soul_logs | [OPEN] Earthquake Event

"Too much hassle," Ling groaned. "I'm just going to save up and get a better one. Besides, Ran Fan's room is exactly like mine. What would be the point?"

"Nope. I'm going to get a 'job,'" the prince announced with excitement, rubbing his palms together. "I'll work hard like a commoner, and then I'll get everything I want with money I earned with the sweat of my own labor. It'll be great, and when I look around me, I'll be able to have pride."

Wait... he was criticizing the normal set-up!? What sort of home life did he come from?

Kanji sent Ling a look.

"Yeah, well, this commoner busted his ass to get where he's at now! I better not hear any shit from you about my place when we get there. Got it?"

He was... he was proud of his little bachelor pad.

Ling looked at Kanji with much emotion swimming in his eyes, and he clapped his hands together in keen interest. "Yes, yes! That's what I want to have. That feeling of, as you put it, 'busting one's ass' to get what you want. I never had that and look at what I've become. It's sad, really. There's no way a king can care for his people if he doesn't take the time to understand what life is really like for them."

"Suffering in order to have a better and more secure future... saving your money, not thinking of material possessions as things that will always be there no matter what. Those are qualities that are sorely lacking in the aristocracy, and it's brought my nation to ruins." The sadness Ling had for his people was clear in the boy's voice as he spoke, demonstrated by the way his eyes traveled over the ground.

Ling tilted his head to the side and added, "I have a lot to learn. Maybe... maybe you could help me a little."

What's with this 'king' and 'my nation' stuff? He wasn't seriously walking home with royalty, was he? Whether Ling was kidding or not, Kanji couldn't be sure, but the kid seemed privileged in a sense... or was, anyway.

He couldn't catch the bullshit in Ling's voice, however, and the teen rubbed the back of his head in thought. Help, huh?

"A'right, lemme ask you somethin: What kinda job are you lookin' for? There's always working with your strengths, doin' somethin' you're used to for a living, or working toward somethin' new."

He shrugged. "I bake at Death By Pastry... I guess I'm an okay cook, but I wanted to get better at it. You get what I'm saying?"

Edited (wrong icon.) 2012-03-05 04:01 (UTC)

Ling scratched his cheek, shy. "Weeeeeell," he said, chuckling sheepishly. "As far as what I'm good at? I don't have a lot of skills, sorry. At home, I was.... kind of traveling the world to find a secret artifact to give to my corrupt father to force him from the throne. So, I was adventuring. Crossing the desert and mountains and all that. I'm good with a horse or a pony. Camels.... not so much. So I hope the job doesn't include camels."

This was the strangest thing, outright being told things like this. Then again, Kanji wasn't the most open person to most. He listened and nodded, his hands going into his pockets.

"I dunno if there's a job with camels, horses or ponies... but after everything so far you seem like the kinda guy that wants to help people here. Thought about that group that Mustang guy put together?"

He thought on it a little further as they entered the residential district. They weren't too far now. "But if you wanna get your hands a little dirty, almost everybody's lookin' for people to cook n' clean or whatever."

Hmmm... Death By Pastry was looking for waiters, now that he thought about it.

"You mean The Watch?" Ling asked, curious. He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. No one had ever explained it to him that way!

"I've been doing that since I got here. Is that a 'job'? All I do is walk around and patrol. But we never find anything." He sighed, feeling disappointment rise up from the very bottom of his toes. "It's super boring and I don't feel useful at all."

As they neared the building, Ling looked up at the windows, counting them row by row. His arms, he tucked back behind his head, casual. "I'd always thought a 'job' entailed labor. Yeah, like cooking and cleaning! Picking rice. Hauling rocks to build bridges. Messy stuff that hurts your back and makes your feet ache. I want to see what it's like to be a commoner," he mused, thinking of a few people who were dear to his heart that were in that category-- the dearest of whom was living in that very building. His voice grew soft and wistful. "Feel what they feel. If I don't, I'll never be able to understand."

