nexus_sages | (no subject)

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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.

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"True, but that's a reason." Not that it's hugely important if it doesn't matter to him. Her curiosity isn't that important a thing to sate.

She sighs, and considers not telling him--but that would be rude. "I accidentally got cursed to always know when something's a lie."

"That sounds quite complicated." Kazuma looks genuinely sympathetic.

"Oh yeah. It's not always great. But, on the other hand, I've never been disappointed by a politician." Because she's never believed any were going to keep their promises, but details. "And I don't have any pesky body-image issues due to Photoshopped ads."

"I see." Now he grins a little. "I like your sense of humor."

That gets a look of surprise from her. People don't usually see that she's joking about any of this. For a moment, she wonders if he understands why. It doesn't look like he does, which is kind of a relief.

"Thank you. I like you, too." Not quite what he said, she knows; but take the compliment, dude. They don't come around too often.

"Well, that's a relief. I don't tend to get on well with those who don't." Definite grin, now.

That gets a laugh from her. "No, I don't imagine most people would. You'd have to be one of those unbearable optimists."

That gets a wince along with a laugh out of Kazuma. Clearly he knows at least one unbearable optimist. "How do people like that exist, anyway?"

Rhetorical question, yes.

Haven't they all? Unbearable optimists get around. "I have no idea. I'm going to go with 'magic' because nothing else makes sense in this context."

Rhetorical, perhaps, but she can try to joke about it all the same.

"Sounds accurate enough." Especially considering the optimist he's thinking of is a fellow shinki.

"I do strive for accuracy." For obvious reasons.

"So... are you going to tell your boss about this place?"

Blink. "I hadn't honestly thought about it yet. Perhaps..."

"It's not always an easy secret to keep, but it can be hard to know who to trust with it. It's okay to take some time to be sure." She offers what's meant to be a reassuring smile. "But if you're not going to tell her right away, you'd better come up with an explanation for where you went."

"Yes, of course." He is indeed reassured, smiling back. "I believe I may tell her; it doesn't honestly seem too unbelievable."

"No?" She looks around for a bit before admitting, "Maybe not for a god. You're taking it all quite well too."

"The Far Shore - the world of spirits - is far worse than this." He chuckles, treating it a bit like a joke though it's true. "And any world with no ayakashi is quite pleasant, in my opinion."

"I'm sorry to hear your afterlife isn't pleasant." Or maybe he didn't earn his way into the nice one, but that seems like it'd be rude to ask.

"These... ayakashi? They come looking for you or something?"

"They come looking for anyone. Corrupted spirits yearn to live once more - but being corrupted, they can't." His expression says he does find that rather sad. "Since they are denied that chance, they try to steal the life from humans, shinki, even gods, as a sort of revenge."

"That's so sad." They remind her of the stories Loki used to tell her about the dísir. "Can't anyone help them?"

"Unfortunately not." Kazuma looks solemn, eyes downcast a little. "Once a spirit has become an ayakashi, the only way to free them is to end their semblance of life."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope that doesn't happen to you."

"...Thank you." He looks a bit surprised, but pleased. For a moment there, Verity sounded like a friend back in his world.

"You're welcome." She's not sure why that sentiment would be surprising, but people from other worlds have strange ways sometimes. Hell, she barely understands how the society she grew up in worked. Who is she to judge?

Kazuma does seem to realize the confusion, though. "You reminded me of a friend. I found it quite pleasant."

"Oh. Okay. I hope it's not too rare to have people wanting you to be well."