thenearshore | -Overflow- for 24

[Hakkai chuckles, shrugging, and glances away. He's uncomfortable with one of those topics, and Davesprite is uncomfortable with the other: so, really, they're even. He finishes the last mouthful of wine in his glass, and turns it in his hands, considering the light on the iridescent lees.]

So... I admit I'm surprised nothing around here has caught fire yet.

Are we sure it didn't just catch fire somewhere we can't see it yet. [Davesprite is not entirely reassured nothing is going to catch fire tonight, considering their track record on things catching fire both figuratively and literally at Heavenly gatherings.]

Or maybe they actually did the fucking unthinkable and put a security detail on other than the shitlords at the front door.

It does seem almost too good to be true, doesn't it?

[He chuckles lightly.] Although if things are going to catch fire, in my experience, it tends to happen at the end of the evening.

I'm not going to give them too much credit yet.

Sounds like it lines up with my experience, though I've been here a pretty long time myself by this point. [He doesn't actually know how long Hakkai's been around, other than "longer than him", but that one seems like the kind of observation that even later arrivals could make.]

For what it's worth, I'm not planning to give them any credit until the night goes entirely fucking seamlessly and I'm home in my nest.

It's a little frightening to think we're both veterans, isn't it?

[Compared to the other newcomers. Compared to real gods and shinki, of course, they're mayflies-- and yet.

He laughs under his breath, shrugging.]

Honestly... I'm not, either. Although I may head home early. It's been a long day.

Kind of, though it's probably more frightening to people who remember more of not being here than I do. Still, five and a half months here is a thing.

[Exactly what thing, he's not entirely sure yet, but certainly a thing. It doesn't feel weird to him, somehow, to be in this kind of limbo situation for so long.]

Hajime and Kairi are both way more party people than me, so I'm probably gonna end up leaving before them, at least. Maybe I can get to sleep before the loudness gets back to the temple.

[Hajime and Kairi... yes, that must be a very loud temple after parties. And a cheerful one.

There are worse fates, but still.]

Headphones, maybe? [Noise-cancelling ones....]

You and I must have come here at close to the same time.

I mean, I have noise-cancelling headphones, but earbuds or something are usually better for that sort of thing. [Not to mention that it helps a lot if he's using the headphones for something, which isn't conducive to sleep.]

I came around the middle of April, I'm pretty sure, whichever time it was they decided that cleaning up the entire damn Heavens was a good welcoming party.

[Spoilers: It wasn't, as far as he's concerned.]

Ah yes. I got here during the doll festival myself. The spring cleaning wasn't so bad, compared to some other activities they picked for us, but it does seem heartless to put newcomers right to work....

[This is a slightly dramatic sigh, as he shakes his head.]

I'm guessing no serious shit went down at that one, because I haven't heard about it. [People are usually decent at letting everyone know about things that serious shit went down at, so logic dictates that it must have been quiet.]

I'd like to know what exactly is supposed to be worse than spring cleaning. Other than fighting a demon, I guess that was pretty bad.

[Even if he didn't actually fight the demon.]

Zombie attacks, chocolate....

[Hakkai spreads his hands in a shrug that absolutely drips helpless innocence.]

It's been challenging at times! Thankfully, the doll festival did stay quiet, outside of a few little scuffles.

[What a convincing gesture. It's so convincing that one of Davesprite's eyebrows definitely isn't creeping at least halfway up his forehead.]

Seems legit. But I guess if we're talking odds, which I usually don't because fuck math, they have to have at least a couple of events that don't go to shit.

[Terribly convincing. Hakkai is in no way still upset about either of those incidents, of course.

He smiles.]

You know, I'm sure I could find you some probability worksheets! There have been some that run quietly. And I've noticed that their little welcome parties have run smoothly, by and large. Perhaps Bishamon's temple isn't as much of a target?

