thenearshore | So much to do, and all the time to do it. [Open and Closed Prompts]

Who: Yukine and you! Open and closed prompts.
What: Being idle around the Near Shore, and working hard on the Far Shore.
When: August 18 and 19
Where: Various places on the Near Shore; around the school and Hakkai's temple on the Far Shore.
Warning: None

Stuff happened. And as a result of that stuff, Yukine had even more time on his hands than usual.
So he threw himself into his studies, as well as catching up on some other projects.

--August 18--
Garden
In the morning, Yukine can be found on the Near Shore. Along a particular riverbank is a large lone cherry tree. (Not that it's easy to tell that it's a sakura when it's not spring.) And not far from that tree is a garden. Full of tall sunflowers, hollyhock, and various other bright summer-blooming flowers, it is a strange but welcome sight along the greenbelt of the riverbank.
Among the flowers is Yukine. Tying the sunflowers to poles, clearing away fallen flowers, snagging any weeds that dare appear, it is clear he is diligently tending the garden.
His expression is quietly satisfied as he works, and he won't mind being approached at all, even if it would be surprising to him.

Math class
The afternoon is class. From one until three Yukine studies math with Hakkai and takes advantage of the free study time. Math being one of his better and more liked subjects, he's in a good mood as he studies.

Meeting
[Closed to Chinatsu]
After school he'd arranged to meet a shinki that is having problems because her god is gone, and she's worried about being basically defenseless. He'd agreed to meet with her in person to talk about it, so he waits outside the school, sitting under the shade of a tree in the yard with a notebook balanced on his leg. Might as well get some homework done as he waits. He's not worried about being recognized- his name is visible above the collar of his shirt, after all.

--August 19--
English class
From nine until eleven in the morning, Yukine is forcing his way through English. At least Izumo as a teacher is pretty interesting, even if he can be awfully strict about some stuff.
But English free study... ugh. Save him, please.

Driving!
[Closed to Hakkai]
Yukine cannot escape English class fast enough, especially since he has something good waiting for him. For an hour Hakkai will give him a driving lesson in Jeep!
Yukine comes to Hakkai's temple prepared with a small box of bought cookies for Hakkai-san as the teacher, and a bit of cooked fish to offer Jeep as the vehicle.
Giving up the offerings, Yukine says the traditional "If you would, please..." Please take it easy on him? It's his first time.

[Open, with Hakkai]
Once they get underway, passers-by are welcome to notice the young shinki behind the driver's wheel instead of the adult, and try to make conversation. (Parallel parking is tricky, okay? Maybe don't distract him while he's trying to pull that off-)

Wandering the Near Shore
With a few hours to burn after lunch, Yukine wanders the Near Shore as he sometimes does. He likes window shopping around the clothing stores, and even though he doesn't play any games himself he'll watch people in the game centers. He spends some time at a garden supply store, and as the afternoon gets later he'll work his way back home, stopping at the supermarket on the way to pick up some things for dinner.

[Closed to Yuto]
Even in the busy shopping district, a head of spiky black and purple hair is hard to miss. Waving a bit to get Yuto's attention, Yukine comes closer.
"Hi! It's been a while. What you doin' down here?" And even as he speaks he's trying to think of when the last time they met actually was ... oh. Yah. It'd be during that whole kid thing, wouldn't it.

[[I prefer prose, but bracket form is totally fine too!
If anything needs a tweak or you'd like a specialized prompt, just let me know!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's fair, he guesses, but man... "Thanks for that extra motivation, Hakkai-san."

At the first task, Yukine nods. Just shift through, huh? Pressing down the clutch pedal he tries to move the stick into first. And it won't go in. Grumbling under his breath (damn it tall people) he sits forward even further on the seat so that he can press the clutch all the way to the floor. Then the gear goes in! His expression lightening in satisfaction he moves the stick through the other gears. Only up to three, as asked. Although he wants to try more, he's not going to do anything that might make either Hakkai-san or Jeep upset at him and cut the lesson short.

"It feels kinda stiff, but it's not hard. Is it smoother when the engine is running?"

"No, it feels just the same," Hakkai assures him. Yukine really does have to sit very far forward on the seat, doesn't he? Well, he's not likely to need to drive outside of an emergency situation, Hakkai thinks, and adds with a cheerful smile, "Try that a few more times, until you feel like you know where each of the gears is." It's only a three-speed transmission, but that still makes Jeep enough faster than a horse and cart that Hakkai's never worried about his maximum speeds. Still... he's not a good match for the sleek sedans that zip around on well-maintained roads in this world.

Luckily, on the Far Shore, there's not too much traffic to worry about.

"Once you feel like you're ready, let Jeep know, so he can start his engine again."

There is still reverse to deal with, but he supposes that they won't be going backwards much to start.

