Starring:
Summary: Matt's nose leads him to a friend's place.
Date It Happened: February 7, 2002
Unexpected Visitors for a Fox
Zeke's Shrine
The hours are getting late, it's the last run for the buses. Buses that are already running 10 minutes late, and nowhere in sight. If there is anything Matthew has right now it's patience, thought, and his feet absolutely ache right now. He pushes his hands into his pocket and pulls out some coins and some cash. "After the buss ride… damn it. Less than ten bucks. Well… I hope she likes sandwiches…"
Its delicate at first, just a subtle hint of something familar on the wind. Down the road a little, but at first theres too much foreign food smell. Something fried, and something else that smelled maybe like tofu? Underneath that, is the smell of a fox. Its almost not clear its Ezekiel at first, theres no leather or gunoil along for the ride but after a second little gust it becomes crystal clear. Its Ezekiel alright, but its Ezekiel without the guns. No, this is Ezekiel with food!
Matt may have the nose, but the experience is lacking. It takes him quite awhile to even notice the smell, and even then it's only on a subconscious level. Looking down the street… still no bus. He shakes his head, gets up, and starts to walk. Subconscious or not, however, he's following that nose of his.
The smell gets stronger rapidly, fried food of somekind at least! Theres a dimly lit alley, kept from darkness only by the spilling of cheap incandescent bulbs and the backdoors of opened kitchens. Theres a bike there too of course, trimmed in Silver, White and red and bearing no small amount of Ezekiel's scent. That too was different however, immediately identiable of course but then again you'd never seen EZ up close while he was a human right? Could this be, where the fox parked his wheels before parading about like a costumed kid?
You paged Ezekiel with 'Ah, pagin' this to ya so I don't have to pose it in, but Matt's been cleaned up with a new set of clothes and the works at this point. Smells a lot better than the bum he would have smelled like a bit before. But the blood smell, its still there, fresh as ever.'
Ezekiel whispers: Roger, Ezekiel would already describe matt as "Blood boy" so no worries.
You paged Ezekiel with 'Blast… I don't know whats worth, Blood Boy, Bingo, or Puppy. He's sure collecting embarassing nicknames…'
You paged Ezekiel with 'Worth = worse.'
The closer he gets, the more familiar it all seems. Completely cleaned up this time, only Matt's shoes betray he street urchin nature just a week prior. Still though, his careful steps and knowing posture carry him through the ally as if it were home, or as close to it as anything ever is. "Hello?" he calls out, not wanting to surprise anyone. When he passes the bike, he tilts it towards him an inch, giving it a long consideration.
"Goodness, talk about unexpected dinnerguests."and from the back window of a shop down the alley some, peers a fox. Its fur is a familar size, and the voice is certainly familar but Ezekiel it seems is running about in a less supernatural shape at the moment."Why dont you come in and join me, there is somone here who would greatly like to meet you."
"I, uhm, I really can't stay…" Matthew begins to answer as he gently lets the bike set back down and he cranes his neck back to the exit of the ally… just in time to see his buss pass by. He scrunches his face in defeat and gives a frustrated sigh. After a moment he decides "Alright, looks like I'm walking, anyway." and he comes inside.
The door's open, but heavy none the less. Inside its dark, so dark its almost black save for a few candles. "Take your shoes off before coming in further, your in a holy place now."The voice is soft, and sure enough as soon as the door shuts you can barely hear whats outside. Its not a very large room here, with a finely polished hardwood floor and stone foxes which flank a small shrine which holds only a mirror. Theres but one candle for light in here, though soon enough a pale young woman dressed in white lights a small lantern to better illuminate the room. Theres a generious spread layed out, a few full plates of sushi of all varying degrees. "Have you ever met a ghost before?"
Ezekiel pops down from the window sill, and slips quietly over to sit by the sushi with his tail curled about his paws not unlike a cat might. The young woman however, is not quite right. Her features are pale, as is her uniform of course. She seems at first to be of uncompromising beauty, her fine black hair spilling down one shoulder. When she moves to set the lamp down however, it quickly becomes apparent that her form slowly becomes less solid until it vanishes entirely where her feet should be.
Matt's heart begins to absolutely race when he figures out that the gorgeous girl was indeed a ghost. It wasn't her feet that had his attention. (Hey! He's a teenage boy, give him a break!) "I've seen a lot of weird stuff since coming here… but no… not a ghost." He does as he's instructed with the shoes, but he has to sit down to do it, and considering that duct tape is still involved in their construction… it is gonna take him a minute.
"She wont hurt you, she's just lost right now. Please, sit down and eat."Ezekiel seems distracted in the meantime, peering curiously at the shrine. "Your at one of the only shrines to Inari in California, not very many people know about it. So I would appreciate it, if you kept its location a secret."Meanwhile, the girl sort've filters back to kneel behind and to the side of Ezekiel. Hands folded in her lap, and as soon as she bows her head she begins to slowly flicker and fade until you can only just barely make it out. "Also, its ok if you come here alone but you should never eat the offerings without me here. Inari might take great offence, as these offerings are essentially for her messengers. Its ok, because I'm sharing my food with you and all but."he pauses, eyes flickering your direction. "It would be fantastically terrible, lets just leave it at that."
