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 Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 7:46 pm
The work never ended for a senshi, but that was really nothing new, in Murikabushiâs experience. The only truly new thing in his life was Yukiâs cute little time limit on how long per week his ******** could spend out and about as Murikabushi (including a provision that any time spent with Chaos peeps counted double, except for Hybris, whomâin all his weaponized uselessness and Timothee Chalamet-model self-insistent prettinessâYuki had deemed more a threat to himself than anyone else). As Murikabushi rounded his patrol route into Prospect Park, he checked the running timer on his senshi phone.
âŠâŠIt felt like heâd been out here for longer than the timer said. Then again, heâd run into more than a few youma along the way. Felt like a more than normal amount of youma, but realistically, it probably hadnât been that many. If Muri had felt like running the numbers, heâd likely fall within three standard deviations of the mean, just with a slightly unlucky draw tonight. None of them had done more than insult him and try to hit him, so Muri could live with that.
Coming toward the fountain and benches at the parkâs center, Muri paused and tilted his head at what he found. On one hand, he felt a Negaverse auraâeither a Lieutenant or a basic senshi, from the power signatureâbut it was distinctly retreating. On the other hand, the figure before Muri who remained on their feet had a power signature as well, that of a fellow White Moon senshi. But in a distinctly unexpected turn, another person lay on the bench, seemingly unconscious, while the other senshi seemingly rooted around in their pockets. Murikabushi didnât want to judge too quickly, just in case he didnât have a crucial piece of context here, butâŠâŠrobbing? A civilian? Sounded pretty Not Okay, to him?
âHey,â Muri called to the other senshi, trying to just greet them until any extra context revealed itself or not. As he walked closer, more into the street-lamp light, Muri made out the fluffy tail and lupine-looking ears that marked a space senshi. SoâŠâŠokay, that made extra context far more likely to exist, Muri thought? But he still didnât know what said context was. âEverything alright?â
Please just be trying to put a starseed back or something else that isnât robbing an unconscious person.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 8:28 pm
Madriu had not really considered what his habit of taking a "rescued your literal soul from Chaos" fee might look like to another person on his side. Mostly because he liked to think that he didn't actually care about anyone else's opinions. Grieve would get it. Anthy might make sad eyes at him, but he'd come around. Saiph....was a child, and so Madriu told himself that he would totally deal with her disapproval if it came because she was a kid and she just didn't get it.
All that being said, he still froze, when someone else called out to him. They were a level higher, and Madriu didn't want to guess at his chances in a fight if they took offense, so he took a breath.
"I chased off some ******** Lieutenant who drained this idiot until he passed out. As I ensured he didn't have his actual soul become Chaos munchies, I'm taking a rescuer's fee." He extracted the wallet from the civilian's pocket and began leafing through it, ears twitching as he pulled out the cash. The plastic pieces were a total mystery to him, but paper money was paper money.
"If you've got moral commentary, I'm not....interested..." He'd turned to look over at who he was addressing halfway through his sentence, and been struck--slapped, almost--with sudden recognition.
"Murikabushi?" Not Airan, no--this man was subtly different than the one he'd known--but he knew those colors, that fuku, and that symbol.
Well damn.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:15 pm
Muri paused, tilting his head at the wolf-senshi before him. The earnest, sympathetic look lit up his eyes and wrinkled his brow without him entirely willing it to do so. It always just sort of happened, whether Muri wanted it to or not, but especially with anyone who happened to know Airan. âIâm sorry for not being the one you knew,â he said gently, coming closer to the wolf-senshi and the unconscious civilian, âand for not recognizing you? But yeah, Iâm Murikabushi.⊠I havenât had a lot of time to unlock any of Airanâs memories, so there are a lot of old friends of his who I donât recognize yet.â
Daedalus, for oneâat least, Muri hadnât recognized him at first. Dagon, likewise. And now this strange wolf-senshi who honestly had a pretty good argument for rifling through an unconscious civilianâs pockets.
âAs for moral commentary? Yeah, I did intend to ask you to stop, butâŠâŠâ Finally close enough to get a good look at the civilian, Muri trailed off. He blinked once down at the aggressively unimpressive, handsome enough but not particularly remarkable white boy face with its technically decent bone structure that it didnât know how to carry. He blinked twice at the new-ish cut and style on the earthen brown hair, and at the way it had changed from the last time heâd seen this man but managed to be just as mediocre. Muri briefly narrowed his eyes down at his ex, then looked to the wolf-senshi and motioned for him to hand over the wallet. âYou can get more out of this ******** if you let me help. Knowing him, he didnât rightfully earn any of it in the first place.â
A lot of invective and possibly unfair judgment? Yes. But Greg had earned it when heâd two-timed Reiki and Justin, and hey, purifying probably meant that heâd saved Greg from getting youmafied. Wouldnât do for a General-King to get vengeance on behalf of a boy whoâd abandoned Chaos, would it. So, ******** Greg, he could make a donation to the âKeeping A Long-Suffering Space Senshi Aliveâ Foundation.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:29 pm
Madriu took in this new Murikabushi, given the chance. He was still cute, in his way, even if he wasn't entirely Madriu's type. Carried himself with a certain confidence, which was a good sign.
