jigokulogs | 🌸 one

Entry tags:

🌸 one | ota.

Who ⬤ aerith and you!
What ⬤ substories! i'll also be using this post as a catch-all as the month goes on.
When ⬤ let's say early march. just to be spicily unfocused.
Where ⬤ i'll specify when necessary!
Content Warnings ⬤ i'll edit this to reflect anything, so please make sure to warn in subject lines if your character brings anything up for my own reference! ❤

as a note, if you'd like to plot something personalized, i'm more than happy to chat! you can hit me up with a PM, or message me over on plurk @

hagclub.

wicked on the weekend (night parade PREP, a)

[ It takes a great deal of wrestling with a young youkai with fish's head to wrench the weapon from his grip. It had been obvious immediately, and she's already seen some similar things confiscated. For what reason, she's admittedly not very sure, and as far as she's concerned, it's not really her business. He had been carrying a staff of some sort, an unwieldy thing that collapsed into itself when handed over at Aerith's eager, chipper behest. She only needs to look busy, so the smile she wears is perhaps a dead giveaway.

She holds it up, that woody looking staff that smells slightly of river water and fish scales, inspecting it at eye level. It's dark in color, looks a bit like a twig, but is much heavier than it looks. Her fingers ghost along what feels like hard plastic when...

Hopefully you dodged, because it snaps open, a terribly sharp blade angled directly for her partner's face. Perhaps you got saddled with her of your own volition, or you thought she needed help. Maybe her light hearted approach to the situation has caught your attention, because this isn't the first time she's done this.

She immediately hands the staff back, blade still out. The youkai practically preens in response. ]

I think he can keep it.

[ Her assessment is simple. Why not, really? Maybe he'll need it. She's very, very sure of this decision, and looks to her partner with her fists upon her hips. Do you agree? Argue? Or maybe you should convince her that the two of you need the staff. (She would not disagree.) ]

can i get another amen? (night parade prep, b)

[ A case, woven from fine bamboo, is shoved into your face. The lid nearly topples off, and hangs by the neck of a bottle. It's full of them— alcohol resides inside, and they clink together enchantingly from within their bamboo-y prison. They're practically glimmering with the reflection from the neon lights. ]

Special delivery from Tamamo!

[ Her voice comes before Aerith peeks her face out from behind the case, waiting. ]

We've got more drink where that came from.

[ She waits more, still. Cat got your tongue, or maybe the bottles are just too pretty? ]

...Take it! [ This is the place that was expecting a delivery of spiked juice? ]

it's saturday night (sweet jacket)

No. [ Shaking her head, she continues in a frank tone. ] I don't think it's your jacket.

[ Aerith has a basket dangling from her elbow, stuffed with decorative flowers. Across the bridge is more businesses, and part of the parade route. A problem had presented itself to the pair of you on your way to deliver more decorations in the form of a young man wearing a rather trendy looking jacket. It certainly looks like it's Shuten's speed, from Aerith's cursory glances around the territory.

The man is unready to admit defeat to her simple, matter-of-fact statement. He shakes his head in disbelief, but it's hard to miss the crestfallen glint in his eyes. Aerith feels a twinge of regret, but better to hear it than keep believing it. Right? ]

Aaaand my lovely assistant, [ She turns to you, smiling cheekily. ] can explain to you why, can't you?

[ Her green gaze flicks to the river, where the water soaked visage of a goddess glowers at the trio of them. She gets the feeling she might have to run across this particular bridge from now on, if only by association...

Leaning in, Aerith whispers: ] Psst! Break it to him gently.

wildcard (closed prompts)

[ my ooc intro is here if you wanna plot something out more specific. i'm always happy to write a starter if someone contacts me for one, too! on the other hand, if you prefer to use my post, you're totally welcome to use this for a wildcard open. i'm also only a PM away, or contactable on plurk, listed above!

locked to nia. ]

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Yeah. We're experts at handling things with care.

[ Aerith lies, with a somber, sympathetic smile she whips up in less than a second. In response, the man looks between them, fists clenched. A manly tear gathers in the corner of one of his glimmering eyes, and slides down his cheek. The sunlight catches in it, a diamond-like reflection glistens. It falls onto the bridge's stone, and with a trusting smile, he departs.

Strangely, the hashihime doesn't react to him. Upon reaching the end of the bridge, he stops, and waves goodbye, as if wishing well to his own child on their first day of school.

Aerith stands silent for a moment. Eventually, she breaks the (perhaps a bit silly) somber air with a simple statement. ]

The hashihime move from bridge to bridge in Jigoku...

[ She's sorry, Hazel. But that jacket's gotta go. ]

[there he goes, the big idiot. there's nothing but stupidity plastered all over this exchange, but in the privacy of her own heart Hazel can be honest and say it's gotten her just the littlest smidgen of a bit in her feels over the whole thing. it's hard to exhibit any sort of attachment at all in an environment like this, especially someone embroiled with the Shuten; from that point of view it's pretty damn brave of the guy to give this much of a shit about his jacket, weird point to latch onto or not.

all things considered, it's probably not much of a surprise that her fingers curl a bit protectively around the tacky thing when Aerith points out the mildly obvious. ohhhh no, girl, we are not walking down that path together.]

