[Open]

[bass_instincts]

Who: Shin and Open
When: December 8th - 10th (bass shopping) or 24th (Other things)
Where: All over
What: A bit of a catch all for things Shin's doing his first weeks here


I. Bass Instincts Ahahaha see, I said the username, that's kinda like saying the title right?
Adrien had told him to get himself a bass, along with some clothes. He was given full reign on it, much to his shock. That didn't mean that he wasn't going to be conservative... with the clothes. The bass he seems determined to find the perfect instrument. He'd gotten three days worth of clothes on the first day, then went to the nearest music shop and tried every bass in the place. He'd then gone to the next nearest one, trying everything there as well. He left most of the people he'd talked with confused, as he couldn't tell them what kind of music he planned to play, or what kind of feel he liked best, or what string type he liked most. The first person he couldn't even tell if he prefered strumming with his thumb or a pick. Yet every time he played well enough that it left the attendant shocked. And then he handed the bass back each time, feeling like it wasn't right.

He didn't quite connect the glares he was getting with him lighting up his cigarette in the store. Sure, a lot of people seemed to be willing to forgive it when they heard him playing, though there seemed a few even more pissed at him over it. Sure, it's not technically illegal in Tokyo to smoke in stores, but public opinion has shifted since he had developed his habit of smoking where ever he felt like. At least he carries around a disposable pouch for his cigarette butts so he's not littering too much. He found himself still lighting up as he starts to realize what the glares are for, the irritation of not being able to find something that felt quite right starting to get to him.

II. I got Twenty Dollas in my Pocket
Shin finally finds a bass, and so he spends the next several days looking through thrift shops, finding for himself new clothes. He is pretty consistently drawn to the designer suits hidden in the back of some of these places, usually with all kinds of holes that made them unwearable to their previous owner, but gave Shin a ton of possibilities. Between his obvious leaning in style once he started picking out clothes and Marinette at least being able to teach him how to mend, he was thrilled to be getting all kinds of clothes second hand. It might be difficult to find him under the pile of band shirts while he looks through countless old shoes for things that might fit him in the back of a overstuffed store. His favourites all tend to share major design elements with 90's era Vivienne Westwood. He likes a touch of leather fringes, platform shoes, and upholstery type fabrics mixed in with his plaid pants with hanging belts and band tees. It's not long before he's picking out all the icons of early 2000's punk fashion.

IIIa. Hello from the Other Side
It didn't matter that Adrien insited that Shin shouldn't feel like he needed to pay anything back. Shin knew he'd want to be able to have his own money to spend without worrying about bothering Adrien for it. He didn't want to make things hard on Adrien, having already noticed his own expensive tastes. Not to mention, he couldn't secretly get Adrien his own bass for Christmas with Adrien's money. That just wouldn't feel right.

He'd gone out searching for jobs, and after passing over a lot of other options, he'd stayed out later than he had before, trying to get jobs in bars. Most bars thought that he wasn't old enough looking to work there and didn't want trouble. He worked his way deeper into the city, and before he knew it he was surrounded by some things he was pretty sure would make his god blush, but he felt drawn to. Expensive clothes, expensive drinks, big lights. It took almost no time for him to decide to start asking some of the men if they knew anywhere that was hiring. A few of the men he'd asked laughed, called him too little, or didn't seem to notice him at all, which he suspected was going to be the biggest issue of all.

Finally he found a group that were willing to humor him. They told him that if he, said with some words about his baby face, could get a girl's number that night, then he would be able to work at their place. It doesn't take him that long to realize that they didn't really notice him since he's dead. He decides to stop his first approach and instead waited to find a certain kind of person. He looked around for girls that looked overwhelmed by the lights and pretty people. Sure, it might be kind of like taking advantage of someone, but it was just a number. The moment the right kind of girl hesitated nearby against a building, Shin lands on his hand in front of her, slamming his palm against the wall. It would be hard to miss that sound, even if he was otherwise easy to miss. But he wasn't putting on some cheesy tough line, he's instead asking with a surprising gentleness, "Is everything alright, miss?"

