thenearshore | [open + 1 closed + 1 semi-closed] a pocket full of posies

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[open + 1 closed + 1 semi-closed] a pocket full of posies

Who: A + B: Shun and anyone! C: Shun and Ren, D: Shun and existing CR
What: Shun attempts to relocate a substantial portion of his temple garden to his Near Shore shrine. This goes about as well as you'd expect.
When: June 22nd
Where: A: Nekhbet's Temple and surrounds, B + C: A seemingly innocuous Near Shore park (a.k.a. Nekhbet's shrine), D: Network/anywhere!

A + B: Open

[A: Morning, Nekhbet's Temple]

[There are a lot of things Shun could say about having a rapidly growing garden of funerary and death-themed flowers, and most of them are some form of complaint. However, with recent events on the Near Shore and disappearances on the Far Shore, he's decided it's about time he made his shrine look a bit more lived-in, and if there's any good way to do that, it's hitting two birds with one stone and thinning out his garden to use for decorative purposes. Ignoring the fact that he has no idea how to decorate anything these days, because he'll deal with that hurdle when he reaches it.

The strange hill-shaped temple isn't difficult to spot even from a distance, and the large, tree-enclosed garden to one side even less so. The dwelling vultures are a little agitated today, rustling wings and hopping from tree to tree as they try to get a better look at Shun, who's moving along the edge of the garden with a dagger in hand. With how much the flowers have grown out, there's only an incredibly narrow strip for Shun to walk on between them and the shallow pools flanking the main path, but as always, he walks as if his every step is certain.

At certain plants, he'll stop, either taking one flower stem or a few at once and pushing neatly through them with the knife in his hand. Apparently nobody ever told him pruning shears were a thing, or he just didn't want to bother with that.

There's already a budding line of flowers down the middle of the garden path, loosely arranged by type and then colour, which Shun goes back to add to each time he cuts more. It's probably obvious to most people that he has far too many cut for any purpose other than maybe starting a florist's, but he doesn't seem to care, and the garden barely looks like it's been pruned.

He'll acknowledge anyone who comes to the mouth of the garden...just maybe try not to do it while his back is turned, since he is still holding a knife.]

--

[B: Afternoon, Park/Shrine]

[There's a lot of nice parks around on the Near Shore, and the quiet ones can be especially nice. This one in particular is off a small and relatively low-density street, the entrance flanked by currently unlit lanterns, and looks like the kind of spot someone might elect to have a picnic. There's tables, a large and venerable-looking tree over near the back...and, of course, the tiny shrine building (more the size to house vultures than any kind of human) that looks like it was made by some very dedicated follower, built and painted simply and surrounded by offerings of flowers. Today, there's also a very eye-catching one lying across the shrine "balcony"; a large arrangement of purple and orange flowers, done with not the skill of someone who actually knows what they're doing, but the care of someone determined to do it anyway and make it good.

Also in the park today is Shun, who's commandeered a picnic table with his excessive amount of flowers and is currently sorting through them with a rather critical eye. When he comes across one that looks on the dead or dying side, he runs his fingers carefully up the stem, focusing intently on the flower, and after a few moments, the petals liven up and heal, the natural decay reversing to return them to full bloom.

Unfortunately, the need for focus means Shun isn't in a particularly welcoming mood towards distractions right now, so any Far Shore residents hanging around the park may or may not feel upon them the kind of stare that could probably bore through concrete given long enough.]

If you're just going to be a distraction anyway, you might as well put it to some use over here. [Translation: he's...asking for help. Kind of. Not really, but still.]

[C: Closed to Ren, late afternoon/early evening]

[After several attempts at putting together certain flowers and getting the impression they just look wrong (and that if even someone like him who doesn't really give a damn is noticing, then others certainly will), Shun decides to cut his losses and text maybe the one person he can trust to help with this and be a tolerable presence for the amount of time it will probably take.

So sometime later in the afternoon, Ren gets a text containing a picture of the table overflowing with sorted flowers, and Shun's shrine in the background in the hopes that he'll recognise it from that evening they walked back there.]

Need someone who knows more about how flowers go together than me. I'll explain why if you help.

