partay

[steelmagnolias]

 [Well, Ren's here, just as he said he'd be. He'll buy drinks for any adults still alive that want to imbibe, but there's also a number of sodas in a cooler available for anyone who's a minor or just doesn't want to drink. He's also brought in some snacks from Yotsukoshi and a few of those crab buckets, although anyone else is certainly free to contribute their own food and drink to the pile. 

Ren finishes up his cigarette before setting up, letting it extinguish before everyone arrives. Look, he's being good, there's only one in the ashtray. 

Joey's got one of her dance routines planned, Ren already also had the King's Game set up, or people can just mingle.

It's just not good to be lonely.]

Comments

[incrediblystressedout]

So, is your age listing actually accurate?

[Mr. Mew's going to get into position, seriously consider the problem, and star rhythmically hitting Kurama's back with his plush paws, Swedish-style.]

[byanyother_name]

I feel there's little point in trying to pretend otherwise anymore. Akira actually received credit for me as an antique during the scavenger hunt.

[Which will never not be funny.

...That's actually far more relaxing than Kurama would have expected.]

[incrediblystressedout]

[Just let him atatatatata the stress out of you, Kurama.]

So what's it like, living through that much?

[byanyother_name]

[There's a lot of stress. It's been a stressful...time since this game started, really.]

I don't know that that's a question with a simple answer. I would say you gain experience and perspective as you go along. Some things seem more important, others less so, when you have centuries upon centuries weighting your priorities.

But you can still learn new things, and change, no matter how long you live.

[incrediblystressedout]

[Mr. Mew will stop for a moment and suggest, via expert pantomime, that Kurama lie down so he can walk on Kurama's back.]

I guess that makes sense. Longer-term things would seem more important, and shorter-term stuff less so, right?

Hey, does this mean you were born in the middle ages?

[byanyother_name]

[This is a remarkably expressive plush toy. Kurama complies quite willingly, finding a decent clear area to stretch out and resting his head on his arms.]

Often, yes, but sometimes not. Sometimes you need something brief but intense to remind you what it truly means to be alive.

I suppose I may have been, but I didn't experience it. Not the middle ages you're speaking of, at least. I didn't first visit the human world until I was much older.

[incrediblystressedout]

[Cats are very wise. Also, they usually like walking on you.]

...So which world are you from?

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama is fairly versed in the ways of cats. It's a pretty good back massage, though.

His smile is small and a little hollow as he remembers talking about where he came from with Goro.]

...Makai. The demon world.

[incrediblystressedout]

Oh.

[She frowns.]

This is gonna be another conversation where I regret complaining about my home life, huh?

[byanyother_name]

[It gets a small, amused puff of air out of him that might someday bear resemblance to a chuckle.]

Perspective, remember? Makai is harsher than the human world by a significant margin, yes, but those who live there are adapted for it. The fight for survival is in a demon's blood and bone.

[incrediblystressedout]

[Orion will start making sympathetic circles with his paws. He gets it, inasmuch as an animated object who's been sentient for less than 24 hours gets anything.]

You don't seem much like a demon, though.

[byanyother_name]

[It certainly puts Orion in a good position to understand being born in a harsh world? Kurama stretches a little under the plush cat's weight.]

Certainly not based on a Western view, no. Demons are rather more individual in Eastern mythology. In any case... I was reborn in a human body sixteen years ago, and raised by a human mother.

She's taught me a great deal.

[incrediblystressedout]

...yeah. I bet.

[Must be nice.]

It seems to be working out for you, minus the whole "kidnapped to murder mall" part, at least.

[byanyother_name]

...not always. My mother has been in danger because of my enemies more than once.

[And now she's in danger again, from whatever threat those shadowy creatures pose.]

Still, I cannot find it in me to regret the choices that led me down this path.

[incrediblystressedout]

Is that why you've been going by a different name? Like a superhero thing to protect your family?

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama shakes his head a little without lifting it from his arms.] Technically speaking, Shuuichi Minamino is as much my name as Kurama is. It's the name my human mother gave me. She...doesn't know that she didn't actually give birth to a human son...

It's not, unfortunately, all that difficult for my family to be hunted down regardless of what name I'm using. But in an unfamiliar situation with unfamiliar people, I fall back on Shuuichi because it's safe.