Waking the Dead 2.0 || August 13, 2063 || Saturday || The Mordechai Home

[icarusalsoflew]

[So before the real work in Europe starts, you've all got a free day to roam around the Mordechai Home and its rather beautiful surroundings. Everyone is more than welcome to stay the night.

The Cooley Peninsula's a lovely place, and this particular section is even prettier than the rest of the area. The house, in itself, is pretty interesting too.

Knock yourselves out, guys. This is turning out to be a pretty sweet vacation, isn't it?]


DESCRIPTION STUFF:
+ The house is an old-style Irish home made of brick and covered in ivy. It's got two floors (all five bedrooms are upstairs, and each one has a bathroom), an attic, and a basement. Everything's antique in here, and there is pretty much NOTHING Japanese in the house except Hikaru. The binding motifs: Christian symbols with a Celtic twist, blades, brambles and water.
+ First floor's got the kitchen with the dining area right next to it, and the living room with a fireplace. There's a porch up front.
+ The attic is full of old and interesting shit, and looks like a study. Hikaru's Brotherhood of Violence stuff is here.
+ The basement is the strangest area: half of it is a workshop-cum-armory with a map that expands an entire wall. It's full of old notes, post-its and photographs. Observers will note that this was Alistair's project from way back when - the beginnings of how he always managed to keep track of Hikaru. The other half is under lock and key; the door's a vault. It feels cold beyond it. VERY cold.
+ There's a beach that's about a three minute's walk down from the hill that the house is on. The ancestral Mordechai cemetery's a ten minute walk from the house, through rolling hills. Alistair's wife is buried there, as are Maes' wife and kids, Abel, and both Seth Mordechais.
+ ...And then there are fields for miles and miles, and mountains in the distance.
+ The Kearney home is actually a fifteen minute drive away from the Mordechai home. Nobody's in, though.

OTHER OOC NOTES:
+ Feel free to go anywhere you like. Ping me if you need descriptions.
+ Alistair will only return to the house by sunset. He's in the cemetery or roaming around in the forest. until then.
+ Feel free to make your own threads, or pop in to bug the NPCs at the threads I am putting up for them.

Comments

[mordechai]

You "think" you're okay.

[The emphasis is deliberate as he's taking a sip from that mug you got for him.

Might as well fess up, kid.]

[larue]

I mean, [ who is he kidding. This is Alistair Mordechai. ]

We're good. [ Saying that earnestly. ] We're really good, it's just...

...he's been acting strange.

[ Glancing your way now, brows slightly furrowed. ]

Really quiet. And he um, [ how exactly to put it... ] I suggested that we go out on a date and the I brought up movies, which I know is really not his thing and he just... said... okay.

[ He doesn't know if he's over-thinking this, but does that actually sound like Hikaru Shinta to you? He doesn't think so. Right? ]

[mordechai]

That's probably because he's trying to gear himself towards pleasing you at all cost.

[Hum.]

That only ever happens after a bad fall. You know how he is.

[Too good for his own good.]

[larue]

[ ...huh.

That... sort of makes... sense? ]

He's acting like a wary cat.

[ He didn't really mean to say that out loud but there you go. ]

[mordechai]

And that's a pretty accurate way of describing it.

[Looking amused as he's turning back to the tombstones, and to his cigarette.]

I don't think he knows what to do just yet. He thought he lost you, and he probably convinced himself for quite a bit that he had. Hence, having you back means that a part of him still thinks that he needs to be at his best and give in to whatever you want in order to keep you.

[larue]

[ ...oh. That's... incredibly humbling. ]

What do I do? To reassure him that he doesn't need to do that? Because I'm really not going anywhere.

[ Because all of this conplying to whatever he wants with very little question is honestly starting to unnerve him. Partocularly when it's plain to see that while the others are around, Hikaru effectively throws up a front to give the impression that he is perfectly fine. ]

[mordechai]

Take advantage of it. Call him out on it, then make sure that he knows that you're fine. Then let him indulge you, with a bit of guidance.

[Fucking him helps, but... telling you that is probably going to make you awkward. So.]

[larue]

[ He's going to light up one stick as he nods and takes all of that in. Most of it.

Taking advantage of the situation just strikes him as a bit unfair -- but you suggested it, and you've had more time with him.

After a while though, ] He broke down.

It was the most terrifying thing I've ever had to face.

[ It feels safe to tell you this. Just like it felt safe to talk with Aria. ]

[mordechai]

Usually is, especially if you're used to him being "fine".

[The emphasis is deliberate. You've talked plenty about strength already.]

[larue]

[ Nodding at that, and falling quiet as his gaze turns back to those tombstones. He and Hikaru had been here just that morning. And it had been good to laugh and joke around and talk.

Eventually, though, he clears his throat. ]

I'm going to head on back, sir. [ He offers a grateful smile towards the Seer. ] See you at the house?

[mordechai]

See you later.

[Then, with just that touch of Mordechai Grade dryness in his tone:]

Good luck.