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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[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?

I was just saying. [Ukoku is, without a doubt, different than the people Yuri usually speaks to about these things. Even Hakkai seemed to avoid contact with her after she'd told him about seeing memories, though he always remained polite and kind to her.

(Shinki, she supposed, had more reason to fear her ability though. She'd mentioned herself that her ability that could make even shinki recall their own memories could make her a potentially very deadly threat to the heavens.)

Ukoku, however, didn't flinch or shy away in the slightest, which was both a relief and a little confusing. What was that saying about not looking a gift horse in the mouth...?

She crosses her arms over her leg and rests her head on them, wishing she could go take a nap.]

If I was used to it, I wouldn't have to feel anything. [Which is sort of a yes, but not actually answering the question.] I don't know.

[ Ukoku gets up, putting his free hand on her head for a second, and heads over to the chest. ]

You could try to force bad reactions by doing this to people who don't expect it and see if that desensitizes you. Or you could keep avoiding it, which probably isn't the worst strategy in the world.

[ He pauses to put away the first aid kit and turns back to her. ]

Or you could stop worrying about other people. Trash? [ He holds up the crumpled wrappers. ]

[ It's a much muted Gojyo who cautiously returns, trailing a cloud of smoke, hands tucked into his pockets. He's not surprised to see that Texas is still there -- his luck's not that good -- but he stops when he sees the bandages on Yuri's legs. Did he miss something? ]

Are you okay?

[She sits up and points out a way, mind heavy with Ukoku's words. He's probably not wrong, but she's not sure she likes any of those options. Easier to say than to do, she supposes.] I think the nearest one is in the kitchen.

[Gojyo's returns receives no fanfare, of course, though Yuri looks up quickly and watches him with a careful, wary eye.]

Fine. [She glances at her knees and covers them with her hands, as if embarrassed.] I fell on the steps.

[Yuri's quiet for a moment, fingers curling uncertainly as she looks at him] I should be asking you that anyhow. I-- [A moment of hesitation and she glances away guiltily.] The blight's gone. Thank you.

[This is awkward.]

[ Texas is already on his way to the kitchen, simultaneously being the best guest here and giving feelings-crushing guest a generous chance to explain himself (while eavesdropping). ]

[ He waits until Ukoku is out of the room, then comes to sit down next to Yuri, close enough for her to touch him... but only if she reaches out. ]

So that's your god power, huh?

[She glances over, taking note of the space between them and her eyes narrow. A deliberate move on his part, she suspects, and her shoulders real somewhat; she can appreciate the gesture, at least.]

No. [She huffs a little, amused, if self-deprecatingly.] It's one of the abilities I had back home that came with me here. It's not something that's usually used on the living. [Though she'd done it a couple times before, usually on accident.] It's supposed to take on the sins and memories of the dead or dying so their souls can move on freely.

[ She seems annoyed that he's sitting so far away, but he's not going to move, sorry. Not until he knows better what's going on here.

He's suitably impressed by her admission, though. ] Ohh? So that was like a, what, a confession or something? [ His understanding of Christian ritual isn't the strongest okay. ] Are you a priest? ...Ess? A priestess?

When it's someone living, I guess it's just a way to share pain. I feel everything the other person feels--or felt, I guess. I guess it reminds people they're not alone.

[She's just guessing, though; there's no records of it being used on people who weren't coming to die, after all. She tilts her head, a bit amused.] Why, do you feel lighter for it? [That's what's supposed to happen when you confess and all, right?] Ah, but... I guess it's not something to joke about...

[But Yuri shakes her head at his question.] Not exactly. They don't exist anymore. Where I lived, on the mountain there was a shrine and priestesses. People would come to die on the mountain, and a priestess would stay with them while they did and use this power, but... There was an incident. A massacre. Most of the priestesses were killed, and the ones that weren't fled to the surrounding villages. The place became cursed.

...If they were still around I would've been taken in and trained, but... I don't... have anyone to train me in this. I've had to mostly figure it out myself. [She stares down at her knees, frowning darkly.] My control is usually pretty good, but being wet makes it stronger. I didn't have as good of control as I thought, and you suffered for it.

...I should've warned you. I'm sorry.

[ Gojyo just listens quietly, half-turned toward Yuri as she speaks. So it's an inherited power, something she was born with. Well, that certainly explains why she has so much trouble controlling it. The being wet thing he doesn't really understand, but he shrugs it off as just a difference between worlds. It sounds like her power is magical -- what, before coming here, he would have called a gift from the gods -- and magic plays by its own rules.

He's quiet for a minute after she apologizes, but then he shakes his head, smiling. ]

You can't control it, right? So it's not your fault. I'm sorry you had to see that. [ See and feel, from what she said. It sounds like she experienced it, like it was her there on the kitchen floor. He wants to ask... but he doesn't really want to know. ] All the good memories in my head and you end up with that one! You don't owe me a sorry for that.

I'm trying. I'm working on it. [She makes it sound like a promise, a little desperate, because she really needs him--anyone-- to understand that's she's trying, dammit. Like maybe if she keeps insisting, people won't utterly abandon her this time.

But Gojyo's being a good guy about this, she can see that, and she appreciates it more than he can possibly know. Her shoulders slump a little in relief and she nods.] ...We can talk about it more sometime. When you're ready. [What she really means is "when certain eavesdropping crows won't be around." Not because she thinks Ukoku is deliberately listening in (she can't say anything about that, because she would do it too), but because she knows he could also come back at any time and this is all a rather private conversation.

That, and she doesn't want to give Ukoku the satisfaction of hearing more about her abilities than what he can pull from her himself. Eavesdropping makes things way too easy on him-- She's going to make him work for it, okay?

But hey! She gives Gojyo a little bit of a smile, so small victories, right?]

[ Small victories.

Ukoku shuffles back out, unhurried, hands in his pockets. ]

You're going to take some time off climbing trees, I hope? [ It comes with a doctor-ly air of mild authority; it would be best. ]

[ Gojyo's small answering smile fades completely when Ukoku reemerges. This asshole again, huh? Great. ]

I should go. [ As he stands he reaches out, hesitates briefly, then pats Yuri deliberately on the shoulder, letting his hand linger for a whole second before pulling it away. It'll be okay, honey. ] Climb all the damn trees you want to.

Yes, sensei. [She raises an eyebrow at Ukoku, but her attention is quickly diverted to Gojyo when he touches her. She looks surprised, but after a moment her expression turns grateful]

Be safe. [He lives to be contrary to Ukoku, doesn't he? Her gaze slides curiously to the other man, head tilting in a silent inquiry. What the hell is up with you two??]

Edited 2016-08-25 22:07 (UTC)

[ Ukoku just sits back down on Yuri's other side and gives Gojyo a friendly little wave. Okay, bye! Thanks for the lighter xoxo ]

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007 | Clean Up Your Act

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