Paying a Visit [Shunnosuke/NPC Ariston]

Posts : 708 Join date : 2014-02-01

Hanging around the entrance of the hospital was a little too conspicuous, so Julian opted to sit just inside in the waiting area, scrolling through this and that on his phone in an attempt to amuse himself. Every so often he would look up as the electronic doors slid open, only for his eyes to drift back to his phone as the person he was waiting for didn't appear.

Shunnosuke had texted him earlier with a time and address to meet at, supposedly to get help for their current problem. So, after making sure Jandice was taken care of and assuring her she was safe and that he'd be back within a couple hours, he left, hoping to meet with this important person who might have some decent advice.

Honestly, he was kind of bemused and shocked to find that he'd be asking his former teacher about this supernatural business. But it didn't really matter to him; so long as he got the help he needed, the source didn't matter. Now, all he had to do was wait.

Posts : 1664 Join date : 2014-05-22

In all honesty, Shunnosuke barely had any sleep time from the previous night. The time he spent outside was too draining, both physically and emotionally, not only due to the exhaustive fight against a possessed Jandice, from which he emerged unconscious due to Hyde's last blow, but because of Hyde himself. He hasn't returned home and no matter how much Shunnosuke tried, his cellphone was out of reach, forcing the blonde to lie for his family a number of times: first, to say he wasn't involved with the club despite their suspicions because, frankly, they knew the kid they had at home; second, to say Hyde was visiting a friend for a few days.

All in all, Shunnosuke has put a little bit more of make-up today, to hide the horrible appearance of his skin. One day with an inappropriate sleep time and people will think he's been slacking with his looks. Other than that, he managed to reach the hospital where Ariston is kept. He figured he's been after Thesis and it backfired...well, not unexpected, after all, it's a Primordial. After the family's chauffeur took both Oujirou and Leighton to their offices for work, Shunnosuke was taken to the hospital immediately, demanding hastiness. What he was worried about, the employee of the Kurosawas wouldn't know, being dismissed from his duties as soon as the teenager landed at the hospital's entrance, to which the teenager entered with hurried strides, eyes hastily aiming for the receptionist's counter.

— Hello there, I came to see Mr. Ariston Rhodes. I'm a friend of him and he has been hospitalized here. — The feeling of urgency and anxiety was clear, despite his calm voice, as clear as he didn't even notice the one he invited for and was in charge of keeping their Person of Interest safe was already there.

Posts : 6498 Join date : 2013-07-06 Age : 29

The receptionist would ask for their identification, and after seeing them, would direct them to a room, where they could see through a window Ariston listening to a radio of the news. He didn't notice them at first, though they were free to open the door.

Posts : 708 Join date : 2014-02-01

As he saw that familiar head of blonde hair, Julian stood up and, after quickly setting his phone to vibrate, followed after Shunnosuke and fell into step next to him, offering a quiet "Hey." in greeting. He didn't feel like much more needed to be said on that front. Socializing wasn't the point here.

Per request, Julian pulled out his school ID and showed it to the person sitting at the front desk. After they'd glanced from the card to his face, they were more than willing to take them to the room without any further questions. For once, Julian was glad about that.

The teen peeked in through the window and, once seeing his teacher was occupied, knocked gently on the door. Should Ariston look up or acknowledge the knock in any way, Julian would push the door open for Shunnosuke, then follow the underclassman inside. Once the door closed and gave them their privacy, Julian took a second to glance over Mr. Rhodes and take in his current condition. When he'd heard his teacher was in the hospital, Julian hadn't thought too much about it save for a fleeting about of sympathy, maybe a dash of pity. Now that he knew his teacher had a hand in all of this supernatural business...well, he was seeing the man he'd known for a few months in quite the different light.

"Hello Mr. Rhodes." he spoke up, offering a fleeting smile. While they'd interacted on a daily basis for quite some time, Julian had never felt particularly close to the man; technically, this would probably be his first real conversation with him outside of a classroom discussion. Feeling somewhat out of place and unsure as how to break into such a hard topic of conversation as cures for a curse, Julian opted to start the visit off with an attempt at being friendly. "How are you feeling?"

Posts : 1664 Join date : 2014-05-22

Shunnosuke readily delivered his ID — the real one — to the receptionist, waiting for verification. This gave enough time for Julian to approach him while abstracted in his own thoughts. It's no wonders he'd seem a bit surprised when he noticed who was by his side, almost as if he was frightened upon being reached unexpected in such a short timespan.

