thenearshore | won't you take me

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won't you take me

Who: The Li Tieguai clusterfuck
What: Well, we're out of a shitty haunted forest, who wants dinner?
When: November 16, evening
Where: Li Tieguai's Temple

Usually, when there's some big nonsense in Heaven, Chikusa can be found out cold or "away" in his own head for most of the following couple of days afterwards... but that apparently only counts for event which involve people. Spending an entire day trekking through a possessed forest filled with violent plant-life and cultists is manageable.... somehow.

No matter how exhausted or injured anyone in the temple is, food still has to be made, and Hakka is in no condition to make it. Thus, dinner is being arranged by the other cook in the house, and invitations have been sent out to the relevant people Chikusa thinks care- namely Nanako and Ayumu, along with anyone they seek to bring. That doesn't mean people checking in on the Li Tieguai temple can't just waltz right into the dinner as well....

There's a lot to do in the time leading up to dinner, after all, depending on when people show up (or, you know, realize there's smells coming from the kitchen). Bon, the resident enormous Tibetan Mastiff, demands attention in the form of bodily flinging himself at people. There's a goat in the garden, tied away from all the important medical herbs. At least four different nekomata wander in and out of the temple ground whenever they please, including Pookie, the most permanent resident, and never shut up.... Not to mention that a Kung-Fu movie has been put on the television for people to watch.

There's also a sign on all entrances to the kitchen that says: CHO HAKKAI IS NOT ALLOWED TO COOK. Presumably Chikusa put it up while making direct eye contact with him.

Either way, mess around until dinner, have dinner, crash in the living room where another kung-fu movie has been put on again... Have fun.

Oh, and before it can be forgotten.... The dinner menu for the night is fritto misto, meaty Amatriciana sauce with bucatini noodles, and all the garlic bread in the world apparently. For dessert? Cannoli again. That... might be all he knows how to make on the dessert front.

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At least I'll say for myself that I'm more discriminating.

[Whereas Gojyo will hit on anyone... or would.

That, too, seems to be a habit that's fallen by the wayside with his memories, and Hakkai finds himself wondering, again, how much of the Gojyo he'd thought he'd known was a facade. Or is it that this Gojyo is acting against his impulses because he thinks it's the best way to make himself someone else?

Even now that Hakkai can get a sense of his emotions, he can't begin to answer those questions.]

You're most discriminating for... bothered me in the kitchen with his meat puppet theory... after saying he'd help with the cooking.

[The last part, honestly, is the most annoying thing about it. If Gojyo is just an annoying pain in the ass, well, fine. Chikusa has low hopes for most people, so it's fine. Yet just when it had seemed like he might have gotten over... whatever, and was being useful, he slid back into annoying again.]

[With his dumb held-back giggling as an additional bonus. Chikusa reaches in for a cannoli himself.]

[Hakkai gives Chikusa another blank look as he finishes off the cannoli in a last bite.]

Meat puppet theory?

[That's not the same thing as Gojyo's insistence that he's definitely not the same as the Sha Gojyo he used to be, is it? Has this bizarre theory evolved?]

He apparently thinks... we're just corpses.... who got other people's memories put into us.

[Chikusa shoves as much of the cannoli into his mouth as possible, chewing as he lets Hakkai just process that.]

I told him he was stupid and it didn't matter.

Well, that's certainly a refinement of the last theory he had.

[But there's a very obvious similarity, which is that Gojyo still refuses to entertain the idea that he could be the person who belongs with any of his memories. No, he has to be someone else, somehow. A monster, a corpse.

Anything is better, it seems, than being Sha Gojyo.]

If we are puppets, I think it's the other way around, isn't it? We're dead people in animate bodies.

But I doubt he's put too much thought into this, except that he doesn't want to be himself.

Before he started that... He said if he was an asshole about things that mattered... I'd call him out on it.

[There's hardly anymore cannoli in his hand due to the enormous bite he'd taken before, so Chikusa falls back into nibbles.]

