thenearshore | [closed] i make it where i can

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[closed] i make it where i can

Who: Ebisu and his shinki Kimi, Unmi, and Jitsumi/Ginia
What: Sakurajima has been erupting more or less continuously for the last half-century, so why the quieter behavior? Amaterasu's shinki and those of her retainers are not all that interested in learning why... But Ebisu and his own sure are.
When: Backdated to when things weren't exploding as much
Where: Sakurajima
Warnings: Casual treason but nothing else

Sakurajima exploding isn't necessarily weird. In fact, as far as natural disasters go, it's kind of its draw. Tourism is still a big thing for an active volcano, as it turns out, and volcanic ash seems to do something for agricultural businesses. That Sakurajima had been quiet over the last couple of years is arguably more of an interest than the fact that it's suddenly exploding. For it to become active once more is, well. That's just a return to the way things should be, right? Of course Amaterasu's temple, and those of her advisers, wouldn't pay much mind to it. They have bigger things to fuss over.

Kimi is, many times, glad that Ebisu's temple is nothing like those under other old gods. They don't accept such "how things are" facts so easily.

...Although, he has to admit that, for all he thinks that, things seem to be quiet so far. At least, quiet as life on an island with an active volcano ever could be. He makes sure to tell Unmi that, even as he's making his way through the many trails that wind throughout the island. "Yeah, businesses seem to be doing alright," he says into the phone he has up to his ear, surveying things from the observation platform he's at before making his way down again. Unlike his usual suit and tie, he's made sure to dress for a lot of walking: a light coat, hiking boots, and layers beneath he can shed in case things get too warm. And with Sakurajima being how it is, it will likely get warm sooner than later.

"I think the recent activity has been drawing people to the iland as well, although it might just as well be chasing other folks off... But it's all the same old." In other words, no sign of a certain little god. Maybe this really is just natural activity restarting? "Nothing unusual on your end, right, Grampa Unmi? ...Mm, yeah, that's what I figured. Then, I'll continue doing my round of the island, and I'll let you know if any spots I come across anything disruptive." Although it seems like the local flowers are doing well enough, he has to admit, stopping to admire some which are blooming. Volcanic ash only seems to be making the soil richer in some places, and spring is treating the plants kindly.

He can only hope the same for the person he's looking for amidst the mountainside and plantlife.

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Sotero can be found taking a nap on a nearby flower field if Kimi looks hard enough.

The young god doesn't seem to be bothered and quite enjoying the unusual peace. But he stirs when he senses Kimi nearby, though refuses to open his eyes just yet.

Trust him, he's looking hard enough. And once he sees that familiar figure...

Well. He leans down and starts fiddling with his shoelaces. When he straightens up, there's a boot, going right towards Sotero.

"HEY!"

Sotero does not appreciate that boot.

Because it hits him in the face.

"Ah! What the hell?!"

"Don't what the hell me!" This very intelligent decision forces Kimi to sort of hop over, considering all the word plants that are on the ground, and the rocks, and other such things. That's not stopping him.

"Do you know how concerned everyone has been with you disappearing like that!?"

What is the deal with this guy?! Sotero is very close debating on running away. In fact, the closer he gets, he gets onto his feet and starts edging backwards.

"What're you talking about?! And why are you coming over?!"

That's.... definitely not the kind of reaction he was expecting, and Kimi comes to a pause, wobbling unsteadily on mostly one foot. He knows it's been a while, but, still. A god wouldn't forget their shinki, right? At least, their supposed first.

....He can think of one reason why that might have happened, and he's hoping that's just his brain going for a worst case scenario.

"I'm your shinki," he says, hooking his toes behind one ankle. "Of course I'm going to come over to see you. Kiyoshi, remember?"

He's still getting used to even having a shinki, okay?

He clicks his tongue. "I know who you are. But you didn't have to throw your damn shoe at me."

Oh, good, he's just a little inexperienced and dumb, not recently dead. Kimi lets out a breath of relief, even as he keeps hopping.

"It's a shinki's job to scold his god when he does reckless things, like going for ages without telling anyone where he is." Alright, he thinks he's close enough... Kimi starts looking around for his shoe. "Or jumping into volcanoes after being pursued by Heaven's forces." You know, that thing Sotero denied he had anything to do with the first time they met.