Edited 2012-03-05 19:50 (UTC)

"You mean you wanna find somethin'?" Kanji understood how that could get boring. Whenever he took a walk late at night, he almost expected some punks to pop out from around a corner looking for a fight. Most of the time, the walks went without a hitch. Perhaps the Watch was to thank for that...

Kanji fished his keys out of his pocket as they entered Creeping Crypt, and he took a moment to unlock the door of the foyer into the dorm building proper.

"How 'bout maintenance work? We're at war, yeah? Witch attacks n' earthquakes like this leave the city all beat up. Cleanin' up the debris, fixin' holes, rebuilding stuff around here... sounds like the back-breaking, feet-aching stuff you're lookin' for."

Edited 2012-03-05 20:10 (UTC)

"Not anything that means that innocent people get hurt," Ling admitted. "But I wouldn't mind being able to stop some villains or... well, at least feel like I was doing something."

"Ah, great idea," Ling agreed, brightening immensely. "That'd be great! I've never built anything. Unless if you count as a kid, with sticks..." Playing in the palace gardens day after day, Ling had often created little houses and walls with sticks and leaves. "Hey-- what's your job like? What do you do when you're working? Is it nice?"

"...Huh?" He looked up with the questions as they reached the third floor, heading down the hall to room 3-E.

"I stick to the kitchen n' bake, is all. Switch out empty trays for full ones, keep the pastries fresh. Place gets pretty busy on weekends when everybody comes in to eat with a date, the waiters n' waitresses always moving, carrying out orders." He stopped before the door, and took a moment to unlock it.

"...I-I guess it's nice. Keeps me busy, pays pretty good. The manager's been diggin' the hell outta the turtle-shaped danishes I made." He'd been getting a lot of compliments from clientele about them, too. The thought had him blushing a little, despite himself, as he entered his apartment and held the door open for Ling, flicking on the light.

Ling's expression was one of rapt daydreams. For another by it might have been the sort of face one would make at imagining living in a video game or a comic book. The life Kanji spoke of living was so very exotic and curious. He made Western sweet things, worked on his own, saw people on dates. These were all things that Ling had no experience in doing.

"A public eatery," he sighed, longingly. How romantic, how novel this all seemed! Eating in such a place was always fun and exciting. The more stuffy and crowded the better, as far as Ling was concerned. There was nothing lonelier than being served your dinner while the only other people in the room simply stood there to guard you. And if one was around a crowd of people, there was always something interesting or funny or beautiful to notice about them.

"Turtle-shaped danish?" Ling repeated. "I don't know what a danish is, but turtle-shaped sounds really cool. Especially if your manager likes them, you know they're good. What are they?"

[ooc: what's there to see/react to in the room?]

To look at Kanji was one thing, but to see his living arrangements was another entirely. The room looked very much like a guy lived here: The furnishings are simple yet comfortable in dark, unassuming colors, a couch that made you just want to sink in and nap (Kanji himself having succumbed to the couch's call now and again), and atop was a fuzzy little gray and white kitten, alerted by the sound of the door opening and the light flicking on. Little paws stretched and extended claws, mouth opening wide in a fangy little yawn before the small cat greeted them with a squeak and approached.

On the walls were large canvases, each one a window to some part of the world the painter had seen: One in particular was a peaceful, rural riverbank, while another was a golden shrine of sorts... and if you looked closely, there was a fox with a little bandana hiding among the gold and trees somewhere.

In one corner, something was covered with a sheet, an object on a small table trying to look inconspicuous.

Overall, it was a tidy little place that Kanji worked hard to make cozy.

"You serious? ...'s a sweet pastry. Shape it into a bowl n' put cheese or fruit on it. I just shape it different," he answered, rather distracted. He managed to close the door before the cat would get the idea to slip out.

Edited 2012-03-07 18:06 (UTC)

"Aiya--" Ling breathed, even dreamier than he'd been a moment ago. His face lit up like the neon lights of the buildings outside that he hated so much. "Wooooooooooooooow, your place is so niiiiiiiice. Oh my gosh, you have a kitty!"

