Crash! Hundred Ice Cream Dash!

[mithrarin]

Who: Dust and OPEN
When: Early September
Where: The Near Shore
What: Dust has some downtime, and spends it wisely(????).



A.

[Down the road sprints Dust, his cloak and tail trailing behind him and purpose written in the set of his jaw. The sidewalk isn't empty, but he dodges past the people walking on it as if he isn't there -- which, being of the Far Shore, he might as well not be. No eyebrows raise in his wake, no one stumbles back in shock. He's just a passing breeze, one they find pleasant.]

[The light is against him as he reaches a side street -- no matter. He vaults over the two lanes of traffic as if it's nothing, landing lightly on the other side to resume his run. A truck juts out across the sidewalk, poorly parked in a driveway -- he barely breaks stride as he kicks one foot forward, dropping his body so his momentum slides him clean under it. And again, on the other side, he springs back to his feet and resumes his charge.]

[At the end of the block, Dust comes to a sudden halt right at the corner -- just in time for an ice cream truck to slow to a stop right in front of him, so that he has to lean all of an inch to the side to place his order.] A dipped cone, please.

[As the ice cream man turns to the soft serve machine, Dust scoops his phone out of his pocket to tag his thumb against it, his smile a little smug.] And that's number 57. 43 to go.

B.

[When he isn't chasing ice cream trucks around -- or intercepting them -- or, well, don't ask about that one truck with a slightly dented roof -- Dust spends his time on the roof of a neighborhood school, sitting on the edge of the roof with his arms folded on his legs. Something in the air makes him uneasy, in a way he associates with danger and trouble, but he hasn't seen anything yet.]

[Still, his senses are on overdrive trying to pick up any hint of an ayakashi.]

Wildcard.

[Hit me up.]

Comments

[sweetdeath]

... Fifty-seven what?

[Don't mind Tsuzuki, standing a couple feet back from the ice-cream truck and working his way through a caramel apple flavored soft-serve cone (since when does soft serve come in caramel apple? It's delicious! They should've come up with that forever ago!)

He's pretty sure he saw Dust jump over traffic, though, so whatever the fifty-seven is, it's got to be important, right?]

[mithrarin]

Fifty-seven of the one hundred soft serve ice cream trucks.

[Or he's just like that by nature. With a smile, Dust turns back to accept his cone, trading money over and then grabbing a napkin real quick. Might just need that.]

I'm going to visit them all.

[sweetdeath]

Oh.

[Tsuzuki blinks a few times.]

... I thought the "100" was just for the flavors! Are the trucks different?

[Are there a hundred different options he can try-- no, no, he'll be good! He doesn't have that much money!

Okay, he's totally going to try it. Maybe he can bring Sakura and Yamanbagiri to the best ones, too. Or Gojyo, if he likes ice cream.]

[mithrarin]

Yeah, there's a different flavor for every one. It's like a scavenger hunt. One I'm going to master.

[On rare occasions, Dust can show some cocky arrogance -- and rarer still might be those occasions when it's not some sort of battle. But this is an event he's taken as a personal challenge.]

[sweetdeath]

Wait... seriously?

[He blinks. Oh shit, he is going to have to go try it. He's already counting up his likely tip income.]

That's amazing! I've gotta try it out. What flavors have you had so far?

[mithrarin]

Salted caramel, toasted marshmallow, mango, green tea, wasabi, pineapple, orange cream, lychee -- I don't even know what that it, but it was good...

[Look, he can go on for a while...]

[sweetdeath]

[Special flavors. He's thrilled! Although wasabi sounds pretty weird....]

Oh, it's this fruit! With a red rind-- how was the wasabi ice cream? Did it really work?

[mithrarin]

Cleared my sinuses, anyway. It would've been better as a hard ice cream, but I can't blame them for trying. [Dust shrugs. With 100 flavors, some were bound to be duds.]

[sweetdeath]

Yeah, when I think ice cream, sinus clearing isn't the image I'm hoping for.

[Tsuzuki chuckles, looking back at the truck.]