[D: Closed to existing CR, evening]

[So as it turns out, Shun absolutely cut way too many flowers, and though he definitely knows one person who'll want them, there's still a ton that aren't really spoken for. So anyone Shun knows the name of (or god name, in those cases) and doesn't hate stands a chance of getting a very brief text containing an image of a table still covered in flowers, but with vastly less than there were earlier. There's quite a variety - roses, lilies, crysanthemums, orchids, and so on - and it might be hard to pick up on the funerary and death associations of every single one of them unless one is very well-versed in flower language.]

Trying to get rid of these. Pick some out and you can have them.

[[Any kind of death or funeral-associated flower is fair game to request, even if it's not listed there.]]

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[...Did you really have to take it there, now he's going to have that thought in his head for the rest of the day. Not that it isn't also his own fault a bit. And this putting together this particular set of flowers isn't helping either...]

Not as much as I would if I knew you were actually enjoying it too.

[Sure, he'd have fun sending Shun to his knees sometime, but he'd have more fun if Shun wanted to be there.

Still, none of that is going to happen any time soon, probably, so his next smile is a little more innocent.]

But you're right, we won't know until it happens.

[For what it's worth, Shun has no idea that the remark would be so distracting to him. As far as he's concerned, the only reason Ren would have a particular focus on him when imagining something like that is because he's the person they happen to be talking about right now, and it's not something he'd consider to be worth lingering on the thought of.

For a very brief moment, though, Shun's repeated and constant pattern with the weaving falters slightly. He's always thought of that kind of thing in the context of being defeated by an enemy - someone who would want to kill him, or at least crush him utterly and without regard. As much as he's gotten used to Ren's attitude on giving and receiving pain, the idea of it coming from a friend, from a place of trust, is still wildly unusual to him, and he hasn't considered until now the possibility that he'd do anything but hate it the same way.

But he knows a loss isn't the same when it comes from a place of even something as simple as respect. And when it comes to taking a defeat from someone who doesn't want his life along with it, he knows it's easy to find some kind of satisfaction in it, because he's done it before. It's hard to say without being there, but he wonders, just for a moment, if he might feel enough about Ren putting him in that position to call it enjoyment.

None of this moment of reflection is allowed to show through, though. Perhaps his weaving is a little distracted for a few moments, perhaps the lines of his expression change that little bit to indicate he's giving the matter thought rather than immediate dismissal, but when he does reply, it's soon enough to not even be hesitant, and as controlled as ever.]

That's hardly a surprise. [It matches what he knows of Ren and the subtleties of that attitude, after all.

By this point, Shun's finishing up the weaving and about to tie the bow at the end, so he at least spares Ren more of a glance by the time his smile becomes less suspect.]

I suppose it can't be as annoying as having people who barely know me try to inflict whatever is fun for them on me like it's going to work.

[He does notice Shun's stead weaving falter a bit when he says that, but that could have been for any number of reasons. Maybe he hadn't thought Ren would just along with that. Maybe he'd gotten overconfident and his fingers tripped over each other. Neither possibility seems very likely, but Shun isn't giving him enough to figure out what it really is.

Which is fine, he's allowed to have his secrets, and it doesn't seem like it was a big deal anyway.]

I can't promise I won't try that a little bit, but if you don't have any idea what's fun or not, you'd have to start somewhere.

At least you might have a better idea of whether what you find fun is something I'd even tolerate, instead of acting like I should be interested in parties or whatever other gathering of noise and people others have tried to push me into.

[Because honestly, that's been his majority experience with people trying to find fun things for him. Hajime had at least said she'd try to find something they could both have fun doing, but she hadn't managed to follow up on that yet.

Though he ties the bow as resolutely as ever, Ren's also chanced on something else the other people who've tried don't seem to have accepted either, and after a moment or two, Shun figures he might as well admit as much.]

And accepting I don't know what I'd find fun is a step further than most people.

[Oh, it's hard not to laugh at that idea. No, that doesn't seem to be the way to get Shun to have fun at all. Frankly, he's amazed Shun even comes to the various gatherings put on by the Heavens, and he wouldn't be surprised if the only reason Shun went to them was for information gathering.]

You don't have to worry about me trying something like that.

[Much. Maybe if it was a small party with only a few people that he liked the best.

Oh, and Shun is pretty much done. Ren isn't quite satified with the fiery set of flowers he's working on, though, so Shun's going to have to wait a bit this time.]

Most people here don't know you as well as I do.

