[Ishtar's proud declaration would have been more endearing to some goofy old man but he was on the job. That young man's extensive training covered a whole spectrum of topics and this precise situation fell under absolutely none of them.
Well, except for one. Frowning gravely, Kisuke held up three fingers. Certainly, she looked to be perfectly healthy but he had a touch of concern flash over his face.]
[The air seems to shake and the buildings rumble. Another enemy? Ishtar floats herself higher. Attempting to see most of the skyline as she summons both Maanna and her blade.]
Ridiculous. Who dares interrupt a goddess?
[If Ishtar is allowed to the source first it'd be like using a grenade to get rid of a ketchup stain. While her human body does limit her divinity, she is still by far too much fire power for most common occurrences.]
[Whatever her strange tools were, one of them clearly bore the appearance of a bow in its design. She called herself a goddess but the word was nearly meaningless to him. Those things were mysteries from the countryside to him. More importantly, she was living.
Rising up further along with her, Kisuke shook his head and held out his hand before Ishtar, still dripping crimson.]
It's not your responsibility. Please, return to your home and forget about this.
Tch, idiot. You're still injured! Take a seat and behold what a goddess of war can really do.
[With ease she flies around him. Tearing off into the air to follow the disturbance to the source. Now, she doesn't really know the inner-workings of a Hollow or how to deal with them. But she never met a problem she couldn't fix by blowing it into shreds so small it can't recover.]
[The hollow she'd spotted had been settling into a park. The creature, shaped much like a spider, had been in the process of weaving an intricate web made of spiritual strands. Kisuke and Ishtar would easily spot the strands but someone without spiritual awareness would likely fall prey to it easily. It stirred, turning its glassy-eyed mask on Ishtar as she speared through the air like a missile to come for it and, barely catching up, Kisuke stopped in the air a few dozen yards above her, lifting both hands to cast an incantation.
A bolt of light conjured from his fingertips, looking to restrain Ishtar, but even before it could touch her skin--the entire strand of the spell simply burst into raw particles. As if turned into raw shards of glass.]
[Say it. Say that it's her. She matters and that she is important. She's worth the struggle.
But even so, she does not need it. Ishtar has not "mattered" in the eyes of the people for so long. She has become obsolete and unimportant like all the other gods. And as far as worth goes? Well, it's inarguable that the weaker side shouldn't have to struggle for the stronger one.
The goddess had intended to dive bomb the spider-like creature and slice its head off his neck with her "lance," however the web keeps her from getting close. Kisuke's words cause the creature to turn their way which only gives Ishtar a moment to check for bystanders. Thankfully the park is empty. Perhaps that's why it started here - to set up while empty in hopes to catch any who filtered in.
It seems Ishtar takes no notice of his failed attempt to restrain her, and instead floats back just enough to summon multiple balls of energy that glow gold with her power. Shimmering in the sky until she looses them like arrows from a bow. The raw power arcs in toward the Hollow and pierces its body. Hurtling through it before they all explode turning the grassy clearing into something more akin to a shallow crater.]
[A subconscious tick of sorts. Presented with a question he had no proper answer to, something in the back of his mind simply filled in the blanks. Warmth ran up his cheeks to his ears as he wondered whether or not this crazed woman was teasing him and what in the world for? That hollow looked aged enough that it would give a seated officer trouble but she was flirting in the middle of her efforts to dispatch it?!
He didn't have much time to warn her a second time. The hollow's attention turned to him and, in only a moment or two, Ishtar had begun raining down in a central point of the park that simply turned the hollow to molten dust before it began to fully collapse and dissolve into mere motes of energy.
It didn't leave him speechless so much as perturbed. The heated wind that rose from the blast left a dazzling shimmer on her skin and in her eyes that he was sure to remember even beyond his little experiment and yet--]
[As the coast clears her hair catches in the wind. Thick, dark locks flowing through the air as if suspended in water. It gives her an ethereal look as she closes the distance between them.]
Mm, so while you recover leave the work to me. I can definitely handle it.
