Wash away the sin (open)

[Gin Takemoto]

Gin was... Bored. He needed a change in scenery. He didn't want to wander off too far from his food sources, but he wanted to see something new. He remembered something about hot springs near a shrine, and decided that it would be better to go there than to go wander the shadowlands. 

He showed up around noon. There were surprisingly few people there, which was fine by him. Less people meant less noise. So, he decided to look around and enjoy the scenery. After all, wasn't that the reason he was there? With a smile, he walked around the general area. He didn't know what else to do, anyways.

[John Nicholson]

John was still on edge after the encounter with 'woman'. His right arm was bandaged up, It had been quite an ordeal to explain the wound to his doctor but he had ultimately managed to convince him it had been caused by an unlucky fall while holding a knife. It seemed a much more plausible story than the truth, which was that his arm had been all but lopped off by a monstrous creature wearing the guise of a human.

He had come down to the springs to relax his body from the tension he was still feeling. The hot waters here always did wonders for whatever worries he had and the current ones were no different. Of course, no one else was near as elderly people in hot springs tended to scare people away. Regardless, he let the comfortable warmth wash over him. Then, he noticed a young man wandering around fully clothed. He wasn't wearing the uniform of the people who worked here, so it was quite a strange sight. "Hey there! What are you doing around here fully clothed like that? You better not be trying to sneak a peep at some ladies!" John chuckled at the statement. It's not like he never tried any shenanigans like that. John couldn't explain wht it was, but when he was taking a bath in the springs here, he always became quite extraverted and loudmouthed.

[Gin Takemoto]

Hmm... Having just heard a voice, Gin looked around. It sounded like the voice of an older gentleman, yet it didn't seem like there was anyone around. Gin, with a shrug, started to turn before he saw a man in the hot spring. Is he talking to me? And why would I want to sneak a peak on some girls?

With a gesture towards himself, Gin called out to the older gentleman. "Are you talking to me, sir?" He wasn't sure, but that was the only way to find out. "If you are, sir, I assure you that those are not my intentions."

[John Nicholson]

Well, this guy sure was one heck of a prude "I'm joking man. Don't be such a prude. Most people come here to bathe and relax!And for me, that means shouting jokes at random passers by." He seemed a decent guy, but John was still sane enough at this point to realize that an elderly man inviting a young adult to come bathe with him would be incredibly awkward at best. Still, John wanted to talk, no matter what subject it was, he just wanted to talk to someone.Someone which he knew to be a real person. "So ,what would you be doing here if not to come bathe in the hot springs?"

[Gin Takemoto]

Gin looked at the older man. "I needed a change in scenery. I've never been up here, so this seemed like a good place to go." That answered why he was up here. As for being called a prude, he didn't much care for that statement. "Sir, I'm not being a prude. I'm just telling you, the thought never crossed my mind."

The elderly man seemed to want to talk, and the most obvious topic was the giant cut on the old guy's arm. With more than a small amount of curiosity, Gin approached. "So what's up with the wicked gash? Attacked by monsters?"

[John Nicholson]

John was still laughing at the young adult's insistence that he was not a prude. Yet after that came a statement that catched his attention. "Attacked by monsters? What a weirdly specific thing to say. Do you know something most people don't know?" It was a neutral question, It could easily be interpreted in many ways. A user would give another vague answer back, and a normal civilian would probably just be mildly confused about the statement.

[Gin Takemoto]

Gin was surprised when the old man said something other than what most people would. Most humans would have just laughed a remark like that off. This one, though... He seemed to know something. And that something could prove to be valuable info.

"I know plenty, oldtimer. But I'm assuming that you mean something specific?" With a quick look around, Gin verified that there were none close enough to hear the conversation. Or coming into range. "If you're talking about the beasties outside the city, I know all about them. But that raises a question. What do you know about them?"

[John Nicholson]

So, this kid knew the truth too then? John was starting to think the people who didn't know about the danger outside were becoming a minority within the city. "What do I know about the monsters out there? I know that they try to kill me and anyone else out there the moment we leave the safe zone." He leaned back. It seemed to be a safe assumption that this kid was also a user. "So... when did you awaken?"

[Gin Takemoto]

Awaken? What does this man mean? I'll have to find out.