"Gotcha. Keep it secret, keep it safe." Matt answers with just the hint of a Gandalf impersonation in his voice. When the shoes come off, quite a bit of sand accompanies it. "And… I promise not to eat the food." There, all his basis covered. He's a little uncertain as he comes into the room proper, keeping a healthy distance from the shrine, talking fox, and ESPECIALLY the ghost. "If she's lost… are you helping her find her way home?"
"You can eat it now, please do. I cant eat all of this by myself, and they'll just throw this away if it starts to spoil."The fox peers back at said ghost, and likewise discussion of her prompts the pretty young girl to peek upwards and suddenly solidify to flash a smile before she looks down oncemore. "I am trying, but she doesnt speak. Onryo, japanese ghosts are very strange. Its rare to find one just wandering, normally they exist only to seek vengence to somone who wronged them. "He flats his ears, embarrassed perhaps that he isnt really a know it all. He changes the subject, by snatching a bit of Inari-zushi from the plate to artfully work it away.
While he is getting regular meals again, old habits die hard. Matt manages to push back reluctance if it means getting some snacks out of it. He inches towards the food and the group, sits down on his knees, and reaches for a piece himself. "Well, I hope you can help her. Being lost… is pretty horrible." While he's still cautious of the girl… he does at least chance to return her smile with a touch of his charm seasoned onto it.
"So, what have you been upto?"talking about people infront of said people, especially when they were ghosts who may or may not be able to decide to haunt you just didnt seem clever. No matter how honest your intentions, theres no accounting for some people even if they're dead. "Are you and that woman getting along well, was she hospitable?"
"Yeah, things are going alright. She's… helping me find my feet. Or… paws, whichever." Matt answers when the subject changes onto him and not the ghost girl. There is perhaps more than a little guilt in his voice as he brings it up though. "I've decided… I'm not gonna run this time." Of course, he still has 2 weeks to chicken out.
"Thats very good, thats a very positive act. "He smiles, as well as a fox can smile anyway. Then theres some more munching"there are some cages, in a park I know of. They lock wolves who cant control themselves in there, they know the combination so when they wake up they can just let themselves out but the wolf stays there. If you'd like, I will spend the night with you there. I will talk to the wolf part of you, tell you what he tells to me in turn. "he nods softly, finishing another bit of fried tofu. "When I was very young, I met a man who my father told me had been at the mercy of a very ancient boar spirit."
"Thanks." Matthew answers, and the sentiment is indeed honest, but… "But, I've already got someone helping me with that. Well, I'm not sure its a cage but…" Matthew shakes his head again and fills some awkward thinking time with the convenient excuse of eating some more. "A bore? I thought it was just wolves and… wolf like things, like foxes? There are werebores, too?"
Ezekiel flicks just one ear upwards. "I never met him, but there are all manner of things. Anyway this was more like a posession, the boar took this person over. He went absolutely mad, they tried to lock him up. Nobody really knew what was going on, its not like he was physically changing you know? He said, when the man gave up and just accepted what he was. The boar got bored, and left."
"There isn't some spirit in me," Matt counter's the fox again, sitting back and no longer eating the food. "I know what I am, and it doesn't just go away if I give in." His eyes try to find the fox's eyes. There is something more to the story, something more than just the wolf he's talking about. Something darker. "If I give in, people will get hurt. I've got to keep fighting this, until I don't have to anymore. Until its over."
"Sometimes, an interesting story is just a curious story Matthew. I've never advocated you just give in, I want you to take control."of course, by now Ezekiel is entirely stuffed so he just sort've flops over with a low growl. "If I eat one more peice, I'm gonna explode like a pinata. Eat the rest of the fried tofu, before I get tempted."
"Sorry, I can't." Matthew answers with a small grin as he sees the stuffed fox roll, erm… pun not intended. "I've gotta start walking if I'm get back to the apartment before Dajan starts to really worry about me." And with that, Matthew heads back over to his shoes and begins the long process of putting them back on.
Ezekiel sort've makes a cursory attempt to get back up but, ehh thats just too much effort. "Hey, ask her if she knows anything about ghosts if you would be so kind? Do you need anything, I dont know if your working or not but I mean I dont mind sharing a couple dollars. Its sort of my job, you know."
That perks his interest real quickly, but it is more of a trained response than an actual response. When he catches himself he simply shakes his head. "I've begged, cheated for, lied for, and stole before… but not from friends." Matthew's smile manages to take over his expression, beaming out with a bit of his real personality poking through. "Thanks, but I'll be alright." And with that, Matt opens the door.
Lazy Kitsune is lazy"well I offered, have a pleasant evening Matthew. I'll ask Inari to send you some good luck before I leave, so you just take it easy and let good fortune find you alright?"
"I'll try, but I think good luck gave up on me a while back." And with that, Matt leaves, back into the street, and the long walk back to Dajan's.