He trotted right over to the small cat and plopped down on the floor, excited enough to burst. "Hi, hi sweet kittyyyyyy. Hi! Oh, I have--" He dug into his pocket and pulled out some dried mackerel wrapped in a napkin, that had been part of a snack earlier in the day. he held this out to the kitten, wagging it around in the air. "Here, it's dried fish. You can have it."

The little cat seemed startled by the sudden (and loud) approach, and darted behind the safety of Kanji's leg. Ling blinked at this, confused by the reception he was getting. "Here, cute kitty, take it," he urged.

"Her name's Iza," he supplied as the kitten hid behind him. Now that he thought about it, this was only the second time he'd had someone over, the first since he got the kitten.

Kanji hunkered down, carefully taking up the little gray cat in his hands. She was given a scratch between the ears, and not three seconds later she was purring loud enough for both of them to hear.

"He's okay. Go say hi," he spoke softly to the little one, and set her on her paws with a parting pet or two. It wasn't long before the kitten cautiously toddled on over, leaning her head forward and sniffing the air, watching Ling as she seemed to make each careful step count. The fish smelled interesting, and perhaps it would be tasty, too.

He stood and went to hang up his coat before crossing into the kitchen. "I don't usually have people over, but uh... y'want a drink or somethin'?"

"Hi, Iza," Ling was cooing, getting down on the floor at eye level with the little cat. He kept his hand back just in case. Could it be that animals still had aversions to him because of having housed Greed? He didn't think so, but... who knew. He watched the kitten with eager eyes. "Hi sweet kittycat. D'awww, hahaha. Yeah, I won't hurt you, I promise. There, that's for you, give it a sniff."

He looked up when Kanji addressed him. "You don't? Why not, your house is awesome. I love it! And oh, water? Tea? Anything is fine."

"I dunno anybody who'd wanna come over," he answered with a shrug, not sounding entirely sure.

Kanji put the kettle on the stove and got the burner going, taking two mugs out of the cupboard. He'd lost two during the earthquake among his glassware, but at least he had enough for himself and a couple of guests...

But Ling was right. Kanji liked the cozy little place he'd made for himself. Maybe he should just invite people over sometime... but not now, not when there was damage to clean up.

One would be amazed how perceptive animals are, Ling, but Iza seemed to be warming up to him. Eventually the mackerel was taken and curiously chewed on.

"I would," Ling volunteered. "Your place smells nice. Plus you have these paintings. Those... they're beautiful. It kind of reminds me of my room back home. But, more natural? More realistic in style."

Ling didn't want to leave the cat on the floor now that he'd gotten so close to one, but he turned to look up at the canvases. "Is that a Ja Pan house?" he asked, pointing to the golden building. "Or perhaps a temple of some sort?"

Iza was busy learning of a new flavor and texture, chewing away on the dried fish as Kanji stepped out of the kitchen and went to have a look.

"Oh, that? 's the Tatsuhime Shrine! Sits right next to where I live. It was all run down until last winter when it got renovated. Had people from school comin' up to pray for luck when an exam was comin' up, wish for a girlfriend or whatever..." He glanced back at Ling quietly.

"Y'see anything else?" The first big test since he'd completed the painting. Somewhere in there, he'd hidden a few things: The strange female fox that guarded the shrine, and her litter of kits tucked away here and there.

Ling got to his feet as noiselessly as Iza might have, and crossed over to the painting. His arms folded in his gesture of thinking, hands tucking into his long sleeves. "Tasu Hime Shrine, hmm? It's quite charming."

Ling looked carefully at the painting in the courtly way in which he had been taught to appreciate fine art by his tutors. It's a formula, really, but the object is not to look like it. He observed the painting from five feet way, eyes sweeping the whole canvas. Then he stepped in, fingers on his chin and elbow supported on his left arm, to carefully examine each sixth of the composition in turn.

