thenearshore | 007 | Clean Up Your Act

Entry tags:

007 | Clean Up Your Act

Who: Everyone!
What: Spring cleaning
When: All day April 15
Where: All around the Heavens
Summary: The Heavens don't like things being cluttered, so it's time to clean up a little bit.

Main Hall

While the main hall of the Heavens seems spotlessly clean at all times, that's not the case at all. In fact, it's been at least a decade since the last time they actually cleaned everything out properly. There are a lot of hidden closets and back rooms that have layers of dust and dozens of boxes filled with nothing but junk. Who knows, though! You might find something interesting and useful in there along with all the garbage.

Suprises

Unfortunately, some of the older temples on the Far Shore seem to have some interesting surprises tucked away, ranging from cursed artifacts all the way to magical creatures locked up in long-forgotten rooms. You are free to be creative with this as a way to get your characters into trouble while cleaning.

Complimentary Dinner

After all of your hard work, you deserve to have some tasty food and refreshing beverages. So the Heavens have provided that for you, so that you can wind down after a long day. It's not as fancy as the banquets they often put on, but there is a nice array of food and drinks for everyone to enjoy.

Counselling

As usual, there is a white-robed shinki bearing the gold chrysanthemum of Amaterasu sitting at a table in the Main Hall. There is a small sign that denotes her as the counselling shinki. Anyone is welcome to approach her, and she will smile serenely at anyone passing by as well.

In Summary:

Clean up your home
Help clean others' homes
Get the main hall clean too!
Hope no hidden magic jumps out
Seek counselling if you need it
Enjoy your complimentary dinner
Have fun~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He'd promised Yuri several days ago that he would come and give her a hand removing the nooses (seriously, nooses, what the hell was wrong with heaven?!) from her temple grounds. If he's going to be pressured into cleaning, he figures, he might as well clean something that'll actually do somebody some good!

Her temple grounds are even creepier than he'd imagined. She'd said trees full of nooses and he'd pictured something, okay, a little more... abstract? Less gloomy, certainly. But here it was -- a forest ready for a massacre. How could anybody live here?

He hears the sound of voices (things echo oddly, but he's pretty sure they came from this way), and comes through a break in the forest just in to find Yuri, in the arms of that creep from the school.

Well. That's sure a thing.

He clears his throat loudly. ]

Oi. Am I interrupting somethin'?

[ Hint: the answer is of course not. ]

[ At least he's just wearing a regular shirt this time! Please trust him he's normal.

Ukoku lets her down (he caught her more easily than someone with his build should maybe have been able to), but until or unless she withdraws, his hand is on her back—for a second, anyway. He turns and shoots Gojyo a friendly little smile. A crow in the treetops caws and takes off. ]

Not at all.

[Oh look at that she's not dead or writhing on the ground in pain from not being caught at all.

Miracles do happen.

She breathes a sigh of relief and is about to comment when Gojyo appears from around the trees.] Ah-- [Feeling inexplicably embarrassed, Yuri shakes her head as she's set down and tucks her hair behind her ear.]

No, I was just... stuck. [She looks up at the tree with a little sigh, before refocusing her attention on Gojyo]

What are you doing here? [WHY IS SHE GETTING SO MANY VISITORS ALL OF A SUDDEN?]

[ That guy -- shit, what was his name? -- might be dressed more normally, but hanging out in the middle of Self-Harm Central doesn't really go a long way towards not coming off as a giant creep.

Gojyo's judgemental glare is cut short by Yuri's question, though. Wow, rude. Way to make him feel unwelcome. ]

I said I'd help you take the nooses down, right? [ He nods back behind him, in the general direction of the main meeting hall and all the cleaning chaos that's happening there. ] Seemed like a good day for it. [ And fuck you Nii for being here to see him so awkward. ] ...That's okay, isn't it?

[ Ukoku slides his hands in his pockets, rocking on his heels, and gives Yuri a mild look: that's okay, isn't it? He's tall, they can use him like a ladder. It'll be great. ]

Oh. [Yuri cuts herself off and quickly shakes her head, feeling bad as she realizes how hostile she must've sounded.]

