thenearshore | [ Closed ]

Entry tags:

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Who: ~~Dumb & Dumber~~ Add & Jakob
Where: The Near Shore
When: July 11th
What: Prayer #26
Warnings: Add

Looking into the background of the old craftsman, Jakob realizes that his vocation might overlap with that of another one of their devotees—not a shocking revelation, given that the worshippers of Henir must have something in common besides their unusual devotion to such a god as he, but as Jakob had been keeping tabs on the one currently in rehabilitation, it had been but a simple matter of his visiting the address of the man’s therapist.

Surely this is what the man needs—lessons from a great master! Inspiration! He might be able to come out of his funk that much sooner should Jakob have both followers meet. And really, this sort of prayer is just the thing he and Add both need to make up for the disaster that their last prayer had become. After taking careful stock of his memories of that time, Jakob is sure that keeping Add out of danger during prayers is top priority. And what’s more, they have little reason to suspect ayakashi involvement this time around.

So now here he is, at the waiting room of the therapist’s clinic, with his quarry still in session. The intent here is of course to facilitate a meeting between him and the old craftsman. Easy. Add needn’t bother to come at all. As a matter of fact, he hasn’t told Add where he’s gone—he’d only expected to be away for but an hour or so, after all. It’s nothing too alarming.

So he sits back, leafs through a lifestyle magazine, not knowing that disaster is about to strike at any moment now…

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Add was the one who initially received the prayer, of course, but since he was in the middle of working at the time it only made sense to delay answering it. He expects Jakob to be waiting patiently for him when he finally finishes Rin's upgrades, but instead he finds that his shinki has mysteriously vanished. What could he possibly be up to that's more important than waiting on Add?!

Well, whatever. There doesn't appear to be any ayakashi involved this time, so surely Add can complete the job on his own...

Fortunately (or unfortunately?), they both come to the same idea. Jakob has his head start, but Add has the advantage of instant teleportation as well as clairvoyance, so it doesn't take very long for him to track down their mutual target (what was his name again? Taro?). Out of the blue there's some startled shouting through the wall, shortly followed with the therapist's voice trying to calm the man down. A moment later the reason why becomes more obvious from Jakob's perspective—a single jet-black eye filled with glowing blue patterns emerges from the wall, glancing around the room briefly before focusing on the waiting shinki. It stares at him for several long and uncomfortable seconds before blinking shut and vanishing.

Such a weird, spooky eye could easily be confused for an ayakashi, but the truth is much more terrifying. Add abruptly appears in the room across from Jakob, electricity sparking off his eye and looking absolutely furious.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" he screeches loud enough to actually draw the attention of several bystanders, "I told you to wait for me! You left without me!"

Edited (words) 2017-05-05 03:57 (UTC)

The noise from Taro’s session startles Jakob out of studying the fall fashions from two years prior, though what catches his gaze is not the door leading to the therapist’s clinic proper, but to the glowing black eye which stares back at him, the strangeness of it all shocking him into silence for those few awkward seconds before Add materializes in front of him.

Somehow getting yelled at by his master actually snaps him back to reality, and Jakob tosses his magazine aside with a huff and rises to his feet.

“You were hard at work, if you recall! I simply arrived here to take care of your other duties for you.” As a good shinki should, he might add.

"I said we would do it later, not to run off and do it on your own! What if there was an ayakashi involved?" There's obviously no ayakashi involved, but that's beside the point. "As much as I'd like to just ignore all these annoying prayers, answering them is my job, so when I say wait for me you're supposed to wait for me!"

He sighs dramatically, dragging a hand down his face. Honestly, what is he supposed to do with you, Jakob?? You're going to make him look bad if you keep trying so hard...

"Anyway, a job like this is better suited for me, so I'll handle this myself. It'll only take a minute so you might as well just go home now."

Why is Add acting like Jakob had been the petulant, rebellious child here? The utter gall of it makes him bristle, more so given the fact that Add has pretty much offered to take on this job solo.

Oh no you don’t—

“Of all the—and here I thought I’d make the job easier for you!” Add has admitted himself that he doesn’t like answering prayers, after all. Besides, all Jakob really wants to avoid is another disaster, and it usually comes in the form of his god anyway…

“And it would be more appropriate for me to make the introductions in the first place! Your presence has only agitated the man so far!”

