[So remember when they were tipsily joking about setting Gojyo up with one of Sharak's friends...]
You've got a date. Blond, purple sunglasses, fancy dresser.
[And attached are directions to a teppanyaki bar and a time in the next day or so. She knows his schedule. Look, don't complain, she's stressed today. ]
[ There's the buzz of a full and rowdy bar in the background, and Gojyo, abashed, lowers his voice. This isn't a conversation that the patrons need to be listening in on. ]
I wasn't, until I was talking to him and he brought up his supposedly terrible luck in romance.
[And then she thought hey, what a coincidence, I know two idiots who are showing interest in that sort of thing and then not long after she regretted ever bringing it up.]
If you don't want to go, I'll cancel it, I don't know how keen he is anyway.
[ He actually has to take the phone away from his mouth and set it down, so that he's got both hands free to rub his face with. He's way too sober to be having this conversation. ]
He's not keen on datin' me, or not keen on datin' in general?
He's fine with dating in general, apparently. [He was fucking sparkling when he thought he'd scored a date with Sharak.] I think it's the "stranger he's never met" part he's less crazy about. He'll get over that when he sees you.
[If she could manage it without even trying, a handsome guy like Gojyo shouldn't have any trouble, she thinks. God, she hopes this works.]
[ There's no response, and those bottles get shoved into the very darkest back corner of the storage room for the better part of a week while Gojyo wrestles with his feelings.
Eventually he decides to keep the water, but not the bottles -- because it's petty, that's why. The water gets dumped into an empty keg (and will forever smell faintly of hops), and the bottles get dropped on Hakkai's front step.
Except his front step isn't there anymore.
If Hakkai wanders by the location where his temple used to be any time after the 9th, he might spot a neat cluster of empty glass bottles and the remains of a handful of incense where the front door used to be. ]
[Throughout the week- or maybe it's the month? who knows- Gojyo's bar will start mysteriously stockpiling books. Did a patron forget them there? Is there a serial library volunteer trying to get more idiots to read in these trying times? What's the deal here?]
[Well. Whatever. Either way, books much like the following will start piling up:
[At some point, if Gojyo is paying attention amidst the usual nightly rushes or morning after clean ups, he might notice a medium-haired cat with a tail that seems split down the middle, hanging around a bit. Ironclaw Pookie the Destroyer is being paid on commission, you understand.]
[ Gojyo doesn't notice the cat. Gojyo's got more important things to pay attention to than whether there's a cat wandering around in his bar, even a clearly magical two-tailed cat.
Gojyo's dog notices the cat, though.
There's nothing magical about the dog. She's a mutt, adult but young, skinny in a way that tells of her recent life as a stray, and very very interested in the cat that suddenly appears in her new home. There's cat smells in a couple places in the bar, and while some of those smells come from visitors who clearly live with a cat, this particular cat smells... different.
One day, she thinks, she's going to catch that cat. ]
[ He knows that voice. He knows that voice far too well.
Is this about the 'date' he set up for her a few days back? Does she know that was him? He stares at his phone for far too long, wracking his brains for the right course of action. Does he reply? What does he say? If he ignores her -- him -- her, what then?
If this is a trap then it's definitely an intriguing one. Gojyo taps the button to switch to voice -- it's quiet where he is, the only sound the tinny jukebox playing an old Ulfuls track. ]
[ Only briefly pausing, Grell will give a light clear of the throat. ]
Now, whatever it was that has effected us that night, it certainly hadn't left me in my proper mind. We crossed paths at an-- unfortunate time, and for that, I am sorry. [ A fleeting sigh! ] Not that I could ever expect you to forgive me. To my understanding, I took something from you.
[ That night he'd stuck his tongue down the throat (and his hand down the pants) of somebody he otherwise wants dead, so Gojyo can't deny that there was some messed up magic in the air. But the ease with which Grell had fought -- and the obvious joy she'd taken from fighting -- kinda belies her apology. ]
You tried to take somethin'. The doctor out in the living world had to take it the rest of th'way off.
[ But that's not the important part. The important part is the bit where she called him. His dinner date trap failed (horribly, he assumes -- he hasn't found that guy's body, but he doesn't really expect to, either) but at least Grell doesn't seem to know that was his trap.
