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~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ If it were anybody else, he'd point out that the blight could spread from person to person (at least, that's what he'd been told). But it's Texas, and he doesn't give a shit, so he just sucks on his cigarette and watches curiously. ]

[ For a second examine it is all he does, walking slowly. ]

Well, this is more important. You said they'll probably be back tomorrow anyway, didn't you?

[ In the process of turning her hand to catch the light better he touches the blighted skin with his thumb, and lets go of her with a little whoops noise. Now he needs the pool. Pool party!! ]

Mm... [She frowns at Ukoku as the blight takes hold on his skin, and then quickly looks to Gojyo.]

It's infectious? [Her tone is--slightly accusing, because did he know and let Ukoku do this on purpose?? Is whatever problem they have between them really worth this?

Men.]

...Come on, my temple isn't too far. [And is, thankfully, much nicer than it looks on the outside and its surrounding woods.]

[ It's apparently infectious! Who knew?

Hands in his pockets, he strolls after her. ]

If he's gonna keep doing this, you might want to start carrying around a bottle of water from your shrine to wash with. [ He's not carrying one himself (he only takes one with him when he's going to the Near Shore in case of ayakashi attack), but it's still a good idea! ]

[ Ukoku cuts in with a mild hmm of disagreement. He's checking out his own hand, now, where blight has discolored it. ]

If he does it all the time that's not fair to you, is it? If he really doesn't like you, you might be better off releasing him.

[Yuri chews on her bottom lip; Gojyo's idea is sound, and she doesn't particularly want to think about Ukoku's suggestion.]

It's only his first day, I'm sure it's stressful. I'll have to figure something out if it keeps going on, though...

[The front of her temple looks as foreboding and creepy as the rest of the forest surrounding it, but she moves ahead to open the door and gesture for them to go ahead in. Unlike the outside, the inside is like an entirely different world. It's warmer and inviting, and there's a smell like freshly brewing coffee that seems to permeate the air.]

There's a pool back here. [The rest of the home surrounds the deep pool. At Ukoku just has to wash his hand; she's going to have to dump a bucket over her head or something. And considering water enhanced her abilities... She's not really looking forward to this.]

Gojyo, it didn't spread to you, right?

[ He holds up his hands -- both clean of blight. ]

If he's still stressing out after a few days, then maybe there's someone else here he'd rather be living with? [ He realizes as soon as he says it that that sounds like there's something wrong with Yuri, and he promptly backpedals. ] I mean, because so many of us seem to be comin' from the same worlds! Maybe there's other folks here who know him.

[ Having blight appear on the back of the neck first is such a pain in the ass, isn't it? Why couldn't it show up on the back of the hand or something? ]

You want a hand washin' that off?

[ Ukoku's been silent since the suggestion, good hand in his pocket and the blighted one held at his side, just looking around—but at that he shoots Gojyo a look over Yuri's head; cheeky grin, eyebrows raised: who's the creeper now? ]

[She kicks her shoes off and walks to the pool's edge, not wanting to let the blight hang around for longer than she needs it to.

Gojyo's words make her pause--mostly because the implication that Neji might not be happy with her] Well... That wouldn't be very surprising, I guess... [She's not exactly the exemplar goddess or anything, and who'd be happy knowing they have to serve a goddess who specialized in suicides?

Still, it's a little depressing, but she faces it stoically, shrugging as if to say 'you're not wrong' at his attempts to clarify.

The offer makes her look back at him and she hesitates. She knows she hasn't warned Gojyo about her powers, but... It should be alright. Right?]

Ah... I don't mind. Thank you. [It does feel a little strangely intimate, but she ignores it. It's just Gojyo, after all.

(Does she really know him well enough to say something like that though? Whatever.) She reaches up and gathers her hair over one shoulder, standing on the first step into the pool so it's around her ankles.] There are cloths and bowls over there. [She points to a chest next to the pool.]

[ Jesus... both of you, he's just gonna make sure she gets it all, okay? Fuck, he's not... he's just not.

