that he isn't sitting down. He's keeping a careful distance, despite his bright(??) demeanor. ]

[thawedheart]

Bakura-san... good morning.

[Smiling is easier said than done, but Yukina tries it anyway. She notes that he's keeping his distance... honestly, as she is now, that's fine with her. It would probably freak her out if he just invited himself over and sat down.

She sets the book aside and reaches for the deck of cards, turning a few over - they're bootlegged, clearly, in much the same style as Kaiba's deck, but they're Pokemon cards nonetheless.]

Yes... I asked Craftly-san for a Duel Monsters deck after Kaiba-san told me a little about the game, but... these are what I got instead. They don't look quite right...

[forlease]

[ From where he's standing, he can see the colors are all wrong and there's no monsters he recognizes... so, Yukina's assumption is correct. But more importantly: ]

You're interested in Duel Monsters, Yukina? Maybe since you didn't specify the type of deck, they gave you that one... the monsters look pretty cute though.

[thawedheart]

Yes! It sounds like a lot of fun.

[Like, okay. Sure. There are probably better things that she could be doing with her time here, but there are only so many times she can poke around in the city and find nothing before getting absolutely discouraged.]

I was hoping to learn to play, but... I probably can't, with these. [She picks up one of the cards and gives the weird drawing of what is apparently meant to be Pikachu a dubious look.] I think this game has different rules.

[forlease]

You could improvise! At least until you learn the basics, and you can make a real deck. Kaiba got a funny deck too, actually. [ Ryou shouldn't be amused by this, but he is. ]

I wonder if I ask, Craftly could give me my deck too? Then I could actually show you how the game works? I- if you want, that is.

[thawedheart]

Improvise? [She tilts her head to one side, considering.] Well, maybe... but I don't know much about what would and wouldn't make a good Duel Monsters card.

[She brightens up a little at his suggestion - though she still doesn't gesture for him to join her, yet.]

You should ask him! I'd like it a lot, if I could learn to play from you.

[forlease]

If you had a pen, we could make attack and defense values for the monsters. That way you can learn about wall monsters and tribute summons and things like that. It's just pretend, not a real duel.

[ Though he pauses when she suggests he asks! A good idea. ]

I can try... I don't know if he'll give it to me, but it'd be nice to have so I could teach you.

[ This is actually exciting, wtf. Is he smiling?? Maybe a little. ]

[thawedheart]

I could get one... I have one in my room.

[It'd be easy enough to fetch. And if she can't find it there, it'd probably be easy enough to find a replacement somewhere in the motel.]

...wait, what's a wall monster? I learned about flip monsters from Kaiba-san, but...

[Tribute summons? What? She's so confused.]

But, if your deck has those things, hopefully he'll give them to you! I'd like to see them.

[forlease]

You don't have to leave-- It was only a suggestion. [ Uhhhh ok MOVING SWIFTLY ON ]

Anyway, wall monsters are basically your defense. Like a wall! Get it? It makes sense if I could show you... I guess I'll ask Craftly for my deck after all, if you really want to see them.

[ Which is baffling but he's so okay with this. ]

You'll have to make due with those monster cards for now. I don't know if he'll even give mine back.

[thawedheart]

I would really like to see them!

[So go on, ask Craftly. Surely nothing will go wrong!

It would be easy, here, to say "let's look at them together once you get them back," to suggest that they go their separate ways now. But Yukina is trying hard not to let the mistrust from the night terrors interfere with the relationships she's building with other people - that's why she's out in public in the first place - and besides...

Even through the haze of doubt, she knows that before she started feeling like this, she really liked Bakura. Why should that change now?

So she smiles up at him and gestures to the seat across from her.]

If you've got the time... maybe we can start brainstorming things we could do with these ones.

[forlease]

[ Surely, not with his track record!

Ryou is still a little hesitant, however, before he takes a seat. He looks from Yukina to the opposite side of the table, as if silently asking if this was really okay. If it were anyone else, he would have declined. The anxiety twisting around in his gut is a compelling force on its own, but he forces himself forward to sit. ]

Mm, I could show you how attack and defense works... Nothing with spell or trap cards though, I think that'd be too tricky with cards like these, even if we pretend.

