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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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[ If healing glowy powers counted as a strange aspect, then Hakkai had several. ]

... Oi. If that's the case, why'd you go off saying I should be able to find other people, if you've never met another? There's no way I'd be able to find anyone else if that's the case for someone like you.

[ 'Like' Shun in the sense of knowing a lot of people. ]

Because I've never specifically looked for them. I did say "as far as I know" - I might know others, but they don't seem to bring it up unless it's relevant.

[There's also Nanako, admittedly, but Shun doesn't really feel comfortable directing a guy he just met to her, hence his avoidance of mentioning that.]

If you made a post on the BBS, you'd probably get just about all of them.

Made... A post.

[ It's not that he doesn't know how- Shizuo's way more familiar with technology than a good amount of the residents on the Far Shore. It's the whole putting himself out there and asking people to interact with him, instead of them tolerating him being around or responding, which makes him uneasy. ]

I, uh, don't really have the confidence or desperation to call people out like that and expect them to answer. I shouldn't need anything more after this shoulder's done recovering anyway.

[ Yeah, because someone who can't feel pain definitely won't need routine care and/or healing. ]

[That just makes Shun shrug.] I can understand the lack of desperation, but lack of confidence is stupid. The worst that could happen is they don't answer.

[Or some idiot tries to pick a fight, which really, Shun would consider more likely to make anyone feel better about themselves knowing they aren't that stupid. He does pick up on at least one element of that issue, though, and he nods towards the problem arm.]

You'd better get a good second opinion on when that's done recovering if you can't feel it, though.

People not responding isn't the worst that could happen.

[ He's smart enough to at least know that. ]

Uh... I might, if I remember. If it ends up working the way it's supposed to again, I'll probably forget.

[ At least he's honest? ]

If you don't know many people, then the chances someone's going to up and attack you based on a post are slim. Not to mention that it gets even slimmer if you're careful enough about it.

[Don't give details of location except privately, or arrange to meet at a more public area like the library. It's not foolproof, but nothing really is, and it's better than nothing.

Shun casts him a bit of a look at that admission.] You can't be that forgetful. Keep a closer eye on the progress.

... Yeah, I'm not exactly the careful type. It's almost guaranteed that someone would reply asking if I was joking or something like that.

[ He didn't even think about being attacked in person- just having the post attacked. But, oh Shun, you have no idea. Shizuo's blunt and honest enough about himself to fix that. ]

If enough time passes and things seem to be working fine, then yeah. I'll definitely forget about it.

Then you ignore them. Idiots don't need to be entertained. [Then again, Shun has rather more self-control about that sort of thing than a lot of people. Also he hasn't posted often enough to be trolled himself.

Shizuo's certainty of forgetting just makes Shun raise a brow.] Then while it's still like this, tell the one you've got working on it to check up on it even if it looks better. That guy's enough of a busybody to do it.

[The very image of not salty about that passive-aggressive thanks basket Shun got from Hakkai yesterday.]

I don't really have the kind of self-control that'd let me ignore them.

[ He reacted, and could be a little too honest about faults like these. But geeze, advice aside, even Shizuo could pick that up. ]

Damn, what'd he do to you?

Self-control is something that can be developed. If you know that, then work on it.

[Shun has a pretty straightforward outlook on things like this. He lost his reactiveness rather quickly after the war in his world broke out.]

He just pisses me off. Yesterday he turned up to give me a fruit basket for dragging him partway across the Far Shore.

No shit.

[ He's been working on it, but that wasn't really Shun's place to know. Yet, as bad as his own temper could be, the realization of what Shun was saying was kicking in.

It's really about just that, isn't it? ]

... You're pissed because he thanked you for helping him out.

It wasn't genuine. When I say I dragged him across the Far Shore, I mean it.

[Literally. Along the ground. While he was ill. So Shun isn't exactly providing the benefit of the doubt that anyone would want to genuinely thank him for that behaviour.]

He probably did it just to piss me off.

[ Honestly... Shizuo could see that guy being the type to even appreciate that. Hakkai was weird, and it almost definitely wasn't because he wasn't human. It was definitely a personality thing. ]

Probably? It's not hard to find that kinda thing out.

