isleofavalon | May catch-all

Entry tags:

May catch-all

🧙 WHO: Gokudera and absolutely anyone
⚔️️ WHAT: Mid-May catch all (training and other stuff that comes up)
🕒 WHEN: Mid... May? Before the event
🗺️ WHERE: Multiple places
⚠️ WARNINGS: violence, mentions of past sexual slavery, language

A. Training Grounds

Larry is sitting out in the middle of the training field, blowing bubbles to contain lit sticks of dynamite Gokudera is throwing into the air. Gokudera has discovered he has elemental magic and is working on what he can with wind, trying to push the bubble back towards his familiar, or up safely away from them both. He’s not successfully done either, and has just been creating useless gusts. The dynamite explodes in the bubble, the bubble pops, and knocks him down. This is getting very very tiresome, and his gusts don’t seem to be getting any stronger or going where he thinks he’s aiming them.

“Fuck... why isn’t it working?” He glares and pushes himself back up.

B. The Red Spring

No new arrivals from Namimori, it seems. Gokudera had spent the day watching new arrivals climb the cliff, wondering if he’d see someone from home. The journey back had been familiar and helped somewhat to clear his mind. But he’s been looking forward to bathing in the Red Spring. He feels partially new to Avalon after his reawakening, gone for years, and his body aged and scarred, when he’d apparently never left Camelot. Anyone who recognizes Gokudera from last month or any time prior will see the difference. Those who responded to his network post will already understand. But for those who have never met him, he’s acting very much like a new arrival.

The teenager lowers into the spring, the trunks he’s wearing keep him decent, but there is nothing to hide the vivid burn scars and long tally-marks down his back. There’s a black leather half-choke collar about his neck, and occasionally, there is a glow from beneath it, against the skin of his neck that looks like it’s burned many times over. Despite the fact that there is electricity attached to his neck, he fully submerges for a moment, then surfaces and decides he’ll play with the more illusory side of his light magic.

If you are unlucky enough to be anywhere near him, he’ll walk right up and offer you his entire left arm. It’s not real. It’s a smoke bomb, a prank, but hey, as far as your character should be able to tell, he just took off his arm and is handing it to you.

“Hey can you watch this for me? Thanks.” And then he’ll be getting out of the water so his familiar can be amused.

C. Wildcard! Seriously. Do whatever.

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"You know ghosts can haunt places in broad, bright daylight, right? I don't think that's how it works..." Gokudera says. Now... some sort of demons, maybe? But what does he know of demons? Nothing. This would be another opportunity for Oda to prove himself, if he wants. If not, oh well.

The remark about magic is like a slap in the face, and Gokudera gets up. "You're not going to get any better saying shit like that! Fight your Oni or something, then. Maybe if you're lucky, he'll give you a black eye for practice."

"That doesn't put the light inside them," Nobunaga pointed out.

He arched his eyebrow as Gokudera got really riled up. Apparently nerd is a more egregious insult than he thought!

"I have been fighting him!" He's the Demon King, did you expect otherwise? "Oh sit down, I already said, light magic's really cool!"

"Light and ghosts have nothing to do with each other. A spirit can exist whether there is light or not. Inside, or outside of them!" Maybe he's wrong. Then he's just arguing to argue.

It's not that he doesn't like being called a nerd, but it's the idea this guy doesn't want to improve his magic, which would be really really helpful. The number of people Gokudera has not been able to help, that he's seen suffer... To take something like healing magic and think so little of it is offensive.

"I don't care what you think about light magic." Gokudera says, stubborn and not sitting back down. This guy hasn't proved that he's any kind of Demon King, and Gokudera thinks little of him now with his opinions on healing magic voiced. If they could trade magic, he would readily do so.

"Huh really?" Nobunaga only knows demons, ghosts, spirits, magic, and gods are fake in his world. "Have you tried it though?"

He does practice healing. Otherwise, he wouldn't be annoyed with using it. "Okay," Nobunaga nodded. That's it. He's pretty sure he already proved the Demon King with Kimon, and Gokudera hasn't told him otherwise anyway. He definitely thinks this is about the nerd thing though.

"I've not met any ghosts, and if I have. I don't think I've met one I disliked enough to try and damage it. They're already dead, why would I want to mess with them?" Rude.

Practicing and appreciating are two totally different things. Gokudera is already determined to not like this guy. First he calls him fun, and then he's seeming less than thrilled about small daily, persistent practice.

"You should be grateful you have any magic at all. So-called 'Demon King'" See? Not convinced.

"That's fair."

