thenearshore | [Closed] Face to face / The present and past collide

Nearly 2 months after deciding to stay at Neith's temple with Hajime and Davesprite, Kairi is starting to think of it more like home. It's hard because she can't quite bring herself to think of Hajime as a sister and Davesprite a brother the way she used to think of Roxas and the double-temple residents, but then she realizes she also doesn't know much about Neith aside from that one day she helped Hajime with a couple of her prayers in Egypt.

So she goes to look for Davesprite - wondering how much he's learned so far about Neith's powers and responsibilities. Maybe that will make them all better friends if they learn about it together.

Davesprite is presently in his room, and the faint sound of a mixed music track playing and then stopping is audible through the door. Using his headphones is all well and good, but it's kind of hard to tell if something is going to sound like shit played through normal speakers if you only listen to it through headphones.

It also means he should be able to hear her if she knocks on the door, though.

Well that's reason enough to knock louder than she normally would think to. She doesn't mind his listening to music so loudly, she just hopes that he's not so deep into some project that she's genuinely interrupting.

So knock she does, and doesn't even open the door. She's not confident enough that she's allowed to do something like that with him yet, so better to wait for permission.

She supposes she can announce herself at least? A little louder so he can hear her. "Hi... it's me." She really wanted to come up with a nickname for him... something that suited him rather than her loss of her brothers. Maybe later. "I hope you're not too busy right now?"

The music track stops again, and there's a faint rustling of feathers before Davesprite comes to answer the door. The table with his DJ equipment all over it is pretty clearly visible once he does, as is his nest twisted together out of numerous blankets and peppered with shed orange feathers.

"Yeah, hi, not that busy, just testing a thing. I'm guessing you want something specific, you don't usually do the whole knock on someone's door just to hang out deal."

She seems more inclined to grab people when they're already doing something for that, so he does look extremely faintly curious what it is she's after.

She looks slightly abashed. "I used to." Back at her old temple. Maybe she's been too cautious. "I'll try to come by to hang out from now on too." He was nice and she was genuinely interested in his musical expertise. So, later.

"You're right though, I started to wonder... what you knew about Neith. Like, what Hajime has to do as a goddess. I thought it might help if I knew more about what you two have already done together."

She tries to get back to a positive outlook at that point. "That way, when the three of us go out together, I won't get in your way." He's the exemplar after all.

"I mean, if you want to do the whole temple bonding thing, that's probably the best way to do it."

But he listens to her idea, a somewhat difficult-to-read look coming across his face. After a few moments, he shrugs a little, as if it's not really a big deal.

"Pretty much what I could read on the internet. We've only done prayers together once or twice. I'm her exemplar, but Yuto was still kinda 'first', so."

Another shrug. He can't help but feel a little bad pinning it on Yuto, but he does still feel the other boy had somewhat of an advantage there before his disappearance, even if Davesprite's propensity to keep his distance definitely didn't help. "I dunno if getting in my way is the thing to worry about, but if you want to learn more about this whole deal then I'm not gonna object to coming with you."

"Ah... yeah, temple bonding, that's exactly what I was thinking actually!" Called out... She supposes he could be more enthusiastic about 'not objecting' versus being interested in it, but he said he'd come so she'll take that and run with it.

She tries not to look too disappointed at his calling himself exemplar, since she knows that's what he is. She hasn't quite given up on that dream, but it seems it may not happen after all.

"I forgot that some gods have information on the internet..." She tilts her head in thought. "I guess it's just that I got really used to going on prayers all the time with Roxas... I thought I was getting better at it, but now I'm worried I'm rusty again. Plus we never got the chance to try working with one of my brothers at the same time, but I always hoped it would happen... one day."

It seemed like an ideal situation, to her. Why not use more than one shinki to effectively answer a prayer if you had access to more than one to start?

But she stops talking when she hears the sound of none other than their goddess approaching.

