jigokulogs | closed ໒꒱ september catch-all

( It's a shame that someone who seemed so reliable and sane ended up in a different faction. Rather than thinking about why that might be, Shealtiel has to focus on the facts— that is to say, he has to think about it from his own faction's point of view. Everyone else is the enemy. It's important for the order of the city to come out on top. And so, he has to stop as many people as he can from being threats.

Currently, the angel is crouched atop one of the roofs, peering below at Kurogane as he moves. It's only been a short time that he's been following him now, but he can see clearly that his movement is in the interest of bounty hunting. He knew that from the start, of course, from their previous conversation. But what could he do to stop it...? Confrontation wasn't something he wanted to do. Kurogane seemed level-headed, and to sour their relationship would be a little sad, even if he'd resort to it if necessary. So...

Plan A begins.

What is Plan A, exactly? It's his simplest of ideas of a large range of distraction techniques. And so, as he ducks out of view to blow a whistle he's pulled from his pocket, a dozen or so strangers with food carts full of delicious smelling food of all varieties begin to yell out about their great deals. The smells are wonderful, and it's a great marketing strategy even if it fails— there are people stampeding to get in line at their favorite one, and don't seem to feel back about rushing over Kurogane in the process.

Shealtiel peeks over to check on if he, too, might fall for the food. If he does, or even if he's stopped by crowds, that's something, right? )

[ First and foremost, Kurogane needs money. He'd like to get a better place to live, a nice sword, and clothes that he can get tailored to fit him better now that he needs to dress nicely. So, he's determined to get that bounty. That would leave him set for a while, and potentially open up other leads on bounties he can collect.

So, he's preparing for that today as he walks about the city.

Only... he eventually starts to feel like he's being watched. As a ninja, he's able to pick up on it easily, and he looks over his shoulder a few times looking for the source of that feeling. He eventually writes it off as nothing too important—at least for now.

And then he suddenly has a bunch of people running all around him to get at different food stalls. It works in stopping him, as all he can do is stand there as he tries to move past lines that are starting to form. ]

Hey, let me through!

( Standing in the alleyway next to their apartment complex, Shealtiel is... up to something. He's in casual clothes, which is a rarity with how often he tries to do official work. He's far more often in police uniform, office clothes, suit and tie... But today, it's a longer coat, slacks, and his badge far more subtle on his shirt, rather than his outer coat. It almost looks like he might be relaxing, or heading to the mall, or enjoying a nice walk!

But of course that's not it. He's in an alleyway, after all, tossing the stick of an eaten lemon candy into the trashbin closest to him with a heavy sigh. Then he paces a little, this way and that, clearly deep in thought.

And finally, he turns to the building next to the apartment complex and begins to climb up the hardly-sturdy fire escape to the rooftop. It's a squeaky mess of one, so he's bound to cause some sort of ruckus or attract some kind of attention, but that's why he's chosen a spot further away from the exteriors of the city, you see. )

[She noticed him pacing out there pretty quickly- he wasn't exactly being quiet, and her window is right there- but she was too engaged in what she was doing at that point to bother him.

At first.

As she finishes up what she's doing on her laptop, she glances out the window. Still out there. Odd. She considers yelling at him, mocking him, or at least demanding an explanation, but no. It's mostly harmless, and he seems distracted, there's no need to antagonize him.

CLANG.

What-

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

On the other hand.

She rolls her eyes, then retrieves her shoes and slips them on, hastily climbing out the window. She pauses only long enough to slide it closed with her heel, then grabs the fire escape and climbs it in a few acrobatic leaps, perching on the rail at the top to wait for him. By the time he reaches the top, she'll be waiting for him, casually sitting on the rail and wearing her characteristic smug smirk.]

You know, if you locked yourself out, you could have just asked me to let you in. It wouldn't be the most ridiculous thing I've had to fix for you.

( It looks like it's going great, at first! If things keep going this smoothly, maybe he won't even have to move on to his further plans? Shealtiel stays focused on the man from above, ducking back out of view if he ever worries he'll be spotted.

But the crowds are difficult to ignore. People push past him to get in lines, ones that have gotten their food end up just loitering in the worst way possible, eating and talking loudly. Some of them move out of the way with the first yell, but there's a fairly large batch of lines here to wiggle through. The smell of delicious food, the call of the cart owners...

Shealtiel leans over a little more to try and track Kurogane and make sure he's being successfully held back, but he's quickly realizing that these crowds aren't going to stay there forever. )

[ Kurogane huffs, waiting for a gap in one of the lines so he can pass through. He really doesn't want to shove people aside and give his clan a bad reputation, after all. ]

Really?

[ He mutters to himself, doing his best to get around the crowd. It feels endless, however, so Kurogane turns around to see if he'd be better off backtracking and finding a different route. His gaze is careful and focused, as he's looking for any escape route he can. ]

( He pauses slightly when he sees her, but it's not actually as much shock as it could have been. It makes sense that he's being so noisy he disturbed his neighbor again, after all. Hopping up fully onto the rooftop, he brushes his coat down slightly, glancing to her. )

Don't worry, it's not that.