IIIb. This is Fine
It works at least once during the night, though it's possible they egg him on to get another number. By the end of the night, though, he's agreed to work at the host club and set up his first working days. It was nice to see that he'd have a pretty flexible schedule, mostly working when he decided to come in. Of course, it would be having regulars that brought in the best cash. It was an easy swing to get into, and one he enjoyed. He mostly did daytime and early evening dates so he'd not worry Adrien too much with nights out, but he knew that was where the real cash was, and it was bothering him to be missing out on it.

But he was worried that Adrien would judge, so he hadn't actually told basically anyone from the Far Shore, at least anyone that hadn't gotten caught up in his trying to get a number, that he'd gotten this job yet. Not when Adrien gave off this rather disgustingly obvious vibe of overly sheltered rich boy. It wasn't that Shin held it against him, but he didn't need to remember anything about his life to know that Adrien's type did not really get involved in this kind of business unless they were the ones paying for the date. Needless to say, if he recognizes anyone as being from the far shore, while he's entering, leaving, or taking a cigarette break outside of the club, he'll be trying to blend in with the surroundings as best as he can.

He's definitely not hiding, he's just trying to make things run smoother.

IV. Riverside Music
Shin usually practiced bass in one of the studios he had access to, either in Adrien's mansion or with Yui at Mirei's place, but sometimes it is nice to actually get some sun. He found that one of the bridges over the river in the Far shore actually gave pretty great acoustics, so some afternoons he can be found out there, practicing some kind of rock music, though it almost all leans towards grunge and punk. He's able to pick things up quickly, playing most songs decently well after a day or two without the tabs in front of him. He is able to play things much faster with tabs in front of him, and even has an app and a stand for his phone so he had access to a much larger list of music than he could easily carry printed out. The portable amp was already more than enough bulk attached to the guitar case.

V. Wildcard/Other Did we discuss something else? Got an idea that didn't fit into the others? I'm still open to it. I'll let you know if there's any reason something wouldn't work.

Comments

[dredefulchilde]

“I was—“ Joss whispers, choking back what may sound suspiciously like a sob, “I didn’t—“ He punches the wall again, too angry now to articulate clearly. He glares up at both Shin and Adrien, eyes bright with unshed tears. “You don’t understand,” he seethes, “neither of you.”

A third punch, and the wall now has a large crack in it in addition to the dents. Joscelin doesn’t know his own inhuman strength in the best of circumstances, but now that he’s losing control he could bring down the entire wall without really meaning to.

His fangs are well and truly out now, too. He looks less and less like a child with every passing second, as his vampiric nature threatens to take hold. He doesn’t understand what’s going on, what’s happening to him. He just knows he’s angry, and that he wants to hurt them to make it better.

[bass_instincts]

Shin's attention is suddenly drawn to the wall. He'd not really registered before that the wall had been anything besides old and crappy, but that crack went right up the building. Adrien and Shin hadn't had any real encounters with ayakashi besides a few bells that were destroyed with a single strike. Shin's just human. Normal, every day human. Human from a world without magic. Where the scariest thing was dying young and tragically... or old, alone, and unknown. There's an instinctual fear now, this wasn't some ayakashi he was designed to destroy, and that fear of being the next thing on the menu is something Shin has never actually felt before. He stumbles back, tripping over the cut out heel of his platform shoes. He lands pretty lightly, all things considered, but it's pretty clear he's freezing up. His fingers are in that position he'd practiced to make a line, but this was Joss. He didn't want to make a line between himself and Joss.