— Oh. Hello, didn't see you there but I'm glad you made it here safely. — He appreciated his upperclassman's efficiency and punctuality in coming at the right place at the right time, choosing to not say anything else, at least not in front of a stranger. Hopefully Julian would get the underlying implied message. It wouldn't be long for them to be directed to the room, which Shunnosuke would thank for due to his urgency in meeting Ariston. He disliked great protocols when their purpose was solely slowing him down. He wondered how did the battle against Thesis go... Though, judging by the teacher's state, the answer was rather obvious.

— Good day, Mr. Ariston. Came as fast as we could. — He said, after nodding politely to Julian, a simple "thank you" for the door courtesy, though not standing too far from it unless Ariston allowed some proximity.

Posts : 6498 Join date : 2013-07-06 Age : 29

Ariston lifted his head to look at the two. "You guys did come after all. Perhaps it's a bad time for you all. Maybe you should focus on other things. Don't bother with me," Ariston said, paying little mind to Julian, figuring he was just a friend or ally of Shunnosuke's. He didn't say much, but he certainly looked defeated, and definitely felt as guilty.

Posts : 1664 Join date : 2014-05-22

Shunnosuke frowned a bit, understanding, by Ariston's general attitude, that the battle might have been more dangerous than they imagined. It wasn't hard to see it didn't have the best outcome on their favor. Considering who he was fighting, it's a relief to see he made it out alive.

— With all due respect, Professor, don't be ridiculous and act stubborn. I have no intention of neglecting you at a time like this. — He slowly walked over to Ariston's bed, sitting at one of the chairs available by its side for anyone who would be qualified as a visitor, glancing briefly to Julian before returning his gaze to the long-haired man. — This is Julian. He's a dear friend of mine, a senior student at Zela... — He paused for a tiny fraction of time. — And the one who has been assisting me with keeping Thesis's child safe. — Notably, this was probably the best way to introduce the topic. Even if things didn't turn out favorably to the silver-haired young man, on the other side they had a victory tracking and protecting the Child. Would this lift Ariston's mood? Would he be proud of them?

Posts : 708 Join date : 2014-02-01

What the hell had happened to his teacher? He remembered a composed, proud, confident man, not this withdrawn waif sitting in front of him. Glancing at Shunnouske, Julian was mildly relieved to see he wasn't the only one with those kinds of thoughts.

Seeing as it was Shunnosuke's idea to come, Julian opted to hang back a bit and let the underclassman do the talking for now. For the time being, Julian would place his hands in his pockets and watch the conversation quietly, offering a nod if Ariston looked over for confirmation in regards to the bit about Thesis' child. Unless he was asked something, however, he'd stay quiet.

Posts : 6498 Join date : 2013-07-06 Age : 29

Ariston's eyes turned to the young man as he sat next to him. "Oh you found her? Good. I will be out later today so I will be a little more active in patrol." He looked over his shoulder to the door, then looked to Julian to gesture to the door if it were open, to close it. If it was or he did he would nod. "So it was Jandice? I was fairly suspicious about her. You all aren't subtle at all with the modus operandi you know. You of all people I expected to be a bit more....discreet. But my students surprise me all the time, so in a way I'm not impressed. But in a way I am," he said, regaining a little smirk at Shunnosuke. For all his talk he sure liked to blow the "roof" off of things.

Posts : 1664 Join date : 2014-05-22

— I'm glad. That's good news, for sure. — Shunnosuke smiled ephemerally, pleased to see Ariston didn't have any visible trauma from the last night's battle. There was no reason to be worried then.

— Oh? — He glanced at Julian, completely surprised and confused. How did Ariston know? They haven't met him until now, and Shunnosuke was fairly sure he has not mentioned it to him when he tried to contact the teacher because, well, he didn't succeed in first place. And he also didn't give any details when he asked for the hospital's address, so...? Absolutely embarrassing, but at least Shun managed to extract a positive reaction. — ...so you know already. In my defense, half of what happened there wasn't quite what I expected to happen due to circumstances I had little control over. — He was specifically referring to a certain airhead redhead guy he knew who basically nuked the club's basement which led to the its utter destruction. If anything, it was Hyde's modus operandi, not his. — In any event, that's not what matters now. Jandice is safe for now while she's under her boyfriend's protection, but I'm afraid she's still being controlled by her mother and it's just a matter of time until she turns into a demon again. I have no way of foreseeing when it'll occur nor a clue as to how to prevent it from happening or, if possible, erase Thesis's influence.

Posts : 708 Join date : 2014-02-01

Julian sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck at the mention of yesterday's...less than covert happenings. To be fair, it wasn't their fault at all--if anything, Julian was still kind of ticked at Hyde for what he'd done--but he'd been in the group ultimately responsible for all the ruckus, so he felt partially responsible.