So has Jakob’s, but he’s not going to admit to that.

"You're the one who already ignored a direct order, so don't try to act like you were doing me a favour! If I didn't want to do it I would've said so."

... Well, he kind of has said so a few times, if you count complaining about having to do prayers at all and the fact that he always settles on a "supervising" role. But that doesn't mean he wants Jakob running off and doing things on his own under Henir's name. He scoffs, turning on his heel to walk over to the therapist's door.

"If you were doing it alone you'd have to physically bring the man over to his destination. I can do that in an instant. That only leaves the introductions, yes, but I think the two of them can handle that on their own. I am fully capable of answering prayers myself every now and then, you know."

Okay, first of all…

“I waited for you, as instructed. You didn’t specify exactly where.” So technically, he hadn’t disobeyed a direct order at all.

But he’s already moving to catch up with Add, mind racing with a dozen scenarios as to how a meet and greet facilitated by Add will go. None of them can possibly end well.

“More importantly, I don’t see how your methods are any better. With the time we could have spent in travel I could have inquired into Taro’s life a bit further. And depositing him into a portal is hardly conducive for his mental state…!”

Add groans, eyes sparking some more from the growing headache Jakob is giving him. Why does he always have to argue?!

"He's in therapy, isn't he? His mental state is being taken care of!" Add retorts, 100% serious. "And don't you give me that you didn't specify where excuse, this is hardly the first time you've tried to do things on your own. As the current Henir it's my responsibility to handle all prayers given to me, and your responsibility to assist me when needed. That doesn't translate to you running off on your own."

He has his hand on the doorknob, though he hasn't deigned to open it just yet. He can so handle this prayer on his own. Taro wants to be more successful in his art, and they just so happened to receive a prayer for a student of the arts. It's a perfect match! The problem practically solved itself! And if he lets Jakob have any further input, he'll probably be so overbearing Taro will run screaming before they can even drag him to his destination...

So there's no way he can hand this job over to Jakob. No, it's better for the both of them—Jakob would be upset over having another black mark like that on his record. He'll just have to find some other way to make him feel like he's contributed.

Hmm...

"You already did a fine enough job of finding him, so let me finish this so we can both go home." There, it's not like Jakob knows Add could've done (and did) all that searching himself.

Well he started it.

“Something like this is hardly worth your time,” Jakob retorts, deigning to let something like a compliment slip through, if only to return Add’s. Although… “Your presence here would only serve to undo all the good work his physicians have been doing on his psyche.”

So yes, he’s more than a little worried about Taro’s mental state at this point. What if he gets so broken up that he can’t even perform well in his job anymore? He would make such a terrible student for old Yamada. And they would, once again, fumble through a prayer and make the lives of Henir’s followers even worse.

As if having to keep tabs on all the other people they’ve helped so far isn’t trouble enough.

Can that even count as a compliment when it's immediately followed by "your presence alone would ruin this man's life"?

"He asked for this by praying to me, so he's damn well going to get my help whether he likes it or not!" Never mind the fact that Add isn't the "real" Henir, or that technically this has nothing to do with what Taro prayed to them for. It's kind of related, isn't it? Maybe his new teacher would help him stay afloat? "I'll prove to you I can handle this, so fine, do whatever you want!"

There's no way he can back down now. This is a matter of personal pride—he can so answer prayers on his own if he feels like it. He's not incompetent just because he'd rather delegate the work to Jakob!

Before his shinki can try to interfere he barges through the door. The therapist doesn't seem to acknowledge their presence right away, but Taro is already staring at the doorway in horror (and probably has been since they started bickering, previous ~~trauma~~ exposure evidently makes noticing Far Shore residents much easier).

Add points at their victim before declaring boldly: "You can finish this later! There's someone important you need to meet, so prepare yourself."

He’s trying, all right? Seeing the good in people isn’t exactly Jakob’s forte!! But Add barges in before Jakob can make a suitable comeback, and at Taro’s horrified stare and that utterly disastrous opener, all he can really manage is a facepalm.

He’s failed to keep Add in line again. And that’s like, the foremost of his duties as shinki by this point.