[purr_ince]

A scowl tugged at Adrien's lips. Nope he's got to stop this kid. He's no ayakashi or akuma but there is one thing at his disposal that would work. Hopefully. He's kneeling down to Shin taking hold of his arm as if to guide him up but that isn't what happens. Those green eyes meet Shin's and for a fraction of a second he's willing his Shinki to understand what he doesn't say before he's breathing out, "Come, 真器." When Adrien stands and rights himself he's got Shin's vessel form firmly in hand. His left hand gripping the neck and his fingers moving into place. His eyes are half closed. He instinctively knows the chords he needs - taking a soft breath he's starting to play. Now that he's playing there's a subtle little sway to his body as his eyes focus on Joss. That's where he's directing all of Shin's power and all of his own intentions. 'Calm down. Relax. You're safe. You're fine. You're around friends. No one is going to hurt you.' As if maybe if he wills it hard enough that it will take and Joss really will calm down. He needs him to. The last thing he wants to do is knock out his Shinki's friend but he won't risk people getting hurt either. That's not what Chat Noir does - in or out of the suit.

[dredefulchilde]

Joscelin charges forward when Adrien calls Shin, ready for a fight, but the fight doesn’t come. Instead, Adrien just starts....playing. Joscelin stops and looks at the cat god with a confused expression on his face. Isn’t he going to fight? Shouldn’t there be blood? That’s all the little vampire knows. But now he feels so tired...

The boy sways slightly as the power in the music takes hold. Why was he fighting? What was he upset about?

Two large, fat tears trickle down his cheeks.

“I...”

The boy sways again and then topples over, fast asleep.

[bass_instincts]

Shin lets out a breath of relief, "Good thinking." He'd not even thought of his vessel form. "Can you take him back to the mansion? I should at least close out for the night," he says with a sigh. It's still relatively early in the night for him, and he hadn't been picked as anyone's shimei that night. "My break's probably only another few minutes long," he admits, "But I don't want to just leave you alone with him after you came all the way out here."

[purr_ince]

Adrien winced seeing Joss fall because reflexes were fast but not that fast. "Revert, Shin." He's holding his hand out letting his Shinki revert to human form before nodding. "Yeah.. I got this. I've carried people before." He's already moving, kneeling to look him over. He's not seeing any real damage though which is a good thing. "It's fine. He'll be out a while. I'm pretty sure he's going to be asleep a while." Sliding his arms up under the little vampire he's scooping, Joss up; carefully cradling the boy to his chest. "I'll wait for you. It'll be fine. I've got him for now. If you can call it a night early that's fine. If not that's okay too. Either way, we're taking him back to the temple. Do you know who his god is? I could contact them and let them know he's safe at the very least."

[bass_instincts]

"I don't," he says frowning, "He barely mentions him. All I know is that he says that his god just lets him do whatever off on his own." It was all too negligent for Shin's tastes, but he knew it was useless to try to to convince Joss that there was something wrong with your god being so distant. He starts a cigarette he knows he won't be able to finish - there's no smoking in the club, at least for the hosts. "I'll talk to my boss and see what she says. She can be pretty strict, but she seems to have a soft spot for kids." Like him. It's part of how he managed to get the job, aside of just proving that he's at least capable when not put into a crowd, though sometimes it was nice to have someone to just pad the numbers at a table.

[purr_ince]

".... That's not good. I swear. I don't know who his god is but if I ever find out I'm going to be giving them an earful." He's scowling, adjusting Joss in his arms. "This is no way to let your shinki be especially one of this age. He's a child." Likely not but even so.... It's dangerous just letting him wander about alone." Adrien exhaled then nodded. "Right. I'm going to hop up to the roof and wait for you. That way we're out of the way if people pass by. The last thing I need is people seeing me dressed like this holding a passed out kid." He's moving back toward the alley, then making use of some things back there to jump easily up onto the roof. He walks along it before crouching int the shadows - tucking himself and Joss out of sight.

[bass_instincts]

Shin's out in less than ten minutes, walking a little away from the club before waiting for Chat to drop in. "Mamasan let me end my shift early since none of my girls are in," he says with a smile, "I called him my little brother without thinking, and she was happy to let me go."

