whiteshroud | HOLY GROUP CHAT

[Meanwhile, Natori takes a second to process Jun's spiritual presence; he may well be on edge, the close call earlier leaving him feeling raw and more sensitive, but even taking that into account...]

...Yeah, of course. Do you normally suppress that much?

[Except then his eyes land, exhausted, on the cat on his shoulders. Of course.]

...Unless that's the cat?

[It takes a second to understand what Natori is referring to. Ah right, his spiritual sense is probably going off from his power since he wasn't bothering to mask it.]

...Something like that. Seal Knights prefer to keep a low profile even from other people in the Underground.

[It was easier than having other organizations hound you all the time okay.]

The cat's normal. [As such, he'll gently pull her off his shoulders, setting her in the armchair near the couch] She just jumped on me and wouldn't let go while I was teleporting.

Haha, one of those types, huh. [And he just... accepts that, because he knows enough people from the exorcist community. Seems they and Jun's organization had some behavior in common.

Natori adjusts the blanket closer around his shoulders, eying the cat with resigned distaste.] Right. That's the one we made, right? [he's got his eye on you, corrupt cat.] I didn't realize you were involved in that.

Mm. [And if Natori's going to accept it, Jun isn't going to elaborate anymore. Instead he's going to kneel down in front of the couch, staring intently at Natori for any signs of the Silence]

Haha...just barely, I offered a wish because I didn't know if it'd actually work. [He didn't actually care about the cat] But then when Ren left, I woke up to find Circe in my house with all her supplies.

Huh. Why your house? [Surely not just because of the single wish Jun contributed? With how many people talked to him about this cat, there must have been more of them involved in it... He eyes the cat in the armchair for a second and then shakes his head, briefly pinching the bridge of his nose. More important things to worry about.]

I haven't seen any marks on my body. [As if on cue, there's a wet slithering noise as the lizard on his skin crawls around from the back of his neck to the side of his jaw.] Well, not any unusual marks, in any case. But I could feel... [he waves his hand slowly in a circle, trying to find a way to put the sensation into words.] It was close. Do you know what I mean, if I say that I felt something shift around me?

No idea. [he offers a shrug. He doesn't have a clue] Ren and I only spoke a couple times, so it's not like we were close.

[So. It's a mystery. But no matter what it is, he's stuck with a cat.

He can't help but smile very faintly at the lizard crawls and shows itself- as if it took offense to being overlooked.] Mm...I'm not sensing anything off about you either.

[And he gives a little nod] I think so. If I was to guess, whatever controls it tried to reach you guys, but luckily it didn't work. I'm still not sure what triggered it though...

Hm. [It'll have to stay a mystery, then. Suss-ass cat.] I'll keep an eye out over the next few days in case it's just too weak to sense right now, but...

[It sounds like he's not possessed, as long as they can take the Admin's comments about the Silence at face value. It's a relief in the short-term, but it doesn't mean much if they can't stop it from happening again.] Assuming it was what we think it was... if I'd read the network post out loud, it would make sense to me-- if speaking about it drew its attention. I've also come across curses that get triggered when someone reads or looks at them. But when it's things that we ourselves wrote, it's hard to believe that someone happened to create a curse like that. Unless it was purposeful, but even then it should have been obvious at a glance.

[He stands up, gathering the blanket closer around him to pace as he thinks out loud. The encounter left him restless, off balance, and he wants to work it out of his system.] I could also understand if I'd shared something about it-- it could be going after us for spreading the warning. But I didn't say anything about it, and you did. You're still feeling fine?

[Jun listens, thinking it over in his brain. It was true that was the only real noteworthy thing to happen today- and the only shared activity. It's certainly an interesting thought, but...]

...It might be just as simple as "Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear"- regardless of if its actually spoken or not. [...] It's possible the post merely drew its attention and it tried to go after anyone it could.

[But that doesn't explain himself not being infected. He goes quiet for a moment, thinking about how he is feeling and how he felt after the post.

...Hm.]

Mm. Though now that I think about it, after I stopped interacting on that post, I...was in a good mood. Which is unusual, if I'm honest. Conversations like that usually leave me weary.

[Because you know, he's extreme introvert who would much rather skulk in the shadows than handle public relations]

Edited 2020-11-13 14:47 (UTC)

Mm. I guess I did spend more time today thinking about it than I normally would. And we already know that we don't have to state things out loud for this place to act on them.

[But he still has a hard time conceiving of the Silence as something different from the ayakashi he's used to dealing with, and an ayakashi that can be summoned by merely writing about it is one more powerful than he's had to deal with before. It's not that he doubts it's possible, but it's an alarming sign of its strength.]

...Huh. Do you think you were being influenced by something? [But if so, why in a positive way?] ...If it caused a mood boost in you, do you think you could tell it was the source? [If Jun was the one who mentioned the Silence, and this was some sort of... reward for furthering the conversation and thus creating more opportunities for potential victims? Or feedback at the Silence's own pleasure from the situation?]

Yes. [He frowns...ok, more like he just shows his actual natural facial expression] I shouldn't have said anything. After Falco shared so much, I felt it'd be pointless to continue feigning ignorance. But clearly it was a misjudgment on my part.

