thenearshore | KINYOBI is open for business!

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KINYOBI is open for business!

Who: Gojyo and anyone!
What: Drinking, fighting, insulting this disgusting bar...
When: Any time from August 9th through the end of August
Where: KINYOBI, in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan
Warnings: Please put warnings in the headers of your comments as they become relevant.

1. Friday nights at Friday's
Kinyobi is a small, dark bar, located on a street that was never nice, not even when the plant across town was open. This is an industrial area, and this used to be a blue-collar, industrial bar -- the floors are permanently sticky, there's dents and gouges and names carved in every wooden surface, the restroom is a horror movie, and the booze is either watered down or rotgut, depending on the day of the week and the mood of the bartender.

Still. It's home.

2. Shinki Sundays
Gojyo looks up when the bell on the door chimes, and smiles broadly at the newcomer. "Hey, come on in!" he calls. "You're shinki, right? Lemme see your mark."

3. Wildcard?

And some images to give an idea of what the inside of Kinyobi looks like:

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Edit as of October 6th, in-game: there is now a bar dog.

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Did she really just say...? Oh shit. Gojyo straightens up in a flash, waving his hands frantically to dissuade her.

"That's fine, that's fine! You don't need to...!" There's no way she's of age, shit, he's going to get fired and go to hell both. "Just promise you aren't a god, okay? That's good enough."

"Promise."

With the smile, Gojyo could probably guess something more- Really, Botan was pleased to know that the bartender wasn't that kind of person. Releasing and smoothing the hem, she bounced over to the bar. Leaning her elbows over the edge, this is clearly someone with no sense of 'legal drinking age.'

"A pleasure to meet you in person, Gojyo. I believe you said something about trying the beer myself to see if it's decent?"

He doesn't give a shit how old she is, so long as she's not an actual kid. She's dead, and that makes things like legal limits kinda blurry, in his mind. A drink isn't going to kill her, and if she gets too rowdy or sick, he can always cut her off, right? Not like the local cops can even see them, much less remember who they are long enough to check IDs.

"Oh, that was you?" The person who's never drunk before is also the person who was about to flash him? ...Maybe he should start asking for IDs after all. "You've really never had beer before?"

"Bingo."

It certainly did sound like she was ready to flash him, didn't it? Yet despite that willingness to seemingly expose herself, Botan isn't overly excited or caught up in the idea of drinking like some people who wait until they're of legal age and go to a bar for the first time. This was her still being 'sensible.'

"Well, I've only been here for a couple of weeks," was a good start to explaining that kind of situation. "It's not that long of a time to be here, and it's not like I could know anything from before that. Especially when you lose and have to get used to a new god in that time as well."

Oh, yeah, that's a really good point. "I know a little about that, yeah." He gestures to one of the stools in front of him. Come, sit. "My first god vanished a couple weeks ago too. Were you two close?"

If she's here for beer, maybe she'd prefer to start with something light, he thinks, mentally going over the bar's scant selection. Rice beer is light, but not particularly sweet, and she looks like somebody who might like something more sweet and less hoppy or bitter. Cider, maybe? She might like cider.

"Sorry, I don't remember your name."

"We didn't have a chance," which was true. They had been friendly, and Botan tried to bond with her, but there was an obvious difference between Jennifer and her other shinki. Then Diana had disappeared after just a few days, and before anything really got done, that had been the end of the world as Botan knew it.

For a moment there was a bit of sadness in those magenta eyes. Until the next blink where she had that cheeriness back up to the full strength it was before. "Botan's the name. Yours was Gojyo, right? Actually..."

She studied him for a few seconds, looking directly at his red eyes. Not that that's what she was focused on, but it was a good point. "I'm going to make a wild guess. If I'm correct, the drink's on the house. Deal?"

She's got reddish eyes too. She's finally close enough for him to notice that, and the realization startles him for a moment. There's no missing the way his gaze flicks to her hair, and then back to her face, but he keeps his big grin in place. Reddish eyes and blue hair is a new one for him!

With a wink, he reaches under the bar for a pint glass. "So long as I pick the drink, Botan." Yeah, she definitely seems like a cider girl. There's none on tap -- this place isn't that fancy -- but he's got a few bottles in the minifridge under the bar. Maybe cider with a Fireball chaser? ...Nah, he doesn't want to lay her out. Just a cider, and then if she's still standing maybe a Kirin or something. Natty Lite, maybe -- those are mostly water anyway. "What's your guess?"

No missing that gaze indeed. For a moment, Botan wondered if he was trying to figure out a reason to not accept the deal, though a reason wouldn't have been needed. Instead he added his own stipulation and seemed to go along with it- even better.

"You live at Sharak Sanzo's temple. Most likely a shinki of hers, but she seems to be the type to take people in for a time even if they're not."

How's that for a guess?

That... is not at all what he was expecting her to say! His grin softens just a bit, and he nods, impressed.

"What, have I got chicken feathers in my hair or something?" he kids, patting at his topknot. "You've gotta tell me if I do!"

It'd be rude if her guess was anything else based off of Gojyo's energy. Even without knowing about a stigma of humans and youkai having children together, she doesn't even recognize that that is a potential thing she's sensing here.

"I recognize the energy," she says while successfully holding back a laugh. No worries about chicken feathers anywhere, as far as Botan can see. "I might've accidentally flown into her barrier not too long ago. Aside from her, I could sense that there were others. I've actually met the lady with the helmet, which means you're the remaining resident."

Simple deduction, dear Watson. Except where she's completely glossing over a few things there.

"The energy?" She's earned her drink, so he kneels down briefly to fish a condensation-slick bottle of apple cider out of the fridge. "So you can feel her on me? Like a smell?"

