Closed

[bussounoshima]

Who: Sharak and Konzen, Sharak and the other hot blond too many Sanzos just too many
What: Two grown ass adults at Capyper Land, both swear they have a good reason for being there. Also: Sanzo party without the party and with extra Sanzo flavouring
When: May 9th, May 8th late afternoon, May 10th evening
Where: Capyper Land, Kanzeon's temple, does Tokyo even have dive bars
Warnings: Because they're at an amusement park for children and the happiest place on Earth, we must include warnings for gun violence, swearing, mention of child death and reckless child endangerment. But like, in a fun way.


[It's a courtesy call, really. Genjo had been pretty worn out after their chat the other night and Sharak wants to see how he's doing. After their discussion, she's pretty sure she knows where to find him too... And so she walks up to Kanzeon's temple and lets herself into the front yard.

Even if she can't find the Genjo she's thinking of, she wouldn't mind speaking to the other one. It really depends on which one she finds first.]



[She'd been asked to look into a childish spirit wandering around a theme park looking miserable so... Here she is. Sharak still isn't keen on this "God" business, but the best way to learn what's going on is occasionally to play along. For now, anyway. "Aditi" is everyone's mother and so of course she cares for lost children in need of protection. Sharak, on the other hand, is certainly no mother... But she's not opposed to protecting children anyway.

For now Sharak is stood by the wall outside a restaurant opposite a particularly large rollercoaster, watching the children run around screaming with an indulgent look in her eye. Maybe this isn't so bad.]

Comments

[bon_bon]

[ It's another one of those joint-things. He's not exactly sure what's behind these assignments, but it keeps him busy and his mind off of things he'd rather not mull too much on.

This one is by far the most ridiculous.

Capyper Land. Capybaras. Cheerful little mole-rat things with grinning faces that dance to sing-songy tunes. Konzen's sure that he's going to have the fucking melody stuck in his head all day and he's only been listening to it for five minutes. He grumbles to himself and stalks over to the appointed meet-up location, only to find ...

Oh, what. He narrows his eyes at the very familiar get-up. A priest. Another one. ]

Are you Sharak?

[ Never one for the nice greetings, this one. ]

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak glances up and looks remarkably unsurprised at the sight of Konzen. Well, she'd been warned, hadn't she? What a lucky coincidence, one of the people she'd been meaning to look into.

She nearly pulls her gun on him, just for fun. Nearly.]

Are you Konzen?

[Sass will have to do.]

[bon_bon]

[ At least she doesn't pull a gun on him. What's it say about sanzo priests that this is actually an improvement? Though Genjo's priest-ness isn't really the first impression Konzen has of the guy (might have something to do with the fact that he's got his face). As for this particular priest: she definitely has an imposing air, like it wouldn't be surprising if she had an even bigger gun than Genjo's up her sleeve. Konzen suddenly has a disturbing notion in his mind that Sharak might get along well with the Merciless Hag. ]

Hmph.

[ Is his one worded response to her smart-alec question. If it's even a word. He pulls out a map of the amusement park from his jeans pocket and unfolds it. It's neatly marked with a colored marker. ]

Why don't we get started, then?

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak's totally got a bigger package than Genjo but she doesn't pull a gun on him yet. She doesn't want to get predictable.]

Straight to business then? [Walks leisurely up to Konzen, assessing him carefully. Taller than Genjo, but he doesn't really carry himself like a fighter, does he... Based on first impressions, Sharak's pretty sure she could get him on the floor in a second.] I haven't seen any spirits or ayakashi yet.

[bon_bon]

​[ Sharak could most definitely get him on the floor in a second. But she probably shouldn't underestimate him. Konzen might look like a useless paper stamping aristocrat, but he once punched the Bodhisattva in the face. He also got drop-kicked for the trouble, but we don't talk about that.

He's also excellent at paying attention to the details, which is why he's brought this map to begin with. He points to the various locations on it that he's marked. ]

These are where there've been some unusual activity reported. We can check them out first.

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak and Kanzeon should really hang out some time, if they both survive the current story arc.

But oh okay he is relatively on top of things. That's promising. Sharak takes a look at the map too and points at one of the locations.]

We'll start at the hedge maze and then work our way around. Look for signs of odd behaviour and report to me before making contact.

[Just gonna start... giving orders...]

[bon_bon]

​[ What the hell. Konzen's eyebrow twitches a little. But he doesn't protest, possibly because he does think maybe she's packing a firearm in there somewhere and he'd rather not find out. He sighs and tucks the map, neatly folded, back into his pocket. ]

Fine.

[ And he starts to walk in his usual clipped pace. ]

So are you a god or a shinki?

[bussounoshima]

[There's no maybe about it, Konzen. Sharak strides forward, easily matching his pace.]

Apparently, I'm Aditi. ["Apparently". No, she's still not going to seriously call herself that.] The mother of all gods, which someone probably thought was funny.

[bon_bon]

​Nothing's funny here, [ he mumbles grumpily. Sarcasm, he has it sometimes. Just not right now.

Kids rush by with oversized plush-toys and fistfuls of cotton candy in their hands. Konzen expertly dodges them, as though he's rather good at predicting how rascals move. ]

I take it you're new.

