thenearshore | Closed ♔ A Too-Infantile Game

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Closed ♔ A Too-Infantile Game

Who: Hibiki & Lavi
When: July 24
Where: The Near Shore
What: Answering Prayer #39. Gonna get sat on by some babies.

[ It isn't enough.

Hibiki has tried absolutely everything she can think of to dispel this lingering restlessness in her breast, remaining after the trials of having time reversed upon her, Venus's murder, and the knowledge that a vent full of ayakashi can apparently just open during a party with nobody the wiser until the poison spreads. This system, in a word, is useless. Far too useless! And yet, what recourse has she to alter this dreadful situation?!

Prayers, this silly little pamphlet she'd liberated from the library says. It's a god's duty to answer prayers.

Fine, then. This isn't exactly the sort of prayer Hibiki's used to receiving at her shrine - one attracts a certain clientele when one's main service point is a box office near a girls' high school - but it's come in multiple times, so she'd rather just answer it and silence the supplicant. It isn't as if she's completely inexperienced in this field! She knows about caretaking!

Enough to want absolutely nothing to do with it. So when she drops off a bundle of Plu-Rays at Lavi's place, she arches an eyebrow imperiously. ] Come with me.

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[How the hell do you people keep finding him?

Better yet, is there nothing about Hel's temple that makes you people want to stay away?

Lavi crosses his arms.]

Where are we going?

[ There are many things that would make Hibiki want to stay away from a place! But she is intent once deciding upon an objective. Indeed, one might even say that the act of Shikyoin Hibiki deciding something causes it to be so. That much of an inevitability is created.

She doesn't, therefore, seem perturbed by the question. ]

To provide a throw pillow of solace for a head weary from its travails.

[ apparently if you snap friend tickets with hibiki you get to be first in line for serving her every capricious and yet utterly just whim

even if she doesn't know how she feels about that whole ticket thing having happened ]

[Is this what happens when he swaps friend tickets with Hibiki?

Is this what happens when his child self decides being friends couldn't be the end of the world?

What the hell was his younger self thinking?

Lavi blinks once.]

And you decide that I'm the best person to go to for that sort of thing?

My shinki is improving herself.

[ She got Wendy a book about the history of Japanese theater. It is a Very Good Book and she does not want to disturb Wendy's self-edification.

As for everyone else she knows, the other members of CelePara Talent Agency are all either too lofty to bother with such trivialities, or else belong to Maria. Tsuzuki Asato is an idiot. Barry Goodman is not worth the letters making up the words in this sentence, for while the alphabet has a rich cultural history, were he to pay a social call instead of bearing witness to their rivalry, she would assign him housing in a doghouse behind the goathouse behind the castle on Apollo's property.

Which leaves you! ]

Come. The supplicant awaits.

So you drag me instead.

[It's nice to know that you apparently trust him this much, Hibiki.

Lavi holds back a sigh.]

Alright. Let's go.

It's good you understand.

[ SHAME IS FOR PEASANTS.

It actually looks like they're headed to.....the Near Shore.

Welp. ]

[It can't be helped that he's growing more and more curious about this prayer Hibiki is dragging him along to.

He links his hands behind his head.]

So...where are we going exactly?

[ Hibiki shrugs. ] One of my most ardent worshippers is in need of respite. We'll be assuming her responsibilities to give her a break.

[ After all, off time is an important part of every performer's schedule. This is totally her jurisdiction. And not her getting really irritated by picking up the same prayer every day. ]

How kind of you.

[Really, he didn't expect this sort of thing from Hibiki.]

I hope whatever responsibilities we're taking isn't too terrible then.

Like taking can--

[ Ah, here is her worshipper's abode: a small apartment complex. Hibiki looks up, trying to locate the correct room on the second floor...

...and an UNGODLY WAILING bursts from a window.

Hibiki has, momentarily, stopped moving. ]

[Upon hearing the wailing, Lavi comes to a stop.

His expression is torn between wanting to form into a grimace and exasperation.

Of all things--]

...We're babysitting?

[And judging from the way Hibiki seems to have frozen, he's not entirely confident how this will go.]

[ There is an audible gulp. Hibiki's lips are pressed very tightly together.

Then, she lifts her head in a particularly noble mien. This is for the best. For reclaiming her ideal environment, and her sense of self. No goals could be loftier.

