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jigokulogs2022-08-07 11:24 am
bratherine) wrote in jigokulogs2022-08-07 11:24 am
[3 / open] here and there, i let my body go with the flow
Who ⬤ Kate Galloway (bratherine) and whoever wants to bother her
What ⬤ More Tanabata and post-Tanabata shenanigans. Waiter life at the Pleasure Palace (featuring Stardust and/or smooches), fun and games at the festival, wishing dilemmas, impulsive reactions to assassination attempts and post-festival training. (plotting comment)
When ⬤ Tanabata weekend and the days following
Where ⬤ See prompts for locations
Content Warnings ⬤ THE GIRLS ARE FIIIIGHTING. Stardust, melancholy times with wishes, sparring and probably others when threads get going
( Saying Kate has developed some skills at this waiting high class tables business is something she would shrug off. Months at the same job will have you growing accustomed to anything, after all, much like she's grown accustomed to wearing the uniform of the night: the same shirt, slacks, tie and waistcoat she'd wear up above ground. It's all just muscle memory.
Though, for those few people who have seen her face at the door of a high class Western-style restaurant in the Tamamo district, they'll at least notice some marked attempt at being a little more charming and conversational to the patrons of the Palace.
After all, who knows where Tenkohime's eyes stretch to in this new playground of hers. And, if nothing else, Kate doesn't deliberately want to antagonise the boss. Not when the promise of contract fulfilment hangs over her head so heavily, the promise of everything back home being righted a faint light at the end of the tunnel. One Tenkohime can all too easily snuff out.
She affixes a half-smile to her face as she turns with a tray of drinks and weaves in and out of tables towards the people who've ordered. Drinks lifted smoothly from the tray and placed neatly in front of whoever's sitting there.
It's all just muscle memory. )
Is that everything?
( She waits for a second, brown eyes taking in the customer, and decides; )
Got something to make your order better, if you want it.
( Yeah. You look like you need to enjoy your night a little more.
It may not necessarily be sanctioned by the bosses here, but there's a sachet of Stardust in her back pocket and a power flickering potent through her veins. )
( The manager at the Palace lets Kate scarper early, which is much appreciated, as spending all night in her work gear sounds... Well, kinda shit, honestly. And perhaps the manager herself has a vested interest in letting Kate go after helping to pick out her outfit for the night.
It's different. Kate agreed to traditional back in Mizukume, and after several wrinkled noses and complaints about too heavy materials, or stiflingly long kimono, a shorter, lighter option found her. Soft material grazes her arms, a subtle peach gradient and quiet floral pattern teasing out of the charcoal base of the kimono when she stands under the right amount of starlight. She needed help with the obi, whose ends trail down until they skim the floor, the centrepiece of an otherwise simple outfit. And everything, of course, is pulled together with the intricate nest of curls the neesans had simply insisted she wear (why would you hide this under hours of using a straightening iron, Kate-chan?) for the evening.
She lets the outfit, and the night, sweep her away for a little while. Spends time staring at the stars — the sun may be better, warmer, carrying all the promise of the summer, but she's never seen this many stars in the sky. Even if it's a fake sky. It's kinda cool, a real version of the projector Marc used to have in his room after he became part of the family. The memory comes with an ache, like it always does, but the anger doesn't follow.
She'll get home. She'll get home to a version of reality where nothing went wrong, and every inch of aching emptiness at being without her brother will be worth it. The resolve buries itself deep inside her heart, like it always does, and the ache fades beneath the music of the night.
And where there's music, there's— )
Wanna dance?
( C'mon. It'll be fun. )
( Kate gets a primer on what all of this is in the simplest of ways: Watching and putting two and two together. People writing onto talismans, words reflecting desires and the closed eyes as they place the colourful pieces back in place.
...Nah. This is dumb, right? But a little voice in the back of Kate's head whispers that she's asking Jigokucho for something much more crazy than money or love. If Jigokucho can grant something like that, what problem is giving someone a payrise?
Still. Cynicism reigns. The contract is a deal. It may be one where the outcome is far beyond anything a human back home could guarantee, but it's a deal nonetheless. You put in work, you get a reward. And the same goes for so many of these. You can work into a promotion, into more money. You can try to find love, if that's what you want.
