rakuen | [Backdated to 1st Day, nearing lunch] And if you should forget who I am

Entry tags:

enki,
shoryu

[Backdated to 1st Day, nearing lunch] And if you should forget who I am

Characters: Enki, Shōryū
Format: Prose
This log is: closed
Location: Black 1-B
Summary: An annoyed kirin goes to chase his king out of bed.
Warnings:

The man was impossible! Admittedly, Enki wasn't sure why he was so annoyed; partly it was that Shōryū had seemed fit to stay in bed almost until lunch, despite having been abducted to this strange place. There was another part, however, that he didn't understand; something about forgetting and that yesterday had been annoying not just because Shōryū had appeared, but also because the man had kept disappearing on him.
Concerning the 'oversleeping' Enki had to be fair, though; he'd been sleeping late, too, this past week, but certainly hadn't stayed in bed this late! Just because they weren't at Kankyuu didn't mean the man could slack more than Enki did!

Enki was a kirin on a mission, and not even his faintly growling stomach, or the faint sense of 'brightness' he'd felt since deciding to find Shōryū would either deter or confuse him. Did he look like some babysitter, anyway? In full annoyed mode, Enki barged into the dorm room where Shōryū was still sleeping. Or at least lounging in bed, Enki wasn't sure. And why was that? Because the moment he'd marched up to the bed and viciously tugged the covers off, he'd been hit in the face by the sunlight in the room seemingly convening on the figure on the bed, and by a wave of warmth that made his knees weak. Literally.

Right. That was why he'd been annoyed at Shōryū's disappe---

Knees, meet floor. Luckily, he didn't prostrate himself fully, due to Shōryū lying in bed and his feet now being at the same height as Enki's head while kneeling. Taking a deep, quivering breath, Enki tried to get the elation under control.

They thought this was funny huh? Well, even if they didn't, he was sure he knew someone who did.

"Not. One. Word." Enki ground out as he sat up properly. He was now more frustrated than ever that the memory charms gave a random lost memory back. Now that Shōryū was here, it would have been... 'beneficial', if he could have gotten the relevant memory back, even if he couldn't leave.

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Granted, he hadn't had a problem with changing. As much as he didn't mind the hoh - didn't he? There was a moment of indecision there. How odd - it was far too ostentatious for day-to-day wear, and impractical for anything but sitting around in. Although everyone had seen him arrive in the formal robes, he doubted many of them knew their meaning, and fewer would remember him beyond that.

Then again, Enki was still in his usual clothing. His kirin, a hypocrite? Never. He demured. "They are quite comfortable. Of course, if the Taiho doesn't think the uniform is acceptable, I must follow his example."

Enki's eyes narrowed to slits. Leaning forward dangerously, he stared with barely concealed suspicion. Something was wrong. Not that they used each other's names all that much usually (no need to), but all he'd heard from Shōryū was either 'taiho', or 'Enki' when talking to Suzaku.

"As if you're gonna change back now. You can wear what you like. I'm not gonna change."

Now, that being out of the way, back to this niggling annoyance of the fact that Shōryū wasn't using his name. He hadn't really expected Shōryū to keep up the whole silly thing with the implied difference in status between the 'Taiho' and 'Fuukan'. He hadn't really meant anything when using that name earlier, so to have them go back to that...

"The Taiho has had enough of hearing his title," Enki snapped, yet again leaning a bit more forward, to succeed in something seldom achieved; looming.

Looming. How truly terrifying.

Enki, if there was one thing you were truly awful at, it would be looming. Not enough practice, you see.

"After five hundred years? How sudden." But the fact that Shōryū's eyes didn't remain closed even when opening them meant looking up at Enki was the first hint that all was not right. Truth be told, he couldn't remember the name he usually used for the kirin. His human name, the many derogatory nicknames he'd collected over the years; they were all obscured by the same mist that clouded his memory of the kingdoms. Even after finding texts on the Twelve Kingdoms hidden amongst the others, there were gaps.

"Well," and his eyes closed again, act set back in motion smoothly, "I suppose we can work around it, if you're going to be stubborn."

Well, Enki does his best, but if there was one thing any kirin would be truly awful at, it would probably be looming. But with the king he has, Enki does his best when it's needed.

Even if it fails.

Sudden? What was the idiot talking about? He never used his title (er, the 'taiho' one, considering 'Enki' really was a title as much as his name...) unless he was being correct during very formal occasions or other such crap.

...

Wait...

"Shōryū..." Enki's eyes narrowed. "Stop changing topic, I was talking about you not using my name not something else! And what's it to you if I wear the uniform anyway?" The last was said in deep suspicion.

