two text posts for the price of one

[inordertobelieve]

▶ A. UN: anonymous123
[ Mikami is not okay. Granted, he hasn't been okay for 10 days now and most of that is not the fault of the strange alien planet he has suddenly been brought to, but being here isn't exactly helping either. He's gone through all the arrival procedures like sleepwalking and now he's spent a day or two just sitting in his apartment staring at nothing. A part of him still expects that this will all go away and he will finally fade into nothingness as he righteously should--- but that's not happening. He's still here, he's still breathing, and all of it is so so utterly wrong.

Mikami has never posted on the internet for advice before. That has always been the kind of lost and pathetic that happens to other people. He thinks about how low he's sunken and hits 'create account' on Prismagram. ]

I am dead. I have been made to understand that this is not the status quo. Why am I here then?

[ ... yeah, a very helpful post. He may be convinced to come off anon over the course of conversations, but that's a case-by-case thing. ]

▶ B. UN: mkmtr
[ Some time after that existential crisis is aired to the public, Mikami sits down and makes an actual personal account that he intends to use if needed be. He's not much of a social media person, never has been, but it seems useful to have in a place that is entirely unfamiliar. ]

Good afternoon.
I have recently settled in Lunatia after my initial arrival procedures. While I have been able to gain a wealth of information from officials and don't require immediate assistance, there are questions that I feel are better answered by other 'Moonblessed'. If you have a moment to spare, I would be grateful.

How well have you found your education from your old life to be valued in this city? For obvious reasons, we are without our certificates and cannot prove whatever degrees we may have obtained in the past. How would one go about having their academic status recognized?

Naturally, most knowledge would not carry over one on one, but there is still merit in being able to cite experience.

- T. Mikami

▶ C. [in person option]
[ There is a guy in a suit slowly exploring Lunatia Level 2 and visibly cringing at every bit of colorful decor or bubbly pop music. He looks like he hasn't slept well in many days. He also looks kind of lost. You may approach him in any manner you see fit, just wildcard me. ]

Comments

[machiavel]

I’ve been told I have a knack for reading people. Don’t worry too much. [ seimei smiles politely, his ears perked on top of his head in friendly attention. ] I’ll take you somewhere nice, and you can tell me what’s got you all out of sorts. Hm?

[ he speaks like he’s not a teenager. ]

[inordertobelieve]

[ Mikami worries plenty and he intends to keep doing so, thank you very much. For one, going out for coffee to tell a cat-ear boy his troubles? Insane. Just completely inconceivable. He's deeply worried about the fact that it's his current reality. ]

Yes. But none of these troubles are going to be interesting, just to warn you.

[ Oh, and now that he's thinking... ]

The name is Mikami, by the way. Teru Mikami.

[machiavel]

I am an expert in uninteresting things. I’ve been told I’m downright boring.

[ not a lie, precisely, but it’s a convenient shifting of the truth. he’s only
boring when he’s pretending to be.

regardless, he lifts a hand as if to dismiss mikami’s concerns, and his tail swishes gently behind him. there’s nothing to worry about at all. the catboy is almost the most normal thing in the immediate vicinity. ]

My name is Seimei Aoyagi. It’s very nice to meet you, Mikami-san.

[inordertobelieve]

[ Mikami certainly knows what it's like to be called boring. This has conversely resulted in the fact that Mikami thinks anyone else being called such is basically a glowing recommendation of their person. He trusts nobody, but he trusts interesting people even less. ]

Likewise, Aoyagi-kun.

[ And then they walked to a café while presumably doing some very awkward small-talk - Mikami is definitely relieved when they make it to their destination, even though that's not going to make this any less awkward. How calm is this place? ]

[machiavel]

[ it is awkward, but not so bad that seimei feels like the endeavor is useless. if nothing else, he can gather some information from mikami while they sit and have their boring chat about boring things.

once seated at the table, it is easy to see that this place is much calmer than the outside world. there’s gentle music, and even though the color scheme isn’t what one would hope from a relaxing coffee shop with its chromes and deep purples, at least it’s not blasting electronica. ]

I hope this suits you.

