388/Pretend midnight visitors

Pretend midnight visitors
Date of Scene:	07 September 2023
Location:	Remote cabin
Synopsis:	La Crima comes to visit Sunbreaker and finds a drained Naru instead. Conversation ensues!
Cast of Characters:	Naru Osaka, Norie Okana
Tinyplot:	Dangerous Orbits

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Naru Osaka has posed:
A remote cabin is generally a pretty good place to stash a hostage, and when that hostage is largely unconscious it's even safer that she's not about to go very far.

Naru has had really rather a /day/ and the draining until she passed out was, unsurprisingly, the last thing she remembers. It's dark out, either early or late, it's hard to tell without electronics, and she's vaguely awake-ish. Not wholly, still mostly tossed into a bed, still wearing her school uniform.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima, appears from the Dusk Zone outside the cabin. The night and dark doesn't bother her. That stopped being a thing when she became the thing that people are afraid of in the dark. (The dark never bothered her anyways!) and she runs up to the cabin, she's neutrally excited.

"Sunbreaker, Sunbreaker!" she says.

"I named the creature we captured in the dusk zone!" she says upon opening the door.

"I've named it...MISTER SQUIGG---" pause.

That person in the bed, in the school uniform, is not Sunbreaker. She kind of lowers her hands, and falls more flatter again.

"Hello?" she asks, the gothically dressed girl tiptoes towards the bed.

"Uh..." she trails off. Not expecting to find someone here.

Naru Osaka has posed:
The sound of someone bursting in all excited, certainly wakes Naru up and she struggles to sit up. Energy levels are.. well non-existant really, but she's making a good effort at it.

"Um.. hi. I.." Naru looks around the cabin, blinking a few times as she tries to make sense of everything, propping herself up on one arm. "I don't think Sunbreaker is here right now." She blinks at La Crima, trying to focus on her in the darkness.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima probably looks like two purple eyes on a vaguely visible figure in the dark. This is clearly not Sunbreaker, but this is awkward. She came here to announce that, she'd given the familiar she caught a name. But she wasn't here. All that's here is... this girl. Who she doesn't know.

"O-Oh. Are you one of Sunbreaker's friends?" she asks, a little awkward about this now. "Sorry, I didn't know she was having friends over!" she says, embarrased. "See, we caught these creatures the other day and I was... uh. Well. I wouldn't call it excited. Because I dunno if I can feel that. Exactly. But. I was. Looking forward to. Telling her, that I had decided on a name." she says with a curt, matter of factly nod.

Her tone slowly shifts back to neutral.

"I am. La Crima. Uh. Who. Are you?" she asks, head tilting.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I.. I'm certainly here as Sunbreaker's guest." Naru decides on, without really speaking on the 'friendship' thing.

Friends don't actually drain other friends and kidnap them, do they?

"I think it was rather spur of the moment." Naru hazards as she manages to sit up in the bed, tucking her legs up under her. "What name did you decide on?"

Naru nods to La Crima. "I'm Naru. Nice to meet you." She sounds tired, a little sluggish. Clearly it's because its the middle of the night, right?

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima feels a sense of deja vu here, she can't shake, but she throws it off as she shakes her head. "Mnf." she says as she nods a little. "I see." she says as she rubs the back of her head. "Uh. I dunno. If this place has electricity. Or a light. and I don't do fire. Sorry." she says.

"Naru-san." she says. As that's the only name she is given. "Oh!"

"Well, It's a giant creature, with tentacles. but I've named it Mister Squiggles." she says, with the most up-neutral tone she can muster.

"...it's a squiggly-butt. So. Mister. Squiggles..." she says, muttering quietly now.

"Uh." she goes. "You feel ..." pause.

"Wait are you not even like..." pause again. "..like. Magic?" she asks, trying to find a more diplomatic term for 'you feel like food to me'. "That's odd. You haven't called me out on explaining any of this yet."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"It's alright." Naru gets herself leaning against the wall, and that helps immensely. "I've rather got a headache, so if you're alright with it being dark, I am as well."

