♪ Our house ♪ in middle of this tree ♪ our house

[npcsofmana]

Who: Everyone
What: The first morning of an adventure begins.
Where: Home
When: Day 1
Other: Be courteous and warn for any of the usuals in your thread subject title if it gets to that point.




You wake up to a serene and idyllic morning.

Outside, a pleasant glow from the sun fills the room including the small crannies in which the beds are tucked. All windows have been latched close, but it's easy to see a gentle breeze ruffling the leaves of branches which loom overhead. Faintly, bird song can be heard from outside. In this place, it'd be a simple matter to close your eyes again and drift back to sleep.

There's simply one problem: this is not where you last went to sleep.

Waking up properly will display not only how the picturesque and cozy little room stands out in stark contrast to where you should be, but that you are sharing this space with someone else. Depending on things, they might be very mundane or very... unusual. Either way, they seem just as bewildered as you are. The good news is that at least all the things you immediately had on you at the time are right nearby the foot of your bed along with what seems like a small gift- a small pouch of some sort of coin. (500 Lucre, although that might not be immediately realized anytime soon.)

Exploring the rest of the house shows it to be otherwise quite empty, except for some writing utensils and paper in what appears to be the study along with basic kitchen tools in, well, the kitchen. There's no food, however, and no decoration. Venturing outside onto the grounds reveals an expansive but not particularly well tended estate including another building that is fairly run down. Attempting to venture down the path from the front door out into the world reveals... well. Nothing. It's a fruitless endeavor.

However, not for long.

Hajime Iwaizumi will be the one to find what appear to be a few discarded children's toy blocks. The Colorblocks immediately seem off in some way, strange even as they should seem inconspicuous. Something about them will compel him to pick them up. The nature of this apparent toy will not be obvious until he ventures near the edge of Home himself. A sound, almost like distant bellchimes, will start to emit from the Colorblocks.

When exposed to the air, suddenly they emit a glow and shoot off into the sky with all the brilliance of a falling star. Its trail is both noticeable and easy to follow, curving an arc through the sky until it falls some distance away... and its impact bursts an aurora of colors through the distant and dimmer sky, encircling the site. As the whirlwind of color fades, what appears to be a town can be just made out...

That is the town of Domina.


Some OOC notes:
➸ Prior to the activation of the Colorblocks, the only books which will be filled out in the Study will be "Artifacts" and "Visitors".
➸ After Domina has been unlocked and some characters have explored the town, "People" and "Locations" will be filled out in the Study as well.
➸ To see who your character is initially rooming with, check the Home page. These rooming assignments are not permanent or mandatory by any means, and characters can change them whenever. Officially letting me know will be present and explained in the next mod post coming in a week's time, but for now we can play it relaxed and loose. Just don't burn down the tree in the meantime.

Comments

[itsjustanaccount]

[Tch. One of these days he's going to figure out a way to wipe that aggravating smirk off of his face. Unfortunately, Tsukishima has a sneaking suspicion that might involve winning in a volleyball match.]

[He knows too many freaks who are obsessed with this game, honestly.]

Anyone chosen to actually be on the court affects the outcome of the game.

[Yeah he knows that's not the point but shut up.]

[nekohohoho]

Well, your level of ambition seems to have risen beyond wanting to be just an exceptionally mobile fencepost. [Kuroo grins. He's cornering you, Tsukki.] Are you starting to think you might have something to offer a team besides your height?

[itsjustanaccount]

[He really dislikes people like Kuroo.]

[It's a different kind of feeling than his distaste towards, say, Hinata. His teammate is, in every single way imaginable, his exact opposite. It's like exposing a polar bear to the desert. Tsukishima can't feel any way but repulsed when in a situation like that. That's not even talking about the bad taste certain memories still leave on his tongue when he sees all that energy being flung into being better, even considering his own slow attempts to find that kind of passion and expectation again.]

[In contrast, Kuroo isn't like that. Frankly, it's kind of weird imagining the sketchy upperclassman acting with that overdose of energy and ridiculous narrow focus which blots out everything else. Kageyama, Hinata, they're horses with blinders. Kuroo is a cat true to his school's name: sharp eyed, quick, used to getting his way, and always trying to sneak his way into things even if those are other people's feelings or thoughts.]

[As a crow trying to hide a lot of things beneath deep black feathers, it puts Tsukishima on edge. The thing about cats, after all, is that they're not afraid to get up to roofs or tree branches when a crow tries to put distance between them.]

[For a moment, he simply eyes the other teenager as if debating the merits of absconding from the conversation with some simple blunt words and a fast enough pace. After a second, however, his gaze flicks away.]

Are you bothering me this much because your team isn't around for you to focus on instead?

[nekohohoho]

Maybe. [If Kuroo had a cat's tail, it would be lazily swishing back and forth in pleased self-satisfaction.] Or maybe I'm just waiting for you to tell me where and how you got food.

Really, though, it's not like I've never needed an excuse to bother you. I don't think I even need intent.

[itsjustanaccount]

...Have you considered checking the building directly behind me?

[you know. the building whose table he is currently occupying?]

[nekohohoho]

I'm assuming they don't just give it away. I'm also assuming they don't take yen here. Where'd you get the money? [Kuroo cocks an eyebrow.]

[itsjustanaccount]

Don't tell me my [overly] curious senpai didn't investigate his room?

[nekohohoho]

Oh, are you acknowledging me as your senpai now? [Kuroo grins. Is this his natural inclination to annoy, or casual misdirection of the conversation because he either didn't explore or forgot about finding the small sack of what is indeed probably this world's currency? Could be both.] You're gonna make Bokuto cry.

