jikan_rpg | [ open ] we hear you sinnin'

Dunno. Might've just gotten lucky that time.

[ he's not going to do anyone any favours by assuming they're doing anything more than fumbling around in the dark. bitter? nah.

izō came up here in spirit form at some point, rematerialising to find a comfortable spot to lay back and relax. sleep is an optional thing, and he tries to opt-out as much as possible, but sometimes you end up passing out and can't help it. though his nightmares come frequently, he still hadn't taken the opportunity to offer them up willingly.

he's ~~an idiot~~ very stubborn sometimes. ]

Isn't "getting lucky" exactly what they're doing?

[he's hip with the humans, he knows the terminology.

The fact that he had been spirit before does not seem to faze him in the least]

I—... yeah? [ he is less hip but sure okay he'll roll with that. ] But it don't mean they're good at what they're doin'.

It's a human phrase I've heard used in reference to one having sex. [an explanation for u] How can you tell if they're good?

How come it's so quiet for a long time until it's not? Shouldn't it be like that the whole time? Not sayin' I wanna hear it but it don't make sense.

[ this possibly doesn't say much about his experiences? ]

Well - they have to breathe, don't they? Maybe that's why.

[figuring out sex 101 with Baku]

Wh—... you serious? Believe me, hehe, you'd find a way. But don't tell me ya never been? Gettin' "lucky" ain't really that literal where yer from, is it?

It's not literal. But no, I've never done it.

[what is the point of it i mean really]

Huh... [ this is just something he never considered might be a thing. ] That's interestin'. Thought goin' to a brothel or somethin' at least once when yer old enough was somethin' everybody did.

[ welp. ]

Probably get more other stuff done like that, I guess...

Even when brothels existed I didn't frequent them much. One of the samurai who I did remain with, he liked to frequent them. But I never really saw the point.

They don't exist in the same way anymore anyway. [a shrug] At least not in my world.

No idea. But I don't have anything better to do at the moment.

[Because laying around her room in the dark when she can't sleep doesn't seem like something she wants to bother with for another night in a row. So naturally, scaling a building to hang out on the roof is a better alternative.

She'd almost considered seeing if Keith was awake, but in the end, she'd decided that it made more sense to just leave him be.]

Neither do I. [A SAD SIGH] I didn't think it would be as bad up here as it is down in Nippon, but foolish me, I was wrong.

[baku talk for ya'll horny. general ya'll, anyway]

Noise-canceling headphones would go a long way right now.

[Alas. She has no idea if they even exist in this world and she's not entirely sure if she could make them. Earplugs would also work, but they're not as cool.]

Is it always like this?

Ah . . . I should try to get mine. I had a nice pair back home.

[his face kind of scrunches up] Humans enjoy sex much, much more than I thought they did.

[so, maybe]

Mmm... I don't think I've seen even a single pair since I've been here.

[A shame, really.]

Humans are weirdos. [Or maybe her opinion is biased because of the humans she generally hangs out with.]

Shouldn't they enjoy it?

Me either, it's unfortunate. I don't have my phone either.

[his phone had so much good human music . . . ]

Humans are strange. And I suppose so - but they're enjoying it very loudly.

Oh. RIP.

[Pidge is just going to assume that her phone is in some kind of weird limbo. It hadn't come with her to Duplicity or Lunatia, so it makes sense that it also wouldn't be here. Still, it'd be nice to have.]

Some of us are admittedly stranger than others. And you're not wrong. It's definitely more noticeable out here, though.

[Or maybe she's just better at tuning things out than she'd figured.]

Maybe it'll show up. My sword did, and I had that with me, too.

[and technically speaking, the more important of the things he lost, but. His phone]

It's not a bad thing. Strange humans are more fun. I think it's because of how the rooms are set up, but I could be wrong. But it's really noticeable, yeah. I'm glad it's not just me.

What kind of sword?

[She doesn't know much about weapons outside of her bayard and, admittedly, she's never been curious enough about it to change that. But she's not going to change the subject when someone else volunteers the information.]

