thenearshore | HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS [open]

Who: Souji & OPEN, Souji & Yamato & OPEN (b)
What: Souji trying to come up with ways to make his God feel better. Like pamphlets and gift baskets.
When: May 17th
Where: A public library at the Near Shore (a), outside the Hachiman Shrine (b), random shops at the Near Shore (c)
Warnings: Possible references to someone suffering from PTSD and a host of other issues, even if Souji doesn't really recognize this. People being kind of religiously extreme? TBA if anything else comes up.

***

[Even if Souji wasn't incredibly carefully attuned to every shift in his God's behavior and mood, it would be hard not to notice that something is terribly wrong when someone ends up clinging to you like a lifeline, and then you have to spend the night in their room because you're afraid to leave them alone. Even if Hijikata has pulled himself together afterwards, and the cleaning up after the demon attack had provided a distraction, Souji still feels like he needs to do more.

And since Hijikata doesn't want to talk to him about it directly, he needs to be more creative...]

a - Or when presented like a genie

[It's at this point that the logic gets a bit muddy. Hijikata needs more distractions, and helping people makes him feel better, right? So he needs more people to ask him to do things! Which means he needs more believers.

WHICH MEANS PAMPHLETS.

Look, at least it makes sense to Souji. He's seen religious pamphlets by now, and since people make them, they must surely work... right?

So this is why he's in a public library copying up hundreds of the damn things. They currently have a fairly simple design, because Souji has decided to decorate them all by hand later. Currently, though, they definitely bear legends such as "HACHIMAN-SAMA CAN HELP YOU" and "GOOD NEWS" and "YOU ARE NOT ALONE" - the latter of which isn't creepy at all, oh no.

They're also all over the place, and Souji just knocked over a stack of them, making even more of a mess.]

...Whoops. Oh dear. [Ugh! Help him out... or simply question the existence of the pamphlets in the first place.]

b - Who does magic like Houdini

[Naturally he has roped his BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD into this, too. He's even made a batch of bases for pamphlets dedicated to Mórrígan-sama too, because he's a good friend and that's only fair - and besides, it's not like he's worried about competition. Because Hijikata is the best God.

He's also gathered a huge amount of necessary supplies, such as colored pencils and markers, scissors and glue, colored paper, sheets of stickers, and TONS OF GLITTER. He makes space on the ground next to him for Yamato, already in the process of coloring one of his pamphlets.]

We need to make them look nice so people will want them, right? If more people take them, that means more believers. [Well, that's... logical. Sorry to anyone passing by, this probably looks (and sounds) a bit weird.]

c - And grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

[But followers and prayers can only do so much, and Souji wants to do something more personal. He's been able to do some odd jobs around the Near Shore and earn some money, and they don't live all that extravagantly, so he has some over to spend now. He'd been planning to use it on candy, but Hijikata is definitely worth that particular sacrifice.

So he's buys some expensive, really nice tobacco of him. Some fresh fruit, and other odds and ends from a delicatessen. A nice tie-pin that he'd probably like. A better comb now his hair is getting longer. He gathers all of this in a basket, and is holding it in his arms while he wanders through all manner of stores. Occasionally, he'll look up, beam at someone and ask them:]

Excuse me, what's a good thing to put in a gift basket, do you think?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Leo loves libraries, and this one is no exception. He's looking for more fiction this time, though he happens to be walking by the copier when the stack of papers gets knocked all over the place and hitting him in the face]

Ack--

[WELP. Paperlance, right at a stranger. Souji a mildly distressed little noise, and quickly hurries over to at the very least free his poor victim of the papers clinging to his clothes.]

Are you alright? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stacked them so high. [Using the copier apparently has a host of hidden danger!]

No, it's fine. Better than leatherbound books falling on me.

[Speaking from experience. He reads one of the pamphlets, frowning]

Haichiman?

That does sound painful.

[He laughs a bit sheepishly, starting to try to gather up the fallen pamphlets and put them in some kind of order again.]

Hachiman-sama is my God. I saw that this is a way to share information on your God, so I thought I'd try it.

Ah, you must be Souji, then.

[Souji will probably bow, so Leo bows a little instead of offering a hand]

Leo, former prince of Nohr and currently the god Odin. I'm a friend of Hijikata's.

[Souji lights up as Leo introduces himself, and does indeed bow in return, which almost ends with him spilling the bunch of pamphlets he's managed to gather up out of his arms again.]

Ah-! [He giggles a bit helplessly as he scrambles to keep a hold on them.] It's a pleasure to meet you, Leo-sama. It's always nice to meet a friend of my God's. [He rolls his eyes with equal parts fondness and affection.] I can't keep an eye on him all the time, after all.