"Yeah, kinda obvious." Approaching him for something like that after waiting out the settling in period is classic temple bonding setup. And while he can see her expression change a little at the mention of him being exemplar, he takes it with an entirely different intent. He'd be pretty disappointed at having to work beneath someone like him as well.

"Most gods have that sort of shit online, but you have to go deep for the actual good information. And you're in good company if you're rusty on--"

And that sure is probably Hajime coming down the hall, so he's just going to break off there before he sounds like he's saying something worse than he actually is. Granted, he has done some prayers recently, but most of them were dabbling with people outside the temple, so he's not sure how Hajime would feel about that considering he didn't really ask first.

Hajime has her eyes focused on the rainbow-colored string laced about her fingers. Luckily, it isn't glowing so it doesn't seem to be anyone's life thread this time around. For once.

But its seeing Kairi in the hallway and Davesprite poking out of his room that grabs her interest away from her game. She stops, looking at the two of them curiously.

"Good Morning~!" Hajime greets them both. She lifts a hand to try and wave. Of course that doesn't work too well with her hands strung together, so she smiles warmly and waves both hands together instead. It's an awkward looking gesture but the meaning is there!

"Ah... Good Morning, Hajime!" Kairi smiles in her direction, embarrassed that perhaps Hajime noticed something amiss in the way Kairi was feeling, so she decides to be upfront about it. "I was just remembering the time that we went to Egypt together and you told me a bit about what Neith does for her followers, but I wasn't sure if Davesprite would know more than I did."

Then she turns back to Davesprite himself. "Temple bonding, more or less." May as well own up to what she was called out on. "Especially if there's something unique for Neith and not for other gods. I only know about the Greek ones so far."

In the spirit of Hajime's slightly bizarre greeting, Davesprite links his thumbs to make a hand butterfly and waves at her with that, expression as deadpan as ever. Since Kairi seems to want to get back onto the topic of what they'd been talking about, though, he drops the gesture pretty quickly.

"Yeah, but I don't really know shit other than what the blessed annals of the internet provide, no offense." He's never braved the library for anything, and he's not planning to change that anytime soon. "I dunno if Neith was a big enough deal to have those kinds of records, I'm pretty sure Egyptian ones are harder to come by than Greek. But you know, do or do not and all that shit."

Hajime's eyes light up at the gesture and she quickly tries to mimic how Davesprite had his hands. That's really cute! She wiggles her fingers and making a flapping motion the best she can with her hands tied the way they are. Though she angles her hands so it looks more like a bird in spirit of Davesprite.

"I need a refresher but I looked up a bit on Neith when I first arrived back February." She admits, still wiggling her fingers as she looks to Kairi. "The details are fuzzy but I remember something about Feast of Lamps for Neith. I didn't look into that much 'cause since I was just wondering who Neith was. Like what she was goddess over and what she did. It help me understand my thread power more! I don't see dead people like she does though. Oh, maybe I'm not looking hard enough."

Hajime shrugs and lowers her gaze to her hands as she carefully starts unlacing them.

The wiggling fingers do make her giggle at least. She keeps it in mind for the next time she wants to wave to either of them. For now, she walks over two steps to try and help Hajime unlace her fingers. Maybe she can't see the thread but she can feel them? Only way to figure it out is if she's up close. She just multitasks by thinking aloud.

"Wow, a Feast of Lamps?" That sounds very intriguing to Kairi, like a kind of big party you'd have at night with a lot of lanterns and candles and other light sources. "Well, where else could we look then, other than the internet? I guess we could go somewhere in Egypt itself. Hajime could get us there super-fast. Unless somewhere here in the Far Shore would be better."

She likewise isn't trying to suggest the library since it's so unorganized there.

Davesprite figured Hajime would know at least something about the god she's representing, but he raises a brow at the Feast of Lamps thing. It sounds...weird, but pretty cool, so he's definitely not objecting to looking into something like that.

