[open] at least the month couldn't get any worse, right?

[fonomena]

Who: Jade Curtiss and YOU!!
When: Several days after That Party but before the start of next month
Where: Various places! Mainly the Promenade / some random hall with a supply closet / in front of the menacingly new Tommy Bahama...
What: Mostly some processing of a few Neat and Fun gifts from sundries! .....But also like, what is up with that Tommy Bahama place though--
Warnings: Nothing too pressing! Some talk of earlier events in the month and all the murder/party stabbing therein may arise, though, considering...well. Gestures at the last few weeks.....
Notes: (I've started out with brackets, but feel free to use prose! I'll match whichever style you prefer)

A; hawaiian shirt hell persists...with a twist??
[It's a bit of a belated sort of takeaway, from the one part of Friday's last announcement before the party that had seemed entirely innocuous in the grand scheme of...everything else. A new shop being opened in the Promenade, apparently--because that's just, a thing that can happen on a ship like this, apparently. Granted, the evening following that announcement had been quite the mess in and of itself--and such small things were promptly forgotten for a few days afterwards.

But eventually, Jade finds the new storefront standing out in a passing sweep of the Promenade one day, its wide display windows now taking up a space that had most certainly not existed between Sand Dollars and John's a few weeks prior. --From that point it's only natural to investigate, isn't it? i.) Perhaps you're investigating it too, and might find Jade rather further inside, staring hard at an assorted setup of polo shirts in various distinctly...tropical color gradients with a thoroughly exasperated sort of frown on his face. One would think it's at the expense of the casual gaudiness of it all--which, to be fair, it sort of is. But........he also feels like he's walked by this display a couple times already. He's been moving in a straight line this entire time. Yet the back wall sure hasn't...actually gotten any closer, for a good few minutes now--??)

...Or maybe ii.) you find Jade outside the Tommy Bahama, after the fact, hovering in front of the entrance once more with a moderately-filled matching shopping bag now on his elbow but...a frown still on his face, too, this one a great deal more perplexed.

If you're passing by, or happen to be looking even vaguely interested in checking it out:] You know, I think you might want to exercise some caution, if you're headed in there...

(closed to Natsuno) Room 109; awkward unboxing session
[Early one morning there's a card slipped under the door; familiar to Natsuno, perhaps, but actually addressed to Jade for once. Several packages waiting for him in the sundries shop, apparently--and so Jade had set out to pick them up promptly enough, probably making some airily sarcastic remark about the impressiveness of the nonexistent postal system apparently afoot here on his way out. It's a half hour or so before he returns...

Though it's not immediately obvious, because it's not like he actually comes back into the room off the bat. No, instead, Natsuno might find Jade's return instead heralded by...well, it's not quite a knock, is it? More of a weirdly muffled thump--and then another one, for emphasis--like somebody's mildly kicking the foot of the door or something?

That's exactly what it is, actually; Natsuno would open the door to find Jade on the other side, sure enough, arms full between a couple boxes stacked in the crook of an elbow and, propped in another hand...something longer than he's tall? Very narrow, shaped vaguely like a pole, with some sort of horizontal piece attached to the top of it...? Not much else to go off but the shape, though, considering it's wrapped in matching nautical wrapping paper as well. --Jade shrugs, insomuch as he's able.] Ah, thank you. Might want to step aside a moment, yes? Let's see--

[--Well, alright, initially trying to move through the door has the pole-thing promptly rapping against the top of the doorframe. Hm, time to attempt awkwardly angling it through instead...]

B; that feel when you get the useful item drop only after the nasty boss fight...
[It's an hour or so after he's processed the "gifts" in his room; at length, Jade opts to take one of the boxes in question someplace else for a closer look, if only mostly out of a discretion for Natsuno's reactions to well over half the contents. Jade can thus once again be found seated at one of the many Promenade tables--this one near a window, in the full light of the sunshine streaming through--considering the contents in said box as it now sits open on the tabletop. Slowly, one at a time, he's pulling a series of pocket-sized glass bottles from it; each one is critically examined, before evidently being considered cleared to be set upright in a growing line on the table proper. A couple of the bottles are an eggshell white, with a very vague but distinct sort of luster; a few other bottles are black, and seem to reflect rather less daylight than glass ought to; and two of them are a deep brown, oddly-shaped in a more rounded sort of way.