He chuckles. "What, like that was actually dangerous? Fire, remember?"

That said, he makes no move to get up either. "I got away. That was the important thing. What do you really want, anyway?"

"Everything after, I had no idea about." With a dubious amount of balance, he leans down to grab his shoe up again. "What I really want is to check up on you."

Plopping down onto the same rock that Sotero is on with a grunt, he raises an eyebrow down at the young god while shoving his boot on. "Ebisu was worrying, too."

"Don't care if he was worried," Sotero mumbles back. "He's not my Father. Why should I care about anyone else? Everyone else gets angry at me."

He glares at his shinki. "And sometimes throw boots at people smaller than them! Maybe if they apologized I'd start caring about their other god and his stupid contract again."

So basically he's sulking. Maybe he does still care about Ebisu - a little - but not in this exact moment.

Edited 2019-04-02 02:46 (UTC)

"Now, now." With his boot on but not tied, Kimi leans over to lightly flick a stray strand of Sotero's poking out. "In my defense, the smaller person in this equation can jump into an active volcano, so I know he's strong enough against a boot I can't even throw that well." Adjusting himself so that he's a little more comfortable, Kimi nods to him.

"But you're right. I shouldn't have thrown the shoe at you, just called out a little bit. Because I was pretty upset that one of my gods disappeared and I couldn't tell how okay he really was for a while. I won't apologize for my feelings, but I didn't show them right." Something hits him then, however, and he pulls out his phone again.

"Although if you're interested in more apologies, there's someone else I know of that has been wanting to apologize to you."

He watches wide-eyed as Kimi pulls out the phone. "Someone else...?" He leans toward Kimi in earnest then. "Who is it?! Tell me!"

"An incredibly pretty lady," Kimi answers, which he knows doesn't explain much at all. Still, from what he understands, it's highly probable that Sotero doesn't even know her previous name, which means he definitely isn't going to know the name she has under Ebisu. "I'll call up Ebisu and we'll see if you can recognize her appearance."

All it takes is the press of the screen, after all, and he has the little god on speed dial. "Hiii, Ebisu-sama. Is Jitsumi around? Ah, yeah. I'm taking a break in Sakurajima. Mhm, I'll wait." That gives him enough time to set it up to video, too, to show the inside of Ebisu's office as the young god drags into view a certain other shinki.

"Sotero!"

Back in the office, Ginia sneezes suddenly. A few minutes later, she's in Ebisu's office, little anxious considering the last time she saw the volcano god they had fought. However, she's here, he's over there, it's fine! No sudden fireballs her way or anything!

She waves lightly and smiles awkwardly into the camera, a message already typed up. She makes sure the volume is turned up as she presses play.

"Hello, Sotero. I'm Jitsumi, one of Ebisu's shinki. We fought on top of the volcano. I'm sorry about that, I acted poorly."

Granted, he had opened a volcano in their backyard and the volcanic gasses were causing hallucinations and impulsive behavior, but unless he wants to claim all credit for his actions, she's willing to blame the cult and not him.

He stiffens, agitated next to Kimi. "You tried to put my flames out!" It didn't work, but he remembered the insult. "You didn't just fight me, you chased me!"

So far, no blame discussions one way or the other. He's definitely hung up on the other issue. He looks up at Kimi, huffing. "You said it was incredibly pretty lady, too." And he turns away slightly.

"I mean," Ebisu says with a kind of bland plainness, "you did cause a volcano to erupt and threaten to set a lot of the Far Shore on fire. I suppose we were all rather stressed and made some rash decisions during that time."

That is of course the most lowkey way of describing the entire event, but that seems to be a talent of his.

Meanwhile, Kimi gives a small huff. "She is, and you don't just tell a lady she's not pretty when she's right there listening, Sotero-sama. Do you want a better apology?"

Ginia could not care less what a fiery rogue god thinks about her appearance, but Sotero's last comment does earn Kimi a slight raise of her brows. It's not hard to guess what her boyfriend might have said. His defense is appreciated, but that's not the point. A better apology she can provide.

