thenearshore | Semi-Open

Them? You mean youkai, baby.

[ They aren't creatures, and for that, he's gonna casually drop his cigarette butt onto the ground and stomp it out. They're people, like humans are people. They're just different people. ]

Yeah, I'm one of 'em. The only human in th'group is the shitty monk... and even him I'm not so sure about sometimes.

[Her gaze flicks to the cugarette butt, then to him.] Don't call me 'baby'. And forgive me for my word choice. I think of humans as creatures too, for what it's worth. But yes--youkai. A youkai prince killed Sanzo. Why? What could make you doubt that he's human?

[ He just shrugs, lighting another cigarette. She's getting really nosy now, and not just about things that she'll need to know in order to keep Hakkai and Sanzo... well. Not safe. There's no such thing as safe, but if there's a better word for it Gojyo sure doesn't know it. ]

It's a long story, and I'll get to that. First, though, I want to know about bein' a god here.

[ Hakkai's going to kill him for the mess of ashes he's leaving all over the floor, but that's just part of their relationship, isn't it? Gojyo's a slob and Hakkai threatens bodily harm if he doesn't stop. It's nice! ]

Other than the poof thing, I figured out the poof thing. [ More or less. ] But can we do other stuff? Can you do other stuff?

[The more information she has, the better she can be for Hakkai and Sanzo. Fair is fair, though, and he's been answering her questions all this time, so now it's his turn. If he continues to avoid it, then she'll back off.

This, at least, she has an answer for.]

Yes, I can. Each of us has a unique ability. Mine is that I can escape anything or anyone at all.

[Except Yomi and Izanami, but she at least got them to the right doorway.]

Ohh? That sounds useful! How do you do it?

[ The teleportation thing he's worked out on instinct. It's just a matter of thinking about a place you want to be and then wanting it in a weird way that he can't really put into words. ]

Do you have to say a spell or something?

[Sipping her wine, she shrugs.] No spell. I just-- I listen to the silence in my mind. It's always there, what to do, where to go. Like a whisper.

[At first it had happened without her realizing it. She'd blamed it on muscle memory, on the instincts left over from when she was little more than an attack dog. But then she'd found she could get out of anything without effort. If she's honest, she wants to know how far she could take it, but she doesn't trust Gojyo with that tidbit. Not yet. Maybe not ever.]

You have no idea what your ability might be?

[ Oh hey, his glass is empty. He should fix that. ]

Nope.

[ Is it cool if he opens a new bottle? Not that he's going to ask, really. Or stop. Or save her more than half the bottle. Good thing the glasses are big! ]

All I've got is this dumb staff thing. [ He holds his left hand out to the side, there's a flash of light, and then he's holding a six foot thyrsus, a fennel staff with a pinecone at the end. He waggles it back a forth a little, testing the pinecone, but it's attached securely. ]

I had something like this back... uh. Before. But it had a blade I could throw. [ He flicks his wrist, as though casting a spell at a bush in the far corner of the yard. Nothing happens. ] This is just a dumb stick.

[Go ahead and help yourself to more wine, it's fine by Elsa. She paces herself when she drinks. #richladyhabits]

Hmm. [She's not quite so amazed anymore by the flashy parts of what they can do here, like how he summoned that staff. But what does it do? Why a pine cone, of all things?]

I don't think it would make a very good weapon unless you're going to bludgeon something to death. [Because that's a pleasant image.] Have you only tried it on objects?

[Oh goodness. Has he tried it on his shinki? She won't ask that. She will not be the one to give him the idea.]

[ It's actually decently weighted... you know, for being a pine cone on a wooden stick that smells vaguely of that green booze he got trashed on the other night. ]

What do you mean, tried it? [ He turns the staff around so the pine cone is pointing right at his own face, peering down the length. ] It's not like it's got a start button or anything. [ He shakes it again, off to the side... which just so happens to be where Elsa is sitting.

Something in the back of his mind clicks, and the pine cone flashes a quick, bright burst of greenish light. Gojyo, startled, nearly drops the thing, but he catches himself in time. He turns to Elsa with a surprised smile. ]

Hey did you see that? It did something!

((ooc: Elsa just won 15 minutes of wrath! Congrats.))

[Yes, she did see that, but there's not much time to really think about it. All thoughts but violent anger are pushed from her mind, and Elsa doesn't even question it. Why should she? She was brought here against her will. Whatever they did to her that gave her a power was useless right when she needed it most. People are dead because someone tampered with the chocolates. The Heavens took her from home just when she'd gotten her life back.