If wishes are real, why spend them on something you can fix yourself?
The thoughts cycle through Kate's mind with each step she takes, each new talisman she reads. From the simple to the big asks, the tapestry of desires and people here unwinds itself before her eyes. She stops only when she sees someone pluck out a fresh talisman, leans against the nearest wall, and asks simply: )
What're you wishing for?
( It seems that a night's peace is an impossibility when the Lost Souls gather, doesn't it? Though the night had suckered her into thinking it could, perhaps, be the exception to the rule, the spell breaks quite thoroughly when Ryouma nearly fucking dies. When that chick gets kidnapped. The whispers of the night, sparsely sprinkled in customer conversations during her shift at the Palace, aren't exactly enough to provide any useful answers.
But there is one way to figure out what's going on: by slipping out amongst the chaos, following the quickly vanishing roaring of motorbike engines towards the ascent back to the overground. She won't catch them, that much is obvious, but the itch to do anything but hang around and wait for Enma officers to find out she knows sweet fuck all about what's going on pulls too strongly to ignore.
She's good at this kind of stuff, after all. Sneaking around, tying the ends of her obi out of the way and running up to the city proper. A bunch of wild motorcycles surely leave some sort of trace, whether in the memories of the people who are out at this hour, or on the roads themselves. Toppled over wastebins, anything like that.
Not that she knows where to go after she gets up. With no one to ask and nothing visibly indicating the direction of travel, Kate frowns. Well... Shit.
Where now? )
( The effects of the talisman she'd hung before all hell broke loose made themselves known in the aftermath of the evening, when everything about her running was a little better. When her muscles felt stronger.
Kate isn't quite sure what it means yet, but she knows one thing: the best way to figure this out is by training. Which is how she ends up spending the morning after Tanabata in a Shuten gym, where things like punching bags and fighting rings are on offer, where everything smells a little bit like years of intense use compared to the clean and orderly Tamamo gym she usually frequents.
Is it the most intelligent decision of her life to be a fox in the oni den while working on her kicks and punches? Not really, but there's something about the grit and bloodthirst which makes it feel like the right place to be. Somewhere she'll be challenged. Where she may lose.
Where proving herself is essential.
But she keeps her head down to start with. Warms up, works through a flow of movements against a punching bag and feels it. She hits better. A small, nearly insignificant fraction of a percent better than before, but it's there. Her muscles don't tire as soon as they did before — she shifts from the first set of movements to a second, third, fourth, before the burn really starts to take form.
As though the stars read her wish and said sure, we'll give you that.
And, as that thought settles into place, she grows more settled. Pays more attention to the others here. Maybe even nods a greeting when she locks eyes with them. She's paid to work out here. That's all there is to it at the end of the day. )
( The days after Tanabata are long and involved. From training, to work, to trying to work out what the right next move is. Where does she go from here, in order to guarantee that she returns home successful in fulfilling her contract?
The words written on her own wish linger in the back of her mind somewhere, raising the question of just how much Kate can live up to that wish with a little added strength and grunt work. It's what she's weighing up in her mind as she ascends the stairs to her shitty flat — are there benefits beyond a better paycheque if she tries to rise in the Tamamo ranks?
And it's what flies out of her head when she gets to her door and finds a familiar face standing right in front of it. )
What're you doing here?
( It isn't unfriendly, but there's an edge to Kate's voice. She didn't invite him, and despite the amount of time they spend together, an unannounced visit leaves her on the back foot, shoulders tensing as her fingers curl more tightly around her keys.
He could have texted first, at least. )
bratherine) and whoever wants to bother herWhat ⬤ More Tanabata and post-Tanabata shenanigans. Waiter life at the Pleasure Palace (featuring Stardust and/or smooches), fun and games at the festival, wishing dilemmas, impulsive reactions to assassination attempts and post-festival training. (plotting comment)
When ⬤ Tanabata weekend and the days following
Where ⬤ See prompts for locations
Content Warnings ⬤ THE GIRLS ARE FIIIIGHTING. Stardust, melancholy times with wishes, sparring and probably others when threads get going
this loud, loud, loud and frivolous heart of mine » pleasure palace, waiter gig ▻ potential cw: Stardust use
( Saying Kate has developed some skills at this waiting high class tables business is something she would shrug off. Months at the same job will have you growing accustomed to anything, after all, much like she's grown accustomed to wearing the uniform of the night: the same shirt, slacks, tie and waistcoat she'd wear up above ground. It's all just muscle memory.
