ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ᴀʟʟ

[formidable]

Androids, psychics, magic, investigations, and finding out how to human. ➢ Cool Mood Music No. 1 ➤ Cool Mood Music No. 2

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[sakaya]

... Your grasp is not that strong.

[The demon senses it, feels the weakened joints and limbs that have been damaged and distorted and bones that have been shattered and painfully put back together.

She easily slips out of his hold.]

From your work in sorcery or...?

[sorser]

[…Ah.

Stephen looks at her for a lingering moment, as if he’s not inclined to reply. And yet this is not something about himself that he feels the need to hide — nothing that he should be ashamed of, not any longer. Again, he’s climbed that mountain and has the strength (and the cognizance to know of his faults) to accept the past as something… defining.

And so, he slowly drops his hand back to his side.]

Car accident. My hands were severely injured — the sort of injuries you’d expect from them quite literally being crushed. Bones, ligaments, nerves.

[He remembers waking up in the hospital that day, memory emblazoned in his mind. He’ll never forget the sight of his hands set before him, wrought with metal pins. His chart, the results glaring up at him, officially beheading his career.]

It's sorcery, actually, that aids me in regaining the use of them. But they’ll never be the same as they once were.

[sakaya]

So one of those iron steeds... Ah, makes sense.

[She looks oddly thoughtful compared to her usual drowsy and lush expressions as she regards the Sorcerer Supreme. It takes her a few seconds to speak up again casually again.]

Why don't we take a breather now? I've only had one cup of sake and that just won't do before we head into battle.

[that's usually the opposite, but for Shuten, she prefers to have a respectable amount of alcohol in her system for any occasion okay (and also the conversation was starting to get too serious)]

[sorser]

[Iron steeds. Close enough.

He has no issue with the digression of the subject into something else. Though the fact that it's drinking doesn't surprise him in the least. Stephen flexes his fingers a little, before bringing his hands up to adjust his cloak.]

You want to drink more before going into battle? I don't think that's a very good idea, generally speaking.

[sakaya]

[Did her blue sake gourd appear out of thin air, yes it did. It's straddled to her side and she pats it expectantly.]

Geeenerally speaking, for humans that's not a good idea yes. For me, it's just the norm.

And I also drink during battle. Just so you know.

[She means it when oni drink HARD.]

Of course, while it's mostly for my own pleasure, do understand that the liquor I provide for myself does come with some useful side-effects.

[sorser]

[He looks down at the sake gourd that has magically -- probably quite literally -- appeared at her side. Stephen can't help but sigh.]

And would this drinking spree be for business or pleasure?

[sakaya]

Both.

You do the business of tracking down our enemies, I'll be giving myself the pleasure of warming myself up.

[that's not what he means but okay]

[sorser]

[That's not what he means!]

That isn't what I mean, and you know it.

I want to know whether or not your constant drinking will cause us undue problems; I'm going to trust you if you say that it will not, maybe unwisely.

[sakaya]

[well one time, it set off a raid event, i mean what]

Not at all.

Mm. Although the only time that it caused me a problem was... [She smiles glibly.]

Well, read one of your pretty books that may have my legend. You can fill in the blanks yourself.

[sorser]

[As if Stephen hasn't read so. many. books. He isn't ignorant of the subject at hand; it's a prerequisite of being a Master of the Mystic Arts, after all.]

You mean the one time when you died? Not exactly a minor problem.

[Vices are a terrible thing...]

[sakaya]

[Oh, he does know, good. She wags her index finger at him.]

Context, Master, context. Unless our enemies catch me while I'm sleeping and weakened with poison, you've nooothing to worry about.

[And it does kind of speak volumes that she had to be taken out sneakily in the first place and even after being beheaded, she still survived long enough to try for a final blow.

Or so the story goes.]

[sorser]

Then we'll make sure that you don't fall asleep on the job, hm?

[There's that facetious smile again.]

You have an hour before we leave. Make sure you're ready to go when I call for you.

timeskip

[sakaya]

Fair enough, fair enough. I'll be ready when you are Master.

[She draws out the last word in a sultry manner which would probably fluster anyone else, but him.

Shuten already confirmed it herself, but she really doesn't dislike him even if they seem incompatible on the surface. But what can she say, she likes a challenge.]

