Log:Hunting for Clues

Hunting for Clues
Participants Haruki Kseniya	13 May, 2017 Kseniya and Haruki hunt for Scavenger Clues Scavenger Hunt
Location
The cafe is busyish, because it's probably never wholly empty, especially with the evidently famous pies. Still, it's not hard to spot Kseniya. For one thing, she's sitting near the door. For another, the electric-blue streaks in her hair kind of stand out in acrowd. She's dressed close to the night before, only black jeans have replaced the leather pants, and the t-shirt is black with a bright purple bat over the chest. Also, the boots are now flats, tied with rainbow-hued laces. Outside, somewhere, sits a battered van, of the VW kind. You know. The kind you can sleep in, like a poor girl's rV. Somewhat battered. In front of Kseniya sits a largely empty mug of coffee, a yellow pages book, a pad of paper, and the scavenger list. Haruki's dressed similar as well, hoodie, jeans, t-shirt, nothing out of the ordinary. He steps into the cafe and spots Kseniya, a smile lighting up on his face. "Hi! How goes the hunting?" And then. "How was your show?" Kseniya looks up, and grins brightly, one hand lifting to give an enthusiastic wave. Then she stretches out a leg and nudges out a chair at her table. "Well. I didn't light myself on fire, so I would say it was pretty good. I haven't found anything, yet, but.. well. So. I had this thought. One of the clues references coffee mugs. There's a lot of coffee shops, but see.. this one?" She taps the last entry. "It's clearly Home Page Books. One of the prize-givers. So. I'm thinking this place might also be one of the potentials. What do you think?" Haruki nods. "Yeah. Tell you a secret? I've already picked up the items from here, and homepage books. I can totally sign off on yours though. I've got three items so far. The moodring, the mug, and the devil duck." Kseniya grins brightly. "Well. Hey, I was right about two." She gives a little wiggle, drains her coffee, then hops up, and beckons, before trundling over to collect her mug, looking more than a little bit pleased with herself. "Hey. Would you be willing to stop in at Home Page with me, too? I know you've been there. I've figured out a few others, too, by looking at the business names.. oh, and I've been outside Or Knot To Dye." Haruki nods. "Sure thing! If we walk to homepage there we'll also get the mood ring, since it's on the way. I'd have never, ever found that one. Max managed to decipher the clue though. She's super smart." He recites it. "Found in a place of equal sides, kept by those who will never rise. I thought that was a boxing ring, or something, but it's not." He smiles. "Oh! Or Knot to Dye... that's a rainbow scarf! I really want a rainbow scarf." He grins. "I was thinking that it was a graveyard. Because of rising, but I'm really not sure, and there are a lot of graveyards." She looks pleased, though, when she seems to offer a clue he -doesn't- have yet. The mug gets stored in her backpack, she returns the Yellow Pages to the girl at the counter, then bounces towards the door. "If we have to go further, well. Like I said. Van." Haruki nods. "Yeah, that's what Max said as well. We searched inside the graveyard. In the dark. It's not inside though. The equal sides is also part of the clue." He signs her form, and he's eager to go out the door and hunt for the next clue. Kseniya grins as she heads out of the cafe and looks around. Her gaze scans up the street, and then back down, until she finds the graveyard. She trundles her way over towards it, heading around behind the church. Her brow furrows, and she starts to examine the walls. "On the walls? Because you said.. sides. Well. The clue said, and you said it matters." Haruki steps out into the town square, and he starts heading towards the graveyard. He's trying his hardest not to spoil the scavenger hunt for Kseniya though, and the working out of the clues he's already got... or at least was helped with. But he brightens when Kseniya works it out for herself. "It took us forever to work that out! We went inside and we were looking about, with a torch and couldn't see anything. Yeah it's kinda easier at daytime. And then Max worked out that the sides are the Square!" Kseniya laughs. "Yes, well. If you hadn't -said- that, I would have probably gone all the way inside, too, so I mean. I had that extra clue. And.. oh!" Light glints on metal, and she swoops in and finds the ring, then hands her list over for signing, beaming and bouncing. "So. To Home Page, or To Knot To Dye? I haven't been inside, but I met some folks outside it. Including the girl.. Max." Haruki shakes his head. "You didn't! I