thenearshore | [closed] And I got street savoir faire

Entry tags:

[closed] And I got street savoir faire

Who: Sora & Joshua
What: Sora pops in to see Joshua because stuff and things and they should talk about it!
When: May 14
Where: Tsukuyomi’s temple
Warnings: THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP

[Wow, Sora is pretty impressed with Joshua’s temple. This is his first time here and he’s wondering why he hasn’t swung by before. Must have something to do with all the insane stuff that’s happened lately. Fighting neoclassical drakes and having shinki turn ayakashi and almost dying really eats into your social life.

Things finally seem to be settling down and Sora has enough energy to want to check in on Joshua. After all... He can feel that Nageki is gone and that means that Joshua...

Yep. He needs to check in on Joshua. Plus perhaps get his opinions on a certain annoying mind reader that’s been bothering him a lot lately too. And then there’s the issue about Neku and Riku both gone now...

He knocks on the door. Anybody home?]

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[He keeps his temple very clean, he'll have you know. It may be white, but that just means it shows dirt even more. Whoever designed the temples for the newly-christened gods, they certainly know personal taste. At least, in this situation. Joshua can't speak for Sho's personal taste building-wise, of course, but the place had certainly been filled with garbage, whether that was his doing or that of The Powers That Be.

Nageki had been left in good hands when Joshua had left for a couple of days. But, he'd noticed, Nageki's name had disappeared, which is what prompted his early return from the trip that Nageki had declined to tag along on. He'd meant to contact Sora and Roxas about this, of course, but...

Joshua is definitely home, and that knock is bringing his eyes up from the screen of his phone. A quick sweep of thought tells him that it's Sora - just who he'd been about to text, actually! What a coincidence. With the air now warmer and the breeze blowing in the ever-present smell of cherry blossoms, he has the doors off the kitchen and the doors in his bedroom standing wide open. Instead of coming to the door, though, he's leaving his room and leaning over the edge of the balcony above it.]

Visiting unannounced? Manners these days...

[The temple definitely is a clean white. Blindingly clean and white that Sora squints just slightly when he goes from looking behind him to inclining his head upwards to the sound of Joshua's voice. A grin erupts on his lips shortly after.]

I thought you'd know I was coming from miles away so why waste a text?

[At least they have that in common when it comes to their temples though. Giant windows and open breezes to let in air and sunlight mirror Sora's tastes as well.]

I was reading.

[It comes with a very casual shrug, Joshua's arms not even bothering to uncross from the edge of the balcony. They do after a moment, though, as he stands upright and motions to the side of the house.]

Go through the side door. Take your shoes off.

[Sora gives Joshua a salute to his brow before he scampers off to the side door quickly. As told he keeps his shoes at the door and pads into the temple. Wow, it's even nicer inside!

But... quiet. That's nothing like his temple. His temple always had some sort of noisy thing happening. Nageki and Neku probably really liked this place...]

[The only real noise in the place is the sound of the breeze outside, the gentle clinking of ceramic windchimes, and the gentle bubbling of the air filter in a small aquarium on the kitchen counter. Joshua prefers it this way. If he needs his urban fix, he can just zip off to Shibuya.

Giving Sora a moment, he descends the stairs to the left of the kitchen, hands in his pockets.]

I should hope it's quieter than yours. I think I'd be a little worried otherwise.

[Sora looks up at Joshua and blinks before furrowing his eyebrows.]

So you can read minds, huh Joshua! That's a pretty big deal!

[He sounds more relieved than surprised, honestly. Maybe now he can make a little more sense of the other mind reader that's been pranking him lately...]

... Nageki, he told me he thought you could do that. You doing okay?

It's a perk.

[But even as he says it, his lips aren't moving at all.

Though, the mention of another with the same ability has him curious... But before he can bring it up, Sora is asking him if he's okay, and the expression on his face may as well look like Sora just asked him to wear shoes in the house.]

Of course.

[Sora looks puzzled for a brief moment until he realizes that Joshua spoke in his head. If it wasn't Joshua, Sora might have gotten a little irritated. He's pretty tired of mind readers being in his head.]

