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[fruitknife]

"Oh, what the fresh fuck is this."

Next to Shinji, Koromaru whines. He has no idea either, but it doesn't smell dangerous.

Shinji sighs. "Good to know, I guess..." He maneuvers his coat around in his hands until he can reach in the pocket - okay, keys are still there, he should be able to duck back out to Liminal Space whenever he wants. Cool.

Now to figure out what the fresh fuck this is.

He ignores Igor entirely, and almost does the same to the conspiracy board until the word 'Tartarus' jumps out at him. Well, shit, that's not a good sign. Oh well. At least he knows where he stands with the Dark Hour, and he's actually way better equipped to handle it than the last time he had to.

Anyway, that gets him to stop long enough to scan the information, and then he's off to Iwatodai. Reading can only tell you so much, after all. Actually seeing what's out there is going to work a hell of a lot better.

Comments

[fogboundcrow]

There are two things that immediately stick out about this person. One, he is very mysterious and has a cool hat. Second, there is a dog with him.

Well, okay, make that three things. He's also admiring Raven's handiwork so, naturally, it's time to investigate.

"Well, hello. I think this would be the first time I've seen a newcomer with a companion." A cute shiba inu... Goodness.

[fruitknife]

Koromaru barks. Hi new person!

Shinji shrugs. "Yeah, well. Went to all that trouble to have Koro-chan around in the first place."

[fogboundcrow]

Raven has been acknowledged by the dog. This is a truly momentous day. He'll, ah... hold out his hand for sniffing. That seems like a good place to start.

"Ah, difficulties back home, I presume? Admittedly, I don't have much experience when it comes to pets." Rather hard to afford one under such dire circumstances, even if he would have liked one back then.

[fruitknife]

"Not home. It's complicated."

Koromaru does indeed go in for a sniff. And then he barks again. Raven smells like the board!

[burnmydreadbabe]

Makoto was getting back from showing Ren around Iwatodai, the sun beginning to set, when he crosses paths with Shinji.

Hold up. What the fuck? He guesses in multiple realities this shouldn't be surprising but he watched the guy bleed out and die barely over a month ago. He's not wearing his coat either, which is probably a fairly good sign that's not his Shinji. Might still recognize him though, and two people sticking together during the Dark Hour was much smarter than Shinji going it alone.

"Shinji!" He waves Shinji down before he can go anywhere else. "Just got here?"

[fruitknife]

There's no recognition on his face, that's for sure. If anything, Shinji looks puzzled - but wait. Blue hair. Minako's counterpart. Got it.

"Looks like it."

Koromaru's going for the approach-and-sniff tactic.

[burnmydreadbabe]

Makoto noticed that Shinji looked confused for a split second. He can't be sure if it's because Shinji didn't recognize him or just puzzled that someone was yelling at him. Makoto won't say anything about it in that case.

"Here cuz you read about the Dark Hour on the board?" He'd rather Shinji not jump to any conclusions about what's going on after all.

[fruitknife]

"Well, if that shit's started up again, it's important to know, right?"

[reluctantprince]

He had come in the velvet room to well, whatever it was, it was a lie. He was just wandering. He didn't give a fuck about the new person. He was focused on the dog. His face lit up, which he quickly coughed to disguise. He walked over getting on the floor. He knew it was best not to scare animals and he would like the Dog decide if it wanted to meet him.

[fruitknife]

Koromaru barks, and comes in for a sniff. Lots of new people!

Shinji's the one to properly double-take, though. "Wait, weren't you just a kid?"

[reluctantprince]

He happily focused on the dog, he's got a soft spot for them.

He jumps a little at the voice. He looked up taking in the man. "Oh uh, not really? There is a kid version of me running around but I have yet to meet him. I go by Crane here." He's not entirely on his game because puppy is the only thing he can think.

[fruitknife]

"Oh, duplicate bullshit. Got it." That at least makes more sense.

"Name's Shinji. That's Koromaru."

Koromaru, at least, is content to revel in all this attention.

