#giripost

Winter always falls on this campus like a downpour. It goes from being too hot for long sleeves, to just enough for long sleeves and no jacket, to just like the frozen tundras of the North Pole in just a few weeks. The middle point is my favorite, and that's just in the beginning of autumn. After that, it gets really cold really fast, and stays really cold for months upon months. The wind is fast up here, too, and it bites at your skin every chance that you give it. Still, I like the winters up here. The buildings up here are all like cabins or lodges in the mountains, and when it snows, they feel so cozy. Times like these, I can forget that I'm an adult in modern times with responsibilities to further my education and an expectation to fulfill the white-picket-fence dream when I graduate, and pretend that I'm just a humble old-timey writer holed up in a cozy log cabin, penning a novel that hundreds of years from now, someone will pick up and read, and they'll connect with me and say "Wow, she was just like me!".

...Wow. Okay, that was a lot of commas. Sorry, professors. You won't have to read this anyway. I wouldn't want you to. I'm baring my soul and all. That doesn't warrant something as impersonal as a letter grade.

It's my senior year. People told me that college would pass quickly, but it still surprised me. I'm not done yet, I still have spring and then another one in the fall to finish, because of technicalities that I don't even want to bore myself with, let alone the audience. But...I'm close. If I can just pass these classes, this chapter of my life will finally end and I can move on to...whatever comes next. It scares me a little, to be honest. But...what other choice do I have?

You know what I usually do when my head's all cluttered? I go for a walk! Yeah, cliche, whatever, it helps me. It's cold as hell outside, but I need more head-clearing than just a walk through the floors of the dorm hall could give me. So I put my heavy winter coat on. It's a deep olive green, heavily padded so that I look like an armadillo when I wear it, and it works damn well for the freezing winters up here, so I don't complain about that one bit. I'm already wearing dark gray fleece-lined pants and a long sleeved mock turtleneck. It's festive, navy blue with snow and little white reindeer and snow-lined trees all over it. I even go so far as to put on my snow boots, dark brown and lined with white fleece on the inside.

I zip up my coat and leave my dorm. I walk down the dorm hallways until I eventually reach one of the main doors, and I walk through. At once, the fast wind whips at my face, so I put up my hood and buckle it shut. With my hands in my pockets, I walk out into the fading sunlight. It's only 4:30, but that's just how winters are here. It gets dark around 5 pm now, and that's always a little disorienting. It winds up feeling later in the day than it really is.

I walk along the paved path that stretches all over campus, mostly looking at my feet the whole way to keep my eyes away from the wind stream. As I walk, trying to think about anything but my upcoming deadlines, the street lights start to turn on, illuminating the path. As I reach the highest hill on campus, I feel inclined to pause and look out at the rest of the place. By now, what little of my skin is exposed is completely freezing, and I’m already dreading the walk back to my dorm. At least it’ll be downhill. But as I look out on the campus below, I start to notice something odd coming from the woods that surround the place.It almost looks like...smoke?

At first, I think it must be a fire or something. But when I strain my eyes to look closer, I notice something else, something that the smoke is coming from. It’s the roof of a building, just the very edge of it, peeking through the barren trees’ branches. The longer I look at it, the stronger the desire to go and check it out gets. I mean, of course I’m not going to do that now. It’s completely dark by now, and also freezing--hardly the best time to go searching through the woods alone for a weird building I’ve never seen before. But I feel like I’m falling towards it all of a sudden! Except I’m not falling, it’s more like I’m walking towards it very quickly. I barely register the surroundings as they pass by, the campus and its buildings, the paved path, the street lights, and what few students are still out in this weather. And before I know it, there I am in the woods, alone.

It’s almost like I fast-traveled here, like in a video game. Or teleported. I don’t really feel disoriented or sick, just...confused. Really confused. I take a moment to look around and try to figure out where in the woods I am, despite me not knowing very much about the layout of the woods themselves. Well, there’s trees everywhere, trees much taller than I am. That goes without saying. Moonlight shines off of the snow-covered ground, and makes each snowflake sparkle like grains of sugar. That, right there, is easily my favorite thing of all about winter. Not to get distracted, but I mean...come on, it’s really pretty. Anyway, through the barren branches of the trees in front of me I can see the smoke still rising into the air. The building isn’t far, I can tell. I know I should turn around, but that feeling compelling me to go further is so strong at this point that I don’t think I’m even physically capable of ignoring it. So strongly against my better judgement, I step forward, deeper into the woods, my boots crunching the snow underneath. It’s a very satisfying sound, but it really drowns out everything else, and I don’t really like being in the middle of the woods at night, alone, unable to hear anything else around me.

It takes me maybe around a minute to reach the building. As soon as I lay my eyes on it, I’m confused again. I didn’t exactly expect for there to be a thriving place out here, but I figured since there was smoke coming from the chimney, that it at least wouldn’t look so...abandoned. But the whole place looks like it’s one stiff breeze away from caving in entirely! The wood looks rotten and the windows are bare, and it’s completely dark inside. It even looks like it’s leaning to one side. And yet that compelling force feels like it’s pushing me on even stronger, so here I go, up the rotting steps to the porch. Do I even have a choice at this point? I stop at the door, and slowly, I reach out to the doorknob and turn it. Shutting my eyes as I start to dread what might be waiting for me inside, I push the door open and step inside...

