subdivided | week three: mingle

week three: mingle

Week Three
24 in Competition

As the sun rises on Monday morning, all participants will find themselves awakening with a sense of purpose. Regardless of where they slept the night before, they’ll find themselves compelled to return to the main meeting hall first thing in the morning.

Approaching the hall, however, they will find a large, swirling mass grey in color looming near the sakura tree. This swirl cannot be approached just yet, but seems to be locked and waiting for something more.

As the last member of the village enters the hall, they will find Lune and Sol at the head of the room. Though they’re together, it’s Lune who speaks up first this time.

"Good morning, good morning. You've done well to purge the corruption in the previous gateway - allow us to assist with the finishing touches. For the time being, it would appear as though we've been able to locate another. I wonder if you'll find the skyline familiar? Do try to be kind to those you find on the other side."

When Lune finishes, Sol chimes in from their place at Lune's side.

"You guys did great minimizing the damage and working together...so keep it up."

The moment participants leave the hall, they will find that the gateway has changed from grey to white, the opening widening enough for multiple people to step through. The Signs will soon take their leave, and all will remain peaceful once more.

In addition, as the week goes on, partners will begin to experience the emotions of one another. The clarity of these emotions enhances with proximity, and they will be able to feel the emotions of their partner's intermingling with their own.

Welcome to your week three mingle! As a reminder, murder proposals are open. We will also be having another CYOA this week! Sign ups are here and will close on Tuesday at 8 AM PST.

In addition, ensure that all of your week two private conversations were reported on the page, and your week three private conversations are reported on that page. If you'll be taking anything from locations, please report that as well.

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Okay.

[He situates the bike up straight. Surely this will go as well as The War.] Hold on. ♪ [Because after he starts the ignition and pops the clutch into first gear...

...he'll hold down the front brake and rev the engine to skid the back tire along the ground, releasing it so they leap forward suddenly and take off.]

[--they take off so suddenly, that even with the warning Minato just barely has time to wrap his arms around Hisoka before they go blasting down the road.

...Hisoka is too tall and Minato can't see anything so it really is up to Hisoka where they die. ]

[Fortunately, he isn't a bad driver? Hate that. He's really good with balance and reaction time, it's fine.

Minato has a great ride!!

Except, like, they're going extremely fast and taking calculated risks along the road to ramp up the danger. :') The wind... is nice...?]

[It's really too bad that Minato doesn't get a good view of anything sitting behind Hisoka; he'll have to ask if he can sit up front on the way back.

It's like riding with senpai...]

Think we can go fast enough to launch off a ramp and fly?

[There's a glint in the golden eyes when they look back over his shoulder. Without saying anything, he keeps driving.

It isn't a ramp necessarily, but it's a hill which is good enough. With no one around but any of them, he busts through the park onto one of the paths, not slowing.

Is Minato ready?

Because he's going to gun it over the hill and jump the top on the other side.]

[He is not ready, on the account of not being able to see, but he does feel the upward climb of the slope and can assume what's coming next, so he gets ready

by hooking his ankles with Hisoka's for a more secure grip bc why don't motorcycles have seat belts??

and proceeding with raising his arms in the air like this is a roller coaster and not a death bike ride with a maniac. ]

[Minato......................

Who let this teenage boy ride the hellbike with the danger clown? WHY IS MINATO STICKING HIS HANDS UP. I'M THE ONE PLAYING HISOKA AND BEING TROLLED.

But it's fine. Minato gets some sweet air, and, for several seconds, there's a suspension of everything. With no gravity, it's all free, all light-weight. It's kind of like being dead maybe or, less morbidly, being in space.

And then the landing is a little rough on them, but Hisoka is tall enough and strong enough to keep the bike balanced until he brakes them to a hard stop after. They lived, bitch!]