Gin was unsure of what the man meant, but he knew it wouldn't be good for his fellow shadows. He figured that acting unsure would be the easiest way to get information out of the old man. "Mister, what do you mean by awaken?"

Perhaps it's best if I lead this man into believing that I am a normal human... Gin needed to know everything his man knew, and acting like a clueless human was the best way to achieve that. "Old man, I'm not sure what you mean, but I know that it's dangerous out of the safe circle..."

[John Nicholson]

This kid's behaviour was quite suspicious. He knew about the shadows yet seemed utterly clueless about Persona users. There was probably a rational explanation for this peculiarity. "So, you know about the shadow monsters out there. Yet you have missed the fact people are walking around shooting various kinds of magical firework around with some kind of imaginary friend helping them?" He laughed about the statement. The current state of affairs was indeed quite absurd when put like that. Yet in spite of the light-hearted comment, what was out there was no laughing matter. "How and when did you find out what was out there anyway?"

[Gin Takemoto]

Gin had to think fast. He could tell by the old man's emotions that he was getting suspicious. And that wouldn't do for anyone. So, he had to come up with an explanation that would make sense. Then it hit him. What if I just don't know the finer details? I can say that this is the first I've heard of another with these abilities. Deciding upon that course of action, Gin smiled at the man's joke. "I've noticed. But I kinda haven't talked to anyone in similar circumstance."

Gin was unsure about how to answer the second question. He could tell the truth, that he knew about it since the beginning. However, he doubted the old man would accept that answer. So he responded in a way that seemed to arouse the least suspicion. "Sir, I've only come to find out recently. And it wasn't really pretty." He shuddered, as if at the memory. "So, how about you?"

[John Nicholson]

The kid seemed to be new to this whole deal. John couldn't really say he was very experienced although he did know quite a lot of the finer details. The second question however, seemed to him think about an answer. This was sligthly suspicious though, given the answer, it could be that the bo's awakening was quie a traumatic one. It made him think back to his own awakening. He himself had also nearly been killed back then. Even though he later discovered the monsters attacking them were among the weakest and most pathetic of the shadows.

It only seemed fair to John that the boy wanted to know the details of John's awakening too. "I just got fed up with the whole lack of information about the lockdown one day and decided to check what was out there, military blockade be damned. It almost killed me, though not by what they tell us is out there." John decided he might as well give this kid a quick explanation of what has been going on so far. "So, can you give me a quick summary of what you do know about the current situation?"

[Gin Takemoto]

With a quick rummage through the old man's emotions, Gin could tell that the oldtimer was getting suspicious. Still, there wasn't much that could be done. Gin had little to go off of. He did have a little, however. Especially when he thought back to the fight with the one girl.

"Well, I have this creature that helps fight monsters." By monsters, he meant shadows. But he had no details on what the other creatures were. So, he had to go off of his little amount of information. "The monsters are only found out in the area that the military said was radioactive." With a look around to make sure that there weren't any people listening in. "That's about it. Do you know more?"

[John Nicholson]

It seemed the kid was genuinely new to this whole deal. "Listen kid, I'll give you the short version. The shadows out there can easily eviscerate a normal human, but some, like me, awaken a power insde of us. This manifests itself as a semi-seperate entity known as a persona. I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume you have awakened considering you are still among the living. In any case, the persona grants us supepnatural abilities that allo us to fight back against the shadows on equal footing." Now that that text dump was over with, John sank back into the hot waters to relax some more. The kid would probably need a moment to process all this new info anyway.    

[Gin Takemoto]

This was almost too easy for Gin. The old man's suspicions nearly died away all at once. He almost smiled, if it weren't for the fact that the show of emotion would probably raise the suspicions again. He needed to act shocked, as well as curious. The second would be easy, for Gin felt exactly that way. He wondered what all information he could wring from the old man. These... "Personas" interested him. As such, he needed to press for more.

After a suitably long enough pause that lasted a few seconds, Gin spoke again. "So... Persona... They manifest from me? And the Persona gives me strength equal to the... shadows? Sir, if you could clarify on the finer points, please do. I'm gonna need more details. I'm just not following, I don't think." He wondered if the old man would fall for the ruse. He hoped so, but he wasn't sure.