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Like the Barenaked Ladies

Who: Shizuo and OPEN
When: August 7th-13th
Where: Specified with each prompt
What: Let's just say that it's been quite a week.

I. Ra's Third Destruction - August 7th (Temple of Ra)
[ It'd been a while, and Izumo hadn't shown up at the bar. Like at all. Which was starting to get Shizuo very concerned. Enough that he did something that he would otherwise never go about doing; Actually invite himself to Mikoto/Ra's temple. Imagine his surprise when there were two giant and neon purple, pink and green centipedes crawling all over the structure and already having started to break through the walls' integrity. ]

Ah... Shit.

[ There's no borderline, which meant something happened to Izumo. Which has the blond looking to see if he can grab someone to run assistance. And him without those damn gauntlets that were made for this exact thing. ]

II. Double Vision Delivery - August 7th (The Far Shore)
[ While not in the best state right now, Shizuo was walking down the paths and across the Far Shore with two people that were in far worse shape than he was. If being comatose and snoozing away counted as worse shape, at least. Which meant anyone could see the awkward scene of Shizuo trying to carry the two over one shoulder, as his other arm hung limp as a wet noodle at his side.

Look, it's weird and out in the open for anyone to see. That can't be helped. It's less awkward than the destroyed temple. ]

III. Double Cross's Delayed Debut - August 8th-10th (Double Cross Bar)
[ This was about the time that Double Cross was supposed to officially open for business. It was certainly supposed to be one of these days. However the bar had this thing going on where, despite the time it was actively being renovated, people could still be served if they showed up and Izumo was around. The supplies were in, everything was cleaned up and that wall of photos had started to get filled out.

Now there was a different blond in place, manning the bar. Not that everyone noticed when they first got in; after all, they looked similar enough for some people. The main thing is that they sounded different. Shizuo's voice was deeper, despite being the thinner/more waif of the two. The other is that this blond wore a black vest instead of a nice suit jacket, though both were suitable for a bartender's uniform. ]

Welcome.

IV. Poor Man's Football - August 9th - 13th (Abandoned Temples)
[ Hearing strange and loud sounds from the abandoned temples is nothing new. Unless you haven't been here for long, it was a regular enough occurrence that it usually meant someone was training or working on something.

This time, though it was hard to tell when or how he got them there (or from where,) there was a junk car and motorcycle on the temple property. Given the notice for being crushed, they weren't stolen from someone who would actually care enough to miss it. Neither had wheels, and judging by the lack of shattered fiberglass and filaments, the lights were also gone.

Today's disastrous sounds were coming from Shizuo, currently bound with one arm in a sling, trying to kick the motorcycle carcass up to bounce up onto his knee. The trick isn't kicking it up- it's managing the height and angle to easily get to his knee. Just as the difficulty for any other football trick is. ]

C'mon. I know I can do this...

V. Cat Tower Tribulations - August 9th - 12th (Aine's Temple)
[ After getting his shoulder looked at, and 'advised' to wear the sling again for a few days, there was a new challenge that started presenting itself. For, at the temple, there were two sets of problems. By two sets, that meant two striped kittens that went by the names Eun and Min. When he wore the sling for all of the first two days after the ablution, they weren't a problem because he was mostly sleeping that time away. Now he was moving around, and with one arm unable to stop them, it wasn't long until they realized he was a moving cat tower.

The problem is that he didn't know they were there until he saw something, and that only alerted him to one of the felines. If he saw the grey striped one, then the brown one was probably on his back or something. This was probably one of their more favorite games. ]

Oi, stop- Dammit, not again.

[ Help. ]

VI. The Wildcard
[ Come up with something, anything, for this time period if none of the other prompts fits. You can either just toss that in, or plot with me at

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[Alex was actually trying to push her limits but he didn't need to know that.]

I'll..take breaks when I need to.

[The last thing she wanted was to give him extra work. Or to drop the guy she was holding up. She mentally psyched herself for the trip. She can do this.]

[ Yeah, it's probably best that he didn't. Especially now that his non-moving arm's hand is finally moving again. At this point, he's just letting it rest.

Also, Shizuo probably isn't the one to give talks on knowing one's limits. ]

Okay. As long as you actually say when you need to.

[Alex nods in agreement, following him towards the temple. ]

Do you know what happened to your friends exactly? Will they not wake up?

No clue on the one I've got. Izumo, who you're carrying, rarely sleeps and lead an ablution recently. So he's probably exhausted.

[ Sorry man. Your sleeping habits are getting called out to everyone at this point. This is what happens when you're in a coma. ]

The one I've got is probably exhausted from destroying something again, knowing his history.

[Wow, it sounded like they lived some healthy lifestyles.]

I guess if anything, they should be able to recover from that just fine.

[She adjust 'Izumo' a lttlle when she feels him slipping a bit.]

It's a good thing you found them though.

[ Certainly healthy in some ways. ]

Ah, well... I didn't hear from Izumo for a while, so when I went there and saw an ayakashi over the temple, something was obviously wrong. He's one of the more capable shinki if you need borderlines and ablutions done, so there not being any despite the ayakashi was a big sign.

[ The first set of stairs isn't steep, at the very least. They had the gentle slope before going up more directly at the second set. He'll be sure to keep an eye on Alex while they climbed though, ready to catch either her or his lookalike. ]

... Ah, but someone's probably handling those now. So you won't have to worry about that.

[So far so good with those steps. It does take her a bit to figure out how to do it mor eefficiently since the guy's feet would keep knocking against the steps.]

Worry...about.. what?

[Alex looks back up at him when she gets over some steps.]

