Event Log #005

[caelumstaff]

EVENT LOG number 005 Happy February, folks! The hotel is chugging along as it always does and nothing really seems that out of the ordinary, actually. Mr Bennet is at the front desk as per usual, greeting new guests, checking out old ones, generally being mediocre at his job but there's something a little... off about him this morning. A little more Springtime focused. Is it the suit? No, no, that's the same as it always is. Is it the face? No, Mr Bennet's face is unable to be perceived by eyes as per usual. No, it's the — The bunny ears? HOP TO IT It seems Mr Bennet has developed a pair of bunny ears and a tail overnight, but he's not the only one. Every staff member and guest of the hotel will find that they have grown a pair of animal ears and a matching tail when they wake up that morning. It's nekomimi time, y'all! But not just neko, characters will find themselves with all categories of ears and tails. Cats, dogs, rabbit, deer, fish. Whatever animal best suits the characters are what they'll find themselves sporting. For all intents and purposes, these will be part of your characters bodies and real additional limbs. It will hurt if someone hurts them and they will bleed if someone cuts them. There will be some added bonuses as well as characters will also take on the traits of the animals they become. However players want to interpret this is up to them — it can be light like a cat person just being more aloof or heavy like a spider person having multiple eyes and limbs. Whatever is most fun for the player and most hectic for the character, of course. This effect will last till the end of the month. Of course, an additional note: For characters who already have animal ears and/or tails — they will either keep those ears and tails and develop more traits of that animal. Or they can become something entirely different for the month. Player preference! ANIMAL CRACKERS Mr Bennet has found this to be hysterical though so he has set up a stall in the main lounge that's advertising animal crackers. They're a little less cracker and more cookie though, and larger than the traditional animal cracker. They also come in all shapes and sizes. If you can think of the animal, you can have an animal cracker with it. There is a dog cracker. There is a whale cracker. There is a spider cracker. All kinds of things. Even fictional animals, like gryphons and dragons! The only catch is — once your character eats the cracker they will become that animal entirely. This is probably tipped off by the bunny rabbit hopping around the lounge in a little hotel jacket, huh. Thanks Mr Bennet. The effect of these crackers will last as long as the player prefers and characters are free to eat another cracker and become another animal afterwards. One thing though, as the animal, characters will still be able to speak in animal form. So there's that! The animal crackers will also be available till the end of the month. NAV | PREMISE | RULES | FAQ | TAKEN hotelcaelum | caelumserver | caelumooc

Comments

[eyescar]

( 001 ) arrival

[ The ding announces Yuji's arrival better than anything else does, and for a little while he looks utterly shellshocked, standing in the middle of the lobby as he tries to figure out where he ought to go and what he ought to be doing, with everything a little too explosive in his mind. Wrapping his mind around everything is a difficult task when it still feels as though there's charcoal or the metallic taste of blood on his tongue; he's here for a reason.

He chose to be here. It's better to be here at home, even if the anxiety of leaving everything behind makes him feel as though he might break into pieces right now. He has a room he can go to, and that seems like the best option, considering his instinct is to break down and cry himself into exhaustion for a few hours. Feeling a little bit like he's scraping himself off the floor, he begins to make his way up to the room on his keycard.

Along the way, it would be easy enough to stop him and force him into a conversation - he's not trying to get anywhere fast, not when it looks as if someone has cut the very heart out of him, and he doesn't do much more than nod at anyone he comes across. Clearly, something bad has happened and Yuji is doing his best to compartmentalise it all and make it make sense, even though that is practically impossible. ]

( 002 ) hop to it

[ "Settled in" might not be something that Yuji would claim to have done thus far, but he's feeling a little bit better about the whole situation.

Or he was, before the dog ears appeared on top of his head, a cute pink tail flicking behind him.

Having wandered away from his room, he's ended up hovering in the middle of a random hallway, lifting his hand and tweaking at the ears on top of his head. They twitch, one way then the other, and then flatten to the top of his pink hair as his tail droops. For someone who tries very hard to hide how they're feeling - let's pretend everything is fine and he doesn't feel like crying at all times! - this is a pretty distinct way of showing off the ongoing heartache that he's suffering through.

