[closed]

[existentialcrisis]

Who: Ukoku & Tsuzuki
What: Sho had some crazy magic blueprints. Now they're Ukoku's crazy magic blueprints.
When: May 11
Where: Mahakala's temple
Warnings: none (probably?? this might actually change)



[ At some point Ukoku sends Tsuzuki a picture of his atrium with a text: Ready whenever you are.

The front hall is empty again, for consistency's sake. The writing on the stone floor is all in black ink, but the sigil in the pool is written on the tiles in fluorescent green paint, crawling over the raised edges. Guy is out somewhere; Ukoku waited. He's dressed like a priest—he has been more often than not, the last few days—and he wanders around the atrium while he waits, tossing his sutra, rolled up and innocuous, from hand to hand. ]

Comments

[existentialcrisis]

Can you? [ He holds it out, pushing his sleeve out of the way. ]

I think it might be best, next time, for us to stay up here, watch the gate, and try something remote. Maybe a sonar system.

[sweetdeath]

Sonar? Huh. Yeah, something like that might work.

[He hadn't thought about technology: it's still kind of a mystery to him, the kind of thing he laughed and left up to Watari and the Gushoshin back home. He can type his reports and follow directions, more or less, and he's basically okay at using the fancy new cell phone he'd gotten here. It's just not the first thing that leaps to mind.

He glances down at his own hand: the edge of it had hit the stone pretty hard, coming up out of the portal, and while the scrape'd healed almost as fast as it formed there's a little pebble still embedded. He pries it free with a fingernail, catching the bead of blood that wells up on his fingertip, and reaches out to smooth the blood across Ukoku's hand.]

[existentialcrisis]

[ Ukoku watches with rapt attention. It wasn't what he expected, going by what little Yamato said, and the implications—

He brings his hand up to his face, examining the unbroken skin. ]

That's really something. How does that work, do you know? Or maybe I should say 'why.'

[sweetdeath]

I don't know. -- I mean, it didn't work before I got here, so it's got something to do with my divine power, I think. [He holds up his hand, with the little bleeding welt gone as if it'd never been there, except for a tiny trace of dried blood in the creases of his palm.] My body heals fast because I was a god of death, but it never made a difference to anyone else's injuries before.

[His healing goes back even further than his own death, to his mortal body's resistance to injury and deprivation... but Ukoku doesn't need to know about that and Tsuzuki turns his own thoughts away from that time with the ease of long, long practice.]

[existentialcrisis]

Wow. Lucky; that's a good power to get.

[ He claps a hand on Tsuzuki's arm briefly. ]

I keep forgetting about the god of death thing. You look too friendly!

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki's laugh is a little uncomfortable. Hey, at least it's a compliment, right?]

Well, you know, we're not all grim skeletons wandering around in robes or anything like that!

[Sure, there's all those old horror scroll illustrations, but either fashions have really changed in the Summons Department or somebody was taking some creative liberties with the whole "dead" thing.]

I'm just as glad to be out of that job, though.

[existentialcrisis]

[ Ukoku pats his empty sleeves again, absently, and hums in wordless agreement. There are cigarettes stashed around here, somewhere. ]

Well, I'll work on some kind of a system later. I think I'm gonna go ahead and forget I was down there for a little while.

[sweetdeath]

Yeah... that sounds like a good idea.

[Tsuzuki shudders, and looks around at the scraped and sliced floor. It looks like some kind of huge creature attacked the sigil, clawing away whole sections right out of the stone.]

Uh, need any help cleaning up in here before I head out?

[existentialcrisis]

Oh, no, that's all right. Half the sigil won't do anything, so I'll just leave it.

[ And leave the hole in the floor. It's fine. He pauses, staring at it. ]

For now.

[ Putting it on something portable would be convenient… He turns back to Tsuzuki with a little smile. ]

Let me know if you hear anything you think might be important, okay?

[sweetdeath]

You bet. Let me know if you do either, huh?

[Tsuzuki grins at him, straightening up. Yeah, okay. They both got out of that in one piece, no mysterious monsters were released on the heavens, it's fine. It's all fine.]

... Or if you need any help painting another sigil!

[existentialcrisis]

[ A fun friendship-building activity!! Alcohol will be provided. ]

I'd appreciate that! As soon as I have a good surface for it, all right?

[ Arts and crafts time. ]

[sweetdeath]

Sure!

[Alcohol and dangerous magical incantations! Man, that sounds like exactly Tsuzuki's kind of afternoon. He grins, nodding at Ukoku, and then lets the smile slip away again as he raises a hand to wave, and turns to go.]