Edited 2017-04-01 00:11 (UTC)

[That is pretty much exactly why Shun goes to them. Information gathering, meeting newcomers, keeping an eye on people he knows, and even then he's hard-pressed to be called "tolerating it" when it's things like the beach party from a few weeks ago. Also known as the one where Shun was network commenting about how much of a waste of time the party was from the party.

At the very least, it's somewhat reassuring to hear Ren isn't going to be trying that. Somewhat. He still doesn't know what else he might try.]

Then maybe you'll actually make some progress. [Shun knows well enough that he's not incapable of having fun with something, it's just (very) infrequent and he doesn't really know what it is that usually piques it. Ren already sounds like he's coming at the challenge a lot more sensibly than anyone else who's taken it up.

He has a valid point there, though, and Shun nods slightly as he places the finished arrangement alongside the other three.]

And the only other person who should doesn't remember it. [Which means Ren has somewhat of an advantage there.]

Well, I already got you to have fun once, didn't I? So I think I already am.

[So maybe that was an optimistic way of looking at that one race, since Shun had been pretty noncommittal on whether he'd actually had fun or not, but it was close enough for him to be satisfied that it counted as progress.

At that mention of Yuto...he wondering how many of the others would say something like "you never know, he might remember sometime!" Ren isn't convinced that the bits of memory shinki have been getting is harmless, though, so he won't be saying anything like that.]

That's true. But maybe you'll get lucky and someone else will show up.

That's a little optimistic. [Not quite naive, because Shun did say that he'd thought he'd had fun, but optimistic. Shun's not entirely sure how what they'd done in that race would adapt to other things Ren might be able to try, but he has his doubts it's well enough to make the progress noteworthy.

When Ren suggests someone else might show up, Shun lets out a harsh breath and turns his back, leaning against the table in a manner that makes it very difficult to see his face from where Ren's standing.]

There's about two people in my world who know me as well as Yuto does. One's captured, and one tried to kill me the last time we met. I'd have to get ridiculously lucky in more than one way for either of those to work.

[And there's a weight and tiredness to his voice that says he doesn't expect the universe to hand him anything that good that easily. He trusts the Lancers and people like Crow who they've met across the dimensions, sure, but he wouldn't say they know him like Ruri or Kaito would - and even the latter of those two is a not-insignificant stretch in terms of knowing him "as well as Yuto".]

[Guess which of those two options he's actually going to comment on. Sorry, Ruri, you're probably great too.]

Trying to kill you last time you met doesn't mean they'll still want to next time.

[He is absolutely speaking from experience on that one, and looking over the bouquet in his hand a little too fondly while he's doing it. But he's going to try not to spend too much time wishing one of his beloved rivals would show up, since Shun only just got him back on track from the last time he got sidetracked by those kinds of thoughts.

This set of flowers finally seems to be enough like a fire to satisfy him, and Shun has his back turned, so this is the perfect time to hold the arrangement out for him to take.]

But I see your point. I guess you're stuck with me, then.

Edited 2017-04-01 09:51 (UTC)

[Commenting on the one that isn't Ruri is vastly less likely to get him punched for misstepping the comment in any way, so there's that. Shun raises an eyebrow at him, but can't actually argue that as much as he'd like to.]

Only because someone talked him out of it. [Because that would be a great way to start things off here. Then again, here Shun would have the advantage of time spent and knowing how things are done and how his powers work, so he doubts any potential confrontation with Kaito would end the same.

At the rustle of flowers, Shun turns his head back towards Ren, reaching over to take the offered bouquet. It really does look a lot like fire, but given the terms in which Shun's heard Ren describe his friends before, he can't be too surprised at the choice of style.

It's the remark that catches his attention more, though, and he shrugs slightly as if to dismiss it.]

"Stuck" makes it sound like I don't want to be. [Shun's been genuinely stuck with people before, and he's hated it. He might be stuck in terms of only having Ren for now, but stuck with Ren just seems...wrong to him, somehow.]

[That still sounds like a pretty great rival and/or enemy to him, but he's not surprised that Shun doesn't seem to think so. Few people ever really do. And shun has more reason than most to distrust someone who tried to kill him, whether they were a former friend or not.

He blinks at Shun's dismissal of his other comment, looking like he hadn't quite thought of it that way or like he hadn't thought Shun would take the opportunity to say something like that. He smiles a little as he picks up one of the leftover lilies to play with. It's not like he needs that reassurance, but it is pretty nice to hear anyway.]

