GODLY AUDIENCES - TAKAOMI SHISHIMARU

[divus]

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Week 1, Tuesday

[divus]

[When Takaomi enters the dance studio, he's going to find that Love's laying on their stomach, arms folded under their chin and staring at the leaf in the glass of water. Watching it float up and down. The epitome of boredom...

...which is why they perk up immediately upon seeing him.]

Normally you'd have to do better than this, but I'll cut you some slack this time. [The voice is feminine and bubbly behind the mask.] Hi, Shishimaru-san.

[As he's not one of theirs, there's still some unfamiliarity here.]

[bakaomi]

Yo.

[ he waves before shoving the hand into his picket. ]

Next time I'll steal something since getting shit is a lot harder now.

[divus]

Yeeeah, not the best rule, is it? But I can be patient. [There's a moment's pause as they sit up, scooting the glass over so they don't tip it on its side and tucking their legs under them.

And also pointedly staring at a space on the floor in front of them before looking at Taka again. So much for patience.]

[bakaomi]

[ taka looks at the space then at love then at the space again and back to love





he sits ]

[divus]

[Good boy :) Love scoots a little closer but keeps their distance, hands folded in their lap as they wait.]

I was wondering if you would come see me after you chose someone else. What brings you here?

[bakaomi]

Curiosity.

[ he shrugs. it's smart to find out what you're missing on. ]

You seem to be doing well though. You're ahead.

[divus]

[An echoing shrug. Can't fault him for that.]

For now. I hope I can stay that way, but it'd be pretty dumb to get too comfortable wouldn't it? [Still, they duck their head.] I'm...really glad for everyone who did choose me. The ones I've spoken to so far have all been really nice, and even the people who chose other gods have been interesting to get to know.

[bakaomi]

You have a friendly name. You lucked out with that one.

[ versus like

fuckin ruin ]

[divus]

[There's a laugh, but yeah like. Super fair.]

We didn't really pick the names ourselves, you know. They were chosen for us around the time we ascended.

[bakaomi]

I heard.

Do you think yours fits?

[divus]

That sounds like a trick question. [And that sounds like a pout in-tone.] ...but in a way? Yeah. I think maybe it does. I hope it stays that way through this entire competition, too. Love's important, don't you think?

[bakaomi]

[ he makes a face ]

Gross.

[divus]

Hey! [WOW????]

I don't mean just romantic, you know!

[bakaomi]

[ at least it's obvious now why taka didn't choose love ]

It sounds needlessly mushy.

[divus]

[Love is going to throw Taka out a window.]

Let me ask you something, Shishimaru-san. What would you say if I told you that you and I are more alike than you think?

[bakaomi]

[ it's fine he'd deserve it ]

Do you have green hair too?

[divus]

Not what I meant. I don't think it'd go over that well anyway. [They regard him carefully though.] But...you want to find the truth in everything, don't you?

[bakaomi]

... yeah. It's part of the job.

[ and he hates deceit. ]

[divus]

You mean as a detective. [Someone did research.] I get it. It gets a little complicated when you don't know all of the pieces, but it's still important to learn as much as you can.

How long have you been doing that?

[bakaomi]

A while.

[ i don't know d!ing hasn't told me ]

My dad's one.

[divus]

So a family business. [They lean forward, cupping their chin in their hand.] You're not the first person to tell me that.

...but you're also into music?

[bakaomi]

[ for the first time all conversation (or like, honestly, in general since getting here), he seems to complete light up. ]

Yeah!

[divus]

[Oh! Oh okay, that's cool, that's actually great. It seems to catch Love's interest, too, seeing how there's a clap of delight.]

What kind? What's your favorite? Aren't you at, like, a music school or something? [What is Dream!ing? Also those are all rapid-fire questions please talk music with Love.]

[bakaomi]

I'm mostly into punk and emo, they're soooo cool! My favorite band is Uribos, but they're not together anymore, but they're fucking legendary.

[ listen taka is grouchy and rude and a killjoy but

when he gets excited about something he is like a little kid and can talk forever it's embarrassing ]

... I wouldn't really call it a music school, but we do performances for the yume lives. The better performance you give, the more points you get, and you have a better chance of scoring in first.

[ there's a pause. ]

So it's kind of like this game, I guess.

[divus]

I don't think I've heard of them. [There's nothing to say about punk and emo because it's not entirely Love's style, but they can appreciate all sorts of music.] But I think people's favorites say a lot about them.

[This is adorable though what the hell, sorry that Love is eating this up and also escalating in excitement.]

Lives...[It's not even a questioning tone, it's one that seems to indicate Love knows what he's talking about.] Maybe that would've been easier than this game. [Love taps their fingers on the floor, a little beat only they can hear.] Do you have to always score really high to stay there?