[Though she seems a little tired. The energy came straight from her without using any gems as storage banks or conduits, and she doesn't technically have a master anchoring her here. What she relies on is the impressive output this body normally has to keep her sustained. But even that is sad compared to her original strength.]
['Beautiful' didn't sufficiently portray the nature of her. Her confidence and poise went just beyond the physical into a realm of something he simply didn't understand. 'Love' was one of those things he reasonably understood to exist but assumed was meaningless for his work.
Soul reapers died quickly, more often than not. He assumed any mission would be his last and saw no sense in the burdensome nature of attachment. So, her suggestion made him feel hollow. Was she offering to protect him?]
I can tell you're someone precious, so I can't ask you to take that task on.
[Someone precious? When was the last time she got to hear that? This man who does not remember her thinks she's precious. To him? To the world at large? Either way it makes her heart skip a beat and her skin feel warm.
Ishtar settles in right next to him, and holds her hands above his wounded arm. This girl, this body in its other life, was a mage. Ishtar is sure of it. And so she tries to use the magical energy in her to heal him. Not entirely, but just simply closing the wound.]
How convenient that you will not have to ask, then.
[Kisuke didn't startle when Ishtar drew close to him but he became rather still not out of an abundance of caution but because she radiated quite a lot except hostility. Almost as if she'd wanted to be gentle with him, she stayed her hand just shy of his wound and began to apply magic to it.
He surmised it would take him thirty minutes to fix it himself even with his talent for recuperative spells but she fully sealed it in a matter of moments. Much more effectively than she'd even been intending. Hardly understanding the mystery of it, he understood there were little blank spots in his memory and in his thoughts that were being stolen away by her. By her name. He flexed his fingers, briefly setting eyes on the sealed, smooth skin where there had been torn and bruised flesh before.
It was a selfish thing to want to talk to her when he had to work and still, he already had a keen awareness that the beautiful goddess who found him wasn't likely to let him do quite so much as he pleased. Even as he asked his question, he noticed the little change in the flush of her skin and wondered how a girl could look even more beautiful with such a small change. Kisuke, somber, didn't bother hiding his doubts. Maybe it was simply a dream. A ridiculous city full of lights that went into the sky and a goddess swooping in to dazzle his eyes? Maybe he'd spent too much time dozing in his lab.]
["We're friends" would have been an easy reply, but... she's not sure it would be right. He always seemed to act like she was too good for him. And while that does give her a nice little ego boost it also makes her a little sad she can't just match with someone equally. It's probably why she sought Gilgamesh after Dumuzid. Someone who wouldn't try and take her Authority because they had their own.]
[He didn't know what he expected to hear. Some subtle recollection of a pleasant evening? Maybe she'd passed him before and he had the weakness of fortitude to forget her. Maybe it had been something he'd forgotten on one of those nights he enjoyed drinks with the seated officers.
No. Clearly, by the sudden and humorless way his brows knitted together, he'd clearly expected quite a number of things other than what pierced his ear drums. How could one so expertly weave a nightmare together with a pleasant dream?]
Please, be transparent if you're teasing me. 'Working in a candy shop' sounds like an old man's failure of a rebound job and 'having slept with a goddess' is something reserved for a fitful dream.
Have you tumbled back so far you've lost all imagination? Candy shop is a cover front, and do you think if it wasn't a goddess would admit to sleeping with such a person?
[Hmph! Ishtar begins grabbing at his shoulders as if trying to lead him away from the park.]
We should find somewhere else to talk! People can see this human body, after all.
[A cover? It could have been a prank. Some petty revenge for his mean-spirited treatment of Yoruichi's suitors or the samples he'd stolen from Kirinjo's springs. Even so, he had no inclination to push back against Ishtar when she pushed him along. His eyes drifted from point to point, checking corners and inspecting absolutely everything around him. It all looked a little too lived in and, distantly, he found himself already ignoring the sound of sirens.]
I could do a better cover than 'candy shop'. That's frustrating.
Ah. [Pinched and still quite confused by the state of things, Kisuke turned back to Ishtar, a dry inquiry dripping from him as if he still didn't believe anything she said. Some older state of him had been using a candy shop as a front for... something's cover and he'd been courting a foreign goddess?]
