Ken Joshima (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
junkyarddog) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thenearshore2017-09-18 04:40 pm
junkyarddog) wrote in thenearshore2017-09-18 04:40 pm
[CLOSED] Where'd you wanna go?
Who: Ken, Butch, Hakkai, and Chikusa
When: August 23nd or thereabouts
Where: Epona's temple, Li Tieguai's temple, and then Epona's temple again
What: Chikusa is named by two gods; Ken is only named by one of them. The garbage duo yin and yang have become unbalanced, and Ken wants to fix it.
[After their explosions of grief and guilt that led to their dual ablutions, Ken and Chikusa had both been too exhausted to do much for several days. And, as far as that goes, Ken can also be kind of slow on the uptake. He hadn't quite processed that Chikusa is now a shinki to two different gods - Butch, Ken's new god, and Hakkai(who Ken still only vaguely knows). But once he'd finally realized it, he'd asked Chikusa - in a mixture of shock and anger - how he can serve two gods at once. He'd thought that, when it came to loyalty, he and Chikusa were on the same page: each of them giving their full, unreserved loyalty to their god. How can that be possible with more than one god?
As it turned out...they do still have very similar ideas of loyalty. They just apply it in very different ways.
...I'm still only loyal to one god, Chikusa had told him, blinking slowly. I'm loyal to Axel-sama.
But if Axel-sama can't be here...then it doesn't matter how many names I have, as long as there's at least one so I can cast lines and spells. So I can defend us...Axel-sama would want that. They're just names in the end...
Ken's been thinking that over ever since Chikusa said it. It doesn't sit right with him, not quite; he thinks maybe it's because he doesn't see how being loyal to Axel still, if he's not even around, can mean anything. Actually, he's not even sure how he'd do that if he wanted to. If Axel came back, Ken would go back to him in a heartbeat like he'd never left, sure...but that only applies if Axel does, indeed, come back. Until then, Ken's happy to serve Butch. (And he tries not to think guilty thoughts, like how Butch takes better care of him than Axel ever did, and is around more than Axel ever was. He doesn't want to get blighted again and cause more trouble.) Chikusa's obviously different, but as long as they're both happy, what does that matter?
Well...it does matter, to Ken. It took him a day or two longer to figure out why, though. But now he knows - it bothers him because he and Chikusa were Axel's, and they've been partners for a long time now, and now Chikusa's...serving another god that Ken isn't. They're not partners when it comes to serving Hakkai; if anything, Chikusa's moving on to being partners with Hakkai's other shinki instead. Like he's still only partners with Ken because they happen to be assigned to the same god, and doesn't actually care what other shinki he does or doesn't end up working with when it comes to any given god.
What if Butch disappears? Ken won't have any god left, and he'll lose Butch, which is bad enough...but he wouldn't have any connection to Chikusa left, either. He'd be left behind, with no partner.
He hates every part of that thought. Is borderline scared of it, even. And he sets about avoiding that fate without even thinking to ask Chikusa what he thinks, or what he wants.]
When: August 23nd or thereabouts
Where: Epona's temple, Li Tieguai's temple, and then Epona's temple again
What: Chikusa is named by two gods; Ken is only named by one of them. The garbage duo yin and yang have become unbalanced, and Ken wants to fix it.
[After their explosions of grief and guilt that led to their dual ablutions, Ken and Chikusa had both been too exhausted to do much for several days. And, as far as that goes, Ken can also be kind of slow on the uptake. He hadn't quite processed that Chikusa is now a shinki to two different gods - Butch, Ken's new god, and Hakkai(who Ken still only vaguely knows). But once he'd finally realized it, he'd asked Chikusa - in a mixture of shock and anger - how he can serve two gods at once. He'd thought that, when it came to loyalty, he and Chikusa were on the same page: each of them giving their full, unreserved loyalty to their god. How can that be possible with more than one god?
As it turned out...they do still have very similar ideas of loyalty. They just apply it in very different ways.
...I'm still only loyal to one god, Chikusa had told him, blinking slowly. I'm loyal to Axel-sama.
But if Axel-sama can't be here...then it doesn't matter how many names I have, as long as there's at least one so I can cast lines and spells. So I can defend us...Axel-sama would want that. They're just names in the end...
Ken's been thinking that over ever since Chikusa said it. It doesn't sit right with him, not quite; he thinks maybe it's because he doesn't see how being loyal to Axel still, if he's not even around, can mean anything. Actually, he's not even sure how he'd do that if he wanted to. If Axel came back, Ken would go back to him in a heartbeat like he'd never left, sure...but that only applies if Axel does, indeed, come back. Until then, Ken's happy to serve Butch. (And he tries not to think guilty thoughts, like how Butch takes better care of him than Axel ever did, and is around more than Axel ever was. He doesn't want to get blighted again and cause more trouble.) Chikusa's obviously different, but as long as they're both happy, what does that matter?
Well...it does matter, to Ken. It took him a day or two longer to figure out why, though. But now he knows - it bothers him because he and Chikusa were Axel's, and they've been partners for a long time now, and now Chikusa's...serving another god that Ken isn't. They're not partners when it comes to serving Hakkai; if anything, Chikusa's moving on to being partners with Hakkai's other shinki instead. Like he's still only partners with Ken because they happen to be assigned to the same god, and doesn't actually care what other shinki he does or doesn't end up working with when it comes to any given god.
What if Butch disappears? Ken won't have any god left, and he'll lose Butch, which is bad enough...but he wouldn't have any connection to Chikusa left, either. He'd be left behind, with no partner.
He hates every part of that thought. Is borderline scared of it, even. And he sets about avoiding that fate without even thinking to ask Chikusa what he thinks, or what he wants.]