[itsjustanaccount]

I already called you that a moment ago. It's just a fact that you're two years above me.

Don't read into it.

[He starts to pick at his food again.]

[nekohohoho]

You didn't say my senpai. It's different. [Kuroo grins.]

So what do people eat here? [He's looking at Tsukki's food yet.] It doesn't look too weird.

[itsjustanaccount]

You're so annoying... [JUST STRAIGHT OUT WITH IT]

They said it was roasted Needlebeak. [Which sounds like a bird if he's heard one.]

[nekohohoho]

[That earns a cackle from Kuroo. Either he considers that hilarious, a compliment, or both. He doesn't even try to refute it.]

Needlebeak? That sounds like a weird name for a hummingbird. [Kuroo observes Tsukki's plate.] Though it's apparently a lot bigger than a hummingbird.

Still, I guess since you haven't keeled over yet, it's probably not poisonous to humans. [He's already seen some...decidedly non-human things around. He's still kind of...rolling that revelation around in his head.] What's it taste like?

[itsjustanaccount]

[He swears to god, Kuroo... One of these days he's just going to get up and leave. Don't ask why he hasn't done it yet. Tsukishima does his best to ignore him until he asks a sensible question. Or, well, not a weird one.]

It tastes like roast bird. I'm not sure what you expect me to say. What, do you want to try it for yourself?

[nekohohoho]

Are you offering? [Kuroo grins. He definitely is curious, but he thinks it'll be a cold day in hell before Tsukki lets him try some of his food. If only on principle.]

Anyway, Bokuto really would cry if he heard you say that. You know that different birds taste like different things, right? Roast chicken's pretty different from roast duck, to say nothing of white meat and dark meat. Do you have nothing to compare it to, or are you just not expending the effort to give a proper description?

[itsjustanaccount]

One coin for critic’s effort, two coins for sample taste test.

[tsukki you brat]

[nekohohoho]

You're actually charging me? [Kuroo's eyebrows raise.] Pretty stingy, Tsukki.

[itsjustanaccount]

Well, you know what they say about feeding stray cats.

[nekohohoho]

I'll pass, thanks. [Kuroo's lips quirk. It's a rather dry, enigmatic little smile.]

Who else have you run into?

[itsjustanaccount]

[It's actually a sensible question, for once, so Tsukishima shifts slightly to give the conversation a bit more attention.]

Yamaguchi, from my school... Along with Bokuto-san, and Iwaizumi from Aoba Johsai. That's only accounting for people I recognized.

[nekohohoho]

Seijoh's here? [This is clearly news to Kuroo, and he sits up a little straighter in surprise.] I ran into Akaashi; you remember him. Bokuto too; they've probably found each other by now. Haven't seen anyone else I know yet, aside from you.

In terms of new people...I ran into a guy with eyes like holes in space. And a talking cat who's got a better vocabulary than I do. [Kuroo's bemused expression says he knows how ridiculous that sounds, but he's not backing down on those facts.] Seems like we've got some characters around that are almost as weird as our being here to begin with. But after seeing some of the townspeople wandering around here, I wonder if they won't fit in here better than we will.

What about you? Who'd you run into that you didn't recognize?

[itsjustanaccount]

He's more than here. I don't know exactly what he did, but I think he did something to make this place show up.

[Tsukishima is still looking for the details on that, but he's not sure if it'd make sense even if he saw it when it happened. Hell, he can't even give a funny look to Kuroo when he mentions a talking cat. The person who served him his food looked like a life sized puzzle set, for crying out loud.]

Do you really want me to list every single person I've run into...? Although, for what it's worth, I talked with that same guy.

[nekohohoho]

What do you mean, 'to make this place show up'? [Kuroo frowns. What Tsukki's saying doesn't make any sense to him.]

Also, I didn't expect the list to be that long. [Kuroo looks amused.] You've been socializing, Tsukki?

[itsjustanaccount]

I've been taken to a strange place I don't know without knowing how. Obviously I'm going to talk to people.

[He's an introverted shitshow but, dammit, he's one with common sense.]

But enough about that- there wasn't anything out past that tree when everyone was first looking around, right?

[Tsukishima knows he would have spotted an entire town, after all, and he knows he didn't. That was the point of his own conversation with the man with those dark eyes.]

[nekohohoho]

Honestly, I couldn't tell you. [Kuroo shrugs.] I spent a long time exploring the inside of the tree. Then I came outside and wandered around awhile, and eventually I spotted the town.

[Kuroo's extremely observant, but in this case that's worked against Tsukki. He was observing and exploring so many new things that he probably missed Domina's appearance entirely - may not have even been outside yet to see the empty space it would come to occupy.

He'll believe it if Tsukki explains it - it's no stranger than anything else today, not really - but he doesn't have first-hand evidence.]

[itsjustanaccount]

[One of these days, Kuroo is going to stop living up to that cat reputation his school has... For once, however, Tsukishima doesn't make a jab about it. He simply rests his chin on the back of one hand, organizing the words in his head.]

Something like a shooting star took off from the front of the house. [Since he guesses that's technically what the tree also is.] I couldn't see everything clearly, but there was a lot of color in the distance that faded away... When I reached the front, that's when I saw this town.

Iwaizumi was the only one there. If nothing else, I figure he might know more. [A pause.] I got sidetracked, so I forgot to ask him.

[Although he thinks "hey don't just go running off like an asshole" is a perfectly valid concern.]