Nobunaga just groans. Again. "Demon King of the 6th Heaven. See?" He just rests a hand over his eyes, dramatically. "This is proof I won. No one even knows what it means."

He moved to rest an arm on the rocks and head on the arm. "You don't become the Demon King with magic." He sounds pretty insulted about it! "I guess not much of the Ikko-Ikki survived, huh?" Or like... any of them. Complete genocide. "There were a Buddhist cult in the 1570s by the Western Calendar, that kept threatening Tokugawa Ieyasu, undermining him, and when I tried to help him negotiate, they sent back our messengers' dead corpses. That's the kind of hell we took for granted." An eyeroll and he glances over at Gokudera. "It's not so literal. It was what the monks, and Takeda Shingen, and the more devout Buddhists called me as propaganda to try to remind people not to let me corrupt them with candy." No, really, it's true. "I know that sounds stupid. That's because it is."

Sigh sigh sigh. "How about you? You got a name or do you like to be invisible metaphorically too?"

"See...?" See what? It's not like it's obvious! He's only ever heard of Nobunaga. He's never seen him before. Gokudera stares, looking as though he doesn't believe, even though this guy is listening off literally all the proof he'd ever really need. It does sound stupid, but then... the truth usually does in one way or another.

He nods. Okay, guess it's true. Even if this guy isn't Nobunaga, it won't hurt to let him pretend. Gokudera's convinced, but he isn't going to act like it ~~because he's a little shit~~.

"Gokudera Hayato. And I'd be invisible all the time completely, if I could."

That's fine, Gokudera, if you remember your history classes, Nobunaga was called the Fool Lord of Owari for most of his childhood leading his own teacher to commit suicide out of shame to try to shock some sense into him. In other words; he's used to worse.

"Why?" Is it... because he thinks he's ugly? He's not pretty like Ranmaru or Jyushi, but apparently Mitsuhide is considered sexier than Nobunaga, and Gokudera doesn't look too different from him! However... this is a train of thought, even the idiot King knows is better left unvoiced.

He didn't have much in the way of history classes. One year of middle school in Japan, and then three years of private teaching with his own teacher in Italy where the education wasn't really centered around Japanese history. It was far more broad. Still, he's read of Nobunaga, and that's part of the reason he has so many doubts about whether this person is real or not.

"Then I'd be left alone." Not to say that he dislikes company, but thinks that most other people would be happy without him. "And everyone would be much better off." Which all sounds a lot worse than how he means it.

Nobunaga narrowed his eyes.

"Wouldn't tricksters be bored if left alone? Why do you care if everyone else is better off or not? Just try to enjoy yourself first, before worrying about something like that. Aren't you a little young to be this guilt-ridden already?"

Edited 2021-05-14 00:36 (UTC)

"Tch I just did that for my familiar. He was bored, not me!" Which is partially a lie. Gokudera likes to play pranks, but not very often. He'd learned some new tricks thanks to his sea-monster familiar and was just testing them out.

At the mention of him being too young to be guilt-ridden, Gokudera's expression sours some. Obviously, Nobunaga has no idea what the bomber has been through. He's not just going to complain and share his life story and traumas, so Gokudera rolls his eyes and grumbles that it's none of his business. After all, he's been through more than most people twice his age!

"I do seem to get along better with some familiars than people. It's a bit disorienting, since I spent most of my life convincing people monsters aren't real, just other humans pretending," a shrug.

He wonders. After all, by the time Nobunaga was 15 -- well, it's not worth getting into either.

But Shinji and Zuko were certainly experienced in intense things themselves, even if they didn't seem to be still flogging themselves with guilt, but maybe it was a personality thing, or maybe it was that Gokudera had done more than Nobunaga could imagine -- which was an exciting prospect for him actually.

"That kind of talk is better done over sake. I could get some, but I seem to have made you as on edge as a cat in a bath. Are you able to relax without it?"

"Why would you want to convince people that monsters aren't real when they obviously are?" Gokudera, firm believer in all cryptids since he first ever heard of bigfoot when he was really little. Monsters are cool and he likes them better than pretty much every human he's ever met. Animals too. People suck.

The teenager would open up more, but he's only just met Nobunaga and still does not trust him.

"Am I able to relax without sake? I feel like I can hardly relax ever." He's always a ball of nerves. Sake would help. It'd be nice after this bath, too. Gokudera is still standing, seems to mull the idea over and then gives Nobunaga a considering look.

"I'll buy." It'll be easy to open up around someone he doesn't know very well. There's little expectation.

"They're not," he answered evenly.

"No no," Nobunaga waved a hand back and forth. "I interrupted your soak, it's my treat. I can bring a bottle out here if you'd like it here. Usually sake and hot springs go hand in hand in my time."

