[early morning cat posting]

[sevenhorrorsmods]

Who: everyone
When: July 25
Where: class 3-C
What: a few visitors!
Warnings: none!

[On Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. on the dot, the student body is awoken not by the bell, but by the sound of meowing echoing over the intercom.

[It's not just the PA system, either. Soft, gentle, and very cute mewls fill the classroom hallways; distant on floors one and two, but much louder on floor three. Intrepid explorers who follow the noise will find that one of the third floor classrooms has been overtaken by a pack of ghostly cats!]

[Each creature is the size of a normal housecat, and has the mannerisms of one. That is, they will attempt to hop into your lap for some prime cuddling time, ears and tails flicking adorably all the while. Their bodies are a pale, ghostly white, and their eyes glow a soft, gentle blue. Although they are translucent, they are still solid to the touch, and they feel just like a normal cat does. Soft fur and everything! Aren't they precious? Aren't they just so stinkin' cute??? DON'T YOU JUST WANT TO SMOOSH THEIR ROUND LI'L KITTEN FACES??]

[So long as characters are kind to the cat spirits, the Nekomata are completely harmless. They just want to play and snuggle!! Although. . .]

[Anyone who touches a cat spirit will find themselves hit with a sudden need for physical contact. This can range from something small (desiring a high five) to something bigger (needing to CUDDLE THE SHIT outta someone). Being surrounded by more than one Nekomata means the compulsion becomes stronger, too! One cat means it can probably be safely ignored, but five?? If you don't HOLD SOMEONE'S HAND RIGHT THIS SECOND you JUST MAY DIE!!]

[Oh, so you don't like cats? No problem! The Nekomata are mischievous creatures, and they WILL leap onto people's backs and shoulders without warning. Being cat spirits, they can also teleport from one place to another, so. . . you can be minding your own business one second, blink, and then be staring into the eyes of a cute cat spirit perched on your lap the next.]

[The Nekomata will be drawn towards members of Anzen more than anyone else per their target lock curse, but they are excited to shower literally anyone in a bit of cute kitty affection, regardless of their homeroom]

[Please let me know if your character is being violent and/or aggressive towards the Nekomata. Otherwise, enjoy some compulsive physical bonding with a cute ghostly flair!]

Comments

[darkholder]

You're right, a polite request isn't very difficult.

[politely in a very pointed way]

You watch the cats and I'll check the desk.

[ratiocinations]

[HE DID ASK NICELY!! (in his estimation)]

Very well. If you want to try to your hand at a bit of investigation, I'll not stop you.

[Up on his feet with a flourish, clasping his hands together.]

Come here, you felines! [The one on the ground wanders towards him, tail up in the air. The other, if she's still holding onto it, wiggles in her grip, wanting down to draw closer to this new attention source.]

[darkholder]

[she will probably be less annoying now that she knows he will also listen to requests like this, it's fine.

she will put the second cat down so it can be free to annoy him. to the desk she goes!]

By the way - I did want to mention something to you. I promised earlier I would tell you if I had reason to believe I might be incorrect about the theory I mentioned before.

[ratiocinations]

[The cats saunter up to him, rubbing against his pant leg. He simply accepts his fate, and counts his blessings that, for now, this is all they care to do.]

You did. [Saying no more, though, letting her continue.]

[darkholder]

I'm still far from certain that it's correct. But - have you met a man here who claimed he works for death? Taller than me, dark hair.

[ratiocinations]

Oh, yes, if you mean the man claiming to be a reaper — Mr Styx, I believe it was.

[darkholder]

Do you believe him?

[ratiocinations]

[Ha! What a question.]

I have not seen actual evidence of his reaper-ing ways, if that is what you mean, which also means I cannot say with one hundred percent certainty whether or not he is telling the truth.

That said, I do not think he is lying. For one, he would not be the strangest I've encountered here by claming to be so, and therefore he certainly fits the trend of collected oddities. Secondly, what would be the point in spinning a lie like that, one that would sow only discomfort in most? It would be highly disadvantageous to do so.