At one point during his wandering, however, Yuji stops and stands straight, as if someone's shoved a bamboo pole down his shirt. His eyes widen, and his head tilts one way then the other, painfully doglike as he sniffs the air. There's something that's caught his attention, but he's struggling to place what it is - he never scented his mentors as a doglike hybrid before, so he can't quite figure out what is going on other than he wants to find them.

So, throughout the day, you might find what seems like a teenager with the zoomies running around the hotel, trying desperately to find something that he can't place. ]

Excuse me! I need to get by!

( 003 ) animal crackers

[ Yuji has got to stop eating weird things.

He should've known from the ears and then the shape of the crackers, but he was hungry and he grabbed the first one that he could get his hands on, swallowing it down without hesitation. As a consequence - well, there's now a rather bright pink akita inu sitting in the main lounge, eyes comically wise as he looks around the room from the new angle of much, much lower to the ground. ]

Huh?

[ Lifting himself up onto his legs, Yuji turns and twists, as though he's trying to chase his tail, before he drops down to the ground with a low, whine-like groan. ]

I gotta stop eating weird things.

( 004 ) wildcard

( Feel free to do anything and everything else that you want! I am brand new and finding my footing, so do whatever. PM me and we can figure something out if you like! <3 )

2! jjk spoilers very very very imminent

[nonexempt]

[ Yuji isn't the only one who picks up a Specific Scent and has a very hard time placing it. It smells familiar, and a bit like home, and he doesn't know why it's making him a bit sad to smell but it is regardless. The blond wolf ears at the top of his head flatten slightly as he finds himself getting up from his seat in the lounge, where he's been drinking tea and minding his business, and instead takes off in search of the scent.

It requires a bit of ... hunting, for lack of a better word, for him to find the source of the scent. He smells it initially on the first floor but then it takes him up the stairs to another floor... and then back down the stairs to another floor — it's a little confusing but. Nanami isn't deterred though, because all it takes is some slow, steady following of the scent until he finally catches up with it.

And there's Yuji. Nanami is frozen in place for a moment, not having expected to, well, ever see Yuji again. Their last moments replay in his mind and he swallows, feeling very much like turning away for a moment and going back to his room. To hide, really. Like a coward. His tail pins itself to his back, feeling a little too much at once and it's because of his hesitancy that the choice to run or to confront Yuji is taken away from him.

Because Yuji will turn and be able to see Nanami, right there, staring at him. He just looks right back at Yuji when their eyes meet and then, quietly — ]

Itadori.

oh so many spoilers so much grief

[eyescar]

[ The smell is so achingly familiar that it makes Yuji want to wrap himself up in it; it makes him feel safe, comforted, somehow, but he can't quite place what it is or why he would ever feel that way. Instead, it makes him feel a rush of energy inside of him, thrumming through him as he runs back and forward to try and figure out where to go and what to do with the sudden rush of panic.

His ears are pricked up, his hands are shaking, and he doesn't know why.

In the middle of a floor, the scent hits him hard, his eyes widening. He tries to skid to a halt, but rather than managing to keep any measure of control over himself, he stumbles forward, losing control of his momentum at such high speeds. It means that instead of crashing into the solid weight of Nanami's body, Yuji crashes straight into the wall face-first. ]

Oww...

[ Peeling himself back, he twists his body, nose a little sore and probably about to bleed, but - right there, in front of him, looking fine is... Nanamin. His Nanamin, and if this is some kind of trick or joke then it's really, really not funny.

He said his name, and Yuji can feel the tears welling up in his eyes, even as his nose throbs. Wobbling, he stumbles forward, breathless. ]

No way... Nanamin, there's... There's no way...

[ He wobbles a little, lifting his hand to cover his mouth to try and choke back the sobs that are already rising up through his throat. It's only been a few weeks since Shibuya and Yuji Itadori has lost so much that he feels as though he's going to throw up the hurt of hoping too hard. ]

[nonexempt]

[ He blames himself immediately for the fact that he isn't able to stop Yuji from running face first into the wall. He'd rather him have run into Nanami himself so then he could have caught him. But that's really just a small thing to worry about on the edge of the much bigger worries they have — such as, what is Yuji doing here? What's happened since they last saw each other? And why are the eye scars gone from his face?