Jade's attention lingers rather longer on the odd-shaped ones than the others. In fact, he even opens one of them, and seems to try peering inside before testing the scent of the contents as well. Whether he's actually happy about whatever he finds is difficult to say, though, a rather inscrutable sort of expression on his face as he recaps the bottle and sits back in his chair...though a deep sigh follows the movement, too, and his tone is very dry as he speaks--more to himself than anyone in particular, but perhaps audible all the same if you happen to be nearby.]

Well, this certainly would have been rather useful about a week ago. Seems practical jokes take many forms, around here...

C; obligatory deck-cleaning happens only after burning away to ghostly nothing ok
[The question, though, the real question...is what to do with the most exasperating gift of the bunch.

Should you happen to be passing through one of the smaller and quieter halls connecting one part of a deck level to another, you might end up bumping into Jade lingering in one of them. In front of one of the more basic janitorial supply closets found throughout the ship, specifically? The closet doors are opened, anyway, and there sure are some very boring cleaning supplies in there...though Jade's still hovering and staring inside in a weirdly intent sort of way, for some reason.

Then again, difficult to miss is the fact that he's also got a deck brush with green bristles propped over one shoulder. Did he...just take it out of the closet? Or--?]

Hm, what do you think? [Oh, he's looking over to address you now, noticing your presence and acknowledging it with a cheery sort of smile, as if this is now a totally normal conversation in totally normal surroundings happening here.] If I put this inside, do you suppose it would stay put? I'd almost bet it doesn't, if I were a betting sort of man... [...Jade this doesn't actually offer anything in the way of any context here, though--]

D; wildcard!
[This log can also serve as a catch-all for any other interactions that might arise before the end of this month! Jade can generally be found in most any of the more-trafficked areas of the ship, as he does like to check around all the more common facilities at least once every few days. Feel free to have your character bump into him for whatever reason! As always, if you have something more specific in mind you'd like to thread here and want to hash it out beforehand, feel free to hit me up by message or on plurk at rainbell!]

Comments

[neverleave]

[It's much better to address the mysterious packages than the new atmosphere in cabin 109. Emotions are to be disconnected from and squashed if necessary, and it's nobody's business that Jade is, slowly but surely, becoming a trusted adult.]

There's no rhyme or reason to it. One time I got a gun, and the next time clothes from home.

[Jade's noble offer is met with an eyroll.] If you do things for praise, then it's not really valiant.

[Natsuno looks at the wooden pole.] Maybe it's a weapon? You like pole weapons. [He nudges the bottom with a foot.] Feels more like a broom, actually.

[fonomena]

[Who needs emotions anyway, really!! Not the inhabitants of cabin 109, that's a fact. Disgusting stuff. No feelings here, only...mysterious packages, for the moment. Though at least one of them's getting a lot less mysterious real quickly--

Jade was just about to level a totally-clever retort at that eyeroll and very rude discredit of a totally valiant theoretical explosion scenario, for the record! But. Then Natsuno's making his guesses, as the wrapping paper comes away, and it all ends up being quite sidetracking enough in the end, considering...]

--Mm, the weight distribution's very poor for a polearm. A training rod would be lighter, but still better-balanced. You really think it's...oh, no.

[A very mild and thoroughly exasperated note of dread, there--or more like disappointment, really--because the broom notion is sinking in while Jade pulls away more of the wrapping, revealing the rest of what's definitely a wooden handle. Attached to...a head of lime green bristles, as it turns out, as the rest of the nautical wrapping paper comes apart at the bottom. Jade...rotates it very dubiously, between his hands, as a brief pause falls in which they both process this reveal.]

...Look at this, you've invoked this. Clearly this is your fault. [Jade you literally asked Natsuno to take a guess, don't take this out on him???? ....Okay but really--] This--is a deck brush. ...Has anyone else ever gotten a deck brush?

[neverleave]

[Another eyeroll.] If I had the power to "invoke" anything, I wouldn't waste it on cleaning supplies.

[The fact that it is a deck brush, though, is both incredibly weird and really funny, not that Natsuno's expression changes to reflect that.]

I don't keep track of everyone's packages, but it's usually something from home, or at least useful... did you ever scrub decks? Maybe as punishment when you were still a young, weirdo private.

[He reaches for the deck brush, like turning it over and swinging it around will somehow turn it into something special.]

This is ridiculous. What's in the other packages, rags and disinfectant?

