Below the floor for the 2s? You know, it's funny you mention that. Someone recommended that I not spend too much time down there, right before I got my dare to check out the statues. Sounds like there's something happening down there, huh?
looks like they were looking out for you. not that there's anything bad down there at the moment, but it's creepy and there's some magic there that plays tricks on you
[ just a pretty face, huh? he sounds like wei wuxian whenever he wants people to think he's a weak little baby. but he's not going to presume he's playing the same tune as wei wuxian...... for now. ]
does that mean i should pity you? give you mercy? you said you wanted a non sexy dare!
That's true, I did! So I guess it can't be helped.
[Game recognizes game. And despite his whining, Natori goes down to the basement anyway-- was frankly going to go down to the basement ever since he was explicitly told not to, just now he has an excuse.
The basement looks about how he'd expected it to look (gross and creepy, since the guests presumably aren't supposed to be there). He doesn't encounter any visible ayakashi, which also isn't a surprise; this place seemed to favor the subtle signs of spiritual presence over hoards of monsters crawling over each other in the basement. Hence the whispers.
It's unpleasant, but not a shock. He is intimately familiar with just how little is necessary to give an ayakashi a glimpse into his mind-- a fact the voices remind him of, of just how easy it was for Mitsuru to trap him in her illusion based on nothing more than a name and eye contact. For a job that was supposed to be easy for him, for a job that an untrained teenager needed to rescue him from. He remembers Natsume's face, red with tears that he shed over Mitsuru, knowing that if he'd been a little more careful, he could have spared Natsume from that. He remembers the unpleasant little secret he discovered in his uncle's walls, and considers whether it would have been better to let that sit undiscovered.
But this isn't his first rodeo. He's mildly annoyed that Wei Wuxian would send someone down here without knowing if they had any defenses against it; the last thing they need is to be helping the hotel along with chipping away at people's unguarded hearts. Then again, Natori isn't unprepared, so no harm done?
He comes back fairly soon after his last text, since he didn't specify how long he had to spend down there. Technically the dare said to report back on what he heard-- there's a chance that Wei Wuxian was maliciously trying to get the exact details of what the voices said to him, but he doesn't seem like the type. And if he was the type, that was good info to snoop out as well.]
Well, I did know that the basement was haunted before.
[ It's funny, really, he isn't inclined to send someone down there for the harm of it. Not really. But he was sent down there on a dare as well, had to spend an hour of his time there and did not like it one bit. So, he's been stuck with a curiosity over it too — if someone went down there, an average person with average experiences, what would they see? Hear? What problems would they face?
He got the sense that the basement wasn't as dangerous during normal times and more just unpleasant. Deeply unpleasant. And thus, he wanted to know. So, it's not malicious a dare, more just ... nosy. Deeply nosy.
But it's why he didn't specify how long Natori should spend down there. An hour was far too long for him and he doesn't want anyone to spend more time down there than they have to. It's also why he didn't hide anything when describing what the basement was like. It's bad, and he believed Natori should know that before he went down there himself. ]
yep! it's pretty bad. tell me, did you hear anything peculiar? when i went down, i heard the voices of people i loved who had died. it wasn't pleasant, but it made me wonder what others might hear.
Yes, there's some sort of ayakashi down there trying to unsettle people by looking into their hearts. [Which is what it comes down to; they're not pleasant, but again, it's hardly the first time that some ayakashi has tried to taunt him with his mistakes.] If it helps, it's almost certainly not actually your loved ones talking. More likely some ayakashi that can see into your memories and use what it finds to try to get you off balance. Please don't worry about it.
[none of which is wrong, but neither is it anything specific about what he'd heard.]
[Oh, is that the thing that keeps giving him away? Good to know, though it's not like he can stop referring to ayakashi just to avoid people sniffing out the connection...]
Yes. I said I was an actor for my day job, but my true career is that of an exorcist. The Matoba clan is a far more influential exorcist clan than the Natori, but we operate in the same area. I wasn't aware "ayakashi" was regional-- some spirit or youkai, whatever you want to call it.
oh! well that means we have a lot more in common that i thought. i'm a cultivator where i come from, which means i deal with all sorts of magic as well as ghosts, yao, monsters, etc.
i can't say the term is regional specific, but it just is one unfamiliar to me before i arrived here. i've talked to matoba seiji quite often about our similarities but you have already come off more pleasant than he. :) [ he's not even going to sugarcoat it......... ] i'd love to hear about your experiences!
Really? Well, that's good to hear! Just those few minutes in the basement was enough to confirm we need as many spellcasters in this place as we can get.
I haven't heard "cultivator" specifically before, but I think I understand the gist! I'd be happy to talk shop if you'd like, though since I'm from a clan of one I don't get many prestigious jobs.
[He should probably be a little more humble, but he's too delighted at how quickly Matoba is catching strays.]
and oh that's a shame. i understand how it is though, when i was part of a sect the work just landed in my lap. but these days, i have to roam the countryside to find problems i can attend to and help civilians with. it's a little tedious.
still, i'm sure your stories are quite interesting!
