reveilation | IC INBOX

It's never a boring moment with you, Kido.

[ But going to the shrine sounds fun, even if he can't see. ]

But I'll gladly go with you to the shrine. I haven't been there in a while either. I wonder if anything has changed.

Yeah... Mondo was taking care of it when I first met him, but it's also been a long time since then. I bet the water basin's all dried out by now...

[ Few memories of this place are as vivid as Rei sticking her hand in the water and sticking mold in her mouth, so maybe it's a good thing if all the water has dried up in the heat and the mold is dead. ]

Anyways, I'll meet you down at the entrance, alright?

Yeah, I'll meet you there.

[ Terry gets up and lets Ami down so that she can call her children back. The kittens scamper to Ami's side and they follow Terry out the room. There's no spring in his step like usual when he's happy, but rather his steps seem a little slower than usual. He manages to get out of the room without bumping into anything though. Ami nuzzles his ankle, depending on which direction he needs to go, so it's kinda like having a blind guide as a cat.

Then he'll stand outside at the entrance, waiting for Kido and playing with the cats in the meantime. He usually doesn't give them this much attention, but he really needs a distraction. ]

[ Weird... He's probably pretty tired, Kido thinks to herself as she watches Terry go before heading to the nurse's station. Even if there's nothing to do but sit around in a hospital, there's a real difference between sleep and rest; Kido's been doing a lot of sleeping since there's little else she can do, but being in a hospital puts her on edge enough that she can't quite be comfortable unless she has music blaring in her ears or somebody there to talk to. Must be how Terry felt, asking her to stay the night before.

It's a while before she's out, making sure the doctors are aware and that she has all her things together before stepping outside again, squinting and tugging the hood down past her eyes the moment she steps outside. She hasn't seen the sun in days, and she'd forgotten how harsh the light can be. ]

Terrence. Hey.

[ When he hears her voice, he stands up straight again, smiling like he always does. ]

Hey, Kido. Ready to go?

[ He smiles in her direction, doing that whole closed eyes smile again so that Kido can't tell which direction that he's actually looking at. ]

[ That's fair; the sun's really bright even if the weather's cooled down significantly since the weeks before, so Kido doesn't think anything of it as she shoves her hands into her pockets and keeps her eyes down on the ground to make sure she's not stepping on any of the cats' tails or anything. ]

Yep, I'm ready. Are they okay coming with us?

The cats? They always somehow come back to me even when we get separated, so it's really up to them whether they want to follow or not. We'll see when we start walking.

[ He's been pinpointing directions to the shrine and hopes for the best that he won't run into anyone. ]

[ She looks a bit doubtful, but decides to put that behind her, seeing as the mother cat was likely a street cat to begin with, and the kittens have probably gotten used to running around outside the days when Terry's sleeping in a park somewhere. ]

Alright, then. Let's head out. The quickest way to the shrine is where that fire was a while ago, right? It'll be good to clear that path out, if others haven't already done so.

[ Fallen branches everywhere, ganba Terry ]

[ Terry does some quick pinpionting while seemingly looking down at the cats and... that's way too many branches to memorize, but he decides that he'll just kick them out of the way when the time comes for it. ]

Yeah, sure. Though it's been a while... I think they must have cleaned some of it out at least.

[ Hopefully that's the case, Kido thinks to herself as she walks- a quicker pace than usual, enjoying actually being able to see where she's going and not having to worry about stepping off a curb or running into a lightpost every other step. The town is nice since the roads are paved and everything, but it'll be dirt and rock once they hit the forest and if they are any signs of bears, she is going to force them to take a detour. No shrine visit is worth being mauled by a bear. ]

Oh, that reminds me. I was talking to Hayato about the forest a while ago, and he says that he's not allowed to play in the forest, and neither is anybody else in his class. I guess forest fires aren't uncommon, especially during the dry season in the summer, and when there's thunderstorms. So if there's anybody left in the castle, we're going to have to kick them out for their sake.

