jigokulogs | March 2022 IC Mingle

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March 2022 IC Mingle

1. WELCOMING COMMITTEE

cw: optional aphro in Tamamo Clan prompt

The influx of Lost Souls means the factions need to have a little welcoming party of sorts. The leaders of each faction each send a message to their new recruits, telling them to meet at their respective headquarters.

The Shuten Clan directs their new recruits to the Arena. There’s plenty of food and booze to go along with the exhibition matches from the toughest fighters they’ve got. Enjoy the view or get involved in an arena fight, if you’re feeling spicy. If bloodsport isn’t your cup of tea, there’s a number of gambling games to partake in, too – don’t worry, your money isn’t at stake here, unless you want it to be.

The Tamamo Clan recruits are sent to the brothel Mizukume. Hosts of all sorts are there to fill your every need. If you’re not one to be doted on, there’s also exotic dancers in every state of undress for you to look at. You may be tasked with being a host or a dancer yourself. If you’re not in the mood for that, there’s plenty of food from Tamamo-controlled restaurants to eat and seemingly endless drinks. The drinks may or may not have a little something extra in them, so check the labels carefully.

The Sutoku Alliance meets at the nightclub Konoha. It’s truly a celebration with an enormous amount of fast food from every joint in their district and an equal amount of cheap drinks. Sing your heart out with live band karaoke – don’t worry about them not knowing your song, they seem to have a depth of knowledge beyond this world. Once that settles down, there’s plenty of dancing to do or you can be a wallflower, whatever suits your mood.

The Department of the Enma meets at a meeting room on the top floor of Kaigo no Bou. The room is uncomfortably opulent and wouldn’t be out of place in a Heian imperial court. Fine silk tapestries cover the walls, richly lacquered wood is inlaid with gold, and it all feels like it was decorated by someone with more money than taste. There’s fine food and even finer drink available. Various multi-armed youkai play in a jazz band, playing their instruments in a much more complicated manner than strictly necessary. Stretch your legs and dance. Take a peek out the window for a bird’s eye view of the city. If the interior is too stuffy for you, escape to the roof for some fresh air – just be careful not to fall off.

2. PARTY TIME

CW: optional aphro

After everyone’s had their fill of food, drink, and entertainment: the party isn’t over. They’re told to make their way to Konoha with the instruction to show their faction’s pride. That’s a careful way to tell them to raise hell. Upon arrival, all recruits are provided with an advance on their pay by The Enma. Food is provided by the Shuten Clan, a variety of all sorts of meaty foods. Drinks are provided by the Tamamo Clan, but be wary because some may have that special Tamamo kick to them (read: aphro). It’s technically a neutral meeting place, but there’s almost certain to be a fight sooner or later. Entertain yourself, meet the other factions, and raise some Hell.

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Dancing...okay, I feel you.

[ He's casual in his acknowledgement, but he has some concerns given what the Tamamo clan has control over. She seems to be somewhat aware of their nature so he won't bother to press with his inquiries. ]

Well, here's to hoping they get bored of punching my face.

[ He raised his glass to hers, clinking them together in cheers in hopes of a less sore face in tbe future. ]

It seems fun, but there's so many intricacies I have to study, haha!

[And yes, even if it does turn erotic, LB isn't particularly bothered by that fact. She knew she had a good body to show off, after all. Even if that was perhaps the one thing about herself that she was confident in.

LB forms a half-smile to his proposed toast, raising her glass to clink against his.]

If you get punched enough times, they'll get bored eventually, haha! But um, best of luck avoiding that until then!

That's not much of an incentive if I have to wait for "eventually".

[ But she does manage to pull a laugh out of him. Not all bad if he's having some kind of fun. ]

There is one thing that bothers me though. What are we doing here? Divided into factions, the need for factions, it baffles me. Doesn't it strike you as weird?

You're still a fresh face, unfortunately. Hahaha... but maybe if there's a new wave of recruits, you'll be out of the woods for a while?

[Look, LB wasn't exactly the most comforting sort. She glances over to Bishop with some curiosity, though, while struggling through another sip of her drink.]

It doesn't baffle me so much. Where I come from, there's no way anyone would be able to stay united as one group for long. Ahaha, and it seems like the same is true for here as well.

[Of course, when she's dealt with constant wars all of the time. Yeah, that'd give her a rather negative view on that much.

No, what I mean is - yokai generally go after humans, body and spirit. So. Why are they in factions like this if they can all work together to hunt down humans? Why have us?

[ He takes another sip. ]

Then, there's also the possibility that there are no humans, which then still begs the question, why are we here? Are we here then to keep this strange status quo, even out the odds, or are we here to add to their ranks and take over?

[ He takes another sip. ]

Or maybe, just maybe, I'm being paranoid, critical, and should probably drink until I can't walk right? Maybe even head over to your district and let out some steam for once.

[ Probably the latter. ]

[Perhaps he does raise a decent point, but LB still looks pretty unmoved from her position.]

I don't know. Maybe yokai aren't all that different from us after all? Ahaha? In that they also have trouble staying in one group for too long?

[But then again, she wasn't an expert on the subject like Bishop apparently was, so she doesn't sound all that confident in her assumption.]

I doubt that they want us to take over, but perhaps they just need more numbers? I... don't remember much about it, but I do remember that the private military companies in my worlds were getting so desperate for numbers that the commercials ran quite rampant on the TVs.

[It didn't even matter if the new recruits had no experience at all - weapons and nanomachines had a way of making even the people that should have never been on the battlefield - like her - become formidable forces in combat. Perhaps LB should be more alarmed than she actually was in that she was insinuating that the same thing was happening here, but at least she had some sanity to her here.