"It's fine, I know you're not him," Madriu said. "I was kinda ready to start running into new versions of people I used to know." Ever since Grieve had mentioned Kaifeng's reincarnation, he'd known that he was really in a whole new world, as it were. But it was one thing to know, and another to have the evidence, irrefutably, in front of you.
Some of them had survived. Others--probably most others--had not.
And, if Madriu was honest, that was probably for the best. he wouldn't wish ten centuries of loneliness on anyone, much less his friends.
"Honestly, he should consider himself lucky, if he'd contracted me and the Nameless for protection back in the day he'd have paid a lot more than what I could rifle out of his wallet," Madriou said, but he had to admit, he was curious about Murikabushi's connection to this stranger. So, he proffered the wallet. "But sure, show me your secrets. Sounds like you know him, at least."
And really didn't like him. Well, good, then Madriu wouldn't feel bad about taking a heftier fee than usual.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:17 pm
Murikabushi nodded, both to show that he was listening and because everything the wolf-senshi had to say made sense. Muri didnât recognize the name âNameless,â but from the context, they sounded like some kind of mercenary group, or maybe pirates for hire. Which, honestly, he couldâve seen Airan getting involved with. Even as a prisoner in the capitalâs gilded cage, the senshi had needed to make diplomatic connections with other senshi, and if these Nameless had had senshi among their ranks, then Airan might well have worked with them in some capacity.
Kiyoshi-Muri wondered if Airan had gotten some wish fulfillment out of that (projecting fantasies onto people who were living with the freedom he wanted for himself), or if Airan had thought that the presence of other senshi meant that the group was working in the interests of the common people like he wanted to do. Or maybe some secret third thing. Or maybe all of the above.
âYeah, you could say I know him all too well,â Muri admitted as he took the walletâŠâŠand then immediately remembered that space senshi probably wouldnât be able to tell Taylor Swift from a hole in the wall, so the reference was probably lost on him. âWe were engaged, at one point. He blew getting into law school after I put my own life on hold multiple times to help him. He leeched off me and off his rich-a** parents. Didnât even do enough work to earn the do-nothing job his fatherâs connections got him into. Said he loved me, but only wanted some idea of me he made up in his head and wanted to fix me out of being passionate about my artistic calling. And as if that werenât enough, he demanded monogamy, then cheated on me with a really sweet guy who didnât know that Greg wasnât single.â
Muri huffed as he started rifling through Gregâs cards. âI go back and forth about whether heâs the worst or the second-worst mistake I ever made in my life. Which is pretty damning because the only thing giving him competition is the fact that I Awakened as a Chaos senshi without knowing anything about any of this. I put that right eventually, thank <********>, but the fact that Greg was remotely as bad for me as Dark Mirror Chaos was? Mn, says a lot about Greg. So, kinda high-key ******** him, right.â
But. Cards, cards, cards. So many little pieces of plastic. Amex, Mastercard, ******** loyalty card for Trader Joeâs as if Greg ever did his own grocery shoppingâMuri whipped that one out and handed it to the wolf-senshi. âThis one might only be situationally useful? And the place itâs for can be kinda pricey? But they have some good food, and that card should help get you some discounts on it, so at least they wonât try to charge you, like? An arm, a leg, and your firstborn child for their cookies or their chocolate-covered strawberries.â
A whole passel of Target gift cardsâseven of the little shits, all from the sort of sales where you got a free gift card for buying three packages of toilet paper or whatever. âThese work as good as cash but only at this specific store. We can use my civilian phone to check how much theyâre good for. Then, you just look for the red and white target-shaped symbol, and they can help you get whatever supplies you might need from that store.â
Of course, the thing that Muri actually wanted was lodged way in the back, like the wallet equivalent of the thing you needed falling to the bottom of your bag. âAnd this,â he said, as he pulled it out, âis Gregâs ATM card.â Muri sighed, giving the wolf-senshi an earnest look. âItâs only gonna be a one-time thing, since heâs at least smart enough that heâll cancel the card when he notices it went missing. And it might not work, if heâs changed the code on it. But knowing Greg, he probably hasnât, so we just need to find one of the machines for it. Then, we can get you some extra cash.â
Since the wallet had been cleared of anything useful, Muri artlessly shoved it back into the inner pocket of Gregâs jacket. Once that was done, though, he smiled at the wolf-senshi. âHelping another senshi survive the Hellscape of twenty-first century capitalism is a much better use of his parentsâ money than whatever Gregâs been doing with it lately. And it shouldnât take long to find an ATM, if you want.â
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:18 pm
Madriu may not have recognized the specific reference, but he did get the general valence of how Muri was talking about this loser even before the specific explanation came through. And the specifics made his ears dip back, and he glared disdainfully at the unconscious figure on the bench.
