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bakerstreet2021-04-06 08:28 pm
thesearesocks) wrote in bakerstreet2021-04-06 08:28 pm
Entry tags:
snow is nice
❄ it's quiet
and the snow's beautiful tonight
snowfall;
stage i; none, streets are already blanketed in white.
stage ii; very light and intermittent.
stage iii; light - moderate. lasts longer periods.
stage iv; continuous, heavy snowfall.
stage v; the hardest of cores - blizzards, snowstorms, you name it.
scenarios;
① fuck the police, this is the best time for a walk. hope you've got a nice thick coat on.
② stranded in the buttcrack of nowheresville? weren't you watching the time? now you've gone and missed that last bus out of there. or maybe you're lost, somehow. what do?
③ literally chilling, in this weather, is quite easy to do. sitting around relaxing in it is a wee more difficult, but sometimes much more enjoyable, especially if shelter can be found. the snow is beautiful to watch, after all.
④ the weather's not going to stop you. your snow fort's packed full of ammo and ready to go. those aren't snow angels over there; they mark where the poor souls you've downed have fallen. be careful with that snowman's head!!
⑤ you're about fifty miles from civilization but there's a roof over your head, so never mind the chilly draught, right? right. you mightn't be the only one lucky enough to stumble upon this little shelter, though. remember to share the blanket.
⑥ everyone stuck outside should be jelly. you've got a fireplace and hot cocoa and damn if it isn't awesome. a heater's not quite so romantic, but it'd do. there'd better be a backup generator in case the power trips.
⑦ mix and match, or make up your own.
- from krystaliske@memebells
Stage III, 4ish
[Another December night in Kamurocho, and it's beginning to look a lot more like Christmas. For as much snow as they've gotten, it doesn't seem to have slowed anyone down. People still trudge through the crowded streets, grateful for the warmth offered by the shops, the restaurants, the entertainment centers. Still, some are content to admire the winter scenery.
Most notably, there's a small cluster of snowmen lining the sidewalks of Nakamichi Street. The craftsmanship that went into them is nothing short of impressive. Some wear hats, others have scarves wrapped around their nonexistent necks, and -
Wait a minute.
Is one of them wearing an eyepatch...?]
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And by the time Kiryu made his way out he was far less hungry, but far more tired on an emotional and spiritual level.
But what helped was the sight of the snowmen.]
Oh.
[It was a noise that was a little surprised, and a little pleased. After being 'away' for a decade, Kiryu appreciated the little things all the more. A snowman was one of them. (When was the last time he had made one? Back at Sunflower, and he was probably maybe eight or nine.)
He smiled (slight, fleeting, to passerby it looked like Kiryu had just felt indigestion or something) at the one wearing a hat.
He admired the one wearing a scarf, humming, pleased. A warm scarf was a nice thing to have on a cold night such as this one. (Don't you dare tell him to button up his shirt.)
He nodded at the one wearing a hat and a scarf. It was a nice, jaunty hat and a nice, jaunty scarf, and it made Kiryu consider getting a nice hat and scarf, but he also didn't have that much so he'd probably have to settle for some Don Quijote and-
Was that one wearing an eyepatch?
Kiryu walked closer.
It was wearing an eyepatch. He frowned, as the implications came to mind and he considered them, put two and two together, asked himself if-]
Majima?
[-yeah, him, if he would make a bunch of snowmen in some elaborate attempt to- of course he would. And Kiryu turned. Kiryu turned, his guard up, expecting Majima to appear out of nowhere to stab him - leaping down from above, appearing from the crowd. He looked for a bike rack or something else he could grab.
What he wasn't looking for was a snow related ambush, as in, with snow, and, really, a thrown snowball would probably hit Kiryu's head without any resistance, and Kiryu would probably make a noise he'd later pretend like he hadn't made. Majima bursting out of the snowman to ram the head down on Kiryu's head would absolutely work. But listen. Listen. After a decade...away...he barely remembered what snowballs were like. The last time he had played in the snow was with Nishiki, and now Nishiki was evil so they couldn't exactly reminisce about the past, could they?]
