Open!

[unlucky7]

Who: Ginia and YOU!
When: April 11th - April 14th
Where: Around the Near Shore
What: Work never ends when you work for a God of Fortune. Come help out (or not) Ginia with prayers all around the Near shore.



[A. Maid Mayhem]
[A popular maid cafe is putting on an event for tokyo's Deaf community with all of their regular services provided in Japanese Sign Language along with Japanese. With multiple prayers begging for the event to go well, Ginia and some of her coworkers are keeping an eye on things and lending a hand. However, with the cafe crowded as ever, news stations covering the event adding to the crowd, and tensions running high, plenty of help is needed.

1) Help out at the cafe. You don't have to don a maid outfit; there's also cooking in the kitchen, making sure the light and sound equipment is ready for the stage show, and helping the media crews with filming.

2) Fend off ayakashi. The place is a hotbed for minor ayakashi seeking to cause some trouble. Throw up some borderlines, rend some ayakashi, just keep the place going without making a mess!

3) Or maybe you're here to enjoy the cafe. The food and drinks are cute and great, Ginia is happy to greet with a smile and a heart made with her hands as you're seated in her section.]

[B. Baker's Dilemma]
[A bakery in a shopping district is struggling with a new bread. Everyone who has tasted it either thinks it's the most delicious bread they've ever had or the most disgusting, inedible thing with no middle ground. Sometimes disagreement comes from two people trying the same loaf!

Ginia and her coworker, Hidemi, stand a few feet away from the store. They're wearing matching black suits with dark green ties. They're having a quiet discussion, Hidemi holding a loaf of bread that's had a few pieces torn from it. A third opinion is desperately needed and they're quick to flag down anyone that feels like they're from the Far Shore. You! Yes, you! Come over here!]

"Excuse me, can you try a sample of this bread and let us know what you think?"

[Delicious or disgusting? There's no middle ground.]

[C. A Horse of a Different Coat]
[Spring is a great time to go to the zoo and Uneo Zoo is hosting some mini programs aimed at children. When the person originally assigned to help with the zebra program falls sick, Ginia quickly steps in to help. There's only one problem. While Ginia, dressed in a zebra costume is busy entertaining kids, it means she can't focus on borderline duty like she intended. With mild ayakashi swirling around, drawn by children and shinki alike, Ginia looks around for anyone who can help out. Wrangle those ayakashi as the program continues, but don't let the kids see!]

[D. Wildcard!]
[Have something else you want to thread out? Contact me through PM or at cordially!]

Comments

April 3rd - Closed to Ebisu, Chris

[unlucky7]

"I suppose, in the overall list of things I've done, this isn't the most heretical." Ginia's message plays as she clutches her mug of tea, the heat seeping from the warm ceramic into her hands. There's a kettle on the table, a few more cups, and a plate of shortbread cookies cookies as well. Maybe a little too casual for the topic at hand, but maybe it's a little less business-serious and more... a meeting between temples? It makes the conference room feel a little friendlier at least.

Ginia glances at Luger, running over the words in her mind. She's already released him because the best proof is a live naming, but what if it doesn't work? With all the questions around soulless shinki, maybe naming works differently.

A heavy sigh escapes as she tries to calm her emotions before they get out of hand. Worry is fine, but too much is needlessly suffocating for everyone. Ginia sits back and sips her tea, looking over her mug at Chris. She taps out another message and presses play.

"Thanks for agreeing to this."

[trustheart]

Chris is sitting across from her shinki, while calmly sipping from a mug of coffee... provided from a thermos that Luger had prepared before the two of them had come here. Once she was finished, she simply shrugged, and gave a nod, before replying.

"If it were heretical, it wouldn't be something we'd be able to pull off," Chris reasoned. "I don't care what people think about it."

Luger nodded, before letting out a short, quiet laugh. "I'm just not used to having all this attention on me," he said, simply.

[chibisu]

"My personal opinion is that it can't really be thought of as heretical until we fully understand it," Ebisu says cheerfully, oblivious as to how this kind of statement has likely gotten prior incarnations of his in trouble. Well. Really just the one that got in trouble, really. Everything else simply lead to it.

Standing behind him instead of sitting like the god, Kiwami surveys the situation with a very quiet of befuddled uncertainty. He's not opposed to this whole meeting, so much as it's simply quite unusual.

Or, you know. Heretical. But that's not that strange in Ebisu's temple.