[fonomena]

[The one silver lining here really is that Natsuno's not laughing--on the outside, anyway. Jade's quite failing to see the humor in any of this himself, seguing straight to being perplexed as he currently is. --Though he does still have quite enough not-perplexed bandwidth to shoot Natsuno a very dry look at that remark over there:] I--of course I've scrubbed decks before. It's all but a prerequisite to being on board a landship the first few times, when you're--no, but that's all rather beside the point. It wasn't with this sort of brush, anyway. I think I've seen this type before somewhere, but... [--Hey!!] I beg your pardon, who said anything about me being a "weirdo private"?

[Like.......Natsuno's probably not wrong, but. That's not important?? Actually none of this tangent's important, really, and Jade's shaking his head with a sigh afterwards, as if to cast it all aside even after asking that particular question. Regardless of the answer (which will doubtless be just as extremely rude), Jade does let Natsuno take the deck brush anyway. More power to him if he can divine anything at all notable about it? (He won't, it's literally about as normal as a cheap deck brush could possibly be--) Just try not to whack Jade over the head with it while he's reaching for the larger of the two packages left on the table now...]

You say you wouldn't invoke it, but if I do find more cleaning supplies in these boxes I really will be blaming you--

[The glass clinking is audible once more as Jade takes up the box--why are the chances of this being bottles of disinfectant actually not zero, now?? Well, best to rip off the metaphorical ridiculous bandaid...at least the wrapping paper here's much less unwieldy to take off--

--Oh. He thinks...he recognizes the design of this box, actually? Jade's already inadvertently making a softly surprised sort of noise as soon as it becomes visible, anyway. Nondescript wood on the outside, with a detachable lid, and a stamped logo atop it depicting a familiar apothecary name, paired alongside the stylized harp sigil of Malkuth territory. ...Hm. It really is...a standard delivery sort of box, for...

Well, sure enough, the lid's lifted to reveal an assortment of small glass bottles laid on plain fabric cushioning. Seven in total--two of them eggshell white, two of them rounded and brown, and three of them pitch black...]

[neverleave]

[Natsuno doesn't even bother answering Jade's indignant question, content to have the last word. Jade is... alright, but Natsuno hasn't forgotten his fascination with resurrection, tightly controlled as it was, hasn't forgotten that his roommate tried. There's no doubt he was a weirdo private - maybe even too weird to experience hazing.

But that's a topic for another time, indeed. Natsuno rests the deck brush against the wall, curious to see what's in the next package. He doesn't recognize the symbol, of course, but this one is clearly more personally familiar to Jade - and perhaps better received?

He's polite enough to wait for Jade to move before peeking into the box. The brown bottles get a uninterested glance. The white ones get a slightly longer look, but Natsuno averts his eyes fairly quickly without even realizing he's wrinkling his nose at them. He's probably - not interetsed in looking at them, because the black bottles...]

What's this? [Rudely, he picks one of the black bottles.] Some weird magic potion?

[Natsuno turns the bottle in his hands, squinting as if trying to peer through the blackness. For some reason he kinda wants to open it - ]

[fonomena]

[The worst part is that Natsuno's guessing there is truly just about on point--down to the hazing, even. (Oh, there were attempts at hazing made, sometimes, but well.....)

An unfinished argument to set to the wayside--which is totally just how Jade's going to look at it, because that doesn't count as the last word when they could easily come back around to this again! Sometimes! ...Maybe not now, though, or for a little while to come...

All told, this particular box is indeed better received on the whole than the deck brush. Not that...the bar there was particularly high to begin with, but. Such fairly practical supplies really are rather surprising to see...even if Jade's already noticing something very mildly infuriating about the count between bottle types here. He's still peering down at the box in his lap, lid slowly set down onto a couch cushion beside him, when Natsuno ends up beating him to the punch of actually picking up one of the bottles. --Which sure is super rude, yes!! But doesn't actually immediately garner a scolding, as preoccupied as Jade is just with trying to pick out some sort of discrepancy or hint at a trick just on a visual level. The bottles all assuredly look more or less identical to the standard sort of fare you'd find in Auldrant, though...

(--Something in periphery does notice, vaguely, the way Natsuno's attention slides from the holy bottles with something almost like a grimace oddly crossing his features. Him beelining for one of the dark bottles instead could probably be chalked up as a coincidence of random choice, but that moment there was still a bit...huh.)]

