[catch-all] place your past into a book

[heartshutter]

Who: Tatara and various others
Where: Various
When: July 22nd and on
What: Prayers and more!
Warnings: Screaming children, more to come

[ Toplevels in the comments. Hit me up at tandemthoughts for your plotting needs~ ]

Comments

July 22nd, afternoon; Prayer 39

[heartshutter]

[ Perhaps this isn’t the best possible introduction to prayers this incarnation of Minerva’s ever had, nor is it the most appealing. But when a prayer went out for a sitter for a pair of fussy nine-month-old twin girls, Tatara couldn’t help but volunteer -- and he’s dragged Sakon along with him.

It’d sounded fine enough at first! Sure, he’s an only child with no experience with children who can’t yet form sentences or walk independently, but how hard could it be?

...A bit more so than he’d initially planned for, it turns out, as both girls are bereft from the moment goodbye kisses are given and that front door closes behind the quickly-fleeing parents. Oh my. Screaming babies are most definitely not a sound he’s used to -- especially with the shrill, ear-piercing wail these two seem to have. At this rate, he’ll be tone deaf before the night’s over! Wincing at the noise, he asks: ]

I vote we divide and conquer -- one for each of us. Deal?

[ittenbari]

Huh??

[Sakon looks at Tatara in distress, barely able to hear him over the screaming. Deal? What deal? Run and never look back?]

I can't hear you! They're really loud!

[He's kind of impressed, to be honest. That's a big sound to come out of something so small.]

[heartshutter]

[ Running and never looking back would definitely be the Ideal, perhaps, at this rate. Unfortunately, they kinda signed on for this, and... welp.

Tatara moves to one of the screaming girls and plucks her gingerly from the floor, planting her on his hip, bouncing gently and shushing while stroking her pigtailed hair. He’s hoping to lead by example, here, gesturing discreetly to Sakon. ]

[ittenbari]

Uh.

[He's supposed to pick one up?! They're so little! What if he drops her?!

Well...actually, things can't really get worse, so he might as well try. He manages to grab the other girl under her arms and hoist her up, which just causes more screaming.]

OH NO! WHY ARE YOU SO SAD?!

[Because that's going to get answered...]

[heartshutter]

[ ...Okay someone please make sure Sakon never has children. Please. His bellowed concern not only further upsets the twin he holds, but the one on Tatara’s hip as well, who had only just started to calm.

But! It’s fine. This is fine, everything is fine. Everyone makes innocent mistakes like this, right? It’s a quick fix. A simple lesson: ]

Shh... [ he smooths back his little girl’s hair, bouncing her as he sidles up next to Sakon to provide an example. ] Hold her like this, nice and close, and talk to her in a quiet voice.

[ Yeah, like the one the shinki can probably hear over all this wailing. ]

They’re just sad because their parents are gone. It’ll all be over soon!

[ ...He hopes. ]

[ittenbari]

Right...quiet...

[At least he thinks that's what he heard Tatara say.

He tries snuggling the baby and rocking her, but nothing seems to work. The poor little thing. It tears at his heart that she's so sad, even as it tears at his eardrums.]

It's okay. They're gonna come back, I promise...it's okay...don't cry...I'm gonna cry...

[He really is.]

[heartshutter]

[ Amazingly, Sakon seems he's a pretty quick study. He's not nearly as bad at this as Tatara had momentarily feared, taking to rocking his little girl, snuggling her close without any further guidance.

Unfortunately, that doesn't prove too effective.

But oh gods no, please don't let him start crying, too! Tatara ca n only console so many at once! He sidles up alongside his taller shinki, hoping that reuniting the twin girls, (at least in part), will aid in their comfort.

It doesn't work. At least, not initially. But as the god turns his head to try and talk to Sakon's twin, his own spies something shiny poking out from his shaggy, wispy hair and grabs without a modicum of strength control.

...It's Tatara's cartilage piercing.

For a moment, his face goes pure white from the pain. Whimpering, then, in effort not to simply scream: ]

Sakon... p-please help...!

[ittenbari]

Wha--?!

[Sakon looks back and forth between Tatara and the little girls, trying to figure out just what he can do about this. He doesn't have enough hands for this!]

Uhhh...

[This is kind of an emergency situation. No time for thinking! Gotta do something!

He sets the little girl he's holding down on the floor, which just off the screaming again, but at least it frees his hands up. He carefully lifts the other girl out of Tatara's arms, which doesn't make her stop tugging on the piercing, but it at least changes the angle.]

C'mon, let go... I'll give you candy! We can go get candy!

[heartshutter]

[ Actually, Sakon’s instinctive response helps considerably. At least with him taking over the little girl in Tatara’s arms, that frees up a hand to try and g e n t l y pry her adorable, teeny-tiny iron fist off of his silver earring.

Which eventually does happen, thank every deity ever. The god takes a moment to simply breathe again after that, running his fingers over the piercing, checking for blood. Nothing? Good. ]

Let’s... try this again, shall we?

[ A sheepish laugh, and he plucks the now-wailing little girl Sakon had set down a moment ago off the floor, cuddling her close.

...On the other side. The one without the exciting, tempting shiny hoop. As he bounces her a bit, shushing intermittently, he speaks a little louder than usual to ensure his shinki can hear him. ]

There should be toys somewhere nearby. Do you see any?

