[open] a dove came to me, had no fear

[revolutionfalcon]

Who: Shun and you! Plus closed prompts for Chinatsu, Reisi and Ren.
When: A-B: September 6th, C: September 7th, D: September 5th, E: September 6th (Evening), F: September 7th (Afternoon/Evening)
Where: Temple Nekhbet (Central District) and various spots around the Far Shore, mostly.
What: Open: Shun remembers a friend, starts training himself to teleportspam, and arranges some flowers while a jealous possessed plushie tries to make senpai notice it. Closed: Shun gains a new ally, finally sorts out his temple library, and actually goes on a date for once.

[Open Prompts A-C]

[A: Temple Nekhbet Grounds, September 6th, Morning]

[It's a little overdue, Shun thinks.

The first week after losing Yuto had mostly just been anger, and he hadn't really trusted himself to put it to any use more productive than punching things. And people eventually started questioning how productive that was considering he'd looked like he was about to collapse from sleep deprivation at the end of it all. But Wendy had made a good point in the midst of that - Yuto might be gone, but he doesn't need to be forgotten. There are ways to remember people that don't just rely on the mind.

So a little distance from the front of his temple and the garden, by the lotus-filled canal that runs through the grounds, he's put together a neat little circle of stones. There's nothing special about them but how selectively they've been picked out - they're a uniform dark grey, all of similar shape, and smoothed down to a faint sheen. Within the small area marked out by them, there's a patch of upturned soil, and a cluster of black calla lilies lies next to it, all neatly dug up in full with their roots intact. As it turns out, there's not a lot of purple flowers that are associated enough with death to be in Shun's garden, but this is the next best thing.

Though he's largely preoccupied with replanting the flowers, crouched down in front of the stone circle with a look of clear focus on his face, as ever, it's difficult to get within about ten feet of Shun before he turns his head, eying off the newcomer.]

You should pay more attention to where you are. [Ignoring that he trespasses on other temple grounds constantly. He was just hoping to not be interrupted.]

--

[B: Various Areas of the Far Shore, September 6th, Afternoon]

[As is typical of Shun's lacking ability to actually express his upset to anyone, he's instead distracting himself from the earlier construction of the memorial by putting some time in for training. However, this is...slightly more unusual training than he's generally prone to.

It's not like he hasn't teleported in quick succession before - he did it back when a certain shinki went on a flaming rampage through the Heavens. But it's taken him this long to really settle on practicing it as something combative. He hates the idea of relying on his god powers in a fight, but there's so many people here with powers they brought from their own worlds that Shun knows he's putting himself at a disadvantage by not honing his own as much as he can.

As such, he's hitting two birds with one stone. In various clearings around the Far Shore, some may come across a dishevelled-looking woman in a yukata, holding one arm out in the necessary position for a borderline. She seems to be waiting for something, and about a second later, Shun appears from thin air, holding a straightforward wooden staff. In a practice like this, he doesn't want any weapon that's going to do too much damage if it hits.

Kotori draws a borderline and catches the staff as Shun swings it. As soon as they collide, he vanishes again, and she draws two more borderlines to encircle herself. In a series of short, rapid teleports, Shun appears on various sides of the borderlines, striking out with his weapon before disappearing and reappearing somewhere else. By the time he stops, he lets out a harsh breath as if he's exerted himself more than expected.

Kotori, on the other hand, is paying a bit more attention to any audience and offering them a faint, amused smile, though Shun ends up looking the way she is before too long.]

I think we have a visitor, Kurosaki-sama...

--

[C: Temple Nekhbet, September 7th]

[There's some...interesting noises coming from a certain temple ground in the Central District today. Those being the sounds of some particularly merry vultures, and the faint puffing of something large and soft being bounced around.

It doesn't take much more than passing the grounds to be able to spot a pack of about two dozen vultures gliding around, some downy-headed and others with the more typical nude pink and wrinkly skin. There's a hawk plushie being bounced around between them almost like some weird game of catch.

When one of the vultures misses, the plushie hits the ground, and immediately starts bounding back towards the large hill that makes up the temple here. Sitting on the flat part of the hill above the ground floor of the temple, Shun has a substantial amount of red spider lilies and resurrection lilies sitting around him, and he's carefully threading them one-by-one into an arrangement. It's a large one, red lilies making up a swirl amidst the paler pink ones.

As the plushie approaches, he looks up with a frown, but one of the vultures collects it with a side-swiping swoop first, knocking it back towards the others so they can continue playing. Apparently satisfied, Shun turns his attention back to his work, though glancing up at anyone who might have come to observe the display.]