But Yuji is wobbling and looks like he's going to burst into tears so Nanami shifts his mind into action rather than inaction. His tail drops down again into a natural position and he takes a few steps forward towards Yuji, his hands reaching out to grab his shoulders and steady him slightly. He doesn't need to fall down on him now. ]

How's your nose? That looked like it hurt.

[ That's... probably not what he expected their first conversation after everything to be but here he is, here they are. ]

[eyescar]

That... That's not important...?

[ As if his nose is the issue right now, when Nanami is in front of him, touching him, real and solid. It doesn't even matter that they both look a little different with their odd new animal parts - none of that matters when he can tilt his head up and stare at him, his breathing coming a little harder. It feels like he's going to have some kind of panic attack, but he doesn't let it get that far, swallowing back the overwhelming rush of emotions.

Nanami is dead. He watched him die at Mahito's hand, watched all of it happen - is this death for him, too? Did Sukuna turn from Gojo-sensei and set his sights on his former vessel, to rip him apart? For all that this hotel claimed to be voluntary, to grant wishes, all the other things Yuji's heard, what if it's just another life after one had been stolen?

Why is he so happy amongst all his grief?

It isn't fair, to have this carrot dangled in front of him, as if Nanami standing in front of him can undo the weeks of horrors and nightmares that he's been living through. It shouldn't be acceptable, but he suffers it all the same, his eyes filling with more and more tears until they're running down his cheeks, Yuji slumping forward to rest his face on Nanami's chest without hesitation. When he lifts his arms it's slow, robotic, as if he's worried the other might just disappear from his grip.

He's crying now, inescapable, sniffling as he tries to muster some kind of self-control - but he can't, the emotions getting the better of him and leaving him to sob, broken against the warmth of someone he had missed like a limb torn from him. ]

Nanamin... How are you... I - I'm sorry, you -

[ It's hard enough to breathe right now, let alone speak. ]

3!

[boneface]

[ HELLO. There is a very excited golden retriever bounding up to you, Yuji, and sniffing your... butt. Yeah. It's not like he was coming by to do it on purpose!! He was just coming by to say hello because he saw the other boy get changed into a dog and, well, as another boy who ate a cookie and then immediately became a dog, he thought there was some solidarity there.

But then he got there and suddenly his nose was sniffing Yuji's backside, and then his tail before he suddenly sneezes, very dog like, and looks back up at Yuji. ]

Hey! Hi! Sorry, you smell good. It's nice to meet ya!

[ He is VERY EXCITED. And VERY CONFUSED. And mostly just having a dog brained day, really. But his tail is wagging in excitement, so please know he's only here with positive intent. ]

[eyescar]

[ Yuji jerks away a little as soon as the other guy gets too close, and there's a low noise that sounds a little bit like a growl before he gets control of himself and settles. Pushing himself up to his legs, head tilting, he watches for a moment; obviously this must be another person that's eaten a cookie, just like him, so it eases some of the confusion, but... His butt? Really?

Slowly, like an old fan that's been kicked to start, Yuji's tail begins to wag and he huffs a soft noise. ]

It's nice to meet you too. You smell... Excited?

[ Can you smell excitement on someone? Apparently so. ]

[boneface]

[ He definitely jerks back a little at the growl(?) and looks apologetic, though his tail is still wagging like crazy. He cannot help himself. He is just!! So pumped!! Listen, he knows butt smelling is weird but he could not help himself with that either. It just drew him in, like a moth to the flame.

But when Yuji's tag begins to wag, Ryuji's tag wags some more and he's so excited that his lower legs end up giving out and he just sits there, tag still wagging against the floor. ]

I ate a cookie and became a dog and it's actually kind of, I dunno, fun? So I guess that's why! I hope I'm not a dog forever but for now is kind of cool. I saw that the same thing happened to you so wanted to come over and say hi.

[ A pause. ]

Hi.

[eyescar]

[ His own doggish instinct is to nudge back into Ryuji and nuzzle, or at least flick his tail against his face, or something to be gently apologetic, but he doesn't quite have the instinct down yet. Instead, he sits himself down and tilts his head, tail moving back and forward.

