[Shadow nods. The Nightwake police Shadow has no problems with. They seem, for the most part, efficient enough. Though the crime syndicates seem to continue to operate mostly without much trouble. Still, he catches the disrespect at Harrison. Shadow doesn't push, though he makes a slight fact at the honorific of kun being used. He is certain he's older than Hijikata but it is clearly meant as casual.]
Yes. I teach combat training to the locals and other offworlders in Sunwaning. My season is Winter.
[An easy enough question to answer. He takes a bite of pizza and a sip of his drink.]
I am the Ultimate Lifeform, after all Shoto-kun. [A small boast at the rather cute pouting coming from Shoto.]
[Hijikata drenches his pizza bread in mayonnaise, a sight Shoto has long gotten used to. He can't quite hide a brief smug smile at the boy's praise of his police work, not realising that if he felt like venting, he might just kick off a long discussion about how badly they need to make more decisive moves against the underground crime syndicates (something he's long been harping on about to Harrison).
Naturally, Shadow's little boast catches his attention. Coming from an invaded world that has become home to many species, he's no stranger to non-humans (and that's without taking his various adventures across the multiverse into account), but the hedgehog's claim is still quite an impressive one!]
That's right, Shoto-kun. If you can keep up with the Ultimate Lifeform, that speaks well of you.
[Of course, it's also flattering for him to be put on par with Shadow in that regard! Despite all his hard work to master his magic, Hijikata knows that many fellow otherworlders - Shoto included - will always be more powerful than him by simple merit of what they are, but the boy will probably forever be biased and starry-eyed when it comes to his sensei.]
Since you're both winter-aligned, do you also commune with the dead a lot, Shadow-kun? Shoto-kun spends almost as much time with them as with the living.
[It's not a criticism - on the contrary, he admires his student's charity for the ghosts, and if he's found a friend with the same ability to see and interact with them, that's a fortunate circumstance.]
[His mayo's long lost its shock, and as he listens to back-and-forth, he watches his bread in liquid enough to drown a fish.
He feels too humbled to seek their eyes either way. What's certain's that fondness for Hijikata isn't unearned. Few men were as just, though just as true how his student's ignored any faults. Atrocious manners don't count, and battle-thirsty, chain-smoking cops DO make good guardians he wants to think. Not one of his vices had seemed to affect the boy's outlook. Though likely, it's no one's shock that Shoto's still starry-eyed over him. Endeavor caught criminals day and night; and still, few seemed as rotten as the man on the inside. Changed or not, he can't pretend one isn't entirely better than the other.
Heroes aside, he wants to protest that Shadow's strength doesn't excuse his own weakness. He wants to say how he'll "catch up", that he'll be stronger the second that either one turns their own back.
At the mention of ghosts, his sulking slips into something more subtle, and then the boy peeks up.]
The dead follow me sometimes. More often than not, I leave them alone and they avoid me. I was informed that was best when I first arrived by an exorcist. Have you both had a different experience?
[Interesting. Shadow has mostly avoided the ghosts as he said. He had no real desire to commune with the dead. Though they sometimes left him little choice when they realized he could see them. It has been a helpful ability though one Shadow didn't focus his training on. Perhaps it is a bit shortsighted in the long run.]
[He's not doubtful, just surprised, never having met one himself. Of course, if it was a fellow otherworlder, that's a different story.]
I can't see ghosts here, unlike on the world before - Avalon, where I met Shoto-kun. We were aligned to different local magic strands there.
[As always when the topic comes up, he gets a bit wistful. With his death magic gone, he's been all but reduced to the old scaredy cat again, but it can't be helped. It gives him solace that Shoto does such a good job at carrying the metaphorical torch forward.]
It's as with everything, I suppose - different people excel at different things. I certainly don't use all my summer powers in equal measure, either. What's your specialisation?