[thawedheart]

[When he does sit down, she smiles warmly at him. This is fine. It's fine, and any unease she's feeling is because of this place, not because of Ryou, and so she needs to ignore it as best she can.]

I'd like that. But, um... Kaiba-san mentioned Life Points. How do they relate to attack and defense?

[forlease]

You start with four thousand life points; The goal is to reduce that to zero. Let's say you have a monster with sixteen hundred attack points, and your opponent's monster only has fifteen hundred... You'd win that Battle Phase and one hundred Life Points would be subtracted from your opponent. There's a lot of different ways to reduce Life Points, like with Spell or Trap cards, it's not always about having the stronger monster.

[ It takes him a moment to get going, but he's clearly pretty happy to be relaying this information. He might be more of a table top kid at heart, but. ]

[thawedheart]

I see...

[It's definitely a strategy game. Which, of course, means that Ryou must be pretty smart! She hides a smile behind her hand as she listens to his explanation.

It seems straightforward enough; if they can figure out a way for her to play, maybe they can even duel.]

Is it it the same way if you attack a monster in defense mode that has a lower defense?

[forlease]

[ Paranoia be damned, he lights up when she asks that question. It's like she's actually interested!! ]

Not necessarily. If you have a card face down in defense position, you won't take damage. Some monsters have special conditions that let them ignore rules like that though. Or attack the player directly, or, um... I guess it's easier if we ignore all that for right now.

[ While his excitement is still there, he realizes his train of thought was getting away from him. ]

What was I-- oh! Wall monsters. Um, if you have a card face up, it can be destroyed if the attacking monster has higher attack points than the defense monster has defense points. Mm, sorry, does that make sense? I know it can get kind of confusing...

[thawedheart]

[That's because she is actually interested!!]

Oh... so that's why it's called defense mode? Because it defends your Life Points...

[In retrospect, she probably could have guessed that! But, she's a newbie. Take it easy on her.]

No, it makes sense. So there are going to be some monsters that are better to play in defense than in attack, and the other way around, too.

[forlease]

[ This is a wild concept for him. ]

That's right! It's important for strategy that you pay attention to the attack and defense values, instead of going all in and trying to take your opponent out with force. I think it's fun that way, being able to come up with different strategies. Trap and Spell cards also add an interesting layer, but, um, I'll show you those if I can get my deck back... they're all pretty unique.

[thawedheart]

When you do get your deck, please come show me right away!

[She doesn't seem to have any doubt that he'll get at least some kind of deck - Craftly's maybe not the best at giving them exactly what they ask for, but... he tries. If the weird bootlegged decks are trying, anyway.]

I can't wait to learn more about it... and to try playing a match with you.

[forlease]

I will! [ He smile at her, still forcing away the creeping fear and terror for this because he really, really didn't think he's find someone to connect with. It's hard to ignore all the bad feelings, but it's worth it, he thinks. ]

If you like the game enough, maybe Craftly will give you a real deck... a Light Deck or Fairy Deck would suit you, I think. Even if he doesn't, I hope we can play together, too.

[ A beat. Then, more quietly: ] It's nice to have something to do here.

[thawedheart]

I hope so...

[She tried to get one and got Pokemon cards instead. What does she have to do to join the club. :c]

Light and Fairy... those are types of cards? Or... Monster types, I guess. [Then she smiles again.] ...and, you're right. It's... good to have a distraction, I think. [Her smile becomes a little brighter.] And it's even better that the distraction will be with you.

[forlease]

[ A light blush spreads across his face. Uh oh.

He's still smiling though. ]

Thank you, Yukina. That's... That's really kind of you to say. [ He's back to fidgeting - alas, he was doing so well. ]

I should probably go now, but I'll find you again after I get my deck, okay?

[thawedheart]

...all right.

[She understands - she's fighting that same need to get away, herself. So she doesn't ask him why and doesn't try to cajole him into staying.]

I'll see you then.