"Hmm," he nodded, taking note of the brushstrokes. If he'd been holding a folding fan, this was the point at which he should make a gesture at something that he particularly found interesting. As he was right now, he used his open hand. "This small creature here.... a fox perhaps? What is it wearing?"

Edited 2012-03-09 17:16 (UTC)

"I dunno why, but every time I saw her, she was always wearin' an apron," he replied, scratching his head. Kanji wasn't too keen on his mythology, or he probably would have had a better answer for that.

"Friendly, though. This is gonna sound weird, but I think she keeps watch over it." He himself didn't go to the shrine much, save for feeding the fox and her family every now and again. There wasn't much to wish or pray for, he felt, that one couldn't work to accomplish on one's own power.

Hmm. Ling was okay with the paintings, right? Maybe some drawings would be okay to show off, too. Kanji went to get his sketchbook off the coffee table and flip through it: A sketch of Amaterasu snoozing under a tree in the park, some people he'd met and others from home including a boy in a cabbie hat, Death City's moon and sun...

"I ain't a pro, but puttin' up stuff like this helped the room look less like 'a dingy box' as you put it."

"Aha, a guardian spirit, it sounds like," Ling breathed, impressed. "We have tales of such things in Xing, though I've never witnessed it. This looks like a rural area-- it wouldn't have been acceptable for me to go there."

He studied the panting once more. "I really admire the way the light hits the shrine from this angle, here," he commented, gesturing politely with his hand as he had before, not pointing. "The shadows are falling so nicely on the other side. I feel that it captures the atmosphere of time of day quite well."

"So... you did these, didn't you?" Ling realized, looking back at Kanji with newfound respect. "These drawings in this book are yours as well?"

Kanji only watched as Ling gestured to the painting. He remembered lingering on how the light fell on the structure, how it cast shadows... but really, he went by the picture in his mind's eye. He would always pass it by on his way to and from school, but it was after school that he usually stopped to observe the shrine before heading on home.

He nodded, then. He did the paintings, the drawings, and he wasn't the least bit ashamed.

"It's somethin' I like to do," he answered, and lifted his head when he heard a whistling from the kitchen. He handed Ling the sketchbook and went to attend to the tea.

"You take it straight or d'you put anything in it?"

"Straight and quite strong," Ling answered. "I'm Xingese," he added, as if that was supposed to tell Kanji something.

"You're very talented," he said, perusing the drawings with a careful eye. "Oho? These are people and creatures I've seen here in this city. I can recognize them. You've captured them well."

Ling looked up and grinned. "If you'd lived in Xing, you could've studied the art of painting," he commented. "Court painters are extremely well off, especially if you can draw dragons or peonies, in the proper style. If you can do those, you can get all the way up to the top."

Whatever you say, Ling.

When Kanji got to pouring and steeping their drinks, he made sure Ling's tea would have the proper punch. There was a sketch of you in there too, Ling, brandishing your own weapon form.

"I can do dragons n' peonies," he noted, looking through his cupboard for honey. Tonight called for a little sweetened tea, at least for him. He'd put a little dollop in his own mug.

"I could even put a dragon weavin' around on your wall, make it big as hell." He'd seen Kohryu, one of Senpai's Persona before, and always thought it looked badass... and when was an eastern-style dragon NOT badass!?

Ling smiled a rather tight smile. "Ah, I didn't mean for me. I meant... the Emperor of Xing. He favors dragons and peonies, as that's the symbol of his particular family line. So... all of the warring clans, as they try to curry his favor, will pay great sums to commission art to give to him as gifts."

"Basically... bribes," he explained, his voice dry in his throat. "If they want seats in government, they send many beautifu maidens and painted screens which are to be placed around their beds for the... Emperor's pleasure." Ling looked away, at the riverbank painting, feeling shame gripping him, as well as anger. "If they want a certain law to be passed to allow them to commandeer land or food to fuel their war effort? Some fine carriages or pleasure boats, painted with millions of dragons and peonies."

[OPEN] Earthquake Event - Clinic

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I was getting to that, silly. :3

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