"Yeah. I knew a man like him, once." He hoped that for all Greg's faults, he was only superficially like Eithien. He hoped that Greg had never raised a hand to this Murikabushi, had only toyed with his heart, which was crime enough. He also very genuinely hoped that Murikabushi never had to murder his particular problem partner, because the look of shock on Eithien's face when Lex sunk the knife into his chest was never going to stop playing behind his eyes, he was pretty sure.
It had been a thousand years. If he wasn't over it by now, he was probably never going to be over it.
"So...you can leave Chaos?" That was news. Good news. If Chaos could be taken out of people, maybe it could be taken out of worlds, too. "You'll forgive me for not understanding. The Chaos here and what I have experience with...they're really, really different."
But being presented with someone who could apparently very easily afford everything Madriu was taking from him made him pause, for a moment. Consider.
"And, uh. I appreciate all the help. Do you think....is there a way I can tell people who probably can't afford what I'm taking from them? I don't want to accidentally steal someone's last bit of money, or something. And I get it if there's not a foolproof way, but....anything that can help."
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 12:13 am
Listening to Madriu perfectly well, Muri motioned for him to follow. It wouldnât be too long to exit the park and get onto a sidewalk, and from there, the nearest ATM probably wasnât far. Still, they could walk and talk, and having some motion while talking was generally better for Muri.
âNo worries,â he said, giving Madriu a small, earnest smile. âYouâre not the first long-surviving senshi Iâve met. That honor went to Daphne. Then Fang, Dagon, Daedalus, Helene, AchirdâI donât know if any of their names mean anything to you? âŠHeleneâs might? Kaifeng has sort of mentioned that his last incarnation did something about getting some troublesome cousins out of danger, and they were involved with some kind of pirates or miscellaneous doers-of-stuff for hire? Not that there can only be one group like that but maybe thereâs overlap? And those two are sort of attached to each other, so maybeâŠâŠ?â
Muri shrugged. âAnyway, the real point is: the current state of Chaos is a whole-a** mess, and please, no worries about not knowing your way around it yet.â Tucking his bangs back behind his ear, Muri led them out of the park, onto the sidewalk. âIt is possible to leave Chaos, if a senshi or a Knight gets Awakened into it. You need help from either Cosmos or a Royal senshi to do it. Maybe a Royal Knight could also help? But Iâve only met one Royal Knight, and the question didnât come up, so I donât actually know?
âAs for the factions themselves? Senshi can get Awakened into the Negaverse or the Dark Mirror Court. Negaverse senshi have really long hair, usually down to the floor, plus cracks in their chests and foreheads. Dark Mirror senshi will feel different, in the auraâitâs more of a chilled out feeling, but sort of like something nefarious lurking below the surface? Theyâve also got gauzy overlays on their fukus, and they might get fighty? But other Mirror senshi might run away into a mirror rather than fight.
âThen, as I understand, Agentsâthe Lieutenants and Captains and Generalsâare Knights who got Awakened into the Negaverse. At least, when they purify, they turn into Knights, so âAgents are Negaverse Knightsâ seems logical? You might also run into Agents who are what they call half-youma? Itâs sort of a misnomer for complicated reasons that would take a while to explain, but the important point is, half-youma agents usually look sort of monster-y. They donât have weapons but do have abilities like being literally on fire and able to attack people with it.â
Muri paused briefly, peering ahead down the street. No signs that specifically mentioned an ATM, but the 7-11 that didnât seem to mind crazy magical nonsense mightâve been around here? A few blocks away yet, he thought, but still, they would have an ATM at the 7-11.
He also needed a moment to think about Madriuâs more serious question. Muri could respect not wanting to screw over people who were already struggling, and he wanted to give Madriu reasonably solid advice. Helping a senshi who was new to Earth survive and live in a way he could feel good aboutâthat was both serious and important.