He's not ready to fight her yet, though. She's a god, and he's not ready to take on a god. Fuck. ]
[ That gruesome little detail evokes a hum from Grell; one that might accompany a wince. Truly, such imagery wouldn't bother her in the slightest, but she is meant to act sympathetic in this moment - and, if nothing else, she was disgustingly off her game that night. ]
Well, you've allowed this girl a chance to say her piece, and that's a good enough start for me!
[ Shit, that sounds like the end of the conversation. Think, Sha, think! She wasn't into the date idea, but there has to be something she likes.
Fighting? She likes fighting, okay, so, uh... pick a fight with her? No, dammit, she'll kill him, if they're going to fight it'll need to be to his advantage. It'll need to be a trap.
...A trap. The image flashes through Gojyo's mind of poor Ekko's body, blasted to bits across their front yard, killed -- he's told, anyway -- by a bomb. By a trap. ]
A good enough start? So what's next, then, if this was a start?
[ Well, THAT is a good question, actually. Grell hadn't considered that he might actually be willing to give her a chance, and is left humming in thought. ]
Actually... [ Why hadn't she thought of this before? ] My-- friend, he disappeared from this world just recently, leaving behind an absurdly resourceful shinki. I think he may be able to help, should I refer you.
[ That's it. That's the solution here. He'll need to make sure somehow that there isn't anyone else in her temple at the time -- he's a lot of things, but he won't be a murderer -- and then he needs a bomb. With a timer? No, that's too unreliable. With a remote clicker thing. Detonator. ]
Good. Set it up. [ He's only half listening to her, but she's offering further contact between the two of them and that's all that matters. Can he get this meeting to happen in her temple? What a great opportunity to scope the place out and pick a spot to plant the bomb! ] My place is a little small, so let's meet at yours.
[The day after the Capypa Land trip, there are small, neatly wrapped presents at everyone's breakfast setting at the Li Tieguai temple.
Gojyo's contains a bright yellow hat with capypa ears and long, dangling straps attached on either side, that have stuffed capypa faces at the bottom instead of pom-poms.
[ Gojyo is late to breakfast, so by the time he gets downstairs
everyone's already eaten and left. He was up almost until dawn reading --
yes, reading -- trying to make sense of this book on shinki magic, the
heavy ass volume of Far Shore history he found, and, occasionally, trying
to figure out who belongs to which limbs in the NSFW picture book he's
currently hiding under his mattress. Nobody in this house gets to judge him
for that.
The hat's a joke. It's got to be a joke, and it's not a joke he
gets. Banri passes him on his way back up to his room wearing an identical
hat and, furious, Gojyo throws the hat and box both into the back of his
closet and storms off for the day.
He doesn't get the joke, but he's pretty sure that he's the butt of
it somehow. ]
[ There's somewhat of a delay, due to Gojyo staring dumbly at his phone and trying to figure out why Goku's asking advice from him of all people. Hasn't the shrimp seen the disaster he's been making of his own love life? ]
Order candy coffee and look at fish apparently. I think one of Hakkai's dates was at a carnival, so carnival stuff.
[ The urge to tease the kid is overwhelming, but he's not going to mess with anybody else's chances at happiness. He's not.
[ Goku grew up in a temple, okay. With monks. With Sanzo. He's desperate, is what I'm saying. Gojyo may be a disaster of a humanyoukai being, but Goku's pretty sure he's at least been on a date before. Maybe even with a girl! ]
that was just hanging out!!
[ And the sunrise idea would have been great especially now he knows it actually could have been a date. Maybe he should ask Nia about that some time. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
Sometime around August 17th
Date: 2017-09-04 08:13 pm (UTC)You've got a date. Blond, purple sunglasses, fancy dresser.
[And attached are directions to a teppanyaki bar and a time in the next day or so. She knows his schedule. Look, don't complain, she's stressed today. ]
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 04:06 pm (UTC)What did you do!?
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 04:17 pm (UTC)[she was TRYING TO BE A GOOD FRIEND. Everyone should just take a vow of chastity like she did.]
He has a pretty face, which was the only thing you asked for. Are you going to complain?
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 04:58 pm (UTC)[ There's the buzz of a full and rowdy bar in the background, and Gojyo, abashed, lowers his voice. This isn't a conversation that the patrons need to be listening in on. ]
I didn't think you were serious!
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 05:26 pm (UTC)[And then she thought hey, what a coincidence, I know two idiots who are showing interest in that sort of thing and then not long after she regretted ever bringing it up.]
