jigokulogs | [open] no strings attached

[ Izō is left staring as she walks off, more flustered than ever. ]

I'll fight ya lookin' like a lady or not!!

[ Said as he rushes to catch up with her. ]

[the world explodes, and Emily's hit with fear - at the same time, her brain starts planning, thinking, organizing. she doesn't have her kit on her, meaning she'd have to fly home or pray that someone has supplies nearby. even as Majima pulls her in, shields her, she has to think about these things. but then at the same time, Izo, where is he-

he emerges, and her gratitude is mixed with a bone deep feeling of what did we do, staying silent?]

It's the machine...

[and the gunfire. people are going to be hurt, killed-]

You have to get to cover!

[at first, she thinks it's simply another lovely youkai, glittering with the makeup, the sequins, the atmosphere. and then, Hibiki nudges her in her mind - look again. so Emily does, and then recognition hits her - under the makeup, under the new clothes, she knows them. and she is staring, she can't help it - she's beautiful, so why wouldn't Emily look at her?

but she should say something, do something other than watch, and her feet carry her near. there's nothing but sincere admiration in her eyes.]

You look magnificent.

[that's the right word for this.]

That should do.

[Ydris can note her checking the sight lines to the Tamamo girls as they move towards the bar]

Here to make sure the women are properly respected?

[ The last time he was in an explosion... Lee had gone ahead to start the van, setting off the car bomb that threw him and Makoto across the street. Then the man in the white suit came and hit him in the face and taken Makoto. His arm squeezes around Emily anxiously, the other hand wants to find Izo before they can all be pulled apart by the swell of the crowd. ]

Ain't goin' nowhere fast, stay on yer feet.

[ He's the biggest of them, he can push and shoulder a little but the press of bodies is resistant to them. He could really fucking use that snake form right about now. He grits his teeth and does it anyway. ]

We can fight later, I got somewhere t'be.

[ A beautiful snake woman with a flustered crow chasing after her is one of the least interesting things on the street right now. However strange they might feel about how they've been changed, they've really found a place where it is unremarkable. She moves easily through the crowd, making her way to Tenkohime's redlight district. She glances around in front of one building, checks her phone, and then heads inside the bath house.

It sure is a scene in there, yokai and lost souls of all shapes and sizes, all states of undress, perfumes and bath additives and various cigarette fumes making the place smell extravagant and wet. Goromi motions for him to go sit at the adjoining bar she goes and finds this girl. ]

Somethin' like that. Girl asked me for some tips on her customer service, so I came. Used t'run a cabaret club or two, no touchin' in there but the lead up's th'same.

[ She orders a neat whiskey, fiddling out a fresh cigarette. ]

[ A pause, turning. She's not guilty looking or necessarily surprised, maybe just surprised that they're going to do this right now. The small quirk of a smile. ]

Em.

[ Goromi is towering in her heels, long and elegant as a snake. She and Chijoku suit each other better than they let on sometimes, but its never more obvious than right now. ]

Dress is doin' all th'work.

[ When you don't have any breasts you have to worry about losing out of the fabric, you can get away with some scandalous cuts. ]

[ it was probably inevitable that ryouma eventually ends up here for similar reasons. he avoids sleep to avoid the dreams but that just makes him restless; some of what they're serving around here ought to help though, right? nothing wrong with a little artificial calm if it gets you over the hump. he sort of forgot about the weird, whispering spirits though. ]

Hey. You alright? You look like you could use a drink...

[ ryouma had seen someone curled up under a tree and come over, two cups of umeshu in hand. it's a safe bet to assume it might be the kind that makes you feel extra peaceful too since that's what he came here for. ]

I bought an extra by mistake, so it's better than letting it go to waste.

[ he's just gonna leave out the part about why he bought one extra because he doesn't want to admit that for two seconds he forgot he's alone here and there's no oryou to buy drinks for anymore. ]

[ He obviously really hates to be visibly vulnerable. It was Hakagemachi's favorite play, and Chijoku's at that -- the snake likes to make him squirm visibly, undermining his assessments of surety. The snake's game is a mean one but the ultimate goal is to make Majima believe what he says.

