[ 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

[Mello | 2 July in the city, 3 July in the shelter | both open]

[want_the_world]

[Mello's district in the city isn't residential, so his official Watch duties are discharged fairly quickly. He also helps direct people around Tartarus Terraces to the evacuation route--it never hurts to be seen taking an active leadership role.

As always when something unusual happens in Death City, he expects an attack, and so does Near, which is why the Weapon is in his Rubik's cube form in his pocket as Mello makes his rounds through the city streets, looking for anyone lost or straggling. He's all in black, as usual, but in long sleeves that are very much not usual, and neither is the thin scarf he's got wrapped around his head.

He really hates the desert.]

[ooc: if you definitely want Near to make his presence known, feel free to say so!]

---

[Mello is not enjoying the shelter. Being crammed into limited space with this many people, most of them dumb, more than one of whom he hopes to avoid, puts him in a lousy mood. They're safe as houses here, and Mello would almost rather be taking his chances back in Death City.

Once everyone seems to have got settled (especially Near), he strikes off on his own, trying to find some solitude.]

In the shelter

[shiromadoushi]

[[Bakura was trying to figure out where his friends might be, both to put his mind at ease and to try and keep it off the situation.

Spotting Mello both was a relief and a fresh worry, especially seeing how annoyed the man looked...

But still..

After a moment's hesitation, he raised a hand to give a small wave]]

Find any place that's not crowded yet...?

[want_the_world]

[Mello nods a greeting. He's still irritated with Bakura, though he does realize it's not the kid's fault that he's exactly the right variation of hopeless to be the perfect enabler for L.]

I doubt there is one.

Everyone all right?

[shiromadoushi]

[[The teen nods, a little relieved that Mello didn't just glare at him]]

I think so... I haven't really been able to find most of anybody.. [[admits softly]] Sort of funny, with everyone packed in like this, you'd think it'd be easy to find someone...! [[he laughs softly, but it's a nervous laugh, clearly stressed out over the situation.]]

[want_the_world]

Who's missing?

I am part of the Watch.

[And he probably shouldn't have pointed out that he has a valid reason for asking, he thinks too late: it just makes it obvious that he was justifying it.]

[shiromadoushi]

[[a small hesitation]] Yuugi-kun, Takuto-kun, the other Bakura... [[he could go on but he doesn't want to be a bother.

And he's not mentioning L. Not to Mello. Last thing he wanted was for things to turn down that road again....]]

[want_the_world]

[The problem with trying to be subtle and not mentioning L directly is that now Mello doesn't know if Bakura omitted him because he's fine, or if he doesn't want to argue again. Worse, he's now put himself in a position where he can't ask directly. Which he's going to pretend for all he's worth that he hasn't done.]

Heh, the Voice likely deliberately stayed behind.

[shiromadoushi]

Un... that's probably true. I'm sure he'd rather be out in the sand than in here...

[[Honestly.. Bakura was sort of wishing he'd taken his chances...]]

[want_the_world]

I know Near would rather be out in the sand.

[shiromadoushi]

[[a small, soft laugh]] I don't blame him. He hiding in his Weapon form, or actually in the crowd?

in the shelter

[realimperfect]

[ After a few moments of calming down via reading, Re-l determines it's time to go and explore, to see who has appeared in the shelter over time. After all, she hadn't exactly intended to show up here, in fact her initial plan had been to brave the storm in their apartment until the power had gone out. Then she'd packed herself and Vincent up and gotten ready to leave, despite all of her misgivings about being crammed in a small space with so many people, and not just guests to Death City, either. ]

Staying vigilant down here? [ Well, it isn't exactly solitude with Re-l around, but close enough, right? ]

[want_the_world]

[Mello doesn't smile, as such, but his scowl eases up, and he gives Re-L a nod that counts as friendly.]

Of course. Someone has to make sure we know where the emptier corridors are.

I'm surprised you didn't just hunker down in Death City.

[realimperfect]

That had been the plan, but then the power went out, and we had no forms of back up power. [ She sighs, settling herself down near him, holding the delicate balance between being too close or just close enough. After all, having some space at all was a luxury in this place and she didn't want to violate that. ]

Keep me abreast of the emptier corridors, too. I'll probably kill someone, if I don't get some peace in a few days.

[want_the_world]

That'll make you the second person on my list of suspects, if overly friendly types start turning up dead. My partner's not too happy about the accommodations, either.

[realimperfect]

I just don't like being in such close quarters with people I am wholly unfamiliar with. [ Usually, at home and here, she hadn't even had to share communal space with anyone she didn't want to look at too long. And then, of course, sandstorms. ]

It just means I need to learn my lesson about not thinking about back up power in a sand storm, I suppose.

[want_the_world]

He doesn't like being surrounded by idiots. I'm not a fan, myself.

[Mello's present company is excepted, which he assumes she knows, given that he's bothering to talk to her.]

Where's your partner?