Don't do that, it kind of freaks me out...!

[But Joshua looks pretty unfazed. Sora on the other hand is kind of upset that Nageki is gone. He'd been a good friend and had talked him out of a pretty big funk just days earlier when Roxas was missing and Riku was gone and Sora felt incredibly lonely.

Gosh, how does one stop thinking so much?]

You're not upset they're gone?

[... yeah, about that. Maybe it's time for Joshua to redirect his attention away from Sora's line of thought for a second.]

If you insist.

[It's something he'd only do in emergencies anyway. For now, he'd only been using it to impress.

But now, Joshua is also redirecting his physical attention away from Sora, instead settling on the small white-and-blue betta swimming around in the aquarium. He thought it might end up coming down to this. Sora just cares far too much.]

Nageki seemed to be... happier around the two of you. He never opened up to me much. [Outside of what he could glean from his thoughts, anyway.] And before you say anything, I did try your methods.

[Pointedly ignoring that obvious 'they'.]

[At least Joshua is nice enough to stop when asked. Unlike another mind reader that doesn't listen to anything Sora has to say about that and continually invades his head to the point where Sora has to sing the guy out...

But they can talk about that in a second.]

I think Nageki was looking for people that weren't like him. If that makes sense. I don't think it's your fault that he didn't open up to you. He was just like that. [Both of them are kind of closed off, guarded people. Nageki needed friends that were okay to push people like that. Nageki was a strange bird, don't sweat it Joshua. Sora smiles,] But I'm really glad you tried. I'm sure he appreciated it in his own way.

[Don't think Sora didn't catch the evade.] Riku's gone now, if you didn't hear.

[Just because he says he will, it doesn't mean that he actually does. More that he doesn't mention it unless it's relevant! But for now, at least, he's being cautious until Sora stops thinking so much.]

A bad match. [It's said with a shrug, and Joshua turns to step into the kitchen proper, opening a drawer and removing a small canister of fish food. Bad matches have happened before, of course. He's no stranger to them.] There will be another, eventually. Whether it's another bad match or not, though, has yet to be seen.

[Though, at the mention, Joshua does at least pause and glance over his shoulder.] I heard, yes.

[Now if Sora's mind actually stops rambling ever is another question to wonder about.

He follows into the kitchen and briefly looks out the window. He then huffs and nods.] Well I hope you get someone you get along with next. The Heavens really need to do pre-interviews or something.

[It would save a heck of lot of heartbreak!

He knows now from Joshua and talking with Add and Hajime that different timelines and worlds really is the root cause of why some of them didn't remember each other. Yet, Sora still feels like he wants to tell Joshua about Riku, and still talk about Neku. Guess his heart is hard to convince still.]

Riku really liked Shibuya. What's yours and Neku's Shibuya like? Since it's not the same one that we know?

[Joshua turns back to his work, and very carefully, a pinch of the flakes gets dropped into the door at the top of the tank.]

Wouldn't that be nice? They were off to such a good start, too. The first assignment really was a perfect shot.

[Hey, even if he isn't about to explain them, he can make puns for his own benefit. He may be smirking at the aquarium, however.

But that question makes him turn, looking back over his shoulder again. That's... hm. A question like that seems loaded, and considering the attempt Sora has already made at getting him to discuss very much hypothetical friendships, Joshua is careful not to fall for the bait too much.]

Far better than this, for one. The ramen just isn't the same.

[Sora furrows his eyebrows and gives Joshua a very puzzled look. What first assignment? He feels like he's missing something here.]

Uhh. First assignment...?

[He's gonna caulk it up to the fact that Joshua has been here longer than he has and he missed some sort of assignment...Yep.

Sora really wants to hear about Shibuya. Since he hasn't had the chance to see Joshua and Neku's Shibuya yet, especially. He's no ramen expert but he'll jab at that.]

Well, I've gotta try both sides for ramen, then. I'll be the judge of that! Does it have a ton of shopping districts like this Shibuya? Crazy busy?

Neku-kun. He was my first assigned shinki. I've had three, not including the time that he came back, and I suppose I'll have a fourth sooner or later.

