020 ✤ o p e n

[akito]

Character: Wanijima Akito & OPEN
Date: May 10^th - May 31^st
Location: Various
Situation: Various
Warnings: n/a ; will update as needed
Notes: Akito will be shapeshifted for a majority of the month. If you want his normal appearance just make a note of it in your tag.


{ Scenario #1 }

No matter how much Akito may want to sleep his days away, still hurting from Agito's disappearance despite them both being aware it was likely only temporary, he still has a job to do. With the increase in crime he's noticed an increase in delivery requests from nervous kedan, on top of the requests he's been getting due to the sickness going around. It keeps him too busy to miss home, and he can't even feel guilty about being glad for the increase in business, regardless of the reason why.

There are enough deliveries that he covers only one sector per trip instead of two or three, yet he still finds it enjoyable - it gives him time to see the sights of each district as opposed to rushing through them.




{ Scenario #2 }

Work isn't the only thing that's been keeping Akito busy. Days when delivery requests are few and far between are days he runs his errands, stocking up on supplies to wrap and tie packages, groceries, and any other necessities he needs that week.

He never really purchases too much, though he makes sure to take his time and browse through all of the selections when he has a chance, just in case something catches his eye.




{ Scenario #3 }

If he's not working or running errands, Akito can be found at his apartment working on various things - homework from Callaghan, organizing his business records, or even building anything from basic furniture to complex ornamental pieces out of scraps. Bird keeps him company during these times, singing him songs to keep his mood up, or urging Akito to play games with him.




{ WILDCARD }

Want something else? Just toss in your own starter or contact me at froakie.

Comments

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery doesn't feel especially qualified to comment on the second part, but he'll agree it's a change. He'll even go so far as to say it's a drastic change.

"You felt like a change, and the change happened?" Skulduggery asks. "Or have you found something which triggered the change?"

[akito]

"I felt like a change, so I shapeshifted." He doesn't mention he's able to because of his bracelet, as he tries to keep information like that a secret now, for the most part. Better that others think his bracelets are just unimportant bits of fabric for fashion than magical artifacts. "I've been able to do that for a while now."

[skeletonenigma]

Shapeshifting with intent. Skulduggery might have guessed that Akito got a sample of whatever the Chihuelans were using, but as far as he remembers, that's a recent development. If Akito's been able to shapeshift for a while, the Chihuelans may just be a coincidence.

Maybe it's also why they targeted Akito.

"Good for you," says Skulduggery, turning to pay for the notebook he's holding. "Good luck with the rest of your deliveries today."

[akito]

"Un! Thanks." Akito begins gathering up the collection of notebooks he's chosen, all on discount. There are so many that it's awkward for him to carry them, but once they're bagged he figures he can shift his tail to help tote them around if need be.

Twelve notebooks should be enough for a while. And whatever discounted inks and pencils he can grab as well. Nobody can say that he doesn't keep his desk well stocked!

[skeletonenigma]

Once the single notebook Skulduggery's picked out has been legally purchased, he slips it into an inside pocket of his jacket and turns to leave, pulling up a randomised face as he does so. Walking through the streets of Keeliai as a skeleton gets easier and easier every day, but there's no telling when Skulduggery might actually need to look human, and the practice won't hurt.

He nods at Akito as he passes on his way to the door.

[akito]

The kedan selling him the supplies doesn't seem surprised by the amount once she realizes who he is - he doesn't come here very often, but when he does he buys in bulk. It earns him a useful little discount that he'll use to buy himself some sweets later.

With his own purchases finished, Akito ends up following Skulduggery shortly after; jogs to catch up to the man's long strides. Being able to shapeshift now himself, he finds appearance shifts even more curious than he did before.

"Do any of your faces look like your real face used to?"

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery slows down slightly to make his pace a little easier to match, and gives Akito a sidelong look out of the corner of a pair of eyes which still don't quite focus properly. "No," he answers. "I had that choice, and I chose to let my real face stay dead. Some of these randomised faces might come close, but I don't pay very much attention." He tilts his head. "Why?"

[akito]

Akito makes sure to focus on the eyebrows and not the eyes in order to avoid the discomfiting feeling that always settles in his stomach when he sees Skulduggery's masks. His usual appearance makes him uncomfortable because it goes against everything he's ever learned, and even with knowledge that magic exists it's hard for him to comprehend how a skeleton functions without muscles and ligaments to hold it all together.

He shakes his head slightly, pushing the thoughts aside. "Because I look at you and only see... death. The foundation of a human, but not a human."

He speaks slowly, clearly working hard at trying to phrase his response. It's clumsy and not perfect, but hopefully conveys enough. If not, he always has another legitimate reason.

"And I'm curious! At home people would recreate a skull's face using clay to see what they looked like, and it was always really neat. Skulls looks almost exactly the same, yet the faces that belonged to them were all so different."

[skeletonenigma]

"That's because skulls don't look almost exactly the same," Skulduggery replies, and he would sound almost offended if he doesn't sound equally amused. "I should know. I had a different skull for about twenty years, and it was very different to my own. People would stop me in the streets and ask what happened to my regular skull. I felt incomplete without it."

That isn't, strictly speaking, true. Skulduggery certainly felt incomplete without his biological skull, but no one else noticed any difference. Even Valkyrie, who claimed to know Skulduggery's moods based on the degree of tilt in his skull, didn't spot any difference between the skulls when they were right next to each other. Skulduggery consoles himself with the reminder that none of his friends are trained in forensics.