Don't mind them. They're on guard duty. [And Shun offers exactly no context for that statement, though he is definitely keeping an eye on anyone unfamiliar to him who might be on his grounds.]

--

[Closed Prompts D-F]

[D: Closed to Chinatsu, Western District, September 5th]

[Despite not actually living in the Western District, Shun still has to patrol there by virtue of it having most of the population here. If anything too big gets in there, a lot of people will be in danger, so it's one of the places he likes to keep a close eye on. He's just headed a little off a nice running path on the outskirts of the district when he hears the sound of snarling and heavy movement through the trees, and hesitates. That doesn't sound like anything he should be leaving as is...but he doesn't have any of his shinki with him right now, considering Kotori patrolled with him last night already. And if he leaves this thing to get one of them, there's the possibility it might escape, or worse, advance while he's gone.

The sound of someone jogging nearby catches his attention, though, and Shun's eyes narrow slightly as he moves to block the path before Chinatsu gets too close.]

Hold on. You don't want to draw the attention of whatever's in there.

--

[E: Closed to Reisi, Temple Nekhbet, Evening September 6th]

[The area to the right of Shun's front door on the ground floor doesn't tend to see a lot of use, unless it's him going down the stairs to train. The doors beyond the stairs on the main floor, though, all lead into a small, but overstocked library, which Shun hasn't done a great deal with since getting here. It's about as terribly organised as the actual Heavens' library is, though, and by this point, he's figured it's about time to sort that out.

One of the library doors is open, and the sound of heavily thudding books is clearly audible through it. Every so often, there's a break in it, and after a while, a quiet remark on one of the books Shun's picked up. It's a thick encyclopedia on sea creatures, something which he considers to have no real reason to be here, but he gives a faint snort nonetheless.]

Maybe I should show this to that guy...

--

[F: Closed to Ren, Temple Inanna, Near Shore, Temple Nekhbet, Afternoon/Evening September 7th]

[They've been together for two months, yet Shun was somehow still surprised at the suggestion of actually going on a proper date with Ren considering what a lot of their time together is spent like. Or a proper-ish date. Shun isn't quite sure flagrant abuse of the hundred flavour ice cream trucks counts as a proper date, but it does definitely sound like the kind of thing he would've expected Ren to suggest.

Still, he's not exactly experienced with these sorts of matters, and though he's gotten the "flowers" part right enough with the flower arrangement he made earlier in the day (and he even used lilies that wouldn't harm the cats), the "arrival" part is a little less well-executed.

Or a lot. Considering Shun is just going to show up on Ren's bedroom balcony about halfway through the afternoon, sitting on the railing with the flower arrangement in both hands and his back turned to the window. He's not too dressed up, but he's at least wearing something different than usual, the blue dress shirt they picked out when they went formal clothes shopping a while ago worn informally over close-fitting black pants and a pair of boots that fall somewhere between calf and knee high.

It would probably be striking if he actually knew how you were supposed to show up to a date.]

Comments

D

[redmare]

[Chinatsu slows to a halt, surprised when Shun suddenly stops her. She pulls off her earphones, raising an eyebrow at him]

What are you talking about?

[Then she hears the snarl]

....What is that?

[revolutionfalcon]

[If Shun's somewhat wary glance back at the next snarl doesn't answer her question, the faint hiss of "smells good" that comes through the trees might.]

Ayakashi. A big one, and from the way it's been moving, probably some kind of beast.

[The sound of something very large and many-legged crunching through the trees picks up again, and Shun looks from the treeline to the nearest Western District temples. It's really not that far, if that thing makes it out of the forest...

He doesn't want to push Chinatsu into anything, but she's here and she's capable of at least assisting in driving it off, so he turns his attention back to her.] I could use help stopping it from breaking out into this area. People are going to get hurt if it gets any further into the district than this.

[redmare]

[The sound makes her stomach flip, feeling nauseous from its presence. She follows the sound as it charges its way through the forest, clearly out for blood.

Shun asking her for her help was..still something she was getting used to. And really, how much help could she be against that thing? But he has a point. People could get hurt.]

What can I do?

[revolutionfalcon]

Getting rid of it would be best, but I don't have any of my shinki with me. So that part is up to you, but I can give you a weapon if you need one. [If a situation like this comes up where another shinki is around, he's prone to wait for them to ask to be named rather than suggesting that himself. Chinatsu isn't already named, at least, but she did say she wanted to figure out who she went with on her own terms.

He beckons her towards the trees, but a good distance from where the ayakashi is rampaging right now.] If it's following scent, we might be able to draw it off for a while since we should be the closest things it can smell. And we might be able to lure it into an ambush.