I told him I would, by pushing him down the stairs. Do you think that conspiracy theory counts...?

Perhaps a small flight. There's a difference between being a fool and being an asshole, after all.

[So Gojyo really only deserves to be pushed down four or five steps for this particular theory. Unless, of course, it incites him into behavior that can be described as "asshole."

Hakkai can think of plenty of possibilities along those lines. His imagination is too good sometimes. It's a curse.]

Noted.

[Time to find a small flight of stairs... and time it just right.]

...Tomorrow. I learned some things in that forest. I'll talk to you about them tomorrow.

I'll look forward to it... and see if there's anything I need to talk to you about, in the meantime.

[He sighs, and leans a bit more heavily on the counter. To his embarrassment, his legs are feeling weak; it's been a long day, and he hasn't been sitting down for more of it than he's absolutely had to.]

I'm worried about Ayumu, for one thing. I think she's blaming herself for Sanzang.

[This is exactly why he told you to rest, Hakkai. Exactly why. Chikusa doesn't say anything, however. He just slowly shifts his gaze back to the kitchen.]

....Yeah. That... sounds right... [Her, Hakkai, and himself all seem to be similar in that regard.] So.... What do you want to do?

Keep an eye on her, for now. If she winds up with a god who will take good care of her, then we might not need to intervene, but otherwise...

[Even if she winds up with a god who would take care of her, but who's too young or innocent to properly grapple with Ayumu's self-blame.

Hakkai knows that he and Chikusa understand that kind of self-destructive impulse. Not everyone does... which is probably for the best, but a source of worry, too.]

...And if we do?

[Chikusa isn't so optimistic about finding Ayumu a god that will help her. After all...]

[Him and Hakkai have both had to go through ablutions before they could be free of their own guilt.]

Being there for her is the first step. As for the second... well, if she can't let go of the guilt without an ablution, I know shinki who can help.

[The corner of his mouth tilts, not quite amused.] Even if I can't anymore, myself.

...I can... try to talk to her.

[He's not very good with this kind of thing but, for Ayumu, he'd make the attempt.]

If it's necessary. I've talked to her about it tonight, but...

[He shakes his head.]

Well. It might be too early for her to really talk about it at the moment.

....Okay.

[He guesses all he can do is wait to see if she gets any better, then... For now, he just glances into the jar.]

Do you want anymore of these...? Before Ken and Goku raid it...

Hmm.

[Should he? Probably not; it's not the sort of healthy food that'll help him recover faster from his exhaustion. They're very good, though.

He takes another.]

Thank you, I think I'll stop at two.

[And Ken and Goku will take care, inevitably, of the rest.]

[They'll definitely take care of the rest. Chikusa is pretty sure about that as he turns to shuffle back to the fridge. As he's reaching upwards to slide it back into place, he murmurs over his shoulder.]

You should go to sleep early...

Yes, I suppose I should. [He'll just lean on the counter for a few more moments while he finishes this cannoli first.]

Make sure you send Nanako home before she falls asleep on the couch? I spotted her yawning earlier.

We have enough rooms that she could stay, right...?

[Clearly Chikusa doesn't see the problem.]

Well, I suppose so, if she wants to.

[There are far too many unused rooms upstairs; even with Goku and Gojyo added, they can easily host guests.

Still:]

I don't think we have a spare toothbrush, though. Or pajamas in her size.

....I have spare toothbrushes.

[A blink. Hakkai can probably guess, if he tries, why Chikusa has spare toothbrushes immediately on hand.]

Oh, well, in that case....

[He chuckles, and takes a moment to finish the last bite of cannoli.]

I'm going to go back and watch the rest of the movie before I go to sleep, I think, but I'll leave Nanako to you.

Alright. [That should be alright. It's not like Hakkai is going to be the one participating in the movie.]

Then.... I'm going to sit outside for a while. Enjoy it.... or whatever...

Thank you, I'll try.

[Or whatever, indeed. He brushes the crumbs off his hands into the sink, straightens up, and heads back for the sitting room.]

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