Haha, I'm a little luckier than that, at least! The larger clans still have plenty of work that they're happy to farm out when they need a hand.
[Or when it's convenient for them, or when it's something that no one else wants to do, like taking the fall for exorcising a god. Not that he's bitter.]
That's dedication, though! For you to keep at it despite all that. I bet you have a lot of interesting stories yourself!
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paperpusher) wrote2025-06-08 09:26 am
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what the hell is a movie. no, jk, he did look up what a movie was already at this point. ]
oooh so you're a charming, dashing type? no wonder you offered your autograph
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[and then maybe he can buy his way up to rank 5, or however it works?]
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[ smh ]
oh right, are we still playing the game?
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[but oh, right, the game. Chirpy helpfully reminds him that--]
It's my turn, apparently? I'll choose a dare, I guess.
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[that's the point of a dare???]
Especially when I'm just a pretty face!
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does that mean i should pity you? give you mercy? you said you wanted a non sexy dare!
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[Game recognizes game. And despite his whining, Natori goes down to the basement anyway-- was frankly going to go down to the basement ever since he was explicitly told not to, just now he has an excuse.
The basement looks about how he'd expected it to look (gross and creepy, since the guests presumably aren't supposed to be there). He doesn't encounter any visible ayakashi, which also isn't a surprise; this place seemed to favor the subtle signs of spiritual presence over hoards of monsters crawling over each other in the basement. Hence the whispers.
It's unpleasant, but not a shock. He is intimately familiar with just how little is necessary to give an ayakashi a glimpse into his mind-- a fact the voices remind him of, of just how easy it was for Mitsuru to trap him in her illusion based on nothing more than a name and eye contact. For a job that was supposed to be easy for him, for a job that an untrained teenager needed to rescue him from. He remembers Natsume's face, red with tears that he shed over Mitsuru, knowing that if he'd been a little more careful, he could have spared Natsume from that. He remembers the unpleasant little secret he discovered in his uncle's walls, and considers whether it would have been better to let that sit undiscovered.
But this isn't his first rodeo. He's mildly annoyed that Wei Wuxian would send someone down here without knowing if they had any defenses against it; the last thing they need is to be helping the hotel along with chipping away at people's unguarded hearts. Then again, Natori isn't unprepared, so no harm done?
He comes back fairly soon after his last text, since he didn't specify how long he had to spend down there. Technically the dare said to report back on what he heard-- there's a chance that Wei Wuxian was maliciously trying to get the exact details of what the voices said to him, but he doesn't seem like the type. And if he was the type, that was good info to snoop out as well.]
Well, I did know that the basement was haunted before.
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He got the sense that the basement wasn't as dangerous during normal times and more just unpleasant. Deeply unpleasant. And thus, he wanted to know. So, it's not malicious a dare, more just ... nosy. Deeply nosy.
But it's why he didn't specify how long Natori should spend down there. An hour was far too long for him and he doesn't want anyone to spend more time down there than they have to. It's also why he didn't hide anything when describing what the basement was like. It's bad, and he believed Natori should know that before he went down there himself. ]
yep! it's pretty bad. tell me, did you hear anything peculiar? when i went down, i heard the voices of people i loved who had died. it wasn't pleasant, but it made me wonder what others might hear.
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[none of which is wrong, but neither is it anything specific about what he'd heard.]
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hey, do you know matoba seiji? he's the only other one i've ever heard talk about ayakashi before
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Yes. I said I was an actor for my day job, but my true career is that of an exorcist. The Matoba clan is a far more influential exorcist clan than the Natori, but we operate in the same area. I wasn't aware "ayakashi" was regional-- some spirit or youkai, whatever you want to call it.
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i can't say the term is regional specific, but it just is one unfamiliar to me before i arrived here. i've talked to matoba seiji quite often about our similarities but you have already come off more pleasant than he. :) [ he's not even going to sugarcoat it......... ] i'd love to hear about your experiences!
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I haven't heard "cultivator" specifically before, but I think I understand the gist! I'd be happy to talk shop if you'd like, though since I'm from a clan of one I don't get many prestigious jobs.
[He should probably be a little more humble, but he's too delighted at how quickly Matoba is catching strays.]
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and oh that's a shame. i understand how it is though, when i was part of a sect the work just landed in my lap. but these days, i have to roam the countryside to find problems i can attend to and help civilians with. it's a little tedious.
still, i'm sure your stories are quite interesting!
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[Or when it's convenient for them, or when it's something that no one else wants to do, like taking the fall for exorcising a god. Not that he's bitter.]
That's dedication, though! For you to keep at it despite all that. I bet you have a lot of interesting stories yourself!
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of course! we'll share over drinks sometime, yes? i'll look forward to it.
in the meantime, i do think we've achieved our goal of truth or dare. at least, the bird is no longer annoying me about it.
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