“Please, just…come with us for a moment,” he says at last, nodding at the dumbstruck Taro. The therapist, catching on to his patient’s silence, starts to look concerned, and asks Taro if he’s all right.

To which Taro can only reply, “It’s them again!” He raises a finger at the offending divinities. “Please! C—Can’t you see them? They’re right there!”

Add folds his arms, content that Jakob is at least letting him take the lead for once. So far, anyway. They'll be done with this prayer in no time and then Jakob won't be able to accuse Add of being a detriment anymore.

With enough pointing and shouting from both sides, though, the therapist does eventually notice the two extra guests in the room. She gawks at them in confusion for a moment before standing up with a stern and professional frown. "What are you doing in here? This is a private session!"

But Add doesn't care, because they're on a schedule here. Without even waiting for Taro's approval/disapproval/screams of no stop what are you doing he snaps his fingers, cracking open a convenient portal directly beneath their target. He then casually steps over to remove Taro's desperate hold on the nearby chair that's keeping him from falling the rest of the way inside.

"Hmm, I'll bring this back after," Add mutters before just shoving the chair into the hole as well. Problem solved!! "Come on, Jakob, I can't hold this open all day. Are you coming or not?"

Taro is screaming into the void and his therapist can only stare in silent shock as all of this unfolds around her. Add is truly doing the work of a god of chaos here.

Edited 2017-05-18 03:11 (UTC)

And of course, once again Jakob is left to deal with the mess his god has left behind. He’s resigned to letting Add deal with poor Taro, and instead quickly makes his way to the therapist instead to try and reassure him that the patient will be put through no ~~physical~~ trauma and could she please look the other way?

But the therapist remains unconvinced and absolutely bewildered if not horrified when Add calls to Jakob to leap back into the portal.

With a sigh, and another sorry to be a bother, Jakob turns around and jumps straight into the portal after Taro. The sooner they get away from this mess, the better.

Add follows soon after, the portal sealing up to leave little trace of their visit aside from a missing chair and an equally missing patient. Taro's probably going to need a new therapist after this.

And poor Taro has been stuck in an infinite freefall this whole time, waiting for Add to create the exit out of the void. He doesn't leave the mortal and shinki waiting long, though, and shortly after closing the entrance a new portal cracks open below them, showing only the floor of the artisan's home. The illusion of gravity is all they need to reach it. The only thing to cancel their momentum is the floor, though, so hopefully Jakob can manage a good landing around Taro's sprawled and confused form and the large chair that landed on its side next to him. He's probably okay. Might've lied a bit about there being no physical trauma...

Add exits last, carefully stepping around Taro with the assistance of Dynamo. They're now standing in the middle of the workshop, with Yamada sitting conveniently nearby to gape at all the weird shit that just appeared in his house out of nowhere.

"Congratulations! Your prayers have been answered," Add declares proudly with a smug expression.

Taro will need more than a new therapist after this, but right now Jakob isn’t too worried about that. At least he’s dealing with Add’s special mode of conveyance with more dignity than Taro, who’s currently curled up on the floor and gibbering, Jakob having to quickly twist his body out of the man’s way.

He doesn’t even bother with the old craftsman right now. Or with Add. Instead, he rushes to Taro’s side, with staff in hand in case he’s suffering from more than just a horribly broken psyche.

“Are you all right?”

He's a little bruised from the hard landing, but thankfully(?) most of the damage is psychological. Add frowns, looking between Yamada's shocked expression and Taro's jittering form. Neither of the two mortals have said anything substantial (Taro's muttering about the void doesn't count). This isn't exactly how he expected this to happen...

"... should I have used the door instead?" Add mumbles to himself, slowly starting to grasp that his entrance may have been too dramatic.

His thoughts are confirmed a moment later when Yamada, hand clutched over his chest, suddenly heaves and collapses off his chair. Add stares in confusion before realizing just how close to death their aging teacher is. Or was, if they don't do something soon. Add curses under his breath, a flash of soft blue light filling the room briefly.

"Damnit, that's not going to work." Too late to use Seal of Time to reverse it, but at least they have a bit of extra time to work with now if he dies. He turns to Jakob instead. "How effective is your healing with cardiac arrest? Ah, or maybe I can use Dynamo as a defibrillator—" That might actually work, but healing magic would probably be a good idea anyway.