What did he mean 'work around it'? What did it matter if Enki didn't wear the uniform?

"You sound so suspicious."

He grinned. A few moments later, and he was sitting up, leaning against the headboard and adjusting the sleeves of his nightshirt. Another, and he'd tugged the mess that had been a ribbon out of his hair to untangle it.

"If we both wear the uniform, we won't attract nearly as much attention," he pointed out, as he smoothed out the ribbon across his covers and began to gather his hair into a tidier ponytail. Changing topic had already happened, Enki just hadn't noticed it. "Here we are, captives in a strange land... I think I'd choose my battles more wisely."

And then he had to stop, because he'd started to tie up his hair. Started being the key word here. His hands stilled around the ribbon, and he frowned at nothing in particular as he crossed the ends over each other in various ways.

Enki had opened his mouth to reply, but then paused to watch Shōryū tie his hair back. Or, attempt to. Leaning his elbows on his knees, Enki rested his chin on his interlaced fingers as he followed Shōryū various attempts.

Served the idiot right. (Not that he was gonna mention the chopsticks thing.)

"I'm a kirin, not a general or a king. I ain't the one supposed to choose battles," Enki said breezily before continuing. "I've seen other people wearing their own clothes. Besides, my clothes are less elaborate than yours anyway, so the only attention would come from wearing strange clothes." Enki really couldn't understand the problem here. Besides, the shirt looked stupid.

And talking of battles (at least of a more pleasant sort than what was going on here)...
"And I think we were talking about names... Or are you so old you're getting a faulty memory?"

This. Right here. Is a stubborn kirin, your majesty. What are you gonna do about it?

"So much for the infinite wisdom of the kirin. Do you see this disguise as different to any of your others?"

But he'd been caught, avoidance notwithstanding. Shōryū slumped, to signal his defeat, and let his hands drop to his sides, ribbon still loosely tangled into his hair.

"Were we? I must have forgotten that, too."

"I wasn't aware we were in disguise," Enki said with an eyebrow raised. It hadn't really crossed his mind. No one here would understand the actual 'importance' of what and who he (or Shōryū) was, and even if told, it'd hardly matter.

Rolling his eyes at the slump, Enki leaned froward and pulled the ribbon out, resulting in the hair being completely freed from it's half-contained prison.
"You seem to be forgetting a lot of things... Should I be worried that you're getting so old that you've forgotten my name?" Enki tugged the ribbon between his hands, starting to feel ill at ease with Shōryū's avoidance of this name-issue.

Was that one of the taken memories? Had he forgotten all... no, that didn't make sense, Shōryū had called him 'Enki' earlier. So... What had he forgotten? His human name?

That kinda hurt. (Okay, a lot.) But it wasn't a disaster. Why was it so hard to just use Enki, then, instead of dancing around and calling him taiho to his face?

"You could worry if that were the case," he agreed amiably, watching the ribbon's path through Enki's hands with half-lidded eyes. "As the loss seems to be catching, there are better ways to use your free time."

It hurt for him, too, in a selfish kind of way. He didn't particularly like the idea that he could lose something as important as that without so much of a whisper of memory. It triggered every last ounce of possessiveness. "Perhaps I'm getting old after all. Would you still serve me?"

The ribbon's torture was suddenly halted, and Enki slowly looked up, eyes narrowed. Fast enough to avoid his hand being grabbed (the other hand holding onto the headboard for balance), Enki lunged forward and hit his idiot of a master on the head.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're getting addled in your old age as well as forgetting things. Did you hear any sort of 'can retract pledge when the king gets soft in the head' in what I said when I gave you En? I think I distinctly remember something like 'never to abandon' in there," Enki said, face stern, before rolling his eyes.

Shōryū picked the strangest of times to decide to be desperately possessive.

That settled, he went back to abuse the ribbon.
"What're you gonna do about this, then? You think you'll be able to trick someone to tie your hair back for you every day, as addled as you are?"

Ow. Well, it was always gratifying to hear. His mouth quirked into a vague, self-aware smile as he was berated, amused both at Enki for rising to the bait and himself for needing to place it out every hundred years or so just to check. He didn't even bother to rub his head where he'd been struck.

"You mean you weren't planning to take pity on this poor 'old man' in your benevolence?" He ran his hand through his hair a couple of times to get it even a little tidy again, and then leant back against the wall.

Which then messed it up. Such were the trials of kingship.