His good eye peeks up over the curve of his arm, dour and unhappy. He's a dumbass yakuza though, a drink solves most problems so he reaches up for it without trying to meet Ryouma's gaze head one. ]

...Thanks.

[Natori's cutting through the cherry blossom grove after his shift at the host club, more because it's an easy landmark to orient himself around than out of any desire to do some late-night flower viewing. He can tell there's something off about them even with his power all but completely suppressed, but that doesn't bother him as much as it maybe should; he spent an awful lot of his nights in haunted place before coming to hell. That's also why he's intimately familiar with what it looks like when a bunch of ayakashi are ganging up on (what looks from a distance to be) a human.]

Hey! [Natori shouts from the edge of the grove, brandishing a long, thin piece of paper woven between the fingers on one hand while holding the first two fingers of the other against his chest in a spell hand sign.] Leave him be, or I'll exorcise you!

[He says it with confidence and scorn, but it's entirely a bluff-- he barely has enough spiritual power left to animate a single paper doll, much less complete a proper exorcism. (The paper in his hand is a receipt from a conbini.) But hey, maybe these spirits don't know that?]

[ Someone is laughing and it's not Majima, but it is coming from his person, ]

Very funny, exorcist.

[ The Uwabami that is already possessing Majima thinks this is hilarious. Majima, on the other hand, makes a low groan and summons up the energy to growl, ]

Shut up, Joku.

[It takes Natori a moment to parse out the source of the voice, which is both clearly inhuman and also not the sort he'd expect from these spirits haunting the grove. Once the source clicks, he drops the stance, shaking the receipt out from in between his fingers.]

I wish I could say that's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to me here... A shiki? [He frowns, tilting his head as he tries to pick up what's going on with the... human? and accompanying ayakashi, like squinting through heavy fog. If someone else has access to their familiars here, he's going to be very annoyed, but--] Ah. No. How long have you been possessed?

[ When Majima picks up his head a little, it's more obvious that it's been.. a while... Good eye slit like a serpent, a pale layer of scales his face and hands. If he shifts, his tail will uncurl from where it's wound up along his other hip. ]

Dunno, hard t'keep track of time in Hakagemachi. Been a while.

We're very happy, exorcist, no need for you.

[ Happy might be an overstatement but they have an agreement if nothing else. ]

[Natori knows a few humans who have cat-eye pupils like that naturally-- the very powerful ones, basically-- but the scales are pretty definitive, once he takes a few steps closer to properly make them out.]

Well, like you pointed out, there's not much I could do about it if you weren't. [He sarcastically dangles the sad little receipt by his thumb and forefinger before stuffing it in his pocket (littering is bad, even in hell). There's a passive-aggressive edge in his voice when he talks directly to the uwabami that leaves when he turns back to Majima.] I was actually aiming for whatever's haunting the grove, though. Sorry for prying into your personal life.

S'fine... they got me too.

[ Chijoku likes to laugh at him when he lies like he's all right, but the snake doesn't sit around trying to make him melt down. He's not very useful to his passenger when he's like that, his energy low and weak and barely even worth feeding off of. And on this point the snake is pointedly quiet. ]

Guess I better get outta here while they think yer serious.

Edited (lil typo) 2022-04-03 08:33 (UTC)

[ Izō is acting on his most professional behavior and not gawking at the scene. A casual observation is all he gives it, making note of faces and positions just in case he needs to do something. It makes for interesting ambiance as he waits at the bar for her to come back.

A drink and another cigarette makes the wait more tolerable. That doesn't stop him from complaining under his breath, though. ]

Draggin' me along for 'fun'...some fun this is.

[ It's not a serious complaint, he's just whiny. ]

[ Well, if they die, they'll die together. Better than dying alone huddled in a corner, right? Izō isn't thinking straight or much at all. It's easier just to let himself be pulled and led right now. He keeps the hilt of his sword clutched in his hand like a security blanket.

