thenearshore | 007 | Clean Up Your Act

Entry tags:

007 | Clean Up Your Act

Who: Everyone!
What: Spring cleaning
When: All day April 15
Where: All around the Heavens
Summary: The Heavens don't like things being cluttered, so it's time to clean up a little bit.

Main Hall

While the main hall of the Heavens seems spotlessly clean at all times, that's not the case at all. In fact, it's been at least a decade since the last time they actually cleaned everything out properly. There are a lot of hidden closets and back rooms that have layers of dust and dozens of boxes filled with nothing but junk. Who knows, though! You might find something interesting and useful in there along with all the garbage.

Suprises

Unfortunately, some of the older temples on the Far Shore seem to have some interesting surprises tucked away, ranging from cursed artifacts all the way to magical creatures locked up in long-forgotten rooms. You are free to be creative with this as a way to get your characters into trouble while cleaning.

Complimentary Dinner

After all of your hard work, you deserve to have some tasty food and refreshing beverages. So the Heavens have provided that for you, so that you can wind down after a long day. It's not as fancy as the banquets they often put on, but there is a nice array of food and drinks for everyone to enjoy.

Counselling

As usual, there is a white-robed shinki bearing the gold chrysanthemum of Amaterasu sitting at a table in the Main Hall. There is a small sign that denotes her as the counselling shinki. Anyone is welcome to approach her, and she will smile serenely at anyone passing by as well.

In Summary:

Clean up your home
Help clean others' homes
Get the main hall clean too!
Hope no hidden magic jumps out
Seek counselling if you need it
Enjoy your complimentary dinner
Have fun~

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[Totally a word. She nods eagerly when he corrects her on his name.]

Okay! It's nice to meet you Konzen!

[And now that she's been invited she practically bounces in to inspect her new home. In her excitement she actually goes right past him into the main living room. She stops in the middle and twirls around.]

Wow! It's so.... white. Is that your favorite color?

What? No.

[ He pauses. Actually, it's probably the color that suits him the best, but who has 'favorite' colors, anyway? He probably has plenty of colors (or color combinations) he doesn't like. But he's never even thought about favorites. ]

Well. It looked like this when I got here. I guess it's what the actual Helios liked.

[ And Konzen doesn't look like he hates it though, so there's that. ]

...What did they tell you, about being a shinki?

Edited (formatting) 2016-08-21 17:12 (UTC)

Oh, I see. Well, that's fine. We'll have tons of fun redecorating!

[Elise has favorite colors. They're pink and purple. She also likes ribbons. So... probably don't let her make any major redecorating decisions. She goes back to giving herself a little tour of the house, but pauses in front of one of the doors to answer his question.]

Not a whole lot. They said I was dead and that I'm supposed to help you fight....

[She blanks on the word for ayakashi.]

...those monster things. And that I can turn into a weapon.

Ayakashi, [ he supplies helpfully as he follows her in her exploration of the house. (There are plenty of rooms to see, mostly sparsely furnished, with the odd vase here and there with a plant in it. The walls are bare. But there's plenty of sunlight to brighten the rooms, at least. And one room has a bunch of large beanbag things on the floor that surround a low table).

Konzen sighs. This heaven, and the one he comes from, they're all the same. They expect children to do the fighting for them, because they're either too damn selfish or lazy to do it themselves. He thinks upon Nataku, not for the first time since his arrival here. At least Nataku was a War Prince, highly capable of annihilating a lot of life in one sweep. Elise, on the other hand, doesn't appear to be much of a fighter.

Then again, neither is Konzen, really. And he's expected to wield whatever weapon his shinki becomes. He's been practicing with Haru in his naginata form, but he's still got a lot to learn. ]

You don't have to fight, if you don't want to. [ He should just put that out there right now. He doesn't expect her to do anything, really. Some might consider shinki to be servants to their gods, but Konzen certainly does not. ]

... and what do you mean, redecorating....?

