thenearshore | Book Party [ota]

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Book Party [ota]

Who: Romeo, Elfnein and literally everyone in the heavens. Even if you weren't personally invited every invite came with a +ALL YOUR FRIENDS and there's also a sign. Strangers are just friends these two haven't met yet.
When: 29th April. Afternoon onwards
Where: Temple Smol (Gegute's library)
What: Just the cutest book party the heavens has ever known! Bring your best book!

Arrival

You might have received an invitation, or perhaps you are just passing Gegute’s library but there is an brightly painted sign outside.

Book Party today!

Everyone welcome! Bring your best book or dress up!

Lots of tasty food!

The doors of the temple are open and once you arrive in the lobby there are more bright arrows pointing the way into the library. If you are still stuck mister Goat is at the help desk, he’ll direct any one who needs it!

Activities

The layout of the library hasn’t really changed at all, except a few tables being moved to accommodate activities and all the comfy reading cushions have been brought to a central location. All the shelves are decorated with colourful paper chains and streamers.

Romeo had really enjoyed Yuna’s birthday party with the activities to do so he had copied the idea for Elfnein’s book party! On one table there is material for making bookmarks. You might want to recut the card strips, they are a little wonky. There is ribbon and glitter and colouring pens and glue.

On another there is a cardboard box puppet theatre, painted in a riot of colours with colourful strips of material as curtains. There is some felt and other material, as well as scissors, glue and wool to make puppets with. A sign reads in childish Hirigana. Show your best book!

Food

The invitations had promised lots of tasty food and there sure was a lot! A whole table filled with tasty treats, Romeo had been very very busy! There was a whole tray of chopped fruit, another of vegetables like carrots and cucumber.

There was bread and cheese and two bowls of pasta with different sauces. Another bowl of noddles with meat and vegetables. There was a huge bowl of rice too with a tray of grilled fish and a bowl of broccoli and asparagus.

An entire part of the table was taken up by apples and things with apples in them, apple turnovers and even an attempt at an apple pie, it was a bit smushed but probably tasted fine.

There was a tray of very misshapen cookies with messy icing and another of even messier cupcakes with far too much buttercream. There were also churos and a chocolate Gateaux, these seemed to have been bought rather than made, Romeo hadn’t even known where to start it making them!

There was an attempt at making books and other shapes out of rice and vegetables packed in the two bento boxes Ebisu’s temple had given him for Christmas, but they were a bit crumbly, misshapen or just plain strange. In the centre of Romeo’s bento attempts was his magical bento box, every time it was opened there were different fancy bento creations, if the children’s attempts left a lot to be desired.

Have fun!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh! How skillful. As expected." Ebisu clasps his hands together, delighted at how skilled it looks. "Perhaps I should bear your talent in mind if we ever receive prayers for matters of art businesses. It's not often, as one of the other Gods of Fortune handles it, but they do appear on occasion."

Ginia smiles at his praise, but as she takes out her phone, her immediate reaction is to type a response refuting his words. There are others better suited, like Aomi. It's only a hobby she's picked up to occupy her hands as she works. She stops herself before she presses play.

It's not like she's not bad at origami. It's not as if she couldn't help out and then rely on others for help if she needed. What's the point in cutting herself down if Ebisu believes in her?

Ginia deletes the message and types up a new one.

"Thank you, sir. I picked it up as a hobby as it's a little less involved than flower arranging, but still meditative. I don't know how well I'd do in other art matters, but I'll try my best if the occasion arises."

"It can be a good learning experience as well," Ebisu says encouragingly, seeming to have a little more luck with his next round of the chopsticks. "Everyone has their own strengths, so they should work with the office that best utilizes that, ideally, but it's not a bad thing to understand other areas of business, I think."

Or, you know, other areas of life, but he's working on thinking in more that than his own domain.

Ginia finishes clearing out the bottles of glue and sets them back on Ebisu's side, wiping the tip of her knife off her on her sleeve. It already needs dry cleaning at this point, a little more glitter glue won't hurt.

"Better a jack of all trades than a master of one." Ginia muses lightly. It's certainly the arc her life has gone, shifting from a combatant to office worker and looking for the things that make her life fulfilling.

"And for shinki, without knowing what we're good at, it's in our best interest to seek out new experiences."

"And yet there still need to be masters of certain crafts," Ebisu says with a grin. He can't recall the entire saying, but he's positive of that much. "Both stations in equal measure are needed. For shinki, especially, I think." Doing his absolute best to pick up the bottle, he tries to get back to what he was doing.

"After all, a god can only truly be one thing, even with multiple domains underneath their guidance. A shinki is to guide them and remind them of what's important out of those things. It's something that benefits both parties, I think. AT least, that's how it should be."