Please don't. [He's a useless arts and humanities guy, Hakkai, not a math one. He mostly just sounds deadpan about the subject, though, as with just about everything else.]

I mean, she's a war god, I guess, they're probably expecting that's the kind of god who would be all over the unending wrath of the heavens sort of deal.

[Hakkai chuckles. He won't insist; it's mainly teasing, anyway.]

War gods do have a reputation, I suppose... but anyone who feared the unending wrath of the Heavens wouldn't be attacking Amaterasu so often, I'm sure.

[So perhaps the difference is that Bishamon isn't a target of theirs. She doesn't seem very ambitious, for one thing -- as far as Hakkai can tell, she's relatively content in her own position.]

Considering the average competence of the ones who are supposed to be dealing out the unending wrath, I'd probably take my chances.

[But then again, Amaterasu does make for the shinier target. There's enough war gods here that nobody's going to be vying to get into that position, whereas "leader of the Heavens" is pretty exclusive.]

Oh, I don't know about that. [Hakkai smiles cheerfully at Davesprite.] In direct combat, they're quite effective.

[And he just won't mention how he knows that. Elsa's attack on the Meeting Hall to rescue Goku might not have gone as well as they'd hoped -- and Hakkai blames that, at least in part, on the fact that she'd refused to do any worse than maim; death is much better at preventing your opponents from telling one another where you've gone and blocking your escape.

It's sometimes a little embarrassing to think that she'd been influenced by magic that left her in a murderous rage, and it still didn't leave her willing to kill outright. He'd gone much further with much less excuse.]

Do I want to know how why you sound you know that for sure instead of just theorising. [Davesprite isn't quite letting him get out of that train of thought that easily. Especially considering the previous conversation tangent. On one hand, whatever it is probably happened before he got here since he's never heard about it, but on the other, it does sound like the kind of thing Hakkai would end up involved in given the right circumstances.

He just has to wonder what those right circumstances were.]

There was a small incident with my first goddess, just before she disappeared.

[It's one of the reasons he'd wanted to believe, for so long, that the disappearances were deliberate punishments imposed by the Heavens for wrongdoing. So few of them fit that pattern, though. He'd had to abandon it at last.]

I definitely believe that it was a "small" incident. [No he does not. The Heavens have failed to intercede for some pretty significant things, so for them to be prompted to fight with Hakkai and his goddess, he's going to guess they were doing something a bit more noteworthy than that.]

It'd be way harder to shittalk them if they actually showed that kind of actually being fucking competent all the time instead of just once in a blue moon.

Unfortunately, investigation and combat require very different skill sets.

[He's not convinced at all that they have anyone skilled in investigation. They hadn't caught the murderer, after all. They don't seem to have caught anyone involved with the burning of Amaterasu's temple -- and while they claimed to have resolved the issue with the chocolates, Hakkai isn't even sure he believes those weren't just scapegoats.]

I mean, yeah, but they could at least lend some help fighting shit from time to time instead of leaving all of it to us.

[It's kind of annoying that every major incident seems to be left to them, with no visible help from the older gods. Davesprite didn't give too much of a damn about it starting out, but it gets more and more obvious every month he's here.]

Perhaps if they felt they were endangered.

[But if they can send the expendable newcomers up against a threat, well... Hakkai can't complain about the practicality of the tactic. It's entirely rational.

He shrugs, smiling cheerfully.]

But they seem to welcome the chance to send us up against challenges.

Yeah, I'm starting to wonder if they're getting their rocks off on it or we're just lucky. [Or...well, not both, because that would be even weirder. It's definitely a habit by this point, anyway, enough that it's pretty difficult not to remark on it.]

They've been doing those patrols recently, I guess, so maybe something finally browned their pants enough for it.

Or they could just be snatching every chance to keep us busy, in the hopes it'll keep us from causing too much of our own trouble.

[He pauses, and adds, with a thin smile:]

Not that it seems to have been very effective so far.

-Overflow- for 24 - Autumn Reception

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