tabularasa_rp | [open] a day in the life of a ghost

Cole?

[Her usual acrid commentary was spared today. She was doing some of that cleanup that Cloud had suggested, but really mostly looking for water clock pieces or parts she could use to set up an actual house for herself before real rainstorms started and she was sheltering under the bridge.

Parsee trotted over and looked down at him.]

You alright there? Where'd you come out of?

[Excuse him while he coughs up the last of this water.]

Ngh... that hurt.

[He sounds almost childishly offended, as if the water came up and slapped him in the face unprompted. He lifts his head.]

Come out of...?

[He looks around... oh.]

The caves.

Those caves ... man, they're going to be a problem in the end. I wonder if there's any secrets in there worth finding.

[She shook her head and looked back in their direction before looking back at him and raising an eyebrow. He didn't look too bad off, though he certainly looked annoyed.]

What were you looking for anyway? You want to go dry off somewhere?

[He climbs to his feet, trying to brush the damp sand off of his hands. He's going to be bruised after that little adventure, and he hasn't seen any potions here. He'll just have to wait it out.]

Answers.

[As usual, not that he's made any real headway on that search. One of his hands comes up to pat at his hair-]

My hat's gone...

I think we need to establish the questions first. I'm not sure we even properly know those. [She frowned and looked at him, noticing the hat. She considered for a moment ignoring it, but grunted. She liked the hat on him too.]

My eyes glow. Let's check the entrance to the caves. Can't be far.

What good will questions do if there isn't anything to give an answer?

[It's a kind of logic, okay. He rubs some water from his face and looks toward the opening he was flung out of by the river flowing out of it into the sea.]

I did think your eyes seemed brighter than most.

[That could almost be taken as a compliment, by a normal person, probably.]

True. We still don't know who we're asking, if there's anything to ask.

[She looked over at him as she started to make her way towards the cave, her eye starting to glow fiercely.]

It's not a good thing. It's because I'm trying to use my power. But it does work like a bit of a nightlight... so it has a use.

Yes. If there is, I will find them.

[At least, he's been giving it his level best, when not falling into rivers. He looks over at her as he trudges along behind and to the side.]

What kind of power?

[Spirits can have different sorts of magic based on what they become, but then she's from a different world, so maybe her power is completely different from what he knows.]

Edited 2020-08-15 13:14 (UTC)

mmm? You don't kn... right. We're not quite the same are we? Wonder what your spirits do.

[She was slow to pick her way into the cavern, not really feeling like having a lung full of water. The eerie glow of her eyes didn't go far at all, but it was just enough to find one foot in front of the other safely.]

I'm a spirit of envy. I breed envy, cause it, weaken it and make it stronger. There's a few specific tricks I do to do that. But basically it's just jealousy. Make everything like I am.

[It's a lot more to see by compared to what he had before, which was Literally Nothing, so he'll take it.]

[That kind of makes sense, as far as he understands spirits himself.]

You make everything jealous, like you? You said you can weaken it, too. Why don't you do that?

[Wouldn't that be better than making people feel envious...?]

Well, there's I guess you'd call it the passive level. I don't turn that off. It doesn't turn off. The active? That I'm doing? I don't need to do it.

...just handy for light right now.

[She clambered up and onto a spot, turning to stare back at him, offering a hand to the next ledge, watching the water around them as they made their way, looking for his hat.]

As for why? You haven't been a century under a bridge, ignored by all the other spirits like your dirty. Sometimes I just want them to feel how I feel. Little bastards.

[He's familiar enough with "powers" that don't "turn off." Though most might not think of what he can do as directly related to compassion. It also doesn't make his eyes glow, which seems like a handy skill at this moment in time.]

[He takes her offered hand to climb up after her, also looking about for any signs of his hat, though he glances at her as she answers his question. Ignored, huh...]

Is making them feel like you feel really what you want?

[It would be less handy soon, once they got torches working. And frankly, those were much better than this. her range was poor with these. Still, they were making progress slowly.]

Them? Probably... You lot have actually been paying attention to me. It's... weird.

I'm still getting used too that. Not sure how to feel about it.

[He's not sure if that's true, but he can't read her mind and the other spirits she's talking about aren't here, so maybe it's a moot point.]

It's good that you're getting attention.

[That's part of what she wants, right? Meanwhile, his situation is obviously different, but:]

I'm not used to it either. It makes it harder to help, and sometimes people worry about me. It's strange.

[The glow of her eyes may catch on something metallic. There's his hat, caught on some jagged rock just below the surface of the water.]

[She flopped onto a rock once she pointed towards his hat, keeping her eyes trained on it so he could see and get the old floppy thing. She really was curious where he got that ratty old bastard. It fit him nicely.]

I think... most of them should be glad I'm getting the attention. It's keeping me out of trouble, mostly. Just have to be careful. Bound to get jealous at some point.

[A frown.]

They're right to worry about you. Spirits like you are rare. Like hen's teeth even in my world.

...

I worry about you a little.

[Hat!! He doesn't hesitate to fish it out of the water, he's already soggy anyway. He tries his best to shake the water out of it, though he looks back at her with his head tilted.]

You do? Because I'm rare?

[Another thing he knows to be true thanks to Solas, not that he's ever met another spirit quite like himself.]

Because you're special. If we get down to it, Hashihime aren't exactly common and I might actually be the last one left around... [She breathed a little more easily as she said that. I was a nice thought.] So I'm "rare" in the sense that there aren't many.

A spirit of compassion is rare and important. Emotions like mine? They can solicit change, can bring chaos where it's needed, where it isn't. Sometimes things need to break down.

But... a world can't heal without people like you. So I worry.

[Sometimes things need to break down... so her "role" is important, even if envy isn't the nicest emotion.]

[He fidgets with the brim of his hat, idly trying to wipe some of the moisture away. As he said, it's strange that people worry about him now. But they worry because they assume he's a person, which can be harder for him to wrap his head around, the way things are. This is different. Parsee understands what he is, and worries in a way he can understand.]

I'll try to be careful. Thank you, for worrying. And for finding my hat.

[In a real sense he was one to her. But spirits had more personhood in Gensokyo. However, it was definitively the role that concerned her. Hopping down from the rock and motioning towards the light, she began to carefully pick her way down.]

I figure you will. But still gonna do it anyway, so I'm glad you're fine with it. This place... needs positive emotions, I think. Or it could go real bad.

[open] a day in the life of a ghost

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