Even if he might be against butt sniffing, he's always down to make a new friend. ]

I did the same... I already had dog ears, so I guess that might be part of it?

[ Weird stuff happens to him a lot, and this isn't necessarily the weirdest, so... At least this kind of makes sense

Kind of.

Leaning forward, he grins, as much as a dog can grin. ]

I'm Itadori Yuji!

1

[airdnd]

[ The thing about being the innkeeper for a very quaint, very magical world-crossing ye olde fantasy inn targeted at adventurers is that... she very often does see weary travelers wandering in. Groups exhausted after a full day's travel and random encounters, or intrepid adventurers fresh from a challenging bout of exploration or confrontation with who-knows-what... She's seen a lot.

No, she doesn't work at Hotel Caelum, but she does very often linger around the concierge to converse with staff, and many of the friends she's made here have been ecstatic around their arrival, ready to kick back and relax on their indefinite vacation. But the guest that walks in now, is—

Not. He reminds her more of those downtrodden adventurers from home than anyone else here has. He also... looks familiar, but she can't quite place him. He couldn't have been one of her guests -because she remembers each and every one of them. Wher has she seen this face before...?

She can't help but approach - uh, mouse ears and tail and all - and quietly call out: ]

Excuse me? Young sir?

[eyescar]

[ Happiness has been somewhat of a foreign concept for Yuji over the last few weeks, and that has carried over into this realm, even if he'd rather leave it all behind. It's hard to shrug off weeks and weeks of fighting, of putting himself on the line and not seeming to get anything in return, of risking himself and feeling like he's going to fall apart rather than put himself together and be stronger for it.

Knowing he's safe here, knowing that there might be some break from the horrors of it all, doesn't ease any of the tension or burden that hangs on his shoulders, and he can't help the way he jumps when he hears a voice call out for him. Instinct has him twitching to raise his fists, but... He doesn't need to fight here, does he? He doesn't have to risk it.

Maybe. He's not sure yet.

Blinking at the mouse ears, Yuji stares briefly before gathering his manners and stepping forward, giving the stranger an awkward little bow. If he's half-asleep on his feet, he doesn't think he can be blamed. ]

Hey... Yuji Itadori here.

[airdnd]

[ For a fleeting moment, that inkling of recognition starts to take form in her mind, but before she can mistake him for someone else entirely, the young sir blessedly introduces himself.

Yuji Itadori... He doesn't know this woman with pointed half-elf ears and stars in her eyes, but the shift in her features seems to convey, plainly, that she very much recognizes him by name. Blinking in disbelief for a moment, she then tries to offer the same awkward little bow, splaying a hand on her chest as she does so. ]

Ah, I'm Sumina Heartleaf. Welcome, Yuji... I apologize for my reaction just now, I— [ she clears her throat ] I've heard of you from your teacher, Mister Gojo.

[eyescar]

Ahh... Gojo-sensei?

[ The look in his eyes is one of stung pain, as if the words are enough to lift him up by the throat and punch him right in the gut. If he looked miserable before, the mention of his teacher seems to be enough to make Yuji appear closer to bursting into tears. He has to lift his hands and rub at his face to force himself to calm down and try and think it through.

Gojo-sensei... How could she have met Gojo-sensei? Unless he came here for a while during the prison - but he's - he shakes his head. He's really dumb, isn't he? None of this makes sense, and he's too tired to really process it all.

He just tries to give Sumina a weak little smile. It doesn't work that well. ]

That's okay. I... I didn't think Gojo-sensei would be here...?

2

[feyfound]

[ Did someone say zoomies!? There's a young lady joining Yuji with rabbit ears and a tail, as well as... a little unicorn horn on her forehead? Strange... But she's enthusiastic, and apparently unafraid of confronting a doglike person, sprinting alongside him rather than, you know, away from him. ]

Hi! Where are we running to!?

[ "We" !? ]

[eyescar]

[ Yuji blinks, but he's far too accustomed to strangers joining him - and adopting him, actually - that he doesn't even hesitate to nod his head. It's pretty cool that she's at least trying to keep up with him, but he isn't going full-force down the hallways just yet; he's trying not to end up smashing his face into things or tripping and breaking a leg.

