(closed)

[masakados]

Who: Naoki (masakados) & Yang (flaredo)
When: IC: 11/28, OOC: 3/06, forward-dated!
Where: a nice empty lot
What: idk some demons and some legs and stuff like that
Rating/Warning: None?!

[Naoki's starting to learn a few things about Yang the longer that he spends time with her. One of these things is that she seems to remember well even the things he thinks she says completely jokingly-- like how they talked about coaxing bellyrubs from one of his demons. How she's going to do that, he's not sure, but hey, there can't be any harm in letting her give it a shot if she's even a bit serious. Especially since he's here in case Yurlungur gets any ideas of trying to eat any magatsuhi.

Tearing his curious gaze away from the outfit she's switched to today, he props his hand on his hip.]

Since you dressed up and all, I could let you try it out. Buuuut, it's not too late to call it off either. [And they can get on to training! He looks again at her clothes, secretly admiring (where he's sure Yurlungur won't). It's different and fresh and er anyway back on track he's completely focused on the topic on hand.]

Comments

[flaredo]

It's just, when she really gets going... you know?

[ Angry chipmunk. ]

[masakados]

I getcha. Chiaki was kinda like that...

Once she got going, she didn't stop.

[He'll squeeze their interlocked arms in commiseration. HE UNDERSTANDS.]

[flaredo]

[ She snorts a little, patting his shoulder with her free hand. COMRADE. ]

Yeah, that's how it is. You've had it rough, too.

[masakados]

[The snort has him laughing.]

Well, we can always think of it as good experience... or something. [A pause--] How'd you guys all come to be a team?

[flaredo]

Everyone at Beacon is put into a team for the rest of their time there. So the headmaster hurled us all into a forest filled with Grimm, had us pair up with the first person we saw,and we had to bring back relics they'd hidden.

They were watching us the whole time to see what we did, how we fought, and how we worked with each other, and once we made it back, they decided on our teams. Simple as that.

[masakados]

That's one way to figure out how good people work with each other...

[He thinks about it, tipping his head.] What's it like, fighting with them? [What kind of fighting would four people like that do together? Naoki's always fought with his demons, but even in that...

The fighting is still individualistic in ways. Demons are different than humans.]

[flaredo]

Like... it's good. We wound up training to come up with different combos, and we've gotten a lot better at reading signals. It's nice, knowing that you're not fighting alone and you'll have people to cover your back, like you'd do for them. So you've got someone to slow the enemy down, someone to help you double-team 'em-- it makes fighting a lot easier!

[ And she misses that here-- but instead, she smiles. ]

What about you? What's it like, fighting with demons?

[masakados]

It's... different from that.

[Naoki looks as though he's trying to figure out the best way to word it before he slowly says:] While we're fighting, I'm coming up with strategies. I gotta remember all of my demon's strengths and weaknesses and types of attacks, and I gotta be able to figure out our opponents.

I wouldn't call it a team so much as me leading them. [He waves his free hand slightly.] They also won't jump in to cover another usually, so I have to plan around that.

[flaredo]

... So you're more like a commander. How did you even end up leading them, anyway? Are they just drawn to hot shirtless guys?

[ She really is curious about this, honestly, but she's purposely keeping it light. She's still not sure what's a heavy topic or not. ]

[masakados]

It's not that easy, [he replies, amused.]

Pixie joined up with me right from the beginning, though. Mostly 'cause she wanted someone to help her get to Yoyogi Park, but... [He shrugs his free shoulder.] Other than that, there's ways to get demons to join you. They listen to me mostly 'cause I'm the strongest.

But I'd have to talk and negotiate with them. They'd want macca--money--or magatsuhi, or items... A couple of times, they got all scared while they were fighting me and they'd beg to let them join me or for me to let them go.

[flaredo]

They got scared... huh. Not very impressive...

[ From the way she's scrunching up her nose, she's honestly trying to envision a demon like Long cowering before Naoki the mighty. ]

[masakados]

Some of them are just like that. [THEY WERE WEAKSAUCE. He's also thinking that she's cute when she scrunches up her nose.]