[ And why does he feel a little apprehensive of that prospect? ]

Yeah, those.

[She nods when he supplies the word she'd been missing. Elise is going to have to try to remember that one. She keeps poking her head into various rooms until she finds the beanbags.

Giant squishy pillows! She wastes no time in flopping down on one of them with a giggle. So much better than normal chairs. His next comment derails her train of thought though and she scrambles back to her feet.]

What? Why? They said a god needs a shinki to kill those ayakashi things.

[Does he think she's too weak? Can he tell she's scared of fighting monsters? At least she's forgotten about redecorating. ~~For now.~~]

[ The good news is, she's forgotten about the redecorating. The bad news, Konzen has somehow made her upset. Why? Because she wants to fight? Honestly, Konzen had figured she would be glad about that.

He's taken aback, and he's not quite sure how to answer. One thing he could say is that he already has a shinki if he must fight (in fact, he has two, if he counts Goku...even though he's considering revoking his name), but somehow that doesn't seem like the right thing to say. ]

Well, yeah. But you might ... get hurt.

[He doesn't think she's strong enough. Well... she can't really blame him. Elise knows she's small and weak.]

But how can I protect people if I don't fight? How can I protect you?

[She doesn't remember where or when it was drilled into her head, but the lesson is still there. You have to be willing to fight to protect your friends and loved ones.

But besides that, she's really afraid of what might happen to a shinki if their god has no use for them.]

I know I'm not really strong, but... you could at least give me a chance...

[She looks away and pouts. That always helps, right?]

Quit sulking.

[ He says it by reflex, because it's the sort of thing that he would've said to Goku in the same situation. He also said it because her reaction confuses him and he doesn't know how to handle it without making her even more upset. Still, he regrets the words as soon as he says them.

He runs his hand through his hair and exhales. ]

I mean...

[ This is so awkward. He takes a seat on a nearby beanbag, sinking in and making the situation seem a lot more comical than it actually is. ]

Fighting these things, it's dangerous. If you're doing it because of what some bastards in charge said, I'm saying you don't have to.

[ And staying here, it doesn't matter if you fight or not. Konzen won't push you out. That's ridiculous. ]

[Quit sulking? How mean! Her lower lip quivers just a little. Luckily he clarifies before the tears start.

So it's not that he doesn't want her around, he's just worried about her. That does make her feel a little better. She shakes her head firmly.]

That's not it! I just....

[She looks down, toying with the fabric of her skirt.]

I don't want to be a burden. I want to help. Not just you, but other people too. They said that ayakashi do bad things to people. And gods and shinki, we can stop them.

[ Thankfully, she doesn't start crying. Konzen would really be done for if that happened. It's bad enough that her cheery demeanor and golden hair reminds him of another kid with the same sunny disposition. (And Konzen definitely couldn't take his tears).

And what she says is actually true. Ayakashi do torment the mortals. Even if it's a task that's been punted to people like Konzen and all the dead shinki souls, the work itself is not inherently bad. ]

... All right.

[ He can't deny that only a god and his shinki can destroy these things. Even one such as himself. ]

You should know though, I'm kind of new at this, too.

[Elise is quick to pout and cry, but equally quick to cheer back up. She looks back up with a hopeful smile.]

Really? You mean it? Yay!

[She rushes over excitedly to clasp one of his hands in hers.]

It'll be fine! We're both new, so we can learn together! I bet we'll make a great team.

[She's determined. He's given her a chance, and Elise isn't going to waste it.]

[ Kids have such a whirlwind of emotions. It's hard to keep up. But strangely enough, this all feels familiar to him.

Begin at the beginning.

Konzen wasn't sure if he could, when he talked about it with Tenpou. But maybe it doesn't have to be so complicated. He gives his version of a smile, which one monkey once said looked funny. It is what it is. ]

Fine.

[ He tilts his head. ]

Do you wanna see the rest of the house?

You bet I do!

[Whirlwind of emotions, whirlwind of energy, whirlwind of activity. It's a good word for Elise. She tugs on his hand excitedly.]

