[OPEN] bird bird's the word

[fingerbanged]

Who: Yusuke 'has a furby for a soul' Urameshi (fingerbanged) & YOU!
When: IC - 7/4 for the first part, anytime through 7/14 for the second | OOC - 5/8 and until the interlude, probably??
Where: A CERESbucks close to one of the apartments, and then anywhere/everywhere in Cerealia!
What: A trip to the local coffee shop grants Yusuke one (1) penguin-shaped Spirit Beast! Also a catch-all throughout the month for anyone who wants to meet/run into Yusuke and his smol creature.
Rating/Warning: YUSUKE BEING YUSUKE aka chances of bad language, punches, and generally bratty teenage boy-isms, sprinkled with cute flying pudgeballs getting into people's business

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A: Would you like to make that coffee order a combo? (7/4)

[Ah, coffee shops.

The strong smell of a good brew filtering through the air, a quiet atmosphere with unobtrusive music, lots of comfortable seats and adorable pastries... a perfect place to center yourself before a long day at work. Or maybe you're catching up with some reading and studying for school? Perhaps you're just waiting in line for some coffee, a quick pick-me-up before other errands or something to put the spark of life into the tired shell called a body.

Unfortunately, that peaceful lull is about to be broken, as a small, blue penguin-like creature flutters wildly out of one of the bathrooms, making loud 'PUUUU!!' noises of distress. It flaps haphazardly around the shop, slamming into tables, upsetting cups of coffee and plates of croissants, getting tangled up in a few unlucky customers, much like a fat, agitated pigeon. If one was spiritually keen or able to sense auras on things, the animal feels exactly the same as someone else in the store right now, who is currently dropping the iced coffee they were nursing in shock at the sudden chaos.]

P... Puu? Why're you--??

[At the sound of his name, Puu beelines for Yusuke, divebombing into his arms and letting out a happy cry. Yusuke looks down at his spirit beast for a moment, dumbfounded, before turning his eye on the aftermath.]

... oh jeez.



B: You're like a 'get people into danger' tour guide (7/4-7/14)

[Wherever you are, whatever you may be doing-- meditating, going shopping, eating a tasty sandwich, disposing corpses... er, robot pieces-- you're going to have an unexpected companion joining you! Maybe Puu will be landing in your lap, or stealing a piece of bacon from your burger, or conveniently sitting on top of that last scrap of helper-bot you need to destroy... it's all relatively innocent, even if it's a bit obtrusive. Whether or not Puu's made too much of a nuisance of himself, though, it all ends the same... Yusuke running up and scooping the tiny blue penguin-thing away, looking mildly irritated.]

Dammit, how'd Keiko even keep an eye on you in the first place? I'm gonna have to find a leash for your fat ass if you keep doing this crap!

Anyway, er... sorry about that. Stupid thing's still getting used to this place.


C: Wildcard???

[Basically this is a catch-all log for most of May in regards to Puu, so if you want to plan anything aside from this, hit me up over at Urameshi!!]

Comments

[wolfpuppy]

Then at least let me start. The visor's on, he can't talk even if he wants to. Think that's half the reason why my boss back home put it on him.

[He knows that probably had incredibly irritated Zaruba, but he wasn't wrong in the fact that the visor blocked communication outside pings. Those he can at least ignore.

There's a somewhat wary expression on his face for a moment before Yusuke takes the croissant, but there's an involuntary exhale once he takes it. Step one, complete. Ryuuga grabs his coffee.]

How much of before do you remember?

[fingerbanged]

[There's a muttered 'friggin' thing shouldn't even talk in the first place...' before ripping a bite of the croissant with his teeth, chewing on the flaky dough almost aggressively. Maybe keeping his mouth full will help with things.

... except not, as the pastry feels like it'll stick to his throat once Ryuuga breeches the subject he wanted to avoid. It's a struggle to swallow, but once he does, he finally answers, voice subdued.]

... way too much of it. My head was hazy, but--

[But he remembered the hunger. And the attacking. And the taste of flesh in his mouth.]

-- it's there.

[wolfpuppy]

[He nods. The fact that he looks remorseful about it is a bit more than he can say about a lot of others he's met - then again, Horrors generally tended to give zero fucks about things other than eating human souls and inflicting despair and other nasty things upon humanity.

So at least he's got a leg up on that?

Okay those are terrible standards, never mind.

The problem is currently that Ryuuga really never had to breach this sort of topic before. Back home, it's pretty straightforward on how he dealt with things: negative karma builds up, creates a Gate for Horrors to enter, he cuts down the Horror before they end up hurting more people - maybe purify the area if he and Rian can get to it before the Gate starts to appear. But even coming back to the colony, there are things that are still foreign to him, such as this. Usually there aren't that many shades of grey, if any. Sure, there's those that bent the rules (like himself), but there were several core tenets that even he wouldn't break.

And now, standing here with a pastry and coffee, he's starting to question it a bit more.

He's actually pausing for once, trying to be deliberate with his choice of wording. It's not something he's used to.]

So you remember the armor I was in?

[Usually he's the one doing the deflecting, but in this case if it'll help ease some of Yusuke's worry, he can at least explain himself a bit.]

[fingerbanged]

[Shades of gray was what Yusuke specialized it, honestly. It's why Koenma picked him to be Spirit Detective, and it's why he's always had a good balance when it came to settling cases. Not every demon was bad, and not every human was good-- and, being the half-breed that he was, he helped bridge that gap a lot with others.

And honestly, when it came to eating humans, he was okay with others doing it if it helped them survive. But for Yusuke, who grew up among humans and lived as one for most of his life... it felt wrong. So the possibility of him needing to eat people for whatever reason-- dominant genetics, a deficiency in his diet-- was not one he was comfortable with.