"Is there any particular way we should start, then?" It is quite new, after all.

[unlucky7]

"A demonstration is the strongest way to prove a claim. After that, I think the best way to proceed is to see who else can name Luger."

Ginia takes a sip of tea and stands up, taking two steps back. She knows what his form is and while it isn't on the large side, it is a bit long. She'd feel horrible accidentally bumping him against the chair or table.

"I'll have to sign it, so please take my word in what I'm saying."

Unlike a god, the words don't come naturally to a shinki. However, Ginia's memory is sharp. Between all the times she's been named and having named two soulless shinki, she signs the words with only some hesitation.

"My name is Ginia. Grasping thy true name, I bind thee here. With borrowed name, I dub thee my servant. The name answers, the vessel to sound. I call thee as my divine instrument. The name, Nerau. The vessel, Sho. Come, Shoki!"

From Luger's seated position, a name glows in front of him before settling, a flash of light as he clears the space and reforms in Ginia's hands as a Winchester rifle. It's strange how silent he is in vessel form, a presence that almost isn't there.

[trustheart]

Chris nodded. "That makes the most sense," she said. "I mean, we're trying to see what his particular brand of shinki can do, so it makes sense to start with him and Ginia."

Luger nods knowingly. He's already been through this already, but this is really for Chris, Ebisu's, and Kiwami's benefit. The white haired shinki stands up, unconcerned with Ginia bumping him, and moves to stand next to Ginia as she begins the naming.

Moments later, he is indeed in her hands in the form of that particular brand of rifle.

Chris regards the whole thing with wise eyes and a raised brow. "Wow, it really is simple as all that," she said. "Shoki, huh?"

A-3

[priforprince]

[ What, some sort of event? It's not Shikyoin Hibiki's typical milieu, but as the God of Fortune who oversees entertainment, letting this slide without personally assessing it would never do.

That is not how Ginia learns that Hibiki is in the shop, however. No, that occurs when someone attempts to recruit Hibiki in a mix of Japanese and JSL because this maid cafe has a distinct lack of butlers. The refusal, while arrogant, sends the would-be scout into a tizzy.

"Look out for...for the guest in the corner", they inform Ginia. "I didn't see them at first, but they're, ah...."

A fluttery sigh. "I need to lie down."

The disruption of this maid's workday, shameless, sits in anticipation. Being waited upon is the motif, yes? Produce further staff. ]

[unlucky7]

[There is a fluttering sense of familiarity with the situation. She's seen this awestruck behavior before, the look of someone struck by Pure. Amore.

Ginia steels herself as she puts on a cheery smile and heads over to greet her newest guest. Behold, Hibiki, a kingdom of joy and smiles! Where hearts are filled and laughter flows free! Ginia curtsies and makes a heart with her hands, bringing it to the right, around to the left, then to the center over her chest.]

Welcome to the Kingdom of Nekohime, honored guest nyan!

[Ginia signs the customary greeting, hands curling into rounded paws and waggling them up and down to end her sentence.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki had paused after taking a sip of tea, noticing her waitress's identity. Ginia?! Why -

Ah. God of business and commerce, isn't it? How very like an established God of Fortune to have a finger in every pie. This is, therefore, completely comprehensible...

And that's as far as Hibiki's train of thought goes before she chokes on her tea. Sputtering, she stares at Ginia in disbelief. That was - it couldn't have been - ]

SIGN LANGUAGE SENTENCE ENDERS?!

[ HOW IS THAT EVEN PAWSIBLE?! ]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia isn't even surprised Hibiki has her own tea. Outside drinks aren't allowed, but it's Hibiki. She doesn't so much bend the rules as form them around her.

The sudden sputtering and exclamation breaks Ginia temporarily from the script and she stares at the god. Okay. Getting out her cellphone breaks the immersion, but it's a good thing she's prepared for situations like this.

First off, use the napkins to wipe up the table. Can't have a guest sitting at a dirty table! Second, wave down one of her coworkers for some backup in Japanese. Of course she'll continue to sign, so it's the two in one language maid experience!

Back on track, Ginia smiles and presents the menu to Hibiki.]

We have a wonderful feast set out today, nyan~! Please take your time looking over our food and drink menu, nyan~!

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki's fingers are stiff, but she somehow manages to take the menu (which rattles in her hold, because her body is twitching). She stares down at it but doesn't seem to actually be, well, seeing it. For she is contemplating deeper matters! ]

A remarkable commitment to one's role......