[ his tail swishes behind him, through the chair. ]

[inordertobelieve]

[ Mikami practically collapses into himself as soon as they're seated. On a normal day he wouldn't let people see him in any state of relaxation or exhaustion, but this week has proven ad nauseum to not be normal and he's kind of stopped caring for just one second. Hunched over he clutches the menu like a lifeline and ordering coffee has seldom felt quite so good, even if the waiter looks like a strange mutant. ]

It does more than suit me. It feels like I can hear myself think for the first time since leaving my apartment.

Once again, I have to apologize for all of this. You are very compassionate.

[ Which, truth be told, weirds him out majorly, but there are things that need not be said. ]

[machiavel]

[ seimei is a weird guy. he wouldn’t take offense even if mikami said it, but because he’s left with only a compliment in the air, he just smiles. ]

I couldn’t ignore someone in need.

[ seimei, very excitingly, just takes water. he doesn’t know mikami like that. ]

And with everything going on recently, the last thing anyone needs is a death from completely preventable circumstances. [ he laughs, like that’s funny. ]

[inordertobelieve]

[ Mikami looks... well, he's looked frazzled this whole talk hasn't he? What's looking more frazzled at the mention of death, because yeah, that's... that's presumably somewhat ironically funny, given that he's pretty sure he's dead already anyway. Mikami's not good at discerning what's funny, he doesn't have a sense of humor, not even a bad one. ]

...I doubt the aesthetic and general disorientation would have been liable to finish me off, at least.

[ Everything else in Lunatia? Well, he's not going to think about it. ]

[machiavel]

[ tough crowd. ]

One would hope.

[ seimei crosses his legs under the table, looking remarkably at ease, especially in comparison to the nerves rattling out from mikami. coffee probably isn’t a bad idea, but it could also be a terrible one. some people react badly to that sort of thing, after all… ]

If you don’t mind my asking, when was the last time you had a full night of sleep?

[inordertobelieve]

[ This requires thought. It should not require thought. He's been here for two days and they were pretty awful. Two nights of no good sleep. Then there were those ten days in jail, that were... well. Bad. Absolutely terrifying. A nightmare of proportions he had previously not even been able to imagine for himself. Make it 12 nights, and then... he hadn't been able to sleep either, not as well as usual, the night before his memory starts failing him. He wishes he knew why. He can imagine it, though.

This leaves him at... oh, yikes. ]

I do not mind you asking, because this question is a wake-up call in itself. [ ... ] Wake-up call might be odd wording here.

It was two weeks ago. Life has been... eventful lately. I'm not used to it.

[machiavel]

[ seimei watches him calculate it, and if someone has to think about how long it’s been since they’ve really slept, it’s been too long. mikami seems like the kind of guy who appreciates cold, hard facts, so seimei opens his response with precisely that. ]

That would put you just about on the level of someone who hasn’t slept at all in 36 hours. [ he pauses, adds: ] According to studies.

[ he seems appropriately concerned at this, like he’s the one hearing it for himself. what a good, kind boy he is. ]

Mikami-san, are you living alone now?

[inordertobelieve]

[ Seimei is entirely right that Mikami appreciates facts, even if this specific fact is one he wishes to banish from reality right now. Or whatever strange world he's in that vaguely passes for 'reality', anyway. ]

I am. And I can assure you, I am not usually this bad at taking care of myself. In the 9 years I've been living by myself, this is an unprecedented incident.

[ Please believe him that he has dignity. Please!! ]

[machiavel]

[ that does get a laugh from him, a closed-mouth chuckle that is just the slightest bit amused. it’s funny that mikami would describe this as an “unprecedented incident.” ]

I’m not trying to judge you. [ seimei waves a hand, dismissing the possibility. the waitress is kind enough to bring mikami’s coffee at that moment, too. ] A change of scenery like this could make it hard for anyone to fall asleep.

[ it’s entirely possible that that’s the only problem. he seems, just based on appearances and manner of speaking, that he’s the kind of guy who appreciates order. seimei understands how difficult it can be when habits are interrupted. ]

[inordertobelieve]

[ There's a longer pause here, which Mikami tries to cover up by drinking a sip of coffee and gracefully, almost unnoticeably, burning his tongue a little.

It really isn't this change of scenery that sent him down this awful rabbit hole of disoriented bad feelings. But he also has no desire to explain his real situation to a stranger, so he merely... he just needs to compose himself. ]

It's certainly different from merely taking a trip to a different city, or even country. The expected changes to my own physiology weigh heavy on me, if I'm honest.