[ Minato put his hands up because he trusts Hisoka to stick the landing and not cause them both to crash and die. He's having the time of his life, feeling that uncomfortable lurch in his gut when they float, weightless, and then the exhilaration of coming crashing down onto the ground, Minato quick to put his arms back down and grab on tight around Hisoka's middle again just before they hit the ground. ]

So cool...

[ They lived, and Minato is delighted. ]

Can I sit up from next time?

[He doesn't start off again after they stop, but instead glances over one shoulder at Minato.]

Go ahead.

[He sits up straight to make room. Minato, please love yourself and do not sit in front of the clown..........]

[ Minato, unfortunately, does not love himself. He has no sense of self-preservation, nor stranger danger, nor thinks anything of it as he hops off the side so he can switch places and sit up front.

He thinks he's sort of got the hang of this. He's never driven anything before but arcade motorcycle simulators, but that's close enough. All he has to do is gun it, and if he does something wrong, Hisoka will be right there to help.

He trusts Hisoka... so much..... ]

[Bad.

There's really nothing else to do but tuck... up... close behind Minato. I hate you, Card. Anyway, he loves living dangerously, but he does not love dying, so he leans over Minato's back to make them parallel, so he can keep his hands over Minato's and show him how it works.

His foot nudges one of Minato's under the gear shift, to shift it up and then back down.]

Start in first. When you feel it getting hungry, change gears.

[ Minato loves Hisoka as much as you hate this, Anna. Look how mindful Hisoka always is towards him? Making him feel secure and safe and everything.

He nods, starts off slowly and makes a slow loop around so that they're facing the hill again and

immediately guns it and changes gears at the same time so that they go blasting off towards the hill. ]

[I cannot honestly tell if I'm stressed or Hisoka is stressed, but it might be both.

Minato sends them flying and, really, the only thing he can do is keep them balanced and steady, and make sure the damn bike doesn't blow up from mistreatment.

But yeah, he doesn't stop them from going back over the hill.]

[ This is why Minato likes Hisoka. He doesn't question the things that Minato does, he just accepts it and supports him and that is exactly what Minato tries to do for everybody else, too, even if it ends up getting them killed.

But he knows they won't die here, because that's not the sort of death that Hisoka would want, losing to gravity instead of a person or other external force to fight back against.

So.

They're launched off the hill, and Minato has to remind himself not to raise his hands in the air this time, tempted as he is when he sees the open sky and the wide land spread out before them. This is, honestly, incredible.

The landing might be a problem, but that's a problem for future Minato. ]

[Minato can enjoy the death flight. Hisoka is worried so much about the view. The feeling? Exhilarating with the prospect of things being wildly out of control. But he's concerned with the trajectory and the landing.

Because as weird as he acts, he's incredibly intelligent.

Already, he's pressing Minato's foot down to put them into first. No brakes, or they'll fall over. They have to stick it and keep going, but he will pump the handle brake with Minato's hand to make sure they aren't rolling too fast.

The landing is rough on the legs, but they make it.]

[ The moment Hisoka takes over, Minato just sort of gives up trying at all, letting Hisoka press down on his hands and step on his feet to get the bike back under control, jarring a bit out of the seat at the landing but with Hisoka so close behind him, he stays put and settles back in the seat.

It's so stupid.

A laugh bubbles up, the first time he's laughed since coming here- since months ago- since... he can't remember the last time he laughed.

But this is fun. Nearly dying is fun, being able to feel all the exhileration of near death while knowing he won't, because he trusts Hisoka so. damn. much. ]

[Oh... a laugh. Mmm. Shouldn't like that but does. Almost dying is very funny, isn't it? The biggest joke of life, how easy it is to die. How easy it is to kill someone else.

Well, now that they're not both twisted bodies on the ground, he smiles himself, wide and amused. He keeps Minato going on the bike, speeding up down along the pathway. When he leans into the sharp turn of one, he crowds Minato to do the same so they aren't unbalanced.

The walkway is so very close to their bodies.]

[ It's ridiculous. Like the worst joke in the world, but Minato is full of bad jokes. Maybe it's a coping mechanism, the way he can't fully understand the full terror of death and so he just accepts it for what it is, for when it comes.