Now they were getting down to business. He thought back to last night, where he'd been able to calm her down enough to get at least the one medical professional in his family to look her over. She hadn't been seriously wounded, thank God, but she was tired. And at least kind of stable, from what he could see. "From what I can tell, she's got a little bit of control over it right now. But I can't say for certain how long that's going to last." He'd roused her from her rest to explain where he'd be going, an then she'd seemed alright if not still tired, but then again, besides her panicking, she'd seemed alright at the club that night too. Who was to say she couldn't turn in the next couple of hours, or days, or weeks? It was up in the air at this point, really.

Posts : 6498 Join date : 2013-07-06 Age : 29

"Shunnosuke Kurosawa has no control? Is that just something you accepted or did something happen to take it from you? But you got it done, so you can boast for that. Good work." he jabbed curtly, his confidence returning despite his current position. He listened to what they said and nodded. "With it all calming down, she may be fine for now. Someone clearly is attacking the source, what with all the ruckus over at Standasen. If Thesis is watching over her mind I would wonder why she hasn't found her yet. She must be busy; or dead, I certainly didn't see her at the stadium. As for the rest.....I do wonder who would have the steel to date someone like her? If all the rumors I have heard are true then she probably won't stick to whomever too long. And if they know her true nature, is it even wise to be in a relationship with her? I do hope that sleeping with her is off the table," he said dryly, placing a hand to his chin in thought about the whole mess. At the very least she was in custody and away from those who may want to use her for now.

Posts : 1664 Join date : 2014-05-22

If he were to pick an option, it'd be the second one. Something, many things, happened to take his control from the situation away, mainly a Persona User abusing his power, too much power for his own good, in the real world. In whatever way, in a strike of humbleness, he had admitted to himself he can't keep everything he aimed for in line, so no use dwelling over it. But, in a way, Ariston's words reached to him as inspirational, which caused the teen to at least put up a tiny smile of gratitude in response.

...now, Ariston sure is right to the spot, isn't he? Shunnosuke wasn't expecting these remarks from the teacher, but he couldn't help but to snicker at his comments either, holding one hand close to his mouth in a failed attempt to be discreet. Highly inconvenient, and yet equally hilarious. — Cahem. I wouldn't worry about it, Professor. Judging from Julian's devotion to Jandice, I'm sure he must like it rough. Isn't that so? — His face turned to Julian, joining the mockery. If Ariston had seen Jandice's beastly state, her hunger for blood and extremely long nails resembling claws, he'd know that her "not sticking to whomever too long" should the least of the concerns to someone aiming for her heart. Then again, there's no telling what his upperclassman's into.

Posts : 708 Join date : 2014-02-01

A bit harsh, wasn't it? Especially coming from a mentor to a peer. But Shunnosuke didn't seem fazed by the jab. Points to him for that.

So Thesis was gone for the moment? Then why the hell couldn't Jandice take full control? Was it because she didn't believe she could, or was Thesis's influence so strong that, even if she wasn't consciously doing so, she could control Jandice? ...God, the last one was a scary thought. How would they be able to break that, then...?

When his teacher began with "as for the rest", Julian half expected Ariston to chime in with something useful. Like, "oh, by the by, I happened to earn x which this person b knows so if you talk to them you should find out something." But that hope was quickly crushed and ground into the floor. After blinking once in shock, Julian tried to take a deep breath and ignore the comment. It wasn't like Ariston needed to know who Jandice's "boyfriend" was. ...Damn it, why the hell was he still going along with that? They weren't dating. No matter how much he might want to, they weren't. So he needed to stop going along with this train of thought or even entertaining the notion. There were bigger things to worry about.

Giving the underclassman a glare that was undermined by the flush dusting his cheeks, he said in as calm a voice as he could manage, "...No comment." He could vehemently deny it--which would no doubt encourage more jests--or accept it, which...would lead to the same outcome. No doubt he'd get grilled for this ambiguous reply, but he opted to speak again before either one could say more right away. After a brief cough, he said in a much more even voice, "Mr. Rhodes, do you have any idea of some way we could get rid of Thesis' curse, or someone who might know how to do it?"

Posts : 6498 Join date : 2013-07-06 Age : 29

Ariston raised an eyebrow at Shunnosuke before looking to Julian. So he was the unlucky soul? "I'd be wary if I were you. Apparently the phrase "Women are Demons" has merit in this scenario. Regardless, once the source of this is stopped, it will probably be all over. She will never not have a struggle with her inner demons being what she is, half demon herself. But perhaps once this is all over it will be easier on her. But I don't know too much about it, so I cannot say for sure."

» A Certain Visit
» A Visit [Oswald]
» A visit? [Megumi]
» Another visit: (Paige)
» Friendly Visit [Jack]