[open] be strong and all will be alright

[overstrain]

I: 9/22 - it's worse than a dog's nose

[ Terry has been going for a walk in town in an attempt to soak up the sunshine in a really comfortable black hoodie jacket that seems a bit oversized, even for Terry's 5' 11" height. He did pick it out like this after all. Only his fingers would be peeking out of his sleeve, but he has his hands in his pockets while he has a dark blue hat over his head. What he's wearing doesn't... actually help absorb the sunshine directly, but he feels cozy enough. It's not that hot for him.

Though as he continues his stroll, he passes someone who has perfume or cologne on and he immediately covers his entire face with his sleeves (his hands are not showing) and doesn't move from his spot. That smell is way too strong for him--he feels like he's going to puke, but does his best to keep it in. He even whines to himself: ]

Why now...

[ Even though Terry himself is the one that reeks of cinnamon every single day, it still seems he can't smell his own identifier, no matter how strong his sense of smell gets. ]


II: 9/26 - demigods can catch a cold too

[ It was actually on the 24th that he started showing symptoms of a cold and he did get better enough that he can start walking around outside. However, some symptoms still linger. He has a sore throat and coughs every now and then, which really didn't help after his therapy session at the hospital. The hospital gave him several medical face masks because of it.

It's now the afternoon, he's plagued with the Truth Mechanism again, has a medical face mask over his nose and mouth, has glasses, and he's sure as hell not wearing his black hoodie jacket today. He sniffles sometimes and his sense of smell is brought down a lot, which is a small blessing. He looks pretty much down in the dumps though, and maybe that's because he's sick. He's miserable either way, but he just found out that Hibiki had joined the zombie horde, so it's pretty difficult to be happy right now while dealing with the cold.

He doesn't watch where he's going, spacing out with his thoughts as he continues walking and ends up bumping into someone. If you're good at dodging people, he'll just walk into the wall of a building instead, since he's just that out of it. Probably scared the stray cats in the vicinity too. ]

wildcard

[ He'll be going to either Dungeon again, so if you need a Dungeon thread with him for either one, you can hit him up! He'll be available to run Dungeons on any day except 9/24 and 25. Terry will be wearing glasses on and off from the 25th and he can only tell the truth from 9/24-9/30. Feel free to take advantage of that. You can always throw a different prompt at me! This is basically a catch-all log until the end of September.

For the Black Cat household, they'll be getting a set of couches on the 25th. Terry is shoving that into the living room, so feel free to make yourself useless on those. They're very comfortable. ]

Comments

ii

[compendiem]

[ Even if Terry's learned his lesson and takes care not to bump into every other person on the street, there's little helping him when he finally comes back home whatever time of day it is, and the open door suddenly becomes bright blue and solid, having run right into Minato who takes one look at his mask and glasses and goes ]

Who the hell are you?

[ A burglar trying to sneak into the Black Cat household... This isn't what Minato came here for, but he will destroy the burglar if needed; there will be no trace of the guy after he's through with him and nobody ever has to find out. ]

[overstrain]

[ ...

Terry squints at Minato and is trying to think what to say to that. He's not sure what to ask first, but let's start with the basics. ]

I swear to god if you came here to make that hellish stir fry again...

[compendiem]

[ That fact that this is the first thing to come to mind is kind of amusing, but Minato prefers it to "What the hell are you doing here?" ]

I'd make it again, but you're already losing a lot of people as it is. You really didn't like it? Pain releases endorphins.

[ Spicy stir fry and fire burgers should have made Terry happy; did it not work? ]

[overstrain]

I don't like pain...

[ He quietly grumbles, a little muffled by the face mask. It just reminds him of that absorb phys nonsense again and he'd like to forget about that. Please. He also can't forget about that one time when Kido thought it would be a good idea to call Minato over to cook and that Rei said that Minato's cooking is on par with his own. He can't just forget that after the stir fry, okay. That really hurt his pride. ]

Were you supposed to meet Kido at the house then?

[ He can't really think of another reason why Minato would be here. ]

[compendiem]

[ Terry doesn't like pain, and yet he's the one always bleeding everywhere. Sometimes it can't be helped, but other times...

Minato shakes his head. ]

Nah, Tsubomi doesn't like me.

[ That said, he glances over at the Velvet Room door, which used to be their front door, and the house behind it. ]

She's not home, is she...?

[ He would like to avoid Kido if at all possible. Sorry you died and all, Kido, but I refuse to thread with myself. ]

[overstrain]

Maybe...? I dunno. I was just coming back home after a long day outside, so I don't know whether she's inside or not. It's the same for Rei.

[ ... That being said though. ]

Can you get the portal away from my front door, at least... but if you're not here for Rei either, I can't think of a reason why you'd be here for me.

[ Kinda like how it's rare to see Minato coming out by himself... ]

[compendiem]

I came to see Rei, actually... But since you're here, I'll do you first. Come in.

[ The blue light fades away, leaving the front door as it was. Minato steps inside first, waving Terry in. Inviting him into his own house, yeah. ]

[overstrain]

[ ...

Terry isn't sure if he heard that right. He must still be sick. Yeah. He steps inside the house. ]

What are we doing...?

[compendiem]

Stuff.

[ Minato doesn't come with an itinerary, much less a general concept of what he wants to do. It's always a lot easier going along with whatever the other person wants to do, but he's the one imposing this time, so it's got to be him taking the lead.

Which he does by taking a seat on the kitchen counter, gesturing out to the living room. ]

You can sit wherever you want.