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It's a reasonable response, trying to assess the situation before your enemy can strike. But turning so quickly means there's one critical detail that Kiryu's missing: the snowman's starting to move.
It's almost imperceptible at first, easy enough to disregard as one's eyes playing tricks on them. But the heavy mounds of snow that make up the body of the one-eyed snowman begin to quiver and vibrate until...
Until the snowman all but explodes as the one-eyed man encased within it springs to life. Powder sprays everywhere - maybe even on Kiryu, if he's not fast enough to evade it - as Majima leaps into the air, arms outstretched as he cries out (in English):]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
[There must have been some magic in that old eyepatch they found. For now that the Mad Dog is free, he's begun to dance around.
Or maybe that's just the cold finally settling in. The sleeves of his snakeskin jacket are still caked with powder, and he looks even paler than usual. How long was he waiting in there...? It hardly seems to matter to Majima, who lets loose a shivering bark of triumphant laughter. It was totally worth the wait, just to see the look on Kiryu-chan's face!
Before his old rival has time to react, Majima hastily scoops up a ball of snow. He slides back into his carefree Kansai drawl, pulls back his arm - ]
Think fast, Kiryu-chan!
[ - and lobs the snowball right at Kiryu.]
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Time seemed to slow.
It moved like molasses, like sap oozing from a tree. It moved like an indecisive slug debating which bit of forest to move to next. It slowed as Majima said something about an anniversary, except in English. It stumbled like the government debating regulations, as Majima wadded up some snow and told him to think fast.
He had enough time to do one thing. Unfortunately, that thing was-]
Majima-
[Speaking, instead of ducking.
The snowball hit.
His life flashed before his eyes. Well, not really, but for some reason the time he got mistaken for a porn magazine thief flashed before his eyes. Of all the moments, it had to be that one that he remembered. Probably because it was Majima that threw the snowball-
Anyway, the moment was such that if anyone had a camera out and took a picture copies of it probably would sell for a decent amount in a few years. The splutter, the surprise, the confusion.
But, the moment passed. Kiryu recovered, he scooped up snow, he threw it with a dramatic-]
Hragh!
[Yeah, that, and if it was nowhere near Majima, listen, he hasn't thrown a snowball in decades at this point, the fact he could think quickly enough to throw snow in the first place was a minor miracle.
...don't say anything.]
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The wild grin quickly disappears, though, as Kiryu's battlecry snaps him back to reality. And before he can think to react, the snowball comes crashing right into his exposed gut. He doubles over and clutches his stomach, seething partially from the chill, partially from the sheer force that Kiryu had used to chuck that snowball at him. He winces, before the air between his bared teeth - ]
Oohhhhhhhoohoohoohoohoohoohoohahahhh...!
[ - passes back out as a gleeful chortle. What do you know? The Dragon of Dojima's still full of surprises. Just the response Majima had hoped for, although he wasn't expecting Kiryu to return fire so quickly and readily.]
Good, Kiryu-chan. [He shivers as he continues, admiringly.] V-V-V-Very good...! 'Course, I hope ya realize that t-t-this means war!
[Never mind the fact that Majima tossed the first snowball.]
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(Look, sometimes a blink is a long and elaborate thing that demands a ton of description, loving prose, some prose that's purple. Sometimes it's just a short thing, because it's just a blink, maybe a little confused.)
This is the point in which Kiryu Kazuma was realizing that he might have made a mistake, and he wasn't sure what it was, and if anyone asked him what the mistake was he'd get it all wrong, but his gut said that a mistake had been made. He glanced at his hand, his traitor hand, his betrayer of a hand. Back to Majima, who was, as always, really confusing and had yet to pull out a bat.]
What do you mean?
[This would be more imposing if he wasn't confused. Because this was clearly an ambush, but something felt...wrong. To the point that as Kiryu shifted into a fighting stance, it was less of a fighting stance, and more of a fighting stance?, with the question mark included.]
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[Majima straightens up his posture, gesturing first to himself.]
