016 | The Good Old Days

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Ageswapping
When: July 15-17
Where: Everywhere
Summary: A breach in the space-time continuum is messing things up.

Edit: OVERFLOW is here!



The Far Shore has been dealing with a lot of space-time pulsating through the past week or so and everything is culminating on the night of the 15th, even though the Heavens are preparing for an all-out Obon bash. They had planned to have the celebration on the 15th itself, but Amaterasu asked to postpone a day due to the horrible feeling that is permeating the Far Shore.

And it turns out she was right to postpone everything. In fact, it will have to be postponed another whole month at this rate...



Before

Late in the day on July 15th, the new batch of shinki will arrive to a Far Shore with a thick, tense atmosphere. All night on the 15th it feels like something is about to happen - and it's difficult to tell whether that something will be good or bad. Any attempts to contact the management of the Far Shore have fallen on deaf, slightly harried ears and so everyone is left to their own devices to try and figure out why things are so tense.

July 16

Just after midnight, an explosive shock wave rips through the Far Shore, bringing on the age changes with it. Even the spirits of the Far Shore seem to be affected - for example, the library goblins are either toddling around on wobbly legs or are dragging themselves from place to place and looking decrepit. There are a few gods and shinki that seem to have been exceptions from the change, though it is not clear why.

July 17

Another wave of energy comes in the early morning of the 17th. Fewer people are affected this time and it seems to alter those people's ages a second time. There is no rhyme or reason to who is being affected further. Several of the library goblins have just dropped dead from severe old age. Oops.

Aftermath

Late on the 17th brings about one final burst from the energy that has been plaguing the Far Shore. For a short moment, every new temple glows with a soft light, seeming to beckon to their owners. But the light is gone quickly and everyone will find themselves back to normal with complete memories of everything that happened during their age adventures. The goblins that died, though, are still very dead. Looks like the library will need to get some new help soon.

In Summary:

• Meet the newbies
• Get aged or de-aged
• Deal with other too young/too old people
• Try to handle the consequences
• Have fun~

Comments

16th, early morning.

[darkestbefore]

[ Shizuo wakes up with a tiny four-year-old peering over the edge of the bed at him, eyes wide and bright red hair an unruly mop from sleeping. Big eyes blink slowly when she sees him stirring and then she breaks into a bright smile to see him awake. ]

Good morning! I found you!

[ Because that had been apparently in question at some point while he slept, but here she was. Amazingly not getting into trouble. For now. ]

[bartenderizing]

The he-

[ Shizuo was never the easiest to deal with in the mornings. Not because he was volatile, but because he was sleepy and didn't want to be moving so much. Until he was hungry or thirsty, at least. When realizing how small that voice was, he automatically censored himself.

Not quite aware of his own changes, the boy starts to sit up. It took a moment, but the red hair and purple eyes meant it could only be one thing. ]

... Yona, how old are you?

[darkestbefore]

[ She beams up at him, despite that being a very silly question. Was this a new game? ]

I'm four!

[bartenderizing]

... Usually you're not.

[ She's supposed to be, what, 15? He never really asked about that. This is probably the only time he's wondered who's room this was, if the temple was almost a replica of Yona's original home.

How much of her is 4? ]

Do you know who I am?

[darkestbefore]

Of course, silly! You're Shizuo! My shinki!

[ This is a weird game, Shizuo. ]

What do you mean, I'm not? I am! I've been four a loooong time! But I think I'm s'posed to be five soon... [ She just can't remember when. but she's looking forward to cake! There better be a cake, Shizuo. ]

[bartenderizing]

[ Well, at least she still knows that much, though it seems like a few things are mixed up.

He- He really couldn't tell her that she was five a long time ago too, could he? ]

Uh yeah... Just making sure you know. And that you know how to get a hold of me if anything happens and I'm not nearby.

[ Yet now, as he starts getting out of bed, he's looking down at his legs. How much skinnier and shorter they were. In that moment of confusion, while looking at his hands and stuff, the self-censoring was forgotten. ]

The hell is going on?

[darkestbefore]

Shizuo?

[ Her head cocks inquisitively to the side as she peers up at him. And then at the rest of him. ]

You shrunk.

[bartenderizing]

... So did you. You just can't seem to tell.

[ ... Her new shinki better not be the same way. ]

[darkestbefore]

Did I? [ She holds her arms up to peer at herself, certain that couldn't be right. ] I don't think so. Besides, I want to get bigger, not shrink!

[ And that was obviously the deciding factor here. ]

[bartenderizing]

No one wants to shrink. Save for really, really tall people that always bump their heads on things.

[ Wait. To someone her age, he was usually one of those really tall people. ]

... I didn't want to shrink, either.

[darkestbefore]

[ She climbs up onto the bed to perch beside him, looking as though she were giving this a great deal of thought. ]

You're really, really tall. Do you bump your head a lot? But you can also reach the cupboards really easy.

[bartenderizing]

I'm not really, really tall now. Even I might have some trouble with the cupboards.

[ Which means they're not getting anything that's good up there very easily. ]

I didn't hit my head a lot though.

[darkestbefore]

Maybe if we need something you can lift me really high!

[ This seems like as good a solution as any to her. ]

Shizuo, I'm hungry. [ Obviously he's supposed to do something about this. Because she's four. ]

[bartenderizing]

[ ... Well, he was still the adult in the house. He should be handling this. ]

Yeah? Well, let's go to the kitchen. Anything you've got in mind?

[ He'll just slide off the bed, waiting for Yona before walking there. ]

[darkestbefore]

[ Yona bounces after him, somehow managing not to trip over the hem of her long robes as she scrambles to reach his side and reach up and take his hand. ]

Ummmm. I want eggs!

[bartenderizing]

[ It's probably because he can feel her grabbing onto his hand that Shizuo actually holds onto hers in return. As an adult, he would never dare close his hand just in case it turned out to be so tight there were injuries. Right now, he can tell that he wasn't really pressing into the child's hands. ]

Eggs... So how about omurice? We have leftover fried rice from last night.

[darkestbefore]

[ She beams up at him and nods enthusiastically. ]

Yes, that! it sounds yummy.

[bartenderizing]

Then let's see how much of this I can do.

[ After the single time that Shizuo had tried to make breakfast, he had put a self-imposed ban after that huge mess of eggs and shells. This time- well, it's not that he was weaker exactly, but he could actually feel how much he was holding onto the eggs, though it was somewhat dulled. The feeling was there.

Commit it to memory, Yona. It'll be the only time you get an eggs-based dish from Shizuo. ]

[darkestbefore]

[ She's too busy peering over the edge of the counter, watching everything he does as he prepares breakfast. ]

Can I help?

[bartenderizing]

Yeah. Here, get a fork.

[ He's just going to finish cracking the eggs into the bowl- There was no way he'd miss doing even one, as he didn't know if this would be possible again- then place the bowl in front of the small redhead. ]

Stir these up with the fork until they're mostly all one color. If it starts splashing around, just take it easy on the stirring.

[ He's going to get that leftover fried rice, so that could be heated up a little. ]

[darkestbefore]

[ Yona climbs up on a kitchen chair so she can reach the bowl and then sets about completing the task he'd given her. Her tongue sticks out, caught between her teeth in concentration as she mixes up the egg, and then squints after several moments, trying to decide if that was mixed enough to be one color. ]

Like that?

[bartenderizing]

Continued here!