[ EVENT ]

[soul_mods]

For the past few days, the sound of strong winds and sand hitting glass and walls have become the usual background noise. Goggles and scarves and protective gear have become necessary accessories when venturing outside.

The night before, the winds continued to pick up until, early in the morning, the power flickered and died. For the people staying behind the power comes and goes, but a lot of people won't be around to notice.

Not long after the power goes out, the sound of the sandstorm is joined by the blaring of sirens, followed by an announcement about an evacuation. All residences are directed to Shibusen where they will pass through the mirror usually used by mission goers to travel to their destination.

The shelter they find themselves in is a cylindrical room with lots of bunk beds along the wall and seats on the other side. Don't worry, there are a few of these areas connected to each other via open doorways. There's enough room for everyone! Sort of. At the very least, there's enough room for everyone to fit in there even if there aren't quite enough beds for everyone, especially since it's not only the guests who are here.

At least everyone gets a thin blanket so even if you end up on the floor it won't be too cold.

Please indicate in the header: [Character | Location (either the Shelter, or somewhere in Death City if it's during the evacuation) | Date ]

((OOC: this log will cover the IC days of July 2nd to July 3rd. Feel free to start open threads either set in the bunker or during the evacuation or both!))

Comments

[dead_black_eyes]

He could tell by the way her voice sounded that she was way too close for comfort.

"Two changes of clothes and a toothbrush," he replied, tugging at the short strands of hair on the back of his neck self-consciously. He had nothing to hide, but it still felt like an awkward, odd thing to discuss with a near-stranger. The sum total of his interactions with this woman essentially amounted to her emphatically comparing him to a panda, after all. "No scarf... it hasn't been nearly cold enough to purchase one since I arrived."

He did his best to push casually past her, but his estimation was slightly off, and he bumped into her with one of his bony shoulders. It was a miscalculation a seeing person probably wouldn't have made.

[morecowbell]

Nanami only thought him bumping into her was him being impertinent and before he could move too far, she clamped a hand down on his shoulder to stop him. "It's really none of my business but am I to assume you're prepared to inhale in a ton of sand out there?"

[dead_black_eyes]

He hadn't actually expected her to stop him. The bump was a little bit startling, but being grabbed by the shoulder was much, much more so. He breath caught briefly before he recovered and composed himself.

"If the alternative is staying here, where I hardly feel safe, then yes, I suppose I must be. So... I'm going downstairs," he said,trying to make his intentions very clear as he made another persistent bid toward the stairwell, accidentally treading on Nanami's foot in the process.

[morecowbell]

"What I mean is— ow! What the heck?" Did he just seriously step on her? The bump on the shoulder was one thing, she was trying to be in the way but this... "What are you, blind?" That was crass considering the circumstances. But how was she supposed to know?

[dead_black_eyes]

Well, he didn't carry a cane or accept assistance from a guide dog. Though he couldn't see, he didn't exactly want to make it obvious to everyone he met. It meant different treatment that felt strange and unpleasant.

"Yes," he said, shortly. "I hope that's not a problem."

[morecowbell]

"What... wait, really?" She scratched her chin thinking back to when Ryou pointed him out at his apartment. He hadn't seemed blind at the time. "Has it always been that way or is this a new thing?"

[dead_black_eyes]

"Not really new by objective standards, but new since the last time we encountered each other," L said wearily, his determination to get past Nanami beginning to flag.

"...shouldn't we be evacuating...?"

[morecowbell]

Oh... well yeah. "Yes, but look, you can't just go out there with your face all exposed like that. Which apartment is yours? We'll just grab a towel quickly and go."

[dead_black_eyes]

"I'm in B," he said, deciding it would be faster to just hand her the key rather than feel his way back and bumble through the apartment until his hands fell on a towel. "There should be some in the bathroom..."

[morecowbell]

"Sit," she ordered with an authoritative voice after taking the key from him not trusting the guy to not wonder off and fall down the damn stairs or cause her problems.

[dead_black_eyes]

He blinked; not really visible behind the dark glasses, but the accompanying moment of bewildered silence probably made it perfectly clear that he didn't expect or appreciate being spoken to like he was a dog.

"No," he said. "I'll stand and wait, thank you."

[morecowbell]

Nanami stared at him for a moment before clicking her tongue against the back of her teeth in annoyance. She finally turned and let herself into his apartment, glancing around to get a feel of the mirror image to her own apartment.

A very brief while later she exited, locking the door behind her. She handed him the key before draping the towel over his shoulder for the time being. "All right, let's go." She moved to take his hand to lead him to the elevator which she didn't think twice about since the electricity had been on the entire time she had been on this floor.

[dead_black_eyes]

L accepted the towel; his shoulders weren't narrow, in comparison with the rest of his thinly-built frame, but they were bony, so the effect was ultimately that they made a very nice hanger.

When she took his hand and led him right into the elevator, though, his reaction wasn't quick or forceful enough. He'd gotten so used to the people whose company he kept simply knowing that elevators didn't fly with the skittish detective that he'd begun to take it for granted. The doors slid shut and his eyes widened.

"No. No, I can't... let me out of here," he insisted. "Open the door."

Because of course he didn't know which button to press.

And then it stopped mattering, because the lights in the elevator simply flickered off as the power went out again.