Ginia keeps an eye on him, offering no assistance unless there's an immediate glitter glue explosion. His creative endeavours are his own. Was there an Ebisu in the past who got to play with glitter glue or is this too the influence of the new generation?

"I don't think my generation sees it that way. I'm not sure there's a god that truly believes they're a god and not someone filling another's role." It's not as if every god is raring at the bit to jump and go home, but all the ones she knows have unfinished business and know what they're missing. Are there any gods that want to stay here? "While us shinki don't learn how we're supposed to guide and work with our gods beyond what the pamphlet says. That's not even getting into gods with only soulless shinki."

"Ah, that's true." Easing up on his hands a little bit, proving he's at least somewhat aware of what leads to glitter glue explosions, Ebisu frowns a little. "Hm, even I fall into old ways of thinking when I'm not careful..." It's something that truly bothers him. How can he keep up with the fast paced live of mortal humans if he's left in past ways of thinking? He can't let him or his temple be mediocre. They have to do their utmost best for those ephemeral lives down on the Near Shore.

"But I still feel there must be something to the unique bonds between this new generation. I wonder if it's something more human..."

"You have only had one perspective of thinking for quite sometime." There's no doubting Ebisu is one of the more open-minded and forward-thinking of the old, but he is still an old god. The difference in the old and new are the roots in humanity and mortality.

"Our origins are different. Not everyone is human or mortal, but the majority are so that is where our roots lie. All of us know in some way we aren't native to this world, the gods with certainty, the shinki through inference or memories." Ginia can only assume she's from some version of Earth given her knowledge of language and loose familiarity of historical events. She can also tell it's not this one given the difference in technology.

"Brought here without a choice, no apparent way home, it's in our best interest to work together. There's no reason not to. Like I said, the gods don't see themselves as gods but roles they're filling. Divinity is secondary at best."

"Even if it's the most practical," he says, "I feel there's a deeper meaning to it. There isn't exactly... a god of fate or destiny in our pantheon, but I suppose it would be something like that. Or, at least, how mortals make such a thing. Every individual that's met adds something important to your life..."

Pausing, he smiles up at her. "Or something like that."

Or something like that. Ginia returns the smile as she considers the path her life has taken over the last few months. She doesn't believe in fate or destiny herself, but also can't deny their role allows them to nudge things into places for people. Who winds the lives of those winding lives together?

"Consider the circumstances that resulted in you naming me. I met Kimi in January after helping him, which led to the meeting that changed my opinion of you. That in turn is what resulted in me asking for a name on the volcano.

"However, earlier than that, approaching your temple for information meant I had to have information in the first place. Getting a name from you also meant having a previous fight about nora with my previous god. None of that would have happened without the cult taking action and kidnapping a bunch of gods and shinki."

Disconnected moments all wrapped up in each other in unknown ways. Deeper still, there's the matter of her skills and knowledge. Whatever life she had shaped who she is now. Without the investigative skills needed, maybe she would have never gotten involved.

"Imagine how differently things could have gone if I helped out Takami or Kiwami instead of Kimi."

"Takami might have been troublesome," Ebisu muses, pausing to reaffirm his grip on the blue bottle. At least, when he pays attention, he can catch some of his clumsiness before it has a chance to go bad. The problem is just getting him to pay attention. "He doesn't like some of the new generation of gods and shinki, but I think that's more because he's worried about things going wrong." Setting the glue to the side with a small huff, he looks over to where Kiwami is standing and speaking quietly to Aomi.

"Kiwami might have gone well? He has hidden depths."

The new generation of gods and shinki are also remarkably opinionated, stubborn, and rash in ways that will probably get someone killed one day. Their sense of decorum is lacking too. Ginia knows she can't disinclude herself from the group too; better in some ways, far worse in others. She can't blame Takami's opinion, not after everything he's been through. But for all his nervousness, Ginia would not call him unreliable or cowardly. There's a hunch had Takami been one of the ones to speak with her, he would have snapped back.

Kiwami... a tiny huff escapes as she looks at her coworkers.

"He does, but Kiwami would have walled up as fast and without the charm Kimi has. I might have gotten more defensive and left sooner." If Kiwami and Unmi had a chance to get her out before Ebisu had reason to show up, they probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

"Aomi might have been okay. He's the first one of your retinue I actually met."

For a moment, Ebisu doesn't respond to her right away. Instead, he merely stares up at her, craft project abandoned for the time being. It's almost as if he's examining one of the many papers which appear on his desk...

Before his face splits into a wide grin. "Yes, I am certain that Kimi is very charming," he says simply.

With that brief tease done with, he finally goes back, and makes a slight nod. "He's very stoic, that much is true... Can you remind me how the two of you met again?"

Is there glitter on her face? Did she say something wrong? Ginia goes still as Ebisu stares at her. There are plenty of people she expects teasing from and can weather well, but from her god? Ginia blushes instantly, temporarily at a loss for words.

