[Closed] i'm a dangerous man with some money in my pocket

[miraculo]

Who: Sanae and Lu Meng Meng Lu
What: Prayer no. 3
Where: In a small town
When: Backdated to May 19th
Warnings: None!

"This neighborhood is so loud at night that my baby keeps waking up. I wish there was something I could do, but the cops won't quiet things down. I'm just so tired!"

[ And so, the god and shinki set out to solve this new prayer. Sanae expects ayakashi or something even wilder like a bunch of tanuki playing in a jazz band at the park. But neither of those things is the culprit of what's causing the noise. As it turns out, a group of pigeons has been nesting upon the roof of the young mother's house, causing a lot of noise at night: indignant quacking, pattering upon the roof, and thumps whenever those overweight birds land upon the edge of the house. Fortunately it is simple task to replace the nest in a forest not far off.

It almost seems like the prayer is too simple to solve.

So just in case, Sanae insists that both she and Lu Meng stay in the area to make sure that there are not any other odd noises or loud sounds. She leads her shinki into a park, where there is adequate lighting during the night and benches to sit down on. ] Let's just wait here for the moment. [ A pause, and then her eyes light up as she looks at him excitedly. ]

--It'll be like a stake-out!

[ She's going to be the one causing the noise, if she doesn't quiet down. ]

Comments

lol better than Lunch Menu

[young_oldman]

[Annnnnd cue the cross hushing! Lu Meng places a finger to his lips and raises an eyebrow at her.]

My lady, I understand that you're excited. [He whispers to her.] But we're here to help that child sleep, not replace the pigeons we shifted away.

Damn autocorrect

[miraculo]

Oh-- sorry. [ She whispers in return, quieting down. ] Maybe we should start singing lullabies instead?

[young_oldman]

Let's leave that to the child's mother.

[The less said about his singing, the better.

Lu Meng's eyes travel around the park looking for a bench to wait the night out. But then he sees the strange seats suspended by two strings, and his eyebrows raise at them.]

My lady, what kind of chairs are those? [He indicates towards this latest example of modern living: the playground swings.] They don't seem very stable or safe.

[miraculo]

Those...? [ Following his gaze. ] Oh, they're swings! [ She is keeping her voice down, in case anyone is wondering.

Sanae walks over to them. ] You sit on them like this... and then you build up momentum by swinging back and forth-- like a pendulum. A park like this is for children, but swings are for all ages!

[young_oldman]

Isn't it dangerous for a swing to be placed in a park then? What if a child were to lose their balance and fall off?

[Lu Meng pokes one of the swings for good measure, just to see how much it would rock with that light touch. Thankfully not by much, but he still doesn't look too convinced.]

[miraculo]

Then the child gets right back up and plays again! [ Seriously has he not interacted with kids. They scrape their knee, cry, and then get up and do the same thing again just for funzies. ] It's fun!

[ She's pumping on the swing, and soon she's swinging to be above his head. ] See? Look at how high I'm reaching~!

[young_oldman]

Don't swing so high! [If he could he'd stop the swing. Right now all he can do is loom at her side, looking very disapproving.]

And that still looks more dangerous than climbing a tree.

[miraculo]

It's not dangerous, see--? [ And she demonstrates by leaping off of the swing at the highest moment.


And she stays in the air, not touching down. Turning, she lets the the cool night breeze comb through her hair as she smiles down at him. ] ...Or did you forget I can fly?

[young_oldman]

[Lu Meng had nearly given a shout when she jumped. When she turns to smile at him, something about seeing her floating there as you please strikes him as unearthly, and his mouth promptly shuts.]

Perhaps not for you. [He concedes. And perhaps not for him too. Lu Meng carefully sits himself down on the next vacant spot and tests his balance carefully.] I still wouldn't recommend it to children, unless there is adult supervision.

[miraculo]

[ There are very few times where she gets him to actually concede to her point. She can't help but giggle in mild satisfaction. It's the little victories that count! Sanae continues to hover, watching him begin to swing. ] Mm, that's a given though, isn't it?

[ The adult supervision.

...

But then she wonders-- ] ...Or do you feel that you need extra help with this? [ It's a legitimate question. Maybe it truly does seem like a dangerous thing to a 2nd-century man. ]

[young_oldman]

Of course not! [He grumbles back, rocking the swing forward a little more with a bit more force.] I'm not going to send myself flying to the sky like you did.

[Another swing, this time a little higher. And another. At one point his feet have left the ground...but then he quickly sets it down, almost losing his balance along the way.]

Alright. I'll grant you that it's quite fun to play around with. And you're saying it's acceptable for adults to play with these swings?

[miraculo]

If I say "yes", does that mean we can get a swing-set in our backyard?

[ With all the dust bunnies? And come back every day all dusty?

Wait maybe that wouldn't be a good thing. Because of those bunnies she played with, she had scrambled to take a shower, but nope it was too late and she was transported in her bathrobe to that meeting!!

Sanae slowly descends, taking her place once again on the swing. ]

[young_oldman]

No. If you place a swing outside you're going to end up swinging into a cloud of dirt, courtesy of those rabbits of yours.