Though, for those few people who have seen her face at the door of a high class Western-style restaurant in the Tamamo district, they'll at least notice some marked attempt at being a little more charming and conversational to the patrons of the Palace.
After all, who knows where Tenkohime's eyes stretch to in this new playground of hers. And, if nothing else, Kate doesn't deliberately want to antagonise the boss. Not when the promise of contract fulfilment hangs over her head so heavily, the promise of everything back home being righted a faint light at the end of the tunnel. One Tenkohime can all too easily snuff out.
She affixes a half-smile to her face as she turns with a tray of drinks and weaves in and out of tables towards the people who've ordered. Drinks lifted smoothly from the tray and placed neatly in front of whoever's sitting there.
It's all just muscle memory. )
Is that everything?
( She waits for a second, brown eyes taking in the customer, and decides; )
Got something to make your order better, if you want it.
( Yeah. You look like you need to enjoy your night a little more.
It may not necessarily be sanctioned by the bosses here, but there's a sachet of Stardust in her back pocket and a power flickering potent through her veins. )
who could ever notice it » tanabata festival, fun and games
( The manager at the Palace lets Kate scarper early, which is much appreciated, as spending all night in her work gear sounds... Well, kinda shit, honestly. And perhaps the manager herself has a vested interest in letting Kate go after helping to pick out her outfit for the night.
It's different. Kate agreed to traditional back in Mizukume, and after several wrinkled noses and complaints about too heavy materials, or stiflingly long kimono, a shorter, lighter option found her. Soft material grazes her arms, a subtle peach gradient and quiet floral pattern teasing out of the charcoal base of the kimono when she stands under the right amount of starlight. She needed help with the obi, whose ends trail down until they skim the floor, the centrepiece of an otherwise simple outfit. And everything, of course, is pulled together with the intricate nest of curls the neesans had simply insisted she wear (why would you hide this under hours of using a straightening iron, Kate-chan?) for the evening.
She lets the outfit, and the night, sweep her away for a little while. Spends time staring at the stars — the sun may be better, warmer, carrying all the promise of the summer, but she's never seen this many stars in the sky. Even if it's a fake sky. It's kinda cool, a real version of the projector Marc used to have in his room after he became part of the family. The memory comes with an ache, like it always does, but the anger doesn't follow.
She'll get home. She'll get home to a version of reality where nothing went wrong, and every inch of aching emptiness at being without her brother will be worth it. The resolve buries itself deep inside her heart, like it always does, and the ache fades beneath the music of the night.
And where there's music, there's— )
Wanna dance?
( C'mon. It'll be fun. )
i cried because i don't give a fuck » tanabata festival, wishes
( Kate gets a primer on what all of this is in the simplest of ways: Watching and putting two and two together. People writing onto talismans, words reflecting desires and the closed eyes as they place the colourful pieces back in place.
...Nah. This is dumb, right? But a little voice in the back of Kate's head whispers that she's asking Jigokucho for something much more crazy than money or love. If Jigokucho can grant something like that, what problem is giving someone a payrise?
Still. Cynicism reigns. The contract is a deal. It may be one where the outcome is far beyond anything a human back home could guarantee, but it's a deal nonetheless. You put in work, you get a reward. And the same goes for so many of these. You can work into a promotion, into more money. You can try to find love, if that's what you want.
If wishes are real, why spend them on something you can fix yourself?
The thoughts cycle through Kate's mind with each step she takes, each new talisman she reads. From the simple to the big asks, the tapestry of desires and people here unwinds itself before her eyes. She stops only when she sees someone pluck out a fresh talisman, leans against the nearest wall, and asks simply: )
What're you wishing for?
hold me and my confused heart » we know who you are, chase sequence
( It seems that a night's peace is an impossibility when the Lost Souls gather, doesn't it? Though the night had suckered her into thinking it could, perhaps, be the exception to the rule, the spell breaks quite thoroughly when Ryouma nearly fucking dies. When that chick gets kidnapped. The whispers of the night, sparsely sprinkled in customer conversations during her shift at the Palace, aren't exactly enough to provide any useful answers.