Sorry, it's not-- It's not that I'm not grateful, I just... People don't usually come visit here purposefully. [Except, you know, weird people. She slides a gaze to Ukoku and then Gojyo-- she doesn't need her abilities to read the atmosphere and know there's something going on here. Yuri's eyes narrow slightly. Is this going to be a problem??]

I didn't know... [That he'd remember? He was really drunk after all.] It's fine, if you want to help. I need someone to boost me into some of the trees anyhow. [Use him like a ladder indeed.

She looks at the pile of rope with a light dismay] I don't know what to do with the spare rope either...

Edited 2016-08-18 00:41 (UTC)

[ Yes, this is going to be a problem. This is going to be a huge, years-long, epic problem with bad chess metaphors and lots of death at the end.

But for today, there's just going to be some vague distrust and a willingness to focus on the pretty girl instead of the old-enough-to-be-her-father creeper who was totally just copping a feel. ]

Burn it. [ He doesn't hesitate. ] It's something the gods put here for people to kill themselves with, right? I wouldn't reuse that for anything. [ There's got to be a clearing nearby without much cover overhead, and that's where Gojyo points. ] Make a pile and torch it.

[ Nah. Ukoku has an idea that that's just Yuri; some dark piece of her that the heavens wove into her surroundings, like his own temple came with a flock of crows and a good porch for drinking sake with the moon.

But he says nothing. He pulls his cigarettes out of his pocket, instead, and taps one out for himself. ]

I guess a big bonfire would be fun. [She crosses her arms over her chest, looking at the pile of ropes thoughtfully.] Maybe we can get some yams. [It's said a tad dryly, and it's not even fall, but it's been a pretty long time since she's been able to do something like that with friends.

Not that Gojyo and Ukoku were really the kinds of friends you got together to bake yams with or anything but. Whatever. She moves away and towards another tree though; there's still a lot of trees to get through.]

I can't get to every one though. And tomorrow most of them will probably be back. Ah, but, if it helps... N one's used them to hang themselves. I guess they're mostly here just for decoration. [THAT'S... CHEERFUL, RIGHT? AND REASSURING??

She looks back between them] Can someone boost me up? I can start undoing these ones. [And leave them to talk out their differences for a few minutes or. Something.]

[ Tomorrow they'll be back? Gojyo eyes the ropes in the trees distrustfully. That's probably the creepiest thing he's heard in weeks. Do they just, like, appear? Or can she hear them in the middle of the night slithering back up into the branches?

Great. Now he's freaking himself out. ]

...Yeah. [ This so so messed up. ] Yeah, here, I've got you. [ Under a nice thick branch of the nearest tree he laces his fingers together for her to step into. See, Creeper? This is how you do it. No copping a feel, geez. ]

You be careful up there, okay?

[ So chaste! ]

You came to help take down nooses and didn't bring a ladder?

[ He shoots Gojyo a disappointed look—exaggerated, mocking—and scoops up an armful of rope, turning in the direction of the clearing that's totally probably there somewhere. ]

[She rests her hands on Gojyo's shoulders for balance and boosts herself up to the lower branch, climbing up onto it with only a little difficulty. She kneels a moment on the branch before grabbing another branch so she can stand, glancing down at Gojyo's warning.

There's a hint of surprise, as there always is when someone actually shows they care about her, and then her expression softens.] ...Mm, I will. Can you help him carry the ropes to a clearing?

[She glances to Ukoku, gaze lingering a moment before moving back to Gojyo.] ...Try to get along, at least for now.

[ He shoots Ukoku some truly foul stinkeye, then half-shrugs. ]

I'm promising nothing with that guy.

[ But as he ambles back over to the pile of ropes (after making sure Yuri's footing is steady, of course), he considers what he really knows about Ukoku. They guy probably knows that he's a hanyou. Probably. Which mens he's probably from the same part of the world Gojyo's from. Which means he probably knows about the Sanzo-ikkou.