âThere isnât a completely foolproof way to tell who can or canât afford your rescuerâs fee,â Muri said with a pensive sigh. âPeople wanting to look wealthier is a huge business in the twenty-first century. It muddies the waters, can make it harder to tell for sure. You might run into somebody whoâs ostensibly flashing a lot of really expensive jewelry, but if you look closer, itâs all cheap knock-offs and theyâre actually broke.
âBut some things to watch out forâŠif somebodyâs wearing a heavier coat, something made for winter, even though itâs summer? Thatâs a good bet that they donât have housing right now. If you see people hauling around a bunch of empty drink cans or scrap metal, maybe in a shopping cart? Theyâre probably recycling it for spare cash. If you see twenty-somethings doing weird dances with fancy phones? Look close at their clothes. If theyâre dressed in a more toned down wayâfew accessories, streamlined look, very chicâthey probably come from enough wealth to know that you donât want to hype up how rich you are, these days. Flaunting signifiers of wealth makes people think youâre overcompensating; wealthy parents teach their kids that they look classier by looking understated. The ones who have a ton of accessories, or who brag about who designed their shirt or purse or whatever? Theyâre the ones who are probably not very wealthy, but they want people to think they are.
âWhichâI know all of that is a lot, and a lot of it is âThis is a reasonable bet but not a foolproof way to tell,ââ he said with a hopeful smile, âand Iâm sorry? ButâŠâŠif thereâs anything else I can maybe help with? Iâll try?â
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2024 12:54 am
This was the most in-depth understanding of the Chaos on this world that Madriu had yet gotten. Saiph and Cuan had been helpful enough, but this Murikabushi clearly knew plenty about what went into it--maybe not surprising since he'd been Chaos for a time. And he was enjoying walking and listening to Murikabushi talk; he knew so much, and it felt....nice, to get to learn without feeling like he was being judged somehow, or like it was embarrassing to need help.
"Yeah, Kaifeng and Helene used to be...." Madriu wiggled his fingers. "It's a little difficult to say they were friends or allies, but they did help us out a lot, mostly because Kaifeng's cousins were problem causers. Being fair, so were the rest of us." He sighed, a little nostalgically. "Met that bunch of bastards because my partner hired them to kidnap me--which sounds odd, but I..." Why was it so easy to just []i]talk about things with this guy? "...Spent a lot of my life not able to make my own choices about where I was going, if that makes sense."
It was the shorter reason, at least.
"Anyway, yeah, I did know Helene and Kaifeng. I understand they're finally ********, which is an improvement over their previous situation to a degree that I am not sure it's possible to quantify."
He shut up, though, to listen to all the details about the Chaos factions--about how one became one, and how one left. He was able to categorize the girl who had broken into his home, now--Dark Mirror, with her fancy gauzy overlay.
"I've met a smattering of people that match those descriptions," he said, "and I had kind of a vague idea, but....thanks for explaining." He meant it genuinely--the more he knew, the more he understood, the better he could do.
Further, having all this context for how things worked economically here....it mattered. Showier probably meant poorer--interesting, but it made sense. A desire to flaunt what you'd barely gotten had been characteristic of some people he'd known--people who often lost it just as quickly because they had no real sense of how to save, or do anything but instant gratification.
Or because their next round of necessary expenses required selling off whatever fun thing they'd acquired, which sucked.
"I appreciate it, and I knew there probably wouldn't be easy answers. But I'll think about it all the same." His ears flicked down. "There was one lady...she had...way more cash in her bag than I'd ever seen on anybody else before. But it felt....weird, you know? Like, why would one person be carrying so much more, when you have those convenient plastic card things? So...I left it." It was the first time he'd sort of felt wrong about his little "business."
"Anyway, I....we can call each other with these, right?" Madriu held up his phone. "Can I maybe message you if I have a question?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2024 2:54 am
Listening to Madriu and his storiesâor more accurately, hints of stories that he could have told at some other time, given the opportunityâfelt so easy and calming. On some level, Murikabushi supposed that that was probably the âraised in the untamed wilds of an academic library by a pack of feral historiansâ part of him coming out again. Perhaps it was also some kind of resonance from meeting an old friend of Airanâs? But that was an incredibly complicated possibility and, if Muri were completely honest with himself, he didnât really understand enough about anything related to past lives and the reincarnation cycle to judge whether or not he had the right idea.