[ And now he's eyeing the cat ears again, sorry... ]

[machiavel]

[ seimei cants his head sympathetically, and he realizes a moment later that mikami is eyeing his ears. by now, seimei understands that things don’t work the same here as they do at home, so he’ll just come out and say it— ]

These are natural.

[ he gestures around his head. ]

Not a fan of cats?

[inordertobelieve]

Oh, no, that's not it.

[ He shakes his head immediately and maybe a little performatively, because the assessment is also not entirely wrong. Most of Mikami's feelings on cats are an absence of feelings on cats. They technically inhabit the same world as him but their paths never cross. Also they have too much hair. ]

I'd just been wondering if this was something this place caused in you, since it's a rather unfamiliar sight to me. I somehow hadn't expected that other worlds would have humans with such minor trait deviations.

[machiavel]

It never occurred to me until I came here that people would find it odd.

[ seimei admits this with an unusual sort of honesty. he means it. when you’re born with cat ears, you tend not to anticipate that people will think anything else of them. ]

Though, when I fell under the effects of the moon a week or two ago, I grew another tail. Isn’t that silly?

[inordertobelieve]

Another...?

[ Mikami doesn't laugh or smile because that's very hard to get out of him, but he blinks in genuine and unconcealed surprise at the concept. Two tails... ]

And your ears remained the same? At least I would hope so, the auditory effect of four ears might be a little hard to handle...

[machiavel]

Six ears.

[ seimei moves one of the tufts of hair on the side of his head just out of the way enough to show that he’s one of the types of catboys that has a pair of human ears as well. please do not ask him about the biology of it. ]

But I have to say, I don’t know what it’s like for people who don’t naturally have this kind of thing. You might be unluckier than I’ve been. [ a beat. ] Oh, not to scare you.

[inordertobelieve]

[ Mikami WANTS to ask about the biology of this. He wants to ask so badly. It's burning inside him, it's written all over his face. But that would be rude, wouldn't it? He can't do that. He can't just ask someone if they hear on both their pairs of ears. Even though he wants to. The sheer bewilderment is starting to actually make him feel alive again.

But at the comment, he shakes his head, willing himself to move on. (His head is not quite moving on). ]

I don't think it's possible to unsettle me any more than I already am. Whatever is coming my way, I am at least trying to face it with resigned apathy.

[machiavel]

[ seimei can at least see that he desperately wants to ask, and he appreciates that the question doesn’t form. maybe when they’re closer. ]

Then the question following that is… what animal would you like to be?

[ he asks it as if it’s the question it seems like—some kind of ice breaker, something impossible to lighten the mood. unfortunately for both of them, in this world, it’s remarkably relevant. ]

[inordertobelieve]

[ This is the kind of question he'd scorn people for asking because it feels like they're just out to waste his time, but now it's not so easy to dismiss and he frowns in displeasure with the overall situation. ]

It pains me that 'none' isn't an acceptable option.

[ Time for some more black coffee, like that's going to help. ]

I suppose a dog wouldn't be that bad. They are generally considered to be rather intelligent, are they not?

[ He avoids dogs as much as he avoids cats and all other animals, hence the extremely boring answer. ]

... ah, you don't have issues with dogs, do you?

[machiavel]

[ there’s a moment where he doesn’t understand the connection. it’s nice that mikami would ask, but—oh. right. seimei’s ears twitch as he remembers them and the old stereotype, which miraculously still exists in his world. ]

I love dogs. If I had my way, I’d have a pit bull.

[ he smiles. ]

They’re cute, aren’t they?

[inordertobelieve]

[ That's not the dog breed he'd have envisioned Seimei with even if he didn't have cat stereotypes preventing him from imagining him with any type of dog at all. ]

Oh, yes.

[ Said in a very non-committal tone, because his opinion is nonexistent in reality. ]

What prevented you from having one so far? Apartment rules?

[machiavel]

The biggest problem is that I’m dead.

[ is he… joking? it’s impossible to tell, since he delivers the line with the same cheerful smile he invited mikami’s commentary on dogs.

he leans back in his chair a little, shoulders straight. ]

Oh, and my mother hates the idea of pets. But I guess I could get one here.