I clocked ya with a snowball, and you - [He now points at Kiryu.] - c-c-clocked me right back without hesitation.
[That pointing finger starts to wag, and Majima's smile grows ever wider. Look how happy he is, Kiryu.]
Kyah-hah! That means ya accepted my terms! So now we got a fight on our hands, Kiryu-chan! A snowball fight!
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Kiryu came out of his fighting stance- no, not quite. Not exactly. That would imply a firm choice, that he had been close to fighting, and actively chose to not fight. That would imply decisiveness. That would imply being in control of the situation.
No, what Kiryu did was just more a vaguely confused reversing- it was like he was a ship. Stuck in a canal. And he was sailing along and one thing led to another and he ended up stuck. And he had to wiggle back and forth for a bit before going along his way, with everyone just wondering what had happened. That was the sort of thing he did.
But he did know one thing.]
I accept your challenge.
[...what...ever it is they're doing.
But. But.] But that was an accident. I didn't mean to throw a snowball at you, Majima-san. You can't say I accepted your terms when I don't even know what they are.
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Really? Huh. Sure coulda fooled me!
[He leers at Kiryu, clucking his tongue chidingly at the old stick-in-the-mud before sauntering over to the other snowmen nearby. He curls a finger beneath his chin, surveying each of them appraisingly until he seems to find a scarf he likes wrapped around a particularly pudgy snowman.
He takes one end of the scarf in each hand, then harshly yanks them both inward - effectively severing the head of this innocent snowman. Majima gives the scarf another shake, to rid it of any lingering powder, before he moves to wrap it around his own neck.]
Besides, the rules of the snowball fight are unspoken! You know that!
[Kiryu probably doesn't. It probably isn't true.]
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Hear their cries? Their sobs? No, because none of them were paying attention when the decapitation happened. But if one of them had been, they'd no doubt be traumatized at that sight. Who wouldn't be. Watching him execute that snowman as carelessly as he did, Kiryu grimaced.
See that grimace? See how he was pained at that careless murder? See the way the Dragon of Dojima paced in the opposite direction that Majima sauntered in, as if to get himself nearer a more formidable bank of snow and/or to put a decapitated snowman corpse between them?
...actually, any strategic purpose was accidental. The saunter/counter stride thing just felt natural when it came to Majima and battles. Even snow battles. Especially snow battles. Because what were they, if not two rivals with a strange, strange bond.]
...you're right. I have no idea what the rules are, but I can feel them.
[...maybe. Or maybe it's the fact he's just going with Majima's flow and has no idea what is doing.
...anyway, that scarf was a good idea, so now here he is, stealing a hat except he's going to be more polite about it, and if the hat clashes it's okay because it's not like he'd notice it or care.]
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[Delighted, Majima slaps a hand down onto the headless snow stump.]
Right on! It's settled, then.
[Not quite, but does it really matter? Majima's laid out yet another challenge and Kiryu's accepted it.
Will it help restore the Dragon of Dojima back to his true strength? Maybe? It's difficult to say. But at the very least, Majima will get a chance to see Kiryu throw more than just punches and jabs.]
Let's do this shit!
[Using the snowy stump, he grabs another clump of snow from the base and hurtles it at his opponent.]
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...anyway.
...
The Mad Dog lashed out! The snowball was thrown with the expert aim of someone who was familiar with snow and enjoyed playing in snow, the aim of someone who actually knew what snowballs were and how to throw them. Kiryu, as a novice in the art of snow - and that one snowball thrown seconds ago definitely doesn't count - did the only thing he could.
He ducked behind the snowman, the one who he had stolen a jaunty hat from, and he reflexively grabbed from the nearest source before he stared at his hand as he realized what - or who - he had stolen it from.]
No...
[The snowman's back, with a gaping wound that had been caused by his hamhands needing snow and he had-
Now wasn't the time. Now was the time to chuck it right back at Majima with a shout, whispering an apology in his heart to the snowman...who he might end up killing in the heat of battle. Sorry, snowman.]