Shutting the door behind me, I notice one thing right away. It’s...warm inside. I reluctantly open my eyes, and...okay, I must have teleported again, right? There’s just no way this can be the same place! It looks completely brand-new in here! It’s less like I walked into a rotting old spooky cabin in the woods, and more like I walked into an expensive all-star ski resort lodge! The walls are made of stone, the floor is made of pine wood. The ceiling is dark and decorated with glittering lights so that it looks like the night sky. Ahead of me is a wall decorated with a mural of a snow-covered birch forest, with little cardinals and a fox weaving between the trunks. I smile despite the strangeness of the situation. It really is a beautiful place.

I approach the mural, and turn my head to see an absolutely enormous living room to the left of it. It’s decorated much the same as the entrance area, but the ceiling is instead made of darker wood and features a few skylights, which are all currently covered with snow, so of course I can’t see anything out of them. In the center of the room is a very large sectional couch, and surrounding it are bean bag chairs that look like boulders and logs. Cool. I walk around the couch, and notice the rug sitting in front of it, which looks like a small pond filled with koi. Really cool. There’s a fireplace in the wall, and a fire is crackling away inside. Warmth radiates from the spot, and I spend a little while here just warming myself up. I take off my boots and my coat and set them on the floor beside the fireplace. The windows to my left show the view outside, which is exactly what I’d expect: dark and with the snow glittering faintly. As far as I can tell, I’m still in the woods.

I turn to my right and look at the door in the wall and the staircase leading up to the second floor. The building hadn’t really looked like it had any of this inside from the outside. I wonder just how far the interior goes. For the moment, though, I decide to check out the door on the first level. It’s red, and has a folded note on it. Curious, I take the note off the door and unfold it. 

“Greetings, Rose,”

“I imagine this is all quite surprising for you. I assure you, I can answer all of your questions once we meet. I am waiting for you beyond this door. On the other side, you will find a circle of doors. Only one will open for you at this time, and that is the one with white and navy blue stripes. I will be waiting in the lighthouse.”

“-Your guide”

I have a guide for this place? I guess it makes sense, someone had to have set this all up. But what’s this about a lighthouse? There’s no way that would have fit in a place like this...right? But having nothing else to do here, I open the door and walk through.

Just as the note had said, there’s a circle of doors in this room, each with a different look and design on them. I spot the navy-blue-and-white-striped door directly across from me, and I walk towards it, ignoring the other doors for the moment since they’re not supposed to open anyway.

As soon as I step through, my shoes land on soft sand. I can hardly believe my eyes! Somehow, I’ve left the forest completely, and wound up on some beach! Ahead of me is a vast white sand beach, moonlight glittering off the grains the same way it had on the snow back in the forest. The waves lap gently at the shore, making a peaceful sound that could easily lull me to sleep, if the weirdness of the situation wasn’t keeping me wide awake...and if it wasn’t only like, 5 pm.

There’s a dark forest on the other side of the beach, and I can’t even see what’s in there beyond the outlines of the first few trees. Yeah, definitely not going in there yet. Besides, the note said to go to the lighthouse. That’s ahead of me, sitting at the very edge of the beach. It’s tall and white, making it stand out in the darkness. I walk towards it, enjoying the way the sand squishes under my shoes. I do find it a little weird that no sand worms its way into my shoes, but I hate sand in my shoes, so as weird as it is I can’t complain.

As I walk towards the lighthouse, I start to hear something coming from the super dark forest next to me. I slowly look over towards it, but still see nothing past the outermost trees. But that voice...it’s absolutely haunting. And I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it before. But that’s...impossible. Unless I’m dreaming?

...Holy shit. How did I not realize that until now?! Of course I’m dreaming! Nothing else would make sense! With the weird fast-travel, the bigger-on-the-inside lodge that shouldn’t even be there in the first place, the door to an entirely different part of the world, and now the voice of Beast coming from the woods! None of that could be real. Okay, okay, realizing this is all a dream actually makes me feel a lot better. You can’t get hurt in your dreams, after all...except for in horror movies, but that’s different. I’m probably back in my bed, taking a mid-day nap or something. Thank god.

Though a part of me is a little upset that this isn’t real. I mean this is a really nice place, and I’m going to be sad to leave it when I wake up and it no longer exists. Oh well.

Anyway, I decide not to investigate the voice in the woods, since I was told to go to the lighthouse and that’s what I want to do right now. So I keep going to the lighthouse and eventually reach the door. Dreading the climb up the stairs, I step inside anyway and start the long, winding trek to the top. 

Weird. It still takes the same amount of time I would expect, but I don’t feel tired at all. ...Oh, right. Dream. I guess in my dreams I don’t get winded after going up stairs, no matter how many of them there are. Neat. Wish it were like that all the time.