[realimperfect]

Neither am I, but the general population of any place tends to be just that. [ Well, Romdeau not exactly, but sheep counted exactly the same, so far as she was concerned at the moment. ]

Vincent? He's at our bunk or wandering somewhere. He doesn't follow me around all the time..

City

[takeapotatochip]

[Light is not lost. He knows exactly where he is, in fact, and that makes this situation all the more infuriating. The hooded sweatshirt and long pants had been enough to shield him on what he'd meant to be a brief jaunt to the grocery store this morning to stock up on dwindling supplies before the storm worsened.

On the way back, however, was another story. Somewhere between the city's lights guttering out as he left the store and finding the sheltered stoop he's currently taking refuge beneath, the winds had picked up to the point that they were intolerable, forcing him to make an unwanted layover. As Mello passes by, he's still there, hood pulled securely around his face, and head bowed over the screen of his mirror as he investigates the quickest route to the evacuation point from here.]

[want_the_world]

There's a mandatory--

[Mello cuts the public-service spiel when he sees who the hooded figure is.

Interesting. The extraordinary circumstances have brought Yagami out of hiding--and, more importantly, he's alone. Mello suspects the two of them still have a goal in common, but he'll have to tread carefully. He doesn't trust the bastard any more than he ever has, and doesn't expect any trust in return.]

--evacuation, [he finishes, official Watch business face on for now. He's glad Near insisted on coming along in his Weapon form.]

[takeapotatochip]

[As he's far more familiar with that voice than he'd like to be, Light doesn't need to look up to see who it belongs to.]

I'm aware.

[he says over the howl of the winds. He has no reason to believe, after such a long silence on the successor front, that Mello would have deliberately tracked him down under these conditions. The pause in what had sounded to be a rehearsed statement says well enough that Mello was equally caught offguard by the situation they now faced.]

Where is everyone being relocated?

[the question comes with a brief look up from the screen to acknowledge Mello properly.]

[want_the_world]

A shelter outside the city. Shibusen has set up mirrors to take people there.

[Catching Yagami alone is an opportunity Mello's unlikely to have again, serendipity handing him what careful planning likely would've taken months to accomplish.]

Though this would be an excellent cover for going missing. If someone wanted that.

[takeapotatochip]

[A flinty edge appears in Light's eyes at the blatant hint, initially taking it at face value to be a threat. Following their last encounter where Mello had offered to help him disappear in the name of putting him out of contact with L, Light had been on his guard. It made sense, after all, that if Light could not be extracted alive from the equation, that Mello, Near, and whoever else might not see it out of line to kill him.

He had assumed, to this point, that they had not already done so because his partner had been keeping them at bay. Though, with the newest revelation of having not spoken to them in a long while...]

I guess that would depend. [he ventures at last, pocketing the mirror]

Namely, on how dedicated people might be to discouraging others from looking for the someone in question.

[want_the_world]

[Mello has never seen much use in subtlety, especially in situations like this, where both parties know very well what the situation is, and have limited time to reach an agreement, if one can be reached at all. Assuming Yagami has understood much more than has been spoken will be effective even if he hasn't done, considering that his pride surpasses even Mello's own; and, at the moment, Mello's fairly certain they're understanding each other perfectly for once.]

Dedicated enough to suggest it, despite the amount of loathing for the 'someone in question' being entirely unchanged.

[takeapotatochip]

[Light would have it no other way, honestly. The fact Mello even feels a need to clarify it is enough to make him give a chuff of derisive laughter, even as a particularly strong wind howls between them, making him clutch his sweatshirt more tightly about himself.

By the time it dies away enough for him to be heard again, his brief mirth has gone along with it as his options lay themselves before him. The bottom line, he quickly realizes, is that at this immediate moment, there aren't many. He can refuse whatever offer Mello presents, and leave himself open to the ensuing attack that might follow, or he can play along in hopes of more venues presenting themselves along the way.

His dealings with the blonde have been sparse, granted, but he feels he's absorbed enough about what Mello is like from both their proper timeline and this one - impulsive, prideful, with a flair for taking out the entire gameboard and himself along with it as long as it means winning. It's not a personality that he's unfamiliar with, and that goes a long way toward reaching his decision.]

Then I'll suggest something in return - make sure he gets to the shelter if you expect him to be receptive at all to whatever intervention you've got planned before we figure out the details. It isn't exactly difficult to avoid him as he is...we'll have both the room and the ability to discuss this there without him knowing.

[want_the_world]

[Mello frowns behind the sunglasses at that laugh from Yagami. As much as he'd hate to admit it, the bastard has a point. Fortunately, Bakura is almost certainly worrying about getting L to safety for him, freeing him to treat common sense as a concession he's allowing.]

Fine.

[With L practically helpless, Mello assumes the only reason Yagami hasn't attacked yet is that he's trying to find some way to deflect the inevitable suspicion from falling on him, some way he can appear completely uninvolved and innocent. That, or he still doesn't have the stomach to get his own hands dirty. Both are probably true.]

We'll obviously have to monitor you for a time after we've got you out.