He did, however, know enough about histories and the keeping of them to start thinking that maybe, somebody ought to spend time with any space senshi who were willing to talk about their stories. Maybe, with their consent, somebody couldâve stood to interview them about their own personal histories, and their worlds, and their cultures, to help them preserve more about their worlds and the way things had been a thousand years ago. Maybe it wasnât the single most important venture for anybody to invest their time and effort inâŠâŠbut maybe it didnât need to be the single most important venture in order to be worthwhile. Maybe assembling records and oral historiesâor whatever could be reconstructed out of digging around on their worlds, again with their permission onlyâcould help somebody, or at least open up the possibility that someone, in another time, would remember their cultures and their people.
âŠâŠMuri would need to talk to Yuki about that, get some input from his best guy. Possibly ask a Mauvian if he needed to write up a proposal for IRB review, just to make sure heâd conduct any interviews or research trips in the most ethical possible fashion. (Idly, he thought that the answer heâd get from Mr. Sparkles the Death-Dealer would probably amount to âI donât give a s**t, what are you doing about getting me foodâ but that was neither here nor there.)
In the meantime, Madriuâs story-hints got a chuckle on one hand, and earnestly sympathetic sparkly eyes on another. âThat makes a lot of sense, yeah,â Muri agreed. âI donât know how similar your situation was or not to Airanâs? But considering he spent a lot of his life held hostage in the capital by the Murikabushian ruling elites, it makes a depressing amount of sense that other senshi had similar situations happen. And even if it didnât fix the underlying problem for you? Iâm glad that at least you had a partner who could find creative ways to help you like that.â
Part of Muri wanted to ask if Madriu meant âpartnerâ in the romantic sense, the buddy cop movie sense, or some secret third thing. But without knowing whether or not the partner in question was still alive, that feltâŠâŠpotentially really dicey. Possibly a good way to hurt rather than help.
What Madriu had to say about the hip-attached love-birds known as Helfeng, thoughâthat earned a giggle. âThe two of them not actually getting together before explains so much about how attached at the hip they are in this Kaifengâs lifetime,â Muri said, nodding. âNot that Helene is particularly forthcoming about how he feels, like, ever? But a b***h can understand if he feels like âI missed out on all of this before, Iâm not going to waste any time now.ââ
Huffing softly (and being careful not to drop the ATM card), Muri combed his fingers through his long bangs. âThe two of them also keep a dry houseâno alcohol except for cooking, I meanâwhich I appreciate. I donât personally need that kind of space? But some of the most important people in my life do, andâŠâŠthis centuryâs Kaifeng might be an acquired taste? But being fair, so am I, and at least heâs an acquired taste who cares about trying to make spaces that are more accessible for more people.â
Seeing Madriu take out his phone, Muri smiled. âYou can absolutely message me for anything,â he said. Had they not finally rocked up to the 7-11âs door, he wouldâve taken his phone right out to share numbers. âIâll give you my number once we hit up the ATM. Any questions, or if you just want someone to hang out with for a while? Hit me up. Andâhey, if you ever need a meal? *I* canât cook for s**t. But my partnerâ? He isnât powered up, heâs only involved in any of this because I was really bad at not admitting the senshi stuff to him? But he knows about senshi who donât come from Earth and he can cook, soâŠâŠâ
With a shrug, Muri held the door open. âWeâd love to have you over sometime, if you ever want?â
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2024 3:10 am
Madriu's ears flicked, and he exhaled. "My planet--Madriu---was subservient to its star, Arcalis. Part of keeping my people compliant was keeping me hostage. But Sailor Arcalis was the one who helped me. He....pretty vehemently disagreed with the way his people treated mine, and with the whole situation, and he did so much to help make things better for Madriu and my people" His entire expression softened, just talking about Anthy. "I haven't found him again, yet. But I hope I will."
Be he reincarnated or still alive, Madriu would be happy just to see him again.
Helene and Kaifeng were...interesting. Madriu wondered if this Kaifeng had managed to break the attachment to drink that had characterized his past self, or if going dry was a new development for the very assiduously sober Helene. He'd probably have to ask the Knight or Senshi in question, though--no reason for Murikabushi to have all the dirty details.
He took in the building they'd come into--he'd surveyedf places like this from the outside, before, and slipped in in his human guise with some of his stolen cash, and frankly, Madriu liked these places. Lots of food, especially things that were shelf-stable and didn't need to be kept cold. Also, premade sandwiches and similar.
"I appreciate that, thanks," Madriu said, "and I'd love to come by for dinner." Better than struggling to feed himself, at the very least.
He'd gotten lucky, finding Murikabushi again. And not just because he apparently knew how to make the palstic cards--or at least this specific plastic card--give out more of the cash that Madriu needed to survive.
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