thenearshore | Semi-Open

[ He keeps his gaze locked on Elsa as Hakkai leaves -- they've already given away too much as it is. (They, ha! He's the one with the big mouth and the inability to stop staring at his best friend. Any mistakes made are his, and his alone.)

He stays standing quietly in front of his chair until Hakkai's footsteps have receded far enough down the hall. Only then does he speak. ]

I don't know how much you know about who he used to be. Who either of them used to be. [ Sanzo, and the problems there, are definitely a topic for another time, when they're both feeling a little more chatty. ] So maybe this is just stuff you already know, but...

[ Dammit. Dammit. This isn't his secret to tell, but he's the only one who can tell it. This sucks. ]

Those three earrings on his left ear. [ He traces his fingertip around the shell of his own. ] Has he taken them off yet?

i don't know much, [she admits quietly. What she'd seen was too brief to give her enough information. Hints and suggestions, yes, but not the details she needs.

At his question, she shakes her head.] No. They're important, aren't they? I get that feeling, but I don't understand it.

[ If she doesn't know about his limiters, she really doesn't know much at all. Stupid, stupid! Stupid to bring people here without memories and then not even warn their gods about what might happen! He has to get to Goku's god as fast as he can, he thinks, rubbing at his temple to try to work away the headache that's already forming. ]

All right. [ Stupid system! ] The next time you're in trouble, fighting something you can't beat... [ Like, say, the next time you're a dumbass and you go to hell. ] Have him take those off. They're power limiters. Without them... [ He shakes his head. ] There isn't much he can't kill without them on.

[ He pulls a cigarette out of his pocket. ] He doesn't like taking them off, though, so don't do it just out of curiosity or anything. Okay?

[The system is more than stupid, as far as she's concerned, but that's something they won't be commiserating about right now. For one thing, he has things he wants to say. For another, she is very aware of how tired she is.]

Of course I won't. [She frowns again, indignant. What, does he think she'd treat Hakkai the way Mesogog treated her and Zeltrax?] Hakkai isn't some toy. He's a person.

[Gojyo, meet Elsa's issues.

Sighing, she shakes her head and continues more calmly.] What's the second thing you need to tell me?

[ He doesn't know her. He doesn't know what she would do. All he knows is that she's somehow ended up in charge of Hakkai, and people who are in charge of other people, in Gojyo's experience, don't tend to be very considerate of the folks they're boss of.

Still. Her disdain is kinda comforting.

He pulls a paper packet of matches out of his pocket, since some sham priest walked off with his lighter last night. ]

Second thing is this. I can't be around them. I know this. It's... unsafe. [ It's as good a word as any. ] I don't like it, but I get it. But if I'm gonna stay away, I need to know that somebody's gonna come get me if something like this hell trip happens again.

[ Sorry Hakkai. It was a really nice thought, starting over as friends, but it's too dangerous to risk. ]

[In a better iteration of this world, Gojyo would get to know her, would get to understand the way she approaches this, the way she feels about having people bound to her the way that Hakkai and Sanzo are. He'd learn about last year and all she was put through for the sake of an agenda she never would've supported if not for a power she couldn't have even dreamed of fighting.

For now, all Elsa can do is show him how much she has come to care for Hakkai as a shinki, and how she will treat Sanzo with the same respect she has afforded Hakkai.

The fire that stirred in her goes out almost as soon as he speaks the rest of what he has to say.]

Yes. That's-- that's a reasonable request. [And she appreciates that he is taking the initiative on that.]

For what it's worth, [she adds quietly,] I wish you could be around them. [Her gaze is sad when she lifts it to meet his.] As much as I'm inclined not to trust the Heavens, I just... I can't risk losing Hakkai. I can't risk losing either of them, much less both. I know you were close, so please believe me when I say I'm going to do the best I can to make sure they're safe.

[ Gojyo just nods at that, the brief knot in his throat making talking a risk. He lights his cigarette instead, drawing in a deep, burning lungful, and that helps.

Okay. Almost done. ]

Good.

[ He exhales toward the ceiling, mind whirling. ]

We've got t'talk about Sanzo, too, but that can wait. [ He's stopped entirely meeting her eye -- that sympathetic look she gave him is just too much to deal with right now. ] Think you could send those two grocery shoppin' or something tomorrow around sundown?

[ I know you were close. They weren't 'close'. Those are his big clumsy stitches scarred into Hakkai's belly, Sanzo's bullet and Hakkai's lifeforce working together in the bullet hole over Gojyo's heart to save his life, Hakkai the only reason he didn't end up dead a thousand times and Gojyo the one who failed in the end to save Hakkai.

