GODLY AUDIENCES - TAKAOMI SHISHIMARU

[divus]

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WEEK 5, SUNDAY

[divus]

[This weekend was a mess, everything leading up to it was a mess, and Jack isn't entirely sure what to do.

So. Takaomi enters the game room on Sunday and Jack's standing not too far from the doorway waiting for him, silently watching to see what he says first. After that? Then he'll act.]

[bakaomi]

[ taka is pretty sure ishikirimaru would want to do another group meeting with merriment, but he really needed to make sure he talked to him first.

except he isn't sure what to say

he almost didn't want to come

he's never been this unsure on what to do. ]

We fucked up.

[ it's something that he's said before, with different contexts every time. but now he just sounds... wrecked. ]

[divus]

[Haha. No. Nope, nope, nope. Jack doesn't reply immediately because yeah, sure, he actually agrees that they messed up bigtime but there's no way he's going to let Taka take the blame for this. This was, ultimately, on himself for even allowing Ray to join them and agreeing with his plans.

So instead he takes a few steps forward and doesn't even waste time before he's hugging him. He's finally figured out how those work, so, that's nice. Nevertheless he's still quiet for a handful of seconds.]

...I know. [And maybe he should be encouraging him, telling him that it's not his fault and they did everything they could, but...he doesn't want to lie to him. That wouldn't make anything better.] I know. But we were all in agreement on this. All four of us. I should have known better.

[bakaomi]

[ honestly, takaomi actually prefers that he isn't giving him platitudes. because taka wouldn't believe it anyway, but hearing jack's agreement is...

it settles him, somewhat. like he can breathe just a little easier. ]

... we all could have done things differently. But you're not making us do this.

[divus]

I know. I meant what I said when I told you I trust you guys. And maybe that was my fault, too, but I'm not going to tell you to change your mind. This is something we've all gotta deal with, so...I'd rather deal with it together.

There's a lot we could have done differently. But I'm pretty sure he's not going to blame you for what happened either. He seemed pretty sure of himself.

[bakaomi]

He's a stubborn brat.

[ present tense, because ray is... still going to be around, just somewhere else where they can't reach.

it's fine. they just have to keep moving. ]

... but maybe if Ishikirimaru had...

[divus]

No. Stop. We're not going to do that right now.

[He pulls back just enough to face him.] ...it's hard. I know it is, but we can't sit here thinking about what would have happened if we'd done something different, alright? We can admit we screwed up, but we can work on getting better.

[bakaomi]

[ he knows jack's right, but it's hard when the thought keeps creeping in. ]

... neither Ishikirimaru or I are going to switch.

[divus]

...I had a feeling. [It makes him nervous, but he's not about to tell them to back off if this is what they want.]

So what you're saying is we need a new plan.

[bakaomi]

Mmhm.

We need to change... something about how we're doing this.

[divus]

What we really need is to make sure you guys are protected when you're out there. Ray had an artillery of weapons at his disposal but somehow that wasn't enough. That means there's something else.

[bakaomi]

... he was the only one of us who didn't have battle armor this week. If he did, then that dart probably wouldn't have worked on him.

[ this is starting to venture back into GUILT territory ]

[divus]

Maybe it wouldn't have, maybe it would have. That still counts on having an equal number of Sincerities compared to an equal number of us. If he had battle armor...there's a risk you or Ishi wouldn't.

[bakaomi]

...

Still, having powers like that used on us would give us an advantage in general, right?

[divus]

It would, yeah. Do we know how many of you are staying with Sincerity this coming week?

[bakaomi]

Senri. I think Sasuke's switching.

[ so they will have uno use of battle armor ]

[divus]

Any idea to where?

[bakaomi]

Nope. I'm sure I'll learn super late, like usual.

[divus]

You know how this goes. The numbers shift tomorrow. You should be able to figure it out then.

[bakaomi]

You gods and your whole semi-all-knowing schtick.

[divus]

Hey, after 300 years of not having answers, I kinda like the whole semi-all-knowing schtick. I kind of earned it.

[bakaomi]

[ ... ]

I'll give it to you.

[divus]

Thank you.

[...] C'mon. Come sit with me for a while. [He'll just cuff him around the shoulders and start steering him to a couch.]

[bakaomi]

[ he'll be good and allow this since jack is one of the very few people in the world he willingly allows to manhandle him ]

[divus]

[A good Taka. Once they're settled on the couch Jack leans back and tilts his head up to look at the ceiling thoughtfully.]

...I don't know what we can do to make this better. We would need at least four people to make sure nobody's working alone and the grounds are covered. Or three, if someone was protected somehow.