AND ANOTHER! iwatodai

[paysforall]

Rare bird sighting: a Shrike outside Shibuya.

Which, of course, to Shinji, just appears to be a third permutation of This Guy, this one dressed distinctly different from the rest in a way that seems out of place in Iwatodai because skinny jeans are not in fashion yet. Admittedly, the whole kit looks like he wandered out of a Harajuku goth club.

He's eyeing one of the storefronts thoughtfully. It doesn't seem to change as he's considering it, but it's a bit vaguer than Shinji might remember - although his own memories will tell him what the restaurant should be, the restaurant itself doesn't seem to know, the signage looking like a garbled image put together by a generative AI (not that either of them knows what that is yet).

Eventually, the one real person in front of the shop sighs and seems to give up. "Probably too linked to being in Shibuya in my cognition," he says, mostly to himself, before glancing up.

[fruitknife]

At least he stands out from the others.

"The fuck happened to the sign?"

[paysforall]

"I was trying to see if I could convince whatever cognitive world this is to make me a ramen shop." The disappointment is palpable and a little bit feigned; he's not actually that bothered. "Unfortunately the cognition of what should be there seems too strong, or perhaps my efforts are too weak. Are you a local?"

The sign has resolved back to normal the next time Shinji's eyes move away from it and back.

[fruitknife]

"If you want ramen that bad, you could just go to Hagakure."

So yes, he's local.

[phantomlotus]

"You two new?"

Shinji and Koromaru find themselves approached by none other than Ren while they're at the conspiracy board. Her expression is neutral as she looks at the two... Wait, no, you can see a small smile appear on her face as she eyes Koromaru specifically.

You could probably call her more of a cat person since she always carries Morgana around back home, but she definitely can't hate a cute little guy like Koromaru.

She just watches the two with a keen eye, hands in her pockets.

"Just showed up here myself, so you're not alone on that front."

[fruitknife]

"Guess so."

Koromaru barks. Hi new person! Lots of new people!

"Name's Shinji. That's Koromaru."

[phantomlotus]

"Ren. Nice to meet you."

She tilts her head a bit, looking at Shinji with a curious look.

"So..."

...What does she say? It doesn't seem like any of them are talkers. She realizes she probably should have waited until she knew how the place worked before speaking to a newcomer.

"...Time's weird in this place. I mean I guess it's not surprising since it's dragging people in from different dimensions, but I figured it'd be worth mentioning."

And another one

[seekerofjustice]

Ah, Iwatodai. Dove is finally taking the chance to check it out. Not the Dark Hour, of course, he promised Makoto that he'd go grab him before going to Tartarus... but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy checking out the city.

You can imagine his surprise when he nearly bumps into Shinji as he tries to get to the door.

"Oh! Apologies."

[fruitknife]

The good news is Shinji can just shrug it off. "Not a big deal."

Koromaru barks. Hi new person!

[seekerofjustice]

And there's a dog! Huh, he wasn't aware dogs could appear in the Velvet Room...

"I haven't seen you two before. Have you been here very long?"

He keeps up a pleasant smile as he asks that.

[reasonliving]

Well that was a face that Aigis wasn't expecting to see. She wasn't really surprised though, all things considered. She was just about to head back to the dorms, but approaches Shinji instead.

"Heading to Tartarus?" She asks, since that seems the most logical thing for him to want to do in Iwatodai.

[fruitknife]

'Want' is a strong word for anything involving Tartarus. Besides, the dorm's as good a home base as any right now, until he figures out if he wants to use another one.

"Not necessarily, but it's probably the quickest way to see what's up."

Koromaru barks. Hi Aigis!

[reasonliving]

Aigis smiles at Koromaru, kneeling down and petting him. "Hello Koromaru."

She looks back up at Shinji. "Tartarus seems to be holding the Shadows in this cognitive Iwatodai." She figures he knows the basics if he knew how to get here from the Velvet Room. "A few people have gotten lost, but it seems fairly tame for Persona users," she explains. "Do you still wish to explore it?"