He pops the cap off, and expertly pours the sparkling golden liquid into the glass. Hey, this might be a crappy little dive bar, but at least there's a bartender who can pour a drink that doesn't foam up everywhere! "I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"No, nothing like that!"

Wow, it'd be creepy if she could sense residual energies on people. Not that what she can do is much better. "It's your energy I recognize. When I was around the area, I was able to sense two others on the property. Generally I would categorize the kind of energies I sense, and if I'm familiar enough with someone I can pin them out. Yours is a little more unique."

Which is how she made that guess.

Yeah, sensing his residual energy is so much less creepy. Instead of Sharak getting her magic stink on him, apparently he's leaving a magical stink trail of his own everywhere he goes.

He may be using up more hot water in the coming days as he makes damn sure he's deodorized in the shower, Sharak, just fyi.

Her comment about his unique energy signature doesn't earn her any favors, either. At least magical B.O. he could laugh off! "Guess I'm just a unique kind of guy," he offers, pushing her glass across the bartop to her with a flat grin. In his defense, it's a really good flat grin. She could be excused for even believing it's a real one. "Here, hard cider. Lemme know what you think about this."

It probably wouldn't be better if she said that it wasn't anything residual. Her timing was just convenient enough that people were around. Not that the girl's been very clear in explaining that. Just as she figures that grin was a sign that she shouldn't say how it was unique or go too far into it. The best she can say, trying to make it seem like it's as small a deal as it really is to her, is with a dismissive "there's a few unique kinds of people, really."

After all, what business was it to someone who was neither human nor demon at the base of it all? Gojyo wasn't even the only one that seemed to be a strange blend of whatever and what could be likened to a human with powers.

So she takes the glass that was slid towards her, raising it with a light "cheers," before drinking it- Actually, the way she started seemed like Botan was the type that had been familiar with drinking down the canned stuff. It's that first gulp that has her calm it down and think about the flavor. After the second swallow, the reaper puts the glass down lightly with a satisfied sigh. "It's got a bit of spiced sweetness to it. I can see it being easy to lose track of drinking these."

She's used to drinking juice, isn't she? Nobody gulps beer that way unless they're trying to get as drunk as possible. He raises a hand to slow her down, but it doesn't seem necessary -- she paces herself with the second swig, and Gojyo mentally sighs with relief. Chugging is a good way to get sick -- please don't puke in his bar. Tsuzuki has enough to do already without cleaning up puke.

"Take your time with it, okay? Those things are really fizzy, leave room for burping."

Well, if her time before now meant anything... Either way, it looks like she was ready to nurse the drink a little more properly. No worries about her getting sick all over the bar. Plus, with what she said before, Botan might want to actually enjoy the flavor.

"Oh, it's not too fizzy," she says, scooting over to the side enough to actually sit on a stool now. "How long have you been with Sharak, by the way? As her shinki, of course."

It'd take quite a person to be with that monk any other way, after all. Botan had only communicated with her twice and it was obvious where romantic relationships were on that woman's priority list. "You said your first god vanished a couple of weeks ago, but did she name you before that, or some time after?"

As her shinki... as opposed to whatever their relationship was before they came here? Is that what she means? Gojyo raises an eyebrow, her second question going more or less unheard as he weighs his options. Is she really talking about his past? Really? It seems unlikely.

"I only met her a couple months ago," he says carefully; his grin is still big and friendly, but there's a set to his shoulders that's anything but. "How'd you two meet?"

When there are gods who disappear and people who gain new ones or get named by those who need them, the length of time one is a shinki compared to being a friend doesn't have to always be the same. Which basically means that Gojyo is looking too far into what it means. But oh, how they met was certainly something else.

"I might have flown into that barrier she has around the temple," she says with a shrug. "I've been learning and practicing some things that I can do, so I was going through the whole Shore. So when I was about to pass over the land while in the sky..."

She makes the motion of smacking right into the surface with her hands. Hey, it's not like she was about to knock over the glass- it was still half full. "Then it turned out that she knew and seemed to be friends with the god I had at that time."

He can't help it -- she mimes smacking into Sharak's barrier and Gojyo bursts out a laugh. He can totally picture it, too: Botan, flying along (on a broom, his brain decides, and he runs with it because why not?), and then wham! Right into the barricade like a bird into a window.

"She does like it when guests drop in," he puns, his grin self-satisfied. "She pretends like she doesn't, but she's fooling nobody."

That laugh just meant she had the right intended effect. Of course it's not so funny when you're high up in the sky and falling, but the young spirit knew how to take a bit of a laugh at herself. Oh, but she's holding back a laugh from that pun, though Gojyo could probably hear the dying snerk in her throat.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure that she was ready to pull a weapon on me," she says before taking a sip of cider. Somehow, this didn't actually bother her too much. "I can believe that everyone who's met Sharak knows that she's as kind as she is intimidating."

Hey, she survived to tell the tale and she's not in a cast or anything, so it's fine to laugh.

"No, I'm pretty sure she's about six times more intimidating," he chuckles, pouring himself his own drink (of cola, with a bunch of lime wedges -- it's still early, after all). "At least six times. That fuzzy center is buried pretty damn deep!" Nope, this drink definitely needs more limes. Why is cola with lime so good? "I'm surprised she didn't try to shoot you!"

"Wait, is she actually armed?" That had somehow managed to go completely past Botan's head when they had originally met. Which may have something to do with smacking straight into a divine-ish barrier, or Botan not feeling like she was in any particular danger at that time.

Maybe she should have?

Also, was there more lime than soda in that glass? Well, to each their own. "I still don't see her good side being that buried away. Talking to her normally brought it out easily enough."

Then again, Botan more or less rambled theory about the barrier at Sharak. She might've gotten a surprise hit on the Sanzo.

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KINYOBI is open for business!

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