soul_campaign | [16: July 25th, Noon

Entry tags:

[16: July 25th, Noon | Video]

[It's already past 100 degrees out, so the video catches Kanji in his usual form-fitting sleeveless tops. He's bruised in several places and bandages are stuck on exposed skin every which way to cover up where beaks and claws had broken skin, but the Meister looks a little more tired than anything else. He runs an upper arm over his forehead to mop up a bit of sweat.]

S'dry heat, I know, but it's still hot as balls out--

[Oh. Shit. The red light's on a little sooner than he thought. Well then. Enjoy your colorful comparison, if you can call it that.]

Uh, sup? ...So it's done. Took down our witch, and we got ourselves another Deathscythe runnin' around. But somethin' went wrong after the witch soul was absorbed, so we had to stay in the clinic for a couple days until Naoto stabilized. Whole lotta power rushin' around in the soul beats the shit outta you. Yeah. Who knew? But...

[He turns the device to look over his shoulder. The detective's on the couch in the apartment living room, testing commands against Watson, the rottweiler pup, who is madly wagging his tail and making huffing noises as he sits, lies down, speaks and so on. Camera's back to the owner, who for the moment is still a little distracted by the scene.]

...We're all good, I think. Gotta check back in a day or two for the all clear, but... shit...

[He tightens his jaw and keeps himself as cool as he can be. But he's not looking at the camera and there's the slight tinge of pink across his face, betraying the demeanor just a little.]

I'm jus'... r-relieved, y'know? I thought I fucked up somehow. So I guess consider this a heads up for the guys out there gettin' close to their last few souls: Keep an eye on your partner. Don't let up.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Good boy, Watson...

[Though hot outside, Naoto hugged the thin sheet closer to herself, wincing slightly as the large pup jumped into her lap and rolled over, wanting a belly rub. The detective brought a hand out and complied to the request, watching a small leg as it began to kick. Poe landed on the couch and seemed a little more envious than usual.]

Congratulations, you two.

[He's relieved they're both alright, and more than a little proud.]

He's seriously learnin' quick! We already gotta spell the t-word-

['Treat' was not a word you spoke in the apartment. Not unless you wanted a dog at your heels, staring hard at you and wondering where his prize was. But when the pup jumped up and he caught her wince, Kanji was already out of his seat.]

O-oi, you're still healin' up!

[He nodded, the smile lopsided.]

Thanks, man. They weren't screwin' around when they said witches're tough- I still feel like a truck ran me over...

But now there is one less to worry about, and one more Deathscythe in our ranks.

[It may be slow, but they're making progress in the war. Finally.]

How is Shirogane-san holding up?

I'm alright, Kanji.

[But Watson already looked upset by the yelling, his already fallen ears fallen lower while his big eyes stared at Kanji. With Watson not wriggling around, Naoto raised a hand to her shoulder and rubbed. It still felt tender there for some reason.]

Better. Got the discharge paperwork done up last night. I wanted to wait n' see how everything was this morning before I fired up the communicator with a word on 'hey, we ain't dead'.

Naoto's a little sore but walkin' around. S'all I can ask for. We're pretty damn tired'a winding up in that clinic, though; bastards know us by name at this point.

Good. I was starting to get worried.

I must admit, I'm impressed she is doing so well. Channeling that much power is exhausting, doubly so if you haven't been thoroughly trained for it.

For the most part, sure... but y'know I can help if somethin's up, right? I mean, you were talkin' about back n' shoulder pain for a couple days...

[Man, why did this sound familiar? Oh yeah... she'd offered a shoulder rub to him when they were in the TV world back home. He'd stupidly refused, but well. Y'know.]

[He nodded.]

Yeah, it was- I dunno, the last five or ten souls, she was feelin' kinda head-rushed n' dizzy a bunch from all that unstable energy swirlin' around without the witch soul to put some kinda cap on it. But then this... shit, it freaked me out a little.

...I thought it might have been something like that.

[She hadn't actually told him what was wrong, but it hadn't been that hard to guess.]

[She supposed she hadn't necessarily been that discrete about the shoulder rubbing. Frowning, she let her arm fall.]

It's still there... It felt like someone was coming through after I consumed the soul... [She isn't sure if he understands fully what she means. Either way...] Do you mind looking at my back?