Though Ebisu is right; wouldn't have gotten chased if you didn't set off a volcano. And Ginia remembers having some success dulling his flames, but now is not the time to press that point either. Apology take two.

"I apologize for fighting and chasing you on the volcano. You were scared and trying to get away. I cannot speak for the others up there, but I acted more aggressively than I should have and I'm sorry for that. I hope you weren't hurt."

Sotero makes a "Mmmmrrrrnnnn" sort of humming noise of contemplation as he listens to what they have to say. He does his best not to react, until the last couple of words from Ginia.

"Yeah, well... That's what happens when I touch people anyway... things get wild. That's why I have to wear gloves most of the time." But he shrugs his shoulders a little. "The volcano can't hurt me. I can make it listen a lot easier than you guys."

Then he turns back to Kimi, impatient. "Was that all you wanted to talk about? Seriously?"

"You're the one who wanted apologies, Sotero-sama." Another fond flick of a stray strand of Sotero's hair. "And that's not all anyone wanted to talk to you about." For that, however, he glances back at the phone and towards his other god. Ebisu is already looking contemplative, and he nods after a moment.

"Would it be alright if we spoke to you in person? I think it would be better to do that than over the phone."

There's a slight twist of her mouth. Shun had mentioned Sotero was the boy seen at the moon viewing incident last year. A spell that enhances emotions fits into what Sotero said, though is it only touch or can he do more?

"I'd like to ask you about some people, I'm trying to learn more about. As well as some incidents last year."

Tilting his head, Sotero makes another thinking sound. "Since it's you and you apologized, I guess you can ask."

Then he brings his head upright again, his next words cautious. "I can't promise I'll answer a way you like."

When they arrive at his location, he's still standing near Kimi with a similarly mixed expression on his face. But he is there, ready to hear their questions.

An answer is better than nothing at all. It's an easy teleport over to their location, her suit a bit too formal for the location, but hey, so it goes. She gives Kimi a warm smile and a light nod of acknowledgement to Sotero. With the terrain as uneven as it is, she keeps a close eye on her god.

Her questions are as follows:
-Does Sotero know about/has he met Votelli and Sensei/Imai Takeru?
--Is Imai also giving him directions?
-What does he think about the cult's goals?/Is he aware what the cult wants?
-What is the first location he remembers when he came into existence?
-Was he the boy at the Moon Viewing event in September? How did he get into Heaven?
-Can he affect emotions without touching people? She'll point out the volcanic gases causing hallucinations and impulsive behavior/aggressive behavior on the volcano.

From Ebisu:
-He'll inform Sotero of Amaterasu's declaration of Sotero and Votelli as enemies
-Why did Sotero set off the volcano, will he do it again?

At her first question, Sotero scoffs a little. "Yeah. I know the scaredy-cat and her dumb Sensei." At the follow-up, he just laughs. (That's a no.)

He shakes his head at second question. "Don't know."

The third question gets him crossing his arms. "Not telling."

Fourth question gets him to grin a bit. "Well, duh." The follow-up though, he just thumbs his nose. "I had help."

Fifth, he shakes his head no. "Nah, I got help for that too."

Then Ebisu's turn. At first, he just kind of bows his head in acknowledgement. He's not remorseful, a little scared, but he does nod.

Ebisu's other question: "Because I was supposed to. It's what I'm in charge of. I could do it again, but not like last time without help again."

Edited 2019-04-16 23:00 (UTC)

"Your god is a brat," Ginia signs at Kimi with an exaggerated roll of her eyes and a barely hidden smile. Not that she can blame Sotero much. At least he has a good exemplar in Kimi, though help them all if any of the shinki's shamelessness rubs off on his god.

Ginia considers the answers, phone tapping against her chin. If he's getting helping from elsewhere, is it someone in Heaven? Would he even know if they were another god or shinki?

"Are the ones helping you humans or are they also gods or shinki? Is anyone from the cult watching over you?"

That Sotero is even answering at all has Kimi ruffling his hair fondly. Even if it's not detailed and complete, it's still cooperation, and that should be rewarded. It's not like they're going to follow Heaven's example in threatening a little kid.

Meanwhile, Ebisu has his own questions to add. "What's stopping you from being a regular god of volcanoes and not fighting other gods?"

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[closed] i make it where i can

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