Yukine shifts through the gears again, looking at the stick intently. He then does it a couple times without looking. He'd have to be shift while looking at the road, after all, right?

Satisfied that he's got the hang of it, he nods at Hakkai-san and pats the steering wheel.

"Okay. I'm ready, Jeep. Let's do it!"

Jeep's engine rumbles to life, and he flashes his headlights in acknowledgment. Hakkai leans forward, giving the dashboard an affectionate pat, and nods to Yukine.

"Shift into first gear, and as you lift your foot off the clutch, begin to push down the gas pedal. That's the one on the far right, and when you do that, we'll start to move forward."

He never worries about Jeep's lack of seatbelts, he reflects, when he's driving over moving drawbridges or down wild mountainsides, but he does worry about it a little with a student driver.

(Your intuition is quite correct, Hakkai.)

Following Hakkai’s directions carefully, he shifts, lifts the clutch while pressing lightly on the gas— but he doesn’t rev the engine high enough. As the gear catches without enough power to move the wheels, the vehicle shudders roughly back and forth and the engine stops. Yukine chalks up his first stall.

Panicking both from that unexpected shuddering and that he might have hurt Jeep he cries out quickly while bracing to possibly land on the ground, “I’m sorry! Please don’t turn back into a dragon yet-!”

Jeep honks loudly, and Hakkai bursts into laughter, waving a reassuring hand at Yukine as the car's engine rumbles back to life on its own.

"You'll get the feel of it, I'm sure! Don't be too shy to push down the gas pedal. May he try again, Jeep?"

That gets another headlight-flash, and the engine noise picks up briefly before returning to its waiting rumble.

The honk startles him, and the laugh irritates him.
He glares resentfully at Hakkai-san for a moment, but seeing as Jeep is still willing to go and Hakkai is trying to be encouraging, Yukine nods and gets in position again.

"Okay, I'll try again."

This time he revs the engine more fully as he lifts up on the clutch. He can feel the moment the gears catch to the power of the engine- and suddenly they are lurching forward! This time surprised that it actually worked, rough though it is, Yukine pushes down even more on the gas. Which of course sends them sharply forward.

"Whoa! Whoa! Now what?!"

Hakkai, one hand braced on the dashboard against the wild jolting of the Jeep, calls cheerfully, "Press gently on the gas pedal and drive to the first crossroads, then press on the brake!"

With any luck, he thinks, this won't end in too many spills on the road, or any broken noses from abrupt stops. He's faced more dangerous enemies without blinking.

But, also, he doesn't like letting anyone else drive....

They're only in first gear, he consoles himself. Between that and a sentient car, Yukine can't possibly get them in too much trouble.

Yukine focuses on Hakkai's directions, gently pushing the gas pedal further down.

"Wow...!" It's exhilarating! They get to the crossroads way too soon for his liking, but again, he's gonna follow Hakkai's directions perfectly.

So at the corner he presses down on the brake. The jeep slows, then shudders roughly again! Startled, he pushes down completely on the brake, which stops both the vehicle and the engine.

"Wh-what did I do? Why did the engine stop?" Even though this is his first time, he feels frustrated to be getting so much wrong.

"Ah-- I'm sorry, Yukine, that's my fault. You'll need to press the clutch down too as you're braking to a stop..."

Well, stalling isn't too bad. They haven't driven into anything yet! That's a success.

He smiles cheerfully at the boy. "Let up on the brake a little -- Jeep, can you restart, please?"

Somehow the fact that Hakkai-san was wrong isn't as satisfying as it might usually be. Perhaps because he just wants to keep on learning this.

He lets up on the brake a bit and pushes in the clutch so that Jeep can restart.

"Okay. Let's go again." And then he realizes that they are at an intersection. And if this was the real world he'd have to check around him before moving forward... suddenly, it seems like a lot of stuff to do at once!

"Uh-" Whipping his head back and forth, he tries to keep looking up as he again performs the maneuvers to get the vehicle moving.
It's a bit shaky, but he manages to move them forward through the crossroads.

Going straight again he breathes a sigh of relief. "Man, if you stalled at an intersection in the real world, that'd be a lot of pressure, huh?"

"I suppose it would be," Hakkai agrees. There's a lot of traffic in this world; far more than he's used to himself, in fact. The number of cars hadn't been as surprising when he was a shinki. Now -- with context -- it sometimes amazes him to see the teeming streets when he's on the Near Shore for shopping or answering prayers.

He hasn't taken Jeep out in that yet, in fact. It's a bit much for a young dragon.

"But that's why we're practicing here," he adds, encouragingly. "There's much more room for error while you're learning."

And only a small possibility of running someone down.

So much to do, and all the time to do it. [Open and Closed Prompts]

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