So I just need to do a little cardio to get it back to the apartment. That's not so bad.

[maybe this jacket actually is cursed??? no way it can get two people this moronic in a row without some kind of spell, right? (or maybe.....Aerith was the true hater all along. the plot thickens.)]

[ A grunt escapes her, half amused and half thoughtful. Cardio doesn't sound right. A short silence befalls them, if only because Aerith can only keep her mouth shut for so long. ]

You're not going to wear it, are you? Besides, bridges are only one mode of transportation... We can come up with a better way to get it across. [ Oof, maybe she should have offered that as an option sooner. Then again, would Hazel have the jacket in that case? Besides, would that guy have listened to Aerith? She wonders.

She was the hater all along. ]

[you're not going to wear it, are you? oh, Aerith...you should know better than to say something like that to what is essentially a teenager in terms of maturity. that little cheek puff you'd been so charmed by reappears for a brief moment before, you guessed it, she's shrugging the jacket on.

she didn't even want to be wearing this right now, but what the fuck is she supposed to do? not rise to the challenge? Hazel Lockwood doesn't lose!!!!]

What, now we're trying to reroute things? [that's just her being petulant, though, so she lets that accusation drop immediately.] It's fine though. We've gotta deal with the decorations first before we start smuggling shit around, right?

Yep, we are.

[ She wasn't going to show a perfect stranger her shortcuts. ]

Decorations... well, we need to get tooooo.... [ Digging a slip of paper out of her pocket, Aerith reads the name of the business off with careful consideration. ] The Seagar.

[ A beat. ]

It's a smoke shop. [ With a shrug, she pockets the paper again. ] Want to run across or should I start walking?

[Seagar? like...sea gar? Hazel's mind is briefly overcome with some very confusing images of sailors before Aerith clarifies and chases them away like wisps of smoke. she's grateful, honestly because that train of thought was going nowhere good.]

Both at once would probably be better, wouldn't it? That way you can body block them if they try to make land.

[why isn't that phrased like a question, Hazel? you can't just tell people you're going to commandeer them as a meat shield and expect it to work out!]

[ A smile twists her expression in such a way that Aerith knows the challenge of Hazel's authority is easy to read on her face. ]

It's not if, Hazel. It's when. [ She punctuates her statement with a raise of her index finger, as if dotting her i's mid-air. ] But I didn't mean walking that way, anyway! I can wait for you across the bridge if you prefer.

[ Maybe if she had her shield powers here that would be a viable plan, and one she'd even endorse. But for now? It's a very funny suggestion. ]

[you'd think that after being treated as sub-subhuman as long as Hazel had she wouldn't expect people to just go along with her attempts to bully them for no reason other than a childish personality. you'd be...halfway wrong, which is still entirely too wrong for something like this.

part of her wants to rise to that clear challenge on Aerith's face and bolt headlong across that fucking bridge, physical safety and dignity be damned. it's so goddamn hard to wrangle her competitive spirit, especially when the person waving the gauntlet in front of her face is smiling like that...but after a visible struggle she actually manages to get it under control. for now, anyway.]

Like hell you're getting out of dealing with me that fucking easily. They gave us this assignment as a pair and that's how we're ending it.

[also, like, you know. learning more routes around the city is probably beneficial in the long run.]

Glad to see you've come to your senses, Hazel.

[ Beaming, she rests her knuckles to her hips. Who doesn't want to run around like a street rat, anyway? Aerith gestures for her to follow, using only her fingers to beckon Hazel to join her. The alleyway she ducks into is not abandoned, but it is run down. The asphalt is cracked, and a dumpster sits rotting away in the furthest corner. It's hardly a glamorous option. ]

Lots of the alley ways connect into bigger streets without having to go across the bridges. Or there's some marsh to cross over. It's only for the most stylish of adventurers, you see.

[ Looking back at Hazel, she points to the jacket. ]

Do you think we should actually try... I don't know, cleansing that? [ She's not so sure of her word choice here. ]

[beats the spooky southern crypts she's had to crawl through in the past, that's for damn sure! Hazel stuffs her hands into the pocket of her new jacket (they're pretty spacious, considering how small she is) and follows along more or less obediently.]

And here I thought everybody left grunge back in the fucking 90s.

[the comment is less biting and more vaguely distracted as her gaze turns upwards, meandering through the scraggly buildings to find the skyline. it's not the sketchiest little alley you could duck into, but she still feels as if she needs to check for people waiting to leap down onto her. it's only Aerith's comment on the jacket that brings her attention back to her companion.

well...shit. there's a thought she hadn't considered until forced to.]

I...don't actually know how to purify things without setting them on fire.

