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

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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!]]

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He can't help smiling back a little more at her smile.

And he equally can't help but sigh over such a young... is she god or shinki? It's really hard for him to tell, this time. Either way-!

"Even if you're being careful, an ayakashi can get you at any time. Gods and shinki should come to the Near Shore together." That was a clever way of putting it, not knowing which she is. Good job, him.

"And yep, I'm a shinki." He brushes one hand on his pants before reaching up to pull at the collar of his shirt, further revealing the 'yuki' kanji on his left collarbone. "Yukine. Nice to meet you. And as for helping... sure, if you want."

Except Nanako just gives a pointed look around the garden before looking back to him. "But you're here alone, aren't you? Isn't that dangerous, too?"

It doesn't help that her own shinki is shared and sometimes needed elsewhere. Which she's fine with - Homura belonged to her big brother first, after all - but it also means that Nanako ends up doing a lot of wandering about on her own, too.

But she smiles warmly at him when he shows her his name and introduces himself, her expression brightening a little. "Hi, Yukine! It's nice to meet you. I'm Nanako! Or Nanshe, I guess, but you can just call me Nanako, that's okay. And I love gardens, so I don't mind helping. Sometimes they can be a lot of work, but I think it's fun."

Wow, finally called out on that one. By a little girl. Maybe it’s true what they say about kids being the most honest.
“Tell that to my moron of a god. But I’m way more experienced, so I’ll be fine.”

He nods at her introduction. A god then.

“Yah, it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Here.” He motions for her to follow him back into the sunflowers. “It’d be a help if you could retie the strings around the stalks of the sunflowers. They’ve grown, and are a bit too tight to the post. They should be snug, but not tight.” He demonstrates as he speaks on the flower he’d left off on. He pulls apart the simple bow of string, then reties it smoothly. “Would you be all right with that?”

"Who's your god? Why isn't he here helping you? That's not very nice of him." Yeah, blunt honesty is a thing that happens sometimes. "Have you been here a long time, then?"

Following him over to the sunflowers, she watches him show her what to do and then smiles up at him brightly. "Yeah! I know how to do that. I had to do it when I grew tomatoes because they get real tall too. Although not as tall as these..."

"Hah, yep, sunflowers can get pretty crazy-tall. They're strong, but this place isn't protected from the wind so they need the extra support."

Leaving Nanako to it on her row, he continues with his row and picks up her previous questions to complain, "You're totally right that my god's not nice. He's a loser jersey-wearing nobody called Yato. Pretty much guaranteed you've not heard of him. I'd rather not have that guy around when I'm gardening though. For sure he'd mess something up with those gross sweaty palms of his. Or ruin the atmosphere by trying to be cool but being stupid instead." (Sorry, Nanako. You've hit on his favourite topic to vent about.)

Huffing in suppressed frustration he is silent for a bit before remembering that there was some other question she'd had in there.

"Oh, and yah, I've been around for a while." Not all that long, actually, but that doesn't really matter.

She listens to him rant while she works, fingers carefully winding the strings around the sunflower stems, glancing over at him thoughtfully as she moves on to the next flower.

"You don't like your god, Yukine?" That seemed... sad. But Homura was one of Nanako's most important people so she was having a hard time imagining it.

"I hate him with every fiber of my being!" Now that he has a sympathetic ear, he has some stuff to unload.

"Listen to this! I have to work to keep a roof over our heads - a roof that Daikoku-san is loaning to me, not him! - but that guy doesn't have an ounce of respect! He doesn't do a thing to help out! Not the laundry, not the shopping, not the cooking or cleaning or anything! He's just a loser NEET who specializes in keeping tatami warm with his butt and drinking beer, and then, can't be found when you actually do need him around!"

He pauses for a moment there, realizing that he should... probably curb his ~~enthusiasm~~ ranting around such a young girl.

"He's the worst." He concludes, frowning at the string that his hands are working with automatically.

Leaving the sunflowers for now, Nanako comes over beside him and wraps her arms around his waist to give him a hug. Because he sounded like he needed one.

"I'm sorry. I can help, if you want? I'm good at cooking and cleaning and laundry! I do that a lot and always did back home, too. It's a lot of work, but it can go faster if you have help, right?" She smiles up at him encouragingly. "But if your god makes you so unhappy and you don't get along with him at all... Have you talked to him? Or maybe..." She pauses, even though it makes her unhappy to suggest anything of the sort. "I know some shinki look for other gods, if they don't get along with theirs? Although sometimes people just aren't very good at cleaning and cooking and things. Maybe there's other things he's better at?"

