[closed]

[existentialcrisis]

Who: Ukoku and friends (I'm sure they're friends)
What: luring people into his hell temple to do bad magic for bad reasons, nice conversations
When: some days
Where: aforementioned hell temple
Warnings: crows in a literal pie




[ The enchantment was a little too much. His fault, maybe, for being economical (see also "lazy") about it, but it doesn't really matter. It worked, and it's still working. The question, now that things have changed, is whether it's still useful.

But there's no benefit in being quick to throw away Ni Jianyi. So he shows up at the temple of Dionysus, not a priest (a not-like-the-other-old-guys professor, at best, with a hoodie over a dress shirt and his stupid yellow monkey hair tie wrapped around his wrist on top of an incongruously sober black watch), and knocks. ]




[ Generally, nothing she does really surprises Ukoku—but the text asking after his hangover (as if he had no experience handling them) came close. That was a week and a half ago. He's never expecting her, strictly speaking, but now, less than ever.

The temple has changed since she was last there. The boxes around the perimeter of the atrium are gone, as are the sigils—and the pool in the center. It's been replaced by a crater with sharp, curving edges.

Ukoku himself is out in his makeshift lab, behind the temple. ]



[ It's been days since the pool disappeared, and the most Ukoku has said about it—in passing—is that he made a mistake with some magic. Nothing to worry about! He's been busy, too, either out of the temple or in the greenhouse (which now has zero plants) when Guy's not, and he may or may not be inconspicuously checking whatever easy, boring lab work Guy chooses to do for him.

On this particular day, though, Ukoku actually makes a point to locate him as soon as he gets back to the temple. ]

Guy?

Comments

[onerous]

[She hadn't been avoiding him. She'd just been, you know. Busy. There was the demon attack thing, that was...sure a thing. That happened. She'd had a date (and wasn't it a little fun to play at being normal once in a while?) and there were classes and homework that, strictly speaking, she didn't actually have to do, but it helped and took up a lot of her time. Oh and, you know, the death never stops.

So, you know. Busy. Stuff to do. Pretending to have a semi-normal life with demons and suicides. Fun stuff.

That's what she tells herself, anyhow. It definitely doesn't have to do with the fact she's still embarrassed over the kiss or anything like that. But if she'd wanted to it would've been painfully easy to just cut ties completely and never talk to him again. You know. If she wanted to.

But now she actually had things to discuss, and her curiosity outweighs any lingering embarrassment, which is why she pops over unannounced to say hello. in retrospect she realizes she should've at least sent a head's up, but she liked attempting to catch him in a vulnerable moment. (She also knew that he always seemed to know when she arrived anyhow and makes a mental note adding that to the extensive list of questions she wants answers for from him)

The changes to the temple are interesting though, and she takes her time examining everything (the fuck happened to the pool??) before making her way out back to the only other logical place Ukoku might be if not actually inside.

In retrospect she realizes she hasn't actually been out to the weird definitely-not-meth-lab yet and is noticeably cautious as she approaches. So long as nothing explodes she'll probably be fine. Right??]

Ukoku...? [She's going to be really annoyed if she finally gathered her courage to come over and he didn't even have the decency to be home god damn it.]

[existentialcrisis]

[ The door, such as it is—a section of waterproof canvas—has been pushed aside. A sliver of blue screen-light illuminates a table full of boxes with a white coat thrown over them. There's a stuffed monkey toy sitting on top of it, staring back at Yuri. Hello. ]

Yeah, come in.

[ He's not bothering to get up, so she'll find him in an oversize office chair, wedged uneasily between the tables lining either side of the garage greenhouse lab. There isn't stuff on every surface, yet, but the way he has notebooks and coffee mugs and origami animals lying around suggests it's only a matter of time. ]

[onerous]

[Why is it always monkeys. Yuri moves inside and gives the stuffed animal a deadpan look--at least it's better than the skeleton? Wherever that was now.]

Not many plants for a supposed greenhouse. [Because Guy had said it was a greenhouse, hadn't he? Something like that. She looks around curiously, picking up one of the little origami animals in amusement. After a moment she looks to him, waving the animal a little for emphasis]

Working hard?

[existentialcrisis]

[ Would she believe him if he said they were kind of work? ]

I don't need to work hard. I'm on vacation.

[ He swivels back to his screen, tabbing through thumbnail images of cells, like the one he showed her weeks earlier. ]

How are the classes going?

[onerous]

Mm-hm... [SureJan.gif.

She moves to peer curiously at his screen, feeling a sort of reluctant admiration to the fact that the classes he'd suggested were, apparently, quite helpful. While she could hardly understand everything, she could at least start picking out what was familiar and recognizable. She hated when he was right.]

