Open

[noreason]

Who: Naoki and whoever runs into him
Where: Around Wonderland
When: 10/26-10/29
Rating: PG-13 at most I'd guess
Summary: Naoki is even more a demon than normal.
The Story:

Naoki's always been a solitary sort of person, at least since arriving in Wonderland. He'd liked the company of demons at home, but most of the people in Wonderland are human and he finds it uncomfortable to be around them. Humans live short lives, but they're always changing. Not like demons, who live indefinitely and never change. He knows he falls somewhere in between those two extremes, but he certainly isn't a human anymore and doesn't feel obligated to play nice with them.

That isn't to say he actively avoids anyone. He still jogs around outside, uses the kitchen, prowls around the halls, loiters on the roof. The most obvious change in him is that his eyes have turned bright red. Aside from that, though, there's just something harder and harsher about him than usual. Something much less human.

[OOC: Feel free to find him pretty much anywhere! I'll match prose or brackets.]

Comments

[endingpoint]

Jane, still reeling from the realization that Kurt doesn't remember being married to her at all, needed air. She's on her way to the gardens now when she recognizes Naoki from behind. Relieved to see a friend, she calls out.

"Is it just me or is something making everyone act crazier than normal?"

Once she catches up to him she stops, bringing a hand to rest on her prominent pregnant belly. "It's like everyone's memories have been altered somehow, I don't know. Are you getting that from people?"

[noreason]

Naoki stops, turning to watch Jane approach him. His eyes are sharp, more wary than curious, but he doesn't feel any hostility toward Jane. She's proven herself to be more than bearable.

Still, he tenses slightly when she catches up to him and he notices for the first time that she's pregnant, his red eyes trained on her stomach.

"...More than memories, it seems like."

[endingpoint]

Jane looks at him in confusion, a little taken aback as she pauses where she's at.

"What...what happened to your eyes?"

[noreason]

His gaze snaps up to her face now.

"What do you mean?"

[endingpoint]

"...Your eyes are red, Naoki. They've never been like that before. Not in the entire time I've known you," she says with worry.

"Are you okay?"

[noreason]

Naoki pauses. There's no way Jane could know that his eyes haven't always been red. They'd changed before he met her. He had changed before he met her.

"I'm the same as always."

To get the subject off of himself, he asks bluntly, "Since when are you pregnant? Did you leave and come back?"

He'd like to think he'd have noticed that.

[endingpoint]

At his statement and his question, Jane looks right back in confusion as one hand moves to her stomach. "...No. I mean, I left a while ago and because Wonderland has a terrible sense of humor, I'll be here, stupidly pregnant until I go home again."

But Kurt hadn't known she was pregnant either, and she has no idea what kind of event this is, why their memories are like this.

"I think...Naoki, I think there's an event going on. Kurt didn't know I was pregnant either. He doesn't even..." She swallows heavily. "He doesn't even know we're married."

[noreason]

Naoki isn't immune to his sense of empathy, though he's a little awkward as he puts a hand on Jane's shoulder. His voice is even and although it's probably not particularly comforting, it's not dismissive.

"If it's an event, then it'll be over soon."

[endingpoint]

This is actually reassuring to hear, and she closes her eyes for a second and lets out a breath. "It'll end." Good. But then she frowns.

"You've...never seen me here and pregnant before?" And Kurt hadn't even known they were married.

What does that mean for when the event ends?

[noreason]

Naoki removes his hand now, glancing at it as though he's not totally sure what it was doing in the first place. Sentimentality isn't really his thing.

"Never." He looks up and meets her eyes again. "But you said I don't normally have red eyes. I didn't used to, but I don't remember ever leaving and coming back different."

[endingpoint]

"...So what's the truth, then?"

She notices he's just different, and her guard is a little more up. "I wasn't always pregnant here, I left and came back that way, but it was a while ago. We've definitely talked since then." Jane pauses before adding:

"You're one of my closest friends here."

[noreason]

That last part surprises Naoki and some of that manages to show through his stoic demeanor. Friends? He hasn't thought of anyone as a friend in a long time.

"I...see."

He shifts closer to her.

"I'm not sure if I see it that way."

There's no venom in that statement. It almost as though he's telling her that for her own good.

[endingpoint]

"You're different," she says, clearing her throat a little. She doesn't just mean the eyes, either. His entire demeanor.

"We bonded over my tattoos and your markings. Some of mine even glow now," she says, trying to smile but finding it's more of a frown.

"Whatever this is, I don't want this to be the truth. I've confided in you, Naoki. A lot. At least according to my own memories."

[noreason]

Naoki tilts his head as though looking at her from another angle will make this make a bit more sense.

"I don't think you're lying."

But maybe her memories are faulty.

"What's true...may be different for each person."

He's only half being philosophical. If this is an event, who knows what it's doing to them.