By 'there', I assume you mean that candy store I use as a front. If it's my store then why wouldn't I... [A rumble, far across town. With it came a presence Ishtar would likely recognize as the polite and easy-to-tease young man Kisuke insisted was his hapless student and it was going about to erase hollows with far more power than one really needed to swing around in a city that tightly packed. Rather than feeling relieved, he simply paled when he recognized it was a soul reaper.]
You said you were a mentor to some newbie, I think. And you take care of two kids, but I'm not sure they're actually kids.
[She's a little disappointed he didn't have a bigger reaction to her pinch... But she's too tired to fuss at the moment. Nuking a Hollow and then healing his wound? Took a fair bit out of her. When they reach the rooftop Ishtar frowns, but she lets her feet touch the ground.]
[It wasn't that he had a talent for discerning honesty but Ishtar wasn't putting any effort into it. Besides, everything about her seemed to line up with her claim, so there wasn't particularly much wiggle room to make anything exciting up. Gradually, Ishtar had been winding down to the point that he noticed easily enough. Did she miss him?
Without thinking, as Ishtar descended to touch the rooftop, he wordlessly cast a binding kido. It summoned fabric made of spiritual particles and it was meant to bind someone harmlessly but instead, he simply laid it flat so she'd have somewhere soft to settle.]
[Since she doesn't touch the ground very often her feet are bare. Which means it's all the more noticeable when she lands and she's not feeling rooftop on her soles. A soft smile plays on her lips, and before she replies the goddess reaches out to brush the back of her hand affectionately along the curve of his cheek.]
[So, with a gesture he couldn't for the life of him process quickly enough, Ishtar's touch left Kisuke beet red. That feeling when he first laid eyes on her came up, blooming into something that left his throat dry and he swallowed near audibly in an effort to recover. He lifted one hand as if he were ready to touch his cheek and realized she'd still been there and simply let it hang limp, not knowing what to do with it.
It wasn't as if she couldn't disarm him to that extent normally but at that moment, he simply had no idea what to do and he had no idea how to conceal it.]
Oh, well look at you. I've not been able to see you this cute quite yet.
[Her hand turns around so her palm can cup his cheek properly. Ishtar leans in with a smile as her eyes drink in the sight of him being on the receiving end.]
Would you hate it? If I stole those tempting lips of yours?
[The dangerous nature of her eyes, ruby-red and alluring as her hair rolling over her shoulder as if she were deliberately trying to frame her curves and draw his eyes' attention all over her.
His lips had yet to be touched.]
I wouldn't. As long as you're not teasing... [Her breath, soft on his cheek, made his heart race.]
Can't I tease and also been sincere? To make it so you keep that lovely color on your cheeks makes riling you up very tempting.
[She loves it. He seems so entranced, so captivated by her. Ishtar finds herself thrilled by this, and wastes no time leaning in to lock her lips softly with his.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 12:47 pm (UTC)Well, except for one. Frowning gravely, Kisuke held up three fingers. Certainly, she looked to be perfectly healthy but he had a touch of concern flash over his face.]
How many fingers am I holding up?
[A concussion test.]
1/2
Date: 2023-03-23 12:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 01:03 pm (UTC)Ridiculous. Who dares interrupt a goddess?
[If Ishtar is allowed to the source first it'd be like using a grenade to get rid of a ketchup stain. While her human body does limit her divinity, she is still by far too much fire power for most common occurrences.]
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 02:32 pm (UTC)Rising up further along with her, Kisuke shook his head and held out his hand before Ishtar, still dripping crimson.]
It's not your responsibility. Please, return to your home and forget about this.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 02:40 pm (UTC)[With ease she flies around him. Tearing off into the air to follow the disturbance to the source. Now, she doesn't really know the inner-workings of a Hollow or how to deal with them. But she never met a problem she couldn't fix by blowing it into shreds so small it can't recover.]
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 03:40 pm (UTC)A bolt of light conjured from his fingertips, looking to restrain Ishtar, but even before it could touch her skin--the entire strand of the spell simply burst into raw particles. As if turned into raw shards of glass.]