I feel like it depends on the kind of strange. [She's met a lot of strange humans, and strange non-humans for that matter. There's only a small handful that she'd consider fun.] Maybe. I've never noticed before now. Or I'm just better at tuning people out than I thought.

A katana. It's a traditional Japanese sword - curved blade, a little shorter and lighter than western swords.

[he draws his legs up, leaning his arms on his knees, hunched forward a little awkwardly like he isn't quite used to the position - which is true, he hasn't taken a form this tall in a while]

Maybe interesting is a better word? Because I don't know if I'd describe some of the strange ones I know as "fun". [while rare, he has encountered the dangerous ones, who can see everything and uses it to their advantage] I don't sleep, so it's a little unavoidable for me.

Neat. Why do you have a sword?

[It occurs to her, after the fact, that maybe he's from a place where swords and things are the norm. But it's too late to take back what might be a ridiculous question. From the description, it sounds different than the sword the red bayard turns into, though.]

I don't know much about weapons in the traditional sense. [Old-ass alien tech is hardly something she'd consider traditional, after all.]

I get what you meant. [She's probably biased in that she's more likely to avoid the strange ones if she can manage.] I don't if I can avoid it.

[if it's any consolation, Baku answers as he would any other question. He likes talking, sometimes, and talking about things he knows about]

It was gifted to me by my boss, but I do use it in my work, sometimes. I'm an Enforcer - sort of like - mm, supernatural guards. We protect humans from us and vice versa. And sometimes the only way to eliminate a threat is to remove it entirely - and something not of the human world can only be removed by magic or something else other-worldly.

My sword was made by human hands, but it has a demon sealed inside it. [you know, normal] So if I have to - that's my something other-worldly.

You don't . . . sleep? Isn't that bad for humans?

Sounds like your boss is good at gifts. [She could certainly think of worse gifts, at any rate.] Huh. Do we need protection? [It's a general we, since this place seems safe enough that she isn't worried about being in any particular danger, herself.]

What kind of demon? And what's the biggest threat you've had to deal with? [This is probably not how he was expecting this conversation to go, but Pidge is nosy and she's likely to just keep digging for as long as he'll allow it.]

I mean I do sleep. But most nights I have nightmares so it's not exactly something I look forward to.

Mm, sometimes. He's usually really boring. [a shrug, though he hums thoughtfully] Not up here, no. We're fairly safe here, since it's heaven. Nippon's version of it, at least.

It's something born from Muramasa's rage - the man who made the sword itself. It feeds on blood, technically, but it needs mine before I can sheath it, because it's bound to me. [he taps his chin] Everything is a threat, more or less. I almost died to a shapeshifting spirit once - maybe that one?

[a curious look] But you wanted me to eat them, didn't you? So you don't have to worry about those.

[Baku she can't tell you're the dream eater, dummy]

Could be worse. [His boss could be a doofy looking turtle guy, or trying to conquer the entire universe.] So you're out of work for now?

[Pidge can relate. It's been quite a while since she's come across anything that needed Voltron's specific brand of help. Which is probably a good thing, since she has yet to see any of the Lions show up here.]

That makes sense. [Kind of. Though now she's mostly wondering about the specific blood requirement- and what happens if he tries to sheath it without feeding it first.]

I feel like I'd probably remember saying something like that. [Naturally, she remembers the conversation she'd had over the network, but she'd been chatting with a cute, potentially-alien creature then. Still, she's quiet for a moment as she considers his appearance.]

Unless that's a subtle way of saying by the way, I'm also a shapeshifter, at which point I'd feel the need to point out how cool that is.

Uh. [he takes a moment to actually. Consider his employment status] I'm honestly not sure. It's complicated. But I've been considering picking up the same work here. At least as a way to help.

[a long pause, confused, before it clicks. Right, he'd done that post in his actual form, not in this newer one or his usual, female form. Duh]

Oh - oh, no, I'm Baku. It isn't technically shapeshifting, it's just taking a human form. Sorry, I keep forgetting how I meet people.

I suppose there are worse places to vacation. [She's been to a couple, in fact.] I need to figure out the job situation at some point. [Too much sitting around is just a reminder that she's stuck here instead of at home where people need her.]