[Hazel seems equally uncertain about the answers she's giving, albeit for different reasons. she'd really like to keep this moderately ill-gotten outerwear, thank you very much. the pyre doesn't need fashion help!!]

The other shit I've dealt with has all been possessions and junk, which - I mean, we'd know if it had somebody attached to it, right?

[...right? her senses hadn't been that deeply diluted, surely.]

[ Sympathy is etched into her features. If Aerith could sense such a thing now, she doesn't pick up on it. Her response comes as a tilt of her head, lips puckering in thoughtful consideration before her shoulder shrug.

She doesn't know! ]

Maybe he was right. Maybe they do just hate it as a fashion choice.

[ That's the hashihime's problem, then. Could remind her of an ex, Aerith supposes. ]

So you know things like that? [ Or did, apparently. ]

[well...as much as Hazel's sentimentally defended this jacket, and is now spitefully wearing it, she can't actually blame the hashihime if the spirit does have a hard-on for hating this thing. it's a pretty loud pattern, gaudy and more than a little stupid - exactly the kind of thing that she used to love. the way she was now, though, did it really suit her these days?

...her hands burrowed more deeply into the jacket pockets as she stubbornly moved on to Aerith's question, consigning that thought to the void.]

Yeah. Think they kind of dulled it down here, or else everything's so fucking wacky that it just burnt itself out after kicking into overdrive.

[a small shrug. who could say?]

Usually I can see things most people can't, and feel shit like possessions or magic. It's a pain in the ass.

[ Silence comes to envelope the paid as Aerith stops in her tracks to turn back and look at Hazel. Her expression wears surprise easily, but there's something impossible to explain beneath it. It's hard to explain what emotion flips around in her gut, but as her expression softens, perhaps it's easy to read it as some sort of kinship. ]

Really? [ Despite this, she says nothing of note. ]

Well, that's good to know. In a place like this, we'll probably eventually need that for a job or something. Maybe... you need a bit of training to work on it again? [ Walking again, she speaks with her back to Hazel. ] Do you want it back?

[it's strange. of course it's strange. Hazel had found it that way herself when she'd first realized the extent of what had been done to her, what it meant. the reality she could now perceive was still one with no place in it for her; in the end it was just another proof of her wrongness.

her shoulders hike slightly when she reads the surprise in Aerith's expression, ready to go on the defensive as soon as the comment should land. but nothing comes...and there's something strange in the shifting tides of the woman's gaze. a connection feels too presumptuous of her to assume, not with something like herself, but there's...something that lingers for just a moment. it's enough to put her posture back into neutral.]

...I don't really know.

[it's easier to be honest when addressing someone's back, and she suspects that this is intentional on Aerith's part. it ought to rankle her a little, but the fact of the matter is that 'do you want what you've lost returned?' has been a question she's been purposefully avoiding no matter how much pressure it's been building up within her. venting a little of that metaphorical steam can't be the worst thing in the world.]

I never fucking asked for it to begin with. Things that hide themselves like that want to stay hidden, it's not like anyone was fucking thrilled I could tell what was actually happening. It just made more problems for me.

[and yet...she frowns, the knot in her stomach tightening.]

Who else is gonna do anything, though? Nobody ever seems to fucking care.

[she'd helped people who'd have vanished without a trace because of what she could see, what she could do. they'd grown afraid of her as well by the end, but they'd still been alive to reach that conclusion. how could she turn her back on that when she knew for a fact no one else in her world with that sight gave a shit about blind humans?]

[ "That's a lot of f-bombs," Aerith almost says, but bites her tongue. ]

Hmm...

[ Raising her arms overhead, she stretches. Her knuckles crack, and Aerith walks lightly in her steps, as if what Hazel's dropped onto her was really of no weight— in other words, it's easy for her to help Hazel carry it. In truth, none of this sounds particularly new to her; the pair of them are two sides to the same coin. Where Aerith can't harness these abilities, Hazel seems to have found herself rolled up in them without a say. Worse yet: maybe she put a great deal of personal stakes into them. ]

Yeah, maybe not. [ Maybe they don't care. Sometimes, that's the simple truth. ] But to tell you the truth, Hazel? You don't really need all that to help people.

[ Turning to look at her over her shoulder, Aerith smiles light and easy. ]

It sounds like just being yourself is how you get things done, right? And that's all you need. You don't have to move the world to... well, move the world!

[it's silly, really, but Aerith's breezy reaction touches her. just a bit. to have some part of her insecurities received like this rather than treated with disdain, the way she'd been conditioned to expect...well, it's just a nice surprise.]

Yeah, because I've got such a fucking charming personality.

[how many obscenities was she on at this point, anyway? but Hazel chuckles as she makes the comment, hands slipping out of her jacket pockets and hanging down loosely at her sides. it's a small movement but meaningful all the same; she's not as turned inward now, less tangled up in her own ugly thoughts.]

Surprised people aren't flocking to me to solve all their problems.

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🌸 one | ota.

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