[darkholder]

[listens to all of that and then nods, before continuing on.]

Forgive the questions - I think you'll understand in a moment why I'm asking. What were you doing right before you arrived here?

[ratiocinations]

[A statement like that sets his mind spinning, wanting to make the connection preemptively, but that's just habit.]

I was... [What was he doing? In one of his moods, he recalls, lamenting the lack of a case for a month or so now.] In my flat. Looking out the window to the street below, wishing for something of interest to descend upon the city.

[darkholder]

I see.

[thinking about that for a moment and then sighing. just as evenly as anything else:]

Well. As I said, I'm far from certain. But I wonder if this is some kind of afterlife.

[ratiocinations]

Afterlife?

[For a brief moment, confusion flashes across his brow. An afterlife would require the visitation of death itself, and he certainly does not recall beckoning such a thing in the safety of 221B.

But then, in the next half-moment, her logic hits him. She assumed as such because of her own circumstances, which would mean...]

Ms Star, do you have reason to believe that you were dying before you arrived here?

[(He has forgotten all about the cats mewing at him from below.)]

[darkholder]

Yes.

[there's the ghost of a frown as she brushes her fingertips against her temple for just a moment, but her tone and body language don't change. sometimes... things just happen...]

I trust that even if you share that theory with anyone, the source will be kept private?

[ratiocinations]

[It does not seem this is a fact that she's despairing over, but rather exasperated about. How odd.

Still, his own brow remains scrunched.]

Of course. If you wish it so, I'll not share my sources.

[ ... ]

Are the circumstances regarding your dying state... Are you willing to talk about them?

[darkholder]

[thinks about that, for a moment.]

I think the circumstances are irrelevant, but if you have a convincing argument for why that's not the case, I will consider it.

[ratiocinations]

My argument is a simple one: the attempt to root out correlation between the meaning behind our arrival. Perhaps there is a small detail in your... circumstances that ties subtly to others, binding us together in ways unilluminated until now. Perhaps there is not. But I will not know, either way, if I am blind to this data.

...That, and I do wonder at the extent to which you've been healed from either injury or sickness.

[Because, perhaps despite that missing finger which hints at something more, she appears healthy now.]

[darkholder]

[thinks again, for a moment.]

The entire explanation is difficult to convey in short. I can say it was not due to injury or sickness, and I think if anything ties me to the people here, it's most likely to be the outcome rather than the means.

[ratiocinations]

[A death—or something close to it—that did not come via injury or sickness?]

And yet the means in your case may be more informative than the outcome itself. No one else I have spoken to has claimed to have been dead before arriving here.

[darkholder]

[a beat]

I understand your curiosity, but I don't particularly enjoy speaking about this. I kept my word and told you despite that fact. I would prefer to leave it at that, especially since I doubt you would believe the circumstances under which it occurred.

[ratiocinations]

[Hmphs! The people here and their well-kept secrets. (guy keeping a secret about being a detective)]

Very well. If it causes you distress, I will not press the matter, and trust you to know when such facets of information are worth keeping to yourself, and when they are not.

That said, do not underestimate my propensity for imagination.

[So much has happened in less than a week. The fact that she thinks he'd not believe her is a wild one, in his opinion.]

[darkholder]

I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Adair.

[as she continues looking through this desk.]

[ratiocinations]

Thank you, dear girl.

[He will let her look for a moment, though. Unfortunately, there is nothing there but scraps of paper and maybe half-broken pencils.

...Idly bends down to pet the cats at his ankles.]

Anything?

[darkholder]

[shaking her head with a frown]

No, nothing important.

[ratiocinations]

[He didn't think so. But how frustrating.]

Fruitless, every classroom so far. Perhaps it's all been magically or maliciously whisked away, but I find that unlikely, given the shred of evidence we have to the contrary.

[evidence?]

[darkholder]

[tilting her head]

What evidence is that?