Yusuke doesn't bother with a second bite for now, his appetite already ebbing. He does let out a dry snort at that question, however.]

Well, yeah, how could I forget it? It looked hella dumb.

[Yusuke?? Rude??]

[wolfpuppy]

[Ryuuga lets out a bit of a chcukle, raising an eyebrow.]

You weren't exactly a prize yourself. [Though Yusuke's not totally wrong because really. An English-style collar on a suit of armor? Not the best fashion choice when it was time for an upgrade.]

And that armor's considered "hope" to us back home, so watch it. [At least with small jabs like this, it felt a little more natural than just standing there awkwardly.]

[fingerbanged]

[There's a smirk, despite himself, as he rubs his nose a bit.]

Hey, it's not like I choose the look, alright? Besides... the tattoos are pretty badass, all things considered.

[But seriously, what the hell was UP with that armor goddamn.]

Probably 'hope' that none of you are caught dead wearing it, more like it. [But there's a slight lighter tone to his voice, glad to at least be able to rib at someone.]

... so yeah, what about that armor? You're not about to drop the bomb that you're some crazy superhero, are you?

[wolfpuppy]

Not exactly. Back home I'm what's called a "Makai Knight" - we protect humanity from creatures called Horrors.

I mean, there's probably urban legends about us, but. [He shrugs. He'd hope it was mostly urban legends at this point, considering the whole "mass memory wipe" they had to do post-Vol City.

Long story.]

We tend to stick to the shadows. Things haven't ended well when civilians find out about what we do and what we fight.

And that armor denotes the strongest of the generation - GARO.

[It's said with a big sense of pride - he's incredibly proud of himself for being able to restore the shine to that amor, never mind prove that he was worthy of keeping it despite everything (or perhaps because of everything) that had happened to him.]

[fingerbanged]

[His brow creases, not entirely sure what to do with all this information. Maybe the goofy superhero answer would have been a bit easier to digest. Instead... it sounded a lot like something he was entirely familiar with, but didn't exactly bode well for him, at least after their previous interaction.]

So... Makai Knight, huh? As in a 'Demon World' Knights? You sure these 'Horrors' you're protecting people from aren't actually demons instead?

[So basically this guy was a Spirit Detective of sorts, wasn't he? Maybe he should have been grateful to Koenma that he didn't stick him in some sentai-esque outfit for the job.]

But good for you, you're the strongest demon slayer of the bunch. Want a gold star for that? [He really shouldn't be flippant about this, especially because he knew that some demons earned their rep more than others, but--] I'm hoping they actually gave you a reason to hunt 'em down instead of the standard 'they're different so they're evil' shtick.

[wolfpuppy]

Pretty sure, though you'd be forgiven for thinking they were.

[Maybe that wasn't the best thing to start with in trying to clear the air.]

And yes, considering that to even get to the Human World they have to eat the soul of whatever person was unlucky to stumble on the Gate to take possession of their body. They'll just keep eating if left unchecked or worse if they're smart - try to summon something bigger and even more dangerous.

[No exceptions.]

[fingerbanged]

Alright, point taken, they're actually evil. But why are you telling me this? What does this have to do with the armor you wore back when--

[And as Yusuke is about to say it, it all seems to come together.

Oh.

It made sense, but the fact that Ryuuga had jumped to such a conclusion due to his actions chilled him more than he'd like to admit.]

... you. You thought I was one of those things, didn't you? One of those soul-eating monsters?

[There's a hiccup of laughter, but it's brittle, dry... humorless. Of course. What was he expecting?

What was worse what that he couldn't tell him, in good faith, that it wasn't true.]

[wolfpuppy]

[... this isn't going anywhere near as planned.

(Shown: one Dougai Ryuuga's consciousness yelling at himself.)

The realization of what he just implied really dawns on him now, and his eyes widen as his face goes slightly pale.]

It was more on reflex than anything, honestly. I, uh...

Sorry.

[fingerbanged]

[Well, who could blame Ryuuga in that situation, honestly? Yusuke looked like a demon, felt like a demon, and acted very much like a stereotypical demon, so of course he made those assumptions.

Yusuke, on the other hand... it was a painful jumble of emotions. He had embraced his heritage a while ago, knew that it didn't change who HE really was-- but this was giving him unwanted flashbacks to his meeting with Kuroko. The look she gave him, saying she didn't trust someone like him around her children... like he was a horrible monster waiting to snap. But this was what he went to Demon World for, wasn't it? So why was this happening to him now?

Appetite now gone, he places the half-eaten croissant on the table that he placed Puu, the small creature making upset noises and waddling towards him.]

No. I... I get it. You were attacked by what you thought was a horrible creature, right? Someone who'd just eat and eat until nothing is left. Of course you'd defend yourself. You'd be stupid not to.

I... [He bites the corner of his lip, not wanting to say it, but it had to be said. It had to be addressed.]

I am a demon. Half a demon, anyway. And the guy I descended from? Used to have a thing for eating people.

I never figured it'd ever be a problem for me, being half-human and all but... now I don't really know anymore.

[wolfpuppy]

[There's another pause as Ryuuga takes all this in. It's not something he really knows much about, considering that it's all or nothing for them. But at the same time, he does understand trying to keep a certain part of yourself under control. It's something he nearly died trying to figure out himself while he was gone, actually.]

Yeah, but you're still human, right? I mean, the fact that we haven't ended up coming to blows kinda proves that.

That and at the very least, you didn't try summoning a demonic death castle that turned into a scythe-wielding demonic robot-thing? [Jinga's not here, he can freely insult him without fear of retaliation. That and while it sounds ridiculous (and it is), it's at least an attempt to ease the very obvious tension in the air.]