[morecowbell]

"Huh?" Nanami glanced over at L as he started objecting, maybe he remembered something he forgot? She calmly pressed the 'open door' button a few times... and then the power went out. "Oh... ... my bad," and she just stood there blinking in the darkness. The severity of the situation had not quite hit her yet.

[dead_black_eyes]

The strange, lightheaded rush of panic set in more slowly than people tended to imagine it happening from an outside perspective. The shock was what did it; there was that brief moment of denial, and then the weightless sensation as the heart rate increased and adrenaline started to course through the limbs.

The door wasn't opening, and the lights went out; even with his vision as significantly impaired as it was, L could register that sudden change.

He was, officially, stranded in a tiny box hanging six stories above ground and at least one or two below, in the dark, with no power and no sight and no signal.

Cool rationality all but forgotten, his fingers scrabbled along the metal doors, seeking out the division and, unsurprisingly, were unable to open them. The next step was turning his arm into a chain and using the bear trap at the end, still with no success whatsoever.

[morecowbell]

"Okay, r...remain calm," she started pressing all the buttons in a slightly panicked manner. Perhaps the call button would still magically work. "J..just a minor setback." She backed herself against the wall when L started going at the doors because she couldn't tell what he was doing but it sounded kind of violent and she didn't want to be involved in that, especially when she heard what sounded like chains.

The blond rifled through her overnight bag feeling for her flashlight. Upon finding it she flicked it on revealing the freaking bear trap. "Woah, watch it with that thing!"

[dead_black_eyes]

Remaining calm, in some situations, was easier said than done. Like most truly neurotic people, L had certain rules he clung to, little standards of control that remained in place at all costs and in spite of any inconvenience they might pose to others as he went about ritualistically maintaining them.

The stainless steel of L's partial Weapon form definitely caught the beam of Nanami's flashlight, but if she cared to shine it on his face, she would see that it was deathly pale, even for L, and that he'd been using enough force to leave deep scratches on the doors, but nothing more.

Attempting to get some leverage, he dug the teeth of the bear trap (hanging from his chain where his hand would ordinarily be) into the division, bracing himself against the floor, losing his slippery metal-on-metal grip, and falling back against the wall and the rail, shaking violently.

[morecowbell]

She scooted back into one of the corners trying to wait out the others panicked barrage of attacks on the elevator doors. She shone her flashlight on his face taking note of the signs of anxiety after he seemingly gave up. Nanami kind of felt a little bad because it was sort of at fault although she was not ready to admit that out loud.

When he seemed to be taking a break so Nanami took a turn wedging her scimitar formed arm between the doors and attempted to pry it open to no avail. After a minute or two of fussing with it she stepped back and shined the light around the elevator taking special care to inspect the top because that's how they do it in the movies.

[dead_black_eyes]

Even if Nanami wasn't willing to admit it out loud, L was more than willing to place the blame on her. Despite this, he realized that it was unfair to expect anyone to simply know, the way both Light and Bakura did. They had reason. Nanami, innocent to many of L's quirks and oddities, had none.

The fact that she was also trying to wedge open the door earned her a few brownie points. If she'd joined the dazed detective on the floor, he might have had something harsh to say.

The way the light shifted in the elevator got his notice. Though he couldn't see its source, he could guess well enough when his vision darkened from black to blacker as Nanami focused the beam on the ceiling.

"...what are you doing?"

wow, I gotta stop posting late at night sorry orz

[morecowbell]

She jumped slightly when he spoke out loud but was a bit relieved that it wasn’t in the form of yelling. The different shades of darkness he was able to see were unbeknownst to her but her answer made no difference if he could see or not. “I’m looking for another way out,” her voice was a little soft and had a light shake to it due to her embarrassment and her own unease which she was trying to keep in check.

[dead_black_eyes]

Fortunately, L wasn't really a shouter in times of trouble or stress,. Unfortunately, he had other ways to vent, and they were seldom healthy or pleasant. He spoke between clenched teeth.

"Why would there be one on the ceiling? Isn't that where you're looking? This isn't a movie, and where would we go anyway, in a closed elevator shaft?"

[morecowbell]

"Uhhh..." Dang that was a good point. "...vent shaft?" Other than less doors to try to break through on a higher floor that's really all she had at the moment.

[dead_black_eyes]

"I'm not crawling through a vent shaft. I wouldn't, even if I could see."

Arguing tetchily gave him an outlet, because the alternative was continuing to attempt to shrink into himself. He could tell just by the sound of his voice that the dimensions of the elevator were too small for comfort, and there was no real resolution in sight to the situation that they were entrenched in.

[morecowbell]

"But..." He couldn't see her it but she pouted. Nanami pointed the flashlight back up at the ceiling of the elevator before sighing loudly, dropping her overnight back on the ground and flopping down unceremoniously next to it. She leaned back against the wall adjacent to Ryuuzaki's and aimed the flashlight up at the ceiling while setting it on the ground so she could continue to see in this stupid metal box.

[dead_black_eyes]

Well. From the sounds of it, the blond was giving up. L sighed in a way that could only be described as "feeling eternal to everyone on the receiving end of that contempt", and his own head fell back against the wall panel with a dull thunk.

"Our only option might be to sit and wait for the power to come back on," he said in a low voice, holding his knees tightly to control what appeared to be a full-body tremor. "That could be minutes, or hours. If we're lucky."