blessingone | [backdated to October 30]

[So, Fenimore has been hermiting away in House 34 for the past few days. She really isn't liking where the village was going. Okay, so there are spiders and rats (bats are okay, assuming they didn't learn about the myth of flying into people's hair). Okay, so there are ghosts everywhere (even if she'd so far been safe from pranks, since Grune was a very good source of the candy they demanded). But mostly.........it's foggy.

It sounds silly to say, but that's the part that spooks her the most. A couple of years ago, things went pretty bad when it got misty, so she's feeling extremely jumpy. Of course, holing up in House 34 really hadn't worked for her at that time, even with Shirley around to help, and she'd rather abandon ship completely, but right now, she's the only one left to look after Sophie. And Grune. Maybe the latter even more so. So she's going to have to suck it up.

But then Grune's unstoppable thirst for baking has started to empty the fridge and Grune's attempts at shopping were often...less than successful. If it was just her, she'd honestly prefer to go hungry than venture out into the foggy village, but Sophie is a little kid and shouldn't be made to go without. So, it is time to gird her loins and....

...ask the village for advice.]

[Voice]

Hey. [She sounds rather subdued compared to her normal.] Has anyone...seen anything strange around? I mean -- not the ghosts or anything. Well, maybe the ghosts. Are they really just asking for candy? [She's not really sure whether she'd have to worry about them if she goes out during the day, but she hasn't exactly investigated about them, either.]

But...what I meant was...seeing things that aren't there, or...hearing things in the mist. That sort of thing. It's just...it's not usually this quiet around this time of year. [You know. Draft aside. But she hasn't heard much about that yet.] I wasn't sure if it was really safe to go out right now.

[Okay, that should do it. Although....] ...Thanks, I guess.

[Okay, now done.]

[Action]

[Late in the afternoon of the 30th, she'll have finally ~~run out of milk~~ worked up the nerve to go out, so she can be found trying to make her way to the grocery store. It's not always a smooth journey, though. Aside from the rats and spiders on both ways, it starts to get dark before she manages to get all the way back -- such is what happens when you put things off too long -- and ghostly activity picks up. Now that she's not in the house that gives away so many treats, she is a fine target for pranks. Pranks which include (but are not limited to) invisibibly picking her up by her grocery bag until her feet start to leave the ground, kicking wildly. Ghosts, man. Bad business.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I haven't see anything! I mean, the ghosts are kinda tricky, but they aren't bad as ghosts go. They party hard, even!

...Party hard?

Yeah! I've been partying with them in the square at night!

You're partying with ghosts?

[So maybe he encounters the supernatural a lot, being an exorcist, but come on, man, that sounds like a bad idea.]

Yeah! They're way cooler than that brat I met back home, just sort of loud and silly. You should join us!

I decline, thanks. [She has a "no ghosts" policy, which she has invented just now. Besides, he said they were....] What kind of tricky were you talking about?

Like pranks and stuff?

[Wow Fen Fen...]

...So you're telling me that these mysterious ghosts suddenly appearing in the village are...basically acting like children when their parents aren't watching?

[This does not seem to be the standard Malnosso Halloween M.O.]

Yeah, basically. That's what the last ghost I met back home was like too though, so I don't think it's weird.

...You meet a lot of ghosts, then?

[Though, with her vague recollection of what an exorcist is, that does make some sense. And she did note that he said he'd only met one other, but she is being a little sarcastic.]

Just one, but he was a real punk.

You make it sound almost normal.

Well if it's normal, then it's normal. It's not like I can help what's normal, you know!

But it's not -- ! [Okay, she can see where this could descend into fruitless bickering. Reining her tone in with a deep breath.] Most people wouldn't say it's normal.

Yeah, but for me it's normal, just like for you, havin' a kid's normal or for Shirahoshi, being like thirty feet tall's normal.

I --

[She stops herself. Before, she might have argued that his normal is not a normal normal, but she's had this conversation before and she's learned that it's rude to insist that people are wrong. ...More than once, but it's slow to sink in.]

...Well, fine. I just wouldn't have expected that it was. [Her memory of his world from that experiment is pretty fuzzy outside of the Impure King stuff. ...And him getting friendzoned by Shiemi, that was pretty much secured in her mind.]

Ah, yeah... [He considers] Okay, I guess while it's normal, it's not like I've seen a lot of them. But people need some help passin on all the time. Otherwise, we wouldn't have funerals.

[She doesn't really want to talk funerals -- it reminds her that she knows a lot of people who didn't get them -- but...well, whatever. She dismisses those depressing thoughts.]

I don't know if I'd say that's the only reason there are funerals. It helps the people attending them, too.

...Yeah, probably. I know how that is.

[And he says this with a little sigh. Yeah, he knows. Father Fujimoto's stands out in his mind]

[She smiles a little thinly in reply. But rather than getting into a topic with the potential of turning as serious as that with him, she chooses retreat instead.]

I really should go for the groceries before it gets dark. [Dark...er, probably. It might be getting close to sunset by this point.] Friendly ghosts or not, I'd rather get back before they come out.

That makes sense. ...But if they're giving you trouble later, just give me a call. I am an exorcist, after all.

Well -- ["you have to be good for something." ...She still thinks this guy is an idiot, especially after some of the things that happened the past summer, but...he's not a bad idiot. And, if he is an idiot, she should probably keep from being too harsh. He might take it too seriously.

So, after a moment's pause, she continues:] Well, I'll keep that in mind.