If you don't want to go, I'll cancel it, I don't know how keen he is anyway.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 05:41 pm (UTC)He's not keen on datin' me, or not keen on datin' in general?
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 05:53 pm (UTC)He's fine with dating in general, apparently. [He was fucking sparkling when he thought he'd scored a date with Sharak.] I think it's the "stranger he's never met" part he's less crazy about. He'll get over that when he sees you.
[If she could manage it without even trying, a handsome guy like Gojyo shouldn't have any trouble, she thinks. God, she hopes this works.]
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 06:31 pm (UTC)...Did you just call me pretty?
[ It was the most passive compliment ever, but he's gonna take what he can get! ]
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 06:38 pm (UTC)Sure, you're a very pretty boy.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 07:14 pm (UTC)[ He's not, but this isn't the time to go off and wallow in self-loathing. No, this is the time to call Sharak's bluff and go on this date! ]
So what's his name, this blond with a pretty face?
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 07:20 pm (UTC)... Ah, Shizuo Heiwajima. You'll go then?
[She's not sure she's pleased he ended up agreeing.]
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 07:52 pm (UTC)Huh? ...Yeah. Yeah, sure, I've got t'go.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-05 07:56 pm (UTC)[And this mess is officially No Longer Sharak's Problem, declared so by her. Have fun on your date, Gojyo.]
4 October, 8:53pm
Date: 2018-01-22 01:04 am (UTC)Let me know if you remember anything else.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-22 03:31 pm (UTC)Eventually he decides to keep the water, but not the bottles -- because it's petty, that's why. The water gets dumped into an empty keg (and will forever smell faintly of hops), and the bottles get dropped on Hakkai's front step.
Except his front step isn't there anymore.
If Hakkai wanders by the location where his temple used to be any time after the 9th, he might spot a neat cluster of empty glass bottles and the remains of a handful of incense where the front door used to be. ]
periodically, whenever
Date: 2018-01-24 05:19 am (UTC)[Well. Whatever. Either way, books much like the following will start piling up:
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Dating
- Health Relationships 101: Relationships Don't Have To Be So Difficult
- Emotionally Healthy Relationships Workbook: Discipleship that Deeply Changes Your Relationship with Others
- From Fear to Love: Overcoming the Barriers to Healthy Relationships
- Relationship Saboteurs: Overcoming the Ten Behaviors that Undermine Love
- How to Be an Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Loving
....and many others.]
[At some point, if Gojyo is paying attention amidst the usual nightly rushes or morning after clean ups, he might notice a medium-haired cat with a tail that seems split down the middle, hanging around a bit. Ironclaw Pookie the Destroyer is being paid on commission, you understand.]
no subject
Date: 2018-01-24 04:43 pm (UTC)Gojyo's dog notices the cat, though.
There's nothing magical about the dog. She's a mutt, adult but young, skinny in a way that tells of her recent life as a stray, and very very interested in the cat that suddenly appears in her new home. There's cat smells in a couple places in the bar, and while some of those smells come from visitors who clearly live with a cat, this particular cat smells... different.
One day, she thinks, she's going to catch that cat. ]
voice.
Date: 2018-02-09 10:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-09 04:57 pm (UTC)Is this about the 'date' he set up for her a few days back? Does she know that was him? He stares at his phone for far too long, wracking his brains for the right course of action. Does he reply? What does he say? If he ignores her -- him -- her, what then?
Fuck. Fuck.
Okay, okay, play it cool. ]
Who is this?
no subject
Date: 2018-02-19 03:43 am (UTC)My name is Grell Sutcliffe. The last we met was beneath the Harvest Moon; some time ago, now, but you must remember. I was the one with a chainsaw.
[ Grell pauses to draw a breath. ] And for that, I owe you an apology. Something for which a mere text would not suffice, you understand.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-20 03:45 pm (UTC)If this is a trap then it's definitely an intriguing one. Gojyo taps the button to switch to voice -- it's quiet where he is, the only sound the tinny jukebox playing an old Ulfuls track. ]
I'm listening.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-21 04:18 am (UTC)[ Only briefly pausing, Grell will give a light clear of the throat. ]
Now, whatever it was that has effected us that night, it certainly hadn't left me in my proper mind. We crossed paths at an-- unfortunate time, and for that, I am sorry. [ A fleeting sigh! ] Not that I could ever expect you to forgive me. To my understanding, I took something from you.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-21 04:14 pm (UTC)You tried to take somethin'. The doctor out in the living world had to take it the rest of th'way off.