The loose ayakashi at that temple?

[ If there were any around, that'd be a concern for anyone, right? Though his tone was probably a little too casual to match the potential danger- like he said, someone was handling it.

Yet he's also noticing the way Mikoto's feet were smacking into the stairs. Which he didn't care about so much, unless it started to trip the woman up. ]

... Don't feel obligated to carry him, even if you took it upon yourself.

Oh!

[Right, that.]

I don't think I'd be much use with that anyway...

[Her shinki wasn't a weapon type vessel and her powers weren't offensive either, so Alex didn't have the confidence to fight off strong ayakashi.]

It's okay. I want to.

Well, I don't think you have to be. Like I said, it should be fine by now, if not soon.

[ Given that it's being handled now. Whether the woman's powers and shinki were offensive or not, she was here instead of around the danger. Still, it's not like he could argue with her choices- Shizuo didn't have any place to. ]

Okay then. If that's what you really want...

[That was a relief. It was even more motivation for her to do this, actually. If she can't fight off ayakashi, the least she can do is carry this guy somewhere safe.]

You're..quite strong.

[Alex noticed that he wasn't out of breath, and he was carrying both of them before she came alone. Was it strength or just a ridiculous amount of stamina? She could definitely use some of that for herself..]

[ Shizuo swallowed the impulse to argue against that- Something he normally did. Yet people have been saying it more and more often, and it just turned into something he felt bad for contesting. It really was a bad an unfair habit to dismiss someone's thoughts on that. ]

Ah, thanks... It's just something I happen to have.

[It was interesting since he didn't look particularly strong. Guess that's what they mean by judging a book.]

Oh..I didn't get your name. I'm Alex.

[Which was funny considering she knew the names of the unconscious ones.]

[ He didn't look like a lot of things that were true about himself. Like how much it really took for his shoulder to be in the condition that it was. ]

Shizuo.

[ Oh hey, they were reaching the end of the first set of stairs that got them just above the 'village' kind of area. Shizuo doesn't seem to be anywhere near winded. Then again, he was probably used to the climb. ]

You wanna take a bit of a break before we get to the steeper part?

[Oh thank god. She felt bad if she had to say it, but Shizuo suggesting a break was a godsend. Alex nodded at him sheepishly, admitting to needing one.]

Yes, please...

[She wondered if she was that out of shape, since he didn't look like he needed to catch his breath at all. Maybe having to go up and down these stairs all the time helped.]

Sorry, I'm slowing you down...

[ Someday, Alex might realize that it was healthier to never compare oneself to how Shizuo was physically handling an ordeal. Especially when he couldn't feel if he actually needed a break or not. ]

Don't worry about that so much. It's not like they're gonna wake up any faster by getting them up all these stairs right away.

[ He'll go over to open one of the houses that was just off the path. It's fine- everyone that's supposed to live here is up in the main area. ]

There's water access in these if you also wanna get out of the sun and have something to drink.

That's true.

[She chuckled at that. It definitely didn't seem like he was in a rush to get there.]

Eh--is that okay? Won't the people living there mind?

People? Ah, no it's nothing like that. The only people here live over in the main building. The rest of it is kind of a holdover from the original.

So they're all empty..?

[That seemed..kind of eerie. But at least she didn't have to worry about intruding.

Alex follows him inside one of the houses, grateful for the shade.]

You seem pretty used to these stairs. Have you been here a while now?

Yeah.

[ Honestly, Shizuo would feel weirder if the villagers that obviously used to live in these buildings were still around. If only for what that meant. The main thing Shizuo's gonna do is make sure the two sleepy heads were down and propped against a wall or something. ]

Couple of months, just about. I found out pretty early on that I'm used to walking a lot, and if I feel lazy enough, I could just jump up the sheer sides.

[ Which mostly came with the convenience of a shinki's lightness, but also because he had the strength to go up that high. ]

[That would've sounded impossible to her if she hadn't already witnessed people with abilities like that, even before she arrived at the far shore. Him being able to carry two people with ease made more sense now. Was he something like the twilights, then? Or was he like some of the others here from a different world where special abilities are more common?]

I'm used to the walking, and stairs even, but this is just something else.

[Alex chuckles softly as she helps Shizuo with putting the men down. They really were out out like a light. Once they were done, she circled her shoulders, stretching her arms for a bit with a sigh.]

Are..you a shinki, Shizuo?

[She just assumed with how he said "found out," that maybe his memories weren't all there. If that was the case, it was most likely he was a shinki. \]

[ In a sense, Alex might find out that he was a lot like the twilights from her world. Especially if she ever saw him pushed into a fight or anything. He certainly wasn't part of the norm where he was from, and it took non-human means to even properly go up against him. Well, that or a gun. ]

Yeah, I am.

[ He'd be tempted to do the same with rolling his shoulders, but it's a pain when he's only allowed to do that with one of them. ]

Not exactly a great one, but I'm working on figuring it out.

It sounds like you're putting in an effort. If anything..I'd say you're a good friend.

[She glances back at the other two for a moment before looking back at him.]

You shoulder..what happened to it?

[ ... Ah, that's where the real amusement comes down to in all of this. ]

I found out I was blighting my god, so to keep it from happening ever again, I fought to try and force her into revoking my name instead of getting an ablution. A couple of people with weird dragon-ish limbs fought back. The shoulder thing happened during that whole show.

I'm, uh, kind of an idiot a lot of the time.

....

[Well, she did ask.]

That...sounds really rough, I'm sorry...

[She had no comment on the dragon-ish limbs. It probably wasn't as strange as it looked in her mind.]

I take it she didn't revoke your name.

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