And this one, this Gojyo person, could ruin the few good things she has here. He could get Hakkai and Sanzo taken from her. The very least he could do is not smoke here!]

You're lucky Hakkai isn't here, [she snarls as she stands, fixing a fierce glare on him. She may not have a sword handy, but there's an empty bottle of wine within reach. She grabs it by the neck, and with a battle cry, she hurls it at Gojyo.]

[ He smiles at her, but the look she gives back to him sends a shiver down his spine. Nobody's looked at him with that kind of blanket hatred in longer than he can remember... not even the random mind-fucked youkai!

Oh gods, what did he do?! ]

Whoa whoa whoa, hey!

[ He gets an arm up just in time to block that bottle, knocking it to the side (although he'll have a nice bruise from it later) as he drops his staff and leaps to his feet, backing away from her, hands raised. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened here -- the staff did a thing, and now the super-polite lady god is trying to kill him. This is his fault. How the hell does he fix this? ]

I'm sorry! It was an accident!

[YOU'D BETTER BE SORRY. ... EVEN IF SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SORRY FOR.]

Get back here!

[He may not have gone very far from the table, but he is fleeing, which makes him even more of a target than he'd been before.

In the absence of weapons, she just lunges at him. She knows how to fight (thanks, Mesogog). She can take this guy!]

[ DAMN RIGHT HE'S FLEEING... only he's not going too far, because he doesn't want to leave her alone. Not until he can figure out how to fix whatever he's done to her. ]

Wake up!

[ He retreats further, out into the yard, staying away from the interior of the house and all the potentially sharp and heavy things she might decide to throw at him. He pauses only once he's reached a patch of grass -- if he has to restrain her (shit don't make it come to that!) at least here it won't be as uncomfortable. ]

It's a spell! This isn't you!

[What was that, Gojyo? Are you challenging her?

Because Elsa accepts that challenge and dashes at you, one arm pulled back to deliver a punch to the sternum.]

[ What? No! No, that wasn't a challenge! ]

Shit, wake up.

[ He won't hit her. He won't. He brings his arms in tight against his chest to block her punch, but he does nothing to stop her from hitting him. She can wear herself out punching him -- he can take it -- and then... and then he'll think of something. ]

You've got to help me here. I don't know how to undo this.

Silence!

[When she punch lands, she reaches for a sword instinctively-- only there isn't one at her hip. This anger feels familiar, like she's supposed to be this way, supposed to fight, supposed to win. There's no one looking over her shoulder now, no one threatening to kill her if she loses, but she still needs to hurt Gojyo, needs to eliminate him. It doesn't matter why. It doesn't even matter that it's him over anyone else.

Everything is fury, and all she wants is destruction. Gojyo is the only person here, so he is the one she aims a roundhouse kick at, the one she keeps swinging at. Every hit she lands only makes her want to hurt him more, to see him bleed, to feel bones break beneath her fists until this all-consuming rage is sated.

(Sorry, Gojyo.)]

[ This is so bad. ]

Stop.

[ He blocks the worst of it -- the kick that would have cracked his jaw, the punch to the side of his throat, anything heading near his junk or his knees -- but nearly everything else lands. ]

Stop.

[ The tell-tale throbbing deep in his skull announces that the punch he just let through is going to swell into a black eye. His arms and back ache, his skin gone bright red in places. A particularly well-placed kick gets through and he goes down on one knee, hands shifting to cover his neck and head. ]

Stop.

[ He cast this spell, so he has to be able to turn it off! Again and again he tries to trigger that feeling in the back of his mind that caused the initial flash, but he can't seem to reach it. She's too fast, too strong, too distracting, and he doesn't dare strike back. How can he? He did this to her, like hell is he going to make it worse by knocking her down. ]

Stop it!

[His words are little more to her than birdsong would be, barely noticed in this state. He may as well be encouraging her, or taunting her.

In the end, it's not his plea that drains fury from her. It just leaves, and what would have been another solid punch to the shoulder becomes little more than a shove.

Elsa breathes heavily as she looks at her hands, stretching out her fingers, inspecting her knuckles to figure out why they hurt. Then the setting sunlight registers, the golden hue it casts on the yard. This isn't where she was just a moment ago. No, she was sitting, having wine, talking with Gojyo--

Gojyo.

Now, finally, she looks at him. It's easy to connect the dots, to see the swelling starting around his eye and the way he gazes at her, as if afraid she's--

Afraid she's like she used to be.]