So, which number was that one? Or -- is there any way to tell them apart?

[He shuffles a few steps to the side to get a better look at the painted side of the truck, but the logo there looks just the same to him as the other ones he's seen so far. Maybe Dust's keeping track of their license plate numbers?]

B

[kokuyoyo]

[....Ah. It's this guy.]

[Chikusa is still only vaguely familiar with the furry stranger that had been roped into his and Ken's ablutions. To say that he owes him feels a little too heavy for the teen... But he does feel as if he should at least pay him mind, now.]

[So when he sees the rather unmistakable shape at the roof of the school, Chikusa pauses and glances around, trying to see what has gotten the other shinki's attention so much.]

[mithrarin]

[Nothing yet. Nothing palpable. But stress and tension hang in the air thick as cobwebs and cotton, if Chikusa can feel it. It's certainly enough to raise all of Dust's hackles (and no small amount of his fur).]

[For a brief moment he thinks the man down below might be his enemy,
but luckily his redlined nerves submit to sense before he can do so much as jerk slightly.]

You see anything down there?

[kokuyoyo]

No.

[It's amazing a voice as lethargic as his can reach up so high, but there it is.]

Although it's not like I know what you're looking for.

[mithrarin]

[Dust's voice carries absurdly far as well, even when he's being quiet; he's generally just an intense person.]

Neither do I. But something tells me... something's wrong here. Something dangerous. Something I can't ignore.

[kokuyoyo]

That's too vague. And you won't find it just be sitting there...

[mithrarin]

Vague is all I have. [He thinks it's an ayakashi? But it's dangerous to assume, so he shrugs slightly.] The way I see it, if I patrol around I'll keep it from coming out. If I stay quiet and wait for it to emerge, I can actually handle it.

[kokuyoyo]

....How long have you been waiting?

[mithrarin]

Not long. Fifteen minutes or so. [Dust displays just how much he's grown and developed in his time as a shinki by using his phone as a clock, glancing down at it.] I'm thinking if there's anything that's going to show up, it will wait till the kids in this school are somewhere it can get to them subtly. Outside. In the halls.

A

[nopixiedust]

So does that mean you've eaten 57 of those?

[Wendy's familiar voice sounds off a little from behind Dust, even as she tries to speed up her steps enough so that she can hopefully hop up onto his back to peer over his shoulder. She doesn't need to, but she wants to anyway.]

[mithrarin]

[Dust shifts slightly -- not to block her or step aside, but to raise an arm so she can get a better grip and lean over his shoulder that much more easily. He might be lanky, all things considered, but his strength is more than up to the task -- her slight weight barely makes him shift. ]

I've eaten fifty-six. Give me two minutes and then you'll be right.

[nopixiedust]

[With a sturdy grip and a sturdier person to hold onto, Wendy has no problems with hefting herself up for a good view.]

Wow, you need a whole two minutes? Can't scarf it down on the spot?

[Her grin widens teasingly.]

[mithrarin]

I'm counting the time it takes for me to actually get my cone and pay, Wendy. You've known me too long to start underestimating now. [He turns his head just an inch her way, to flash her a sidelong, cocky smile.]

[nopixiedust]

I remain unconvinced! [Her legs swing idly behind her, although she takes care not to kick him.] You'll have to prove it for real right now.

[mithrarin]

[If the ice cream man is surprised to see Dust suddenly sprout a girl from his shoulder, he doesn't register it at all. Dust trades over some money, accepts his dipped cone, then rather pointedly takes a bite out of it.] Now I'm tempted to go slow, just to savor it.

...You can get one if you want, you know.

[nopixiedust]

Then you'll just be proving me right.

[Wendy laughs a little bit- but quietly, considerate of the fact that she's right in his ear.]

Anyway, I was just running around. I don't really want one right now.

[mithrarin]

What kind of a little girl are you, anyway? For that matter, how are you not always hungry? [Not that Dust means the questions as anything but jokes, but from what he'd heard, other shinki always seem to be just as hungry as he is.]