[ But that's not the important part. The important part is the bit where she called him. His dinner date trap failed (horribly, he assumes -- he hasn't found that guy's body, but he doesn't really expect to, either) but at least Grell doesn't seem to know that was his trap.
He's not ready to fight her yet, though. She's a god, and he's not ready to take on a god. Fuck. ]
That kind of thing's hard to forgive.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-21 05:05 pm (UTC)Well, you've allowed this girl a chance to say her piece, and that's a good enough start for me!
no subject
Date: 2018-02-21 05:32 pm (UTC)Fighting? She likes fighting, okay, so, uh... pick a fight with her? No, dammit, she'll kill him, if they're going to fight it'll need to be to his advantage. It'll need to be a trap.
...A trap. The image flashes through Gojyo's mind of poor Ekko's body, blasted to bits across their front yard, killed -- he's told, anyway -- by a bomb. By a trap. ]
A good enough start? So what's next, then, if this was a start?
no subject
Date: 2018-02-22 04:10 am (UTC)[ Well, THAT is a good question, actually. Grell hadn't considered that he might actually be willing to give her a chance, and is left humming in thought. ]
Actually... [ Why hadn't she thought of this before? ] My-- friend, he disappeared from this world just recently, leaving behind an absurdly resourceful shinki. I think he may be able to help, should I refer you.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-22 04:23 pm (UTC)Good. Set it up. [ He's only half listening to her, but she's offering further contact between the two of them and that's all that matters. Can he get this meeting to happen in her temple? What a great opportunity to scope the place out and pick a spot to plant the bomb! ] My place is a little small, so let's meet at yours.
[ Casual enough? Maybe. We'll see. ]
Nov 22
Date: 2018-05-22 02:06 pm (UTC)Gojyo's contains a bright yellow hat with capypa ears and long, dangling straps attached on either side, that have stuffed capypa faces at the bottom instead of pom-poms.
Enjoy...?]
Re: Nov 22
Date: 2018-05-22 03:13 pm (UTC)[ Gojyo is late to breakfast, so by the time he gets downstairs everyone's already eaten and left. He was up almost until dawn reading -- yes, reading -- trying to make sense of this book on shinki magic, the heavy ass volume of Far Shore history he found, and, occasionally, trying to figure out who belongs to which limbs in the NSFW picture book he's currently hiding under his mattress. Nobody in this house gets to judge him for that.
The hat's a joke. It's got to be a joke, and it's not a joke he gets. Banri passes him on his way back up to his room wearing an identical hat and, furious, Gojyo throws the hat and box both into the back of his closet and storms off for the day.
He doesn't get the joke, but he's pretty sure that he's the butt of it somehow. ]
Nov 22
Date: 2018-05-22 03:21 pm (UTC)It's probably a joke, but it's hard to tell who the butt of it really is.]
Nov 22
Date: 2018-05-22 03:52 pm (UTC)Is it too late to get reassigned? ]
backdated to February 20
Date: 2018-11-28 11:20 am (UTC)thats different than just hanging out like normal i mean
[Then, about a minute later: ]
nothing gross or perverted
no subject
Date: 2018-11-28 03:32 pm (UTC)Order candy coffee and look at fish apparently. I think one of Hakkai's dates was at a carnival, so carnival stuff.
[ The urge to tease the kid is overwhelming, but he's not going to mess with anybody else's chances at happiness. He's not.
He's absolutely not.
...Okay, maybe just a little. ]
She shot down your watch the sunrise idea, huh?
no subject
Date: 2018-11-28 03:41 pm (UTC)that was just hanging out!!
[ And the sunrise idea would have been great especially now he knows it actually could have been a date. Maybe he should ask Nia about that some time. ]
i dont get what the difference is help
no subject
Date: 2018-11-28 03:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-03 10:14 am (UTC)It's weird that Gojyo's agreeing with that though. ]
fine watever
r yu ok?
no subject
Date: 2018-12-03 04:19 pm (UTC)[ He's not going to dump his woes on Goku. He's not. ]
You should ask Hokuto about this stuff. Just don't let her pick out date clothes for you.