[Another question for Shadow. Between his winter magic and whatever being the ultimate lifeform entails, the samurai is curious - also with regards to Shoto. While there are certainly things the boy can still learn from others, Hijikata's pride in him sometimes blindsides him to what it may be.]
[The weight behind "exorcist" doesn't mean much yet. Maybe in a couple months, but he's right now too attached to wish for the ghosts banished too. Of course, his best example's proved he hasn't to fear the ghosts either. A half of his friends are either incorporeal or the dead. Stories, candles, candies, fruits—a few of his offerings are simple as sweets made himself. He keeps from mentioning his brother's altar just yet. His being a Lich—a zombie—isn't something that's surfaced much either. However disguised, death's scent follows him as silently as a wisp of smoke.
He looks to Shadow—who hasn't an age applied at all—and wonders if death would approach him in the first place. At any rate, there's still his assumption that he's timeless to begin with. It still makes sense, just as his sensei's 27 or 32.
He may be both.]
They're always around me, like it or not.
[He draws his knees, sits arms folded across the tops, then keeps from asking whatever questions he shouldn't just yet.]
The Shadow I knew... liked being alone, though.
[Murmur... His specialization's now of far more interest.]
[Shadow nods to the samurai's notation of how not everyone embraces all the powers of their seasons equally. He knows he has not. He does catch Shoto saying the Shadow he knew liked to be alone. He thinks for a moment before he answers. Shadow knows he likes being alone. Though perhaps not as much anymore. Not since he left Ellipsa for a few days and came back.]
I specialize in water manipulation, temperature control, and lightning manipulation. Though, the latter I received from the Fairy Queen and her magical tattoo. It is on my forearm.
[He pats the spot on his arm, hidden by his sleeve. He looks to Shoto for a moment.]
I used to enjoy being alone more. That was before my world was destroyed. Before Ellipsa became my home. I tolerate company more easily now. And there are some I will say I genuinely enjoy being around. You are included in that small number.
[Hijikata smiles and perks up at Shadow being a fellow lightning user, but as he responds to what Shoto said, he holds his intended revelation of them having chosen the same magic for their tattoo, his excitement giving way to a fonder expression.
Diligent of a contributor to the Ellipsan cause as Shadow seems, he also does give off undeniable 'edgy loner' vibes (though he's clearly self-aware of it, given how he speaks of his sentiments so openly), which makes him having accepted Shoto as a friend seem like a bigger compliment!]
Well, Shoto-kun, if that isn't an achievement, I don't know what is.
[There's humour in his voice, though he doesn't mean it in a mocking way. After all, what happened to Shadow would have broken other people wholesale, and he addresses that, too:]
I'm sorry about your world, Shadow-kun. But there are a few others like you around, so at least you weren't the only survivor, right?
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no subject
Date: 2024-12-15 10:07 pm (UTC)Yes. I teach combat training to the locals and other offworlders in Sunwaning. My season is Winter.
[An easy enough question to answer. He takes a bite of pizza and a sip of his drink.]
I am the Ultimate Lifeform, after all Shoto-kun. [A small boast at the rather cute pouting coming from Shoto.]
no subject
Date: 2024-12-16 10:20 pm (UTC)Naturally, Shadow's little boast catches his attention. Coming from an invaded world that has become home to many species, he's no stranger to non-humans (and that's without taking his various adventures across the multiverse into account), but the hedgehog's claim is still quite an impressive one!]
That's right, Shoto-kun. If you can keep up with the Ultimate Lifeform, that speaks well of you.
[Of course, it's also flattering for him to be put on par with Shadow in that regard! Despite all his hard work to master his magic, Hijikata knows that many fellow otherworlders - Shoto included - will always be more powerful than him by simple merit of what they are, but the boy will probably forever be biased and starry-eyed when it comes to his sensei.]
Since you're both winter-aligned, do you also commune with the dead a lot, Shadow-kun? Shoto-kun spends almost as much time with them as with the living.
[It's not a criticism - on the contrary, he admires his student's charity for the ghosts, and if he's found a friend with the same ability to see and interact with them, that's a fortunate circumstance.]