Do you think there'll be much need for your work here?

[This is supposed to be a version of heaven, so she's hoping that also means that things are pretty safe. On the other hand, safe tends to be boring.]

Nice to meet you again. That doesn't make it any less cool, though. [It's still a lot more than most people can do.] So you just swap between this form and the other one?

I've never been on vacation before. Is this really what it's like? [he kind of wrinkles his nose] It's what I'm good at, and there are all the ayakashi down in Nippon that cause trouble - but running a business sounds like a lot of work and other boring things I usually don't handle.

[like paperwork. The bane of Baku's existence]

It's nice to meet you again as well. And - sort of? This form is new, I usually have a younger, female form. But I didn't feel very comfortable walking around naked like that in the beginning, so - [and he gestures to himself]

I haven't been on vacation in years. [Since before the Kerberos mission, at the very least.] But yea, they're meant to be fun. [This place has been pretty fun so far, even if it's different than literally everywhere else she's been.]

I don't think I've run into many of them yet. Define boring things.

[Spoken by someone who willingly fiddles with code or tech for hours.]

Ah, yea. I get it. [It's on the tip of her tongue to ask if that means he's more comfortable with it now, but she's decided to behave. For now.]

[please hold, he's considering whether or not he's been having fun.

After a good minute of thought, he nods] I'm enjoying myself, so I'll consider it a vacation.

Boring things. Like paperwork. [he doesn't hide his disgust] Don't jobs come with a lot of that? And time sheets. Ugh.

[at least, he's more comfortable like this than he is in his real form, so there's that] When we return back down to Nippon I'll probably take that form again.

[Pidge is feeling patient enough to wait while he deliberates, and then she nods at his eventual comment.] Yea, it's been fun so far.

[Not as exciting as getting caught up in the middle of an intergalactic war, but few things are. And this is a different kind of fun.]

It's not so bad. [Admittedly, she hasn't had to suffer through much in the way of paperwork recently.]

I don't know. But you could always just find someone else to handle the parts you find boring. [Is she volunteering, or just trying to be helpful? Who knows.]

I'll keep that in mind. [Not that that will do her much good if she doesn't know what that other form looks like, but it's still good info to have.]

If there's someone who enjoys that kind of thing I would happily pay them to handle it for me. [he absolutely means that, because paperwork and bakus do not mix] I'm not bad at it or anything, it's just something that would put me to sleep if I were capable of sleeping.

[he's being dramatic]

I'll remember to reintroduce myself again.

I can't really say that I enjoy it, but there's something relaxing about tedious work like that. [That might be part of why she enjoys coding or tinkering so much.] I feel like you'd almost have to actively work at being bad at paperwork. And hey- maybe if you do enough of it, you'll fall asleep, though it's pretty overrated as far as bodily functions go.

[It's not even the act of sleeping itself that she has an issue with so much as that, more often than not, her dreams are nightmares.]

You could wear a name tag.

Relaxing? [he sounds dubious] I'm bad at getting it done on time. You wouldn't think heaven deals with it a lot, but they're incredibly, annoyingly organized.

[a snort] I don't think even Hypnos can put me to sleep, but the thought's nice.

Nah, I'll remember this time. I have to reintroduce myself to a few people in my female form.

Yea! [Not relaxing enough to reliably put her to sleep every time, but if she had to rate a bunch of tasks from most to least relaxing, paperwork would be pretty high up there.] I try to do the things I don't like first so I don't forget about them. [When she's not putting them off until the last minute, anyway.]

Hypnos? [Listen. She knows a lot of things about a lot of things. This is apparently not one of those things.]

How many are we talking about?

[It's none of her business, really, but she's nosy.]

I'm really bad at that . . . doing things I don't like, I mean. I don't mind the rest of the work, but the rest isn't for me. Sometimes my cousin ends up doing it for me instead.

[he is a lazy cat more often than he's any of the other animals he's made up of] Hypnos is the Greek god of sleep. He somehow ended up here with a couple of other Greek gods. Technically in charge of my realm, but his son is the one who runs it in my world.

[please hold, thinking . . . ] Four or five? So far.