He will wait for Adrien to teleport before joining him and helping him get Joss into a room.

[purr_ince]

Chat hopped down an effortless, light landing. He didn't even jostle Joss much. "That's good. I'm glad she was so kind." Adrien smiled slightly before his belt tail wrapped around Shin's waist; it's a habit now. It'd started with Marinette, continued with Snake, and now Shin...

He's teleporting the three of them back. On booted feet he's making his way back into the mansion and carrying Joss toward one of the spare rooms - stepping inside he's making his way to the bed. He's careful about settling Joss in.

It took them a few minutes to get the first aid kit and clean up his knuckles. Adrien had to take off his other glove to do it without accidentally hurting him but between both of them working together they had Joss cleaned up in no time; even the little scrape on his cheek and temple from where he fell was taken care of. Then there was the task of stripping away his coat and his shoes before tucking him in. It was an easier task when the two of them shared it rather than just one trying to do it on their own.

"I'll snag him some spare clothes later. It'll be fine. We should leave him to rest. He'll have questions in the morning. Let's go eat some cheese Plagg and catch some sleep." Adrien is letting his transformation drop. He's already stepping from the room to head for the kitchen to do exactly what he'd planned for.

[dredefulchilde]

Joscelin doesn't know where he is.

The bed--far bigger and grander than the one he has at Nari's temple--and the room aren't familiar. When he runs to the window in his bare feet, the view is unfamiliar. He doesn't recognize any of it. How did he get here? The last thing he remembers is Shin buying him a drink and then...nothing.

Had he gotten drunk and passed out?

That might explain why his coat smells like a brewery.

Mystified, and a little frightened, the boy turns the door handle and winces when he sees bandages around his hand. A hallway mirror reveals that that wasn't his only injury; there are bandaids on his face as well despite the fact that he has no memory of hurting himself. So how...?

"...Hello?" he calls, hoping that he's in friendly territory. There's no answer.

Joscelin wanders the halls for several minutes, getting progressively more and more lost. Just how big is this place? He comes to what looks like a sitting room or grande salon with a massive piano in one corner and pauses to rest. "Hello?" he calls again. Still no answer.

Figuring he ought to stay put a little longer, lest he get even more lost, Joscelin turns to the piano. There's something rather familiar about it. He fingers the keyboard and is surprised to realize that there's muscle memory there. He knows how to play.

Within minutes, the Allegro from Mozart's Piano Sonata 1 in C can be heard coming from the room. Joss is so entranced by his newfound talent that he forgets to be scared by this new turn of events.

[bass_instincts]

Shin could just hear the piano music in his sleep, and maybe that faintness is what made his mind start to wake up so he could investigate. Sure, Adrien played often enough, but if Adrien knew he was still sleeping he wouldn't play one of the pianos that could be heard from Shin's room.

Besides, it sounded different than Adrien's playing. There was something about how the player's fingers must be lingering on the keys, he's guessing. It was different from Adrien's crispness. He stands up and heads to the piano room the song had to be coming from, still wearing his pale blue cotton pajamas bottoms. For once his hair is flat and there's no piercings in his face or ears. He gets to the door and peeks in, having already realized the phantom musician must be Joss. He smiles a little to see him there, lost in the music.

It was good they brought him back.

[purr_ince]

Adrien had popped out before going to bed to get Joss some clothes. They're waiting in a stack in the kitchen; Adrien making approximate guesses at Joss's size. Though it's the piano that wakes him.That and the loud mews of kittens telling him there's someone in the temple. He's shushing them gently as he rolls out of bed and shuffling from his room upstairs and down the massive stair case down into the main floor where his Steinway is. Gripping the banister he's rubbing at his eyes sleepily before scratching at one of his scars with his fingers. Adrien hasn't bothered to hide any of them and he slept in baggy black sleeper pants now rather than a full pajama set. "Oh look he's awake and he doesn't seem any worse for the wear. That's good. How's your head and your hand?" He's not sure what story he and Shin wanted to tell Joss. What they should tell him. That he punched a building? That he flipped out? Adrien doesn't think that is a good idea at all so he's holding it back. If anything he'll just lie and tell Joss that he'd passed out after getting kind of tipsy with Shin and let that be it.