With a glare at Ukoku (say something, asshole, say one fucking word), Gojyo fetches a bowl and a cloth to use as a towel, the latter of which he hands to Yuri. ]

Here. You might wanna... [ Slightly red-faced, he taps his own chest. There's gonna be trickles from this. ] The least they could have done was make all the shrine pools heated, you know?

[ This isn't serious, c'mon, laugh. Please? ]

[Sorry Gojyo, Yuri doesn't really do 'happy,' but there's a hint of a smile for his efforts which is about all one can hope for from her.]

I'll put a work order in. [Look she even made a joke back!! She presses the cloth to her chest to try and minimize the water that'll go dripping down her shirt and waits expectantly. Her nerves feel like they're running high and she holds herself a little tensely, as if somehow that'll keep her abilities down more.]

[ Hint of a smile? He'll take it! ]

I'm betting heavenly repairs work on heaven time, so you'll hear back in, oh... [ He leans over and scoops up a half-bowlful of water. ] ...fifty, sixty years?

[ Sorry, this is gonna be cold. He sets one big broad hand on her shoulder to keep everybody steady as he carefully pours the water right over that patch of blight on the back of her neck. ]

[She huffs a laugh, just a soft 'hah,' and shakes her head a little.

The hand on her shoulder makes her go still again, carefully trying to shield herself against accidentally seeing anything. The application of water is a shock though--it really is freezing--and it makes her jump, but the break in concentration is enough.

It's not an obvious invasion-- Gojyo probably wouldn't even know she was doing it if it wasn't for the fact that he'll be aware of whatever memory she's inadvertently pulling from him.]

[ It hits him like a slap in the face. One moment he's concnetrating on getting the last traces of the blight on the back of Yuri's neck and the next, he's twelve years old, his back pressed to the grimy paint of the kitchen wall as his mother (crying, snarling, eyes wild) brings the firewood ax up for a second swing.

It almost misses, just like the first one almost missed. But the sharp blade whistles through the air, slicing a second line through his cheek from nose to ear, gouging the bone beneath. He's frozen, unable to move, unable to think, and as she raises the ax a third time he closes his eyes.

The memory breaks off as abruptly as it emerged. The bowl splashes into the water at Yuri's feet as Gojyo stumbles backwards, hand flying to his face to check what he's sure are two fresh cuts. But the scars there are hard, slightly cool, many years old. ]

What th'fuck was that?! [ --he gasps, heart still rabbiting. ]

[She takes a few stumbling steps forward, falling to her knees in the pool. She lands on the steps, knees scraping harshly against the stones, and braces herself for a few moments.

Her face is killing her and she reaches up in a mirror of him, touching her face where the scars are on his own. She half-expects to find blood, but there's none, of course. Just the phantom pain echoing from his memories, sticking to her.]

I... I'm sorry. [She doesn't even know what else to say here, and 'sorry' doesn't feel like it's nearly enough. Yuri turns, still pressing a hand to her face; her eyes zero in his scars a moment, and then on the rest of his face. She looks-- expectant. Not so much like she expects him to hit or something, but clearly expecting some sort of lashing out.]

I didn't think to warn you, I thought... I could control it.

[ Ukoku comes up behind Gojyo, heading for the pool, and lays an innocuous hand on his back—the sort of silent reassuring gesture that none of their interaction has warranted at all.

It's his blighted hand, of course.

He kneels down at the edge of the pool, glancing at Yuri. ]

Are you all right?

[ Gojyo doesn't even notice the pat on the back, still staring in a sort of wounded horror at Yuri. It's not even that she's got the power to make him remember one of the worst days of his life... it's that, given the way she touched her own cheek after, she saw it too.

He's only ever told that story to two other people (and only one of those in any detail). For somebody to be able to just reach into his mind and pull those thoughts out? It's... intrusive. Violating in a way that he's not really able to process. ]

It's okay. [ The words come out on automatic -- it's clearly not her fault, he can see that, but... he can't be here right now. Without another word he heads for the door. He'll find himself a spot just outside and smoke through most of his pack, and then... then he'll be able to look her in the eye again.

[Yuri withdraws inward, carefully schooling her face into a blank sort of acceptance. What's one more person rejecting her for her abilities and her lack of control over it? She should be used to that.]