[ Either that, or Genjo hasn't met her, yet. He mentioned the other sanzo priests, and she wasn't amongst them. ]

[killsthebuddha]

[ Though he'd been particularly bad off that night, it's rare that Sanzo isn't worn out. Today, however, he's looking positively lively. It might have something to do with the fact that he's swatting at a group of monkeys with a paper fan. The smart ones escape quickly, scrambling noisily to safety and congregating on the sloped edge of a colorfully tiled rooftop. ]

Stop stealing, you little assholes.[ He snatches a phone up from the ground, victorious, before belatedly realizing he's not the only person out there. He straightens suddenly, a hand disappearing in his sleeve as he starts to turn on her, never trusting anywhere to be safe. ]

[bussounoshima]

[Too late, Sanzo, she saw you. She saw you yelling and swatting at a bunch of actual monkeys. Too late to try and act with decorum. Time to make her presence known before she gets to close.]

Don't let me interrupt the disciplinary committee. [Walks up to him slowly, one of the monkeys escaping by running around her feet and back down the path. ] You can't just let miscreants run wild, Genjo.

[killsthebuddha]

[ With all the dignity of a cat that fell off a countertop, Sanzo is pointedly pretending he hasn't embarrassed himself. It's an excellent impression right down to the fact that it isn't terribly convincing. ] Glad I have your approval.

[ He wipes his cracked phone screen of smudgy monkey prints, cleaning it off on his robe. ]

[bussounoshima]

I'm just glad you're not letting yourself get pushed around.

[By monkeys.]

How are you?

[killsthebuddha]

[ Sanzo huffs softly, the closest he would ever manage to a proper self-deprecating laugh. He could barely keep monkeys in line, but it was something. ]

Whatever affected me that night stopped. [ He gestures somewhat vaguely, an invitation. They might as well sit and chat, and he'll start to lead her towards a gazebo that he's claimed as a favored reading spot. ] I haven't had a chance to look into what happened, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turned into a dead end. That's all we get around here.

[ It's an excellent non-answer. ]

[bussounoshima]

I heard there was a fight, but I didn't catch it myself.

[Some demon bullshit... Kainé and Genjo have both recovered, so she'll take it. Sharak follows him, not impressed by that non-answer, but not willing to pry yet. But she is eying him for any signs of exhaustion or injury which are surely very unusual for Genjo Sanzo.]

Hakkai stopped by yesterday.

[killsthebuddha]

[ Now that the flurry of action with the monkeys is over, it's not hard to read exhaustion in the little between the lines ways of how he moves and holds himself. It's nothing overt, the product of long term stress and sleep deprivation. It's nearly become routine, miserable as it is. ]

Ah? That was fast. [ He hadn't directed Hakkai to her, not exactly, but his recommendation had lead to the man saying something about looking for her. ]

[bussounoshima]

I don't think he planned it, honestly, but shit works out that way sometimes.

[Or maybe they're all pawns for some greater power. Who knows. When they reach the gazebo, Sharak goes straight to the bench to sit down comfortably.]

Any reason he's going for the natural look now?

May 10th

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak needs information. She needs to understand things. Unfortunately, this might mean doing some distasteful things, such as not spending every interaction with Ukoku Sanzo firing bullets into his head that just vanish into nothingness. At the very least, she needs information as to how she can actually shoot the asshole.

A few hours exploring Japan have lead her to a dodgy looking bar at the end of a rather suspect alley. The floors are dirty, the clientele is rough and the drinks could be better but it's quieter than every other bar Sharak's walked past so far which is good enough for her. She's got a cozy little table all to herself in the corner, even.

If you want to buy me a drink, I'll be at neutral ground for the next twenty minutes.

Then she sends some approximate directions. There, that should be enough.]

[existentialcrisis]

[ If she'd told him to meet her at the summit of an active volcano he'd have been on time, so a bar is easy. Nostalgic, in a way. He notices her as soon as he comes in, but he heads for the bar instead. He gets the bartender's attention by grabbing the back of his shirt and then folding his hands on the counter when the guy turns around.

A minute later he comes over (followed by the bartender's judging stare; he sure does look like a fake monk right now) with two glasses of whiskey: one neat, one with ice. He sets both on the table, in the center, and sits down. ]

Hi.

[bussounoshima]

[Maybe not an active volcano, but maybe the second date can be on some mountain summit. Push Ukoku out of his comfort zone and Sharak into hers.]

Hey.

[Well, now she has to make a decision. Accepting drinks prepared out of view from shady looking older men is how girls wind up dead. But she did tell him to buy her a drink and she's a little old to be a "girl" anyway. She takes the neat whisky.]

Hope I didn't pull you away from anything important.

[existentialcrisis]

We're dead.

[ He takes the other drink, clinking in the ice in the glass. Sure. ]

What could be important?

[bussounoshima]

[Sharak raises her eyebrows briefly. Ukoku's not the first god to voice that opinion to her.]

You sound so certain. I don't remember telling you about my affairs.

[existentialcrisis]

Well, I'm dead. [ He might as well be saying he's doing fine, thank you. ]

Maybe you're not, but I don't think it's likely.

[bussounoshima]

[That's news to her. Did Ukoku run into Nataku too? Maybe that kid does know what he's doing.]

The rumour mill in India is shit lately. [The west is pretty shit in general lately, so that should probably be expected.] You're not the first person to say something like that.

[existentialcrisis]

Well, a few gods—"gods," you know—remember dying, so that doesn't surprise me.

[ He pauses to dig into his sleeve for his cigarettes, take one out for himself, and offer her the pack. ]

I wouldn't worry about it, anyway. You'll either be stuck here or you'll disappear, and the likelihood that it'll send you back when and where you came from is infinitesimal.