'Potion'? Oh, no, not quite the right term. The only ones fit for ingestion are actually these here... [Jade idly points at the pair of brown bottles, but his attention's returning to Natsuno and the dark bottle he has in hand readily enough, head canting slightly as he observes the level of interest suddenly being exhibited over there.] What you're holding there is a dark bottle. They're--well, each bottle of that type has a one-time use and limited duration, so I'd appreciate if you didn't open that right here and now, thank you.

[He's seeing those fingertips inching towards the cap over there, Natsuno!! Easy there...!]

Dark bottles contain a mixture that can attract monsters within a certain range for a small amount of time. Holy bottles serve an opposite function, in that sense-- [Here, an indication at one of the white bottles in the box now.] --as they'll tend to repel monsters instead, when opened. It's a combination of blessings from Daath and other components, in those...but, at any rate. I almost feel like something's quite intentional about the quantities provided of each bottle type, here...

Natsuno's internal monolog rn (real tag sometime soon)

[neverleave]

[neverleave]

[Natsuno's hand freezes half-way to the cap - surely out of respect for Jade's requests and property, and not because learning what the bottles are for just put the vague feelings in a clearer, much more upsetting context.

And Clarke tried to tell him he wasn't a real monster. Ha.]

Oh, [Is all he says before he puts the bottle back, gently.] Holy bottles I get, but what's the point in attracting monsters? Traps for enemies?

[He's still not looking at the white bottles. Still closed, they aren't scary like Darcy's cross medallion, but there's something uncomfortable about their presence - like watching the village shrine from outside. Natsuno points at the brown bottles instead.]

What happens when you drink these?

[fonomena]

[Yeah, surely that's all there is to it, just Natsuno actually listening to such a request without the slightest bit of argument for once--except that's. A bit odd too, in itself, now isn't it? Something about the way he freezes in reaching for that cap, and then just promptly puts down the bottle altogether without any further pretense at all...

Maybe Jade's just reading too much into it, of course. He'd half convince himself of as much, to be honest, if he weren't finding himself also now keeping track of that consistent slight aversion to the holy bottles too? ...Even as the topic drifts rather abruptly to the panacea bottles instead, Jade's plucking a holy bottle from the box under the pretense of an idle examination of his own. And if he incidentally does so with a gesture that brings the bottle inadvertently closer to Natsuno for a moment, well. That's probably a coincidence too. ...Mostly...]

Dark bottles do run cheaper than any other type in a given bottle set for that sort of reason. There are indeed still a few more convoluted uses for them in matters like traps though, yes. Or training, for the particularly combat-ambitious...or better ease in hunting down specific kinds of monsters for valuable parts, or what have you. [A nonchalant sort of run-down, on that front, as if the number of monsters on Auldrant is in fact quite large--which would be about right, honestly. They're basically a whole other subset of more dangerous fauna...! And so are addressed as such, but. Anyway.] Those other bottles, though, are panacea bottles. "Cure-alls", some call them sometimes...not entirely accurate. But they do alleviate quite a few ailments--especially effective for poisoning, or paralysis. Seems there's only two of these in the whole box, though...can't have too much of a good thing around here, now can we?

[neverleave]

[Those "cure-alls" would definitely be useful, especially on the island. Almost like some higher force really is mocking them...]

And there's no way to make more? I mean, with all the different powers here maybe someone can analyze and recreate it. Friday told me the captain gets annoyed when poison doesn't work, so -

[But then Jade accidentally brings the holy bottle close to Natsuno. A closed bottle is not enough to trigger a gasp, or a recoil, but he does grimace and turns his face away - only to go completely blank when reason catches up to instinct. Damn it - ]

[fonomena]

[Jade's thoughts sure are straying in that exact same sort of direction about now--because a panacea bottle certainly might have been enough to counteract the poison in those collars, huh? There's a practically tangible sense of mockery in the timing of this particular delivery for a fact...