"I didn't know that benevolence stretched to playing bodily attendant to the king," Enki said, only glacing over at Shōryū as he undid the knot he'd tied the ribbon in, letting his mane fall free again. If that story about the former Sairin was correct, he didn't understand how she could have liked having her mane pinned up. He'd tried it a few times, but it never seemed right.

With a long-suffering sigh, Enki finally jumped off the table he was sitting on and gave Shōryū a considering look and then smirked.

"Perhaps I should tell you about the word 'please', sometime. But unless you want to be pretty like one of the women you like to lose money on, move. Or I give you two tails." Or loops, even, as Enki suddenly came to think of Shoshun, one of the immortals who'd cared for him at Mt. Hou.

"It must depend how pathetic the king happens to look, surely."

He paused as Enki moved, and raised an eyebrow at the sudden, wide grin. "I didn't know you could arrange hair," he managed to sound honestly surprised, which was quite an achievement with a smirk as wide as the one he was sporting at the same time. The two of them matched perfectly. "Will you really?"

He didn't move.

I suppose you're right. You're a sorry sight most times, though." Enki gave him another smirk and then shrugged.

"I can tie a knot. What else do you want?" And since Shōryū wasn't moving, Enki got up on the edge of the bed, gathered the hair closest to him and collected it at Shōryū's skull.

Closest hair. About half was still lying over Shōryū's opposite shoulder and back. For all that Enki was in the process of giving Shōryū a hair-arrangement usually meant for girls (especially in modern-day Hourai), he looked very concentrated.

Hey, it's not as if he ties back his mane.

"Right. Should I do the other side too?"

You could have moved, Shōryū. Or perhaps have found someone else to do your hair for you.

He should have expected that. And, in fact, had. So he didn't so much as blink as his hair was gathered into a messy side-tail. Instead, he leant forward, resting his chin on one closed hand.

Enki was too cute when he thought he'd gotten the upper hand.

"I'm afraid I don't have another ribbon."

Of course he didn't. He should have expected this, really. Well, at least Shōryū looked properly silly like that. With a sigh, Enki undid the tail and wedged himself between his idiot of a king and the wall, now that there was space enough to do so. The pony-tail would probably not end up looking as neat as Shōryū usually wore it, but, well.

Don't expect this sort of treatment regularly, old man.

"You could have said so," Enki grumbled (mostly for form's sake) as he redid the tail, properly this time. The ribbon was even tied in a bow, instead of a sloppy knot.

With a grunt, Enki leaned back against the wall, hands behind his head and frowned at the books spread out on the bed. He couldn't avoid seeing them now. He really doesn't want to have this conversation.

It's too much like the talk of war and battle he'd always preferred to avoid before. He could, of course, just let Shōryū drag him into this conversation, as will surely happen sooner or later, but this was partly why he had come, since he could be reasonably certain Shōryū would be alone in the room at this point in the day.

"... Let me guess, nothing of use to get out of here quickly, and I don't suppose you found anything else." Enki finally spat out, because he's read the rule book, and that only talks about the battles.

See, he could go into these sorts of unpleasant conversations all on his own initiative, now! Of course, considering this wasn't 'real war', it may not count. And he was mostly hoping Shōryū would give him something that would make it easier for him to avoid participating.

"Nothing you would find useful, other than that whoever created this game has far too much time on their hands."

He shifted to give Enki more room and therefore less temptation to kick him in the back of the head, and then leant over to grab some of the other books and pass them to him. "You might want to read these when you have the time," a sentence laden with heavy irony, "In the meantime, we're going to find a booth."

Too much time on their hands, too little respect for life, too enamoured of people as things... So many things to think of this whole thing.

"I've already read the rulebook," Enki protested, though he did take the books... putting them on the bedside table (for now). Whatever else Enki was going to say, got interuppted by Shōryū's last sentence.

"What're we picking up?" Enki frowned, feeling suspicion and angry denial bubble up. Of course, Shōryū may simply mean for them to pick up upgrades for his own weapon; that was logical, and Enki wouldn't mind giving his tokens to that.

Better that than his own weapon. He knew it technically had at least one upgrade that was good for the other 'Weapons' when he was present, but other than that and the thing that made others able to fight for him it was practically useless. Not good for defense either.

"Upgrades," Shōryū said, simply. "They seem to be our best option. There are abilities in this book that would mean you didn't have to fight, and upgrades are based on our essential natures. The chance that you have at least one of them is too high to ignore."

And, of course, there were several other things he wanted to purchase, but he'd get the one Enki would object to out of the way first.

And object he did.

Of course Shōryū would find that out. But how could a single book list any and all possible upgrades if they were based on the 'students' essential natures?

