jigokulogs | August catchall.

“I can understand out being loud and bright. Nothing was this bright where I am from. There were lantern lit cities but nothing this bright or loud, I;m getting used to it though.”

He listened quietly still playing with her hair.

“I have never seen the sea. I would love to see it someday. I grew up in a small city but we had a huge river with all kinds of fish.

It really does swallow people up, the noise and bustle.” He smiles fondly.

“No. You aren’t. I can already tell you have a shine and you feel deeply. Perhaps we should set out some time where we can chat. I can make you fish and we’ll make it quiet and intimate. Everyone deserves to have their personhood.”

Unabara didn't trust humans. Their attentions were short, and their motivations were self-focused. The moment something became expected, they overstepped and assumed that it was casually deserved rather than think of why they were allowed the things given to them and the appreciation they should show for it.

But this human was okay. She can understand why one as grand as a celestial fox would have liked him.

With that, she lifted her head, taking in the sight of the fox-eared man with a kind, sympathetic smile.

"This one would like that. It is not often I find an opportunity to be much myself anymore," No. She was Gojyo, and Gojyo was she. Or so it was expected to be back when they had first crossed paths unwittingly in Hakagemachi. But despite being one body, it seemed things went haywire, and they were still two very very different souls. She was still herself. And perhaps, despite losing her body so long ago and all she loved about it, it still meant she could still find time to be herself. "But I suppose I should give my vessel his self back. It is rude of me to hog the spotlight all this festival."

She did spend all night having fun and making her wishes after all.

"Thank you, a young fox, for giving this old lonely soul a quiet ear and delicious fish."

With that, she acted boldly, allowing herself one moment to embrace the impulsivity the alcohol allowed her as she leaned up and kissed Guangyao sweetly upon the cheek.

“I would like that as well. Perhaps you can tell me stories of the ocean and wonders within. Thank you Maiden. It was lovely meeting you. I should order him another beer and some meat to compensate” He blushed softly at the kiss. She really was sweet. And he got a sense of loneliness as well. He could relate.

”Looks like someone made an impression. I Hear she doesn’t like humans all that much.”

Shush. Of course he would respect here. Have some more fried tofu you silly fox.

”Kekekkekekekee” Was her staunch reply as she shoved face fulls of tofu into his mouth.

He looked up, chewing as Gojyo returned

“Welcome, back A-Jing.” He giggled after swallowing.

It was strange, the dissonance Gojyo had felt every time he felt his consciousness fade from his body. But this time, for what was perhaps the first, he almost felt like he hadn't entirely left when it had happened. He wasn't fully cognisant of what had happened, of course. But he knew Unabara had, once more, taken control. And he knew that whatever had just occurred, she had left feeling happy.

And then his senses came to, and he slowly came to the awkward awareness of how he was leaning in, his lips still lightly pressed to Jin Guangyao's cheek.

"Mmm?" He blinked, doing his best to process the scene. "!!! Bleagh! Oh come on!!"

Only to back away quickly in startling realization. Gojyo dramatically stuck out his tongue and winced as he met the older man's serene drunken expression. "What the hell, man? Don't tell me you goin' around seducing drunk youkai while a guy has got his back turned?!"

For shame!

“Oh goodness what do you take me for? Are you sure, it wasn’t you who was happy to see old uncle yao? Its alright to give me a kiss. You know I care dearly for you.” He teased, pushing the new hot plate of chicken karate towards him.

His tails were wagging the teasing was fun too.

“Here I got that for you. Eat up. You still are far too thin, my dear.” He said softly. Before sipping at his own drink.

“Does your face feel better?”

"You wish, you pervy old man!" He says while pointing his finger accusingly at Guangyao. Only to stop at the sight of the offered food and slowly scoot closer again. "... Just cause I'm taking this doesn't mean I forgive you."

It was true, though. Gojyo was skinny for his musculature, height, and build. It had been getting better over the past year, his body filling in slightly. But years of harsh survival conditions made it so that he was reasonably straggly.

"Didn't know you could do that. Qi-manipulation, right?"

He had a friend back home who was able to do such things. Perhaps a friend he had grown too reliant on considering his current state and how he happened to end up like this.

“Am I truly that old or that or that lecherous?” He said laughing, pretending to be mock hurt. A-Jing really was absolutely adorable! But yes, he knew how hard it was for food to stick to your bones when you were always hungry. And doubly so for a man of Gojyo’s height and build.

“Yes, Qi Manipulation. I am a cultivator. It is what we do. Though my powers are half of what they used to be, Tenkohime granted some of it back recently. It is also how I can move my sword like I do. But healing small bruises and things isn’t too bad.” He didn’t mention how different his qi felt in comparison to others. Perhaps it was the yao possession but there was something different about him.

He would tell him if he felt like saying something after all. “I’m getting another drink. I want hot noodles, do you want some?”

"Mnnn," Damn Guangyao and his absolutely valid way of winning him over through his stomach. It worked when they had first met in Hakagemachi and it was still working now. "You sure you can handle another drink? You already seem pretty lushed up."