What happened. [Her voice is flat, low, and shaky. She glances over her shoulder at the porch, where they were sitting just a few seconds ago.] How did we get here. H-How-- What happened.

[ As long as she's focusing on him, she's not going after anyone else. As long as she's focusing on him, she's staying put, and Hakkai and Sanzo will be back soon. As long as she's focusing on him, he's got time to figure out a way to undo what he's done. She's not doing anything he can't walk away from. She's not...

...she's not hitting him anymore.

He lifts his head cautiously, only lowering his arms when he's sure that she's really finished. And by the shocked look on her face, she's definitely finished. ]

Are you okay?

[ He's hoarse from shouting, but he clears his throat roughly and tries again, rising to his feet. ]

It was a spell. It was a... ow. [ Yup, that's going to be a nasty black eye. ] A spell. You were helping me figure out my god power, and something went wrong. ...I'm sorry.

[A spell. An accident. And judging from how she feels and how he looks, his god power had brought out what she fears in herself, had taken her back to last year, when her mind was not her own and she was made to fight to kill.]

Your power-- [she begins, but doesn't continue. What could she possibly say?

Elsa stares at her hands again, trying to get her breathing under control.]

It's-- it's awful.

[ He has to laugh at that, a low, quiet mirthless sound. Yeah it's awful. It's the worst god power he can think of. Hers is, what, getting out of bad situations? And his is making people attack him.

Guess he found a situation her power can't get her out of though, huh? ]

Yeah.

[ He takes a tentative step toward the house, then another. Everything hurts, but everything still works. Nothing feels broken (well, maybe a finger or two, he's not sure, but those heal quick regardless). They both got off extremely lucky, didn't they? How much worse could it have been if he'd accidentally cast his power on Sanzo? Or on Hakkai? ]

I'm gonna go. Don't worry, I won't be back.

[At first, she doesn' try to stop him, thinking he's just going to head back to the porch. But then, when he speaks up, Elsa follows him.]

Wait. I still have questions. [About Hakkai. About Sanzo. About how she can be her best for her shinki. About why this might be happening.]

I understand if you'd rather not tell me -- maybe it's better that I don't know -- but... don't cut off contact. [Don't do anything to hurt Hakkai and Sanzo.]

[ No, shit, don't follow too close! He maneuvers around until there's a table between them so she can't approach, but then he does stop. If she needs information, then the least he can do is provide it. But she can't come any closer. ]

What do you want to know?

[Oh no, is he afraid of her now? Maybe he should be.

(She remembers dropping into a crowded outdoor food court from an invisiportal with a group of Tyrannodrones, remembers the fear in people's eyes when they realized she was there to fight, remembere the four kids and their mentor staying behind when the civillians had fled, facing her down, refusing to let her win. She remembers drawing her sword, remembers losing and being disciplined for it. She remembers the wary look in those kids' eyes when she'd woken up, as her real self, in their base, and as she'd told them what she knew about what happened to her. She remembers everything, just like she told them.)

(Gojyo is right to be afraid.)]

Not today. [Not like this.] I think we've talked enough for one day.

[Or not enough at all, but who's counting?]

Edited 2016-06-29 16:08 (UTC)

[ He's not afraid of her. He's afraid for her. He's been given a power that he doesn't understand, and in his stupid fumblings he used it against somebody that he really wanted to be allies with. He was incautious, and that's on him -- he's only grateful that it didn't turn out worse. ]

No, if you need to know something, ask it now.

[ He's not coming back to her house. He meant that. Now, what could she need to know?

(Shit his head hurts.)

Deep breath. Okay. ]

Hakkai's got a big scar on his stomach. He hates having it touched. Sanzo hates being touched in general. Don't try to touch his sutra, either. [ What else could be important? ] Neither of 'em have any allergies... but Sanzo likes bland shit. Old man food. [ Heh. ] Mayo, on his ramen.

[ Anything else. Anything. He leans one hip against the table, taking the weight off his bruised leg for a moment. ] Hakkai... he's smart, he likes learning things, teaching, he'll be a great teacher here. He's great with kids. Sanzo hates kids. [ Oh, and speaking of kids... ] Stock your kitchen, 'cause Goku's gonna be spending lots of time here and that kid's stomach is a bottomless pit. Even if they don't know each other yet, he'll show up. Nothing can keep those two apart.

[ What else? What else what else... ] Um... shit I don't know. What else do you need?

Semi-Open

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw violence and blood (mostly alluded to but just in case)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)