"I mean. It's not like you need special powers to see dead people here, I see one every time I look in the mirror."

Morbid? Possibly, but what other kind of humour are you supposed to use as a dead person. Kairi's question of where to look is a good one, though, and he ruffles his wings up a bit. Nothing that comes to mind immediately is really that good an option. "The library here is a fucking shitshow, but I doubt any libraries in Japan are gonna have an extensive collection on Egyptian gods. We could go to Egypt, assuming we can read Egyptian."

Or any single one of them can read Egyptian, at least. He's still not quite sure how the everyone understanding everyone thing works here.

There's a quick thank you as Kairi helps her with the tangles and she flexes her freed fingers before bopping Kairi gently on the nose.

"Mmmm I donno if that's what it meant. More dead-dead then shinki-dead I was thinking, ya know? But that's okay. I'd rather see you anyway, Davesprite. You glow so bright!" Hajime grins at him, reaching out to bop him too but he's just barely out of reach. Which makes her puff her cheeks out a bit.

"I know I couldn't before but I donno about now." Hajime admits. Japanese and some English, yes--but Eqyptian was quite a long shot. But hey, they wouldn't know until they tried. Worse case, they could fall back on the internet which didn't sound like a bad option.

"Let's take a trip! Find a book or two and if that doesn't work then at least a look around."

Kairi giggles at getting bopped on the nose. It's not something she had been accustomed to, but she thinks she could definitely get accustomed to it soon enough. She enjoys how openly expressive Hajime is, always has. And of course the smile persists at Hajime's words to Davesprite, getting Kairi to nod in assent.

"The last time we were there, we were able to talk to your followers at least. Maybe they knew English, but maybe not. If we ask them about some of the books there, maybe someone will read it to us." Kairi thinks it's worth a shot. "And regardless, I'd love to see Egypt again. It was so pretty before..."

Before they were bonded as god and shinki. Kairi takes a deep breath and tries not to let that get to her. "We can always check in on that poor daycare too. They were having it so rough, maybe they need help again."

Davesprite's just going to tilt back very slightly at the nose booping attempt to make absolutely sure he's slightly out of reach. He will put up with many things for Hajime's sake, but nose booping is apparently not one of them.

"Yeah, see, I can't usually tell because I can't just walk up and talk to whoever the fuck I like when I'm on the Near Shore. Last time we were in Egypt I mostly just chilled around the landmarks."

And maybe took some questionable selfies, because reasons. "Getting someone to read it to us sounds like a good worst case scenario option if that's how it usually goes down, though."

It was just a playful and loving nose boop, Davesprite. Don't be a spoil sport.

"Then it's settled!" Hajime claps her hands together with a huge smile. "Let's go to Egypt and try to get some answers.I would like to check on the daycare again."

She leans over to hook one arm around Kairi's arm before reaching, with extra effort, to Davesprite to try and grab his hand or arm. Heck, she'll even take the ghostly tail if she has to.

Kairi's all smiles for a bit while Hajime tries to bring Davesprite in for a hug, but she does get what he was trying to say after a minute.

"Oh, right... Near Shore people will still see us as we are. Uhm..." Kairi turns to Hajime pleadingly. "I don't suppose any of your goddess powers would help him blend in better?"

She doesn't even think of just putting them both in vessel form, because that's not really the point. It's giving him the opportunity to move around the Near Shore at his leisure without drawing attention, and she's pretty sure that his vessel form can't move on its own.

"I really think we'd get done faster with all three of us trying to look, but maybe that's not possible..." She's a little disappointed, but mainly on Davesprite's behalf.

"I have no idea what this daycare thing is about, but sure, let's go to the daycare."

Davesprite doesn't look entirely comfy with the team arm-clinging, but he extends his arm so he can offer it a bit more on his own terms and keep a bit of distance rather than getting dragged in unprepared.

As for the matter of him not blending in, he shrugs a little. It's not fun, but he's used to it.