[dredefulchilde]

At some point, Joss realizes he doesn't remember the other movements of the Mozart sonata, so he moves on to Debussy and Clair de Lune. He's so engrossed in playing that he doesn't realize there are other people in the room until Adrien speaks. He shuts the key cover with an audible slam and jumps off the bench in full fight or flight mode.

"Who are you?" he demands.

Looking beyond the unfamiliar teen, he sees Shin. "Where is this?"

[bass_instincts]

Shin walks in and puts his hand on Adrien's shoulder, "That's 'my precious Adrien'." No, he hadn't told Adrien that Joss had said something like that about how Adrien thinks of him. "Relax, Joss, you're just at Adrien's temple. Did you sleep well?" He's smiling brightly, as if nothing strange had happened at all. It was easier to pretend it didn't happen than it was to figure out so quickly how he felt about it.

[purr_ince]

" 'Your precious Adrien', huh? I'm not sure if I should be flattered or tell you I'm a very taken cat." He laughs raking his fingers through his hair. "I'm Adrien this is the Bast portion of the Bast-Fortuna temple. We brought you here after you and Shin had a teeny bit too much to drink. Nice to meet you."

Because for all Adrien knows that's completely what did happen. "How're your injuries?" He's gesturing to his hand and his band-aids. "You feeling okay?"

[dredefulchilde]

"...Oh." That doesn't feel right, but Joscelin racks his brain and can't find any reason to doubt what Adrien says. His memories are so hazy...

"I don't remember being brought here." He thinks he might have been angry at some point? But he can't recall why. He's often angry, though; maybe Adrien is right and he just couldn't handle his liquor well.

The boy looks down at his hand and flexes his fingers--which had just been so nimble on the keyboard a couple of minutes ago--experimentally. "A little sore. How did I hurt myself?"

[bass_instincts]

For someone who lies for a living, he was really struggling with the idea of just flat out lying right now. He feels a pang of guilt even as Adrien is the one to lie because he goes along with it. What's more is that it grows as Joss asks for details. He tries his best to tell himself that if this is what Adrien thought to be right, then he shouldn't challenge him on it. Not a petty white lie like this.

But he's going to let Adrien cover for the soreness and the pain, "You were completely passed out."

[purr_ince]

"You were so deep in your drink that you kind of passed out on us. You hit the street like a bag of rocks which is why you're scraped up like that. My reflexes are fast but not that fast. But from what I can tell nothing was broken. You'll just be tender for a while, while you mend."

He's moving way from Shin closer to Joss. "You're good with the piano. If you want to keep playing you're more than welcome to come here and do that." Because this is Shin's friend and Adrien wants him to feel welcome and he doesn't want Shin to feel like he's trying to keep him from having friends over.

"I'm going to head to the kitchen, start on breakfast after putting food down for the kittens. Anything you guys want specifically?" Lying is second nature and it's so much easier when it isn't to Marinette or his father or even Shin.

[dredefulchilde]

He frowns; this really isn't adding up. Touching the bandages on his face, he winces when he finds a particularly deep scrape on his cheek. "Shin, I think you need to stop indulging me when I ask for alcohol," he says matter-of-factly, though he can't shake the wrongness that he feels. Maybe it's because he's hungry; he finds he needs to eat more and more lately to make up for the fact that he hasn't been able to consume life energy since his first afternoon in heaven.

He looks over to Adrien.

"Toast with butter and strawberry jam. And black tea with lots of sugar--at least three lumps of sugar."

[bass_instincts]

Shin grins at Joss's immediate answer. He just laughs and says, "anything with coffee for me. It's about two hours before I'd normally be getting up." Even though he tried to keep his nights early it was rare for him to get back before two, but fortunately Adrien rarely needed him up early enough to cause conflict.

