I want to have the same last dream again (march catch-all)

[ghostfromthemachine]

WHO: Kaiko and... you, perhaps?
WHAT: assorted shenanigans
WHEN: throughout March
WHERE: Nightwake, Amberfall, probably wherever you least expect her—
WARNINGS: will update as necessary!

Prompts will be in toplevels! OTA unless otherwise stated.

Comments

for offerings - Blossomcrown's park

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ perhaps you were following the vague feeling of something present, or maybe you're completely oblivious to that sort of thing and were just wandering around— or maybe you came knowing exactly what you were looking for. either way, you've stumbled across a small beaten copper offering bowl sitting on a rock tucked out of the way in Blossomcrown's park. chances are there's some sort of trinket in there already: a few coins, or a candy bar. maybe a feather or a strawberry, or a cool-looking rock.

there's a bit of paper tucked under the bowl. "因果応報" has been carefully calligraphed onto it, with a translation in plainer (but still cute) writing underneath— "what goes around comes around."

will you leave something?

(...also accepted: gifts mailed to her apartment, if you want to be normal about it. sometimes you've got to work with modern methods!) ]

[roundandaround]

[Kaiko gets a fresh meat bun.

The next day, she gets a donut.

The next, 5 moon coins, a sticky note saying "sorry I forgot this time I'll get something later," and a few hours later, a fried-chicken rice ball.

The day after that, a tuna mayo rice ball.

This continues every day Rinku has to come to Blossomcrown for work.]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ every time, that feeling of something there goes cheerfully warm and welcoming. (and the apology note is flipped over when she comes back, with "don't worry about it!" and a sparkling smiley face written on it in the same cute handwriting as the paper tucked under the bowl.)

Rinku gets a string of good luck for those days, too— nothing too spectacular, but she probably finds more than a few dropped moon coins and gets more tips at work.

after about five days of this, Kaiko is actually there at her next visit— she's got her guitar out and is noodling around on it while she hums to herself. ]

Oh— there you are. I've got to admit, it's kind of nice having a routine.

[roundandaround]

Oh, hi, Kaiko-chan!

[Rinku's got a melonpan in a bag this time, and she pauses in front of Kaiko and holds it out.]

Wait, do I put this in the bowl now or just give it to you?

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ letting the guitar hang from her shoulder strap in favor of making wiggly fingers at the melon pan ]

You can just hand it to me! It works either way.

[roundandaround]

Okay ♪

[Rinku hands the bread over and leans against a tree.]

I hope you've been getting lots of stuff in your bowl! It's a good place for it, everyone loves Blossomcrown Park.

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ she takes the bread formally with both hands, and then promptly ruins the moment by unwrapping it and shoving it in her face. homf.

something interesting happens as she takes the bite. it's difficult to describe—there's no visible change to how she looks, though her hair does fluff up—but it's like she brightens, or sharpens around the edges. becomes a little more present, or real. ]

Not too much, but I'm not looking or expecting to be that well known. I had maybe three or four people who regularly made offerings back in Quiet Mounds, and not that many more back home.

[roundandaround]

[Rinku sparkles a little when she sees Kaiko eat and feels something change.]

You just got here, though, so maybe you'll get more! There's a ton of people, after all.

[ghostfromthemachine]

The thought's admittedly a little intimidating. I don't want to spread myself too thin...

It'd be nice to be in a position to help more people, though.

[roundandaround]

Huh, that makes sense. Since you give back for whatever you get, right? I think that's how I understood it.

[ghostfromthemachine]

I give back what I get, but also...

[ she takes another bite while she thinks about how to word this ]

Sometimes someone will have a lot of karma built up that they haven't been repaid for. Like— someone who helps other people, but keeps having bad things happen to them.

[ or someone who hurts other people, and keeps getting away with it. ]

My job's to make sure they get what they deserve. ...So the same concept, but bigger.

[roundandaround]

Huh... that must be a really important job, when you put it that way. All right! I'm gonna keep helping you get everything you need! ...Wait, I was already gonna do that, huh.

[ghostfromthemachine]

It... isn't not an important job? But it's very... hmm. It's small, in the greater scheme of things. Things work out on their own more often than not, rather than needing that kind of personal touch.

Even just your intent is helpful, though. Thank you.

[roundandaround]

[Rinku thinks about this and smiles.]

Whether it's small or big, important is important. And I bet you've helped a lot of people.

[ghostfromthemachine]

...I do my best.

[ stuffing more melon pan in her mouth, before strumming out a few gently melancholy notes ]

I do hope I won't be too needed here, though.

[roundandaround]

[Rinku sways from side to side to the song, getting into the vibe.]

You mean because if you aren't needed, that means there's no emergency?

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ noting that, so she continues to finger-pick out the melody ]

That, and... I'm admittedly usually called on for cases where someone's built up bad karma.

[roundandaround]

Huh... so instead of someone with a bad life deserving better, it's someone who did a lot of bad things and is still rich or something.

[Rinku processes this sadly, still swaying to the music.]

[ghostfromthemachine]

Bingo. ...I don't much like playing judge for that kind of thing, so I usually just try to get them caught. Humans can handle it from there.

[roundandaround]

Uuu.

[Rinku makes a sad noise, and her head droops.]

Yeah... I guess that happens a lot. I can see why you wouldn't want to do that kinda stuff, even to the worst people.

[ghostfromthemachine]

Well, it's admittedly less about that, and more... god or not, I'm still a person, at the end of the day. I'm certainly capable of mistakes, or bias.

[ strum strum ]

But— I apologize, that's a fairly heavy topic.

[roundandaround]

That's okay. A lot of people don't wanna talk about things in their life that hurt. [Either around Rinku, or in general.]

[ghostfromthemachine]

I don't mind talking about it? But it seems a little rude to drag your mood down when you came to give me gifts.

[roundandaround]

[Rinku makes a sad hum.]

Yeah, that's true... Oh, do you have another job here? Or is it just your god job? And quests, there's those too.

[ghostfromthemachine]

I got a job at the library, actually! I've got a lot of experience with that, so they snapped me up right away. As for quests... there were one or two that I thought might work?