Miss, I'm not the one who matters here--
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 04:01 pm (UTC)[Say it. Say that it's her. She matters and that she is important. She's worth the struggle.
But even so, she does not need it. Ishtar has not "mattered" in the eyes of the people for so long. She has become obsolete and unimportant like all the other gods. And as far as worth goes? Well, it's inarguable that the weaker side shouldn't have to struggle for the stronger one.
The goddess had intended to dive bomb the spider-like creature and slice its head off his neck with her "lance," however the web keeps her from getting close. Kisuke's words cause the creature to turn their way which only gives Ishtar a moment to check for bystanders. Thankfully the park is empty. Perhaps that's why it started here - to set up while empty in hopes to catch any who filtered in.
It seems Ishtar takes no notice of his failed attempt to restrain her, and instead floats back just enough to summon multiple balls of energy that glow gold with her power. Shimmering in the sky until she looses them like arrows from a bow. The raw power arcs in toward the Hollow and pierces its body. Hurtling through it before they all explode turning the grassy clearing into something more akin to a shallow crater.]
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 04:46 pm (UTC)[A subconscious tick of sorts. Presented with a question he had no proper answer to, something in the back of his mind simply filled in the blanks. Warmth ran up his cheeks to his ears as he wondered whether or not this crazed woman was teasing him and what in the world for? That hollow looked aged enough that it would give a seated officer trouble but she was flirting in the middle of her efforts to dispatch it?!
He didn't have much time to warn her a second time. The hollow's attention turned to him and, in only a moment or two, Ishtar had begun raining down in a central point of the park that simply turned the hollow to molten dust before it began to fully collapse and dissolve into mere motes of energy.
It didn't leave him speechless so much as perturbed. The heated wind that rose from the blast left a dazzling shimmer on her skin and in her eyes that he was sure to remember even beyond his little experiment and yet--]
It's Ishtar, right?
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 05:15 pm (UTC)Mm, so while you recover leave the work to me. I can definitely handle it.
[Though she seems a little tired. The energy came straight from her without using any gems as storage banks or conduits, and she doesn't technically have a master anchoring her here. What she relies on is the impressive output this body normally has to keep her sustained. But even that is sad compared to her original strength.]
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 05:46 pm (UTC)Soul reapers died quickly, more often than not. He assumed any mission would be his last and saw no sense in the burdensome nature of attachment. So, her suggestion made him feel hollow. Was she offering to protect him?]
I can tell you're someone precious, so I can't ask you to take that task on.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 06:18 pm (UTC)Ishtar settles in right next to him, and holds her hands above his wounded arm. This girl, this body in its other life, was a mage. Ishtar is sure of it. And so she tries to use the magical energy in her to heal him. Not entirely, but just simply closing the wound.]
How convenient that you will not have to ask, then.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 07:08 pm (UTC)He surmised it would take him thirty minutes to fix it himself even with his talent for recuperative spells but she fully sealed it in a matter of moments. Much more effectively than she'd even been intending. Hardly understanding the mystery of it, he understood there were little blank spots in his memory and in his thoughts that were being stolen away by her. By her name. He flexed his fingers, briefly setting eyes on the sealed, smooth skin where there had been torn and bruised flesh before.
It was a selfish thing to want to talk to her when he had to work and still, he already had a keen awareness that the beautiful goddess who found him wasn't likely to let him do quite so much as he pleased. Even as he asked his question, he noticed the little change in the flush of her skin and wondered how a girl could look even more beautiful with such a small change. Kisuke, somber, didn't bother hiding his doubts. Maybe it was simply a dream. A ridiculous city full of lights that went into the sky and a goddess swooping in to dazzle his eyes? Maybe he'd spent too much time dozing in his lab.]
How do you know me?
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 07:45 pm (UTC)["We're friends" would have been an easy reply, but... she's not sure it would be right. He always seemed to act like she was too good for him. And while that does give her a nice little ego boost it also makes her a little sad she can't just match with someone equally. It's probably why she sought Gilgamesh after Dumuzid. Someone who wouldn't try and take her Authority because they had their own.]