But it should be good now, I think. I mean, the 'cap' is on, so she'll feel okay from here on out.

Comin' through? [Like dislocated bone or something? Maybe something popped back into place but settled wrong. The doctors would have noticed something like that, right?]

...No. I don't mind. Lemme take a look.

[He stepped up and offered a wordless apology to Watson with an ear rub and a scratch between the shoulder blades before easing the dog off of Naoto's lap for now. Settling on the cushion next to her, he nodded. With a lifted corner, he slipped under the sheet she had draped herself in and wondered how it was she needed the thing when it was ... yeah, he'd used the comparison already when it came to the heat.]

Uh- t-turn the back this way a sec.

[She nodded and sidled over as Kanji came to sit besides her. Watson wasn't happy, but he obeyed, hopping onto the couch besides them both and watching.]

[Once Kanji was beneath the sheet, she nodded again and turned, sitting down almost in his lap and pulling her hair forward so he may look at her back. Even that movement was somewhat painful, but she didn't say a word or make a sound.]

[Hope you're ready for a Lee to get in your face, because here he is, crying at the top of his lungs.]

CONGRATULATIONS, KANJI-KUN! NAOTO-SAN! IT IS EXCELLENT TO HEAR YOU HAVE ASCENDED TO THE HONORABLE TITLE OF DEATHSCYTHE AND MEISTER!

[Yeah, he's not the best when it comes to being quiet around the convalescing. Well, Naoto seems fine enough now, anyway.]

I wonder if Sephiroth had the same problem? Perhaps it is the fact that we're not from this world. Hmm...

[Akiha tilts her head a bit in thought for a moment.]

Regardless, congratulations. Do you know the name of the witch you defeated?

[This information is important!]

Can you be more specific than 'something went wrong'?

...what happened?

[Because Keroro is halfway to that point and she wants to know what to look for when they get there.]

Congratulations... [She smiles at Kanji, glad for their accomplishment, but she's way more concerned over the lady she considered her mentor at the shooting range.]

Um... how is Naoto doing now?

[He wasn't sure what to expect by taking a look, but she was having discomfort. Maybe she had bruises that they forgot, or those really painful shallow cuts that happened sometimes, paper cuts that screamed pointlessly, hurting far more than the damage it'd caused. But Naoto's the type to keep her chin up in the face of things like paper cuts. This had to be pretty serious.]

[He lifted the back of her shirt and even now couldn't stop his face from turning pink. Okay, so it was shoulder pain, so he had to look-]

...

[What the- what the hell!?]

[Lee's talented in that, even over video, he still makes you feel like he's right up in your face. Kanji leans a bit away from the communicator. This was the guy able to lift -him- off the ground, so Lee's earned himself some respect.]

Thanks, man. [Ascended? Honorable? That's a little more intense than it feels right now.]

Gonna take a wild guess n' say your day's goin' good.

...Y'know, I should ask 'im. If it's a kinda trend then it's good to know for everybody else, yeah?

[But he tips his head.] Thanks. Her name was Kharon. Naoto's been-...

[He paused and left it at that.]

Anyways, nobody's gotta worry about giant birds carryin' anybody off.

[A hesitant moment.]

The soul knocked Naoto flat for a bit. The way it was put, it was like gettin' hit with a tidal wave and then tryin'a swim back to the surface. Witches're powerful, their souls real raw, if that makes any sense. It's strong enough to keep 99 souls in check and still have plenty left over to power up the Weapon that absorbed it.

[That's right, Eve n' Keroro are pretty high up there, huh? He'd been watching the Meister charts.]

Naoto wasn't feelin' too good. I had to carry 'er back. One soul versus a hundred, they said, is a 'fight' all Weapons have to endure inside their bodies the minute they take in the Witch Soul and gotta deal with all the energy. Many Weapons win n' stabilize within hours, but some take longer.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 5

[16: July 25th, Noon | Video]

no subject

[Video]

Action

[Video]

[Video]

Action

[Video]

[Video]

Action

[Video]

[Video]

Action

[Video]

Action

Action

[video]

Video

[voice]

[ video; ]

[Video]

Action

[video]

Video

[voice]

[ video; ]