[ She wants to tell Ginia to stop but Ginia keeps doing it again before she can say anything. What horrifying proficiency! This is one talent her fr....this shinki of many talents could have done without cultivating! ]

So even sentence ender cutglasses are required.

A3

[dredefulchilde]

Joscelin had heard about the maid cafe event whilst hanging around Ginia in Ebisu’s temple, and on the day of he felt bored enough to pay a visit. The food, at least, looked sugary enough to hold his attention. A cheerful young woman greeted him in a cutesy mix of Japanese and JSL and sat him at a small table in a corner of her section, which offered a mostly unobstructed view of the proceedings.

At least enough to see a particular, exceptionally tall, maid currently carrying a tray of cutesy food.

He laughs so hard acid green melon soda starts coming out his nose.

[unlucky7]

Ginia towers over most people most days and she's no exception here. At first, she felt a bit apprehensive about standing out so much. After a few hours of walking around in the maid uniform and being exceptionally cute, she's grown used to the surprised stares.

(She's also figured out the surprised stares is how her legs and chest look in the uniform. She looks damn good, that much she can admit to.)

Ginia is crossing the floor with a cute omurice meal when she hears distinctive laughter. Curbing the response to snap around and look, Ginia forces herself to turn gracefully and glance. Eyes widen a little as she spots Joss at a table.

Making sure he sees, Ginia smiles and gives a cute curl of her hand into a paw and tilts her head in a cutesy "nyan nyan" pose. Right. Napkins to that table once she delivers the food.

[dredefulchilde]

That nyan nyan thing is just too much. Joss splutters on his soda once again and mops up his face with a handkerchief. Ginia is not exactly what he would consider the nyan nyan type. Seeing her act in such a patently ridiculous way is simultaneously alarming, hilarious, and endearing.

He rapidly signs “take a break” at her and then begins to attack his sleeping teddy bear-shaped katsu curry.

[unlucky7]

Oh, Joss, if you only knew about your surrogate big sister's fondness for J-pop and arcade rhythm games aimed at children. Her fondness for cute things isn't a secret, but it's not as overt given her tendency to dress for the office or for a fight.

It's fifteen minutes before Ginia gets a break from her other customers. If she's on the floor, she's working, but at least Joss will hassle her a little less than others. She comes bearing a gift too; a tall ice cream parfait with alternating layers of whipped cream, cornflakes, vanilla pudding, chocolate sauce, and a few scoops ice cream. There's a cat cookie garnish (have to keep with the theme after all). One scoop of ice cream is decorated with a chocolate sauce face and hair, carefully placed chocolate sprinkle freckles, and two tiny chocolate chip fangs. There's also a small paper umbrella shading the ice cream.

It's a vampire no-sundae!

"How's the food, nyan~?"

[dredefulchilde]

That sundae--or, well, "no sundae"--is impressive. Ginia surely knows the way into the heart of a small vampire who craves sugar almost as much as he craves violence and chaos.

"I take it that's meant to be me?" he asks, shaking his head in a combination of amusement and disgust.

"When you said you'd be helping out, I didn't realize it was going to be so...literal."

April 11th - Closed to Suzaku

[unlucky7]

The day after vacation is always the hardest. It takes a little bit longer for Ginia to get out of bed and start her morning routine, still lagging as she drags herself to the office proper. Delivering omiyage to her coworkers in the office provides a nice detour and lets her drag out the joy of the vacation a bit longer before she settles into work.

It was a nice break. A needed break.

She's on the manufacturing department floor when she spots Suzaku, making a quick beeline toward him. As a member of Ebisu's temple, she's dressed in the black suit and dark green tie as her coworkers, but part-time employees don't have the same expectation.

"How's it going? I brought food back from Hawaii, you should grab some before it's gone. Unless you already had your fill there."

[swordofzero]

[Suzaku refused the vacation on the grounds that he probably hadn't deserved it. All the had managed to do was get himself frozen. He wasn't even sure how the fight had ended, considering most people had left the scene when Caster had unfrozen him and they hadn't stuck around for long either, with the ceiling coming down.

He doesn't quite recognise Ginia at first and his posture stiffens into something more formal at the sight of the uniform before he sees her face and relaxes, eyes going to her hands. He can mostly understand her now, even if it takes a little guess work.] Thank you, Ginia. Food would be welcome. How was Hawaii?