He does occasionally go off and do things he probably shouldn't, doesn't he?

[Yes he is in fact referring to Kyoto. Leo moves to help Souji with the papers]

So you're making fliers to...do what, exactly?

Or just go off without telling me when he'll be back.

[He lets out a sigh, a small crease appearing between his eyebrows. He'd really been worried, not knowing where his God was or when he was coming back. But he tries to cheer himself up again by directing his attention back to the fliers.]

Well, I thought that with more believers, he'd get more prayers, and he'd have more things to do. It's not good for him to sit around and overthink things.

[....should Leo throw Hijikata under the carriage here?

Well, it'd be a shame to make Souji think that Hijikata wouldn't overthink things. Leo doesn't know him too well but he knows that much.]

It might help, but I think he's just the kind of man who will overthink everything no matter what. There are plenty of people like that.

I think so too. I mean, I don't think he can help it.

[He sighs, putting down the bundle of pamphlets and then starting to smooth out one he'd accidentally crinkled.]

But at least if he feels like he's doing things for people, it'll make him feel a bit better. He hates feeling helpless more than anything, I think. [And then, more silently:] Or maybe he hates regretting things even more.

That's the thing about regret, isn't it?

[Hijikata's lucky, to have someone he cared about still care for him even after losing his memory]

There's not much to do about it, though, but I think trying will mean a lot to him.

[Tsuzuki's got a couple of shopping bags dangling from his own arms, too: fruit, baking supplies, a roll of brightly colored tissue paper to wrap up the muffins once he's made them.]

-- Oh, hey, Okita!

[He wrinkles his nose, thinking.]

It kind of depends, doesn't it? Who're you making it for and what's the occasion?

[Souji lights up a bit belatedly at the sight of the familiar face, having been momentarily distracted by a stand of some kind of beeping, blinking toys. They looked like fun, but Hijikata would hate them.]

Well, it's not so much an occasion. I mean, that sounds like it's something fun.

[He sighs, shifting the basket in his arms a bit.]

Hijikata-sama has been very troubled lately. I- I worry about him. So I wanted to do something nice for him.

... You know, that's really sweet of you. [Tsuzuki relaxes into a fond smile: man, those two are cute, aren't they? Even if Okita doesn't remember as much about their connection as Hijikata does, it's still obvious how much he cares.]

So, if you're trying to cheer him up, I say go for stuff he really likes, and stuff that'll make him laugh.

[What would make him laugh? Tsuzuki pauses for a moment, screwing up his face with thought. Well, okay, Okita's spent more time around the guy than he has....]

Have you got loose tobacco in there? He'd probably appreciate that.

[It's proof of their camaraderie (or something) that Souji can show up, say "okay but PAMPHLETS FOR OUR GODS", and Yamato doesn't even ask any questions. Where did Souji get these materials? How does he know how a copy machine works? DOESN'T MATTER it's the best idea ever and combines his two favorite things, talking about Shepard and hanging out with Souji. What a great day.]

Right, of course. [Yamato's been carefully checking over his own batch of pamphlets, making sure none of the ink accidentally smudged in the printing process (whatever that process may be, he doesn't know). With that done, he's free to settle down, rummaging through the colored pencils.] And if they're decorated by hand, then they'll know our gods work hard and really care!

[Or-- well, that their shinki work hard to promote them, but whatever, same difference.]

Do you think we should draw picures of them, so their followers will know what they look like?

[Souji absolutely didn't learn how to use a copier from a bunch of Near Shore children and then spend a long time with them copying his hands and feet and other such silly things. Shh.

THE POINT IS he has all this stuff, and Souji is definitely psyched for spending time with Yamato doing something productive that will help their Gods. He bumps his shoulder playfully against the other shinki's as he leans past him to grab an errant blue pencil.]

Hmm, I don't know. I mean, it's not like people will see them anyway unless they call their attention to them, and maybe they don't want to be recognized if they're running an errand. [He tilts his head a bit.] Maybe if we draw them a bit more stylized? Like, cuter? [Is he suggesting they draw chibi versions of their Gods on the pamphlets? POSSIBLY...]

[No questions will be asked.

Yamato laughs, elbowing him right back as he reaches for black and red. He starts in on a border around one of his pamphlets, simple and solid for now. This will probably morph into doodles along the edges sooner or later. (Sooner.)]

Oh, that's true. It would be inconvenient if they were stopped for blessings all the time. [Because obviously their gods are going to become The Most Popular? Duh.

Cuter, though... he can't help himself, laughing again and completely unrepentant.] Eh, Hijikata-san can be cute? Really?

HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS [open]

A

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C

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b of course

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