week two | dates

[marriagebroker]

Kiss the girl~!

Or guy.

Or person.

Or Messmer's snake.

Comments

[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. . .

[ordimame]

[. . . a thumbs up and a smile!]

I'm happy you were given the chance to be Ringo.

[she truly is a much stronger person than he, to shoulder that burden so simply. her carefree attitude is. . . refreshing, if he is being honest]

[hexensabbat]

You won't hear any argument from me on that.

[People should be able to exist without some kind of purpose.]

And now that I've handled the end of the world, I guess that's me too. I'm Ringo, but I'm also able to pick my own directives. More or less.

And so now I'm here!

[ordimame]

Aaaand now you're here.

Jumping off of cliffs.

[which he thinks is super "exciting" in the way that it makes his heart leap into his throat. but doing it alongside someone with her levels of energetic enthusiasm. . . well]

[. . . that makes it kind of fun]

Speaking of, how would you rate that experience?

[hexensabbat]

It was fun!

[Yeah. No surprises there.]

And pretty unique to do something like that with all of those safety features intact.

[ok, Ringo.]

What'd you think?

[ordimame]

. . . I don't think anyone should be doing without those safety features!!

[says the guy jumping CLEAN OUT OF BUILDINGS]

And I'd rate it a solid. . . eh. Seven.

[hexensabbat]

... Wow. Tough crowd.

[She just sounds amused, though.]

Then we'll make the next date a solid eight or nine.

[She stands then, stretching, before she offers him a hand up.]

Ready to head back? We've got a full itinerary this week, after all.

[ordimame]

Hey now, a seven is a pretty solid score!

[. . . made even more solid by the company he keeps. it may have been lower, if Ringo herself were not so. . . exciting. but with all that said. . . he finishes off his water and tosses the bottle into a nearby trashcan]

. . . it's almost a shame to leave this scenery behind.

[hexensabbat]

Yeah, it's nice, isn't it?

[A grin, and she nudges his shoulder.]

Maybe you can consider it a prize for surviving the jump.