His tail is wagging behind him, and he has no idea why. ]

I can smell something, so I'm trying to find it!

[feyfound]

[ To her credit, Juniper doesn't seem to have any problems keeping up with him for now! She's rather athletic, herself, though probably not to Yuji Itadori levels... ]

Oohh!? That makes sense, you're a doggy! Whatcha smelling!? A powerful enemy?

2!!!! spoilers also imminent...

[unliminal]

[ Not unlike Nanami, Gojo has allowed himself to get lax — too lax, really, but that's what happens when you spend almost half a year in a cushy hotel while waiting our your indeterminate, interdimensional prison sentence. Still, old habits die very, very hard, and the instincts he has fine-tuned to sense even the slightest of shifts remain as sharp as ever. That's doubly true this month, when he finds himself endowed with cat ears and a fluffy white tail, and an aloof sense of incoming danger. Oooor paranoia, perhaps, that a dog could come barreling around a corner at any moment, but as that's about to come true, it's entirely justified.

Of course, whatever information his feline instincts feed him are immediately overwritten, because he is still every bit the sorcerer he's always been, and the signature of Yuji's cursed energy is unmistakable, like bursts of color that streak across the heightened perception of his Six Eyes. That's —

Yuji may already be racing towards him, but Gojo isn't one to stand around and wait for anything, much less one of his students. With the signature crackle of his technique, he makes quick work of teleporting to close the distance between them, landing just a few meters in front of Yuji, but before he can collide with Limitless, Gojo has both hands reaching out to catch him by the shoulders and abruptly stop him in his tracks. ]

Kinda disrespectful to run through the halls. Didn't your teacher ever show you proper manners?

[ A customary greeting, by Gojo standards, but the relief is still evident in his features, obscured only by a pair of sunglasses. Relief that...flickers, for only a moment, but that's long enough. Long enough for him to tell that isn't just his feline nature that alerted him to distress and danger, to things not being as they were.

Sukuna...is gone. That's a good thing. That's a good thing, right? ]

sorry for your life gojo sensei

[eyescar]

[ Yuji was absolutely prepared to crash into the wall or find himself tripping down the stairs, given how little attention he's paying to where he's going. He's more focussed on the scent, of finding it, the panic rising and making his hair stand up on edge, tail twitching behind him and ears flicking one way and then the other. He has no idea why he's so desperate about it, why he's pushing himself when he feels so bone tired, but -

- but then there are hands, resting on his shoulders to stop him crashing, there's a familiar feeling and a familiar voice, and his breathing gets caught up in his throat. Yuji really doesn't expect to see Gojo when he lifts his head, anticipating some kind of trick or deception instead, but his sensei is right there, sunglasses and all, the familiar aura of his power a pressure against Yuji's own. He stares at the man in front of him for a moment before the emotions inevitably get the better of him. ]

My teacher...? No, he made me watch movies, right?

[ The utter disbelief as he gazes at Gojo shows just how rocked he is by the presence of the other man, and then it gets worse. Rather than just staring at Gojo, Yuji's eyes begin to well up and his face scrunches with emotion, the tears hitting him and starting to spill over. He'd spoken to Sumira-san who'd said she'd seen Gojo, but actually seeing him in person was something altogether different. Yuji's hands lift to touch Gojo's arms, to test to see if he was real, before he breaks.

He doesn't exactly throw himself into Gojo's arms as much as he does collapse forward, trusting, despite the infinity that Gojo has, that the other man will probably catch him. He's been able to hug Gojo-sensei before, after all, without being blocked. Head bowed, all Yuji can do is let the sobs overtake him. ]

he did this to himself (mostly)

[unliminal]

[ Sorcerers train to act, to funnel their emotions into their cursed energy without stopping to lose themselves in the depths of what they're feeling. There's a fine line, between acknowledging your emotions and tumbling head-first into them, but at walking that tightrope, Gojo Satoru is the best of the best. And yet — lately, since arriving here, he remembered a thing or two about just letting himself experience emotions, giving them due weight in his soul without punching them straight into the well of cursed energy within him. It's that selfsame experience that he goes through right now, when Yuji collapses forward into his arms, that he doesn't brush it off with some kind of teasing or laughter. Something has changed, irrevocably, from the last time he saw Yuji, before they were even dispatched from Jujutsu High for their respective missions in Shibuya.