[Because he could hear that confusion even if he wasn't looking at Sora.]

It's similar enough that you wouldn't notice the difference. A lot of businesses are unnecessarily renamed, though, and some businesses that I'm familiar with are no longer there. Not to mention, I'm effectively locked out of my own house.

[OH. Joshua was referencing Neku... Sora's embarrassment shows on his face and he reaches to rub the blush from his nose. That's what he meant that Neku was a perfect shot... ~~little does sora actually know~~]

Oh... Sorry, I didn't know. But... Whoa, Neku came back once?!

[That kind of perks Sora up. Because if Neku came back, maybe he could come back again? That's great news! Maybe Riku could come back as well!

He lets out a laugh when Joshua says he's locked out of his own house. Joshua, did you end up trying to walk into someone else's house?] You make it sound like it really is a parallel world to this one! Like it came right out of a different timeline.

[Good. Joshua is actually a little pleased to see it, if only because it breaks the seriousness of the topic. Really, he's getting tired of bouncing between shinki. At least with his Conductors, he's had a choice...]

The time you remember him being here was not the first time. Nor is this my first time being here. I apparently left for a while, around the same time Neku-kun disappeared the first time. I came back, and he returned a couple of weeks later. So, yes, it's very possible for someone to come back.

[Because he may have been listening. Again.

Also, it's more like his house just flat out doesn't exist, buuut.]

Actually, if this were a truly parallel world, I would exist in it, and the Game would exist in it. As far as I've seen, though, I haven't seen an alternate me, or an alternate Neku-kun. And the Game, as I'm familiar with it, doesn't seem to exist at all.

[Sora doesn't even notice that Joshua listened into his mind again. He's too happy at the thought that Joshua and Neku both had come back before. It gives him another spark of optimism and hope that he'd see both Neku and Riku again someday. Hopefully sooner than later.

He smiles brightly at those thoughts and then and nods.] Is that why you don't seem that worried about Neku? If he comes back someday I bet he'd be assigned to you again. At least, that's how it should be.

[If Riku came back as a shinki he'd want him to be assigned to him. Being separated the first time had been terrible. Or for Riku to come back as a god. Add did, just recently, so Sora knows it's a thing.]

Right, no game and no multiples. I guess that makes sense. So the two are really completely separate worlds. Just with some things in common.

Edited 2016-11-15 03:43 (UTC)

[... he. What. Sora, how did you even come to that conclusion. For a moment, Joshua looks at Sora as if he's grown a second head, but it's quickly gone as he shakes the expression of surprise away.]

Neku-kun is fine where he's gone, provided it's back where he belongs. It's one less thing that I have to worry about.

[It certainly isn't loneliness or anything, if that's what Sora is trying to imply. He doesn't want Neku to come back. He has better things to do in his own world.]

There are such things, obviously. I'm not particularly fond of feeling trapped, though.

Edited 2016-11-15 03:57 (UTC)

[What?! What's with that look?! Sora just stares back at him like everything he said was pretty dang normal. If they're gonna be in this place for a while they might as well be in this place together. It's okay to want to see friends. It's okay to miss them.

Well, Joshua does have a point there that he has to agree with but still.] I'm sure he is, I'm just saying if he does come back, it'd be nice to see him. I didn't really get to talk to him the last time he was here. And you guys are friends, so it'd be cool to see you guys paired up again.

[Because yeah, they are trapped but lately Sora's been rather fond of being here. And friends make this place home. For now, anyway.]

[Normal, maybe, for Sora. Not at all normal for Joshua. He can't even begin to understand how someone can be so... optimistic and cheerful and like the walking, talking personification of a ray of sunshine. It's almost downright offensive.

Which might be why his lips nearly pull up into a sneer, and he leans back against the counter, hands braced on the edge.]

Neku-kun isn't my friend.

[And, rightfully, he never should be.]

[Sora is taken aback by that. How could Joshua say something like that? The Joshua and Neku he knows are friends. Joshua worked so hard to fix things so they could all go home eventually.

Oh. Right... Sora's expression falls. Joshua doesn't know about the things that Sora does. That Shibuya. Yeah. Timelines. ~~This is the darkest timeline isn't it.~~]

You really think that?

