[OPEN]

[nyahilistic]

who: Ichimatsu & OPEN, with one closed prompt.
what: Adoption Day at the Animal Shelter.
when: July 17th
where: the Animal Shelter!
warnings: Ichimatsu's mouth, possible death by adorable animals.



a; adoptions galore!

[So recently, shit has sucked in Quarantine. People getting kidnapped and tortured, sicknesses putting people in comas... It's been a rough few weeks, months, it's just been rough. Ichimatsu, for one, isn't especially used to rough, but he's getting there. Things like Peter Parker's Bad Movie Night had been great, simple and easy, fun. But he had to assume he wasn't the only one having a rough time of it, and... Well, he worked at a Shelter full of cute friendly animals.]

[Okay so not all of them were cute or friendly, but, most of the ones that were were the focus of today.]

[He had a sign tacked up across the front of the building in bold letters reading "ADOPTION EVENT", and the doors themselves were propped open. He wasn't the most social of guys, but this would both help clear out some of his enclosures for new animals, and maybe help someone in Quarantine get a support animal.]

[Animals can be pretty much anything you want them to be, though most fall into at least a vague domesticated-earth-animal archetype. If there's something in particular you'd like your character to adopt, feel free to bring it up! Most everything can be found somewhere in Quarantine, he's got a selection.]

b; closed to Osomatsu;

[He'd overheard a conversation nearly a week ago, now, and it was obvious that Osomatsu was affected by Karamatsu's absence. They all were, really, but Ichimatsu found himself oddly settled. The conversation they'd had at the impromptu birthday party he'd thrown together for them felt... Final, in a way that he hadn't quite known to recognize until Karamatsu turned up missing. It was obvious, maybe to him and him alone, that Karamatsu had gone home. He probably hadn't meant to, the numbskull, not by himself, but... Ichimatsu was glad for him, and it was a bizarre sort of serenity that came with being the one that understood. He felt... oddly mature, for it.]

[So as he'd put together the Adoption Day at the Shelter, he texted his brother specifically.]

hey
come by the shelter
one, i'm having an adoption event and i should really not be the only one in the house with pets
two, i wanna talk to you

c; wildcard?

[Got a reason to bug Ichimatsu or come by the Shelter? Hit me with it, either here or feel free to bug me on Plurk @ ghosthotel. I work weird hours, so I'll likely be slow until Wednesday, but I'll get back to you ASAP! ♥ My notifications have also been hella borked lately, so feel free to bother me if I haven't replied to you.]

Comments

[yakyuuman]

[ Casually flops over Ichi's desk! ]

Well, it doesn't cover all of the city...!

[nyahilistic]

A sign all over the city would be obnoxious.

[His tone is mild. but firm. Don’t push him on this, Jyushimatsu, it’s the one thing he’s almost confident at.]

[yakyuuman]

That's not what I meant!

[ BUT FINE, he'll relent only because Ichi must know what he's doing. If the place over crowds, however, Jyushi's gonna help. ]

Anyway, how are you today? If you're starving you should take a break and we'll go grab a bite!

[nyahilistic]

[He exhales a laugh through his nose, tilting his head.]

Then what did you mean by covering all of the city? I wouldn't say starving, but I can break for lunch.

[yakyuuman]

Fliers, or those paper things you attach to walls and poles! All that stuff!

[ Thingies. Listen, he doesn't have a rich vocabulary like Karamatsu.

Hearing the next bit about lunch, he reaches out with a sleeve. ]

Alrighty! I guess it won't hurt if you close shop for a bit!

[nyahilistic]

It's fine, just the sign out front will do. It's better for it to be slow and quiet, anyway.

[yakyuuman]

Fine, fine! This is your office so you make the decisions!

[ He wiggles his still extended sleeve. ]

Come on, let's go eat a whale or something, I'm hungry!

[nyahilistic]

["Let's go eat a whale or something", he says. Going for so long without Jyushimatsu makes his wild antics almost jarring. He snorts, standing and shuffling his paperwork idly into neat stacks.]

I dunno about a whale, but food for sure.

[yakyuuman]

Whale is still food!

[ He retracts his sleeve once he's sure Ichimatsu is going to follow him out of the shelter. ]

But food is still food no matter what it is, so!