It's how he copes, letting Hisoka move him around with little guidance. So close to the ground, the speckled grey smooths out into something almost fluid, so tempting to reach out and press the tips of his fingers into the ground as if it were water, but it's his hands on the handlebars and Hisoka's over them, so he doesn't get the chance to give into l'appel du vide.

There's no fear to Minato at all, just an easy acceptance of things even if they're half an inch from slipping and skinning half their bodies. ]

[Please don't take off any fingies, Minato. Akane would murder him.

The path straightens out, and they return upright again. He keeps going, not dangerous fast, but not slow, around an incline and up to the hill above. At the peak, he stops them, both feet on the ground for balance.

Some of the city can be seen, but... at the bottom of a hill is a cement ramp--not a ramp for riding, but an overhang for the path below it, jutting out from the edge of the hill. The other side has a tall fence... made of stone.

After Minato gets a look, he leans down on the boy's back so they can take off. Minato is still "driving," but Hisoka races them down the hill toward the ramp. They're going to fly?

Or die one.]

[ Maybe I'm willing to make that sacrifice. Not Minato. Me.

It's like watching a movie, so many things happening around him and all Minato has to do is sit back and enjoy the ride, the wind whipping against his face and the warmth on his back and the light happy smile that remains on his face as he watches the ramp come closer and closer, faster and faster, a moviegoer who still believes in good endings.

Will they make the jump? Or will it be a repeat of the war, missing body parts and a broken horse? Doesn't matter. Unlike back then, Minato is more prepared now.

Aka if they're about to pancake into the stone fence, Minato is melting through it with lava. Will the bike survive that, who knows ]

[This may or may not go as expected.

The bike is heavy, but the momentum is the key. They hit the ramp going so fast it tosses them pretty high in the air. They miss the fence. Barely. Hisoka pulls on the handlebars and throws all of his weight back.

The bike flips. Their heads narrowly miss the top of the fence? But the speed in which it happens gives Hisoka enough strength to turn it over in the air and land it again on the ground.

It's more unstable than any of the other landings, and they have to skid sideways to a stop. But guess what? THEY'RE ALIVE.]

[ Holy shit? Holy fucking shit.

Minato doesn't expect the backflip, the weightlessness that turns the entire world upside down, lifted off his seat and for a moment it feels like he's rising, not falling.

He lets out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, when they finally come to a stop, feeling the buzz in the back of his head and across his fingers— most people would interpret this as terror, but no... not Minato. He's still smiling, so the pounding heart and shaking hands must be exhilaration, right? Fun. ]

That was incredible...

[And that's Minato's wild and dangerous shounen bullshit for today. Congratulations.

Slowly, he unravels from Minato, the arms and the hands, though his legs are long and strong enough so he continues to hold the bike upright with them.]

It's magnificent, isn't it? Being so close. [To death, but he won't say it.] If you come see me later then, I'll give you a surprise. ♦

[This time, he puts his arms around Minato's middle.]

You drive.

[ Later, in half my pcs, people forbidding Minato to talk to Hisoka ever again... But Minato doesn't know that yet, so he's more than agreeable on both points, especially for that surprise.

He sits up a little straighter so that Hisoka has an easier time holding on without Minato being slouchy, and nods. After going 35908358 mph from the get-go and watching Hisoka work the rest of the controls, he's much more comfortable and competent in starting and driving the motorcycle, always the quick learner-- it's like riding a bike, except he has to be more careful not to veer off the road. ]

Where to? I think I've gotten the hang of this... I can come pick you up wherever, later.

To the gate.

[Minato, please listen to everyone saying not to talk to him ever. Unfortunately, he isn't going to stop Minato's new interest in the motorcycle or any death-defying stunts.

Well, he might discourage anything reckless, but like. Live your best life, Minato.]

If you meet me at the shrine, I'll take you.

week three: mingle

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