[Sora says evenly, looking at Joshua like he might not believe him yet. There's no shred of friendship in there? It's hard to believe, different timelines or not.]

[Right about now is when Joshua is going to tune all of that out. He's heard enough, thank you.]

It's really for the best that he isn't. Let things go as they will, mm? Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, Sora-kun.

[So what if Neku invited him to the meet-up? He never planned on showing up. Not really, anyway.]

[You can tell him that all you want Joshua, but Sora is still not gonna fully believe that 'not friends' comment. He rolls his shoulders and lets out a loud huff.]

... Okay. I guess.

[BUT THERE he'll let the Neku topic drop away for now.]

Anyway, can I ask you something else since we're on the topic of not-friends?

[That's Sora's prerogative! Clearly a direct approach, though, isn't working in the face of boundless optimism.

Sora's questioning has Joshua tilting his head, though. He's glad for the change of topic, even if he knows it's bound to come up again later, but this has him genuinely curious enough to easily take the bait.]

Mm? Someone bothering you, Sora-kun?

[Joshua might not think he's friends with Neku, but Sora still considers Joshua his friend. They don't hang out as much as he'd like but Joshua was the first person he thought about when this issue came about for Sora.]

There's another mind reader around here that managed to get in my head a few weeks ago. He likes to pull pranks on me and annoy me. Do you know a way to get him to stay out of my head?

[Since Joshua is a mind reader himself he had to know how to deter them?]

Well one time I was able to get him out of my head pretty easy... But just the one time.

[... another mind reader? That certainly catches his attention. Joshua is very much interested with someone that has that ability.]

Oh? You don't happen to know his name, do you?

[But... the matter of blocking someone. Typically, that requires more finesse than someone that doesn't have the ability would have by default. Sora has managed to do it once, though...]

How did you manage it that once, out of curiosity?

[Sora crosses his arms and looks mildly annoyed.]

His name is Loki. Part of my Parthenon, and he's a giant bully. He always hides out of sight and mind controls people around me. I haven't been able to see what he looks like or what his human name is.

[And then he glances at Joshua and a smile tugs at his lips. Well... Joshua asked. So he thinks-

Sang a song in my head! You know... Like...

It's a world of laughter, a world of tears
It's a world of hope and a world of fears
There's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all...]

[Mind control. Hm. It sounds vaguely like imprinting, but... just how effective is it? A god name, at least, is something to go by. He can find out the rest himself.

... and then Sora opts to mentally chime in with that, and before more can be said - or sung - Joshua is effectively blocking off all mental communications. But not without an utter look of distaste crossing his face.]

... I can't see why that doesn't work every time.

[Hmm? What's wrong, Joshua? Don't like his song? It's so catchy though! Gets stuck in your head! Sora raises and eyebrow with a puzzled look on his face. He was only trying to show Joshua how he did it! Why does he look so disheveled? Weird.

But he grins because hey, it did work again didn't it?]

I guess I could try that every time but I might run out of songs that I can sing off the top of my head...

[Or he could always try to learn more...!]

I could practice on you, maybe?

[If Joshua has no other ideas! :D]

[No. That's absolutely enough. In fact, he will pay you to stop. Thankfully, being able to tune Sora out is enough, and after that initial moment of looking thoroughly disgusted, Joshua manages to situate himself back to a regular level of composure.]

No practicing on me, thank you.

[Clears. Throat.]

The problem you're going to run into with that is, you may not be in an adequate situation to sing someone out of your head at all times. If something is happening that cuts your attention short, that's enough to break the effect. Really, the only way you can reliably force someone out of your head is by being powerful enough to actually do so. And, unless you have some sort of mental capabilities that I'm not aware of, that doesn't seem to be the case here.

[Sora puts a hand over his mouth to stifles a small laugh. That face.

But then Joshua makes some fair points. Sora's not talented with this sort of thing at all, he has no mind reading or blocking powers or spells that can help him with this. He frowns slightly.]

And I'm guessing there's no way for you to teach me some new mental capabilities so I can do that, huh?

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[closed] And I got street savoir faire

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