There is definitely no expectation. "But if you'd rather be dry..."

"They are." He responds, tone flat. They could go back and forth all day about this, honestly.

"..." Gokudera doesn't want to argue on this. He feels vulnerable in the bath ~~with an Elite~~ and like he may be a fool with alcohol in his system. It'd be easier to get away if he were dry. Plus, he can only take the warm water for so long before it makes him feel weak.

"I'd rather be dry. No reason I can't hang around, though..." Maybe he'll just sit on the bank and keep his legs in the water? Gokudera has a lot of unnecessary things he's worrying about. What if he's seen? What if that knife comes out and he's not well enough to defend himself? He's quiet, lost to his own worries, and getting up to sit while leaving his feet in the water, swishing about. Gokudera watches the ripples, wondering what all he should say and how long he's been spacing out, worrying his stupid platinum head off.

Nobunaga got out of the hot spring and gave a Roman legionnaire gladiator movie style salute.

"I'll be back."

The only problem with this plan Gokudera is that Nobunaga takes this to mean he should get fully dressed, so when he returns, he's got his Tangashima gun, and long as hell katana at his hip like it's nothing. And he's wearing the Oda symbols on both shoulders of his haori. He's either the real thing, or absurdly dedicated to the farce.

But he brings the sake and a couple of sakazuki over.

"Here or anywhere else. So long as you are comfortable, yes? I can't get used to the European chairs. I understand they weren't meant for warriors, but they're so uncomfortable." Probably because he doesn't take off the armor and sword and gun, but you know.

"Have you encountered many monsters in your world? Is that what the scars are from?" Since he's asking such a rude direct question, whether Gokudera wants to leave or not, he pours them both a cup and drinks to prove it's not poisoned, and leaves the other for Gokudera.

"Ah. Okay." Gokudera watches.

And when Nobunaga returns, he blinks in bewilderment. Oh! Well... guess if he's stuck in the spring, it isn't so bad. His familiar at least can hide him if that's what he needs. He's at a complete loss for what to do except stare rudely and watch as the sake is poured. Once Nobunaga drinks, Gokudera follows.

"Yes, and the two other worlds I was on. Most of the scars are from the first world... How much do you know about robots?" He imagines not very much, considering this is Nobunaga, but hey, better ask to be on the safe side.

Nobunaga sparkles with delight. "That's what I thought you were when you gave me your arm!"

Did anyone ever tell you Nobunaga was freak of his time period, and latched onto weird Nanban/Euoropean things and technology like an idiot? Because... he did.

In any case, he deflates a little.

"Not that I'm not glad you have both real arms." He totally is disappointed, and it shows.

"You fought robots?" Who even thinks like that?

"You thought I was a robot?!" Okay, saying it out loud and knowing what's visible on him... he could see it. It's not that ridiculous even if it feels like an absurd assumption to make.

"One thing at a time. You know what robots are. Do you know what cyborgs are, and zombies? Do you know what the black market is... conceptually?" There's a lot of different bases he'll need to make sure they can both understand before he goes to talking about his scars. He'll mention the cyber-body mods he's endured and seen done in good time. PATIENCE, NOBUNAGA! IT'S A VIRTUE!

"Cyborgs and robots are just the same, except with more squishy parts for cyborgs," Nobunaga nodded. "One called me a nerd, so I thought I'd try it out too." Listen...

Let's go back to the black market thing.

No, further back than that.

He shakes his head. "Never heard of zombies."

PATIENCE IS FOR NERDS!!!!

"We have the black market in the 1500s, Gokudera. It's usually why people make up stories of monsters, in my experience." But go on, he's listening.

"Okay, look. If you want to know where I got my scars, stop trying to discredit what I'm trying to explain. I don't make the rules, but the shit that happened in those other worlds... not the same as Earth and definitely not the same as Avalon. Cyborgs are humans with robotic modifications. Robots are completely inorganic and created to serve a function. That's like saying humans and bridges are the same. If you knock a person over, you can use them as a bridge but they are not a bridge. Get it? Okay... Getting off topic here..."

Gokudera scratches at his damp hair, the collar about his neck jingling with the motion. "Zombies are reanimated corpses that eat humans. If a zombie bites a person, and that human escapes, that person then dies and becomes a zombie. Zombies are typically slow-moving and can only be killed by destroying their brain."

He takes a deep breath, gives a slight groan at Nobunaga's explanation of the black market, but accepts it. He's going to need to drink more. This is going to become difficult.

