inbox

[paperpusher]

Please leave a message after the beep.

options:
✶ text
✶ audio
✶ video
✶ paper doll notes

✩ please don't leave curses on the answering machine ✩

Comments

[text/image?? does this count as a curse]

[worldbent]

yes.

[paperpusher]

What
?

[worldbent]

I thought it resembled your face

Do you disagree?

[paperpusher]

[why is THIS the first thing he's hearing (receiving???) from Matoba after they EMOTIONALLY GUTPUNCHED EACH OTHER]

Dont send me weird things

I assumed a mobile phone would blow up if you touched it

text/action-ish, ᴜɴ: ᴊᴜᴇʏᴜɴ ᴄʜɪʟɪ — ( pre-night parade )

[cutcloud]

To Master Natori,

I hope this letter finds you well.

I wanted to thank you for your assistance on the bridge the other day. And, once again, I wished to sincerely apologize for ...... what happened. I still can't find the right words other than apologies, only that I hope you are feeling in good health. If you required any medical attention, please allow me to pay for it.

I have also prepared a replacement for the glasses that you tragically lost due to my recklessness. While I don't have much experience selecting frames, the saleswoman assured me that these are extremely popular in the city and well worth the extra expense. You should receive a delivery soon.

I look forward to the next time we meet and hope that our next investigation goes more smoothly.

Your friend,
Chongyun

[ And, true enough, eventually a runner talented in finding lost souls with only a name and vague description drops off a small box that's only big enough to hold a pair of frames. Inside, Natori will find this .... "charming" pair of specs. Enjoy!!!!!! ]

un: akeboshi

[paperpusher]

Hi Chongyun-kun! Thank you for the well wishes, but as I said the other day, please don't worry about it! I'm looking forward to the next time we work together, and I'll have you to thank for my new glasses when we do.

[And then he sends a selfie where he's wearing the ridiculous glasses... He's worn weirder for pay, he can pull off a single photo to make a teen boy feel better.]

Until then, Natori (ナトリ)

[He's signing his name in katakana out of paranoia re: putting his full name anywhere in writing in the ayakashi realm. Being an exorcist sure is exhausting.]

[ac..tion/text]

[worldbent]

[The wards don't protect against that which set them. Early in the morning at the end of May, Natori wakes to a slender, shadow-like shiki waiting patiently for him by his bed, long neck craned over to stare down at him with its mask-like face.]

[Ohayou, Shuichi-san ♥︎]

[Whether Natori dispels it or not, whether he does so on accident or not, the shiki is clutching a letter, written on a regular sheet of paper and folded into precise thirds. It is sealed shut, with a simple spell.]

I hear your clan is playing host to the gods, these days. A Natori's work is never done.

[paperpusher]

[Natori surfaces from sleep with an immediate awareness that something is in the room with him. His eyes snap open to see the shiki hovering far too close to his face. Although he recognizes it nearly instantly, years of habit take over; he rolls to the side both to avoid the strike that (probably) isn't coming and to grab for the chains of paper dolls he keeps in arm's reach when he sleeps. As they make short work of the shiki (it may mean him no harm, but it's the principle of the thing) he sits up in bed to read the letter.

Matoba gets a paper doll with a message written on it in curt, familiar handwriting.]

Congratulations on getting your shiki restored to you.

[worldbent]

[Poor shiki-kun.... Getting punched just for doing his job, as usual!! This is why they don’t like you, Master Natori!!]

[Or wouldn’t, if they were capable of feelings.]

[Dutifully, another message arrives stubbornly by shiki-delivery by the time Natori is up, another letter sealed carefully.]

The Natori house’s congratulations are appreciated.

Have you engaged with them, yet, Mr. Celebrity?

[Acknowledge the topic you stupid himbo!!]

[paperpusher]

[By the time the shiki returns, Natori is fully awake and getting dressed. He's irritated but not surprised to receive a response; it wasn't like Matoba to just give up when he wanted something, but at the same time he had hoped that this wouldn't need to be an actual conversation.

He doesn't bother dispelling the shiki this time, just takes the letter and reads it. He writes his own response on the back and hands it back to the shiki without a word (or a ward; he's not going to bother sealing it).]

I'm happy to report that the Akeboshi Koutarou continues to receive rave reviews, even from the Celestials. I suppose that's not much of a surprise to you?

text; un: fushiguro

[mahoraga]

[ pls pretend they became friends and exchanged contacts??? ]

Do you know someone named Matoba Seiji?

[paperpusher]

[oh look it's his friend Fushiguro-kun--]

Yes. Is he bothering you?

[mahoraga]

No ...

Well, says a lot that you would immediately make that assumption. [ what exactly has matoba done ]

[paperpusher]

He can be very persistent when it comes to powerful spiritually-sensitive teenagers. But if what you're asking is if we're from the same place, the answer is yes.

text | touches this inbox AGAIN

[worldbent]

[AFTER SEEING THIS]

You really have no business chiding me about any dealings with Natsume-kun.

[paperpusher]

[after several "..."s]

It was just a joke.

[worldbent]

I'm sure.

So when you are dragging him around meetings and jobs for your convenience it is a joke, and when I request his assistance a single time it is inappropriate.

How very interesting.

You know, Natori-san, I always wondered how it was that you met Natsume-kun to begin with.

Could it be you were scouting after all?

[paperpusher]

I took a nap in the grass during a shooting break and he tripped over me while looking for his cat, actually. [Which is easy for him to say all high and mighty, if he puts aside everything that came afterwards.]

Remind me, did you request his assistance? Or did you strong-arm him into going along with what you wanted?

un: majima

[no_kyouken]

Hey. Ya doin' all right?
Wanted t'ask ya about somethin'.

[paperpusher]

Better than I was a few weeks ago, at least. What can I do for you, Majima-san?

[no_kyouken]

There's a certain kind've yokai that I keep runnin' into.
Chijoku says they're Ungaikyō, mirror spirits.
Need t'keep them outta my head.

[ He cannot stop Natori from speculating as to why that might be, but boy he wishes he could. ]

text; he will never be free

[worldbent]

You'll never guess what I'm doing at the festival right now

[paperpusher]

[He thinks about not answering... but c'mon they both know he's going to answer.]

Terrorizing your Sutoku kouhai?

[worldbent]

Playing with Natsume-kun 😻

text; just after the September mini-event explosion

[worldbent]

Don't let your little fellow foxes be pulled in by this ruse.

[It's a hint. He won't be saying any more.]