open; THE GRAND PHANTOM HEIST

[wingstosee]

» WHO? Anyone and everyone!
» WHEN? 5/24, possibly going into the wee hours of the morning.
» WHERE? The bar, Deck 3.
» WHAT? Venus has a convoluted plot to get everyone into a room and drinking.
» WARNINGS? Hopefully, nothing past alcohol consumption and discussions/drinking games!


[ the announced day has come, and the hour draws ever closer. in mere hours, everyone on the station will come to know...

THE WRATH OF THE PHANTOM THIEF.
by which i mean, the station-wide drinking party venus has been wanting to throw since she got here. let's keep things friendly, everyone!


ooc: top-level prompts posted as headings below! feel free to post your own top-levels under the headings! ]

Comments

hajime hinata | ota

[hopefragment]

[Honestly... Hajime had debated not coming at all. From what he saw on the network, it sounded like this whole heist bullshit could turn pretty violent, and he's not about getting himself in the middle of stuff that's really not important in the first place.

Then again, if people do get hurt, he's going to have to help Alucard in the medbay, and... ugh. Eugh. He might as well see what happens. He doesn't hold any illusions that someone like him can talk down a crowd of angry people, but at least he can say he did something.

Which was totally unnecessary, as it turns out. When the truth of the heist is revealed, he's left sighing through his nose in some mix of exasperation and relief. It'd be weird if he just left now, so he kind of... hovers near where he usually sits and plays video games, holding an untouched glass in his hand and just watching the party.]

Too bad the food machines don't work right... [He's. talking to himself. He does that sometimes, it's fine.] I don't think even this stuff can make it taste like real food.

[He takes a sip, then gags violently, then almost as quickly tries to hide that revulsion. Even though his throat is still working, and it's burning, and oh my god how are people drinking this. Way to be cool, Hajime.]

[bu773rfly]

[HEY BUDDY WHAT IS UP OVER HERE Erika has been making bad choices since before this shindig started and those choices have not been without consequences.

Unsteady is not quite the word to describe how she is. Distracted, maybe. Jittery. Moving a little bit too quickly for herself. Like she's tapped a long-dormant reservoir of energy and carelessness that her limbs are not yet fully willing to draw on, too used to sitting still and stubbornly resisting new patterns.

Once extricated from the game, she makes a rapid beeline for Hinata and finds herself, to her appreciative surprise, mostly in a chair. She studies him while getting the rest of the way into the chair.]

You're being responsible.

[she's fuckin not.

But she nods in approval of his choices.]

[hopefragment]

Ah, Mishima-!

[He kind of belatedly holds out a hand to make sure she doesn't tip out of her chair, but stops short of actually touching her. She seems like the kind of girl who wouldn't appreciate the friendly gesture.

Instead, he just laughs, a little embarrassed to hear it put that way aloud. But he doesn't deny it, either.]

You looked like you were having fun. Done already?

[bu773rfly]

[She sighs loudly, part general near-contentment and part thought.]

Maybe. Don't want to get sick. [She splays her hands on the table and steadies herself with careful focus.] This is a weird thing to be doing, with everything like it is, but it's not bad. Are you actually being responsible, or did you want to join in?

[hopefragment]

Taking a short break is probably a good idea, at least.

[Now that he has someone to sit with, he slides into the seat opposite her, just kind of awkwardly holding his drink in both hands.]

You're right about it being weird, but... maybe this'll help people get along better. If nothing else, it's a good way to get to know the people around you, right?

[He says, having done nothing himself but watch from the sidelines just as awkwardly as he's holding his drink. He makes a face down at it, tries for a sip, and has to do his best to surpress a full body shudder. Still not as bad as the first time, but goodness, at least give the boy some oj to mix with it.

He lets out another embarrassed laugh.]

Who knows? Maybe I just haven't found the stuff that actually tastes good.

[Everyone else must be drinking Good Stuff, it's just Hajime who's stuck with jet fuel, duh. It's not the neatest dodge, but there's just no cool way to admit that he's never had alcohol before in his life, let alone been to this kind of party, and wouldn't know how to join in if he wanted to.]

[bu773rfly]

I found out who's kissed people. Not very, uh, revealing.

[Erika watches him cautiously attack his drink like a fucking hawk.]

It all tastes like garbage. [Bluntly stated. She gets tired of sitting upright and slumps over the table, chin in her crossed arms.] I don't think there's a reason to drink it except wanting to get drunk. Which is kind of sad. But it does feel good in some ways. Others it's just weird? It's kind of like being under sedation. If you've ever had a procedure done.

[Mooshes her forehead against her arms for a moment and lifts her face back up.]

Being responsible isn't a bad idea.

[hopefragment]

[That's another thing... Another reason why he hadn't just tried to join in. With those kinds of questions, he'd just embarrass himself.]

