jigokulogs | ( open ) if i wanna stay alive

Entry tags:

( open ) if i wanna stay alive

Who 🍷 shylock and you!
What 🍷 april catchall! mostly festival prompts inside for now.
When 🍷 entire month of april
Where 🍷 hell, baby
Content Warnings 🍷 alcohol and maybe some nsfw things, since he's a tamamo. the rest is tba.

prompts and whatnot will be in the comments! feel free to hit me up via plotting post or PM if you want something more specialized.
also shylock looks something like this, but obv without the fox ears. he'd still be wearing the earrings though, and the bun is a lot more elaborate than his usual.

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[ SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS ]

Fufu. You're welcome to visit later, if you're so inclined.

[ just some light teasing. shylock knows a repressed human when he sees one, but the sutoku is all about the ascetics and not the aesthetics, so.

yeah, let him just take care of another order while he's at it. ]

But I am glad to see you in a good mood regardless. Though are you usually on your lonesome on special days such as this?

Pass.

[The answer comes immediately, not even a second to deliberate. Yeah bitch he's repressed AND HE LIKES IT THAT WAY.] Were I interested in that sort of thing, I wouldn't go so far as to debase myself by seeking out the company of ayakashi beasts in a public bathhouse.

[So, you know. He's not saying he's not interested in that sort of thing.....]

Not usually, no. My clan is quite large; I always have a lot to do on those days. [He means he has an entourage.] But I will admit they are usually filled with a lot of work for me. This is the first festival I've attended where I could spend the day more or less how I liked.

[Which is not to say he isn't working.] And you, Shylock-san? Are there festivals like this where you hail from?

There are other humans in our faction if you're that [ picky ] fastidious.

[ just sayin'. like you know... your bestie........ ]

Even a busy man like you deserves a break every now and then, so don't be afraid to indulge just for today -- whether or not you choose to do it with us foxes.

[ see this is exactly matoba can't stand them. and yet he's still here anyway... though he did prove himself to the human that he can behave for the most part unlike the other baristas who would put anything into their drinks unattended... ]

As for your question, we do have a festival like this back home. It's called Walpurgisnacht, a festival for wizards, and each country celebrate it in their own special way.

I am aware, thank you.

[Matoba smiles, (un)pleasantly nipping the implication in the bud. Don't you worry, Shylock; if he does have the need, he already knows where to go!]

[He sips slowly again at his sake, musing over Shylock's determined encouragement. Has Natori been that obvious, or something? He lets that accusation simmer in the back of his mind.] Thank you. Yes, I think I will take the opportunity to enjoy myself. [He tilts the cup in a little gesture towards Shylock.] There is quite a lot to see today. I just hope I will have the chance to take it all in...

[A festival for wizards, as this Night Parade was for ayakashi. Matoba wonders if it was something about being shunned by humans that brought these groups of ayakashi together in common otherness.] I see... [That was quite a word. He isn't going to try repeating it.] Are you typically relegated to bar duty for that as well?

There is a lot to do in this festival, isn't there? I only wish this day could be longer so that I too can partake in the sights a little while longer...

[ sighs. he's only one person in the end. ]

And no, I usually close shop whenever that fated day arrives. In the West, the humans drink and play around with us for that day until sunrise in order to appease us. And that's not the only festival and parade Western Country partakes in -- we are what you call party animals that live and thrive through chaos and merriment.

[ now, doesn't that sound nice? ]

The days in Hell seem to already be rather long as it is, [Matoba chuckles, taking another little sip. Ah, already almost gone....] Perhaps we ought to petition for the festival to last an entire weekend, next time.

["Next time", as if he expects to be here for that long. But at the whims of ayakashi, any number of decades could pass, and for them, it would be but an instant.]

[...From what Shylock had told him, maybe for wizards as well.]

How nice for you, [Matoba smirks. Like worshiping monstrous youkai as kami. Truly, wizards sounded more and more like ayakashi every time he heard more.] So then, you get along from time to time after all, don't you?

I would love that.

[ days just blend in one another in shylock's perspective at this point. but as for matoba's question, he simply smiles and shrugs. ]

We... coexist, but only separately. In Western Country, we despise humans and vice versa, but we don't have to trust to use one another. It is easy to deceive humans with magic, but continuing to do so will eventually cost you your human customers.

[ another order comes up, and it's looking to be a complicated one. so instead of merely relying on his hands, shylock twirls a finger and a couple of bottles float up and pour into the glass while he deftly cuts up some fruits. ]

You may already know this, given your profession, but doing business with humans require a certain amount of trust and customer service. Though it is not usually a bad thing to be choosy about one's customers, but there will come a time where you'll lose the privilege to choose if the trust is broken. In other words, it's a give-and-take.

[An ayakashi is but an ayakashi, after all, no matter what they may call themselves. Matoba's eye half-lids and travels across the length of the mostly-Tamamo clientele in the room as Shylock answers, feeling the ease of his hatred wash over him. It was quite familiar, in an almost comforting way. Things were the same all over, no matter what little details may differ.]

