bakerstreet | YOU WANT, UH, A TISSUE? MAYBE SOME SOAP? NEW CLOTHES?

YOU WANT, UH, A TISSUE? MAYBE SOME SOAP? NEW CLOTHES?

COVERED IN BLOOD MEME

So you're a bit of a mess. Or you're stumbling upon a mess. What happened? There's blood everywhere, what the hell? Is it your blood, animal blood, the blood of someone you murdered? Hell, maybe you ran out of tampons. Anyway, no matter how it got there, you're (or someone you know is) covered in blood. Can it be explained away? If not, is someone going to prison? The hospital? Going to die of blood loss? Get in trouble for playing catch with the blood bags? Man, we don't know. The point is you have a mess to clean up. Or roll around in gleefully, you nasty fucks.

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[Ragnar chuckles at that, settling back comfortably and looking towards the window.]

I have to say I never worked for someone quite that ill behaved, though he sounds a bit like my descendant. [There are more, but Killing is the only one that stuck around, so to speak.] He sounds like a headache waiting to happen.

He's from Wa--- Uh. Japan, so he's probably not yours. [Eyeing Rangar, Rokuta frowns and actually has the energy and attention to spare to pay attention, and this human isn't... just that. Leaning forward a little and cocking his head, Rokuta, with his usual lack of tact, simply dives right into it:]

You don't look old enough to have descendants, but you're not just human either. How old are you?

Very likely not, as far as I could keep track of them they all stayed in Scandinavia or went to America.

[He has to laugh at how the question is posed, and inclines his head. He will never look old enough to have grandchildren, even.]

About two millennia, give or take.

You're--- [Rokuta stares, swaying back a little in open surprise, and while he might be a little warier now (there's a faint tingle of something, not quite the smell of blood, still lingering around the man) and there's briefly a deeper shadow gripping his ankle, Rokuta's not about to leave. He feels... okay, as far as he can tell, and he did help him.]

Wouldn't have guessed that much. [Scrunching his nose, Rokuta leans forward a little - and then has to catch himself on the back of the couch as he sways, paling a little. All right, he has to be more careful.]

Careful.

[He reaches out on instinct (faster than a human should be able to, sitting on the sofa a little distance away one moment and on one knee next to the kirin in the next) to steady the not-child, leaning forward and wrapping an arm around Enki's midsection to keep him on his armrest.

Once it is clear that the younger male won't fall he lets go but stays close enough to reach out again, should it be necessary. His tone, when he speaks up, is filled with worry and soft scolding.]

Maybe you should sit down here until you feel better after all?

[The angled stare is a little less than graceful, but after a moment Rokuta nods and slides down into the wedge between armrest and back with a grunt, curling up like he really is only thirteen. But then, in Rokuta's situation, in some ways he might as well still be.]

Probably. Got pretty soaked. [Doesn't mean he likes it, and it was frankly ages ago since he last had to deal with this and he doesn't miss it at all.] ... Sorry. The violence... still sorta stinks.

[He scoots away some when Rokuta slips down to make more space for him.]

Blood harms you. [He nods thoughtfully.] A curse?

[There's a blink, and then he just starts laughing, even if there's really not much actual amusement in it. Shaking his head and peering up at Ragnar through his lashes, Rokuta snorts.]

You'd think so, right? Pretty inconvenient, but it's just how I work. [Another shake of his head and he grimaces.] It makes me sick. Spill enough and even if I don't get any on me, it sorta saturates the air, all that violence...

[Looking away, Rokuta's expression darkens. He doesn't really like thinking about all the reasons blood could be spilled. He's just glad that Shoryu has had to do it as little as possible since they started.]

Something that runs in your species, then?

...What about violence in which no blood is shed?

[Usually it is, sooner or later, but humans are inventive, and others ever happy to adopt the results of their creativity. Not all violence leaves traces.]

Something like that.

[Briefly, Rokuta is just... angry at the suggestion. Any violence is bad--- Shaking his head, he runs a hand through his mane and scratches his scalp.]

Ain't gonna make me sick unless I already am, but enough of it leaves a residue all its own. [And affects them negatively, if not in the same way blood does.] It's unpleasant, that's all. I'm not gonna be hurting anyone either way.

[Can't, more like, but he's not willing to spell that out.]

No, you won't, but I wanted to make sure in case they find us again.

They shouldn't, mind, but... [He shrugs and gets up.] I'm going to make myself something to eat. Are you hungry, and do you have any dietary restrictions?

[Blinking, he nods after a moment. It's a curious thing, to have someone ask enough about that, even just as a precaution. Maybe especially then.]