Oh, great. At least I'm not the only one.

[Trying for another sip. Maybe the problem is that he's just not used to the taste, and he'll grow to like it? He doubts it, but. Considering some people with guns' opinions of alcohol on this station, he doesn't exactly want anyone to see him wasting it, either.]

Speaking of being responsible... [He tilts his head, gives her a smile even though his throat is burning.] Do you want some water or anything? I'll go get it for you.

[bu773rfly]

-I'm coming with.

[She heard "water" and "go" and parsed that as Hinata going somewhere and just kind of made up her mind, bracing her hands on the table and sliding carefully back out of her chair.]

[hopefragment]

W-whoa, hang on!

[He reaches out as if to hold her shoulder, but again stops short. Just ready to steady her if it does look like she's going to fall.]

I'm just going to go to the bar and see if there's any water. I'll be right back, don't worry.

[bu773rfly]

[She's up! She's got this. Mostly.

And she frowns but nods at his reassurance, letting him head off to grab her some water.




And then once his back is turned she starts following him anyways, navigating around chairs with exaggerated caution. GOTTA MOVE WHILE SHE FEELS LIGHT AND FREEEEE]

[hopefragment]

[He really is hoping she's going to stay put as he heads for the bar and starts rummaging past bottles, hoping the dustier ones are the less popular ones. And the more likely to be non-alcoholic.

...Is someone behind him? He glances behind and--]

Mishima!!

[He said wait!]

[bringsthestorm]

Tastes like paint thinner and rubbing alcohol, right?

[She offers helpfully from nearby, taking another sip of her own drink with a significant grimace.]

Whatcha playing?

[hopefragment]

Haha... yeah. That's a good way to put it.

[He smiles with a kind of awkward embarrassment and sets the drink down, turning his Nantendo Game Girl around so she can take a look. And... then almost as quickly, just looks embarrassed again at being caught playing video games at what's basically a party.]

It's an old game, Gala Omega... someone I knew back home really loves it. She calls it a total classic.

[It's Galaga. It's literally just Galaga. But he laughs and shakes his head.]

I was just taking a break... I wasn't gonna do this all night.

[Please don't think he's a loser... (he's a loser).]

[bringsthestorm]

Oh, yeah! I recognize that one. Is it fun? I don't really remember how it works.

[She doesn't know/remember enough about video games to dispute his particular title for it, even if it was totally just Galaga in her world. She leans in to take a better look, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.]

[hopefragment]

[He smiles, a little pleased to have found some common ground, and just sets the little blue handheld console on the table for her to take a look at if she wants.]

You just pilot a little ship and shoot aliens. The controls are pretty simple -- left, right, and shoot. You can play it if you want, I don't mind.

[But before she really has a chance to do so, he offers a hand.]

I'm Hajime Hinata, by the way. I don't think we've met.

[bringsthestorm]

I don't think so! I'm Jupiter.

[Handshakes she can certainly handle. One hand holds her drink while the other takes his hand to shake it, and meanwhile, an invisible hand picks up the game — Hinata can probably sense in the general atmosphere around him, if he's not too drunk enough at this point to notice, that there's something else with them, though it's not malicious in the least, and almost sort of gentle. If he really concentrates, he'd possibly find it in himself to identify the feeling as being, specifically, lots of hands.

She plops herself down right next to him and sets her drink aside, as if it's the most normal thing in the world that the Game Girl was floating along next to her. In fact, with her attention now turning to it, the game actually starts playing, even though both of her hands were folded on the table in front of her.]

Oh, this is actually pretty fun.

[hopefragment]

[Hajime didn't think he was drunk. He really hadn't drank very much of the swill in front of him, after all. But seeing his console kind of just start... floating away... makes him question his sanity more than a little.]

Uh, that's... uh...

[He shakes her hand, loosely, a bit distracted by the sudden ghostly feeling of-- that's not hands is it?!]

Um...

[Her hands are on the table, but the game is. Playing itself and oh God what's he gotten himself into. His face is getting kind of pale as he stares at the floating Game Girl.]

[bringsthestorm]

Oh, sorry, are you freaked out? I can't really put them away or anything but like, if you'd rather I just use the regular hands, I can do that...?

[Oops.]

[hopefragment]

[Of course I'm freaked out!!

But he isn't going to say that to the person who's, uh, got a mystery number of hands, so instead what comes out is,] N-No, it's fine, um...

Sorry. I just don't know what's going on.

[The most polite, unassuming way to ask what the fuck]

[uragiru]

[ Akechi is passing the line from tipsy into drunk when he taps out of the drinking game, and he's fairly certain that trajectory will only continue as the alcohol sinks in, so he separates himself from the crowd, holding onto his last threads of wariness, the way his skin crawls when he thinks of being vulnerable to anyone. he makes it over to where Hajime's sitting just in time to see him choke on his own drink, and collapses into a chair himself. ]

It doesn't get any better, Hinata-san.