( Responded to seriously, even if he's sure she was teasing him. He slips his hands into his pockets for the moment, eyes sliding to the building next to their own. A lot of buildings are lined up like this, at varying heights. )

I'm in the middle of a mission. I thought climbing up here would be easier than climbing up closer to the site... Everything's noisy, after all, and I can't fly with my wings.

( It's too dangerous to watch him considering alternate routes. There is a small gap the opposite direction, after all. Shealtiel clicks his tongue, shifting back onto the roof to begin... plan B. Or two? He can't remember his naming scheme.

The plan? He dumps an entire bucket of fish, water and all, over the side of the building. It's going to land on or near Kurogane, but the most useful part is when every bakeneko in the immediate area launches out to run and try to catch the flopping fish.

...Unfortunately, this also disperses some of the crowding, though. Wet and fishy mixed with food smells isn't exactly the best combination. )

[Wings? Oh, right, angels had those, didn't they? Still, if he had them, they were clearly pretty well-hidden.

Questions for later. She follows his gaze across the buildings, and- oh, he cannot be serious.]

You're going to get there by rooftop?

[The skepticism in her voice is pretty obvious. She remembers the Tanabata tree, sir.]

What mission is this?

( There have been more and more times where Shealtiel gets to wear casual clothes, lately. It feels a little wrong, honestly, to not have some kind of uniform. Not his angel one, not the undercover school one, not the police one, not even a suit... Maybe that's why he tends to wear things like coats, collars, button ups, and vests. It feels a little more reserved, a little less relaxed.

He's anything but relaxed, especially now. Standing at the door of Yuuji and Megumi's residence, he knocks a few times and then folds his arms behind his back. He's holding something, and that much is fairly visible, but it's hidden away in a bag with decorative tissue paper obscuring the view, and a cute little doggy on the front. It's probably a gift bag aimed for a kid's birthday.

He just thought it seemed fitting?

Nervously, he waits, hoping that it will be Yuuji who answers the door. )

[ Kurogane just barely manages to avoid getting hit right in the face with a fish, but the water does end up splashing all over his pants, with some of it getting onto his shirt.

He glares at the bakeneko as they all gather right around the fish. Who's bright idea was it to dump a bucket like that next to a huge crowd? Letting out an exasperated sigh, Kurogane figures he might as well go home and change before figuring out some alternate route so he can avoid this street entirely. After all, there's no point in dressing nicely if he smells like fish.

So, Kurogane starts heading in a completely different direction than before. It doesn't seem like he's going towards any of the supply shops or the row of shops he came from. ]

[ shealtiel got lucky for two reasons today: a) yuuji is home, and b) he just got back from a special mission that involved seeking a gift for his angel buddy. for some reason, he couldn't shake off their first meeting, and shealtiel's discomfort when the conversation centered around his wings; and that alone left more questions than answers. there's a lot about shealtiel he doesn't understand yet, and it feels weird to dismiss it like nothing ever happened. if they're going to be friends, as yuuji insists they are, then he should put the effort to reach out to that man.

so, it's time to break the ice (again) — this time with a gift.

when yuuji unlocked the door, he was quick to perk up and greet the fellow enma with a smile. speaking of the devil— i mean, angel. ]

Hey! I was just thinking about you!

Apparently there's been someone scamming people out of food and money with the promise of information on Iron Bear.

( He knows this is relevant to Azula too, being in the Enma, and so he doesn't mind facing her to explain this. He wouldn't be surprised if she's already heard of it, really, but it's best to summarize just in case. It's new. )

Multiple people, increasing by the day. Despite everyone looking for him, no one's been able to find him. I haven't been approached by anyone, so I was going to scope things out and see if I can spot him from above.

( He folds his arms. )

If I can't, I figure I'll climb down and try to blend in and see if he might approach me on his own.

( Success? Was it a success? Shealtiel hesitates for a moment before he takes to following him. You know, stalking someone you met recently isn't exactly the best way to try and be friendly, and neither is trying to block them from their mission, but...

It's better than fighting them, right? Probably.

He has no clue where Kurogane is going, and so a majority of the traveling is met with suspicion and worry. Is he going out a different way? Does he know some sort of trick he's not expecting? ...But, no. It's only when Kurogane enters a housing unit of some sort that Shealtiel realizes he's probably at his own home. Was the fish water too much?

Mm, but it's pretty tricky to watch from up here and check and see what he's up to. So slowly, as quietly as he can manage, he starts to scale down the building next to Kurogane's, seeing if he can maybe find a window to peek through.

Not creepy at all. )

( The immediate greeting being that throws Shealtiel off completely. There's a stunned edge to his expression, all of his anxiety from just moments ago vanishing to be replaced by confusion. Thinking about him...? Who says that? Who... does that, actually? No one thinks about him.

Or, no one used to. )

...You were?

( The why? is unspoken, but still loudly heard in the tone of his words, and he glances to the side before pulling out the bag from behind his back, offering it forward. )

I feel like my apology gift wasn't the best, so... I tried something different. I don't really know how to get gifts for people at all, but...