just read the clue out as is." Okay maybe he did emphasise a word he shouldn't have. "Now back to Homepage. Homepage is just next to where we are. I'm not sure where To Knot to Dye is." When she mentions Max. "You saw Max at the dye shop? But she said she was going home to sleep!" He laughs though. "Was she up early?" He signs the list and then starts walking towards Homepage books. There's a slight bounce in his step. Kseniya grins up at Haruki. Because next to her, he's tall. Taller, anyway. She shakes her head, though, trotting along at his side. "No, no, this was a few days ago. She was talking to a fellow named Logan, and some other woman who left." She rubs at the back of her neck, adding, "It was a little humiliating, but. She still seemed willing to talk to me, so. Oh! There it is!" She ducks into the shop, and looks about for the duck, eventually just sidling over and asking the clerk, like in the cafe. Haruki loves being tall! Really he does. At 5'5" (on a good day) he's not generally taller than most people. He smiles when it's revealed Max wasn't 'cheating'. "Oh! What was humiliating?" He steps in to the shop too. "Hi Betsy!" he greets the clerk. "Yep, back, more scavenging." Around Kseniya, he all but towers. After all, that gives him a seven inch advantage over the small woman. Of course, she did claim to be an acrobat as well as a fire dancer, and they do tend to be pretty small. There is a cough, a slight flush, and a shrug. "I just.. sort of freaked out. Some guy showed up, he scared me, I kind of ran away. Not my brightest of moments." She pulls out the list, looks at it, then nods. "Okay, so. Or Knot To Die is just a few blocks from here. Up in the place with all the neat little shops." She tucks the duck away, after Haruki signs off on her having found the thing. Haruki looks oh so sympathetic at that. "It's okay. Some people can be scary. Are you okay?" he asks concerned. "There was a guy walking about with a sword in the cafe, it kept almost hitting things. He was huge! And that kinda scared me a bit. I'm not used to all these open carry laws. Usually I try and make an excuse first thoigh. Like phonecall! Or Bus!" Or emergency." He signs the list again. "Should we walk there? Or drive? I'd like to look at the little cool shops." "Let's walk." Kseniya looks up at Haruki for a moment, then smiles a bit. "I'm okay, but... seriously? Thanks for asking. That's real kind." She pads out, and leads the way north, along the streets, pausing to let him look at shops that catch his interest as she heads towards the shop with all the yarn. "..I hope I'm right, or I'll feel silly." Haruki checks on his phone. "It's a bit far away to walk. We're going to have to drive." He smiles suddenly. "But White Phoenix is right next to it, so we should be able to hit two places at once. It's a really nice drive too." Kseniya leads the way to where her van is parked. It looks a bit beat up, yet when she hops in and starts the engine, it practically purrs. It's an.. interesting.. van. There's, yes, a bed in the back, with blankets and a pillow and all that, though it's neatly made and doesn't -look- like she's actually living out of it. Just that perhaps she might have. That's not the interesting thing, though. The plants are the interesting thing, there's a fair few in the back. And they don't look like she's just transporting them. Flowering ones, mostly. "Yeah. I forgot how far." Off she putters, and grins over at him. "Hey, yeah, I saw that clue about the phoenix, too, and White Phoenix was the only name with Phoenix in it I saw." Haruki doesn't comment on Kseniya's living situation, whatever that might be. He gazes out the window while she drives. He's not so much one for talking and driving. The plants do catch his interest, briefly. He nods. "Yeah. Google Maps is so useful for this. I went and searched for everything I could think of as soon as I got the clues." Once they arrive, he steps out of the van, and gazes around the Market. He really, really wants to explore, but resists the urge, and presses on to enter Or Knot to Dye. Once inside and his breath catches. "Oh wow. It's amazing in here." He gazes around with wide-eyed awe at all the fabrics on display. "I'm definitely going to come back here." He runs his fingers over one of the nearby rolls of fabric. "I know, right? I make my own costumes, so right now I'm stomping on the urge not to spend a lot of money. I don't -have- a lot of money, mind. I'll need permission from Joel if I'm going to buy stuff to get reimbursed." She looks around, all dreamy-eyed, then heads for the counter, producing the list. "We have come... for the