❈ ❈ ❈

[It sure does smell like booze around here. Shuten Douji had parked herself at a window sill somewhere in the Sanctum and had been enjoying herself as she said she would. Her large sake cup, more like a dish sits in her hand and the clear liquor, sweet and cloying is slowly being drained by her.

How many servings has she had? More than most people could handle probably.]

[sorser]

[Stephen appears without fanfare, without flourish. There's only the telltale sound of a magic opening a tear, a portal, and him stepping through. He appears in Shuten's periphery.]

Are you ready?

[But then he's hit with that sultry smell, permeating the whole of the room. He wrinkles his nose, even as he notes the sunlight flooding in through the window, illuminating her form.]

...My god. How much did you drink?

[sakaya]

Ufu. Why are you so shocked? I already told you before.

[Oni drink hard, fight hard, and die hard apparently. Her speech is only just a bit more tipsy than before. ]

But to answer your question, not nearly enough.

[sorser]

I gave you an hour.

[Another sniff of the air, another inhale where his nostrils are filled with the scent of sake.]

Should be enough debauchery to last for a single outing, wouldn't you say?

[sakaya]

Hardly. You came calling like you said you would though, so...

[Shuten picks herself up as she finishes the last of her sake from her cup.]

I'm ready like you asked. I do need to work up a sweat after all.

[sorser]

Naturally.

[It won't take long for him to open up another portal, into the busy streets of New York. But he makes quite certain to step into the Mirror Dimension's version of it.

Things look relatively normal, but Shuten would easily be able to tell something was off. ]

Before we begin, anything I need to know about how you fight? Assists you prefer, and all that?

[sakaya]

[Her head turns around to survey the dimension, clearly intrigued as she stretches her arms and then summons her blade with the blue gourd and lantern that comes with it. The world around them seems to have been made into fractals and it's certainly not looking that way because she was drunk (as she always is of course, but hey, she's a functionally drunk demon).]

I'm of the Assassin class, but that's not very indicative of how I fight... Except with poison.

As for what I prefer, do as you see fit really, depending on what you make of the make of the situation. Healing if my body is too injured, stunning the enemy, that sort of thing. You have a higher repertoire of spells than I expect of most magi, even the most accomplished ones.

[She's only worked with someone who could only be considered a third-rate magus and yet a top-tier Master.]

I have my own magic of course. I'm not a one trick oni myself.

[Can't be called one of the three calamities of Japan if all she did was just drink herself silly.]

[sorser]

I won't stand by idly. It isn't how I do things. You're right, of course -- my magic is, generally speaking, nothing to scoff at.

[Not to toot his own horn or anything.]

Now then, I've brought us into the mirror dimension, and with any luck, should we near, I can pull both other Master and Servant in along with us. We need only track them down, but in this case, it's often just spotting smoke to locate the figurative fire.

[sakaya]

Hm. If I know anything about that Berserker, he's somewhat of a musclehead. If there's a fight to be had, he'll find it. A clash between Servants is always inevitable.

Although, is the Master a "sorcerer" like you? It's my first time in this universe so the type of practitioner I'm familiar with is quite different from this one.

[sorser]

[And here comes a scoff.]

A two-bit "sorcerer" who thinks he can dabble in the dark arts like it were a passing hobby. The sort that always end up cursed or dead or even worse, at the end of the day. Not caring who they bring down with them.

So, yes, a sorcerer. But not one that should be cause for too much trouble once their Servant is dealt with.

[He exhales.]

They're searching for something. An artifact of sorts, I think, hidden somewhere in the city. They've totaled buildings looking for the damnable thing.

[sakaya]

An artifact... Could it be that little trinket you wear around your neck or an actual Grail?

[Don't think she didn't notice the Eye of Agamotto Stephen]

Not bad by the way. I don't know what it is, but not bad.

[sorser]

[Oh? For a moment he lifts his brows, a little surprised. And also a little impressed.]

Drunk and yet still perceptive. Who would've thought?

[A hand lifts to touch lightly at the Eye around his neck.]

But you're right. I think they are after this little trinket; but I'll be dead before they get their hands on it. I guarantee you that.

[sakaya]

[that's her secret, she's always drunk]

Ah, so dutiful. Careful, though. If you put it like that, there's no way I'd let your bones go to waste.

[So yeah, uh, that's the demon way of saying not to die needlessly. Or she's just saying she'll eat Stephen. Either or.]