[Honestly, he really can't stand those rabbits. All sooty and dusty and causing him to cough every time he went over to give them a little something extra to eat. They can't always just be eating the grass of Sanae's temple grounds. Shhussshh, those carrots were on sale and too good an offer for him to give up on.]

You keep returning to the house covered in grime. If you had stopped playing with them like I told you too, you would have had enough time to dress appropriately for that meeting. [Lu Meng had been so embarrassed when Sanae returned in her bathrobe. He almost felt like addressing a letter to the native gods to apologize.]

[miraculo]

[ She cringes just as she begins to swing again. Don't remind her! ] A-actually, during the meeting itself, we were all hidden by beams of light. We were all anonymous.

It would have been nice if it stayed like that until after the meeting, too... [ She tried to make the best of it. Thankfully it seems like not many people were talkative after the meeting. ]

[young_oldman]

Thank the Heavens for small mercies.

[But his grumbling dies away, replaced with a more solemn, contemplative frown.]

What do you make of this news, my lady? Do you believe what the Heavens are claiming? [About who's behind them all suddenly appearing here.]

[miraculo]

I'm not sure what to think about it. There's still not enough information-- the best we can do is guess at this point. [ A pause. ] But if that's the case, then we have to consider all possibilities. Including one that the one responsible may not even be human.

Those gods in Heaven can suffer from the sin of pride, just as anyone else. [ In fact, every single god she's met in her homeworld is quite prideful. ] They have to look past their egos to consider that they may have overlooked something, or that they are being manipulated by someone else-- fellow god or otherwise. I do believe that this is too much to be a coincidence.

[young_oldman]

It could very well be connected to those messages we saw at the sakura party. ["Down with Amaterasu! Down with the Heavens!!" What a chilling message for the native gods.]

Have you spoken with the old gods?

[miraculo]

I've only spoken with Bishamon and Amaterasu... [ She says. ] Although, not lately. I don't think either are bad people. [ But this is coming from Sanae, who trusts just about anyone. ]

What do you think of all of this?

[young_oldman]

Lady Bishamon's shinki has been teaching me how to use magic. From what I've observed, her household is not opposed to our presence. [so at least on that front, he and Sanae share the same thoughts.]

I am not unhappy to be here. In fact, I'm very content. But I do know that this is not a widely held view.

[He frowns.] There seems to be a lot of displeasure from the other gods and shinki. I'll admit that I don't quite follow their reasoning.

[miraculo]

[ She tilts her head. ] You don't... "get" it? Or you simply don't sympathize?

[ She asks for clarification, because it's an important one. ]

[young_oldman]

A bit of both.

I understand that it would be upsetting to find your dead friends here. But reincarnation requires one to shed his or her memories in order to enter the next life.

And I think gods who have friends as their shinkis are quite fortunate. They have a second chance to enjoy that friendship. To me, that's where the focus should be.

[There's a pause, and when he next speaks it's with some hesitation.] At least, that is what I would do, had I been chosen to assume the role of a god. And it is easy for me to speak of this because I don't have that burden of having a good friend as a shinki

[miraculo]

[ "Gods who have friends as their shinkis".... that's quite a thing to say considering that, to her, he seemed reluctant to believe that shinki and gods could be friends at all. That it would be better to remain formal.

Also she thinks that it would be more upsetting to the shinki to discover that they're dead and with no memories. But Lu Meng seems more well adjusted than most here. ] But even if they aren't friends originally... It's good to have a friendship between a god and shinki.

[young_oldman]

That, I do not disagree with. [She should know from his memories, how close and devoted he was to his lord and leader. Yet although his lord was clearly on good terms with him, Lu Meng would rarely let down the formality.]

What I do disagree with though are all these complaints about being a shinki. To me, being a shinki isn't a matter of freedom or being trapped in a relationship. It's a second chance to live.

I don't quite understand how the others can be so unhappy at being reincarnated into shinki. The alternative is hell, death, or life back in the Near Shore.

[miraculo]

Were I in your shoes, I would feel the same way-- grateful to have another chance at life, to to good in this world. But I think the root of the problem is that... none of us were given a choice. Whoever is behind us bringing here didn't ask us to be partners or serve heaven. [ Maybe some people don't want to serve heaven out of spite, but she's guessing that most wouldn't care. Sanae and Lu Meng seem to be the oddballs-- the ones who actually want to do something good. Still, she's sure that there may have been some people that would have chosen death at the end of their life.

Not to mention, shinki don't have their memories. ] Those people should have the choice to return home, whether alive or to the afterlife. [ A pause. ] But here... I had the opportunity to meet you. [ But if he's happy that he's here, she'll leave it at that. Although this also begs the question of what she would do if he were to suddenly disappear. ]

[young_oldman]

Do the gods let you choose your reincarnation? That's not a good enough argument. No one has any choice on the circumstances they're born in. It's what you make of your circumstances that determines the life you lead and the happiness you find within.

[Again, another line that's probably not too surprising from him. The poor farmer boy living in destitution, supposedly doomed to eke out a living on soil ravaged by war and famine...only to spit that fate in the face and carve out his own path in the army.]

And I'm glad to have met you as well. If I had not been reincarnated as your shinki, I would be poorer a good friend.