Natsuno's words right there, though, are--hm. ...........Truth be told. In any other circumstance there would have been a rather strangely long pause, about here...maybe even something like an incidental aversion of eye contact on Jade's part, momentarily, whilst circling around the proposal in the most unnecessarily evasive sort of way. --There is just a moment's strangeness here, even, in the rather odd look Jade sends Natsuno's way as he starts on that tangent--

--But then Natsuno's also having a rather distinct sort of reaction to the proximity of the holy bottle after all! Which is plenty interesting in its own right, and strong grounds all by itself for a sidetrack. (If Jade's rather all too happy to hop on it, well...that's some self-reflection for a slightly later time.) Arching his eyebrows a bit, Jade pulls the holy bottle away, and then transfers it to a further hand outright, but it's very clear all around that he definitely noticed that change in expression over there.]

...Is there something wrong, Yuuki? [Not actually mocking at all, for once, and more genuinely somewhat curious, though how Natsuno decides to parse the question might yet be another matter. It's not like Jade already finds himself drawing a few ideas for answers of his own off the cuff--especially with Natsuno's open admission to not actually being human at all now being a fact kept well in mind, of late. But still, a response to a question like this can tell a lot in itself too...]

[neverleave]

[Congrats, Jade, for evading an awkward topic by making your roommate uncomfortable. Cabin 109 is truly a constant ping-pong of secrets, repressed emotions and karma.

There's pause before Natsuno replies. He can do what he always does - evade, snark, outright lie - but he's tired of it. There more important things to focus his energy on than constantly looking over his shoulder while keeping track of the lies.

And, as odd as it sounds... he doesn't think Jade will take advantage of this particular weakness unless it's justified.

Natsuno sighs.]

Shiki don't like holy stuff.

[fonomena]

[It truly is quite the fun atmospheric mixture they have going in Cabin 109 in these ways.....absolutely a consequence of both parties having an absolute allergy to properly talking about things most times, to say the least.

Although...that ends up not quite being the case this time, now doesn't it? Truthfully, Jade really was expecting something along the lines of an evasion, or a lie, or snark at the very least--wouldn't have minded any of those things necessarily, telling as they'd all be in their own ways regardless.

Flat honesty, though--that wasn't part of the list. And perhaps reveals the most of all the other possibilities combined, to be sure. Full confirmation that the holy bottles, at least, definitely have some sort of effect...but also. Huh. (Confirmation that Natsuno trusts him with this information--or at least sees little reason to withhold it, at this point. ...Quite the contrast indeed--as the memory arises, all of a sudden--from the sullen taciturn teen who'd lingered around in front of the cabin door for several evasive minutes rather than admit he needed an invite, that very first meeting....)

--Of course, acknowledging this in any way would be a surefire way to tarnish the moment immediately; even Jade can be aware of such things on occasion, perhaps moreso in this particular case. There might be a slight pause to denote something just a bit startled, in the look Jade gives Natsuno when he answers--but it's smoothing away to neutrality promptly enough, and the admission earns a slight nod in the end. Jade places the holy bottle back inside the box...and reaches for the lid, too.]

I see. Holy aspects even from another world have an affect, for you, hm? [Duly noted. Jade would almost thank Natsuno for the information, perhaps--but that, too, would be giving it more gravity than perhaps entirely comfortable for either of them. So instead--with a neutral sort of brusqueness to follow, rather as if they're discussing a more practical matter of how to manage dicey weather outside, or something:] --In that case. If the general presence of the holy bottles in particular would prove an irritant for you, in here, I'd not mind placing them in the care of someone else. As far as I'm concerned they don't necessarily need to be stored within this room, after all...

[Not as if Jade's particularly fussed about immediately needing to ward off monsters within the confines of 109, after all. Especially if it would make life rather more difficult for Natsuno in turn. --Perhaps the offer goes just a bit beyond the bounds of just trying to be a Civilized Roommate, in these ways--but that's a good enough cover by itself too, right?]

[neverleave]

[Natsuno understands why passengers react the way they do. We saw the kind of person you are, so we don't care about your species. Natsuno himself extends the same courtesy to anyone who isn't a vampire. And yet...

And yet.

He wouldn't say he's surprised, or grateful. He's too detached, too resigned to being a monster to feel so strongly about acceptance. But every time someone doesn't turn on him, it makes breathing through the thorny mess that's memories of Sotoba a little easier.]

No, it's fine. I don't mind them when I can't see them. But if you're going to open one - I'd rather not be around.

[There's finality in his tone, because this is clearly nothing more than roommates agreeing about another house rule.]

Also. I meant what I said about making more bottles. These too, but especially the healing ones. If the captain hates it when poison doesn't work, maybe we can make him angry enough to forget his magic.