No need to waste a staff charge on poor Taro, then. Jakob’s magic can only do so much. Still, Jakob gives him another once-over just to make sure that nothing immediately physically debilitating has occurred to Add’s (possibly former) disciple, but he immediately looks up once he hears that thud.

“What did you do to—never mind. Just get out of the way!” he cries, quickly getting off of Taro’s case to rush for the old man, perhaps even shoving Add out of the way if he doesn’t get away fast enough. “Cardiac arrest” is one of those aggravatingly modern terms that he’s since come to understand better with all the medical textbooks he’d borrowed from Tenpou ages ago; hence, the rest of Add’s chatter doesn’t seem to register with him at the moment.

Then he kneels over Yamada and begins reciting his healing spells, outright praying to some other god out there that he’ll be okay, no thanks to his god.

Add meekly steps aside for Jakob to get through, though he's still hovering nearby with his Dynamos ready, sparks of electricity building around him. Just in case he might be needed. He's 100% prepared to shock this old man back to life the same way he shocked him to near-death.

On the bright side(???), someone having a heart attack in the same room as him snaps Taro out of his senseless muttering. He fumbles for his cellphone, nearly dropping it twice in his haste. At least someone here has enough sense to call for an ambulance...

"Y-yes, hello, there's a man having a heart attack here, he needs help right away! ... um, the address? I-I'm actually not sure... My name's Taro. Uh, his name? I'm not really sure... CPR? Well, uh, there's someone else here doing... something like that... Their names? Umm."

... at least some tried to call an ambulance, anyway. It may take a few calls for Taro to convince emergency response that it's not a prank call and he really is in a stranger's house with the god Henir and his butler.

Add pulls up a couple holoscreens, meanwhile, attempting to get a reading on how dead Yamada is. So far he still seems to be salvageable, though his heart hasn't started back up just yet. Add leans in closer to properly loom over Jakob's shoulder.

"I think your magic is working, but we still need to jumpstart the heart," Add interjects, possibly ruining Jakob's hair with the amount of static he's radiating at such close quarters. "Try using chest compressions."

“I know that,” Jakob snaps, completely oblivious to all but the patient before him and the annoying crackle of electricity behind him. He has to interrupt his spellcasting to wave Add away, even. He recalls the first aid lessons he’d gleaned from those same books, though he’d had little opportunity to practice them, having thought them of little consequence in light of his magic.

Already he’s beginning to curse himself for his folly.

“Why don’t you check on your other follower?” he adds, “If Taro hasn’t already mustered enough sense to simply run away from here.”

In the meantime, his magic can keep the old man alive, though trying to magically patch him up will still take some time given the severity of his condition.

Add reluctantly takes a step back, biting back an annoyed sigh. He could still help with this! Probably! But, okay, maybe it's better to let Jakob handle matters of life and death sometimes. At least when it's something that Seal of Time can't handle...

He looks over his shoulder at Taro, who is still struggling to explain his situation to emergency response. Their eyes meet, and the mortal gives up on his half-formed sentence to shove the cell phone in Add's direction. There's both desperation and exhaustion in his tone when he mutters they want to talk to you.

Add sighs for real this time, snatching up the phone. "Fine, I'll deal with this. You stay put for now."

Getting an ambulance—that's an easy job, so he can definitely handle this part. He clears his throat before bringing the phone up to his ear.

"Henir speaking. Don't worry about the address, that would take too long to get here. Just tell me where you're located and— ... yes, I just said this is Henir. The Norse god. It doesn't really matter, but I normally go by Add if you need to know. Anyway, the patient's name is Yamada, he's suffering from cardiac arrest but my assistant is performing first aid. We need equipment to restart his heart properly so give me your location and I'll pick them up myse— no, no, you're not listening to me. We're wasting time here, so stop arguing and give me the information I requested. What? Of course I'm faster than an ambulance, didn't I just tell you I'm a god? ... Hello? Hello??"

... it might still take a few more calls to get a real paramedic.