Oh, then maybe I should have put it another way. But you got what I meant. I want to be too, for the record.

[As far as Shun's concerned, he was a better rival before the trying to kill him part, though he also wouldn't be terribly surprised to hear Ren's thoughts on the matter.

As Ren picks up that lily, Shun instead picks up both rolls of ribbon, threading both through the stems in different places. It might take a little figuring out on how to alternate the pattern between the colours, but it feels appropriate to at least try it for the last one, when they have two of each colour already.

The attention he's paying to that also, he hopes, serves to distract from the small smile that turns up the side of his mouth at Ren's answer. He can be a little soft when it comes to shows of friendship he feels are warranted, and for some reason, hearing it from Ren seems to have made it even easier to smile about.]

Then it's fine like this. [Though he expects one day he'll come to trust others in this place enough to call them friends, or will get the chance to know Yuto well enough to call him that again, for the moment, he's not bothered by just having Ren.]

[...Shun really is handsome when he smiles, even if it's a little one like that. Although admittedly, his first thought is to tease him about it, since it is so rare and so different from the stern attitude he usually has. Teasing him about it might make it go away and not come back, though...

So instead, Ren shuffles over a bit so he can get a better look at exactly what Shun has been doing to tie the flower arrangements together.]

Eeeeh, you're getting really good at that.

[Yes, he knows he's already said that once today, but given how ambitious he being using both colors at once, it bares repeating. This is the perfect arrangement to use both of them on too.]

I really like how that one looks with both colors.

[While Shun's smiles tend to be short-lived just by his nature, Ren's choice of response does work in some sense - while the outright smile only lingers a little longer, he still looks much more content than he usually does.

Though he's already starting to figure out the new method of weaving he'll need to combine the colours, he parts his hands a bit when Ren comes over so he can see it better. Since he's been watching Ren actually do the arrangements, he can't really begrudge him taking so much interest.

Nonetheless, he still doesn't really take the compliment outright, simply shrugging slightly as if it's not that big a deal.]

It's not that different to things I've had to do with rope and whatever else before this. I just have to be more careful with it. [Since twists in the ribbon wouldn't look particularly good for something like this.]

I was going to do it on the last one anyway, but the colours you picked fit. [At least, to his eye, which he has previously explained to be terrible at this.]

That doesn't mean you're not getting good at it.

[Come on, Shun, you can accept a compliment every now and then. He isn't too surprised by Shun's attempt to deflect it, though, so he sounds more amused than anything else.

He is pleasantly surprised by Shun actually having an opinion on how well the colors match, and he's more than happy to compliment him on that too, especially since he had seemed somewhat interested in learning and getting batter at it.]

They really do, don't they? See, you're getting better at that too.

That's not saying much. [As Ren may have noticed, the point of "having an opinion on it at all" could be considered an improvement given what Shun's normally like about this sort of thing. He has his doubts about how accurate that opinion might be in situations outside of this one, though, and he still doesn't imagine he'd be all that likely to want to give it.

This entire exchange is raising one thing he's had a bit of trouble figuring out with Ren before, too, and after a moment or two more of weaving, he glances over at him with a bit of a curious look.]

I still don't understand why you do that. You don't need to look for things to be nice about, and you know saying things just to make someone feel better doesn't work on me. [There's definitely something about his tone that says the concept of compliments of themselves kind of confuses him. He's all for pointing out facts about people's skill or whatever else that might happen to be positive, but he doesn't tend to frame them or consider them as compliments.]

Edited 2017-04-03 14:21 (UTC)

[Ren sighs a little, because he should have seen that coming, but he has a fond smile to go with it.]

I'm not looking for anything, and I'm not saying it just to make you feel better. I'm saying it because I want to and it's true.

Anyway, you've complimented me before, so I'm paying you back.

[He's really tempted to pout as he says that last bit too. The biggest difference between their compliments is that Ren is cheerful and smiling and Shun is very matter-of-fact about it, but otherwise they're almost the same.]

No I haven't. [For a moment, Shun looks outright confused at the implication he's complimented Ren - or complimented anyone at all, for that matter. And then he figures out what he's talking about, and just sighs slightly instead.] Those things were just stating facts. If those facts happen to be a good thing, then that's just how it is. What you're doing is different.