[ Asking Hakkai directly won't have him give you a straight answer, but it's easy enough to tell. ]

I'm not saying it'd be out of his character to do that, don't get me wrong. You're right about him not being the most genuine kind of guy- he'll give you good advice that'll also lead you into a snake den or something. He'll apologize, but it's obvious when he knew how things would go either way.

I've had enough of dealing with people who won't give a straight answer. [Pointed glance at the unconscious Mikoto as he says that. It seems to be a bit of a thing among the adults here.

It seems like Shizuo's missing a significant detail here, though, and Shun shakes his head.] He dislikes me as much as I dislike him. Giving him the benefit of the doubt would make more sense if we actually got on, but we don't. We can wear a front of civility over sniping at each other, but that's about as good as it gets.

[ Mikoto doesn't give any answers. Which is honestly just as infuriating. But oh, that is a detail that wasn't being given until just then.

Knowing the kind of person Hakkai was ~~which he had a better grasp on than either of them would like,~~ that gives a completely different but more sensible reason. ]

Ah, yeah. I dunno, or really care, what happened between you two, but that makes sense.

It wasn't one thing anyway. [Or probably not in the sense Shizuo is thinking. They had one conversation, it went sour, they decided they didn't like each other. It had been remarkably straightforward, really.

Shun isn't going to bother going into details anyway, so he just moves on from the subject.] So, I suppose plenty of other people have pointed out the obvious detail about you and this guy.

[As if it needed clarifying, Shun offers an aside glance to Izumo's limp form over his shoulder.]

[ Shizuo isn't thinking of anything in particular past it being 'not his business.' Ah, but he's not surprised about that subject being used for the change. ]

Since I first arrived when Kairi called me by his name. We know how it basically seems to be, but it's not like we can think about it too much.

[ Especially when they had more than an uncanny resemblance in common. ]

Obviously not. Though I suppose if this place is drawing people from different worlds, there's always the chance that two people will end up looking and acting similarly in some way regardless of being completely unconnected.

[The dimensions in Shun's world had direct counterparts of a few people, and he still doesn't know why that is. Honestly, Shizuo and Izumo look a little too close even for that, though.]

At least you're not the one who has to cat-sit. [Cue sidelong glare at Mikoto that's trying to be subtle, but really isn't.]

Even if that's the case, we can't really...

[ Question it, or think too much about which way he has to be.

Still. Has to cat-sit... You say that when they're bringing both to the temple he lives at, Shun. ]

No, we've got actual cats instead. Eun and Min are enough on their own, really.

He's probably worse. [Shun works with cats, and he'd definitely consider Mikoto more annoying than the ones at the cafe. Also the five Ren owns, which are admittedly only kittens. It doesn't limit their ability to be annoying as much as he would've thought.]

Most people here who own cats seem to own a ridiculous amount. I'm surprised you just have two. [Then again, Izuku does just have the one as well, if he remembers right.]

Depends on the cats.

[ Yet Shizuo is obviously not enthralled the idea of a 'ridiculous amount' of felines. Even though the temple grounds seemed to be more than large enough to handle them all. ]

Try not to give Yona that idea. She took in these two when someone asked for people to take some in. With them and the horses, I'm trying to keep her happy with thinking that's more than enough.

[The name Yona is unfamiliar, and Shun just gives a very faint snort.] I don't know her anyway. But I definitely remember how many people responded to that handout. A few of them could've done with a balancing hand.

[Then again, that might just be because he saw a few people basically trying to adopt the whole lot.]

At least it doesn't sound like she has sacred animals for you to deal with on top of those.

Depends on what counts as sacred.

[ The horses weren't an original part of the place the temple was mimicking, and they seemed to act... strange. He couldn't really explain it. ]

I got lucky in that she only got a couple of them. That or the person offering them limited how many everyone was getting.

Usually it's some kind of animal associated with the god. I have vultures. [Lots of vultures, which are not the fondest of intruders on the temple grounds. But then, Shun's heard about a lot of weird temple animals.]

He probably would've had to limit them. I remember at least one person trying to adopt all of them like an idiot.

That might be the horses, then.

[ They had a weird level of intelligence, and they didn't always act how you expect horses to. Then again, that's the opinion of someone who knows nothing about horses- he's just heard the reactions from the others, who had a better idea.

He could only shrug about the person who wanted to adopt all the cats. Some people had weird loves and obsessions- who was he to judge? ]

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revolutionfalcon - 2017-09-03 16:53 (UTC) - Expand

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