Jakob, who’s barely paying attention to Add in lieu of some furious spellcasting on his end, nevertheless manages to hear snatches of Add’s conversation over the phone and immediately comes to the conclusion that he’s making a mess of things again. As usual.

“Stop fooling around, Add!” Excuse him if his yelling is a little louder than usual—apparently while his magic can keep the old man alive to some extent, it really isn’t going to sustain him for long without outside help. And spellcasting is hard enough when his own talents for the magical arts are rather limited as well. As a butler he’s always been a far better fighter than a healer.

To Yamada: “Don’t you dare die on me, old man!” As if he can help it. “Not when we’re going through this much trouble for you!”

"Shut up, I'm on the phone!" Add barks back, slightly exasperated, as he redials the emergency number. He's trying to get help, okay, it's not his fault they don't want to listen to him...!

Jakob has a point, though, in that they don't have time to waste. Add grumbles under his breath, looking around the room before his eyes settle back on Taro, who is still hanging around nearby like a good follower. Though it's probably more for the dying old man in the room than anything Add has done for him so far.

He thrusts the phone back at the mortal, his dynamos arranging themselves to form a new portal. Before disappearing into the void, he commands, "Tell them to expect some 'divine intervention' shortly. I'll bring everything back when we're done."

And so for the next few minutes Jakob will be on his own, aside from the near-death Yamada and Taro trying to pass on Add's message to the increasingly irrate emergency responder. Although, after awhile it seems like the responder is asking Taro a lot more questions rather than blowing him off...

Eventually, a new portal opens up above the centre of the room, dumping a large pile of medical supplies—a defibrillator, monitoring equipment, a wheeled stretcher, an assortment of medication, a doctor... and Add, who arrives last to ensure the portal closes safely. He sighs, pausing to help the incredibly confused doctor up before pushing him gently in Jakob and Yamada's direction.

"Here's your patient. Jakob, Dr. Takashi will take over from here so help him stabilize the patient while the equipment is prepared. An ambulance will be en route to pick them up once Yamada can be safely transported. Taro, stop answering that useless idiot's questions and help me set up these machines."

Or it might be a police car on the way, but whatever. He gave them an address when he got there, so someone will probably show up to retrieve the kidnapped doctor and all this expensive equipment.

Edited (taro isnt allowed to get a break) 2017-06-30 05:54 (UTC)

They can all be glad that Add had been gone for only a few moments because Jakob was willing—however reluctantly he might feel about it—to leave the old man in search of his errant god, just in case he might cause even more trouble, and well…

Turns out that isn’t an entirely unfounded assumption. He starts when the medical supplies have been duly dumped onto Yamada’s nice clean floor, but he has no time to scold Add for potentially (definitely) making this situation even worse. Instead, he nods at the doctor and pulls his own staff aside—it’d be a waste of time to explain magic to this mortal, but at least in this case Jakob’s willing to concede to the doctor’s expertise as well as the advantages of current medical technology.

“I’ve already performed some emergency procedures,” he informs him. “Sustaining him, however, has been a bit of a challenge, but I will leave you to your work.”

He’s relieved to be away from the old man, honestly. The effort of the spellcasting has been draining on him, and he’s certainly possessed of a rather unhealthy pallor as he approaches Add and Taro, and even gives the latter a consoling pat on the shoulder.

“You might as well return home. There is little else you can do here.” And Taro’s no help when it comes to corralling Add in the first place. But, finally turning to his master, “We will have to leave when the ambulance arrives.” If an ambulance is in fact coming over, and not the police car…or both… “I won’t have you capturing anyone else for this godsforsaken prayer of ours.”

It's a little easier to relax once an actual doctor is handling their heartattack victim, and soon enough his heart is beating on its own again. He probably would've ended up a vegetable without Jakob's magic at work. The rest should be easy since all the hospital equipment is here already. So everything turned out okay!!

Taro barely reacts to the shinki's comforting pat, thoroughly worn out even though its only been a few minutes since his therapy session was interrupted. It's been a long day. Does he even know how to get home from here? But leaving this insanity seems like a good idea. He nods, pulling out his phone again to search for some directions or a cab number...

Until Add roughly places his hand on the mortal's other shoulder, a determined look in his blackened eyes.