scarves," she intones, melodramatically, then looks back at Haruki. "If you ever want to hang out without hunting, we could come back sometime. I -am- doing this to make friends."" "You make costumes?" Haruki asks. "Really? What sort? Just for your acrobatics? I'm going to need some for our new act. Joel said we could maybe see about performing at the Carnival. I must have seen you perform, last time I was there. I watched the aerialists. It was breath-taking." He smiles. "I'm trying to make friends too. So I'd be happy to call you one." Kseniya gives him a wide-eyed look, and bounces forward, then seems to catch herself. "I was going to hug you. Can I hug you? Not everyone likes hugs, but it would be -wonderful- if you joined us. And.. I guess it depends on if you've seen anything in the past week. I've only been there that long. What kind of act? And I could make you costumes, I used to make them for others in my family.. uh.. I mean carnival." A pause, abeat, a flicker of something intense crosses her face, but then the smile returns. "Thing about growing up as a carnie brat in a pretty small show is that you had to learn multiple useful skills, not just the stuff you do to perform. So I learned costume design, and to do mechanic work. On the rides, and the trailers and vans and stuff." Haruki smiles and nods. "I love hugs." He'll offer her one, warm and happy. "And yes, it was just a couple of days ago I was there." He smiles and nods. "I'll need to speak with my brother first, find out what sort of costumes we even need. He'll likely tell you he wants a sexy bunny outfit instead of the furry one, but don't listen to him. He looks adorable in his rabbit outfit. My friend Zelda used to do all my costumes. I just did the grunt work. She had a real talent for, well she loved cosplay and stuff too." He smiles. "You sound really, talented." Kseniya gives him a happy hug, one that is oddly affectionate, but not at all suggestive about it or anything. "A bunny costume? That's great! I can do both, I suppose." She does flush a little, scuffing one booted little foot across the floor. "Only because we spent more time learning stuff like that than most kids. I mean. We were home schooled... well. Trailer schooled. Probably to the bare minimum, and it's not like I watched cartoons or rode my bike around. I played with machines, or got tossed through the air by my..." Her voice trails off, she blinks. She takes a deep breath, and turns to the door. "Anyway. Let's head over to White Phoenix." Haruki takes out his phone and he shows Kseniya a photograph, of a Japanese man that looks remarkably like he does, although a lot paler, and with black and white hair. Said man's dressed in a huge, furry, rabbit outfit, and looks absolutely adorable. Moreso because he doesn't look the slightest bit pleased with his costume, and is rather grumpy. He'd be even less pleased if he knew how many people Haruki's been showing the photo to. "That's my baby brother. Isn't he adorable." He nods at what she says, his expression sympathetic. He's not going to pry though. He walks across, and into White Phoenix Studio, gazing around. And then he realises. "I totally forgot to pick up a scarf. We're going to have to go back." He smiles, and checks his list. "So little bonsai trees..." he looks around, and spots them. "Oh, still lots left." And he begins checking them over, trying to see which one draws him. "This place is Chinese, hmm? But Bonsai's Japanese?" Kseniya follows off after Haruki, and enters the studio, looking about uncertainly. Until the picture is produced. She peers at it, and grins goofily. "Oh, my god, that is -adorable-." She snickers a little bit, then follows him over to the little trees. "We can go back for it. And.. ah.. I'm going to guess that the bar owner didn't realize one of those things. For all I'm American-born, I still deplore how often they get cultural things wrong. My folks were born in the Ukraine. And with my name, I run into a lot of that kind of stuff." It does explain the rapid-fire Russian she was spouting earlier, her parents must have spoken it. Haruki nods. "I'm sure it wasn't deliberate. Just an unfortunate thing." He picks out a tiny cherry tree. "This one's prettiest." He decides. "I was born in Japan, my dad's American though. Lots of Americans where I was." He nods. "I don't really know much about the Ukraine. Other than what hits the news. And that it's not Romania. And not to use ethnic slurs." Kseniya takes a bit longer, looking over the lot, and in the end, she picks the saddest-looking of the lot. Of course,they are probably all well-tended, but her choice is the one who looks