But there is one way to figure out what's going on: by slipping out amongst the chaos, following the quickly vanishing roaring of motorbike engines towards the ascent back to the overground. She won't catch them, that much is obvious, but the itch to do anything but hang around and wait for Enma officers to find out she knows sweet fuck all about what's going on pulls too strongly to ignore.
She's good at this kind of stuff, after all. Sneaking around, tying the ends of her obi out of the way and running up to the city proper. A bunch of wild motorcycles surely leave some sort of trace, whether in the memories of the people who are out at this hour, or on the roads themselves. Toppled over wastebins, anything like that.
Not that she knows where to go after she gets up. With no one to ask and nothing visibly indicating the direction of travel, Kate frowns. Well... Shit.
Where now? )
just give me something in return » post-event training, a shuten gym
( The effects of the talisman she'd hung before all hell broke loose made themselves known in the aftermath of the evening, when everything about her running was a little better. When her muscles felt stronger.
Kate isn't quite sure what it means yet, but she knows one thing: the best way to figure this out is by training. Which is how she ends up spending the morning after Tanabata in a Shuten gym, where things like punching bags and fighting rings are on offer, where everything smells a little bit like years of intense use compared to the clean and orderly Tamamo gym she usually frequents.
Is it the most intelligent decision of her life to be a fox in the oni den while working on her kicks and punches? Not really, but there's something about the grit and bloodthirst which makes it feel like the right place to be. Somewhere she'll be challenged. Where she may lose.
Where proving herself is essential.
But she keeps her head down to start with. Warms up, works through a flow of movements against a punching bag and feels it. She hits better. A small, nearly insignificant fraction of a percent better than before, but it's there. Her muscles don't tire as soon as they did before — she shifts from the first set of movements to a second, third, fourth, before the burn really starts to take form.
As though the stars read her wish and said sure, we'll give you that.
And, as that thought settles into place, she grows more settled. Pays more attention to the others here. Maybe even nods a greeting when she locks eyes with them. She's paid to work out here. That's all there is to it at the end of the day. )
yeah, yeah, i forgot. don't feel a thing » closed to shin
( The days after Tanabata are long and involved. From training, to work, to trying to work out what the right next move is. Where does she go from here, in order to guarantee that she returns home successful in fulfilling her contract?
The words written on her own wish linger in the back of her mind somewhere, raising the question of just how much Kate can live up to that wish with a little added strength and grunt work. It's what she's weighing up in her mind as she ascends the stairs to her shitty flat — are there benefits beyond a better paycheque if she tries to rise in the Tamamo ranks?
And it's what flies out of her head when she gets to her door and finds a familiar face standing right in front of it. )
What're you doing here?
( It isn't unfriendly, but there's an edge to Kate's voice. She didn't invite him, and despite the amount of time they spend together, an unannounced visit leaves her on the back foot, shoulders tensing as her fingers curl more tightly around her keys.
He could have texted first, at least. )
no subject
In that? ( Okay, colour her impressed. It took hours of criticising every kimono and yukata she was shoved into as being too long, can't run in that before the neesans had the bright idea to go shorter (and throw some shorts on underneath, which makes this feel less like a formal outfit and more like an oversized top. Comfy!). Because, no, Kate wouldn't deny that Haru projects a certain image, and she hasn't looked closely enough at the other girl's hands to realise that image might not be the full picture. )
Y'might want some proper shoes.
( At the very least. 🤔 )
no subject
[ She casts a considering look at her feet. This... yeah, that's a highly valid point. Anyone who wore a yukata for longer than ten minutes also knew to carry around band-aids in their bags for their feet, toes especially. Running in geta wouldn't be wise. ]
... You're right. I'm going to have to at least change my footwear into something a little more athletic.
no subject
... Where the hell would you get actual athletic gear in the middle of a festival? )
— Weren't th' Shutens running a fighting ring?