...He's not wrong either.

Ginia types a little faster as she works through her burst of embarrassment.

"It was when you were giving tours of the temple. I attended the day Aomi was presenting, though I suppose we didn't really talk. I think I met some of your shinki on the night of the God's Meeting, but I was a snow leopard at the time."

Ebisu absolutely knows he's not wrong, thank you.

"Oh, yes, I recall that. Many of my shinki couldn't do much besides offer presentations, since they often had to hurry back to work at that time." Oops, that's a slightly larger blob of glue than he meant... But at least it hasn't exploded yet. "We also couldn't attend the God's Meeting as much as the other temples, besides Kimi, who had to go in my place to look into the rankings of the various gods. We were busy looking over the Near Shore."

Ginia eyes the blob of glue, but it's fine, it's not a disaster at all. She still checks to see if there are any napkins or paper towels around.

It makes sense Kimi was there as representative. He must have been the one to accept accolades on Ebisu's behalf, though what Ginia remembers of that ceremony was mostly the opportunity to tease Shun about being an upcoming God of Fortune. There's not too much she remembers from the meeting itself, given all the people there and still trying to find her footing as a shinki.

"If I make it to October, it'll mark my first year here." Maybe by then she'll have everything sorted out, or at least a better grasp on things. "With everything that's happened, it's hard to believe it's only been six months."

"Soon, you'll be able to savor the seasons more," Ebisu says, as if it's an inevitability and not just a prayer they're both relying on, going to something beyond even gods. "Even if you work a lot in the temple most of the time, it should still be fine, I think." The glue trail is now completely uneven when it comes to how much glue is being put out, but... No disaster yet.

That lets Ebisu take a moment to pause and smile at her. "Maybe we should do something special."

"I'll be nice to see what summer is like." Even with her coworker's warnings about the high temperatures and humidity, it still sounds nice. All the festivals, beach trips, comiket, not that she expects to see much of it outside of work, but it's something new to experience.

Ginia returns the smile, rubbing her neck. It's not as if she hasn't considered it; she said as much to Tsubasa and Chris. The one in January doesn't quite feel like hers anyway. A convenient marker more than anything else.

"I brought up it up with Tsubasa and Chris. But I know October is pretty busy too with all the festivals for you."

"Are we ever not busy?" Ebisu points out, smiling a little bit. That is the nature in his temple, for as long as he can remember. Admittedly, that's only a few years in his case... But it's not a problem that seems like it's going to go away for a while. Not with his lack of employees, and not with how popular he is as a god.

"We'll find a way to do something, although I apologize that it may not be a big event."

"I don't need anything big. A lunch or dinner with my friends and family is all I want."

Ginia doesn't even need presents, though she's pretty sure she wouldn't be able to stop people from bringing them anyway. A chance to reflect on the year, celebrate surviving it, making a few memories, it's all she can ask for.

Granted, there's nothing stopping her from doing that now. This party and her conversation with Garry are proof there's an interest in social gatherings.

"A meal with family and friends..." That is simple enough, at least in theory. However, it can't simply rest at that. Not when Ebisu is around. So Ebisu reaches for a blank piece of paper and some pens. At least he can hold a pen a little better than he can hold a glue bottle... because he's certainly starting to write out some stuff, including math.

"The kitchen staff could easily make food for that kind of event, but if you want them to attend as well, since Kimi is a part of that group, then it would be easier to make a reservation at a restaurant, and..."

Oh, oh, they're getting into things now, aren't they. Ginia should have expected that in hindsight, but it doesn't stop a briefly panicked expression from crossing over as she looks for Kiwami and Aomi.

"I was thinking a potluck maybe?" It's what others seem to do and it's the easiest way to spread the work out. The temple has some of the best cooks around, but it's a bit selfish asking them to work for a party for her. Especially Kimi.

"But a restaurant would have the space for a large party and allow everyone to enjoy themselves without having to worry about anything. There's also the added benefit of putting money back into the economy and possibly answering someone's prayer in the process.

"A buffet would allow for large variety of food, while something like hot pot or yakiniku would offer a communal aspect. It also has to be somewhere that allows all ages as not all my friends are of drinking age, though I suppose that'll depend on who is still around by then."

"If we wanted to do something communal, than maybe that yakiniku idea would definitely allow for more bonding, and I'm fairly certain that all ages are allowed in most stores..." His tongue peeks out from his mouth as he writes. "But we'll need somewhere large enough..."

Meanwhile, across a few tables, Aomi pauses where he's looking at some of the puppets with Kiwami. He touches his coworker's shoulder lightly to get his attention before the two of them circle back. "I thought you were making bookmarks?" Aomi says once he's close enough to see that Ebisu is definitely not doing that. Not anymore, anyway.

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