Revolution requires sacrifice. ]

...Let's make haste.

[ Before she changes her mind. Up the exterior stairs she goes, towards the source of....

Towards her brighter future! ]

[Lavi holds back a laugh as he follows Hibiki.

The idea of seeing the god with children is an interesting one, to say the least.

As they enter the apartment, Lavi decides to take the initiative and opens the door.]

[ The door opens on its own, to - chaos.

The place is a mess. Children's toys, clothes, and snacks litter the floor. Someone's drawn a bunch of farm animals (okay, circles with sticks for legs, but since one is spotted and one is pink, that's probably a cow and a pig) on the wall in crayon. A little boy in overalls is scooting around on a plastic tricycle, making BEEP BEEP noises at the top of his lungs.

Into this chaos steps a frazzled-looking teenager, holding a wailing baby and patting its back. She walks past Lavi without seeing him at first, then does a double-take because of the open door. That's enough for him to not slip through the cracks of her notice, and she looks duly surprised.

"Are you--" ]

Helpers. [ Hibiki steps into the chaos with a gentle smile on her face. ] Your friends are all going to the theater without you, correct? Get changed.

[ "You - but -" the teenager sputters. "I only...I made a wish...to the..." ]

Can't wishes come true?

[ Hibiki keeps smiling. The teenager goes bright pink. The kid on the tricycle gets bored with that and wanders off to shove gummy candy into his face. He misses.

Hibiki is concentrating very hard on charming the pants off this teenager right now. ]

Edited 2017-06-12 03:26 (UTC)

[At the sight before him, Lavi is stunned.

Children--were children always this terrible? Even the redhead isn't sure if he could manage to salvage this situation somehow. In fact, why would Hibiki think he'd be good at this?

Holding back a grimace, he lets the god charm the pants off the teenager as he heads inside. Lavi does a quick look at the room. From the looks of it, it seems to only be the wailing baby and the young boy, which means either the teenager got fed up or the boy definitely got the best of her.

But the sound of the wailing baby is enough to make his own ears start to ring that he goes up to the teenager and he smiles at her amiably.]

May I? [He gestures to the baby.]

[ "Ah..." She'd forgotten about Lavi again. But, gratefully, she hands over the baby, which frees her hands up to be clasped by Hibiki. ]

It's all right. Now, surrender everything unto me.

[ "....Okay." From the look on her face, the teenager is not entirely talking about the babysitting duties. She blinks, however, and looks around. "I've got to - " ]

Here. [ Had Hibiki always been carrying a dress? Well, now she is. The girl hugs it to her chest - "It doesn't smell like baby powder!" - and hurries to get changed. Hibiki smiles as she watches the girl retreat.

The smile fades when she has to take in the rest of the scene. And when the toddler, finally noticing company, waddles over and begins attempting to ascend her leg.

Hibiki's shoulders go very stiff. ]

[As soon as the baby is in his arms, Lavi gets to work on calming it down. He gently bounces it, patting its back until it finally manages to cease its crying. Only little sniffles are heard and he breathes out a sigh of relief.

Carefully cradling it, he watches the teenager leave to get changed before he turns his attention to Hibiki.]

You sure you can handle this?

[Especially since the toddler is beginning to climb up Hibiki's leg.

The baby, in all honesty, is easy to take care of. In fact, since it's managed to stop crying, it seems to be falling asleep against Lavi's shoulder now.]

...You have taken care of kids before, right?

[ Hibiki's mouth and eyebrows are twitching. But, then, she shakes off both tics with a toss of her head. ]

Fret not. Everything is proceeding according to plan.

[ This is one limber kid. They've gotten fully off the ground. ]

[He nearly snorts.]

I'd hope so. Otherwise, I think we might be getting ahead of ourselves here.

[But the baby is now asleep in his arms and he peers down at it.]

You okay with the kid while I put the baby down?

Without a doubt. Why, such trivi---

[ the toddler reaches up for a handhold ]

[ finds hibiki's belt beneath her waistcoat ]

[ and pulls ]

REVOLUTION------

[ There is the sound, down the hall, of a door opening.... ]

[He sees the toddler reaching up, about to stop him when Hibiki yells and it's just--]

[The baby is awake and crying.]

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solve a murder, burp a baby. same difficulty level

one would think the former would be harder

have you met a baby, asks hibiki

lavi most likely has at some point in his life that he can't remember

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