Certainly he must have some redeeming qualities, right?

Yukine goes stiff as a board at the unexpected hug. Looking down at her and listening to her earnest offer of help, he can't help but relax a little.

Kneeling down he gently pats her head once. "Thanks, Nanako..." He skips a beat there, it seeming a bit odd to call her -sama, but -chan seems too familiar for a god. "-san." A belated addition, but he'll leave it at that for now.

"Thanks for offering. I'm sure you're great at helping out around the house. But it's something that I should take care of myself." Sighing, he shifts his posture, leaning his arms on his legs. "You're right, some shinki do look for other gods. And if they're being treated badly, they're right to do it. But... even though Yato is horrible and an idiot... we've been through a lot together already. And I've made him a promise. So don't worry 'bout it. I won't leave him."

He smiles reassuringly, then his expression becomes absolutely earnest. "Don't tell anyone I said that though. If Yato hears I said anything even remotely close to complementary about him, his head will swell up like a balloon and he'll be impossible for days."

Nanako listens to what he says with an intent look on her face, ducking her head with a soft giggle when he crouches down and pats her on the head. She looks relieved as she listens, though, hearing more behind the words than just the complaints he'd spouted off earlier.

She nods emphatically, pressing a finger to her lips as she giggles again. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, I can keep a secret. But I'm glad he's not all bad. You sound like you really like him, even if he sometimes isn't the best god. Promises are important, though. But if you ever need help, I don't mind, too. There's nothing wrong with asking for help if some days it's too much to do by yourself."

Yukine grimaces sourly.

"How do I sound like I 'really like' that sweaty jersey idiot? And he's not the best god most of the time, not 'sometimes'."

Trying to get past that, he tries to smile at her again. (It's not too hard.)

"Heh. You're really smart, to say stuff like that though. If it's too much for just me, well, it's nice to know I can ask you. Thanks."

Standing he turns back to the sunflower he'd been working on. "You're helping me out today even though you just met me, so that's plenty enough."

"You just sound like really good friends." Nanako giggles at this as she moves to the next row of sunflowers to help him some more. "Even when he annoys you, he's still important to you, right? That makes you kinda like family."

"and you're welcome! I like to help. Besides, this is fun. I love working in gardens, me and my big brother used to do this all the time back home."

Yukine grumbles some more at her insistence that him and Yato are good friends, and he outright cringes at 'family'.

"Not." That's all the retort he'll give, because the more he talks about it the more she's going to keep saying that stuff. Geh.

And before he even fully registers what she's talking about now, he finds himself cringing for a whole other reason.

"Used to?" Frowning seriously he keeps his eyes on the knot he's tying as he flatly states, "You shouldn't talk about the past. I know you new guys are weird and all, but... don't."

She pauses, blinking at him in surprise a moment before looking apologetic. The warning is enough to distract her from the topic of Yato - for the moment, at least.

"Sorry. I forget sometimes. It's hard not to. I've been trying to get better about that. I think my brother's better at it than I am. He's good at everything."

Yukine opens and closes his mouth a couple times, chewing on a few possible answers for that.

In the end he just murmurs, "Don't sweat it. You can't learn and get used to it without having done it a few times, right?"

She's just a kid. But she doesn't need him to tell her that. Besides, he doesn't like being on the receiving end of that comment himself, and he's older than her.

"I guess so." She still looks a little embarrassed about it, though. "I'm sorry if I said something bad. I'll do better at remembering. Besides this is home now, too. And I like it here. There's always lots to do, and everyone's really nice."

Seeing no reason to keep harping on her over it for now, he just makes an small affirmative noise. "Mm. I'm glad you like it here." For all that he'd rather see all these new guys go back to wherever they came from, if they can't, then it's good that they feel like it's home.

At the least, they're gonna be stuck here a while.

With a breath of a chuckle he adds, "It's good that you've met all really nice people so far, too." He feels like he should warn her though... "It's not easy to read people, but ... trust your instincts, 'kay? If you feel something off about a new god or shinki you meet, it's okay to not be friends with them, you know."

Not as if a kid her age doesn't know about stranger-danger, but just sayin'. (Some of the newbies are too naive for their own good, too.)

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

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