week two | dates

[marriagebroker]

Kiss the girl~!

Or guy.

Or person.

Or Messmer's snake.

Comments

[ordimame]

[A BREATHLESS LAUGH--]

Great! Thanks for preserving my dignity. [what. . . dignity] Well, what pieces I have of it that are left, anyway.

[hexensabbat]

Heyyy, I think you still have some dignity! I mean, you've been yourself this whole time despite everything.

That counts for something as far as I'm concerned.

[She'll start to lead the way over to the, idk, bungee jumping rest area now.]

[ordimame]

[oh my god]

Who else would I be but myself? Television fame changes people, but not me!

[following her to the rest area. there's a tent set up to protect them from the shade! and some nice coolers filled with water. there's another pathway that snakes through the trees and back up the cliffside, should they wish to jump again. . . but for now, Edamura is content with a single try]

[hexensabbat]

I don't know! People have all sorts of reasons to pretend to be other people.

At least, that's how I understand it. It's pretty complicated.

[She digs out two water bottles, tossing him one in a loose lob.]

[ordimame]

[haha. . . ha. . . something flickers in his expression at that, but it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment as he catches the water]

It can be, I guess. Humans do like to overcomplicate things.

[hexensabbat]

You're telling me!

[She opens her own water to take a satisfying chug of it.]

Every time I think I'm starting to get it, they get confusing all over again! But, well. That's part of what makes humanity so interesting, too.

[ordimame]

[. . . huh. is it? he supposes that is a perspective he can't quite comprehend, as someone who is-- and always has been-- human]

[but he does give her a curious glance as he screws the cap off of his bottle]

I'm a little surprised you like us so much. . . [he has no particular love or hate for his species. but he has seen people at their worst, and. . . well. that kind of sticks with a guy] We're capable of some pretty. . . bad stuf.

[. . .]

But I suppose that also applies to non-human people. . .?

[hexensabbat]

... Well. Yeah.

[Demons, obviously, but she winces a little when she thinks about Figue's, uh. [spoilers].]

But that's not why. Or, well, it's complicated, right? The things that drive humans to do bad things, the things that drive conflicts and struggles.

But you guys are also the best at striving to improve and fix things, too.

[ordimame]

[laughs in Figue's spoilers]

[but that's one thing he can't argue with. it is complicated. even the most monstrous of humans can seem warm and kind and inviting to the right person in the wrong circumstances]

[. . .]

. . . yeah, I guess we are.

[a bit wry, but. he doesn't disagree]

Is that what draws you towards us? Potential?

[hexensabbat]

Well. My directive was to preserve humanity, so that played a part in it, but.

[Hmmm...]

Now, it's just because I have friends!

[ordimame]

[. . . once again her answer is so DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE he finds himself thinking he didn't even need to ask the question in the first place. she wasn't wrong when she said he tended to overthink!!]

Why did I think there'd be more to it than that. . .? [a bit exasperated, but not unkindly so] Were they a part of your whole. . . [. . . SIGHS] Devil summoning thing?

[hexensabbat]

[Oh my god.

She cracks up, solely because of how he says it.]

Y-yeah, yeah! They were part of my whole... Sigh Devil Summoning thing.

[ordimame]

[DON'T MAKE FUN OF HIM!!!]

[jabs a finger at her]

Tell me about that! Let's find out exactly how badly it blows my mind. No better time than while sitting next to a scenic riverbank, right?

[perfect backdrop for him to lose his shit again]

[hexensabbat]

Yeah, okay.

[She takes her water bottle over to sit by the edge of the river, sprawling comfortably, and waits for him to join her before:]

So. Demons. Familiar with 'em?

[ordimame]

[he trots after her, plopping himself onto the rocky ground with one leg outstretched. not quite in the water, but close!]

Like.





Fictionally, or. . .?

[hexensabbat]

Given the topic of conversation, what do you think?

[Just so amused. She's grinning at him. Keep up, Edamura.]

[ordimame]

[TOUCHE]

Then nope! Not even a little bit. Educate me?

[hexensabbat]

[Right, right.]

So! They're super real. Most people don't know about it and can't see them, though. Only people with a particular sort of wavelength.

Everyone else thinks they're fictional.

But people like me and my team can contract with them and use their powers to fight other demons.

[ordimame]

[super real. okay. he will accept that premise. he is not at all thinking about how maybe he's just one of the normies who can't see demons at all back home? actually, if that's true, then THANK GOD]

. . . okay.

[nodding along, genuinely trying to understand. taking sips of his water as he does so]

Why do you contract them to fight other demons?

[hexensabbat]

[Look how well he's taking it! Edamura has come so far.

She just leans back against her hands.]

To save the world, obviously. Well, that's just means to an end, actually. Contracting with demons is just the most efficient way to avert the apocalypse, and we fight other demons because they get in the way or they're threatening humanity.

Make sense so far?

[ordimame]

[AVERT. . . THE APOCALYPSE. . .]

. . . kind of!

"Saving the world" feels like a pretty big responsibility, though. You didn't feel like cracking underneath the pressure?

[hexensabbat]

Never crossed my mind.

[That's not a brag. It's just a fact, as she tilts her head, blinking.]

Figue and I were made for that purpose and that purpose only, you know? Hard to crack under the pressure of doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing.

[ordimame]

[. . . that purpose, and that purpose only? his dubious features grow slack, brows raising, as he tries to comprehend what that must feel like]

I. . . suppose so, but. . .

. . . that seems kind of cruel to you two.

[to give them but one purpose, and nothing else. to thrust upon them a huge responsibility without thinking about whether they'd actually want it or not]

[hexensabbat]

[She blinks at that. Huh...?]

"Cruel"?

[???]

I dunno. I never would've been created if not for that, and I definitely like being Ringo, so it feels like a fair trade to me.

1/2

[ordimame]

[so it doesn't even register on her radar, huh. . . in that case, maybe he is just overthinking it?]

I don't know. . . I guess, because I'm human, I think people-- [this includes non-human people, he hopes she knows this] -- should just be able to exist without some kind of specified purpose.

[takes a sip of his water, gaze flickering towards the river. a slow exhale]

But if it doesn't bother you, then. . .