[According to another piece of meta, the captain killed Friday because she told Natsuno about it. Alas, for now it only exists in brackets...]

[fonomena]

[Jade listens, at the new definitely-just-a-new-room-sharing-house-rule Natsuno sets down with that sort of finality, and he nods again in a similarly casually acquiescent sort of way as he properly sets the lid of the box back over the bottles.]

Then, if it's a matter of sightlines more than anything--that can assuredly be managed. I'll be sure to warn you beforehand, of course, if the need to open one ultimately arises.

[Is that small but persistent knee-jerk scientist part of Jade rearing up its head a little to wonder about the mechanics, behind the mere sight of holiness being enough of a very mild repellant for a being like Natsuno? ...Well, it'd be lying to say it isn't, but it's also a thought that Jade sets aside promptly enough; no point in asking, and not much more point in wondering presently, as little as that information would really help much of anything. No, it'd only be relevant if he ever truly needed to actually repel or incapacitate Natsuno for some reason...

And he quite hopes he'll never have to do anything like that.

At any rate. He does sort of want to examine the bottles more closely, honestly--it would be good to ensure their actual authenticity, and perhaps check for tampering in general--but doing it in Natsuno's presence assuredly isn't necessary. Perhaps he'll take the box out with him for a walk about the ship some other time in the day, at some point, take a break to pore over it at one of the many sitting areas abundant about this place--

--Oh. Oh, Natsuno's...swinging back onto that other topic after all--the topic of the bottles, and the usefulness inherent in multiplying them. .....Right. Jade idly presses upon each corner on the lid of the box, the normal sort of gesture to ensure it's properly secured, but...perhaps it could be said, that the absent movement of hands takes just a bit too long. Much the same way the pause between them does does, as it's now most definitely stretching in the wake of Natsuno's words without an immediate reply on Jade's own part. .....His attention remains on the box instead of Natsuno, for no particular reason that has anything to do with direct eye contact suddenly being a rather strained prospect, or anything like that--

But oh, it's a bit...difficult now, isn't it? This tangent. It's practical on every level; there's nothing at all actually wrong with Natsuno bringing it up, and so Jade can't even blame him for it. It should...be easy, too, to brush along past it in an entirely evasive sort of way. But of course it'd have to come up again now, right after...Natsuno was just so surprisingly honest about an aspect of himself. Goodness, it's enough to make a person feel downright guilty for hesitating to reciprocate in turn about something like this, now doesn't it?

(Would it be so bad, to talk about it? This ability he has--this method he does know. .....It's not really a matter of it being bad or not in the end, though, is it? No, it's nothing half so reasonable--absolutely nothing more than a personal hang-up, no matter how one slices it. Yet it's still enough to keep an actual admission locked somewhere in the back of Jade's throat in the end, despite himself...here and now, while he still has the room to make that choice. Even if--it really does feel like he owes Natsuno something in return--perhaps...)]

...It's not an unwise sort of proposal. You're right, that it would be beneficial to have something like this more widely available. If the captain's indeed so averse to his little tricks not working, in that sort of way... [Maybe that meta will leave the bracket zone one of these days...!! Jade flattens a hand atop the box's lid, and doesn't move for a long moment afterwards, still staring absently down at it. ...And so continues to not actually make eye contact with Natsuno, for a bit, as he continues.] I think...I may know someone, with a capability perhaps along those lines. But we'll have to see, of course. Rather dangerous, I think, to deal in guarantees when it comes to anything on this ship....

[neverleave]

[Looks like emotional honesty is answered in kind, and can even make you... feel... better?? Should Natsuno reflect on it?

Nah, better focus on how it's the longest messing with a lid he's ever seen, and that includes coffins.

Seems like what he thought was nothing than a rational suggestion struck a nerve, but unlike their talk about resurrection, this time Jade doesn't slip. Natsuno doesn't make the connection to clones - how can he - but... hm.

Also, "I may know someone"? Just say you're asking for a friend.

Natsuno doesn't point any of it out, though. He addresses the words alone, his usual rational self.]

Yeah, no guarantees. They'd have to start with making one, and then test it, and we don't want to hurt anyone...

[Alas, Natsuno can't offer himself this time, as he's immune to poison. They can test it on the crab, but Pal is weirdly attached by now, he'll argue...]