[unlucky7]

[Oh, so he didn't go? Ginia glances over him, looking for any signs of injury. She'd seen him fighting the Old Woman and caught him freezing, but between being in her vessel form and then her near brush with non-existence, she wasn't in a good position to check on him.]

It's mostly cookies and chocolate. Hawaii was great. [She'd say more but she doesn't want to seem like she's rubbing anything in. A bit of worry shows.] Is everything okay?

wow sleepy me did action instead of prose

[swordofzero]

He would make sure to go and try some of them, since she had been kind enough to bring some back.

He smiled at her and nodded, upset at himself for her worried look, especially since she had seemed so relaxed a moment before.

"It's all fine, I'm still getting used to things here." It was very hectic but also very organised so Suzaku always knew what he was supposed to be doing. That helped a lot. "How have you been?"

No worries! Happens to all of us.

[unlucky7]

Plenty of people to watch out for him too. Everyone's overworked here, but no one lets anyone flounder either. It's not the department she works in, but Ginia knows he's in good hands.

"If you need help, ask anyone, they'll help you. And I'm doing okay." She pauses. It's true. She's doing okay, but it's not like there aren't things on her mind. "Still processing the compound and what happened, but I'm okay."

Ginia pauses again, sighs a little.

"Sorry I couldn't help you after the old lady got you."

April 19thish - Closed to Iskandar

[unlucky7]

With the weirdness plaguing the last few days over with, it's back to Ginia's work routine. It's a strange comfort, especially having it so thoroughly disrupted lately. There are things and people she can rely on and most of the time, things work out. Or they make it work out; they're the overworked miracle workers after all.

The run to Iskandar's temple is a nice one. She'll never pass up the opportunity to get away from her desk, though she's an unofficial liaison of sorts between the old and the new generations. It's a job she doesn't mind. Prayers get taken care of, her temple has a little less work, others get an enjoyable task, it's win/win all around.

Though a trip to Iskandar's temple also means a visit to the sheep. Along with the folder of prayers in her backpack, there's a bag of fresh fruit and vegetables for the fleecy friends. Ginia arrives on the edge of the temple grounds. She pauses and bows to the temple and its grounds before crossing into the space.

On her walk across the temple grounds, sends Iskandar a quick text message: Just arrived with some prayers, where can I find you?

roosters of doom

[towards_okeanos]

[The reply is almost instantaneous but unusually full of errors.

At thr bsck in the gaerdn.

When she arrives Iskandar is sitting on one of the boulders left from the volcano explosion. Sanded down and polished it was adapted as a comfortable sitting spot. There are a couple more hauled from the rest of the garden forming half a circle around the firepit.
The olives and grapes are still growing like crazy on the last remnants of ash. Nothing is wasted here.

The more important detail though is that Iskandar is holding a loose end of a bandage with his teeth and wrapping the rest around his right hand. No wonder he had trouble texting.
There is a long slash all the way from his elbow to the wrist and blood is dripping everywhere. The Servant's healing factor has already kicked in so it must have been a lot worse. Still not looking pretty.
When he sees her he spits the end of the bandage and waves with his free hand.]

Ginia!

[unlucky7]

[The mistake-riddled text is the first indication something is wrong. Everyone makes typos, but that's a lot to let slip by. Ginia moves a bit faster as she bounds her way toward the garden, her leap taking her almost directly in front of the bounder. The decor is very nice, great use of the boulders, but uhhh that's a lot of blood.]

What happened here?

[towards_okeanos]

[Iskandar shrugs.]

Just the stupid chickens. Waver keeps them for his magical needs. They’re usually pretty docile.

[No, they’re not. It's him being incredibly lucky right until this point.]

One decided to choose freedom so I went to collect it. It objected and gave me this. It’s nothing really.

[If the stone menace wasn’t enough it seems they keep surprisingly dangerous animals here.]

Show me what you’ve got for me.

[unlucky7]

[It's hard imagining chickens doing so much damage, but they are Earth's living dinosaurs. It's lucky an artery or something wasn't severed. Ginia studies the wound a little longer as she shrugs off her backpack and suit jacket, rolling up the sleeves of her dress shirt. There's great dry cleaning at the temple, but why give anyone else even more work to deal with?]

Can I try something first? I've been working on a healing spell and I could use some practice.

[And testing whether the spell works on gods is a good point of knowledge. Borderlines work on gods, but it's possible this spell might work differently.]