If he does come from the same place, and he does know about Sanzo and the rest of them, then that doesn't necessarily mean that he's going to be a problem. Sure, Hazel's here, but so are Kenren and Tenpou and Konzen. It's possible that Ukoku is just an awkward asshole, right?

Sure it is. Hell, it's even possible that he's not from their corner of the world after all. It's possible.

That's too many possibles. He needs some facts. Scooping up his own armful of (creepy haunted cursed disgusting cold) rope, he follows Ukoku into the clearing. ]

So where're you from?

[ Subtlety is so overrated. ]

[ Ukoku glances over his shoulder at him, half-obscured by the ropes he's carrying, smiling a little token smile. Stupid angles deserve stupid answers! ]

Texas. [ He doesn't wait for a response. ] Where are you from?

Edited (sp...aces) 2016-08-18 19:42 (UTC)

[ Texas? Where cowboys come from? No way. ...Really? ]

India.

[ There. Now they're both liars. ]

Is it true that everyone gets around on horses there?

No, that's a harmful stereotype. Let's see, what would the next question be—oh, what do you do for fun?

[ The logical question after that, of course, is 'do you ever go to the movies,' or maybe its ballsier cousin, 'would you want to get a drink sometime.' ]

[ This rope smells. He thought it couldn't get much worse than haunted rope, but haunted smelly rope is definitely worse. Where's that clearing already? ]

What's harmful about thinkin' you all ride horses everywhere? There's nothing harmful about that.

[ Deflected~ ]

Edited 2016-08-18 20:41 (UTC)

[ Killjoy! Here's the clearing, anyway. ]

Any time you make an assumption about your opponent and act on that assumption you're taking a risk, right? You can lose a game on one assumption.

[ He drops the ropes just far enough past the trees for burning and turns, directly in Gojyo's way. ]

Not that I consider us opponents. I'd rather be friends.

[ With his arms full of itchy rope (that he's about to drop any second) Gojyo can't really back up or go around. He's effectively pinned in.

He wanted some answers. And man, these weren't the answers he was expecting, but Mr Creeper is seriously leveling up in his creepiness. ]

I figure it's about time somebody told you that you're really bad at bein' friends. [ Seriously. You want to move already? This shit is heavy.

His heart's pounding a mile a minute, though. Opponents? This dude thinks they're opponents? Or is he just saying that he thinks Gojyo thinks they're opponents? Dammit this is complicated! ]

[ He moves out of the way, finally, with a laugh, and nudges Gojyo's arm on his way back to the trees. That's for deflecting! ]

How can you tell? We're hardly acquainted. I still don't know your name.

[ Dick. He doesn't drop his pile, but it's a near thing, with some cursing and one rope slithering its way free (they are alive and Gojyo will not hear any arguments to the contrary). ]

Don't you? [ --he mutters under his breath, finally unloading the armful of rope onto Ukoku's pile. They'll probably want gas or something to get the fire going, huh? He crouches down in front of the pile considering. The rope's not wet, but it's definitely not bone dry (ah ha. Ha ha ha). No way he'll get this mess lit with just his lighter. ]

Hey, friend. You got any fire-startin' powers?

[ Only in a manner of speaking. He turns back, eyebrows raised. ]

Oh, I knew I forgot something. Next time I'll bring my fire-starting powers.

[ This was your idea goes unsaid, but it's there.

He could go back to his temple and get a bottle of ethanol, but that would be effort, and the nooses are kind of a nice touch. ]

[ Okay, you know what? Gojyo stands up, pulling out a cigarette and his crappy pink plastic lighter (it's his lucky lighter, okay, it's been over a week and nobody's stolen it, that means it's lucky), and blows a cloud of smoke in Ukoku's direction. ]

No time like the present. I'll wait right here.

You're going to supervise the rope? [ He indicates back toward Yuri with a thumb over his shoulder. ] I'll tell her you changed your mind. Thanks for the help!

[ What? ] Oi, that's not what I...!

[ He kicks the rope out of the way and storms off back toward Yuri -- and he willget there first. ] Asshole. [ Besides, it's probably time to get her out of that tree, huh? ]

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