[ he says it very gravely. it's a warning. don't make his mistakes.

speaking of his mistakes, he clearly isn't that drunk, not in the way that he should be a completely different person — but he definitely isn't the same as he was when he played Gala Omega with Hajime. his voice isn't as soft, and his demeanour doesn't seem as carefully, rigidly controlled as it usually is, when he moves like he's performing on a stage. ]

[hopefragment]

[God, people saw. So uncool.

Hajime just nods at first, not trusting his voice to sound normal for a few seconds until he can take a deep breath through his nose and exhale through his mouth. Phew. Okay. His throat exists again. At least he didn't spit it out, that's the only thing that would have made his reaction even less cool.

Speaking of cool people, Goro definitely had seemed kind of cool until. gestures. All of that. Now he just seems more human, which... honestly, isn't a bad thing. He just laughs at Goro's warning, shaking his head a little ruefully.]

Great, I'll keep that in mind... I wonder if this is what the "Phantom Thief" had in mind.

[A bunch of kids drinking and having a good time. Hajime just remembers Goro's boast on the network and honestly, kind of thought it was a joke. So he's joking when he asks,] Were you able to catch them in the end and convince them of the errors of their ways?

[uragiru]

[ that seems to jolt him into something just a little closer to his normal self; if he's speaking as a detective, it's almost impossible not to do it with at least one foot in that Detective Prince persona, and that particular mask is so easy to wear that he can do it even now. he sits himself upright, straighter, and smiles — not vibrantly, but it's there, the charismatic bullshit he can summon up as easily as breathing. ]

Of course. I couldn't call myself a detective if I let a criminal like that get away.

[ he does a confident flip of his hair with a bit of a flourish... and then sits back as he cracks a slightly more genuine smile, clearly joking. ]

... Well, it is every detective's dream to face off against a master thief, after all. And I've always enjoyed novels about phantom thieves.

[hopefragment]

[Wow, that really is some charisma. Hajime can't help but be a little taken in by it; something like that has to be a talent, right?

Then he huffs a laugh through his nose and takes a sip of what, at one point, was maybe something that tasted good. Oh. Mistake. He does his best not to choke and just ends up nodding for a second, once again not trusting himself to speak without making a fool of himself.]

Oh, is that so...?

So how did you get into detective work anyway, Akechi? If you don't mind me asking.

[uragiru]

Mm? Ah, I was fifteen, and...

[ and Shido needed something to cover his tracks. because he was a sadistic, violent son of a bitch who couldn't deal with any of his problems without fucking murdering somebody, and when Akechi was the one holding the gun at the end of the day, it seemed prudent to take the initiative, make sure it wouldn't come down on either of their heads. the attention and approval that came with being the Detective Prince had just been an unintended benefit — one that hadn't meant anything. he died just as alone as he had always been.

well. that's what actually happened. Hajime is asking for the story he told the public, after Shido had paid off the police, the news, the Special Investigations Unit; clearing a space for Akechi, so that he could make himself a more useful tool. ]

There was this case that I was following at the time. [ does that sound normal? he should make sure it's justified, to be sure: ] Maybe it seems a little strange for a teenager to be interested in, but — actually, I wasn't the first high school detective. A few years before then, Naoto Shirogane became quite famous for his own detective work at fifteen, and I admired that.

[ he actually did, at one point. Shirogane was special. no particularly grand lineage or unusual beginnings, just a precocious child and a passion for something — that had been enough to get him noticed, and Akechi had been viciously envious, looking at a hopeless, dead-end future in a society that thought the world would be better off if he died on the streets. he had wanted desperately to be what Shirogane was. to be seen.

he's quiet for a moment, and then he laughs, although the sound is somewhat rehearsed. ]

Perhaps it's destiny, in a way? Kogoro Akechi was the name of a famous fictional detective in Edogawa Ranpo's works, you know.

[ he's definitely too drunk to stay on track, so it seems like Hajime just gets to listen to his entire train of thought. ]

[hopefragment]

It doesn't sound strange at all.

[The only thing that sounds strange is how Goro thought he had to justify it. Teenagers are talented, so of course they'd be able to do detective work. If that's what they're good at, anyway.

He just nods, cracking a smile at the thought that it could be destiny. Who knows how that kind of thing works?]

It's definitely some kind of coincidence, if not, [he says, going along with it. He kind of wants to ask more details about the case, but he doesn't want to sound like he's interrogating him, so instead he adds,] Where I'm from... it wouldn't be odd for a teenager to be a detective. I'm sure Hope's Peak would scout that kind of talent in an instant.