And she rather expects La Crima to be alright with the dark.

"Mister Squiggles is a pretty awesome name for a tentacle creature." Naru declares, with a wan smile.

"Er.." Naru gives a little shrug, too tired to really put too fine a point on it. "I'm not magic, I'm just a mundane who doens't get weirded out by things."

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima, doesn't return the smile. She 'ahs' a little, keeping her neutral disposition however. It's a little like speaking to a Vulcan, but without the eloquence or logicality. "Oh." she says. "I dunno many uh. 'mundanes' like that. If that's the term we're using for. uh. normal everyday magical people..." she says a little.

She takes some notes, in her head. "Uh. I am. La Vampira. Er. Vampire." she says. "Er. Energy. Kind. Not the. Bite you and drink your blood kind. Which I am thankful for." she says. "I work with-er. For. uh. Riventon." she says.

"I don't suppose you know this name however. I can't think as to why..."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I can't imagine that you do know very many mundanes, no." Naru agrees as she leans her head back.

"I'm sorry, I haven't got much in the way of energy on offer, if you're considering a snack." Naru is just matter of fact about that reality.

"I don't think I've met Riventon yet." Naru comments thoughtfully with a little shake of her head. "I don't know that name, no. But I do now."

A few moments later, Naru asks "Do you often stop by to visit Sunbreaker?"

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima tip toes a little closer and sits on the far side of the bed carefully. She frowns a little. "Uhm. I mean. I don't like draining people." she says softly. "It's one of those necessities. Like. People need to eat. That's just how it is. And regular foodstuffs just don't do anything for me anymore." she says.

"I'm only recently this way, so. I've been learning, she says. She takes a deep breath and then sulks a little.

"Riven-senpai has been kind to me. While lots of people lecture me. About how to eat. It's not like there's gangs of goons in every alleyway like a dumb movie." she says, sulking a little more. "-and I can't just ask random mundanes for energy. So I take when I can. It's not like I'm permanently hurting people." Erm.

"Sorry. I shouldn't complain to a captive audience. That's rude. Maybe." she says a little, looking away. "How'd you get energy drained anyways?" she asks.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru is quiet, just nodding sympathetically as La Crima expresses her lack of desire for draining people. "That's got to be a real challenge, when you don't really want to drain people but need to."

Naru considers a moment. "I'm glad that Riventon has been kind to you. You.. no,I can see how you can't ask random mundanes for energy. They wouldn't understand." She shakes her head. "No, it's not permanent, but it's fairly uncomfortable."

Naru ums softly. "It's fine.. I did ask." she points out and then utterly fails to come up with a good excuse other than the truth. "Sunbreaker was aiming to get me to stop, it worked."

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima shifts a little. "I dunno. I go crazy if I don't drain. The more hungry I get. The more I'm willing to do to eat. and-- well I turn into a literal monster at some point so. Better for everyone if I just drain energy as I'm able to." she says. "Yeah, I know it hurts. But it isn't. Like deadly." she says uncomfortably.

Then she blinks. "Stop...what." she says as she blinks a little. "Wait. You uh. Didn't try to. Like. Fight someone. Without magic. Did you?" she asks, curiously. "That sounds..."

"....dumb." she says, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry. I mean. It sounds dumb. I'm not calling you dumb. But." she says quietly.

"What. Was happening. Exactly?" she wonders aloud.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Well that makes sense." Naru's voice is quiet. "Everyone gets a little crazy when they are hungry, just most people can grab a candy bar to get past the hangry."

"No, it's not deadly." Naru is very keenly aware of the discomfort of gettign drained. And the after effects. She might be enjoying them right this very second.

"I was trying to leave, and she did not want me to." Technically correct, best kind of correct. "So not actively fighting her alone." Naru's chuckle is low, and dry. "Even I am not quite that dumb as to fight magic folks by myself on purprose. Because yes, that would be dumb."

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima shifts again. "Ah..." she looks to the outside. Only darker. "....Ah." she goes as she looks back to Naru's drained state. ".....oh!" she finally goes as she shifts in the bed. "... I uh." she says. "I see. This uh."

