(no subject)

[hafuri_shinki]

Without warning, someone emerges into the Nexus through a swirling portal of light.

The smartly-dressed young man, one-handedly adjusting a pair of dark-framed glasses on his nose as he walks, appears to be quite involved in paging through a book of some sort, hence not noticing that he is most likely not where he was actually intending to be. It's only when he finally looks up from the book--

"--I can't be sure as of yet, but it appears...that it...might..."

Yes, this is definitely not where he meant to end up.

He blinks slowly - once, twice, three times, absently taking a bookmark from his pocket so he can close the book and take a very good look around.

A brochure from a nearby table finds its way quickly into his hands, and while it doesn't really explain things to his satisfaction, at least it gives him a bit of an idea to work with. Now...a question. Which involves picking one out of the multitude swirling round in his head.

"...How - hypothetically, mind you - would one go about showing their appreciation to someone who was kind enough to take them in? Without overstepping their boundaries," he hurries to add the last bit, looking sour.

Comments

[brave_heart_verity]

((Before I tag in: Ver's got a truth-sensing curse stuck in her that she can't turn off. She knows when people are lying and she can see through illusions; she doesn't know what the truth is or have psychic powers. More details here. If you don't want to deal, let me know, I know it can get annoying.))

[hafuri_shinki]

((No need to explain - I've been here before. :) I'm perfectly alright playing with her and her curse.))

Hope this is okay, I wanted to try something silly.

[brave_heart_verity]

#shortgirlproblems

It's not that she's unaware that she's on the short side when she isn't wearing heels, but you'd think the bright pink hair and three-mile New York Stare might keep people from walking into her. But no, it's her own reflexes and ability to duck under a stray elbow that keeps the collision firmly in the realm of what might have been. (And yes, she's aware that she was equally stupid about wandering away from her portal her first visit here. That's not the point.)

Once she's out of the danger zone, Ver gives the young... man, she's pretty sure that's a boy, a looking-over while he comes to grips with his interrupted reading. If only they all took it so well.

"Aside from saying thank you? Do your best to not make your saying a burden. Cook or clean if they'll let you, things like that."

Silly is certainly acceptable!

[hafuri_shinki]

...Oh. Oh dear. He just nearly ran into that nice young lady there. How impolite of him.

He ahems, stuffs the brochure - and book - into a pocket and looks properly apologetic. He carefully does not say he didn't see her there, though; it's his experience that short girls do not like to be reminded of their height.

"Of course - I would hope if I were to become a burden, I would be told right away, so I could minimize the effects of such." He tilts his head juuuust a little, thoughtfully. Possibly thinking of ways to keep a few of his fellow shinki away from the stove. "If I may expand on the initial question slightly, what if doing things like that is one's job?"

It's...not really as master/slave-y as it sounds, honest.

<3

[brave_heart_verity]

It's not their height so much as the lack thereof in comparison to others; still, smart move on Kazuma's part. She'll take the apologetic look and give him a nod and shrug of 'it's okay, these things happen'.

He can relax, she doesn't think that sounds like ownership so much as a job. Her mind won't go to bad things unless she finds out there's a reason to think the worst, like his not getting paid or something. "Um. I'm not sure how much gratitude you need to show for a job? I mean, do your job the best you can, that's kind of how it works."

She's obviously American. She has strange ideas about these things.

((Quick question: does he have an accent? I'm unfamiliar with Kazuma's canon so. Many questions.))

Re: <3

[hafuri_shinki]

Kazuma nods, frankly looking a bit relieved that he hasn't been misunderstood. "I suppose that's one way to think of it," he agrees, pushing his glasses up again. Verity may notice an interesting mark (see icon) on his hand. "It's not an unpleasant job, though - and I am truly grateful to be of use, as are the rest of us."

((Mm...for Nexus purposes I think we can assume he does have a just noticeable accent. It would probably be an asset in canon to know more than one language.))

[brave_heart_verity]

Her ability to read social cues without getting pissed off at everything has improved by leaps and bounds this past year or so. She still has a bad habit of staring, which she's doing now at the mark on his hand. "That's a cool... tattoo?"

Oh, right, conversation. "Have you told your boss that? That you like your job? They might like to hear it."

((It's generally an asset IRL to know more than one language. :P What kind of accent, Japanese or something she wouldn't be able to place?))

[hafuri_shinki]

"Tattoo?... Oh, this." Kazuma moves his hand to eye the mark, looking somewhat amused. "It's my name mark. A sign of ownership, I suppose you would call it - ah, do forgive my rudeness. You've not heard of shinki, have you?"

The Nexus, for its part, seems uncertain how to translate that term.

"And yes, she knows." More amusement.

((Indeed Japanese. *does the embarrassed derpfacepalm, is clearly tired*))

[brave_heart_verity]

"Ownership?" Okay, now she's starting to think very bad things about his 'boss'. She's only partially distracted by the question. "Shin-ki? No. I don't know what that means."

Yes, her pronunciation is bad; it'll get better. These things take practice, after all.

((It's okay, not every anime's set in Japan.))

[hafuri_shinki]

Kazuma doesn't seem bothered by Verity's pronounciation. Her accent pegs her as obviously not Japanese, and hey, she's trying.

"We shinki are basically the weapons and protectors of the gods." Yep, here comes the proooobably unbelievable stuff. "All of us were originally lost spirits - the essences of people who died or were killed, but still held within them the urge to live. Being marked as shinki gives us the opportunity to be alive once more. This is my name," he tugs his sleeve down just a little for Verity to see the mark in its entirety. "Kazu. To that effect, the human name I have been given by milady is Kazuma."

It is a fairly complicated business, really.