What good is he if he can't keep the ones he cares about safe. ]

Can't see shit... [ Useless complaining. ] Where th' fuck are we even goin'?

[ She's gone for... a while... Talking up Haruka and pinching her cheeks, keeping half an eye on things as she takes a few stabs at finding a client. Then she's sitting with the other yokai, keeping an eye on the main room to ascertain that everyone's behaving. It is Tenkohime's territory, she expects as much and isn't let down.

Then she finally comes back to him, scales glittery from something one of the courtesans had put all over her and the steam. She smells like that front room, tips of her hair curling. She slides into the chair next to him and orders a drink. ]

It's hot in there, sheesh...

[ She fans herself with a hand, gold bracelets jingling on her wrist as she turns her attention to him. ]

Doin' all right, Mister Bodyguard?

[ He's at least three drinks in by the time she gets back and yet still manages to offer her a cigarette. A perfect gentleman here, clearly. ]

'Bout time ya got yer ass back here. [ He looks into his empty glass and rethinks ordering another. ] Gettin' kinda bored sittin' 'round like this.

[ And then a grin. ]

Better have a good payment in mind for me.

[ She puts her chin in her hand, looking at him with her good eye relaxed lazily. ]

I got some time for ya.

[ And a card to fill out. Goromi thinks Tenkohime's little challenge to the kits is kind of funny. Extra points for Shutens? How about if a Shuten outshines your girls, how's that gonna feel? Club Sunshine outdoes all those fucking Five Stars in the end, it's not as though she doesn't know what she's doing. She's just adding a detail. ]

Ya wanna come upstairs with me?

[ Not the offer he's expecting. Ignore the bright red flush to his cheeks -- it's totally just the booze and nothing else. That failure of composure aside, Izō grins and sits up straighter. ]

'Course I do. How th' fuck could I say no to an offer like that?

[ She tosses back her drink, decidedly unladylike but maybe cute anyway depending on who you're asking. She holds out her hand for him as she slides out of her barstool, sequins glittering. Her steps up the carpeted stairs are rhythmic and measured, dress swaying around her hips as she goes. She doesn't even bother teasing him about getting distracted, she just brings him inside one of the little rooms with her.

Majima wouldn't be so cavalier about hooking up in a literal whore house, but he's not invited to this meeting. Goromi's in charge and maybe in league with the snake who vastly prefers her attitude: live life, have a good time. She pushes up on him against the door, tickles her nails along his throat and the front of his shirt. ]

Hey, baby.

[ His heart catches in his throat -- he did not see that coming. Confidence wavers in the face of a snake lady pinning him against the door. He breathes out a whine before relaxing enough to put a hand on her hip. ]

Hey... [ He leans in for a kiss. ] Dunno what's gotten into ya.

[ But he likes it. ]

[ Whispered breathy, ]

It's just for fun...

[ He knows the shape of fantasy very well, and he knows how to turn himself right off and play the role he's presented. He wasn't offering to fuck anyone as Lord of the Night, but he was offering them gratification all the same. The chance to boss him around, the chance to kick him around and humiliate and berate him. And he had to make it good for them; the pompous little kings. Duck his head and say yes, customer-sama. (Duck his head and promise yes, Sagawa-han. )

Goromi only ducks her head to who she chooses. She's a creature of choices denied. The fantasy is that she would choose you, that she doesn't do anything she doesn't want and she wants this. Escapism, only a little different from the snuffling pigs who go to the dominatrixes to let them out of their heavy roles.

Majima wouldn't put all that into words -- words are too powerful, they make things too real -- but he knows all of these things. Fantasies and roles and gratification. How he can turn off Majima Goro and be anything that he wants to be.

She kisses him faintly, the texture of her lipstick sticking and pulling just a little at the brushed touch. She tilts her head so that most of her hair tumbles to one side, just a few strands clinging around her neck. She works on his buttons while holding his gaze, slow and purposeful. ]

Somethin' different t'do.

[ Someone different to be. Toraguma wouldn't get it; yakuza duty is unbreaking and unbending. Tenkohime would. ]

[open] no strings attached

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