"Sounds. Very dumb. Now. If I am understanding correctly. On Sunbreaker's part. This sounds un-normal. Is she lonely enough she needs to kidnap friends now?" she scoffs.

"Bluh. I'm sorry. I don't technically even know where here is." she admits softly. "I get here though. Different means." she says.

"Uhm." she says.

"Is.. Is there something. Or someone. You need me to say something too? I actually don't have my phones with me." she says with a nervous chuckle. "I didn't wanna be bothered!" she says. "Right now. And my parents always text me outrageously all night if I'm gone too long and it's dumb. and I know they care but. I. uhmn---"

"Not gonna. Finish that statement. It makes me sad." she says quietly.

"Sorry. I can't. Feel. Good. Feelings. So I'm always. Like this. Flat. Or sad. or nervous. or anxious. and back to flat and it's dumb."

"Honestly. Sunbreaker is gonna be pretty upset now at me. If she finds out." she says as she rubs the back of her head again. "...a..aaha- I was hoping we could be friends after that whole. Creature catching affair..." she says as she sulks a little.

"...I bet people are looking for you too. If you're just missing. Do you think she's gonna let you go in the morning?" she asks.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"No, we're not currently friends." Naru's tone sounds resigned to that at the moment. "We had a disagreement."

Which is rather an understatement.

"I .. if you could let someone know I'm alright?" Naru considers that. "I dont know if Riventon knows who I am. Do you know Hematite?" She offers, but doens't sound certain of that option.

"I'm sorry you can't feel good feelings anymore. That also has to be frustrating." Naru closes her eyes a moment, but she opens then again. "Why is Sunbreaker going to be mad at you? For talking to me? You can pretend you didn't if it's a problem."

Naru is quiet a moment and then shakes her head a little. "No, I don't think she's going to let me go in the morning."

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima shifts a bit. "I'm not sure I remember that name. I can ask Riven-senpai later." she says.

"I'm speaking to Riven-senpai about this anyways. This seems.... counter productive. Somehow. Like. Kidnapping people." she rolls her eyes a moment and seems to go slack a little in her bed spot.

"I need to know if this is something I'm going to be expected to do of him. I think. He. Would have the same feelings. He's smart, you know. "He's a scientist I saw the labcoat." she insists.

"Yeah I. Um. I'm going to pretend I didn't meet you today. But only pretend. I just. Uh. Sorry. You're in this big dumb mess."

"Because it sounds very dumb."

She uhms. "I should be getting home soon." she admits. "Uhm. I'll. uhm. Pretend I might find this Hematite. or know someone to pass on the information. What is it you need me to say?" she asks.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Perhaps Riventon knows Hematite, it's possible. Likely even." Naru might even know for sure if they do, but to say that she's not at her best right now would be a gross understatement.

"Sounds like he's someone I would love to go for coffee with." Naru comments, her eyes closing again, although she's still chatting.

"Pretending you didn't chat with me today is probably for the best for you. It is a mess, but somehow we'll figure it out. I hope." Naru lifts her head, managing to open her eyes again. "I should sleep some more soon. Just.. let them know I'm alright. You can't tell them where I am, neither of us now where exactly this is. Thank you."

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima nods. "Alright." she says softly. "I hope we meet in better ways next time. Sorry I don't have my phones on me. Now I feel super dumb about it." she says.

"I'm going now then. I'll let. Riven-senpai know what you said and hope it gets to the right ears." she says.

"Please. Uhm. Rest well? Uhm. Y--yeah."

"Bye, Naru-san. Sorry. Again." she says sheepishly, before she fades away into a duskport in the dark.

Which probably looks creepier than usual.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Thank you." Naru is already laying back down as La Crima is standing. Her window of 'awake' was brief and she's coming to the end of it. "Hopefully we can meet again. It'll be fine."

She has decided. It clearly has to be fine. Eventually. Somehow.

Naru barely noted the creepier than usual, she's already asleep again.