Not that he was one to talk. But he at least felt he could handle one or two more.

"It's weird. But I think out of all the worlds I've heard about ours has an almost stupid amount in common," The existence of yao, cultivation, science and magic abound. Although Gojyo was able to feel out that his world was a little more scientifically advanced. But still, out of everyone he spoke to, it was interesting that the people he always happened to find the most in common with were the people from Guangyao's world. Maybe it was because it felt like they came from a similar region as well? "I sloppily learned how to sense and read spiritual energy. Mostly through being around a lot of people who already knew how to. Never been much good at any of that fancy power stuff though."

He could control Shakujo pretty well. But that was due to years of practice and experience. But usually he mostly just relied on his brute force and the fact that he was always surprisingly resilient. But considering the type of person he was, he always felt like not being so spiritually inclined was something that was inherently broken about him.

Even if only half, he was still what he was. So why couldn't he do what came so naturally to most others?

“I am good for one or two more. I still have my wits about me.” He laughed.

“It does seem that way. Certain similarities between your world and mine. I would love to learn more about the city you grew up in. I’m originally from Yunping, in the Yunmeng area. We had rivers and fish. It was like this but much less bright. Just as seedy though.

I can show you some basics if you like. Your qi is pretty strong. I also learned by watching people and learning as I went. I never had proper schooling, but i feel like there is another place we connect.” He could understand that, not measuring up to others who could do things so easily but he had to work at tirelessly.

"Yunmeng, huh? Dang. That's just a few counties south of me actually," Gojyo actually seems genuinely surprised by that. Blinking slowly as he processed that, sure enough, Guanyao's world was more eerily similar to his than most. "I grew up just outside the capital. Chang'an in Xi'an county. Though I was pretty far from there when I was last back home.

But I get it. City life can just be like that. Crowded streets, high population, always leads to a seedy underbelly."

He paused, offering an alleviated smile. It was kind of nice, speaking with someone who understood things to a similar degree.

"So you grew up right next to the Yangtze, huh? Right by Wuhan? I crossed it once. It's freaking huge."

Edited 2022-08-27 18:43 (UTC)

“Oh, that is north west of us, I have never been that far past Qishan. I hear it is a lovely melting pot of cultures and the street food is amazing. Aren’t there some beautiful temples there as well?” The city that had the start of the Silk Road with all kinds of trade.

“Yes, and for those like us its life. It is really big! We have boats and a lot of fresh fish. Though the cultivators fly over on swords which makes travel so much easier. When I was young I used to watch them and they looked like immortals to me. But boats are a nice leisurely way to travel. Jin Ling spent half the year there with his jiujiu. So I got to visit when it was time to pick him up. I ended up settling in my paternal ancestral land further east in Lanling. But Yunping was where my heart was. I feel like under all the posh clothing and affected accents, I am just a city boy.” He laughed. The drink was nice and he had lost come of his more stilted polite way of speaking, instead speaking more like he would have talked to Xue Yang.

“Jigoku-Cho feels familiar like that. Like I’m home. I know others who have a harder time transitioning.”

"Dang, all the way that far out east, huh? Never been out in that direction," Gojyo noticed the more casual, less polite tone Guangyao was slipping into, and, well, Gojyo couldn't help but smile with that. Guangyao was just like Gojyo's best friend back home in that way. Despite all the formalities and polite mannerisms, he was just as much a rough-around-the-edges street kid as Gojyo, huh? Flagging the barkeep down, he ordered another round of drinks for them both. He had more than enough money to spare at this point, after all. "Yeah, I keep forgetting that there are people who see life in a place like this as something tough. The longer I live in Jigoku-Cho, the more I feel like it's heaven rather than the hell they keep advertising it to be."

He laughs out with that. People who thought Jigoku-Cho was touch hadn't experienced absolute hell yet. "Maybe that ain't something for guys like us to brag about, though. If anything, maybe we should be jealous of the people who are having a tough time with something like this city."

What would it be like, to live such a life where transitioning into Jigoku-Cho would be difficult?

He was a child the grew up with prostitutes and street kids. Sure he had some scanty meals because his mother worked so hard for them. But towards the end of her life, he worked odd jobs and pretended that he has already eaten to feed her. So He knew the rough life for certain.

"It's hard for some who have never had to go without. I am used to my shitty little apartment, But I know for Huaisang, even the servant's quarters were bigger than our place is. I know it's tougher for him but he's adjusting well. I know I should be jealous, but I've lived my last life being envious of those who never knew any better. Do you know? I am just happy I know the game here.

So I'll dance for them, give them the coquettish little laughs, and the show of my legs if they want. I watched my mother play this game since birth and even when I was rich and at the top of the world, I played it then. I'll smile and laugh and tell them, Oh yes your ideas are the greatest aren't they? You certainly are the most righteous! How can anyone compare to you?

Pretty lies from whore's mouths. Tell them just want to hear so it is all the easier for them to believe." he was pretty into this speech.

He leaned forward to press his forefinger along Gojyo's jaw. "Make them think they have us as they want us. Then we rip their throats out with our teeth yes? Serves them right."

August catchall.

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