[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 It's been replaced by a crater with sharp, curving edges.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.]

[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! ]

[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.]