A

[lostinshadows]

I know exactly where I'm going.

[Honestly, it's not surprising now for Lavi to make some unannounced visits to the god's temple. However, he seems to be frozen in his place the moment, feeling as if he did walk into a private moment. His shoulders rear back a bit, a semblance of discomfort masking his face while he shoves his hands into his pockets.]

I didn't see you in the front so I went to find you. Sorry, did I intrude?

[He can turn around and leave if he wants.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Of the people who could have interrupted this, Lavi is probably one of the ones who has some degree of right to be here, and Shun gives him a lengthy look before letting out a somewhat bitter hiss through his teeth.]

I suppose you have a reason to see it as well. [That isn't a particularly useful statement considering the lack of context, but Shun doesn't elaborate for another few moments, merely picking up another one of the calla lilies and starting to replant it in the soft soil.]

Turns out there aren't a lot of purple flowers that suit a farewell. [Still vague, but probably immensely more helpful in figuring out what this is.]

[lostinshadows]

[The lack of context is enough to confuse him, but he's always been a quick thinker. There isn't really enough people they both know in common to be affected so deeply over someone's disappearance or death. He doesn't say anything for a moment, watching Shun pick up a calla lily and plant it.

He walks over slowly.]

So you made this for him. [It's more like a confirmation than a question because it already speaks for itself. This small memorial made for a mutual friend.]

C

[blizzardrock]

[On the one hand, that is terrifying. On the other hand, the plush isn't that torn up...]

[He glances to Shun.] You say that, but...that's not how their guard duty normally goes, is it...?

[revolutionfalcon]

[That's actually one notable thing about the plush (other than the possession) - it's completely intact. It seems like the vultures are being fairly careful to bounce it around with the tops of their heads rather than anything too sharp.

At the question, Shun shrugs slightly, picking up another flower.] Whatever works. They seem to be enjoying it, anyway.

[blizzardrock]

Hrmm...? [He watches for a moment more, before resuming with the original plan and trudging up to where Shun is.]

What do you have there?

e

[mostsuitable]

[It's been a while since Reisi had seen the light through the windows of the library late at night, so it's only natural for him to investigate. When he steps in, he sees its overstuffed shelves and excess books cluttered on the floor. It reminds him of when he'd first visited Heavens' library and found it nearly impossible to actually find anything he was actually looking for. He frowns in slight irritation at the library's state of disarray.

Though he could hear the sounds of pages flipping and books either being closed or stacked further inside, and so Reisi follows the sounds to discover his god going through an encyclopedia of sea creatures. Recounting the age-affected god's research for his series of exams, Reisi smiles pleasantly at the scene.]

Good evening, Kurosaki-san. What keeps you this late at night?

[Granted, Reisi's seen time and again his god's troubles with sleeping and found himself of little use in those situations, but perhaps his god has another goal in mind here. Hopefully something Reisi can assist with.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun glances up at Reisi's rather timely arrival, and closes the book before offering it to him without anything in the way of explanation. Considering his apparent interest in sea creatures, maybe he'll get more use out of it than Shun.]

I thought it was about time I made this library usable. At least it's not going to ruin itself again after I fix it like the main one does. [And, that said, he does need to take his mind off something. Though whether Reisi noticed the appearance of the small stone circle filled with black lilies on the temple grounds earlier in the day is something that remains to be seen.

Weighing the book in his hand, he takes on a rather dry expression.] Turns out there's some weird books in here. Like ones about your... [How did he put it when Shun was a child? It takes Shun a moment to remember, and he cuts it to only the last few words, which he somehow manages to deliver with an entirely straight face and as blunt a tone as usual.] ..."spectacular sea anemone surprise".

[Apparently it took him this long to actually find out how sea anemones move, but then again, he didn't exactly care once he grew up again.]

[mostsuitable]

[Reisi's expression shifts into one of mild amusement. It's quite touching to have impacted on his god in a memorable way. Connecting in that manner almost makes him feel less alone. Almost, but then again, that loneliness will never truly disappear.

He hums in response.] Is that so? Do they come as a surprise to you?

[Only asking because Kurosaki had described some of the books as "weird". Did he stock the library on his own, or had it come pre-stocked with the temple when the god first arrived?

As he asks, the shinki moves toward another cluttered pile of books on the floor and organizing it into a stack. He'll start perusing the books once he clears out a little more space.]

[shadowrevenger]

[Ren, for his part, has spent most of the afternoon hanging out in his room. He wasn't sure when Shun was going to show up, just sometime after lunch, or where, except that it wasn't going to be by the front door so it was probably going to be up here since that was where he tended to appear when he didn't want to come through the front door.