I still haven't seen my room yet.

[Unless it's one of the rooms she's already poked her head in.]

Oh, and I want to see the yard! Do we have a yard? If we do, we should plant flowers!

Oh.

[ Her room. Shit. Well, there's plenty of them in the house, at least. It's not a very big house but it does have enough bedrooms. Though if they keep sending him new shinki every few weeks, he might have to get creative.

He feels uncomfortable by the hang tugging, but he doesn't resist when she pulls at him. Konzen rises to his feet. ]

I'll show you the yard, first. It's closer.

[ He nods toward the sliding glass doors, which are already partly open. It opens out into the back courtyard, where a small pool takes up much of the space. ]

I've never planted flowers before, though.

Okay!

[She tugs him along until they get to the courtyard, where gives a delighted gasp at the sight of the pool and lets his hand go so she can run over to stick her hand in the water.]

The water's so clean!

[It does take up a lot of space though, so any garden will have to be small. She turns back to face him, still kneeling next to the pool.]

I don't remember if I have, but it's just gardening. How hard could it be?

[Famous last words...]

[ There is some strip of land that runs around the border of the pool, which could be used to plant things, maybe. Jiroshin once chided Kanzeon Bosatsu that she'd never even cared for a potted plant before; how could she possibly care for a child? Funny enough, the same description could have gone for Konzen too, at the time. He still got stuck on babysitting duty.

He's not really sure if he'd done a great job at it. He tried his best, though. ]

Be careful, [ he says a little anxiously as she leans over the pool. Okay, so maybe Konzen is a bit of fussy mama. (Don't tell him that, though). ]

[She'll find room. It doesn't need to be a big garden. Honestly she probably couldn't manage more than a small plot of flowers. Waving away his concern with a smile, she stands and brushes off her skirt.]

I'll be fine! It's probably not that deep.

[Probably? Well, she's not worried. There are more important things to think about.]

So what is your favorite color? You said it wasn't white.

My favorite color...?

[ It's not something he ponders about, so he doesn't have a ready answer. He looks somewhat puzzled as he gropes for an answer. ]

I've never thought about it before.

[ He feels a weird foreboding. She did say redecorating... ]

Why?

Never?!? But everyone needs a favorite color.

[That is just baffling to her. She doesn't even have memories and she's got a favorite color. Maybe two favorites.]

Mine are pink and purple.

[Two favorites is obviously fine.]

You should pick one, so we know what kind of flowers to plant. And what color to decorate in.

[ They do? Says who? Konzen has a feeling she's just making this up. ]

Um.

[ Decorate in. Suddenly his fears are realized. He pictures pink and purple walls. Pink curtains. Purple chairs. Pink pillows. ]

What kind of decorations? [ he asks dubiously. ]

Oh, you know.

[She starts ticking items off on her fingers.]

Like furniture, rugs, curtains, pillows.... and I guess we could paint the walls too.

[She'd be happy to start with her favorite colors if he can't think of one. See? A favorite color is suddenly very important.]

I bet this place'll look great once we spruce it up!

The walls...?

[ He cringes a little. Okay, maybe he's okay with a few throw pillows and maybe even a table runner but purple walls just sound way too gaudy. ]

Maybe you can ... start somewhere smaller.

Smaller?

[She looks around for a likely place to start. Smaller than the walls, let's see....]

Oh, I know! Let's get new curtains for the windows!

[ Curtains are acceptable but he has a feeling that wasn't the intent of this temple of the sun god. However, maybe this place could add some color and privacy? And at least curtains are easily replaceable. ]

All right.

[ Small compromises, he can do this. He's lived with a kid before. ]

Come on, let's find you a room.

[They can start with curtains. And then move on to other things. This place needs a lot more color in it. But first, a room!]

Okay~! Hey is there a room where you can see the yard out the window? That would be great.

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bon_bon - 2016-09-09 00:46 (UTC) - Expand

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