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!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, no stickers for the dragon; they'd be awfully inconvenient to remove from his tail afterwards.

Hakkai smiles at the way Yukine brightens up at that compliment, and glances down at the dashboard as Jeep flashes his headlights in acceptance of Yukine's bribe. Lots more fish, indeed.

"Not too many," he recommends cheerfully, "or Jeep won't be able to get off the ground."

The rumble of the engine sounds, for a moment, downright annoyed. He chuckles.

Are those magnetic signs unable to stick to car-shaped dragons?

Fish and get off the ground... Huh. On top of that the car flashes the lights and makes sounds, seemingly by its own, and not in a way that makes people think there's something wrong with it.

"I was thinking of dropping by the Main Office later, but if it would help you practice, I don't mind doing it a little earlier." He knows that having a goal in mind can be helpful. Smaller goals to reach a bigger goal, too.

(Good question. Are dragon-jeeps magnetic?)

Yay! A mission! A task! A goal!

"It's okay if we take him, Hakkai-san? After we get there we can call it a day, promise."

This is of course a promise to supersede the previous promise of 'after practicing parking for a bit we'll call it a day.' (Oops.) He knows it's his first day but let him be helpful, Hakkai-san?

Hakkai checks his watch. This hasn't taken quite as long as he'd thought it might; there's still plenty of time before dinner, and so he nods, with one finger raised for a caveat.

"So long as Jeep doesn't mind."

The lights flash again, obligingly. Hakkai wonders whether Jeep's missed their journey: he's been very patient with Yukine today. Maybe he just enjoys the chance to get out on the road.

(Or, possibly, the fish bribe is having its effect.)

Hakkai gestures D2 to the back seat. "Feel free," he offers.

Yup, there’s definitely something going on with this car, which is very interesting.

“Thank you, Jeep.” Do you add an honorific after the name of a car...? “And Yukine-san and Hakkai too.”

He gets into the back seat of the car, toward the middle of it.

“Should I be quiet so you don’t lose focus?”

D2, you're so nice-!

"Sure, thanks. But once I get goin' straight and don't have to stop it's fine."

He goes through the careful shifting and pedal-pushing that is slowly becoming more familiar. After checking over his shoulder he pulls the jeep further into the road. The vehicle shudders slightly, Yukine's shifting not smooth yet, but at least he doesn't stall out!

He goes slowly for a moment, orientating himself and thinking of how to get to the Office. And finds that he's not sure, especially by roads wide enough for Jeep.
His pride demands that he go on even though he's unsure, but today practicality wins out with relative ease.

"...Hakkai-san, what's the best way to get to the Office?"

Hakkai strokes his chin thoughtfully, an amused glint visible in his eye.

"I believe -- sorry, Yukine -- you'll want to turn left at the road after this upcoming one."

It's good practice, at least, isn't it? He chuckles, and glances back at D2.

"May I ask why you're dropping by the office?"

He’s going to be quiet until they get out on the straight stretch of road, then. He doesn’t want to cause a disturbance.

Bag in his lap, D2 looks over at Hakkai with a smile.

“To ask them a couple questions, that’s all.”

Yukine twitches to look over his shoulder, but snaps his eyes back to the road.

"What are you gonna ask them about?" Which is to really say, why isn't D2 asking him? Sure, there's lots of stuff he doesn't know, but- "I- I mean, one of us might know." Hakkai-san is included. He knows a lot about the new guys, after all.

"Eyes on the road all of the time, please, Yukine! You don't want to guide Jeep the wrong way."

This is one of the more hypocritical instructions Hakkai's given, but, on the other hand, Yukine hasn't seen him drive much, so he should have avoided picking up any bad habits by osmosis.

"-- and yes, D2, between Yukine and I, we may be able to give you an answer, unless it's something more technical, of course."

He's turned halfway around in the passenger seat himself, glancing at D2 with a veiled warning in his gaze; Yukine's very trustworthy, but he's also loyal, first, to his own god. If D2's questions are too subversive, they might be dangerous.

As Hakkai says, about eyes on the road, but only one of them needs to point that out. And it's good that Hakkai is teaching him good driving habits, and not bad ones.

"I would if it was something I could, it's not like I haven't bothered Hakkai with random questions at random times before, and I know I can ask you as well, Yukine-san."

He pats Hakkai on the shoulder. He doesn't know exactly how deep Yukine's loyalty goes, but he prefers going with the conspiracy theory-ish or otherwise suspicious-like (etc) questions to Hakkai. Anyway, message received.

"It's about temple locations and stuff, but not here in the Far Shore. More like, where people have temples in case I or anyone would like to go somewhere outside Japan or less obviously available locations like India, China, or England, or other places. They might know something about that, right?"

"Huh. Wouldn't a god just know?" He manages to keep himself from glancing at Hakkai-san at the question and is silent for a long moment before finally admitting, "Maybe. Some foreign gods have made a place for themselves here. But I wouldn't hold my breath for something like England."

Honestly, Hiyori is the one to ask about stuff like this... he doesn't really get much of what all the different gods are outside of what she tells him.