( It's a long shot, because she kind of imagines that was a "you fight in what you're wearing" gig, but maybe they could try and nick something? )
no subject
[ She hadn't brought a pair of athletic shoes, but that does remind her... ]
Actually, I was working in the casino earlier-- understandably, I wasn't wearing a yukata at the time. So they're not tennis shoes or the like, but I do have shoes that should work better than these. I'd completely forgotten all about that!
[ Thanks, Kate, for reminding this girl about her own faction. ]
no subject
But, uh. Please hold. She knows enough to know that the casino was Shuten territory, which means... Adding reassessment of this girl's existence to include that fact. Interesting. )
There y'go.
( She was going to suggest some mild theft. Haru probably has the better idea. And so, with that problem seemingly settled, Kate's attention turns back to the bamboo and the talismans hanging from it. So many wishes already there, the dreams and hopes of so many people.
It fascinates her, really, in a strange way. Like people tossing pennies in a well, people are always hoping for something to fix their problems.
Just like coming here, she supposes. )
So this festival happens back in your world?
no subject
That's right. [ She follows Kate's gaze to the multicolored strips of paper, bobbing and dancing where they hang, her gaze softening at just how many people still have dreams and desires and are willing to set aside their doubts to express them in this manner. ]
A lot of the time, there's fireworks near the end of it. I can tell you the story behind the celebration, if you'd like.
no subject
But that's another conversation for another time and age, perhaps. Right now... )
Sure. ( That would probably be good to know. ) Wanna get your shoes?
( They can walk and talk. It'll be nice. )
no subject
[ Plenty of time to tell her the legend while they walk to the casino, certainly. ]
My name is Haru, by the way. Haru Okumura. It's a pleasure to meet you.
[ It's pleasantries, yes, but she does also mean that. ]
no subject
Kate. ( Very, uh, to the point there. She has her skills and pleasantries are not one of them, unfortunately.
(How did she end up in Tamamo? That's a question for the ages.) )
no subject
[ How did they end up in their respective factions, honestly? It's a mystery for the ages. Majima hadn't even known how to handle Haru asking about hand-to-hand self-defense lessons, given that it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to just throw her around.
She wouldn't have minded. ]
There was a princess, Orihime, who wove clothing by the heavenly river-- what we know of as the Milky Way. She was a hard worker, but very lonely.
One day, she was introduced to Hikoboshi, a cowherder who lived on the other side of the Milky Way, and they instantly fell in love and were married. But they were so devoted to each other that they neglected their duties, which angered Orihime's father.
[ She hums softly as she walks. ]
He forbade them to be together, but Orihime pleaded with him and he relented, though he only allowed them to reunite on the seventh day of the seventh month-- ah, though some places will celebrate it on the seventh day of the eighth month, in honor of the Chinese calendar.
Weather is actually involved fairly heavily, too.
no subject
So... why wishes?
( Not that the bamboo trees don't look pretty with all their tanzaku, but if she was designing a way to celebrate a story like that; )
Sounds more like people should be gettin' engaged and married.
no subject
That isn't really the case for those who wish to be in a marriage-- rather, not everyone wants that. I'd be curious, though, to see how it came about.
no subject
Oh. That's it, isn't it?
no subject
[ AND THEN WE CAN JOG. ]
no subject
( Knowing her luck, she'd get into a spat with someone because she ~isn't supposed to be here~, so maybe she'll just look around at how pretty everything's been made for the night. )
no subject
Thank you for waiting!
no subject
... My brother's room used t' look like this.
( She doesn't quite know why she says it, other than the powerful wave of fond nostalgia the evening brings up. She hadn't even thought about Marc's childhood bedroom for years. )
'E had one of them projector light things.
( What a nerd. )
no subject
[ She moves to lean beside her, similar tipping her head back and up to look at the sky. ]
I never had one, but I think I've heard of them... they cast stars on the ceiling? [ Like a planetarium with its projectors but much smaller. ]
no subject
Well. There's still weird shit going on in the air. )
'E'd love summat like this.
( Ahem. Throat clearing. Standing straight again. )
... We were goin' running, right?
no subject
[ With a warm smile as she taps one shoe on the ground. ]
If you'd prefer to stay out here and observe the sky - or the semblance of it - a little longer, I have no problems with that either.
no subject
I'm good. Let's go.
( That's enough reminiscing. )