[fonomena]

[Weird how that works, isn't it? Almost like being direct and talking about your feelings on things can be...a good and healthy thing?? Obviously that's not important or anything to note down, though. No, reflecting on something like that would just be silly...

Not exactly like Jade's being much of a role model example on that front at the moment, is he?]

Indeed. There may be unexpected limitations to consider, too--as well as discretion, to exercise, in order to ensure the captain isn't alerted of what's going on...

[Hm. If the effects of the bottles are indeed genuine, creating matching ones...wouldn't exactly be an issue in itself...

No, the real issue is--something else rather less practical altogether. But Jade does have the capacity for a decent pokerface in these ways, even if the last several weeks haven't been his best showing on that front. Very extenuating circumstances, and all. No, for now...yeah, he's just speaking of behalf of a mystery friend. He might, know a guy, as the saying goes. (Natsuno's never going to let him live this down when the truth finally comes out, no doubt--not that Jade's thinking that'll be happening anytime soon, though...)

Anyway. He's been fiddling with this box plenty long enough by now, all told, and even Jade's starting to notice himself doing it. He leans to set the unwrapped bottles back onto the coffee table, and takes up the last and smallest package of the bunch, content to leave the bottle-creation tangent on that sort of note for now. --Huh, this thing weighs practically nothing at all...can't even really hear anything moving around in it?]

...At any rate. I'll admit I couldn't even guess what might be in this package now. There hasn't exactly been much of a consistent trend here... [Jade starts tugging the wrapping paper off with a wry look Natsuno's way; unlike the bottles, an entirely nondescript cardboard box is revealed beneath, not offering much in the way of hints this time.] A deck brush, travel bottles...well, some form of cleaning supply probably still isn't entirely off the table, is it?

[The worst-case scenario's surely that it'd be something about as ridiculous as the deck brush, after all. No, probably nothing of too much consequence in here...]

[neverleave]

The captain and Friday can't see into the cabins. [He knows this for a fact. Jenny' gun is still in 109, and while Friday knows he and Clarke took it, she believed when Clarke said she threw it in the ocean.] As long as they keep everything inside, it should be fine.

[It's not lost on Natsuno that now he's the one collecting odd tidbits about his roommate, trying to connect dots. He'll have to think about it later, though, because now he's eyeing the cardboard box, opened to reveal -

a doll?

Since he has no idea what to make of it, he looks at Jade's face instead. Is this nonsensical, useful, or something else?]

[fonomena]

[It is good to know this about the cabins, actually--Jade would perhaps ask how Natsuno seems to be so certain, though the certainty in itself does tell plenty enough. The fact does fall in line with a few other things he'd heard around the ship, at least, and so it's being duly noted as something to keep in mind going forward--but there's not much more of a chance to discuss that further just yet anyway. Because Jade's indeed moving to open the cardboard box, as Natsuno speaks, and...

Yes. There sure is a child's doll, sitting in the shallow bottom of the small box, without so much as packing peanuts to accompany it. Rounded fabric limbs, button eyes, hair of thin brown yarn strands...the white and light blue cloth of its dress dulled gray with accumulated age and dust.

Jade's hand freezes on the edge of the box--and his entire frame stills in general, too, as the sight sinks in and every ounce of vague emotion on his features very promptly drains away all at once.

He stares down at the doll blankly for a very long moment. ...And then slowly reaches in, to pluck it up gingerly by an arm, and stare at it some more.]

...Well, this is a message in very poor taste.

[The remark is so quiet it's practically more of a murmur. --It's not necessarily directed at Natsuno, either. Quite truthfully, for this window of a moment, Jade has quite forgotten he even has an audience...and seems to have forgotten how to make any facial expressions in general, too.

But the note in his tone is a rather dark one. Too faint and too controlled to be outright upset, maybe, but...]

[neverleave]

[A murmur it may be, but not nearly quiet enough for Natsuno's sensitive ears.

He already had a snarky remark ready - something about voodoo dolls - but it seems like it would be in very poor taste indeed. Jade may keep his tone (mostly) under control, but Natsuno knows the sudden blankness that takes over his features all too well. He does the exact same thing when he's upset.]

...is this your kid's?