He's never seen Yuji like this before. Not even after he'd returned in the wake of the incident with Patchface and Yoshino. Without a second thought, Limitless melts away so he can catch Yuji in his arms, winding around the younger man's shoulders. One knee folds so the floor can support them instead; he kind of thinks they both might need it right now.

Because Gojo, too, is swept up, his heart racing along with his mind, as he tries to piece together what little he can from the information afforded to him. Nanami had told him the Shibuya mission was ultimately a success, that Yuji had been able to exorcise the cursed spirit that had haunted him for so long, yet here Yuji is, scarred and changed, falling against him and sobbing, without the distinct presence of Sukuna in him any longer. Did that mean...

...the one thing that only he could forestall. Something he could no longer put a stop to, bound by the Prison Realm as he still is. They didn't execute him, did they? But if they had, how could he even be here? ]

...Yuji. [ His tone is strained, but still calm. Despite the visceral need to know, to understand that clenches at his gut, he's not going to put his own needs above Yuji's. ] Hey. I've got you, okay? You're safe here.

[ It's the best he can offer right now, the reassurance of his own strength. ]

001

[runir]

[New as he is, with everything so alien, his eyes are keen and observant -- and it isn't difficult to spot someone who looks like he's had his heart hollowed out of him. (He's seen it in the eyes of those back home; the Lands Between was rarely so kind to those who had something precious to lose, for the ailing continent stagnated all who resided there for too long, caught in a cycle now broken.)

That is to say: he's not unpacked his things, though he hardly has much to unpack, so he still has a crystal-tipped staff hitched to his back, which he deftly unhitches to reach out and... poke at the young man crossing this way.]

You there.

[hi]

[eyescar]

[ Look. He's been called worse things in his time.

Exhausted, Yuji is trying to keep it together and, probably, failing, if the way people are looking at him is any indication. The last thing he wants is to cause people problems, or give any kind of issues, but he can't help how heavy his heart is or how badly he carries the burdens of it all. He just aches, all over, and nothing is going to fix that right now.

Then he's poked, and he blinks, staring down at the staff. ]

... Me?

[runir]

...That's right. You.

[He lowers his staff, though, having no other intent than to catch this young man's attention with it. Rowan withdraws it with a twirl, hitching it to his back again.]

I hear this place is meant to act as... a "vacation." Away from aught that ails us. Is that not right?

1

[cuteshit]

[Being a newer arrival himself, Kanji is still trying to find his way around this place a couple of weeks into his stay— the hotel is bigger than Inaba's entire shopping district and then some, so it's definitely taking some getting used to, but he's sure as hell getting a lot of exercise, going up and down these hallways.

Actually, aside from the fact that there are no shadows around, exploring this place feels... weirdly familiar. Kind of comforting, if lonely.

Today, however, he finds that he's not alone in this particular corridor when he turns a corner, doing so just in time to see someone emerge from the elevator looking... shit. Real bad.]

Yo!

[He doesn't know this guy from Adam, but he's clearly been in a fight. He would know.]

Hey, man, you okay?

[eyescar]

[ Yuji thinks he's going to get sick of being asked that question.

He can't really blame any of the people here, all things considered; he doesn't want to be rude, either, so when he spots Kanji and realises the question is directed at him, he manages to lift his hand and attempt a weak, half-assed smile. Never let it be said that Yuji Itadori wanted anyone to worry about him, even someone he doesn't know.

One hand rubs over his face as he nods. ]

I think so... I think I'm still pretty confused.

[ And miserable, but that's not the point, is it? ]

I'm good.

[cuteshit]

Yeah?

[If the guy says he's good, then he's good— Kanji knows how he feels when people start needling him with questions, and he gives a shrug. Hey, buddy, if you say so.]

I can definitely get feelin' confused. I'm pretty new here. You just wanderin' in?

[He'd probably have to, to look that rough. Nothing here would have made him look like that, right?]