Still, though, she does her best to mask the cynicism within after a short sigh, forcing a smile as she listens to Bishop go on. She assumes by now that she would have felt it if the alcohol within her drink had any effect on her, so his first suggestion just makes her a little more depressed that it seemed as though the nanomachines still filtered it here. But then she supposed that it was only fitting of Hell.]

Well, as a representative of Tamamo, it would be remiss of me not to recommend finding something to your tastes in our district, heheh. But then if the former makes you feel better, I'm not going to stop you from that either.

[Because hey, the drinks were Tamamo too.]

[ The thing that truly bothers him is the fact that he can't seem to pinpoint a reason for all this, other than it feels just like a really annoying yakuza recruitment scheme. It could just be that but his instincts are screaming at that there is more that's not being said. ]

I was, still, a practicing alcoholic so I don't know how much stress I can release from that. So - [ He shrugs. ] - maybe sharing my bed would be nice. Might as well cut myself some slack while in hell, right?

[In comparison, LB was just far more concerned with trying to figure out how to fit in before she worried about the big picture.

Though LB liked the idea of drinking away her problems, in theory, she frowns a little at his response.]

Oh. [Right. Alcoholism was probably bad, huh? Even if she would no doubt suffer from that if it were even possible.] Maybe don't do that if it's a problem for you? Eheheh?

[She rubs the back of her neck, before she finishes off her drink.]

But yes, if that's the preferable option for you, I'm sure you could probably find someone suitable to your tastes.

Oh no it's not a problem. It's just...how do I say this? Well, since I'm in hell and away from my world I should try to relax. Do things I don't normally do, try something different, let my hair down and such.

[ It's also a bit embarrassing for him but it's been way too long since he's been in bed with a woman, so maybe it's time to change that. ]

It is kind of strange for me as a demon slayer to go sleeping with a yokai though. It feels kinda like a tiger laying with a deer situation. I'm sure I'll get over it in time though.

Might as well, while you have the time for it.

[This is the first in a very long time that LB had any sort of free time. And honestly, she didn't even know what she wanted to do with it. So, she was going to be one of the last people to judge how others spent their time.

She shrugs, though, at his next remark.]

You're not slaying them anymore, right? [She used to kill other humans, it certainly didn't mean that she couldn't sleep with them later. That's the analogy she's going with.] Ahaha? As long as both parties are into it, I don't see why you couldn't sleep with a yokai if you wanted to.

Well, it's kinda hard for me to lower my guard around them. I mean, I've been hunting them for my whole life, it's not like a switch I can just flip. No offense.

[ He says to the bartender who's probably been idly listening, who also just as quickly says 'no harm done'. ]

It'll definitely be easier for me to go with one that's more human, for sure. Or human to begin with. [ At least he won't have to really worry. ] How about you? Do you wanna help an old weary soldier relax?

[ It is a joke if his tone was any indication, just him thinking out loud and making things more relaxed. Perhaps from the influence of all the alcohol he's drunk to this point, especially since he just finished his second glass and just ordered a third. ]

Suit yourself, then. You don't know what you might have been missing out with them, right?

[She gestures toward the bartender, giving a playful wink over to them, but they just give a polite chuckle before returning to their work. Finishing off her drink, she pushes the empty glass to the bartender's side of the bar, making a polite, dismissive wave when they ask if she wants another.]

As for me, well... I had only really seen humans up until arriving here. I don't know if I'd go for any of the yokai here, but... [She forms a brief smiles as she recalled passing by the odd oni or two - LB had a bit of a thing for muscles, okay.] ...I don't think I'm necessarily against the idea either, heheh!

[She raises her brows oddly at his question. It's not like she was a prude or anything - more that she wasn't actually certain if she'd accidentally kill someone by fucking them or not. A brief thought passes in that she could accept the invitation - even if she really wasn't that into him - just to figure it out or not, but if she did kill him, then that was probably a little rude.

Still, joking or not, she'd let him down gently.]

I'm having so much fun here, though! Besides, I don't have same steam to blow off that you do.

Oh, rejection! My poor broken heart!

[ He says with some flair and exaggeration. ]

Or some such thing.

[ He smiles at her, one thats pretty genuine and sincere showing he appreciated that she played along or, maybe even took him sincerely. ]

Well, everyone has their tastes and preferences. I just had the one vice before coming here. Still, you have to watch yourself. These yokai are nice now but -

[ But they could turn and kill you just as quickly, is what the silence and the shrug that followed implied. ]

If you ever need any help, hit me up. Clan affiliations be damned.

[ LB wasn't quite a friend just yet, but she is easy to talk and that's worth something. ]

[While he may have had a joking tone in the first place, LB wasn't certain if that much was genuine, or if it was a "haha just kidding, unless...?" kind of deal, so she figures it was probably best to be at least somewhat firm in her rejection, just to make sure she didn't run into any awkwardness if he misinterpreted her words. So, to see him exaggerate his response was a relief.

At his warning, though, LB glances at him curiously. As someone who had been called a "beast" or even a "devil", she was far more amendable to forging connections with yokai, because deep down inside? Even at their worst, LB probably wasn't all that different from them, as far as she could tell.

However, as someone who collected information as part of her former job, she wasn't one to ignore a warning from others either. She's curious as to why he chose to warn her specifically, but figured it was probably best not to press for more information when he seemed to already have enough angst on his plate.

She forces a smile, waving a hand dismissively.]

Oh, don't worry, haha! I'm certain I've dealt with worse. But... I'll be careful.

[She looks at him oddly at his offer. Not specifically because of anything about him, but because she definitely wasn't used to anyone offering to help her - even if they were on the same side as her.]

Ah... that's kind of you, eheheh. [Her brows are furrowed. She doesn't know if he trusts his word at face value, because of her own trust issues. But, she didn't think he meant harm.] I'll keep that in mind.

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March 2022 IC Mingle

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