[Okay look you can't really blame him for jumping to this conclusion - ]

[fonomena]

[It sure is just a bit upsetting to look at, yes (this is a vast understatement)--and a voodoo doll remark sure probably would have been received a bit poorly, all things considered. No, this is...Jade's moving to weigh the doll gingerly between his hands, quite abruptly lost in thought by all means and accounts--cloth and cotton, raggedy joints. It feels the same. ...It was such a long time ago now, but it's not as if he ever could have forgotten. Yet...he'd never expected to see this thing again. He thought--

--Hold on, what?

The question registers with a jolt, so suddenly that he's fumbling and nearly dropping the doll outright--because really! No other remark could have succeeded quite as wildly as this one does, at yanking Jade from his blank reverie so quickly there's some sensation of actual whiplash. He stiffens, and looks up at Natsuno at last, and--well, his face sure isn't blank now, if only because a complete and utter surprise can't help but shove its way right to the surface, regardless of any other dark or angsty thought that might have been trying to form moments earlier.

His kid's--]

--No? [Well, there's really no reason for that to end in a question mark the way it does, though at least the rebuttal's a very fast one. So fast that it's taking Jade's head another second or so to catch up and actually supply anything else, trying to work through the sheer confusion.] Why would--what makes you think I'd have--

[?????? Look, the rest of us may not blame Natsuno at all for jumping to this conclusion, but as far as Jade's concerned the suggestion's so far out of left field it may as well be coming from an entirely different baseball field...!

Because people have called him plenty of things, over the years, but getting unironically pegged for an actual father....is actually a first??]

[neverleave]

[Natsuno scowls. It's not THAT far-fetched!]

It's a children's toy. People your age have children.

[Said with all the disdainful petulance of a teen who thinks being 35 is already old. Natsuno's parents were around Jade's age - they had him when they were still in college, which was rather unusual, but it makes total sense for Jade to have a kid who still plays with dolls.]

But you're right, I shouldn't have assumed. No way a woman would've tolerated you long enough to have a kid with you.

1/2 i still cant believe

[fonomena]

[Hey. Hey!! Is this an unboxing session or a roasting session!!!!


You know what though? That's valid, actually, which is perhaps the worst part about this whole tangent here. Jade would legitimately be the first to agree, at least conceptually, that anybody expressing anywhere near that sort of interest in him even after interacting for longer than a few minutes probably has positively horrible taste. Or a thing for self-inflicted masochism at the very least....looking at you Dist smh--]

2/2

[fonomena]

[But of course he isn't going to say that out loud--especially when Natsuno's already saying it for the both of them?? Surely there's something to be said for this utterly brutal bluntness, too--no hesitation in the slightest! Goodness, kids these days sure don't pull their punches...]

--You know, you really do have quite a talent for being a brat. Is it innate, I wonder? Or perhaps practiced to a fine art? [Witheringly dry, in the end, to match the similarly dry look Jade's giving him now, as surprise gives way to the most deadpan sort of sarcasm in this fashion. (Notably there sure isn't any actual denial coming from him even now though.........)

Whatever. Whatever!!! Anyway. ...All that aside, in an extremely ironic sort of way--Natsuno's flagrant rudeness does manage to soften the blow of the doll's presence in the end after all, and Jade's expression never does quite return to that blankness of earlier when he does shift his attention back to the toy in his hands. It's instead warring somewhat between mild residual offense and something closer to an unhappy sort of pensiveness, now; pressing a finger over the hem of the small cloth dress, Jade frowns down at the dust that comes away with the touch. Seems the doll was stowed someplace very still and out of the way for a long while, before abruptly arriving here...]

This doll was my younger sister's, actually. [A clarification in this fashion, at length, with a slight note of lingering exasperation still hanging just a bit upon it; it does occur to Jade, at least, that it would probably be a good idea to sweep any other vague possibility of him somehow having a child back home right off the table. He's checking the seams of the doll, now, brow furrowing a little.] ...Though it's been quite some time since I've seen it...

[neverleave]

[Is it weird that he's kind of pleased to be called a brat? There's something refreshing in this unabashed rudeness, exchanging sarcastic remarks free of hidden barbs.

Jade's admission that the doll belonged to his sister, however, clouds the mood. Natsuno doesn't know the true meaning of the doll and the heavy weight it carries - but it obviously made Jade upset. He assumes the sister must've died tragically, maybe when both were still kids.]

Hmm.

[A neutral sound, just to acknowledge he heard. Natsuno has no business prying into Jade's painful memories, after all.]

Thanks, by the way. It's both natural and practiced to perfection.