[ Terry doesn't need permission because it's his own house but... here it is anyways ]

wc

[reveilation]

[ Having been sleeping in the living room, it's very noticeable when the bulk of the floor space is now filled with extra furniture and the sleeper couch has to be pushed off to the side of the room. ]

Hey, Terrence. Do we have a warranty on the sleeper couch? Can we still return it and get our money back?

[overstrain]

It was on clearance, so there's no way to return it with the money back. Why?

[ He coughs once, but keeps that covered with his sleeve. ]

Is it because of the new couch? I thought you said you wanted two.

[reveilation]

Too bad. I wanted enough seats to fit at least six people, and I think this one covers twenty all by itself.

[ It's so huge, Kido can't help but keep circling the perimeter of it, wondering how in the world it even made it inside the house. ]

Rimi didn't happen to see how this got here, did it?

[overstrain]

I think it would seat ten people at most... but I guess it's pretty big. I can rearrange the furniture later so that they don't look weird next to each other.

[ Because the set is pretty closed off from three sides, and it's meant to be a standalone. He'll make the sleeper sofa fit somehow. ]

Rimi, replay footage September 25. Time 0 to 6. Fast forward three times.

[ Rimi opens its mouth to shine a projector on the wide wall of the living room, playing a sped up footage of its perimeter guard between 12AM to 6AM. It doesn't record any footage during Lockdown though, since it looks like the streetlights have been working all throughout recording. There doesn't seem to be anything weird going on. ]

[reveilation]

[ So, basically... Rimi sucks as a guard. Who could miss such bulky furniture being taken into the house? She can't really think of a way, so, with a sigh, Kido gives up and flops backwards on the couch-- and bolts upright again with a cry of surprise when something crinkles under her back, thinking she'd squashed a bug, oh god that's so gross.

But instead, it's the sticky note and Kido glares at it accusingly. ]

Hey, Terrence, come here and look at this.

[overstrain]

[ Terry gets Rimi to stop playing the footage and puts it near the window so it can soak up the sunshine because it's solar powered. When Kido calls for him, he walks his way over to her. ]

What is it?

[reveilation]

[ She peels the note off and leaves it stuck on her finger, holding her hand up so Terry can see. ]

What's it say?

[overstrain]

[ Terry squints at it and he realizes that it's in Jace's handwriting.

...

He misses him again. ]

"Please stop stealing my furniture. I have a mouth to feed and I can't feed it unless they're on this couch."

[ He almost laughs. ]

Jace wrote it. I can tell the sarcasm dripping from these words... he's probably referring to himself in that note.

[ He better be eating at the table instead, is what Terry thinks but after a quick glance over the couches, he sees that there is no stain whatsoever, so that might have been a joke. Yeah. ]

wc. 9/26

[reveilation]

[ Kido doesn't get back from the hospital until late afternoon, having a late start to the day because it was so hard getting up, and she needed that pit stop to pick up cold medicine too. At least she can swallow the tablets without worrying about taste, though her sense of taste is more or less nonexistent at this point.

By the time she gets home, she just wants to crash on the couch and be useless for three days, but it's already occupied. ]

...Terrence... Explain.

[ When Minato said Kido doesn't like him, he was right. She doesn't hate him, but... gestures at the sleeping Attendant on the couch. She doesn't have the patience to deal with him. ]

[overstrain]

[ Hm?

Oh. Terry looks over at the couch. This thing is dangerous if it can seriously make an Attendant useless like this. ]

He's, um... being punished.

[reveilation]

[ The floor can make Minato useless. He could probably sleep in the middle of the hell dungeon if he felt like it.

Kido makes her way around the couch, setting her bag of medicine and some light groceries on the kitchen counter before sitting down on one of the stools. ]

I think enforcing nap time is sort of the opposite of a punishment for him. But I don't want to know what happened. Is he staying for dinner? ...Did he come here to cook dinner?

[ She clearly didn't invite him, but maybe Rei did? ]

[overstrain]

No, he's just going to sleep. He's not getting any food.

[ Ehehehehe. ]

I'll cook dinner soon. Just ignore him. Are you doing okay with your cold?

[ It's... a cold, right? ]

[reveilation]

[ Wow, the true punishment comes into light now. ]

Yeah, the doctor said it's a cold, but that I shouldn't have waited until today, since it's pretty bad one. It's why my hands are so cold, I guess.

[ Not Nekogami being a dick, but sickness in general, a fever that makes everything hot and cold at the same time, and a wet cough that gets real annoying because it feels like there's something stuck in your throat you can't hack out, the sort of exhaustion that weighs down on your shoulders and fills the brain with static.

But it's just a cold. For now. ]

[overstrain]

[ Is this gonna be some sad Key story where someone dies from illness now, card. One Fear. ]

I never heard of cold hands being a symptom for a cold... but I guess doctors know more.

[ He goes into the kitchen and starts cooking preparations. He doesn't need a mask anymore, since he doesn't cough as much right now. ]

Can't taste anything?

[reveilation]

[ asfdlkjh I have enough canon deaths to update to if I decide to do that

Kido looks down at her hands, opening and closing them. It's just the fingers, really. She can still move them, and they don't prickle like they would if she were out in the winter without gloves. ]

Not well, but that's fine. I'm not really hungry either, so I'll just make chazuke later. You don't have to bother with my portion of dinner. What are you making?

[ It's like being back in the Dan again when they switched off cooking, and while Kido and Seto's cooking is good, Kano can probably only make one simple thing but at least they can expect what it is. ]

[overstrain]

I was gonna make some chicken tikka masala. I still need to make at least three portions anyway...

[ With how much of a drained shut in Rei has been lately, there might as well be three apathy syndrome people in this house right now. At least Terry asked Rei to make some cranes for the room decoration, so she does that from time to time. ]

You sure you don't want any?