"No, you can't leave yet," he insists. They still have a prayer to answer! What if Taro never comes back and Yamada remains unsatisfied?! But the other mortals are probably going to forget about Add and Jakob once they leave, so there's a simple solution to all of this. Add grins confidently. "After all, you're the one who happened to find old Yamada like this. He surely would've died if you hadn't acted so quickly in calling for help. I'm sure he'll want to thank you once he's feeling better, kuku."

... Although, it might get a bit complicated since Add involved so many impossible things like teleporting a doctor and medical supplies across town. It'll probably turn out okay for Taro. It's not like anyone would seriously believe he could do something like that, right? It'll sort itself out.

Jakob had been about to protest, to point out that they’ve caused Taro enough trouble for one day, except…

There’s truth in Add’s words. Whatever happens here somebody will have to remain behind to sort things out once the mortals do what needs to be done. He’ll have to report what had happened to the old man to the proper authorities, ensure that he’s being taken care of, possibly inform his family if any more mischief happens…

He makes a face, wondering at this rare opportunity for him to agree with his master, but he’s honestly too tired to argue at this point.

“You might as well,” he concedes, nodding at Taro. “You have wished to make yourself useful, haven’t you? The doctor might still need your assistance, and your god would not look unkindly upon your good deeds today.” He shoots a look at Add, for effect.

Taro looks between the two of them before eventually sighing, defeated. He's not sure if he even wants his god's favor anymore with all the good it's done him, but he doesn't want to feel wrath from either of them...

"Then it's settled," Add concludes, releasing his grip on Taro to dust off his hands. "Mission accomplished, now let's get out of this place." Before the cops show up and Add makes things even more complicated.

A new portal yawns open before them, and Add steps aside to let Jakob go through first. The tunnel is short this time, ending at the entrance to Henir's temple as usual. He waits until they've fully passed through and the opening has shut behind them to clear his throat, making an effort not to look at Jakob directly.

"Things didn't go exactly as planned, but you did a good job of recovering the situation. If you hadn't been there to assist..."

Yamada would probably be dead, to put it lightly. He feels a little bad about it, but mostly he's embarrassed that the situation got that out of hand. Add really doesn't feel cut out for this god business...

“I merely did my duty,” he responds gruffly, because yes, he’s still very sore with his god since his disastrous entrance into the clinic. He’s seen that shade of doubt in Taro’s eyes, and wonders if his faith will ever recover given Add’s antics today. And he hadn’t had any excuse of getting brainwashed by ayakashi, to boot.

“But I shudder to think of what you might have planned from the very beginning. If you’d let me handle the situation in the first place, both men would have come to more agreeable terms. As it stands, I wouldn’t wonder if both men refuse to see each other ever again!”

He huffs, crossing his arms and staring at his god until he begins to appear sufficiently contrite. Gods, sometimes he feels less a shinki and more a parent in this household.

He grimaces at that look Jakob is giving him. It still turned out okay, didn't it? And Taro and Yamada have so much in common! They wouldn't refuse to see eachother over something like that, right?

"It's not just your duty," Add grumbles, unable to come up with a better argument. He crosses his arms as well to try and hide how much his posture has already deflated. "... Roxas always insisted on coming along for prayers. Isn't answering prayers supposed to be the god's job?"

Then again, Roxas mostly let his shinki handle the planning and the grunt work unless he was asked. And he can't admit to still being anxious over Jakob leaving him for being such a shitty god. They've already been over that, it'd just be embarrassing to bring it up again...

He shifts his weight around, stretching out the uncomfortable silence and stern glaring before finally giving in.

"I don't want you going off without telling me first, but... I guess it's okay, if it's something you can handle alone. But you have to tell me first."

“A shinki is the tool of the god,” he points out, deciding against mentioning that a god may use his tools as he wishes. But with Add deflating and allowing him some wiggle room, Jakob decides to relent a little on that withering glare, and sighs.

“But I will do just as you say.” He looks away a little, frowning to himself, and continues, this time by meeting Add’s eyes, “I should have told you my plans from the very beginning. I apologize for my indiscretion.”

In a way, after all, he blames himself for what had happened too. If shinki and god aren’t in sync, it usually isn’t the god’s fault…

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[ Closed ]

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