[Taking it in, Matoba sips at his sake, feels the burn at the back of his throat, and sighs with satisfaction.]

Ha ha, are you warning me, Shylock-san...?

[He returns the cup to the bartop and smiles his easy, slimy smile at the wizard, radiating his own, easy hatred.] It seems that no matter what the profession, dealing with the other side requires a fair bit of discretion. Ah, but you might not have to take what you can get anymore, considering I am far outnumbered in this place.

[He holds the wizard's eye for a moment, resting his chin in hand.]

Deceiving ayakashi is not that difficult, either.

[ king what are you so mad about, he's just stating it like it is as someone who's lived for far too long. he can only return matoba's dark smile with his bright own. ]

I look forward to your techniques of deception, should the need arises. I suppose it is easier to pull off while our abilities are heavily dampened at the moment...

[ ...still. ]

Are there really no other humans left in this realm, however?

[There is no anger :) Why would you think that Shylock :) :)]

[Matoba, likewise, returns the (fake) bright smile and tilts his cup at the wizard.] Should the need arise, [He agrees, and has himself a little sip.] You know, I don't look forward to such things. It would be so much easier if we could all simply work together without such attachments, wouldn't it?

[As usual, Matoba toes the line between sarcasm and irony, making it impossible to tell if he was being truthful in his sentiments.]

...But, to your point, I have not met any who were not "Lost Souls" as I am, so I suppose that must be the case. I do wonder where the dead have all gone...

[ cope and seethe, matoba. cope and seethe. ]

I agree with you on that.

[ not getting attached, that is. which is... surprising, given how they've had a lot of differences already, but shylock is good at exercising that professional distance; right now they are just bartender and customer, a tamamo and a sutoku. nothing more, nothing less, and he's satisfied with that. ]

But it is curious. This place is typically the land of the dead, is it not? Unless there is a different kind of hell for certain types of humans.

[He! WILL!!!!]

It is true that there are said to be layers of the afterlife to which humans are passed along in order to carry out atonement for their sins, before being reborn according to their accrued karma, [Matoba explains, and tilts his sake cup back and forth, watching the bit of drink left inside. Ah, not much now...] So I suppose it's entirely possible that normally, we would be passed through the Kaigou no Bou and sent along on our merry way through Samsara.

But I don't believe I've seen many humans even when we arrived for processing ourselves, aside from those I've seen again as fellow Lost Souls.

Interesting.

[ very interesting, but shylock doesn't know much about the cycle of death and rebirth just yet. there are a lot of ways for wizards to avoid death such as hiding one's entire soul somewhere or to tether one's soul onto another so that they can continue to linger in the world as a ghost, but once they're dead... there's just no coming back from that.

he raises the bottle of sake a little, ready to pour if matoba wants more. ]

We are needed to fill the ranks for our respective clans, as per our contracts with them. Perhaps once our work here is done, we are ready to move on...?

[Matoba scoffs softly, finishing off the last of his cup.] Is that what you think, Shylock-san? That you are dead?

Are you ready to pass on to your next life?

[He eyes Shylock's offer to pour, and frowns slightly. No, he should not partake of more than one cup of indulgence; he was technically working, today, wasn't he? At least until he could determine just what was going on behind the scenes.... He doesn't indicate a reply for a moment, and means to refuse, but...]

[An idea occurs to him instead, and he meets Shylock's eyes with a small bit of mischief.]

Might I convince you to sell me the rest of the bottle to bring on my way? I don't know if you've seen them yet, but the cherry trees my clan has planted are rather beautiful. I think I'd like to enjoy them with a drink.

[ he chuckles under his breath. ]

Who knows? The fact that I found myself here in this certain version of Hell rather than the one we have in my world raises more questions than answers, really.

But no -- I still have so much to live for. [ he locks eyes with matoba along with a smile. ] If anything, this is only a detour for me. Our leader has offered a contract I can't possibly refuse, after all.

[ even though it's folly that tenkohime would be able to pull something off that the moon can't, but. details, details. ]

They're splendid. I plan to visit them at some point, should I have enough time after my shift. [ he reseals the bottle and places it in front of matoba. here you go, good sir. ] Are you going to watch them with someone?

Oh? Your very own hell? [One for wizards, Matoba wonders, or did all belong to it equally...?] That is interesting, isn't it?

But I agree. When I have fulfilled my contract, I will return to my clan. There are things I must do before I come back here properly. It won't be that long; I'm sure the Daitengu won't even have time to miss me.

[This statement is going to be less cute in about 24 hours. Matoba takes out his wallet to slip payment across the bar- for the service, and the bottle- and then stands, picking it up to take it with him.]

Perhaps, [The edge of Matoba's sly smile is covered as he tugs his mask back down over his face] if there is anyone worth watching them with.

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