thenearshore | [closed] coffee and conspiracy

Who: Cho Hakkai and Jae-Ha
What: Getting together over breakfast to discuss what they know and what they suspect about the disappearances, in the wake of Kija vanishing and Gojyo going mysteriously missing.
Where: Temple of Dionysus
When: Backdated to the morning of May 9th
Warnings: Probably nothing worse than a little cynicism and some morbid speculation.

[The temple smells of coffee, freshly steamed rice and miso-soup-with-leftover-vegetables; Hakkai doesn't bother to cook much for himself, and Asshole doesn't seem to remember to eat unless he's ordered to, but a guest is at least an excuse for him to stir beyond tea.

He smiles politely as he leads Jae-Ha back towards the kitchen, because really, he's not going to stir to the point of setting the fancy dining room table. It's uncomfortable. This will be the impression he'll make, and he'll see how it goes.]

Thank you for coming.

[It's just a polite phrase, but there's some sincerity in it. He's not particularly grateful for the opportunity to share information -- he cares, of course, but it's slid down a little on his priority list -- but he is grateful for the distraction. Perhaps something useful will even come out of it. Who's to say?]

Oh yes, tea or coffee?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The original gods come back as children if they are killed -- or so I've heard.

[He folds his hands carefully.] As for the new ones... I don't know any new god who has been killed except Susano'o, and he seems not to have returned.

Which is for the best, of course.

That's the other thing I've heard.

[Reviving as kids. So, contradictions already... But.] It's hard to base the deaths of other gods off of him. But that's right, he's the only one I know of.

That was... spectacular. And the Heavens might have taken action against him, too.

Well, regardless, my name and the temple are still here. I'm sure Gojyo will turn up eventually.

[His knuckles whiten for a second as he shifts the position of his hands, and he smiles at Jae-Ha with apparent unconcern.] The old shinki don't come back to life if they break, either. Our resurrection seems to be related to something about the way we came here.

It's not something that seems very reliable in either case.

[He hums, glancing down at his tea.] I'm certain he'll return.

No. Which is interesting in its own right, isn't it? It's as if whether we stay here or not is a different question from whether we die or not.

[He offers only a faint nod to Jae-Ha's reassurance. It's kind of him to worry. Hakkai, on the other hand... doesn't want to talk about the likelihood of Gojyo mysteriously reappearing as fast as he'd vanished. It's just a little too disheartening.]

That's right. We certainly don't fit into the pattern, at least. A death doesn't mean instant arrival here, either. So they must be unrelated.

So it seems.

To me, that suggests that there must be something, or someone, that's captured us deliberately. If we weren't being forced somehow to remain in these positions, surely death would cause us to move on.

[Surely death would, in other words, still be death. It's the case for real shinki.]

What doesn't make sense is why anyone would bother.

[They can speculate all day, but what's the point? What good is it that they're here?]

That's the real question, isn't it? I'm sure it has nothing to do with our personal interests. Perhaps we're here for our disruptive effect on the Heavens.

Or, as shinki, we're here to ameliorate the disruptive effect of the new gods....

[That was certainly Ukoku's opinion -- but Hakkai's not sure he believes it. The fact that some of the shinki here are souls that once had a relationship with some gods notwithstanding, why bring them in at all if not to create a disruption? Real gods are being replaced. It seems as though it must be an act attacking the Heavens.]

But I think we're all here for the same reasons, new gods and shinki alike. After all, some shinki have become gods. That's certainly not normal.

I don't believe there's any real reason behind whether someone becomes a shinki or a god, yes. So there can't be separate reasons. Especially not when some can become both.

If there is a reason for us being here, it's all of us as a united group.

Yes, I think "disruption" has to be the intended effect.

[He scoots his chair back, with a startlingly loud screech of legs across the tile, and represses a wince at the noise as he gets to his feet and goes to pour out his cooling coffee in the sink. He rinses the cup and busies himself making a cup of tea.]

Would you like any more tea? ... As far as I can tell, if a single person has brought us here, it must be someone with both access to Amaterasu and significant magical power. Perhaps one of her advisers.

No thank you, I've had enough.

[He pushes his tea cup a little further away just to make the point of it.] That seems likely, but... There's little our speculation helps with when we know nothing of them and nothing of what we're causing by being here. I'm not even familiar with the gods themselves.

The native ones, you mean? -- I have a few books I can recommend. [Hakkai wrinkles his nose, returning to the table with his cup of tea.] Of course, those are all human perspectives, which aren't always accurate. When it comes to the heavenly perspective, I'm afraid I've had to rely on those gods willing to speak to us.

Some of whom are less helpful than others. I don't suppose you've encountered Fuujin?

Yes, the native ones... [He guesses he could read up on them, hmm.] Ah, no, I haven't met him myself. I've only heard of him.

I see! I'm afraid he's not much of a talker. He does have quite a temper, though.

[Hakkai's ribs have healed, but Fuujin's furious attack could easily have killed him, if he'd hit that tree differently, or been flung into a tree that was still solidly rooted. Better to warn anyone else who might be looking for information in advance. He clears his throat politely.]

Suijin seems more informative, although I suppose we can't really put too much faith in what they say.

[closed] coffee and conspiracy

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