Others weren't, of course. Some wouldn't join up with me no matter what I tried, or how strong I was.

[He pauses.] That's why there's also a place in the Vortex World called the Cathedral of Shadows. There's a minister there, who does these weird ceremonies... and he can fuse demons together to make a different one.

[flaredo]

Fuse-- this is starting to sound more like one of the trading card games now. Mashing up demons together to make a new one...

[ It's a little weird. ]

Then again, it's not like I'm a demon expert.

[masakados]

Surprisingly, neither am I. I think if I tried to figure out and make sense of everything about demons, my head would pop.

[He spreads the fingers of his free hand apart: KABOOM just like that.]

They don't abide by normal rules, that's for sure.

[flaredo]

I could tell that much just by meeting them! I think the only thing they really have in common with the guys back home is the whole emotion thing.

[masakados]

Yeah-- each demon's kinda unique too personality-wise. Though most have the whole individualistic, vain and egotistical thing in common.

[And they're greedy and such; not all of them, but the vaaast majority. They are demons, after all.]

[flaredo]

[ Individualistic, vain, egotistical...

He'd told her to appeal to Yurlungur's vain side, after all. And he's already told her that his body is a demon's. But-- ]

... I thought so. You really are only a demon in body.

[masakados]

[Yang might feel the pull at her arm first; Naoki's abruptly stopped walking, as though he's frozen, watching her. It's one thing to say it for himself, to struggle desperately to believe it even when he's had to do terrible thing after terrible thing.

It slams into him when someone else says it.]

I've always thought so too, [he says, carefully, as though saying so might break something very fragile.] But I never really heard that from anyone else, no-one other than Futomimi.

[flaredo]

[ The halt is an abrupt one, and Yang very nearly stumbles; she catches herself in time, swaying back on her heels, before she turns to face him and gently eases her arm free.

She can't cross both arms like that, after all. ]

No one ever told you that? [ Not even the demons? Except Futomimi-- whoever that is. ]

[masakados]

No.

After the Conception, after I was changed... It was just like I was another demon.

[And he remembers. Since you're not human anymore, he remembers Isamu saying. That's why he couldn't understand him? Him and his Reason? Chiaki thought he'd be fine with killing, just because he'd been changed? Hijiri had used him, Hikawa was simply another enemy, Yuko... he doesn't know what she'd been thinking.]

[flaredo]

[ She still doesn't understand why, why he'd changed, but more importantly--

There's a whole lot Yang doesn't like about this. ]

But you're not. I think I'm more vain than you are. You're not egotistical, you didn't try to chew on my magawhatsit, and what kind of demon offers himself as a heater?

[masakados]

[What had gone wrong? Was it because he couldn't do anything? He looks at Yang, his expression puzzled, before he gazes down at one of his palms, the marking on it.] Yeah.

I knew I was human. I didn't think I changed from who I was, even with this new body. Even if I had to do things I'd never had to, I tried to stay myself.

...I don't understand it either, Yang.

[Later on, perhaps he could've understood why they'd call him a demon. After what he'd had to do.]

[flaredo]

Well, then I think it's stupid that no one else got it.

[ Succinct, yes, but it's so obvious, how could anyone else not mention it? ]

[masakados]

[Naoki's expression softens and he steps closer to her. He moves to set his hands on her elbows; sorry about accidentally tugging you before, Yang.]

Heh, yeah. [He manages to smile about it, but not because it's any less painful; it's because Yang's saying what she is.]

But even if they didn't, I'm happy enough right now knowing you do. [Even if... Doubts swim at the back of his mind, pass through to the forefront. If she knew it all, would she still think the same?]

[flaredo]

[ Even his smile looks a little sad...

Yang sighs, remaining still underneath his palms. She can't even imagine how he would have felt, how he still feels about this. Blake, maybe, truly understood-- but she's the one here with Naoki right now, and the only thing she can really do is maybe not understand, but accept. ]

I don't see how 'Naoki is Naoki' is so hard to get.

[ It's an indignant mutter. ]