After a moment, he nods. "The bone structure in each of my faces, you'll notice, doesn't change. The features do. The shape does. Recreating a face from a skull is more of an art than a science. Randomise the details, and one skull could provide you with an endless array of faces that all look completely different to the untrained eye."

[akito]

"So they look almost exactly the same, but they aren't," he amends. Somehow he isn't surprised that Skulduggery quite literally lost his head. What he focuses on instead is the fact that Skul said the bone structure remains the same under each face.

"...So you're wearing very realistic masks?"

[skeletonenigma]

A smile. "Essentially, yes. The skin doesn't add to or detract from my skull. They're magical masks, tied directly to my consciousness, but with several hours and a lot of skill you could recreate them mundanely." Skulduggery paused. "As long as you don't expect me to blink. Or make faces. Or move at all, really."

[akito]

That's both creepy and cool. Akito tilts his head curiously. "...Can I touch it?"

[skeletonenigma]

That's not exactly the reaction Skulduggery was expecting. He stops walking in the middle of the street to give Akito a puzzled look. "Why?"

[akito]

"So I can see what it feels like'" he says, expression saying what his voice does not - duh.

[skeletonenigma]

The puzzled look doesn't vanish. "It feels like a mask," Skulduggery says. "It's meant to look genuine, not to feel genuine."

Which, now that he thinks of it, is probably why Akito asked at all. Skulduggery hesitates, then sighs. "Oh, if you must."

[akito]

Pleased with his victory, Akito stands on tip-toes and... Still can't reach. So he'll wait for Skul's genius deductive skills to kick in and bend over enough so that he can.

[skeletonenigma]

"This is getting ridiculous," Skulduggery mutters, but he dutifully kneels down so he's more on a level with Akito, fixing the short teenager with a blank and steady look. "I hope you consider this worth it."

[akito]

It is totally, definitely worth it to smush Skul's cheeks around with his hands. He snickers to himself, amused, but eventually lets out a small, thoughtful hum and peers intently at the Irishman's face.

"So what did you look like before you lost your outsides?"

[skeletonenigma]

The only less dignified introduction Skulduggery remembers is when Saracen poked his fingers into Skulduggery's eye sockets. And this isn't even an introduction. Still, he suffers through it, managing to restrain any grumbling which may otherwise have occurred.

"Like this," Skulduggery answers. "Except completely different. I can't tell you exactly what the differences are without a mirror."

[akito]

Akito can't help but roll his eyes at how helpful Skul is being. He reaches out and grabs a hold of the Irishman's sleeve, tugging him along. "Then let's go find a mirror!"

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery lets himself be tugged along, mostly because he doesn't have anything better to do. Which isn't true, strictly speaking; there are plenty of useful things he could be doing instead of this, which makes the fact that he's humouring Akito all the more puzzling.

So he abruptly stops. "I have a better idea," he says. "Why don't you shapeshift into what you think I used to look like? I'll tell you if you're right or wrong, and then we can both get on with our days."

[akito]

When Skulduggery stops, Akito only notices because suddenly it's like trying to tug along a brick wall. He almost stumbles backwards, but catches himself and shoots Skul the mildest of mildly irritated looks.

The idea sounds fun though, and so Akito considers it. "I can't make my face unrecognizable, but I can try."

It's a good challenge, at the very least

So first he'll take the Irishman's accent into consideration, and his age. It was more common to have longer hair a million years ago than short, so... Shoulder-length. Brown, and... On the curler side of wavy. A squared jaw as opposed to Akito's own made of sharp angles. Higher cheekbones, compared to his lower ones.

The skin can stay the same tone it is now - fair, albeit Asian, not European. Eyes... Not super dark. He'll start with a warmer blue than the silvery blue he's wearing now.

Slightly thinner lips, and maybe... a few freckles across his nose.

All of the tweaks he makes are based on the consistencies in Skul's weird fake faces mixed with what he knows of European features. Akito probably got a lot of it wrong, but believes it's a good enough start.

"First attempt, done!"

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery's short hesitation before answering could mean any number of things. The surprise in his voice when he answers, however, can really only mean one thing. "Not bad."

Not bad at all. And highly unsettling.

"It's wrong," Skulduggery adds after a moment, his voice back to normal. "My hair wasn't usually that long, to start with. My eyes weren't blue. But all in all, a good effort."

[akito]

Not blue, which leaves shades of greens if he's sticking to Irish decent. Akito purses his lips in thought, then carefully aims for a shade of hazel; more brown than green, but still noticeably not solid brown. As for the hair...

"I've never had my hair much shorter than this," he comments, tugging at a strand before, reluctantly, shortening it to a height just above his chin. It's still a nice wavy texture, so Akito doesn't feel entirely stupid with hair this short; it's at least framing this new face in what he hopes is a nice way. Definitely not a stupid bowl cut or something like that guy from Rome that tried killing them.

"It's weird! My head feels much lighter."

The most mature of nose crinkles, indicating he likely isn't all too fond of it.

[skeletonenigma]

Even more unsettling. It still doesn't look quite like Skulduggery's old self, but if anything that only makes it worse. Akito could be his son - or, taking a half-step along genders, his daughter.

Maybe it's just Skulduggery's imagination. The kedans' shapeshifting shouldn't be nearly so efficient.

"No," Skulduggery says after a moment. Then, against his better judgement, he adds, "but closer."