capeandcowllogs | man I am no good at setting things up

WHO: MU MU HAKYHOUSE AND GUESTS (so, basically anyone who is friends with any of the folks in the house can show up. :>
WHERE: A certain townhouse in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
WHEN: Backdated to Saturday, 2/19/11
WARNINGS: Toward the Terrangst, goofy shonen shenanigans, & Hiei.
SUMMARY: Now that the dust of Keith's Death By Heroes has settled, it's time for
FORMAT: I like paragraphs because smalltagging takes effort, but DO WHAT YOU WANT we welcome all kinds here.

As evening fell, Kurama began preparing the house for guests. The common areas were brightly lit, with snacks and laid out for light entertainment before dinner, and he'd stocked the drinks cabinet. The tv in the living room was off, but there were video and board games discreetly displayed in case anyone cared to partake.

The top floor was safe space for Mu who wanted a little more quiet than a party with Yusuke and Kuwabara was going to provide.

As it was unusually warm - almost 60 degrees out - he'd also opened the doors to the backyard, and though there was still melting snow around its edges, he'd gone to the trouble to bring the garden to life for the night. The shrubs and Hiei's tree were green and hung with lamps, and he'd set beds of spring flowers to bloom. Coupled with all the plants inside, there was the slight sense of being in a greenhouse in the middle of winter.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"She helped me out talking to the guy."

Though he hadn't seen her since then. He'd have to go track her down to help her with that whatever interview she wanted to him to help with. He didn't like that hanging over his head like that.

"You know her too?"

"She was from our world." Keiko replied, leaning back into her chair. "I didn't know her that well; she worked at one of the tournaments we went to." In fact before coming to the City, she'd never spoken to the cat girl. That mostly had to do with why they'd been at the tournament in the first place. It hadn't been a priority to talk to one of the demons at a fight where humans were so hated.

Ari blinked once. Huh. He hadn't expected that. "There are a lot of people from your world here, huh?"

"Yes." She smiled. Certainly she'd be much happier if her parents, or the other girls, or Genkai were here too. But Keiko did realize she was quite lucky to have as many friends here as she did. "Guess we just couldn't be kept apart."

Ari thought a moment before giving a faint smile. "I think I'm a little jealous."

Keiko kept smiling, but lowered her gaze. "We all didn't come at once. Some have been here for years. It takes a little patience, I think."

"Years?!" Ari exclaimed, eyes going wide.

That wasn't--

YEARS?!

"Two years at the most." Keiko nodded, looking over at the boy.

That...

but...

Words failed him. Words utterly failed him and left him staring slack jawed.

There was no way that that could be...

could it...?

Keiko sighed, feeling very much an idiot for bringing it up. She had meant for her comment to be comforting, not to distress the boy further. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that." She turned her chair around to face him fully, placing her hands on her knees and leaning forward. "It is true some of people have been here that long, it doesn't mean you will be. And most have had that time broken up by trips home, I think."

"..."

That... really didn't make him feel any better. The thought of going back home after getting used to this place, having to get used to Stan again, then being back in this place...

Ug.

"How long have you been here?"

She sighed again, cursing herself. She took a moment to think, worrying the end of her skirt as she did so. "It was early December when I arrived. So almost four months now."

That...

was a long time.

Longer than he'd been putting up with Stan. Heck, he time he'd spent in the City was starting to get to be longer than the time he was stuck with Stan. That was a little disturbing.

There was a long moment of silence as he just reflected on that.

Keiko took that silence as another sign that she shouldn't have spoke up at all. Certainly he'd find out about some people's long stays, but maybe that wasn't something he needed to know right now. "I'm sorry if I upset you."

Ari blinked, Keiko's words interrupting thoughts of arg Stan, no and debating if it was worth being stuck in this place to have people who weren't like Stan and Roslyn or if the ug no of the City oh a whole outweighed people actually being decent.

He shook his head. "It's okay." Wasn't as if she could help this place being stupid.

"Why don't we talk about something more pleasant?" She asked, smiling to lighten the atmosphere. "How about that girl you were so interested in a while back? Talk to her yet?"

...girl?

... oh. Oh right.

That.

Uh...

There was a very long pause.

"Not really."

He hadn't actually seen her since he stopped stalking her. The hell had he even been thing, anyway? Following her around like how Kisling followed Rosalin.

He gave a small shudder at that memory. Guh. Worst idea ever.

"Oh, didn't work out?" Keiko guessed. "Well, you got plenty of time to worry about that." Says the girl who's 'been' with her current fiance since early childhood.

"I don't even know why I thought I liked her," Ari replied bluntly. "And Marlene would have a fit if she knew I was even looking at other girls," he sighed deeply. She had enough problems with Linda... and Linda hadn't even been looking at him, but Stan!

Man, that sucked.

"Well, there was that woman who claimed to be messing with romance. Prehaps she did something?" Keiko might not always have things to say on the network, but she always kept an eye on what was happening.

.. oh right. There was that.

"Yeah."

He'd like to think he wasn't a giant creep. Saying something else was influencing him...

...

Was creepy in it's own way, actually.