"We could always buy a definitely not suspicious trench coat and top hat, that's the classic half-assed disguise combo."

Hajime blinks slowly at that before her gaze drifts to Davesprite. She hadn't really worried about his appearance before, if anyone had an issue with it that was their problem. But Kairi did have a bit of a point.

"I don't have any powers like that but the trench coat wouldn't be so bad if we gotta go the disguise route! I don't own one so until we can get to toooownnnn---" She lets go of the two shinki for just a moment to jog off to her room. It's only a few minutes or so before she comes back with a garment hugged to her chest.

"This should work for a bit! Kinda sorta. It's cute but it might be a bit warm." Hajime grins and skips over to Davesprite, before quickly slipping the bunny cape-coat over him. It's a bit over-sized so it should help with his wings, or that's what she's thinking.

"I remember where the daycare is so we'll work our way from there. Egypt is pretty big." Again, she links arms with them both and before any protest can be given they're all teleporting to Near Shore.

"Tada! Alexandria, Egypt!" Hajime lets go of the pair to spin and spread her arms wide to gesture to all of the city but most notably to the daycare behind them. It's a very similar gesture to her first visit to the city.

Edited 2017-12-11 02:34 (UTC)

This much is so familiar to her - a jaunty teleport off to a far-away land with the excitement of what they'd find there. And of course she's not about to poke fun at Davesprite in a bunny-hooded half-cloak, for one because it looks really cute and she wants one, but also because she's trying to include Davesprite in the adventure.

Kairi turns around and smiles at the daycare too. "Well it's still in one piece. That's a good sign. And they have a bunch of kids inside, so business must be okay too." Then she snaps her fingers. "Hey, maybe they can point us to the nearest library at least? Even if they don't remember us."

That was one of the most disappointing things, Kairi thought - that the people they helped wouldn't remember they helped them, so you couldn't depend on goodwill for the next time.

"It's Egypt, I'm already gonna be warm."

As soon as he sees what Hajime's trying to drape over him, though, he tactfully turns it inside out and wears it that way so he's not dealing with the fluff and bunny ears. He's already confusing enough in form without adding another animal to it all.

He doesn't do more fiddling than that, though, and since it's for teleportation purposes, he doesn't try to get away when Hajime links arms. He does, however, take the opportunity as soon as he lets go to fly up a little so he's out of easy reach.

He hasn't seen the daycare before, but it seems like it's doing alright to him. "If this place was in trouble last time, you guys must've done a pretty good job with it."

Aw, but Davesprite would make an adorable ghost-bunny-bird.

Hajime doesn't protest though, just giving him a teasing grin before turning to look at the daycare once more. It was a shame they wouldn't remember them but that didn't take away from Hajime's excitement. They did good and the daycare was still prospering.

"Yep. Looks okay to me." Which is good because she hasn't seen any prayers for it.

"Even if we can't get directions, we can still get a bird's eye view if we need. I'll go try and ask about the library though. B-R-B!" Giving Davesprite and Kairi a two-finger salute she quickly skips off to the building before disappearing inside.

Kairi waves as Hajime leaves, then turns to Davesprite to explain even as he's hovering. "We were here for hours! I'm glad we did it in hindsight, but it was almost the entire day. We never saw a single ayakashi, but it was just one unlucky break after another that we were trying to help out with. Sometimes just brainstorming ideas."

She shrugs helplessly. "We helped the followers of Neith at least. And it meant Hajime and I got to know each other a little better long before we had to be a good team." Then she smiles, trying to put a positive spin on it. "And this time, I'm glad I'm getting this chance to hang out with you too." She's the type of person who tries to observe another person's habits and ways of thinking as one way to learning how to be a better friend to them especially.

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redotiertwo - 2017-12-18 10:59 (UTC) - Expand

[Closed] Face to face / The present and past collide

M23 Holy Days Part 1

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Hit comment count at least - woo!

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