He's in the middle of playing "fetch" with the possessed owl plush Shun had given him a while ago (which pretty much means rolling a ball across the floor and watching the owl roll across the floor after it only to give up halfway most of the time), when Shun appears outside and attracts the attention of the two kittens who had been "helping". Ren scrambles to his feet and brushes off his pants, quickly rescues the owl and sets it on his bed, and then heads over to balcony to open the door.

He's also wearing something a little different today, which is actually a little more casual and definitely less dramatic than his usual preference for long flowing coats or asymmetrical skirts or both at the same time. Today's skirt is actually pretty short and more like a sash than anything. He's also missing his usual black choker, probably for the first time since he bought it, and one of the necklaces in it's place has a small, eight-pointed star pendant hanging from it. Still, for today, it's probably better to dress down a little bit and look like he's taking it seriously, just like it was better for Shun to dress up a bit, which he is pretty happy to see.

Why is he facing away from the house, though...? Ren crosses the small balcony to peek out from behind him and frown cutely between him and the grass down below.]

Are you waiting for someone else...?

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun turns his head as soon as Ren opens the door - he'd actually assumed Ren might still be getting ready, and despite his lack of social graces, Shun didn't figure watching him get dressed would be considered an acceptable thing to do. At least, by most people's standards, since he's never quite sure with Ren.

As such, he frowns slightly at the question, since he thought his reasoning would be obvious.] No. I just didn't figure I should be looking in your window.

[After a moment or two, he holds out the flower arrangement. It's quite large, possibly explaining why it's being held with two hands, but Ren may notice that while his fingers are untouched, the main part of Shun's left hand is bandaged, and that the fingers are curled a little tighter than those on the other hand.] You should put this somewhere first. It won't hurt the cats.

[He made sure of that much before he started making it.

The difference in Ren's manner of dress today is rather noticeable, and it catches Shun's attention quickly enough. It's nice to look at, but it does seem a little reserved in comparison to what he usually wears, and Shun can't help but wonder if he dressed like that for Shun's benefit more than anything.

Rather than actually voice that part, though, Shun takes his left hand off the bouquet - it wasn't exactly doing much but steadying the arrangement a bit, and he can just lean it against himself for that - and reaches to hook his fingers slightly under Ren's necklaces and lift them a little to look at. They're particularly drawing his eye, though he doesn't feel it's quite for the same reason as Ren's usual collar does. The hand injury means the movement of his fingers is a little twitchy and sudden, though, and he might end up inadvertently tugging a bit.]

[shadowrevenger]

[Well, he would have said that it's fine if Shun wants to look in the window, especially if it's to see if he's ready--after all, it's not like they haven't seen each other naked already--but Shun successfully distracts him with the flowers first. Ren smiles fondly as he reaches out to take the arrangement. They're beautiful, and his favorites (sort of), and they won't hurt the cats? They're perfect, and he'd be quite happy to stare at them for a while if they didn't already have plans.

His fingers brush against the bandages on the back of Shun's hand as he takes the flowers, but he just makes note of that to ask about later. Like maybe in a couple minutes later.]

They're really beautiful, thank you. You didn't have to get me anything. [He pauses like he's only just remembered something, and then give Shun a sheepish smile.] I didn't get you anything...

[Shun's fingers are twitching too....Ren glances down when they tug a little at his necklaces, and then smiles a little more mischievously back up at shun. Yep, he's definitely going to have to ask about that in a minute.]

I can't find somewhere to put it if you're holding onto me.

A

[boneofsword]

[Archer spends a lot of time tresspassing the whole Far Shore, trying to map all the temples so it's no surprise that he finds himself at Central District. He easily spots a familiar person, but noting that Shun seems preoccupied, and noticing what exactly is he occupied with (Archer wouldn't be called Archer if he couldn't spot even tiny details from the very top of the tallest tree) he decides to wait. And he does so, in true archer fashion. On top of the said tree.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun, similarly, keeps himself quite aware of his surroundings, and he's nowhere near as tired as he was the first time he ran into Archer. So though he's also not quite back at full cylinders, he can tell he's being watched.

It also kind of helps that there's some vultures eying Archer off from a tree nearby. They appear to have decided he's not a threat yet, but they're not exactly fond of having their tree space invaded.

Halfway through planting a lily, without turning his head, Shun figures he might as well point out the obvious.]

There's not much point waiting if I already know you're there.

[boneofsword]

[Archer jumps down. Vultures most likely are happy to have their perch back. He approaches Shun with no hurry.]

I doubt you'd appreciate my interruption.