I... uh. [Squinting and hesitating, Rokuta finally shrugs.] If it ain't too much trouble. Just fruit would be fine, I just can't eat any meat.

Well, let's see what I have then.

[He vanishes into the kitchen and calls back from there:] What about honey and milk? [Veganism is still a really weird thing to him - vegetarianism he's encountered before modern times, though always for religious reasons -, but it is a thing, so better check if there's more than meat the not!kid won't eat, or if he really thinks fruit is the easiest.]

That works too.

[Another shake of his head as he slowly slides back down to sit more properly on the couch, regardless of his preferred spots to choose on any piece of furniture, meant to be sat on or not.]

Whatever, as long as it's not meat or has any blood in it.

[It's really not about animal products as such, honestly, even if it's that too, on some level.

All right.

[There is a silence, and a few minutes later he'll return with some toast, jam, butter and honey.]

I don't usually keep much fruit around, [he says by way of an explanation as he sits on the ground, cross-legged, and places the tray that everything is placed on on the couch next to Enki.]

Thanks.

[The smile softens Rokuta's face from the almost sullen resting face he seems to have generally and he bites into the toast with enthusiasm. It's pretty funny that this is the simplest food he's had in a while, aside from all the peaches he nicks to eat inbetween actual meals.]

I really don't mind. Fruit just seemed like the easiest suggestion if ya did have any around. I don't really have to make what I eat myself, so...

[A shrug. When he isn't presented with meals he just takes what he can get without having to prepare it.]

I don't assume it is your mother who makes your meals normally, is it?

[He is totally asking about Enki's life and circumstances here, couched in a small talk as it is.]

[That? That's Rokuta snort-laughing after a stunned moment of silence, shaking his head so his mane flies around him.]

Don't--- really have, a, uh, mother. [The smirk freezes a little as an old, old memory (it still feels fresh, for all that, old resentment, dim fondness, and understanding blending together) of a worn woman with her arms around his siblings, watching the city burn - replaced by a flicker of white and the softness of Yokuhi's feathers. Or, well. The memory of such, though a shadow curls, brief and light, around his ankle before sinking back into the couch properly.]

Other people make 'em. Unless I just pick fruit while I'm out. [A shrug, perhaps not as nonchalant as he's trying to make it, but telling Ragnar some details of how he works is pretty different from revealing anything that implies importance.]

What do you mean by not really have?

[It's a matter that should be handled more delicately, probably, but he's curious now, and the not!kid brought it up himself, so he might be inclined to explain.]

[This, he's actually willing to talk about, and cocks his head as he leans forward a little, an amused little smile on his face.]

Where I'm from, children aren't born from mothers. There's these trees, and everything comes from the fruits produced by 'em. [A pause, Rokuta watching Ragnar for a silent moment before he continues.] Children are prayed for at particular village trees by the couple that'll be their parents, and animals and such come from other trees.

[A shrug. Of course, as a kirin he didn't have two people who'd prayed for a fruit, but he didn't need to mention that.]

[Ragnar gives the not!kid a long stare, trying to decide if this is at all believable or just some odd variant of the stork story. Because it really sounds more like an odd variation on the stork story than a factual tale.]

And where is that place?

Beyond Kyoukai. [If he's joking about all this, he's very straight-faced about it and shrugs, and after a little pause adds;] The Void sea. It's both a physical sea and a...

[Another pause as Rokuta frowns, waving a hand around in a slow, aimless gesture. He'd said the sea was too large to travel between the two worlds to Kouya, but Kouya had been a child back then... Ragnar was decidedly not that.]

Metaphysical barrier? Crossing between Hourai--- [Snorting softly at himself, he gives an apologetic one-shoulder shrugs.] Japan. This world in general and mine, can't normally be done. So that's where.

[And then, because he can't resist it, Rokuta grins, completely mischievous.]

So you're saying you're the only one who can cross between here and there?

[He raises and eyebrow in disbelief (it's mostly an act. He's seen enough shit like that - Giovanni forcing their will on ghosts, Werewolves stepping into nothingness and vanishing, Lasombra stepping into the darkness. Most of the time he barely escaped with his life. People crossing such barriers tends to spell trouble).]

No. [Rolling his eyes, Rokuta snorts and waves a hand in the air again.] There's others who can, but not very many. Happens accidentally too, on both sides, through these storms. We call 'em shoku.

[He's hardly about to admit that he's one of the very, very few who can cross not just under his own power and intentionally, but without causing any damage, either..]

... Guess they're like collections of energy that break the barrier and manifest as storms.

And they are just natural phenomena, nobody causes them?

[He could see both, but if someone controls them, that... well, it would be something to stay away from as much as one can. It would be either way, really.]

Are there signs of them being what they are?

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