USER: #A5211F - Bogeyman (Forward dated to the 26th)

[swordfucker]

(color)

The bogeyman that was hiding in town has finally been defeated, but it was at the cost of three lives. Dave, John and Dextera. I couldn't save them. I'm sorry.

Okuyasu and Asuka are badly injured, but are currently being treated for it. [He is too? He's bleeding all over his laptop, but it's fine.]

Dextera's body changed into something else, but the other two are still remaining. I think they both have family here, or something close. You can contact me and I'll tell you where they are, so you can arrange a burial or whatever you think is best.

I take full responsibility for this. There's still going to be a defense force meeting at the beginning of next month, so we can talk about it then. I know there could still be people missing from the werewolf thing, too, so keep your eyes open for them, alive or otherwise. If you have questions, I'll try to answer them.

That's all.

[Of course, after this, he'll be in his room at his laptop, so people are free to come bother him. He's covered in blood, most notably a stab wound straight through his chest at the heart, and it looks like he's only partially been able to deal with that. He's not bleeding out as quickly? But his healing isn't working. He's only just barely come back to consciousness from Mahiru taking over.]

Comments

[swordfucker]

Of course not. You can come over whenever you want. Or I can go there... after I get some bandages. I can help take care of Leliel.

[whereabout]

If you need bandages, you're probably better off not moving around too much. I could bring some over.

[ Two birds, one stone. ]

[swordfucker]

...Thanks.

[whereabout]

Sit tight and I'll be over in a few minutes.

[ And he really will! Joshua is nothing if not prompt.

And well-prepared, because not only is he bringing over bandages, he's...got Leliel in his arms, too. It's not as good as being able to snuggle Dextera, but it's the best he can do? ]

[swordfucker]

[Guren answers the door once Joshua arrives, staring sadly at the dark chicken in his arms. He certainly looks like he needs those bandages. He's wearing peasant clothes, so it's all extra visible. He's drenched in blood, there's a wound straight through his heart, gashes on his front and side, and he's bruised all over.

He hasn't addressed any of this yet? Not enough, anyway. It's a miracle he's still standing.]

...Hey.

[whereabout]

[ Why is he even getting up to answer the door. ]

You look awful. Sit down and let me see what I can do.

[swordfucker]

Healing abilities aren't working on me. Just enough to seal the wound on my heart, but nothing around it.

[A quick answer, but he actually listens, moving into the kitchen to sit on a chair. He can barely move like this, honestly... How did he get up to answer the door? Pure willpower.]

[whereabout]

There goes Plan A, then. [ But despite the prevalence of orbal arts in his world, he still learned how to tape people up the old-fashioned way, too, so he gently sets Leliel down and lets her wander the floor so he can get those bandages out. ]

Is that new? [ The healing not working, he means. ] Or has it been a problem before?

[swordfucker]

It's new. I think the bogeyman could mess with our abilities. I couldn't use Mahiru-no-yo as efficiently as I would have liked, and then this.

[So. He watches Leliel, quiet, sad, trying to keep it off his face. But he still looks a wreck. Also, he starts taking his shirt and vest off.]

[whereabout]

[ Wonderful. As if they didn't have enough threats to watch for, even with a group as powerful as this one... ]

...when you say you defeated it. Did you all succeed in killing it?

[ At a cost like that, he'd damned well hope so. Then again, who's to say there'll only be one of those things? ]

[swordfucker]

Yeah. It's dead. We made sure of it.

[He wasn't about to let their deaths go to waste. He stares blankly at his hand as he says that, though, lost in the memories.]

[whereabout]

[ That's a relief, at least.

He's not going to speculate on the possibility of another appearing - not right now, at least. They'll probably have to discuss it and keeping an eye out for more like this sooner or later (and more than likely sooner) but that's a conversation that can at least wait until there's a night of sleep in between them and - this. All of it. ]

Have you got something I can heat up some water in? And some of that soap Clark's been making?

[ Because the way to handle a mess is not to slap something on top of it and call it good. unless that mess is joshua's own psyche and then, sure, why not ]

[swordfucker]

No soap, but there's a fireplace. Right there.

[He points, it's in the kitchen as well, thankfully, and there's a pot hanging over it, ready for use. Now, all he can do is lean back in this chair, focusing on breathing, on consciousness.]

Sorry for the trouble.

[whereabout]

[ He's already moving over to get some water going as he says - ]

I'd say you just went through a lot more trouble on everyone's behalf, so you don't owe me an apology.

[ If Guren can get himself stabbed on the verge of bleeding out to take out a threat to the town, Joshua can damned well put some bandages on him. ]

[swordfucker]

...The cost was too great. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

[He breathes out a sigh, heavier than anything else he's ever expressed freely.]

Too many people and you lose the control of a direct attack like this, in limited space. Too few, and you don't have the power. I thought it was a good number, and a good match of abilities, but then it screwed with all of them and brought out fears that got in the way.

I don't think there was any way to get out of that unscathed.

[whereabout]

[ There's a nod as he finds a towel or something and continues to get his ducks in a row to clean Guren's wounds. ]

Group cohesion is delicate. I used to always work alone...but then I knew there were some opponents I'd never be able to take head-on, that way.

[ He was able to do a lot, but he knew perfectly well that without the element of surprise, he was the weakest of the Enforcers. Every plan he made had to account for that. ]

...I think we have to assume that anything we face here is going to know exactly what the worst thing it can throw at us is.

[swordfucker]

Yeah. I'm not so naive as to think that death can be avoided in this place... But I'd like to minimize it, and I'm still going to take responsibility when it does happen.

[It's not fair. It's all his fault, and of course he'll say so. Guren doesn't wince at all as his wounds are cleaned, continuing to sit still.]

[whereabout]

[ Actually, Guren's playing right into the second part of this observation, so Joshua continues: ]

...I think that knowing the worst thing it can throw at us, in this case, extends to knowing that hurting the others is the quickest way to get to you.

[ Guren's a leader, Guren's taken responsibility for the group? Bam. Instant pain. ]

[swordfucker]

I don't need you to make excuses for me.

[It's cold, maybe, but the coldness isn't meant for Joshua. It's for himself. He was the responsible leader, the adult, and he screwed it up. That's just how it is.]

[whereabout]

Who says I am?

[ It's not really a tone anyone here has heard him take much, save Estelle. They've heard Joshua being politely good-natured, serious and remote, calmly self-deprecating.

This is cold, but like Guren, it's not really coldness directed at the other half of the conversation. It's just logic, but applied so hard there's no room in it for feeling - good or bad. ]

Call it a consideration for next time. It's reasonable to assume that, given the chance, this is how it'll strike at you again.

[swordfucker]

[Guren is quiet at that, considering. That thing is dead.

But he knows that Joshua means the town as a whole. Anything it throws at him. His friends and family are always the targets, though. He's always used to that. It's his weakness, isn't it? Kureto would say so. Apparently Crowley would, as well.

But he can't stop caring. He never could.

So he just sits in silence, thinking. Usually, the less he says, the more he's thinking.]

[whereabout]

[ And if he's thinking, Joshua will leave it at that and just start cleaning him up. He doesn't need to make his point with a sledgehammer - and admittedly, he's not sure what the solution at the end of that road winds up being. He's yet to figure that one out, himself. ]