GODLY AUDIENCES: RAY

[divus]

Comments

WEEK 5, WEDNESDAY

[divus]

[When Ray enters the tofu shop in the west wing, he'll find Love behind the counter. The plate of cookies is in front of her, and the fox is curled up by her feet. She stares at him quietly before she gives a half-smile.]

Hey.

[selfimmolates]

[... well okay.]

Heard Yu got hit.

[divus]

Yeah.

[This is probably the least she's ever said to him.]

[selfimmolates]

... How many weeks do we have left in this competition?

[divus]

If more of us don't get killed? At least two. Host weeks for Beauty, Sincerity, Ambition and Piety still have to happen, but that's also as long as Beauty and Piety stay in the competition.

[Since they both have uno follower right now.]

[selfimmolates]

[he nods.]

Thought so. In other words, there's still room for him to return to you.

[divus]

Yeah, I guess so. It should be fine.

[...] I don't think he's taking it that well though.

[selfimmolates]

I noticed. ... He'll have to find a way to cope, though. It sucks, but it's not the end of the world.

[...]

In any case, there's something else I wanted to ask of you.

[divus]

[She nods, choosing not to comment on Yu any longer.]

There usually is. [But there's a slight smile, teasing. Ray usually has questions when he drops in on her.] What's up?

[selfimmolates]

... If anything happens to me this week, I want you to pass on a few messages.

[between being a little too helpful last week and his all nighter status, he's aware of how likely it is.

... even with that, though, he thinks he doesn't regret turning down people's help.]

[divus]

[Jan I really hate you. But anyway, she pauses long enough, smile dropping off of her face into something more serious.]

...I understand. It's...smart of you to make preparations. And in the end when it turns out you won't need them, it won't matter too much.

[She's trying to be optimistic that Ray will be alright but uh. She has the same conclusion he does, and it's also a large part of her unsettled mood.]

[selfimmolates]

[love you too]

... Tell your followers, "Good luck. If you need my tools, they're probably with Senri. Zoe's matches are with the other All Nighters."

[but mainly he means the gossip cookies.

...]

And tell Senri...

[this is the hardest part.]

"It's not your or the others' fault. I made my choices knowing what the consequences could be."

[they're not to blame for not protecting him. (and so many people have offered; it's startling, to him.) not when he's never wanted it.]

[divus]

...okay. [That sounds so final, and that's scary.]

I promise. If something happens, I'll talk to them on Friday.

[selfimmolates]

Thanks. [...] That's the main thing I wanted.

[divus]

Okay. [...]

...I want to ask a favor. I'll give you whatever you want that I can, but favor first.

[selfimmolates]

... What is it?

[divus]

If you're not busy right now, stay with me for a while. Like an hour? Maybe two.

[If Ray somehow does die tomorrow's she's not dumb enough to not realize this would be the last time she sees him until the end of the competition anyway.]

[selfimmolates]

[HEY WHAT THE HELL I'M SAD NOW]

... Sure. I can do that.

[divus]

[Suffer.]

Thanks. [She perks up a little at that, actually taking a cookie from the plate to take a bite as she pushes the plate toward Ray.] I know this place doesn't look like much and maybe it's not as fun as Indulgence's wing, but it's still really important to me. I used to live here. [...] Like the town, but also in this shop.

[selfimmolates]

Indulgence's wing is stupid.

[ray is also maybe a tad salty.]

... You worked in a tofu shop? You left that off your list of occupations.

[divus]

[She knew she could count on Ray, but she holds back her laughter anyway.] It's fun. Sometimes people just wanna let loose and dance. Nothing wrong with that.

[But she nods and gestures to a door toward the back that leads elsewhere.] When I took my hiatus, I moved to Inaba to live with my grandma. This is her shop. She usually handled everything, but I helped her when she needed me to.

[selfimmolates]

Isn't that what your dance studio is for? Honestly...

[he looks around at the shop.]

... Nice change of pace?

[divus]

You'd think. But there's a reason I'm hosting with him instead of somebody else.

[There's a thoughtful hum as she finishes the cookie in her hand.] ...I forgot how peaceful this place is when things aren't going on. Inaba's always been a quiet place though. Maybe I just forgot how much I was really leaving behind once I ascended.

[selfimmolates]

You still haven't explained what the hell is with this whole "ascension to godhood" thing.

[divus]

It's exactly what it sounds like. I don't remember a lot of it, but...it's kind of like how you guys got here? We were just called to ascend by some weird cosmic force or something, and when we accepted we became gods, got our new names and our new powers. A lot of us ascended right after something really important happened in our mortal lives, but some of us just happened to be called early.

There's no, like, supreme overlord or anything watching over the pantheon. But we could have said no if we wanted to.