You can't really tell them to go live at the inn though...

[ Terry hears Kido's footsteps getting further since her pace is a little quicker than usual and tries to keep up. The cats follow him too. nya nya where is blind person going nya. ]

It's summertime. They can sleep in tents.

[ Kido really is here to support the tent industry. ]

[ For some reason, he doubts that they'll even have money for a tent, since they were living in a castle in the first place. ]

The castle was looking pretty good when I saw it last though. It looked like a legitimate castle.

[ Umi, the youngest kitten trots to follow Kido's pace because this is more fun than Terry's pace. She'll even circle around Kido once and keep following her instead. ]

[ Maybe they can build one out of leaves and sticks, I don't know, people live in the wilderness all the time but not out in the open where they can get eaten by bears. ]

That's impossible. There's no way that—

[ She stops before she accidentally runs the kitten over, because circling around people is dangerous when they're walking, kitty, please.

Will Umi let Kido pick her up...? ]

[ He hears Kido's steps come to a halt, so he stops too. He wants to know why she did, but then he hears a soft meow coming from her direction.

... Maybe she's being enamored by a cat.

But yes, once Kido stops walking, Umi will paw at Kido's shoe and if Kido makes a move to pick her up, she'll let her. ]

... It's true though.

[ She is absolutely enamored by the cat, and spends some time petting Umi before picking her up.

Ugh, cute... She almost loses track of the conversation, petting the cat. ]

Like it was swept clean or something? Or did somebody make an effort to fix the stairs? Maybe we can properly look around this time.

Yeah, we can do that after the shrine visit.

[ ...

Oh, wait. ]

I can get Vassago to take us there if you don't want to walk.

Huh, well...

[ Yeah, that would be very conenient. Sometimes, she wishes Nekogami was large enough to carry her while he zooms around in the air, but he's also a ghost and if he doesn't feel like being solid, Kido's just going to plummet straight to the ground. ]

All I've been doing the past few days is sitting around, so walking would be good for me. Besides... taking a walk together and spending time like that is sort of the point.

[ Ah. Kido's right. A big smile spreads across his face when he hears that. ]

Yeah, you're right!

[ Even if walking is a pain for him right now because he can't see, but he'd be willing to deal with it for the sake of this. ]

I haven't summoned him in a long time now... I think it's been like... five days?

Oh. Because you haven't needed to, or because he's being stubborn and not coming out again?

[ Orrrr because of lingering Velvet Room things, which she vaguely recalls from being inside the place and not having Nekogami come out either. Maybe those times in the hospital and in the train were just a coincidence, and these things just happen sporadically. A scary thought. ]

Both!

[ He shouldn't sound so cheerful when he says it, but he is. ]

I guess he's just snoozing somewhere... wherever he is when he's not out here.

[ Though that's a lie. Sometimes he can feel Vassago just wanting to come out to kill stuff, but nah. You're grounded. ]

[ He really shouldn't be sounding so cheerful, but if he's not worried about it, then it's better than freaking out and making a big deal about it.

Shifting Umi to one arm, Kido turns as she walks and pokes Terry in the chest. ]

Here?

[ Personas are soul monsters... or something ]

[ That takes him by surprise, though he doesn't make any sound. He wasn't paying attention to when Kido was walking towards him, so it feels like she was over there and now suddenly she's right in front of him. ]

... Maybe? Or maybe in my shadow.

[ terry: haha what's a soul ]

[ Kido glances down at Terry's shadow, not that she expected it to look any different, but it's true that their shadows sort of disappear in the dungeons when their Personas are summoned, like they're being completely bathed in light. ]

Hmm... Are those wings?

[ She's just joking. Terry still looks like Terry. ]

[ Terry just laughs a little at that. There's no way there could be any wings! Yeah! Even if Kido was being serious, he'd just laugh it off because what the fuck. Laugh first, deal with it later. Yeah. ]

If I really had wings, things would be a lot easier. Come on, let's keep going.

[ Though he doesn't lead. ]

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