But the point wasn't that he didn't have to fight, the point was that someone else would, routinely, for no reason other than someone's 'pleasure' have to take the pain for him.

He wouldn't have done this to his shirei, this senseless thing, which was why he objected to this very simple solution of this ability allowing a current Weapon to more or less function as a temporary shirei. It was just...

"I know I have one. There was that dream, or whatever," Enki muttered as he slid further down behind Shōryū, crossing his arms, back against the headboard, and staring at Shōryū's broad back.

"But this is... I wouldn't--- I can't," Enki hissed, but he had a feeling that right about now one of Shōryū's rare 'you will do as I say, because I am king' was going to the smacked on his head.

"But you'd force others to watch you get hurt?" His voice was almost conversational, light and friendly, but there was a hidden edge within his words. He stayed facing the end of the bed, not looking around at his kirin. Almost idly, he opened one of the books and flipped through it at random. "Don't you think that's selfish of you?"

That wasn't--- Enki had been braced for an order, but what came out instead... Eyes widening, he almost reflexively drew a foot back (the space was really too narrow for that, especially as he'd almost curled up behind here). Then, slowly and deliberatedly, put that foot down.

"That's not--! Someone would get hurt anyway, an' I don't care abou--" Enki's mouth snapped closed, both beacuse of the 'selfish' comment, and didn't that drag up something that was just ancient history, and because he didn't feel like hearing what Shōryū had to say about 'I don't care about me'.

Probably something about chunks of flesh again, and couldn't he come up with a better metaphor? Insufferable idiot. Didn't even need to use his stupid orders.

"I just... This isn't right. There was nothing else?" Enki didn't like the plaintive note in his voice. Way too vulerable for his tastes.

At the very least, Enki knew his king. With his effective surrender, and childish response, Shōryū turned to reward him with a smile. Cheerful, but implacable. He wouldn't see his kirin hurt because of simple stubbornness. He'd rather not see anyone hurt, but that was a tad too idealistic for his tastes. People would get hurt, but if he could arrange it so Enki wasn't one of them... that would be a successful campaign.

"We could pray a thousand times that you never be selected as a Player, but I doubt Tentei sees this far."

Cute. Enki rolled his eyes and grunted as Shōryū gave him a smile. As if that was going to be enough to make up for this... except... it almost, almost did make up for all this crap. It wasn't that huge a consolation, because that was a victory smile as well and he could stuff that and eat it.

But the other part? Yeah, he'd take what he could get.

It wouldn't get better, anyway. A whiff of blood, heralding pain (if not death) to come, and sand running out of his fingers... With another grunt, Enki straightened from his near bent-double position and poked Shōryū in the back.

"I feel sorry for the people here; they're all gonna get tricked into thinking you're this nice and pleasant person," Enki said with a raised eyebrow, mocking that smile just as he tucked it away in the back of his head. Even if it was one of his smug ones.

"And it's a ring that I'm supposed to give to a Weapon. They can then wield their own weapon and fight instead of me," Enki shrugged and laced his fingers behind his head, finally bowing to necissity and explaining what his sparkly, special ability ring would do.

Shōryū, at least, definitely needed to know, as he was probably the one who'd be the first to attempt it.

"What else're we gonna get? A link charm?"

"How terrible for them, to believe that." The smile continued, quirking into one more purely amused than anything else, "I'm sure you'll do your part to disillusion them of that?"

Especially after the debacle with Suzaku the day before. That had been highly interesting, and he wasn't going to let Enki forget the problems that went hand-in-hand with openly complaining about your king anytime soon. For now, there were more important matters.

"A link charm, and one of their-- hmm," he opened the book to one of the marked pages, and scanned the page, "A PDA."

"When necessary," Enki insisted, but not with the heat and nonchalance he'd usually use. The whole thing with Suzaku yesterday had been problematic, and he still didn't understand what the actual problem was, since Suzaku hadn't said---

Well. Enki just realized it was probably rather hard for Suzaku to attempt to have a conversation (something Shōryū, since he was the king), when Enki had forgotten part of the context... Then he refocused on Shōryū and unceremoniously snagged the book out of his hands to read himself. The word was vaguely familiar, but it wasn't as if he knew all technology they'd invented in Hourai.

"Huhn. You'd want something like that. We'll get those things first then." Enki nodded and dropped the book back in Shōryū's lap. Not even attempting to get any memories back sat a bit wrong, but he supposed he could stand it a while longer... especially as the memories you got back were apparently random, so the odds of getting the currently most annoying one back...

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[Backdated to 1st Day, nearing lunch] And if you should forget who I am

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