((I was definitely not running on all cylinders either though, lol. Feeling a bit better today!))

[brave_heart_verity]

It's nice to get credit for trying instead of getting laughed at. She will be working on it.

Nothing about that seems unbelievable to her. Odd? Maybe a little. New? Definitely. But not unbelievable. She's the best friend of a god of lies; she can believe in all sorts of things. No, that's not where the problem is. "But she owns you?"

It may be a very complicated business, but she's pretty fixated on that fact right now.

((Glad you're feeling better!))

[hafuri_shinki]

"Yes, she does. The alternative--" He makes a face, shuddering. "The alternative is to be without a master and utterly useless - or to have many masters, all of whom give a name of their own to the shinki without a former master first releasing that name. To be owned by many gods...I would sooner become an ayakashi than let myself become a stray."

He shudders again, then pulls the pleasant smile and demeanor back on with small effort. "Lady Bishamon is a kind woman with a sharp sense of fairness and good judgment, willing to give purpose and name to any unowned shinki she may find. It really isn't as awful as it may sound."

[brave_heart_verity]

His obvious revulsion to the idea of being unowned gives her pause and makes her stop to think. There's a reason he's reacting that way, and while it may be conditioning, she doesn't want to assume. She doesn't look like she loves the idea, but she'll try to keep an open mind.

"So you need someone to give you a name before you can... do things?"

[gate_crasher]

Because the Nexus isn't strange enough, meet a white-scaled lizard person in fine blue robes. His voice is light, but with a raspy undertone, as he suggests, "be thoughtful. Look around yourself, anticipate what will be needed, or wanted, and ensure that it is already in place when the need arises."

[hafuri_shinki]

Kazuma does look a bit concerned when he sees the lizardperson, but not too much. Lizardperson talks too fluently and seems too neutral to be an ayakashi.

He nods, a hand going to his chin in thought. "So in effect, keep all the cogs in the works running smoothly." Funny, that's actually his job.

[gate_crasher]

Fluent speech and mild demeanor are his hallmarks. Most of the time, anyway.

"If cogs there are, yes. When one wishes to show gratitude, one intends to be thoughtful, yes? Acting out of consideration, exerting a small effort so that another need not exert that effort, makes their day a little easier. With those few seconds not spent arranging trifles, they have moments more for their own concerns. Even small things--ensuring the inkwells are always full, and that a freshly-cut quill sits at the ready, or stacking books in the order they will be needed--this shows not only favorable intention, but forethought." Judging by the lizard's tone, forethought is an auspicious quality to display.

[hafuri_shinki]

Kazuma agrees forethought is quite auspicious, so he and lizard ought to get along nicely.

"Yes, I see what you mean. Not only the large things, but also the small. Things one would normally think others would not notice about them..." He's already going over his lady's usual routine in his head to see what small things he can pleasantly surprise her with. "It seems so simple, in retrospect."

[gate_crasher]

"I have learned that apparent simplicity is often a hallmark of elegance. In strategy, in magic, in dress, and in relations," the lizard offers. Extending a white-scaled hand with neatly-trimmed, blunted claws, he adds, "my name is Shade-Seeker."

[hafuri_shinki]

"Kazuma. Pleased to meet you." Kazuma shakes the offered hand with a genial smile.

"Would it be too out of line to ask...exactly what you are? I am certain you are not an ayakashi, but past that, I've really no idea."

[gate_crasher]

"It would not be taken amiss," Shade-Seeker assures the young human-seeming person. "Since coming to this place, I have been asked the question often, and infer that my kind are something of a rarity in these unbounded spaces. My people call ourselves Saxhleel, although humans find the term Argonian more comfortable."

[hafuri_shinki]

"Saxhleel," Kazuma tries the word out with a bit of fumbling, then less awkwardly, "Argonian. I see. I have never heard of such a thing, but if this is to be believed--" he takes out the brochure and waves it about. "All manner of beings from all manner of places can be found here. I find it quite intriguing."

He tucks the brochure away again. "I am a shinki - the spirit of a deceased human, named by a god to become a weapon and protector of that god."

[gate_crasher]

"As one who has been here for some little time," Shade-Seeker replies, "I find the little pamphlets to be generally accurate. I may also say with confidence that the intrigue does not grow less with time."

"Shinki," he echoes, trying the word out. "If it would not be indelicate of me to ask, could you tell me somewhat of the god you serve? Circumstances have led me to greater curiosity on the subject of divinity than once I held."

[hafuri_shinki]

Kazuma's eyes brighten a bit. A chance to talk about his lady? Yes. Yes, he will take that.

"Lady Bishamon is - the most basic explanation, I suppose, is that she is a god of war." Oh, the pride in his voice when he says it. "Don't get me wrong; she does not kill unnecessarily, nor does she actively campaign to start or prolong war. Yet should there be war, she will be there, for the wishes of the warriors will call to her...and she will grant those wishes, whatever they may be."

He offers a half-shrug with one shoulder, still smiling. "My job, in essence, is to guide her and the other shinki - I prefer not to fight directly, and Lady Bishamon would rather keep me near, so it works well. I suppose you could call me her intelligence officer, or something similar."

[gate_crasher]

Shade-Seeker listens, growing solemn and thoughtful beneath his hood. "To grant favor to all who wish, on a battlefield, without regard to intent or allegiance... forgive me for saying, but I find that a troubling thought."

"I will agree, however, that an operation conducted without intelligence describes itself."

[hafuri_shinki]

"It certainly can be," agrees Kazuma, going a bit solemn himself. "But that is why the gods exist. Because of people's wishes. If people were to stop praying to my lady, and to forget about her - she would...simply cease to exist."

The thought seems to cause him literal pain, from that wince.