Me too. That's why I have to do them first. [If she lets things sit, she's likely to forget about them entirely and that's sometimes not an option. So she's learned that it's easier to just do the boring jobs first and get them over with.] It's also helpful to have someone else around to do them for you.

[Lance and Hunk aren't around, so she can't con them into doing things for her, so maybe she'll have to find someone else.]

Ah. Neat. Is his son one of the other ones who ended up here? [Her knowledge about the Greek gods is pretty limited, likely because of where and when she's from.] Oh. That's not so bad.

Mm, my cousin's like that. He's the orderly sort . . . he has a lot to keep track of so he kind of has to stay organized. I help him with the more - hands on stuff.

[is he implying he trades paperwork for manual labor? You bet he is]

No, sadly. But I'm not surprised; he isn't known for leaving the realm much. The others are Dionysus and Ares - though admittedly I'm more familiar with the latter, given his connection to my boss.

That makes sense. I know a couple people like that.

[Neither of them have made an appearance here, though, and it feels incredibly selfish of her to wish they'd show up just because she misses them.]

Ah, okay. I'd say that I hope he shows up here, but that'd mean he's not where he's supposed to be. [This isn't the first time she's been in this type of situation, with people showing up with no rhyme or reason, but it isn't any easier to deal with now than it had been the first time.]

I've gotta be honest, though. I don't really know much at all about the Greek gods. If it's not space-related or tech-related, I'm probably not the right one to ask.

It wouldn't make much difference, at least. Dreams would be weird for a while at worse. [it would be kind of nice for Morpheus to show up, but he's content with his cousin being here. Every other possibility would be a bigger problem anyway]

I'm only familiar with some of them, but I'm also . . . well, old. Honestly, a lot of my knowledge comes from human media.

Good weird or bad weird? [It's an important distinction to make. Fortunately, she hasn't had much experience with the latter, but she can't not ask. This place, at least, seems more harmless weird than anything.]

Just the cool ones? [As far as guesses go, it's probably not the most ridiculous. She's also doing her level best to avoid asking how old because that's about the rudest thing you could ask someone.]

Please tell me that's where you've learned everything you know about humans. [Naturally, Pidge is just assuming he's talking about movies and stuff.]

Kind of in the middle? If he were to show up here, I think most people would figure it out, as he reestablished himself in his realm. [and it would be awkward, because Hypnos doesn't know him and it's technically his realm but that's a minor detail Baku will concern himself with if Morpheus ever shows up]

Some of the cool ones, some of the obscure ones . . . humans tend to be obsessed with it from a historical perspective. Youtube is full of things like that.

[Baku gets a lot of his knowledge nowadays from Youtube]

I've learned some things? But I've lived as one for the last 500 years, and I've been around since they were created in China. Movies tend to exaggerate a lot of human behavior, though.

Fair. [Though now that she's heard that it wouldn't necessarily be the latter, she's kind of curious about what would happen if he did end up here after all.]

I don't remember many people obsessing over them back home. [To be fair, though, people had other, more pressing things going on at that point.] Youtube?

[The name is vaguely familiar, but it's not something she has a lot of experience with. Which means she'll have to look into it on her own later.]

Oh man. Is it wild to have lived that long? [Pidge is imagining that it's probably pretty crazy to have lived that long, human or not. Then again, she can't remember how old he'd said he was in that video post a while back. Come to think of it, had he mentioned it?]

That's the beauty of movies. They're mostly for entertainment so they don't necessarily have to be super accurate.

Ah - YouTube is a place where you can watch videos. Sort of like the site here we can access.

[only it's in color and leads to many, many trips to the darkest parts of the internet if you aren't careful] If it exists, there's probably a video about it.

[he pauses, the consider the question a little more seriously than he normally would. "Wild" isn't the word he would use, but . . . ]

It's . . mm, I guess wild is one way to put it. Sometimes it's boring - years tend to fly by if you don't pay attention. And time is very different to someone like me.

[his lips twitch, a brief grin] Mostly. Though the horror ones are more accurate than you would think.

[ open ] we hear you sinnin'

sets this down here

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