[ Shrugs very exaggeratedly. ]

[nyahilistic]

I dunno where we're gonna find a whale, much less cook it.

[He shuffles up to walk alongside him, bumping his weight sideways into him.]

You enjoying the baseball thing?

[yakyuuman]

I am! Life is so much better with the bat you gave me!

[ He bumps right back at him! ]

[nyahilistic]

[He scrunches his face in a toothy grin, only shifting away from him to pull the doors shut and lock them as they leave.]

Good. [He doesn't exactly know how to broach talking about Karamatsu. It's weird that he feels responsible for doing so.]

[yakyuuman]

And I'm also talking to a bunch more people! You must've met Peter at the bad movie night, yeah?

[ They'll get there, eventually, and in the meantime he'll try to bring up lighter topics. ]

[nyahilistic]

...Briefly, yeah. Kinda jumpy kid, fell asleep during the movie?

[yakyuuman]

I saw that! Pulled his cheek really hard to wake him up!

[ He laughs at Peter's expense. Sorry Peter. ]

He's my friend! A really good kid with lots of buddies, considering how many people came to see the movies!

[nyahilistic]

[He grins a little at him.]

I'm glad. [He... has exactly one friend. But it's something, one is a lot for someone like him.]

[yakyuuman]

[ Jyushimatsu nods happily, but then his smile turns a bit somber. ]

How are you holding up, nii-san? About uhhh... everything in general?

[ He's bad at bringing these things up, you know. ]

[nyahilistic]

[His hands find his pockets.]

I'm okay. [He doesn't want to be the one to say it, really.]

[yakyuuman]

Really?

[ Even he sounds doubtful, because nothing about what happened last month was okay for anyone, and then this month one of them up and left them out of nowhere without even saying goodbye.

Speaking of which... ]

It's been days since Karamatsu-niisan left...

[ There, he said it. ]

[nyahilistic]

[Ah, well. There it is. He closes his eyes and tilts his head some, humming tunelessly and nodding.]

I doubt he meant to leave without saying goodbye.

[yakyuuman]

[ Jyushimatsu's mouth flattens as he sighs through his nose, sleeves drawn further into his own chest. ]

Do you think they forced him to leave?

[nyahilistic]

Idiot probably did it himself, but on accident. You know how he is.

[It's... weird, to talk about this, because in the time he'd spent on Eluvio and in Quarantine with Karamatsu, they'd gotten so close it was like they knew each other better. Their bond had gotten almost like how he was used to being with Jyushimatsu, and now it was just a strange sort of fog where he had the favorite back, but the glitter was gone. He wasn't glad Karamatsu was gone, by any means, but he was oddly at peace with it.]

[yakyuuman]

Even so... I miss him so much.

[ His eyes cast to the ground as he keeps walking. He'd been in Riverview for almost two months and it's not like he hadn't seen Karamatsu prior to that, but his absence still leaves a gap in Jyushimatsu's chest that will slowly widen the longer time passes, the same way he feels about Choromatsu and Todomatsu not being here. ]

It's a bit lonely without him. Not terribly lonely because I have you guys, but still! A bit lonely...

[nyahilistic]

[He hums monotonously, because it's strange that he doesn't really know what that's like, anymore. It's been more than a year that he's been in Quarantine, now, and a month before that he was in space. He's... gotten strangely used to the detached feeling of being removed from their hivemind state of life. He doesn't speak, otherwise, as he so frequently doesn't, just shuffling aimlessly.]

[yakyuuman]

[ Jyushimatsu doesn't say much of anything after that, because he laid out his feelings to Ichimatsu and that was enough to make himself feel a little better. He'd like to hear how his brother feels, but he supposes the silence means there's no more to be said about the topic, or it can be picked up later.

They stop by a cafè that has tables set outside, and Jyushimatsu hoards one of them before he gets himself a parfait with chocolate, strawberries and whipped cream. He made sure to ask for the biggest portion they can whip up, with the promise of some extra money. No matter what Ichimatsu ordered for himself, there'll be a spoonful of parfait hovered towards his face, and a smiling Jyushimatsu holding it out for him.

Like the old times, huh. ]