At the top of the lighthouse, it’s...empty. Just the light itself, and nothing else. I’m feeling...a little duped. Nice of my own brain to prank me like that. Just as I’m about to turn around and leave, though, I see a swirl of purple and black mist appear just in front of the light. I can’t hide the smile on my face as the mist forms into a full figure, a well-dressed man with that mist still concealing his hands and face. I just hope I don’t wind up making a fool out of myself.

“Ah, there you are, Rose.” Kurogiri says, and his voice is just. Smooth, comforting. Like the taste of warm milk but, y’know, as a sound. “My sincerest apologies for arriving late to our meeting, but when you didn’t show, I assumed you had gotten lost or distracted and went to look for you. I see now you were only running a bit late. Thank you for not straying from the path.”

“Oh, well,” I reply, trying to hide how starstruck I am. “I mean, of course. I can follow instructions sometimes! But it’s really no trouble at all. I’m just happy to meet you.”

“Yes, indeed.” Kurogiri replies. “It’s good to meet you as well. I and a few of the others have been preparing this place for you, and now that it is finally complete, we are certain you will love it.”

“You...made this place just for me?” I mean, even knowing it’s just a dream, I’m absolutely flattered! “That was...really nice of you. Thank you, I really love the place so far!”

He nods. “That is good to hear. As mentioned in my note, I will be serving as your guide, and I would be happy to give you a tour of the lodge, as well as introduce you to the others.”

“Others?” I ask.

“Yes, the others that you have been eager to meet. They are eager to meet you as well. We have all been waiting for you.” He seems to smile, squinting his yellow eyes in just the right way to suggest so.

“This...this is a really great dream.” I respond. My smile must be taking up half of my face by this point. “I don’t think I’ve ever had one this nice. Though there were a few that came close...but seriously, this one is top-notch.”

“Yes, welcome to your dream world, Rose. Feel free to enjoy it for as long as you would like.” Kurogiri offers me a misty hand. “Allow me to take you back to the lodge. It will be much quicker than walking.”

“Oh...thank you...” I reply, taking his hand. It’s cool to the touch, but his hand is solid underneath the mist. I’ve always wanted to try warping with his portals, but now I’m a little worried it might be dangerous...but then again, I’m dreaming. Okay, never mind then. Let’s go!

He pulls me closer and in the next moment, we’re back inside the living room of the lodge. “Now, stay close to me as I give the tour, Rose.” He tells me once we’re back, still holding my hand. “This world is quite large and you could get lost easily without me to guide you.”

“Oh, sure...” I’m honestly just happy to be holding his hand. “When you mentioned the others, did you mean--”

“Yes, they are all here.” He replies simply. “They don’t all prefer to stay in the lodge. Some prefer the other areas of the world and some even prefer to stay outdoors. I mean to call all of them to the lodge for the purpose of celebrating your arrival, but afterwards I cannot guarantee who you will see and when. Though you may request a meeting with anyone at any time.”

“How are they?” I ask.

He seems a little weary when it comes to this question. “About what you would expect. Quite a few are...troublesome. Though I’ve forbidden them from upsetting you, an order which they all took to with surprising willingness. Still, that does not guarantee they won’t cause trouble for anyone...just not you.”

I laugh a little at the thought of some of them trying to be civil with some of the others. “Well...it’ll be nice to meet them too, I’m sure. Thank you again so much for this, Kurogiri. Can...I call you by your nickname?”

“Of course, Rose.”

“...Thank you, Giri.”

K - Kiss - Give us any kiss headcanon you want. Description, reason, location, who initiates it, etc.

He does actually have a face under that mist, and kissing him is like kissing someone through a cloud. Soft, cool, and misty. And smells like petrichor.

U - Uplift - How do they help you when you're stressed or sad and vice versa?

He has a lot of experience dealing with people in a bad mood. He's very good at calming me down and also a very good listener when I need to just talk through my feelings. And he's a good cook, so comfort food's an option too. When he needs cheering up I mostly just let him say what he needs to say, and offer to help out with something instead of having him do it. Sometimes we'll watch something he enjoyed before he became Kurogiri and it'll put him in a better mood.

R - Rainbow - What colors do you associate with them and why?

Any dark shade of purple and bright yellows. Matches his color scheme.

O - Online - What is your f/o's social media presence like, or what would it be like if they had internet in their world/era?

Kurogiri doesn't really use social media at all. Not out of not knowing how to but just not having interest in it.

G - Gush! Talk about how much you love them

Oh gosh. Just. Handsome fog man. Pretty mist man. Yeah I'd betray a whole classroom of kids for that guy. What about it?

Shirakumo seems like an absolutely rockin' dude with a good, kind heart and I don't think that's gone from him. Not completely. Also he's just so caring when it comes to his loved ones and he's so dedicated and hard-working that I have to tell him to take it easy sometimes. I worry about him every now and then when he really works himself to the bone. He doesn't have to do that. I'd love him no matter if he never did any chores at all. And he's the main reason everyone doesn't tear each other to pieces in the dream lodge. He deserves a lot of credit for that.

I - Image - Show us a picture of them that gives you a lot of feelings. If they aren't a visual character, describe your mental image of them!

King shit honestly. Now you're thinking with portals. Kids stop trying to kill each other and SIT DOWN.

R