July 23rd, evening, Double Cross Bar

[chickshades]

[ Thank goodness Bandou has off tomorrow, cause he certainly wouldn't be performing well if he was on the schedule. The poor guy's already consumed enough alcohol to be far over his normal tolerance and still has a glass in hand. Though, at the moment, he's ceased drinking and is sitting with his head face down on the bar top. He lets out a deep, drawn out groan and mutters something. ] nnnngh....I don't get it.

[heartshutter]

[ It’s late by the time Tatara finishes his shift, and though they both tend to linger even after they’ve punched the clock, he’s not expecting to emerge from the kitchen to see Bandou already drunk enough to be face-down on the bar.

...Though, it wouldn’t take much, now would it? With his tolerance, or lack thereof...

That aside, the elder, who was once ready to go straight home after work for once in his afterlife, instead now feels more inclined to stay -- if only to find out what he’s drunkenly murmuring about.

He takes the seat next to Bandou, instinctively placing a hand on the other man’s back before speaking. ]

Don’t get what, San-chan?

[chickshades]

[ At Totsuka's question, he quickly raises his head, fist slamming heavily against the bar top. ]

Everything!

[heartshutter]

[ Tatara blinks. ]

Everything?

[ His head tilts. ]

You can’t mean everything, San-chan.

[chickshades]

Everything about him!

[ He loudly exclaims before going into, what appears to be, a conversation with himself. ]

I mean, why do I care? I sh-I shouldn't care. We weren't dating, we weren't a couple. So who cares, right? Not me! I don't care at all! It's stupid...

[ But his head quickly drops down onto the bar, hands falling limp by his sides. ]

[heartshutter]

[ Him who?

The first place Tatara's mind inherently goes is to Mikoto -- now there's a 'him' that's easy to misunderstand, or not understand at all. But he winds up thankful for a tongue withheld as Bandou lazily elaborates.

...Welp, one thing's for sure: Tatara's 'him' and Bandou's 'him' are two very different people. The 'him' in this circumstance sounds more like Shouhei. But, he doesn't need to ask any more questions after that last ramble -- everything makes sense. (It doesn't even hit the elder that he could have very well sounded like this just a couple nights ago himself, once again about a very different 'him'. Perhaps he should be grateful Izumo's drinks put him flat on his face before that could happen.)

Discreetly, he signals for a drink, intending to settle in and hear his clanmate out. ]

Sorry, San-chan... it sounds like you're hurting. [ He rubs small circles on Bandou's back through the trademark hoodie. ] But don't sweat it, okay? Everything will work out!

[chickshades]

No it won't... It never does.... It's always everyone else and not me.....

[ It's hard to understand him as he mumbles his woes to the bar top. ]

No girl's ever interested in me. And the one girl that was...she turned out to be a guy. And now he doesn't even want me.

[heartshutter]

[ Tatara frowns deeply and doubles down on his comforting efforts. Sure, he can’t hear word-for-word everything that’s being said with pure clarity, but he did definitely catch ‘no it won’t’ at the beginning and that’s enough.

Despite all that, after piecing together the bit about the girl he liked turning out to be a guy, he has to press his lips together to stifle a giggle. Now would be a really bad time for that, wouldn’t it? Yet, he has to wonder -- just how did he get duped into mistaking someone’s gender? And then, to just go along with it...? San-chan, when did you get so open-minded? ]

Even so, you’ll find someone new! You’re a good-looking guy, San-chan. [ He perks some as he adds-- ] A real catch, I think! So don’t sweat it!

July 25th, midday; Prayer 31

[heartshutter]

[ Ahh, beautiful countryside, fresh open air, and--...

...the faintly wafting smell of animal poo. But hey, two out of three isn’t bad, right? At least, that’s Tatara’s logic, as he and his clanmate-turned-shinki traverse a well-traveled country road in search of a specific man in distress over some lost livestock. ]

Should be somewhere nearby... I know we’re close!

[ And that’s not just the stink talking. ]

All we need to do is offer some reassurance, and then we’ll be on our way.

[brohat]

I believe you!

[It smells disgusting, but he doesn't mind it if he's here with his god. It's fun and enjoyable. Even as disgusting as it smells.]

Alright, alright. Tell me what to do.

[Because he'll listen and follow along.]

[heartshutter]

[ Yep, it sure is gross-smelling out here, he’s not gonna lie. (But he will, however, omit that opinion.) ]

Aah, Shouhei -- do you see what I see?

[ There’s a break in the fence line up ahead -- and a big one. ]

[brohat]

Hm?

[It takes a moment before he looks over to the break in the fence and quickly nods.]

Oh yeah! Maybe we should fix that?

[heartshutter]

[ He nods. ]

I agree. But first, let's find the owner and talk to them.

[ Well behind the fenceline, there's a quaint country home, and an unpaved driveway that leads to it. ]

This way!

[brohat]

Alright!

[Hey, he'll fix it without asking people if he should. That's just what he does. A bright smile is on his face.]

Have you ever fixed a fence before?

[heartshutter]

[ To that question, Tatara gives a confident -- if slightly bashful -- smile and a two-fingered wave. ]

Nope!

[ Welp.

They walk up the driveway and to the front door, where Tatara knocks. While they wait, the god turns to his shinki somewhat. ]

Wait, Shouhei, have you fixed a fence?

[brohat]

Me either!

[Shouhei smiles, though, because he's fully fine with neither of them knowing what to do.

Because it'll be more fun that way, he's sure of it.]

We'll figure it out!