I'm familiar with the case.

[She sounds amused by it, honestly.]

I may as well help, if only to make sure you don't fall off a roof and crack your skull open.

[ before he could say anything, yuuji was taken back by that unexpected surprise— unsure what made shealtiel think his previous gift wasn’t good enough? he blinks, and then tips his head to the side, slowly reaching out to hold the bag between his hands; staring it down. ]

I don’t know why you think the old gift wasn’t good enough. It was the best thing anyone has ever given me ...

[ did he not make himself clear? yikes, that’s his fault then. he felt bad for being so ungrateful, and yet— look at that dumb grin on his face; he held the mysterious bag up, trying to peer inside to see what it is. so excited! he then grabs shealtiel by the wrist, pulling him inside the apartment before kicking the door shut behind them. ]

You didn’t need to get me another one, but I won’t say no to free stuff!! Thank you! You’re too kind!!

[ Not at all! Thankfully(?) for Shealtiel, Kurogane has a habit of leaving his blinds open so that he can see what's going on outside. The tradeoff is that other people can see in, but Kurogane doesn't really care.

So, Kurogane continues on his routine, opening up his closet to find some clothes. He can still feel a presence watching him, so before he actually starts changing, he moves to take a look out one of his windows. ]

( Normally, Shealtiel might have awkwardly laughed to shake off how annoyed that makes him feel. Instead, he's distracted, staring to the next building and checking that his phone is in his pocket. It is. His mouth twitches at a hint of a frown, but even that doesn't come through fully. His eyes are always extremely expressive, and right now, he looks distant. )

Before we start moving, have you heard anything useful about him that I might not have?

Wha—!

( The yank is a little bit of a surprise, but he stumbles into the pull easily, blinking slowly at Yuuji. He's trying to process those words. )

...What do you mean, you don't know? Didn't you immediately put it away instead of drinking it? I thought you'd at least be excited to try, but you didn't look at it for more than a second.

( Inside of the bag is more than one item. It's a small assortment of goods themed after some sort of local magical girl show. Shealtiel had thought that since Yuuji bore such resemblance to Luci in terms of personality, maybe he might share similar interests. And so, it's the first two seasons of the show, a little figurine of the main character (a cute, plucky looking girl with pink hair not too different from Yuuji's, though it's in pigtails), a poster (of a very intense magical girl battle scene that actually looks pretty cool), and some chocolates from a collab with the series. He went all out. )

( Shealtiel moves with such intensity out of the way of the window that he's certain he's going to have a heart attack. Kurogane was going to change?? The angel had been watching a little too closely to verify that, and so the glance out the window had caught him off guard. But now things were fine, and he's balanced on the bricks to the side of the window.

Unfortunately, just as he's about to sigh in relief, the old bricks of the building give way, and Shealtiel goes tumbling down the side of the building with a few aggressive smacks, and lands right in a dumpster, feet up and then slumping to the side.

He's fine, don't worry. Angels are durable. )

[ Shealtiel is so successful at hiding that Kurogane is just about to go back to his business when he hears something—or rather, someone—tumbling down the side of the building and landing in what sounds like the dumpster below.

With all that noise, Kurogane peeks outside the window again, and it's not hard to miss Shealtiel's feet hanging outside of the dumpster. He isn't sure exactly who that is just yet, but— ]

What the hell are you doing?

[ Thankfully, there's no real heat behind his question. ]

Uh—!

( The voice is what startles Shealtiel out of his depression of falling down a building. What kind of angel falls off things?? But he clutches the side of the dumpster, hoisting himself up and out and landing with his feet on the ground. It's immediately clear he was not tall enough to jump in here in the first place, but— )

I was checking for criminals. They often hide in... dumpsters. In unassuming alleyways just like this one.

( Ahem. He brushes some trash off of his head, glancing up at Kurogane. )

Do you have a problem with that?

...

[ He stares at Shealtiel in silence, his red eyes almost piercing. ]

No, but I think you're an idiot for it.

[ He thought you were better than this, Shealtiel!! Kurogane lets out a long-suffering sigh. ]

Come up here, unless you wanna smell like garbage for the rest of your walk home.

( Shealtiel flinches first in his irritation. What he wants to do is yell, to argue that Kurogane is the idiot for coming all the way back home when he should be on a mission!!

But that's the opposite of what he's trying to get him to do. So, in a way, this is a success? And, unfortunately, due to some new dog-aligned powers involving scent, this garbage stench is terrible. )

Don't tell me what to do... ( His irritated snap comes out more like a grumble because of his own shame. )

I'm coming up, but it's only because I wasn't expecting this dumpster to be so smelly.

( There he goes, storming away to try and find the doorway... It's a little while later that he knocks at Kurogane's door. )

closed ໒꒱ september catch-all

໒꒱ kurogane

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໒꒱ azula

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໒꒱ yuuji

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this is so dumb I'm so sorry

crying

is this what you signed up for I hope it is u_u