He goes over to Joss, "you might be right, but it's just so hard to say no," he teases. Which is a pretty big lie, since Shin really hadn't fallen prey to Joss's charms before.

[purr_ince]

"Might be a good idea. Black tea, super sweet, butter strawberry toast and coffee. I'll text when I'm done fixing it." Stretching he's moving into the kitchen and yes now there are a couple cats following him. One only has three legs, the other is extra tiny and bundled up in a little hoodie. He's crossing over into the kitchen and putting out food for the kittens and a bit extra for the snakes; it's a habit by this point. Then it's over to the toaster with some homemade bread and he's starting coffee and putting on tea with a yawn. All and all it's a pretty standard breakfast for them since Adrien tends to keep it simple. He's digging out four plates, Shin's mug, his own, then a tea cup for Joss and a glass for some juice. Moving about the kitchen he's getting out the jam, cherry preserves, butters and his juice. He's pausing after pouring his juice, taking his phone out before sending Shin a text. 'Does Joss like sweet butter or salty on his toast?' Putting the tea away he's getting out some cheese to cut up and a small hard roll that he's cutting the top from then scooping the center from - stuffing it with the cheese and moving to pop it in the oven.

[dredefulchilde]

Joscelin watches Adrien disappear towards what he imagines in the kitchen before he turns on Shin.

“I’m not stupid, you know,” he says conversationally, as if he’s commenting on the weather. “I may only have a couple weeks’ worth of memories but that doesn’t make me a naive, biddible babe-in-arms. You’re lying to me, aren’t you? Both of you. Or at least telling half truths.”

To illustrate, he begins unwinding the bandages around his scraped, bruised knuckles. “For instance, a person does not get injuries like these from just falling. These are offensive wounds; I obviously hit something. Hard.” Joscelin sighs and sits back down on the piano bench.

“I understand you’re trying to protect me, and I can’t really remember much about last night beyond a certain point. For all I know, you really did go against your own nature and let me have as much of a drink you’d previously denied me in fairly strong terms as I wanted. But I know there’s quite a bit more that you’re not telling me. I don’t use the word 'friend' lightly, but I consider you to be my friend, Shin. So if you value our friendship as much as I think you do, please cut the bullshit and tell me the whole truth.”

[bass_instincts]

Shin can feel his guilt gnawing at him. He worries about Adrien, because he knows that he's stinging him, and right now he's stuck between stinging Adrien more because Joss is going to keep guilting him, or stinging Adrien for telling the truth even though it was obvious that Adrien wanted to keep it hidden for some reason; probably to protect Joss.

He sighs, defeated, "We got in an argument. An argument I really don't want to get into again this early on. You got upset, so Adrien used my vessel ability to calm you down. You fell asleep and it was late so we brought you home." Shin checks his phone, figuring it was Adrien asking if everything was okay, but it's just a mundane question.

"We can go into it after breakfast if you really want to, but Adrien wants to know if you prefer sweet or salted butter." He already looks tired, just trying to be fair with Joss.

[purr_ince]

There's a sound from the toaster as the six slices of bread pop; toasted a warm golden brown. Adrien might be humming as he collects them - weaving around the counter and the kittens who are eating with soft omnomnom-noises. Placing them all on one plate he's picking up a butter knife only to drop it back to the counter as guilt spikes thought his chest. He hadn't expected it. Not really. It must be something going on with Shin and Joss. Maybe Shin felt bad for lying. Maybe he felt bad for Joss's injuries. Adrien doesn't know but he's sucking in a breath between his teeth. Reaching for his phone again he's sending a second text. 'You need to relax. I don't know what's going on but you did nothing wrong.'- AA Things he's had to say no less than four times this week - he could give these kinds of words and forgiveness to everyone but himself. Good going, Agreste. It takes a bit for him to get himself in check to swallow down that twinge of guilt and the sting that pulsed with it.