[Archer can take a guess what exactly Shun is doing. After all, you only plant flowers for those you want to remember. Colors associates with death are white, black and purple.]

Closed to Temple Nekhbet residents, evening of the 5th, cw: mild blood

[revolutionfalcon]

[It's pretty late by now, and predictably enough, Shun's been busying himself for most of the day. He's never exactly been good at hanging around and introducing his shinki to things at length rather than letting them figure out the temple at their own pace, other than maybe pointing out which bedrooms are taken so nobody has a worse first meeting than they need to.

By this point, though, Shun's sitting on one of the couches in the lounge area across from the kitchen, unwrapping the hasty bandaging job he did on his hand earlier. It's been bleeding again since he last cleaned it, and he lets out a faint hiss as the scabbing peels back a bit.

Kotori is filing her nails on the couch across from him, but she's got one eye on his progress with the bandage. She doesn't look terribly pleased, but she figures it's going to take more than just her to get him to accept help.

Which is why she smiles deceptively pleasantly when any of the other temple residents enter the room.]

Evening. Why don't you come and sit with us? [There's a faint amusement to her tone, making it somewhat obvious it's more than just a matter of sitting.]

[blizzardrock]

[A first-aid kit lands on the table. Unlike the last time, Shun can't deny that he needs it...]

[After doing that, he goes to sit next to Kotori (taking her suggestion quite literally, but never mind that) on the Judging Couch, with a very pointed air of please use it.]

[mostsuitable]

[Reisi's casually strolling in when he comes across the scene, at least two shinki nearby simply watching their god try to deal with an injury of some sort.]

Good evening, Kurosaki-san. [He glances from the god to the first aid kit now lying on the table, and then back.] Need some assistance?

[Regardless of the answer, Reisi's already moving to help the injured god out.]

sometime after both reisi and mikoto activated sanctum

[mostsuitable]

[It’s hard to say exactly how long they’d been fighting, but Reisi wouldn’t have minded fighting Suoh forever if it were possible. The battle had been even more exhilarating than their fight after the runway show, and Reisi thinks it an odd coincidence that they’d wound up fighting around the time that he’d suggested in the first place. If only Suoh had listened to him back then!

Of course, Reisi hadn’t quite expected himself to summon that much power before that. And yet it seemed so natural issuing a challenge that Suoh himself couldn’t help but answer. As far as Reisi knows, the only way to connect with Suoh is by opposing him. However, it was as Suoh said—this time, Reisi’s words wouldn’t reach or creep under his skin as they might normally. So he summoned the power of his own accord.

In the end, Reisi still used his powers to maintain order. It may not seem that way, but both he and Suoh need to let loose once in a while. The shinki may not know it, but that’s the way it had always been before. What he knows now is that it was the right thing and it felt good... and that Suoh wasn’t the only one indulging.

When he arrives home, he looks as he might normally look. It’s as if he hadn’t even fought, even though the evidence of their battle clearly shone in the night sky. In any case, he treats the day like he would any other...]

[revolutionfalcon]

[In a sense, Reisi is lucky. The fact that Ren had been staying over the previous night had meant he wasn't waiting at the door to give him the dressing-down Shun considered him to deserve for something like that. But after Ren leaves, the first thing on Shun's agenda is tracking Reisi down.

On one hand, he's not too surprised to find the shinki engaging in his usual schedule. But on the other, it just pisses him off more considering the circumstances, and he steps into the room with all the deadly intent of his namesake bird. His anger is obvious as soon as he opens his mouth, bubbling under his words.]

You idiot. Going over there to "keep people safe" and letting it turn into endangering everyone here because you got too close to that bastard? We've talked about how dangerous that damn sword is.

[They agreed to pull it for situations that risked as many lives as drawing the sword itself would, essentially. And yet.]

[mostsuitable]

[Reisi isn't the sort to make excuses. He wants to say it was necessary, because it truly was as far as he's concerned. But he'd have to explain why, and that's not something he can do without context.

That's the problem with not wholly being oneself from before. There are only so many pieces one can put together before literally becoming a threat to everyone else.]

That is what I was doing. [Said simply and in a neutral tone.

Because it wasn't just what he was doing, it's actually what he accomplished to some extent. But there's no real way to communicate that with what little he knows. Besides, he can easily be misconstrued as arrogant and overconfident as things are, although that's hardly his intention.]

I kept people safe. However, Suoh posed another risk, and I responded accordingly.

As such, I take full responsibility for the Swords... [After all, his was the one that appeared first.] ...and am aware there are consequences for my actions.

[Regardless of how unapologetic he is about his actions.]