"Are you lookin' to go to other countries? I know at least two new gods who have done that."

"I only know of one temple of mine," Hakkai says thoughtfully, offering D2 a tiny inclination of his head. "And it's in Japan -- although I'm certain there are other temples to the god I've taken the place of in China, at least.

"My last goddess found a temple of hers in southern Mexico before I left her service, though."

He shrugs, leaning back. "It's certainly worth checking. Let me know if they tell you anything interesting? I'm curious."

Apparently they don't just know. There doesn't seem to be any instinct about these things, at least to the new gods. "There are Celtic gods here, so most of Britain should have some temples around too. I went to Scotland when I was in service of my previous god, to visit a temple of hers there."

He nods and smiles. "Yeah, I am. It's interesting, seeing different places. And just because we live here doesn't mean we can't go visit other places, particularly if we can go there pretty easily." Plus, though that's not something he'll mention that easily, it's interesting to see where he will know the way and where he won't. "And I will do that."

"There should be temples all over, considering people of different faiths are all over. Smaller temples in a lot of places, sure, but still, they should be around and some should be available for visiting."

Yukine makes a vaguely interested hum. He has no particular desire to visit any other countries himself, especially considering… “Seeing them is fine, but you’d have to speak another language. Can you speak English, then?”

"Well, you don't have to speak the language to visit another country," Hakkai comments thoughtfully, "although it does help... take the next right, Yukine. See, up there by the big rock?"

He has to admit, going all the way to the Main Office is much faster by car.

"Yeah, it's useful to know." Plus D2 doesn't want to rely on the translation magic...thing, that's going on. "And I can, better than I speak Japanese." And he barely has an accent when he speaks Japanese, though it's sometimes more present than at other times.

Yukine grimaces slightly- sure you don't have to know the language, if you don't mind not being able to understand or be understood. Sounds way too aggravating to him.

He then perks up and has to keep himself from looking over his shoulder again. "Seriously? Help me with my English homework sometime, then?"

He's figured out that if he doesn't get one person's explanation, it's better to go find someone else who explains it in a different way. He might actually get it then, instead of banging his head against the same wall.

He doesn't speak as he slows the jeep down to take the turn, but he then nods at Hakkai-san.

"I see it. It didn't take long at all, huh!"

"Not at all," Hakkai agrees, "and I think you're improving already! Don't you think so, Jeep?"

The headlights flicker, which he chooses to interpret as agreement.

"-- and I didn't realize you were so fluent in English," he adds cheerfully to D2. "That must make traveling easier; I'm not very good with it myself."

This car is amazing. He keeps being reminded of that thought.

"I can help you with it anytime you like." He is a supporter of education, and learning what you're able to from as many people as possible. And to Hakkai; "I guess it never came up before. It does make it easier. And if you like I can help you practice too."

Yukine's chest rises with pride and he gives the steering wheel a quick pat.

"Thanks." He means that for all of them, actually.

Driving past the big rock Hakkai-san mentioned before, they come up alongside a low wall bordering the Office. There being no parking lot, Yukine just looks for an opportune place to pull over.

Again he (and everyone else, being polite) is quiet for a moment as he slows, parks, and turns off the engine.

"There! Got you here safe'n'sound!" Turning around in his seat he smiles at D2, then looks at Hakkai-san.

"I might actually call it a day here, too." Regret is clear in his tone - he wants to drive some more! - but he did promise this would be it. "It's closer to where I need to go next anyway, and you can teleport back if you want to, right?"

"I think I'll walk," Hakkai says with a chuckle. "It's a nice day for it, and Jeep should have the chance to ride back on my shoulder. It's only fair -- don't you think?"

He steps down from the seat onto the road surface, and stretches, waiting for the others to get out so that Jeep can have the chance to transform back into his dragon form.

“Yep, you did! Thanks, Yukine-san.”

Once they’re all out of the care and he sees it turn into Hakkai’s dragon… That explains a lot. Though Hakkai saying ‘ride on my shoulder’ had him guessing that that might be it.

“Ooh. Amazing.”

He laughs a little- yep, Jeep catching a ride on Hakkai would be only fair. If anything, Yukine should be the one to carry him around... Maybe some other time?

At D2's appreciation of Jeep turning back into a dragon, Yukine smiles in the smug satisfaction of knowing something someone else didn't. (Not that it's his cool transforming dragon.)

"Right? Jeep is awesome, isn't he?"

Reaching out to stroke his head in parting he adds to Jeep, "I'll bring some fish to school for you. And maybe I could carry you around some other time. It'd only be fair, right, Hakkai-san?"

Nothing to do with simply wanting to carry the little dragon on his shoulder, nope.

"It certainly would, if Jeep wants a ride," Hakkai agrees with Yukine, leaning down just enough to make it easier for the boy to reach Jeep's head. He smiles cheerfully at D2 as he straightens back up. "Ah -- hadn't you seen him transform before?"

He considers how much he'd spoken directly to Jeep during the ride, and laughs aloud.

"You must have been very confused!"

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

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