[Or at least, it feels different to Shun, though he's lacking a little of his usual certainty in that last sentence. Possibly because he doesn't want to think about the implications of "I want to and it's true" about the previous times Ren has complimented him on things somewhat more personal than how good he is at tying ribbon into flowers.]

And you keep saying it about unimportant things, so you'd have to be going out of your way to notice those. [Well, unimportant by Shun's point of view. He still has difficulty with the concept of people just naturally noticing certain things that he doesn't.]

[Oh no, he really didn't realize that his compliments were actually compliments. Well, Ren had wondered about that. it doesn't make them any less nice to hear, though, and that's the really important thing here.]

It's not that different. I'm just smiling when I'm saying them. They're still facts, and facts can be compliments.

[Granted, some of his compliments in the past have definitely been more opinion than fact, but that definitely wasn't true of these last ones.]

I pointed out the thing with the colors because you were trying to learn more about it. It wasn't that hard to notice.

[Though Shun still doesn't look quite like he's ready to believe that, he at least lets it slide for now, though not without his frown lingering a few moments longer. Eventually, though, he shrugs, and turns his attention back to the weaving. The idea that he's been complimenting Ren this whole time...doesn't really bother him that much, though he feels like it would if it were someone he didn't know as well.]

It doesn't really matter to me anyway. It's not like I hand them out. [Which is true - Ren gets a fair amount due to how closely they work, but things like that he generally just offers to people who strike him as capable, and that's occasional at best.

At Ren's remark on the colours, though, Shun can't quite help but let out a faint snort and shoot Ren a significant glance.]

I didn't need to learn two of the colours here matched. [Given Ren wears enough red and black to make that particular match blindingly obvious.]

[Well, it's definitely true that Ren is more liberal with his compliments than Shun is. That said, Shun still hands them out more often than he'd expected.]

That's true, and I really appreciate every one of them.

[Okay, so he knows Shun doesn't necessarily want shows of gratitude anymore than he wants compliments, but Shun is just going to have to suffer with both of them today.

He blinks a little at the comment about not needing to learn certain colors, and then at the flowers for a second before he actually gets the why behind it and smiles mischievously.]

I didn't think you cared about what I like wearing.

[That expression of gratitude, unsurprisingly, gets a sharp look from Shun, though it's not without the faintest element of confusion. The immediate desire he generally has to refute things like that or at least dismiss them seems to have disappeared momentarily - and that's not even starting on the faint impression he's getting that he's actually pleased to hear this - and as it is, Shun doesn't really know how to respond to that.

After a moment, he just lets out a sigh like he doesn't really get it, and continues weaving. He does actually answer Ren's follow-up remark properly, even if that smile makes him side-eye him a little at the same time.]

I don't have to care to notice. I see enough of you that I can afford to pay attention to things other than what's relevant to combat, especially when it's something you put on display so often. [Not that he takes as much advantage of that as he probably should.]

[Whatever he wants to call it, it still means he's been paying attention more than zero, which was as much interest he used to have in that sort of thing, so he's still pretty happy with that. Ren is also tempted to ask what other kind of things he's been paying attention to, but he's pretty sure he got part of that answer a little earlier, so he tucks that away to ask some other time.]

But you did have to learn the other colors...

[So he's pretty sure that still counts as worthy of positive observing of facts.]

It's only two other colours. [Shun still doesn't seem to consider this remotely as much of a feat as Ren does, and there's a faint exasperation to his tone like he doesn't want to make a big deal out of it anyway. Still, he's not outright annoyed by it, which is something.

By this point, he's just finishing up the last few bits of the weaving, and draws the tails of the ribbons out of the stems so he can set about figuring out how to knot four ribbon-ends together. After a moment or two, he just decides to go with the obvious method, putting a gold and black end together in each hand and then tying the sets of two together as if they were just one ribbon.]

Anyway, speeding things up was mostly what I wanted out of this, and we managed that.

[Ren nods with a bright smile.] I'm glad I could help you with it. I've had a lot of fun.

[And he got some sweet flowers out of it. He rolls the lily he's holding between his fingers a couple time before deciding to just keep holding on to it. Shun still has more than he'll know what to do with anyway.]

And I'm sure your followers will like them.

Edited 2017-04-08 06:48 (UTC)

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revolutionfalcon - 2017-04-08 08:09 (UTC) - Expand

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