[Falco is going to get a talking to, but he's also aware he needs to do better too. He should've known better...there's reasons this side of things are kept a secret.]

...I can't. [Tell the source, that is] I only know nothing that happened to me today would normally cause me to feel such happiness, so it's unusual.

[You know these things when you spend a lot of your time feeling emotionally dead ok]

[Natori shakes his head absent-mindedly.] No, people were already talking about it. At least this way they know that some of us can do something about it.

[He's not saying it as though he's just trying to reassure Jun; he does legitimately believe it was the right thing to do, whether that's linked to Jun's exclusion from their brush with the Silence or not.]

I think we have to assume they're related. [He stops to concentrate on Jun's spiritual presence again, just to make sure this isn't some strange manifestation of the start of a possession.] ...I felt it earlier, and I'm not picking up any traces of it on you. Though who knows; your own spiritual energy could be drowning it out.

[(don't worry, the last part was a joke.)]

[Ah, Natori does have a point that Jun can't deny] ...True, I just hate to think that I possibly made the spread of this curse worse.

[Since hey, that's the opposite of what he should be doing. But...yeah, he can't deny that it's good people are aware of who to contact now.

And joke or not, Jun takes it at face value]

Ah, really? I could try suppressing my power again, maybe that'll help?

You might have made it better. We're supposed to be preventing people from panicking about it, right? Between just knowing there's something like that out there and knowing that it's been handled before, I know which would be more reassuring to hear.

[...Well, it was a joke, but... Truthfully, he just wants to see how effective Jun is at suppressing it first-hand.]

Sure, give it a try.

...You raise a good point. Thank you, Natori.

[Whether or not it was his intention to make him feel better, he still does. Jun's pretty quick to blame himself, after all]

Mm, alright. [He concentrates for a moment. The seal knight uniform disappears, leaving Jun in just a normal outfit. As for his spirit energy, it's like if he just slammed down a dimmer switch on it. Almost all of it seems to disappear.

Except curiously? There's still something there. It's faint for now, but it's rather curious that someone clearly this adept at suppressing his power would leave this little bit of power to be sensed. Though, perhaps its because it's not his]

Just saying the truth. [So: not just to make him feel better, but it's certainly much better than letting Jun go on blaming himself.

He's not expecting the outfit change (convenient!), and the suppression is so sudden it leaves Natori blinking in response.

...It's like if Natsume had been raised in an exorcist house, he finds himself thinking. If Natsume had been raised in an exorcist house that didn't want to flaunt its powers until the opportune time. It's... not a good comparison.

But he frowns, focusing a little harder to confirm what he's feeling. That wasn't...] ...Did you do that on purpose? The part left behind. I don't think I felt that from you before.

Hm?

[He pauses and frowns, as he too picks up on what Natori is sensing.

Well then. that's new. ]

...No, I didn't. I don't believe that's mine.

[H U H. ]

...It doesn't feel at all like what I felt earlier today. [And thus presumably not like the Silence? Especially since Jun's the one who's been up close and personal with the possessed before. Natori imagines Jun would be reacting differently if it felt familiar.

So...] ...What is it? Did you do anything else today?

Hm, it doesn't feel like the Silence. [He can tell that much. Not that he has much clue to what else it could be]

I don't know. I didn't do anything too different...I trained with my bow, organized more of the library and watched a couple episodes of Galactic Conquest. Pretty normal day, really.

Your bow is light-based, isn't it...? But no, that would still feel like your own power. [And he's not even going to consider the idea that this is related to watching anime. He refuses.] Well, the timing is suspicious, but I guess we can't assume that the Silence is the only spirit out there. Maybe they're connected in some way.

It doesn't feel malicious yet, but I can try to exorcise it if you'd like.

[he considers, before shaking his head. He rather not risk seeing what an exorcism might do to the Seal on his arm. Best case, nothing. Worse case, it might trigger the self-defense mechanism.]

That's alright, I can observe it and deal with it later. It might be safer to check with the Admin too, before we try anything.

[Yeah. Admin. That's what he's worried about (he's not)]

Edited 2020-11-16 22:34 (UTC)

Fair enough. [Natori's not too worried (because he doesn't realize how close he came to exploding); even if it is dangerous, it will take time to grow strong enough to really pose a problem, and Jun can likely handle it himself anyway.] Indulge me in being a condescending adult: keep an eye out for bad dreams that get stronger or unexplained weakness, okay? I probably don't have to tell you that, but it's my duty to say it anyway.

Edited 2020-11-17 02:08 (UTC)

[Ah yes. He gives a sigh and puts a hand on his hip, responding snarky flat tone that only a teenager can truly muster.]

Yes Mom.

Haha, well, I did warn you ahead of time. [he says, amused.]

Haha, you did.

[He'll now stop suppressing his spirit power, his outfit changing yet again to his seal knight uniform]

Well, if you're feeling alright, I'm going to go check on Father Abel. Feel free to stay here as long as you'd like, okay?

Ah, good idea. He didn't speak up in the end, did he? [Natori pokes at his smartphone with the air of a man who's only had a month to play with something decades more advanced than he's used to-- functionally, but he certainly didn't grow up with one of these-- to confirm there are no new messages from Abel in the chat.] Thanks for coming by to check.

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