Challenging. [She won't lie.] I never really got far into science things before I dropped out of school before. But since I've gotten a better handle of abilities I can concentrate more. I don't know if I'd call it fun, but I'm learning a lot so I suppose it's about the same thing.

...But it's made me a bit too busy to drop by all the time like I used to. [Yuri trails off a little, clearly not entirely happy with that, though saying it out loud gives her a way to give her semi-apology/excuse for totally-not-avoiding him.]

[existentialcrisis]

[ Oh, is that how it was? Ukoku just smiles at her for a moment that drags, knowingly. ]

But here you are, in spite of your busy schedule! What'd I say I'd tell you? I can't remember. Was telling you things only after chess?

[onerous]

[She very pointedly does not look at him, but that doesn't mean she isn't painfully aware of his gaze on her, nor is she oblivious to the fact her face starts turning red, starting at the tips of her ears and working its way down.

God damn it.

But her gaze cuts to him quickly, eyes narrowing. Of course he'd remember the chess game and of course she'd belatedly remember that she's hardly found time to fit chess practice into her schedule. Ugh!!]

You said you'd include me more in your research if I started taking classes. [Alright so that's not exactly what he said, but it's what her goal's sort of been here; to dig her nails in more and figure things out and get involved. She didn't like being kept in the dark, not when there was something this interesting dangling just within reach. And if he's giving her an opportunity to lie and try to potentially get more out of this than what was originally offered, she'll take it.]

[existentialcrisis]

Did I?

[ He swivels his chair a little, back and forth, watching her with a spark of amusement in his eyes, and his voice is mild, not accusing. ]

Well! Sounds fair to me. Here, sit. [ He gets up and glides past her, as little space as there is. ] I had this program looking for genetic differences between a god and people from the, um, Near Shore. I didn't expect to find anything—it's almost too obvious—but I did. It's probably nothing important, but now we have to make sure.

[ "We," please note. ]

[onerous]

[For about 2 seconds Yuri thinks he might be suggesting she sits in his lap and her face goes blank as she tries to figure out how to react to that. Then the moment passes when she realizes with irritation that it's definitely not that and silently curses her own kneejerk assumption.

She sits in the chair, leaning in as she examines the screen.] It makes sense. The humans--the normal humans--can't do the things we do, so our bodies would have to compensate for it somehow. I'm sure the shinki would be different from them and us gods too, since they transform. [She thinks suddenly of Neji (and thinking of that is slightly painful but she shoves it aside) and his animal form and sits back slightly, looking upwards thoughtfully] ...I wonder if the shinki that turn into animals, if their animal forms are different from the normal animal too...

[Her body's a little more animated, an excited sort of tension at the different ideas and theories this opened up, but then she suddenly looks a bit embarrassed, sparing Ukoku a glance] ...I guess I'm getting ahead of myself, though. [Solve one ting before jumping on a million others, Yuri, jesus.]

[erogappa]

[ For once, the front door is opened by the resident god and not the resident soulless shinki-cum-butler. He can't hold on to the details of the conversation they just had -- not the name of the person he'd been talking to, or anything that was said, or why he can't hold on to those things -- but he knows that the person coming over is going to help. That's all he's managed to remember, but it's the important bit, surely.

There's clear recognition when he opens the door and sees Ni. But even as he recognizes the man the spell activates, preventing him from remembering any of those useful little details like where and what... and, ultimately, who. This is really getting old. ]

You can fix this?

[ Did they just have this conversation? Probably. Oh well -- it's sure not Gojyo's fault that he can't remember! ]

[existentialcrisis]

[ He was going to try not to laugh, but as soon as Gojyo talks it happens anyway, and he has to lean on the doorframe for a second to recover. Then he's reaching for Gojyo's arm, still grinning. ]

I'm sorry! Come on.

[ He teleports them both back to his own temple, beckoning Gojyo past the monkey skeleton in the front hall, through the atrium, where the sigils on the floor have been washed away and the pool in the center is covered with a large folded tarp, toward the kitchen. ]

Take your shirt off.

[ Uncomfortable weirdness round two. ]

[erogappa]

It's not fucking funny, [ --he grumbles, but he lets... lets, uh... lets the man take him arm and teleport him to a temple surrounded by dead trees.

It's a weird walk through the place. It's like the worst case of deja vu ever. Like going back to a place you visited once as a child, and recognizing everything, but at the same time not being sure if you actually remember the place or if you dreamed it once. The small changes don't help: he's sure that there should have been something else here, something... colorful? Paintings, maybe, on the floor? But that doesn't make any sense.

None of this makes sense.

He pulls off his shirt without a word, still looking around the room like he can't quite get it into focus. It's making his brain hurt. ]

I've been here before. [ It's half a question, half him trying to reassure himself that he's not going mad. ] Haven't I?

[existentialcrisis]

You've been here before.