like it needs the most love. She hugs it carefully, then turns to sign off on Haruki's sheet. "To be frank, I don't even know so much, my parents were too happy to be here, they taught me the language by dint of speaking it around me, and that was it. They spent more time teaching me to fly." She gives him a curious look, but grins. "Let's go back for your scarf," she adds, leading the way right back across the street. "So. Hmm. I'm getting low on clues, except the one that is clearly the Red Clover Hotel, because.. it said red. And it mentions the leaves, right? And it's probably outside, not inside. I wish I knew about the butterfly pin one and the dinosaur, I kind of want those just to have them." Haruki signs Kseniya's sheet in turn. He notes her choice of tree with interest, but doesn't ask. "No Ukranian food?" He looks at the list as they walk back to the fabric store. "I've no idea where the dinosaur is. I think we'd need to spend the day just checking the whole river bank. Or use google maps on the west bank until we find somewhere slow? I'm not sure about the butterfly pin either. It could be a lake, a pond, any of the swimming pools." Kseniya keeps on cuddling her tree. Nothing happens or anything, but she does show it love. Of course, come next Friday it will probably look a lot more lush and vibrant, but that is neither here nor there. "I wouldn't call a pool to be very relaxing, but that's just me. And no, not so much with the food. We all ate together, usually. And no, not all corndogs and cotton candy. Though. I mean. Okay, I -ate- corn dogs and cotton candy, but not at every meal. Hm. So. Red Clover, or.. do you have any other suggestions?" She pulls out her list, but isn't going to go anywhere until she sees that Haruki actually has gotten his scarf. Haruki smiles at this. "I'd love to go hiking to the waterfall. But that's going to take hours." He does remember, this time to pick up his scarf, looking through them to find the brightes,t most vivid, rainbow scarf and throwing it around his neck. He laughs as he does so. "I'm fabulous now. So... Hmm is anywhere actually nearby to where we are?" He starts checking his list again. "Oh. Desrochers is really close." He frowns. "Only my ex kinda... is a Desrocher. And I'm meant to not speak with him. And sometimes he works there. And it'd be really super awkward if I go there and he's in and... well one of the bartenders tried to beat me up. I'm not sure if he got fired." Kseniya signs off on Haruki's list, then consults her own. "Is that what that one is? There's so many bars, and a few of them have names that seem like family names, so I wasn't sure." She coughs a bit. "Not sure you can swim at the waterfalls, but it's real pretty out there." She reaches out and pats Haruki's arm. "Hm. That kind of.. sucks. About the ex, I mean. Ummm. I wonder if they'd give me two? Or if it counts if I, I don't know, smile pretty and ask someone else to get the thing and bring it out, or.. I don't know." Haruki shakes his head. "Two's against the rules. It'll also mean I can't sign off on yours, since I won't see you actually getting it." He frowns. "I'd think it's Desrochers. It's a family bar. I used to spend time there. I'll leave it until later. Or maybe you can go in, check and see if they're there?" He frowns. "Or um... no." He smiles again. "I just wanted an excuse to go by the waterfall." Kseniya gives Haruki a sympathetic sort of look. "Okay, let's just forget the bar for now." She looks over her list again, and shakes her head. "Well. I don't recognize anything else -but- the hotel. So. Why don't we drive over there and look? And we can call it a day after that. We've done pretty well. And hopefully, you can think of a way to get that bar one. But if I do go in later, and it's right, I'll tell you? That's only fair." "Okay, thanks," Haruki smiles. "And yeah, drive over to the hotel then." Kseniya turns to lead Haruki off to the van, but her cell phone goes off. What she pulls out is obviously old, and -not- a smart phone. It's as basic a model as one can get. "Oh. Damn." She pockets it, and looks up. "Actually, I'm being called back, someone needs me for practice." She gives Haruki a quick hug. "This was fun, though. Thank you so, so much. And.. come talk to me, about costumes or shopping." She beams, then turns and scampers off with her treasures. Haruki hugs Kseniya as well. "Give me a ride back?" he asks hopefully. "If you've time." He'll go after her. Kseniya grins, bundling Haruki up into the van. "I've got time." And she will drop him off wherever he wants, before zipping off. Well. 'Zip' is relative, the van doesn't go that fast.