"I was from a Japan sometime after 2010, then I came here. Then I went back home, traveled ten years into the future where some lunatic was destroying ever version of my family across every dimension he could get to. My boss killed him, and then I was supposed to go back to my regular time, but ended up being transported to a world called Amoi. Very futuristic. I'm talking... hover vehicles, retinal scans, cyborgs, robots, and some amazing advances in engineering.

But all that cool stuff... mostly only legal to people who could afford it, the Elite. The world was split into a caste system. Which, sucked... whatever, but mostly was the worst because it was based on hair color. Not important, but relevant." He holds up his glass and tries to figure out the shortest way to explain the largest scar on his body. Maybe he should cut this all short. Robot fight, black market abduction, torture, fighting a dragon, becoming a pet, hopping into a riot, getting bitten by a zombie... he's quiet for a moment, wondering if Nobunaga has questions, or if he's just going to try and argue or dismiss any of what the bomber has said.

He was confused about calling humans and bridges the same, and when Gokudera explained, he just laughed. Got it.

As for zombies....... the fuck?

As for the rest, no. There's no interruptions from Nobunaga. He's just waiting patiently.

But the mention of castes gets narrowed eyes. It seems like the further into the future humanity gets, the further from his vision of a brighter future? Why? What changed after the 2000s and 2100s??? What was the critical point that altered things? That snapped it like a rubber band?

Nobunaga just sips his sake, and gets ready to refill Gokudera's, even though normally it'd be everyone else's job to serve him, he thinks it's pretty obvious that Gokudera wasn't in the elite of the caste, and Oda really really fucking hates the caste systems. Maybe he should be careful how much he drinks himself, no one needs a cranky Nobunaga with even less holding him back.

But maybe it was worse in other worlds, not Earth. So maybe if anything, it was proof Nobunaga had done some good on Earth? Ahhhhh so why can't he quell his temper about it?

Not important. He can address later, if ever.

That would would have been 6000 years into the future and on a completely different planet. Nobunaga could do nothing about it, so sure, he saved Earth and Amoi lacked a person like Nobunaga to help stop what happened.

"Thank you." For the refill. Gokudera sips a little bit of it before going on with his story. "Anyways, off-worlders, understandably did not like the caste system. Elites were given a regular, generous allowance and housed in the Golden city of Tanagura, and mongrels had to live out in the slums of Midas and struggle to get by. You can imagine that most uprising or riots were led by mongrel off-worlders. I've been in a couple. My boss was there, helping, but... he would have been an Elite at the time, so he wasn't taken in, beaten, drugged, and questioned."

He takes another drink, staring down at the sake. "The authorities were usually robots, nothing too bulky. The government definitely had large, armored ones used to combat heavier forces, but those were pretty dormant. One day, they weren't, and attacked everyone regardless of caste. Now... I fight with explosives, which were working well. Things weren't too bad, but I got thrown into a burning building so... you can imagine that did a number on me."

He finishes that glass of sake. "An Elite bought me, took me in, got me repaired. And then when he noticed that I had other mongrels that wanted to see me... for not telling him, he punished me. I..." Wow, he's never worded it quite like this before.

"That's where the burns on my back came from. That, and on another world, I got bitten by a zombie. I had powers. This world has gotten rid of them, but... in order to keep everyone around me safe, I set myself on fire from the inside out. Worked well. Upset my fiancé, though. I came back to life, though..." He can see that Nobunaga is at least interested in the story so far, and Gokudera's jumping around with it a bit, trying not to focus too much on the trauma, and focus more on how he got his scars.

"The black market abducted me to try and harvest my heart, since that would have been the source of my blood, where my powers come from. There was another mongrel that did that. Gave me the tally marks on my back trying to figure out whether the power came from emotion or blood. That sucked. He crushed my arm when I tried to summon one of my weapons." Gokudera goes quiet, uncertain whether he's done or not.

"I've also fought a dragon, and a crazy bastard back home with way too many throwing knives and deadly accuracy. Hmm... I think that covers most of the scars..."

"You set yourself on fire," Nobunaga interrupted at that, sternly. Why are right hands like this?

But then he forgets everything by the idea of the black market abducting him for the heart. 'That sucked' got a bitter laugh. It more than sucked!

And Nobunaga flat out winced about the arm getting crushed.

Then he just handed Gokudera the whole damn bottle. The skeptical stubborn atheist in him wanted to scream how it couldn't be real, but he could tell it was. AND that Gokudera was only sharing it, because well, Nobunaga was as emotionally distant to the kid as a fucking wall, and damn that is a lot. "Did you win against the dragon?"

Very important.

Another headshake. "Hey, do you think I could practice some healing magic on you?"

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cw: mentions of slavery

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