...Yeah. [She's honestly a little surprised that Gojyo hasn't teleported away entirely--she's not sure she wouldn't have if it was her. As he turns away Yuri finally rises from the water, glancing down. Her knees are bleeding, the blood dripping a line down her leg and into the water, but it's hardly tainting it.

She shivers as she moves up the steps; at least the blight is gone now, which is what she wanted to begin with, but she's soaked now and feeling guilty.

(Hakkai was right she would've made a terrible shinki.)]

Your hand. [She grabs the fallen cloth and holds it out for Ukoku and then, as an after though, holds out her free hand, in a quiet 'I'll wash it for you if you want' sort of gesture. She then pauses because, really, why would even he touch her after that whole incident?

Her fingers curl uncertainly and she shakes her head (a little aggravated at herself) with a soft sigh] Nevermind.

Edited 2016-08-24 04:25 (UTC)

Don't worry about me; you're worse off than I am. [ His tone is casual, like nothing happened. He dips his hand in the pool and holds it up for her to see: all gone. ]

Do you have anything to put on this? [ He gets up and comes closer only to crouch down again, one hand light on the side of her knee, as if to see how bad it is. (No one ever assumes he's not that kind of doctor, and he hasn't corrected anyone yet.) ]

[She twitches a little at how close he is, on edge now even if she feels like her grasp on her power is contained now that she's had that first shock. The scrapes themselves aren't bad, but they're doing that annoying thing shallow cuts do where they bleed a lot more than they have any right to be doing.]

There's a first aid kit in the chest too. [Mostly just in case, partly because she hadn't been bothered to move it anywhere else yet. She glances up in the direction Gojyo went and then back to Ukoku, feeling more exhausted than before. Why was interacting with people so hard? Why couldn't she just be normal?

She rubs the back of her neck and glances at her hand, but it appears that Gojyo managed to wipe the blight away before her untimely violation of his mind. Small miracles. Yuri moves away from Ukoku then to takes a seat on the edge of the pool, because she's tired and it offers her a better chance at examining her wounds.

Nope, nothing serious. She supposes she should be relieved.] You should be more careful about touching me right now. [Though Yuri's about 90% sure she's got it under control now, there's always the 'what if' and underlying worry.]

[ He gets the first aid kit and sits down next to her, tearing a little package open while he talks. ]

I remember what you said about water, but I didn't realize it could affect the other person. What happened?

[ He puts his hand her knee while he works. Look how not worried about it he is! ]

[She makes another noise of warning, but Ukoku apparently couldn't care less. She watches him sharply, but she doesn't dare risk reaching her mind out to figure out what he might really be thinking here. Not after what just happened with Gojyo.]

It was a little different then what happened with us. ["A little." She debates on how to answer it, considers being vague and trying to wave it away, but in the end she's too tired to play that game. Instead she rests her arms on her legs and leans forward some, not so she can speak better to Uoku, but a defensive sort of gesture, curling in on herself.]

I saw his memories. One of them, at least. It's not important which one. [She reaches for her cheek where Gojyo's scars are without even thinking about it and then drops her hand again with a sigh.]

Hmm. [ He shoots her a sly glance as he smooths a bandaid over one of the scrapes. ] I think we had a conversation about this. [ About scaring people, and not scaring people, and keeping secrets. ]

Well, now he knows. Things happen, right? [ He tears open another bandaid. ]

'It's not a power I should hide.' [She remembers what she said, echoes it now in a dull tone.] This isn't the part of my abilities I was talking about when I said that. Besides... Something like that wouldn't scare you away or bother you. There wasn't really a point hiding it from you.

[~~ukoku georg is an outlier and should not have been counted~~

It's said in a dry tone, like she's being sarcastic, but her eyes remain watchful until he comments about Gojyo. She looks away and over her shoulder at the door he'd fled through and then back with a shake of her head.] I thought I'd be more used to that.

I'm not talking about me. [ He pauses to finish up with her other knee, and sits back, crumpling the wrappers into a little ball. ] But you're right. Do you want to be used to it?

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