[Apologies to you both; December's dragged me all over]
Date: 2025-01-07 11:42 am (UTC)He feels too humbled to seek their eyes either way. What's certain's that fondness for Hijikata isn't unearned. Few men were as just, though just as true how his student's ignored any faults. Atrocious manners don't count, and battle-thirsty, chain-smoking cops DO make good guardians he wants to think. Not one of his vices had seemed to affect the boy's outlook. Though likely, it's no one's shock that Shoto's still starry-eyed over him. Endeavor caught criminals day and night; and still, few seemed as rotten as the man on the inside. Changed or not, he can't pretend one isn't entirely better than the other.
Heroes aside, he wants to protest that Shadow's strength doesn't excuse his own weakness. He wants to say how he'll "catch up", that he'll be stronger the second that either one turns their own back.
At the mention of ghosts, his sulking slips into something more subtle, and then the boy peeks up.]
Do they follow you too?
[Creepy!]
It's all good. December was indeed a month.
Date: 2025-01-07 04:59 pm (UTC)[Interesting. Shadow has mostly avoided the ghosts as he said. He had no real desire to commune with the dead. Though they sometimes left him little choice when they realized he could see them. It has been a helpful ability though one Shadow didn't focus his training on. Perhaps it is a bit shortsighted in the long run.]
no subject
Date: 2025-01-07 08:00 pm (UTC)[He's not doubtful, just surprised, never having met one himself. Of course, if it was a fellow otherworlder, that's a different story.]
I can't see ghosts here, unlike on the world before - Avalon, where I met Shoto-kun. We were aligned to different local magic strands there.
[As always when the topic comes up, he gets a bit wistful. With his death magic gone, he's been all but reduced to the old scaredy cat again, but it can't be helped. It gives him solace that Shoto does such a good job at carrying the metaphorical torch forward.]
It's as with everything, I suppose - different people excel at different things. I certainly don't use all my summer powers in equal measure, either. What's your specialisation?
[Another question for Shadow. Between his winter magic and whatever being the ultimate lifeform entails, the samurai is curious - also with regards to Shoto. While there are certainly things the boy can still learn from others, Hijikata's pride in him sometimes blindsides him to what it may be.]
no subject
Date: 2025-01-15 01:53 pm (UTC)He looks to Shadow—who hasn't an age applied at all—and wonders if death would approach him in the first place. At any rate, there's still his assumption that he's timeless to begin with. It still makes sense, just as his sensei's 27 or 32.
He may be both.]
They're always around me, like it or not.
[He draws his knees, sits arms folded across the tops, then keeps from asking whatever questions he shouldn't just yet.]
The Shadow I knew... liked being alone, though.
[Murmur... His specialization's now of far more interest.]
no subject
Date: 2025-01-16 03:25 am (UTC)I specialize in water manipulation, temperature control, and lightning manipulation. Though, the latter I received from the Fairy Queen and her magical tattoo. It is on my forearm.
[He pats the spot on his arm, hidden by his sleeve. He looks to Shoto for a moment.]
I used to enjoy being alone more. That was before my world was destroyed. Before Ellipsa became my home. I tolerate company more easily now. And there are some I will say I genuinely enjoy being around. You are included in that small number.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-16 09:30 am (UTC)Diligent of a contributor to the Ellipsan cause as Shadow seems, he also does give off undeniable 'edgy loner' vibes (though he's clearly self-aware of it, given how he speaks of his sentiments so openly), which makes him having accepted Shoto as a friend seem like a bigger compliment!]
Well, Shoto-kun, if that isn't an achievement, I don't know what is.
[There's humour in his voice, though he doesn't mean it in a mocking way. After all, what happened to Shadow would have broken other people wholesale, and he addresses that, too:]
I'm sorry about your world, Shadow-kun. But there are a few others like you around, so at least you weren't the only survivor, right?