We sleep together.
[That's a little more insightful.]
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 08:15 pm (UTC)No. Clearly, by the sudden and humorless way his brows knitted together, he'd clearly expected quite a number of things other than what pierced his ear drums. How could one so expertly weave a nightmare together with a pleasant dream?]
Please, be transparent if you're teasing me. 'Working in a candy shop' sounds like an old man's failure of a rebound job and 'having slept with a goddess' is something reserved for a fitful dream.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 08:24 pm (UTC)[Hmph! Ishtar begins grabbing at his shoulders as if trying to lead him away from the park.]
We should find somewhere else to talk! People can see this human body, after all.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 09:01 pm (UTC)I could do a better cover than 'candy shop'. That's frustrating.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 09:08 pm (UTC)[Ishtar pinches him, hard, before spotting an empty rooftop nearby they can settle on. Clouds gather in the distance. Rain may be in their future.]
Anyway, what does that matter? It's not like I'll drag you all the way back there when you'll just unsettle anybody who may be looking for you there!
[No, she'll probably try and keep him secret unless this change lasts for longer than a week. Though she may cave at 4 or 5 days, depending.]
no subject
Date: 2023-03-23 10:04 pm (UTC)By 'there', I assume you mean that candy store I use as a front. If it's my store then why wouldn't I... [A rumble, far across town. With it came a presence Ishtar would likely recognize as the polite and easy-to-tease young man Kisuke insisted was his hapless student and it was going about to erase hollows with far more power than one really needed to swing around in a city that tightly packed. Rather than feeling relieved, he simply paled when he recognized it was a soul reaper.]
...Why would I even be needed in this city?
no subject
Date: 2023-03-24 12:00 am (UTC)[She's a little disappointed he didn't have a bigger reaction to her pinch... But she's too tired to fuss at the moment. Nuking a Hollow and then healing his wound? Took a fair bit out of her. When they reach the rooftop Ishtar frowns, but she lets her feet touch the ground.]
no subject
Date: 2023-03-24 12:25 am (UTC)[It wasn't that he had a talent for discerning honesty but Ishtar wasn't putting any effort into it. Besides, everything about her seemed to line up with her claim, so there wasn't particularly much wiggle room to make anything exciting up. Gradually, Ishtar had been winding down to the point that he noticed easily enough. Did she miss him?
Without thinking, as Ishtar descended to touch the rooftop, he wordlessly cast a binding kido. It summoned fabric made of spiritual particles and it was meant to bind someone harmlessly but instead, he simply laid it flat so she'd have somewhere soft to settle.]
You enjoy his company?
no subject
Date: 2023-03-24 01:03 am (UTC)I enjoy your company.
[They are one and the same after all.]
no subject
Date: 2023-03-24 01:28 am (UTC)It wasn't as if she couldn't disarm him to that extent normally but at that moment, he simply had no idea what to do and he had no idea how to conceal it.]
no subject
Date: 2023-03-24 02:08 am (UTC)[Her hand turns around so her palm can cup his cheek properly. Ishtar leans in with a smile as her eyes drink in the sight of him being on the receiving end.]
Would you hate it? If I stole those tempting lips of yours?
kisuke lily has yet to become kisuke alter
Date: 2023-03-24 02:54 am (UTC)His lips had yet to be touched.]
I wouldn't. As long as you're not teasing... [Her breath, soft on his cheek, made his heart race.]
time to pop kisuke cherry
Date: 2023-03-24 03:28 am (UTC)[She loves it. He seems so entranced, so captivated by her. Ishtar finds herself thrilled by this, and wastes no time leaning in to lock her lips softly with his.]
yup that's timetravel JUST to give her his virginity
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From:yep she's gonna get pampered fierce for being so sweet...
From:she's so sweet because she thinks he won't remember!!!!
From:next time, extensively read his production notes!
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From:She needs to channel her inner nerd(Rin) and suss out where the academic material is in the store
From:the 30% of rin she has is all Gem Thirst, sorry
From:young kisuke now convinced that the 'horny single goddesses near you' ad was actually real
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From:wow, how rude
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