thenearshore | I Ask for Nothing, I Can Get By [OPEN]

Who: Hijikata and you!
When: July 26th-28th
Where: The Near Shore - Kamakura, Kyoto. (Open to Wild Card options, too!)
What: Hijikata runs himself ragged using his power to bless his faithful; Hijikata tries and possibly fails to take a little care of himself, too (by which I mean he gets drunk and nostalgic at the Gion Festival and that could be either good or bad); catchall for wildcards.

[I. - The Near Shore - Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, Kamakura - July 26th-27th, any time during the day]

[The hydrangeas in the valleys are past their peak, but Kamakura is flush with tourists, all the same.]

[It's not a city Hijikata got to know in his life, but as a god, he's been making an effort to visit as many of his shrines as he can manage (a bit of a tall order for Hachiman of all gods, honestly -- he does have twenty-five thousand of them, and this is one of the biggest ones.)]

[It's a little bit bizarre to watch the worshipers at a distance. Plenty of them are just swinging by one of the big local landmarks since they happen to be in town, looking for an interesting picture or feeling like they probably ought to see such a famous place or something.]

[Others make their way more purposefully to the offering box where he's taken up hanging around invisibly right off the bat. Some of them are just the sort to do things properly, but most of them have something to say to him.]

[Help me find the strength to leave him.]

[I can't fail this test. They'll be so disappointed.]

[Please, let my child grow up strong and healthy.]

[Unseen and invisible, eyes full of a tired sort of compassion, Hachiman stands at his own altar and listens. And when he hears someone asking for the right things -- help me protect him, help me do the right thing, help me stand fast -- he reaches out to them with his power, giving them what he can.]

[He grants his followers resolve, strengthens the best of what's already inside them. To the new parents presenting infants at the shrine for the first time, he focuses on their desire to teach and protect and help their children to grow. To faltering students, he grants focus and motivation. To those facing greater struggles, he calls on the courage that carried them far enough to reach his doorstep, on their love for the things they have to survive for, on the righteousness that can move them past their fears.]

[He pours the strength of his own heart into them, and leaves the rest in their hands.]

[Periodically, he has to take a break, all but collapsing onto a bench in the shade for a few minutes at a time, gulping down bottles of water from a nearby vending machine. It's never for long, though.]

[His people need him. And he's not in the habit of giving any less than his all for the ones who believe in him.]

[II. - The Near Shore - The Kamo River, Kyoto - July 28th, afternoon or early evening]

[After a couple of days of using his power as much as he can manage, even Hijikata knows he ought to take a break.]

[There's reason to believe that this isn't really the way he should be going about it, honestly. Kyoto is a city full of memories for him, and the Gion Festival, stretching all through July, is tied up with a lot of those, too.]

[But he can't just ignore every place he's got memories of, can he? And he can't quite resist the siren call of the familiar traces of his old Japan, from time to time.]

[He veers away from the hustle and bustle of the festival's main drag, but stays near enough to hear it -- the cheering, the bells and the flutes and the drums, the distant rush of too many voices all blurred together. He wanders past one of his smaller shrines, picks up some sake that someone left him, and takes it to the riverbank with him.]

[By the time the sky gets dark and the fireworks start, he's had enough to get a distant look in his eyes, a small smile on his lips that looks outright painful up close.]

[III. - Wild Card!]

[OOC: If you've got something else you'd like to play out with Hijikata, I'd love to hear it! Hit me up at cognitiveleague, PM me, or run it by me OOC on this post, and I'd be happy to work something out and use this post as a catch-all.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't know how much credit I deserve for that. He makes it hard to be anything but devoted to him.

I'm sure other people would disagree. That devotion is entirely you.

I've been lucky enough to meet a handful of people worth devoting myself to. That's all.

Either way, people could learn from you. It's admirable, Hijikata.

You're not going to give up until I accept it, are you?

I guess tenacity can have its admirable side, too.

[Leo chuckles]

I'm still waiting for you to admit you want to marry the man. Nohrians are incredibly stubborn.

I still think I'm not much in the way of marriage material, if nothing else. Not exactly the sort to settle down and start a family with.

No one said marriage equals starting a family, but we'll be here all day if we get on that discussion again.

That's true, we probably would be.

...If he wanted that from me, though, I probably wouldn't say no.

[It's debatable whether there's anything he'd deny Souji if it would really make him happy, though.]

Hijikata, I get the feeling that if he wanted you to burn down the heavens, you would ask where he wanted the fire to start.

[But Leo's smiling.]

Probably not. I've never needed much... micromanaging, I think they call it nowadays?

You'd still ask.

Hmm. If he seemed like he had a preference.

Like with the ducks?

...What about the ducks?

You can't expect me to believe that you keep the ducks for any reason other than Souji wanting them.

I'm sure as Hell not keeping them around for the aesthetic.

Alright then. The ducks are a perfect example of you doing whatever Souji wants because he wants it. I shudder to think of what would happen with an actual human baby, if he found one orphaned.

Edited 2017-07-01 02:54 (UTC)

I don't know about babies. A teenager, once.

Edited (oops you updated while I was writing) 2017-07-01 02:56 (UTC)

[Dot dot dot.]

I'm sorry? A teenager? You adopted a teenager with Souji?

[. . .]

...Technically, I hired him.

But you phrased it as if you basically adopted him. With Souji. After just saying you weren't the sort to start a family.

[Leo is trying so hard not to laugh right now. He's doing an admirable job! But he's still smiling.]

[Hijikata just stares at him for a few long moments. He's trying to come up with an argument, but...]

[But he's right, isn't he?]

...what the fuck.

Edited 2017-07-01 03:08 (UTC)

[And Leo just loses it at that, covering his mouth to try and stifle the laughter a bit.]

Fatherhood is a surprisingly sudden thing, it seems.

That's...

He isn't...

It's not like...

Shit.

[The more he thinks of it, the less able he is to come up with any rebuttal.]

(no subject)

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