[ It's amused, genial, only a teensy bit patronizing. Once in the kitchen, stainless steel and dim lighting and an entirely out-of-place ancient carved table, Ukoku points to a chair. There's a towel on the counter, next to what looks like a jar of badly-mixed ink, gray water with flecks of black and a brush in it. ]

Hold this and sit still. [ He tosses Gojyo the towel and kicks out a chair for himself, opposite the other one. ]

[erogappa]

[ He catches the towel. Why does he need a towel? He sits, because he can't think of any reason not to, but he clutches the towel in one fist like he's expecting it to start spouting answers. ]

What's wrong with me?

[ It's not really the question he wants to ask -- he'd prefer who the fuck are you really or give me one good reason why i shouldn't smash your teeny bit patronizing face in, and especially how do you know how to fix this? But it's so much easier to think about himself than about the ostensibly helpful man sitting across from him... for a given definition of so much easier spelled actually possible. ]

[existentialcrisis]

Will you wait ten seconds? Relax.

[ He's not annoyed, though—he's still grinning—and he wastes none of the requested ten seconds with preamble. He sits down across from Gojyo and shakes his jar of gross-looking gray water, leaning forward with the brush. This time he doesn't need the same precision: he writes a few messy characters on Gojyo's chest, drops the brush back in the jar, and gets up, casually heading for the sink (and out of reach) while the earlier enchantment vanishes. ]

There. Done.

[erogappa]

[ The bastard moves too fast (and Gojyo's responses are just too slow). By the time he realizes what's happening it's over -- his chest is wet, Ni is already walking away, and...

...his name is Ni. Gojyo slaps a hand onto the wet marks on his chest as though he could scrape the spell away, which of course he can't. ]

You put a spell on me.

[ This time, last time... so much magic! At least he remembers, now, having agreed to the first spell. But this one?

He shoves out of his chair and he's halfway across the room towards Ni, murder written all over his face. ]

You put a fucking spell on me?!

[ There may be punching. There will almost certainly be manful shoving. ]

[existentialcrisis]

[ Ukoku raises his hands automatically as he turns back, absolutely harmless and innocent. He's between Gojyo and the counter, but he doesn't teleport. ]

You told me I could! And I told you that if anything strange happened, you should tell me, and you didn't, so I assumed it was fine!

[fontechnician]

[Guy's not in the greenhouse when Ukoku seeks him out--he actually hasn't been at all, spending more of the day than usual sleeping--and is in the kitchen. Cooking...something that smells like vegetables and meat.]

In here!

[Don't judge his mismatched pajamas or odd new headgear, neither are really his fault.]

[existentialcrisis]

What are you—

[ He pauses, of course, in the doorway.

Well. ]

What's the occasion?

[ He points to the space above his own head, only half suppressing a smile. ]

[fontechnician]

Occasion?

[He glaces at the empty space above Ukoku's head, realizing what he means a second later. And look, one ear's moved, turning a bit to the side. Apparently they're real.]

Oh...nothing, I woke up like this for some reason. What's up?

[existentialcrisis]

[ He may or may not have temporarily forgotten what's up. This is, for the moment, so much more bizarre and fascinating than Suijin's meeting. ]

You…woke up with bunny ears? And you're not worried about it?

[ He comes closer with a polite, cursory glance at whatever Guy's making, but it's super obviously not his real agenda here. ]

[fontechnician]

I'm not not worried about it, I'm not worried about it right now.

[If something happens besides ears, he'll be concerned. Besides, isn't he supposed to not worry about things so much? What do you want from him?

What he looks like he's making is some sort of pie; he's not trying to hide it or anything. There's a bottom crust and filling, it just needs a top crust. Hopefully he won't ask what's in it.]

I could've woken up in a worse state.

[existentialcrisis]

[ What, like dead? But he doesn't say that; he's here to reach up and pull one of Guy's new ears like the adult he is. ]

They're cute! Maybe you were cursed by a rabbit.

[ He looks at the mystery pie, then up at Guy, pointedly. ]

[fontechnician]

[They're very fuzzy.]

I don't think I've managed to anger any rabbits lately...

[The pulling doesn't hurt at the moment, but he's not going to pull away, just in case Ni decides to tighten his grip. Not that he doesn't trust him; he actually does, but he'd like to avoid any potential pain.]

Pheasant. In the pie. Got the recipe from a friend.

[existentialcrisis]

[ Good thing they're long ears, because Guy is tall and Ukoku has kind of graduated to playing with the one he has (and attempting not to pull much; if Guy wanted to get out of reach he wouldn't really have to try). ]

Oh, is it? I'm so lucky to have a shinki who can cook!

[ He steps a teensy bit out of the way so as not to interfere with cooking, but it's probably a wasted effort as long as he doesn't let go. This is fine, it's normal. ]