They weren't close. Before Hakkai came into his life, Gojyo didn't exist.

His grin is an easy, relaxed thing, though, as he smirks in the direction Hakkai and Sanzo had departed. ]

It'll be a lot easier to talk if those two aren't snoopin' around, you know?

[Good. She was going to ask him if they could talk tomorrow anyway.]

Yes. I can do that. I have questions that I'm sure I won't get good answers to from the counseling shinki.

[She suspects they'll tell her just to keep Gojyo away and work on bonding with Sanzo and Hakkai. Yes. Very helpful.

That last part gets a bit of a smile out of her, at least.]

I agree. I, uh, apologize for snapping at you earlier. I'm... a little stressed.

[Elsa now is not the time to be rich-lady diplomatic.]

[ Gojyo will never fail to be uncomfortable with apologies, and his default setting for socially uncomfortable situations will never fail to be inappropriate flirting. He bats his lashes at Elsa, cocking his hips to the side and generally doing his best to exude weaponized sexy in her direction. ]

Anytime you want a hand unstressing, you just let me know.

[Gojyo...

Did you really just...]

[You did. You really did.]

There is a pretty severe lack of wine in the house.

[That's it, that's her concession to your flirting.]

[ She didn't yell or slap him or kick him out! This counts as a win! ]

I'll bet you like red, don't you? I'll bring you somethin' sweet and red.

[Because she is a lady. Don't tempt her, though. Last year, she wouldn't have thought twice about stabbing you.]

Actually, I prefer my reds dry.

[ As much as he'd love to stick around and banter with her some more, she's tired and he's got things to do. ]

Then I'll make sure to get the lady what she wants.

[ If he goes out the way he came in, he won't risk running into Hakkai and/or Sanzo, will he? Because he's really prefer to avoid those conversations for now. ]

[If he said as much, she would agree. And since Hakkai and Sanzo aren't here, it falls on her to show Gojyo out.]

I'll walk with you to the front door.

[She begins to lead the way and will go far from the library, for everyone's sake.]

I appreciate the escort~

[ He falls into step alongside her, hands loosely clasped behind his head. ]

So it is just the three of you here?

[It's less to do with escorting and more to keep him from ruining their mostly quiet life here, but he can think what he wants as she walks, her limp pretty visible now that the adrenaline from the journey has thoroughly worn off.]

Yes. We have students come to the library for school almost every day, and we usually have some stay for dinner. It's nice, for being completely foreign.

[Ah, there it is, that flash of homesickness. Elsa shoves it aside before it gets any worse.]

You only just arrived, right?

[ She's limping, but it doesn't seem to be slowing her down too much. That, combined with her refusal to take medical care earlier, is going in Gojyo's mental list of Things I Know About Hakkai/Sanzo's New Boss. It's not a very long list so far, but the way she jumped up to defend Hakkai has gone right at the top. Right next to "thinks going to hell is ever a good idea". She's tough, and she's opinionated, and she thinks she's doing the right thing.

She might be a problem. ]

Yup. For me, it's only been two days. [ But Hakkai's been here longer, right? Even though they both 'died' at the same time. And it's awfully convenient that Sanzo showed up right when Gojyo did too, isn't it? Awfully fucking convenient. ]

Still haven't even taken the new powers for a test drive.

[Well, he's not wrong, really, except that if she is a problem, then she's a problem for the Heavens and anyone who thinks it's okay to play with others' lives the way they have.]

I think it's been a month now for me. [Time is a little hazy for her, unfortunately.]

What powers might those be?

[They are almost at the door, but she wants to hear this.]

[ Damn. She decided to go to hell after only a month? Either Hakkai and Sanzo ended up with the most go-getter of all the gods, or there's some seriously bad shit going on in heaven.

In reply to her question, though, he just shrugs. ]

Dunno, exactly. Haven't figured 'em all out yet. I got the poof thing, though. Can you do that one? Poof, and you're somewhere else?

[Both, really.]

Yes. It's convenient. [She won't show her hand quiet yet, about her power. Maybe tomorrow, when she's feeling better, thinking clearer.] I'll see you tomorrow, then.

Yeah.

[ Not gonna share if she's got any powers, huh? Oh well. It was worth a try.

He's three feet past the threshold when he remembers, and turns. ]

...Hey, do you know where the math god lives?

The math g-- oh. Susano'o. [She nods, then gestures in the direction of Sho's manor with one hand -- pointing is rude.] Over that way. You can't miss it. He has very particular taste in decorations.

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