[Shura was probably a little tipsy when she agreed to the sexy wrestling. But hey, what was her dignity for a few silver? It wasn't like Rin or Mephisto were probably going to find out. So she'll don the fake armor and make her way to the center stage of the arena with a casual saunter. But her opponent wasn't out yet--wait, she vaguely recognizes that silhouette coming out of the opposite tunnel...]
[ JJ's also not entirely sure what he's signed up for. He heard something about putting on a show, and he looked like he would suit the experience they were trying to give and, well, it only took a few compliments to earn JJ's compliance.
Maybe he should've reconsidered when he'd been asked to change into boxing trunks, leaving him more bare in public than he had been in a long time.
Not that JJ has any issue with showing skin, and he's all smile as he wanders onto the stage, the announcer's voice yelling something over the speakers as the crowd cheers and cat calls.
The smile however, disappears from his face once he sees Shura. Enticing outfit aside, he's still not over the time she tried to push him down the pillar. ]
[wow kick a guy a few times in a friendly pillar climbing contest and suddenly she's the bad guy
But really, what was a guy like him doing here, and just why was he asking her that?]
Ain't it obvious, idiot? Maybe you should just roll over and take the loss if you're gonna be as wimpy as you were on the pillar.
[Her hand comes to her hip, pointing at JJ with her opposite hand. Trash talking would get some cheers, right?? Really, was she supposed to put on a show with him? What a nuisance.]
[ JJ does his best to mask his irritation with a smile, but he's not entirely successful—his smile a little too strained to be natural. Normally a little trash talk before competition isn't enough to grind his gears, but there's something about Shura's nonchalance that irks him. It's almost like she believes what she's saying.
Which is insane, because JJ is massively cool. And he takes a breath, keeping that cool and ensuring that it's not obvious that the taunts had gotten to him.
He fixes her with his douchiest smirk. ]
Maybe I should. At least then the crowd wouldn't have to see you cry when you don't get your way.
[ He shrugs, sticking his tongue out at her in a juvenile move before he rolls his shoulders. It's all bravado anyway, since it's not as though he has a lick of combat experience. ]
[Shura raises her arms up, crossing her wrists behind her head. It's a great way to show off her assets to the crowd, and she looks pretty cocky with the way she shifts her weight, canting her head and leaning her weight on one leg.]
Eh? You think this crowd wants to see a woman cry? Yer a freak!
[Well, some of the audience members would be okay with it, but the rest of them are hooting at him. His douchebag smirk doesn't endear them, and he's about to make himself the bad guy of the match. But look at him--there was the possibility of him holding back some mad skills, but for some reason, Shura doubts it. Shura drops her arms to her sides, shifts her stance.]
C'mon? Better not regret saying that, okay ♥
[hey jj how quick are you cause she's coming at him real quick, aiming to ram her shoulder into his gut.]
[Translation wasn't Shura's strong suit, but it wasn't like she didn't have a decent understanding of runes and glyphs. This wouldn't be impossible, right? Right?]
Just what kinda crap are they writing about that they need to seal it up, anyway? That's just suspicious.
[it doesn't seem to matter that they're being supervised, shura's going to say whatever she wants]
[ Things that feature highly on Yoruichi's list of things she would willingly spend an afternoon doing: not cooping herself up in some makeshift library and trying to decipher strange texts in a foreign language. But money is money and more importantly, there might be something useful buried away in these books.
Or: ]
Could be someone's great-great-great-grandmother's well-protected bread recipe. I hear people have fought to the death over those.
[it's about as seriously as shura's taking it. If it wasn't for the silver, she wouldn't be bothering with this venture.]
Eh, that might be pretty good. I know a kid who can cook. Maybe we'll have a new business in our hands after this.
[Bread was baking, but w/e, Rin could probably figure it out. But back to business.]
I can try making a seal to see if it gets us some extra time. Dunno if I can remove whatever's actually messing with the text. If it was that easy, you'd think someone woulda already removed the enchantment.
[ The whole thing rests on being able to find some magical bread recipe in the first place, but eh. Surely they can find something in this hot mess of books and papers.
Yoruichi scoots over to where Shura is, and peers at their assigned text. ]
There are a few binding spells I can try. Usually they're to keep objects in place, but they might work on text.
[ Either way, it sounds like they've got a loose plan of attack. ]
[anything for a quick silver, even if it means taking advantage of her student]
It ain't bad. It's usually good enough for this kinda thing, at least. But half of my stuff ain't working as well here as it did back home, so I can't make any promises on how effective I'm gonna be.
[first she lost her demon contract, then she got a little corrupted by the storm. life is hard.]
Hey, you--get me some paint or something. [The poor soul assigned to make sure they didn't destroy the text has been able to keep himself from protesting about the bread jokes, but he looks vaguely alarmed when Shura asks for paint.]
Eh--it's going on the table, idiot. [Well.. her seal was going to. She didn't know what Yoruichi was about to do.]
[ Her own spells need no table or ink, just a few words said in very precise order. She waves a hand dismissively when he looks at her expectantly - nothing on this end! - and loiters while the attendant rushes off, grumbling under his breath about insolent newcomers ready to desecrate precious texts.
It's not too long before he returns with the requested materials, setting them in front of Shura carefully before retreating back just far enough that he won't intrude. But still close enough so that he can interrupt lest they try something sketchy. ]
Did you want to work straight from the book or make a copy for more time? Though there's no guarantee the spells won't carry over.
[To be fair, this pair does happen to be a little sketchy. Shura works on clearing a good portion of the table off before working on getting a seal drawn on the surface. Good thing it isn't her that's responsible for cleaning it up!]
If it was as easy as makin' a copy, I think they'd have this problem solved. [She cuts the attendant a look, sending him a leering grin.] Don't think they're that stupid.
[It's going to take Shura a couple minutes to finish up her pretty seal It's finicky and complicated, and it was so much better when she had high schoolers doing the work for her. Life is so hardddd. at least it looks kinda cool when it's done?]
This should help stabilize whatever you're doing. We'll find out, at least. Whenever you're ready, let me know.
[ It's hard to tell with humans. Most of the ones she's had personal experience with haven't been all too bright, to the point where she'd believed it to be a failing across the species.
But never mind that, they're here to crack puzzles. Or pretend like they've cracked puzzles in exchange for some coin. Shura finishes her work and they swap places, Yoruichi stretching out one hand to mutter a few words under her breath. Typical magic mumbo jumbo, nothing to see here, though that doesn't stop their attendant from continuing his suspicious squints all the same.
It doesn't take all too long before she's stepping back and gesturing for Shura to take the main stage again. ]
It's all yours.
[ And then maybe they can start the actual translation and puzzling out bits. ]
[ Dang, is there? Does that mean they can go home now and get drinks in victory? (Probably not.)
The acolyte huffs indignantly, insisting that whatever note may have been written in the margins certainly wasn't from them and could they please take their jobs a little more seriously? To which Yoruichi replies with a dismissive wave of her hand: ]
Relax, it'll get done.
[ But how.... the words are at least stuck to the page for the time being, none of them jiggling or shifting around like before. But they're still written in a foreign language, one she's never seen before. Hmm. ]
See any patterns, or words that repeat multiple times?
[That'd be gr8, getting paid for finding the Temple's mistakes.]
What a pain, none of this makes sense. Mister, you better make sure we get paid for this.
[Harassing their watchdog is much more fun than staring at the text in front of her. But the rent had to get paid somehow, and if giving herself a headache working through this text was how it happened, then so be it.]
Hnn, patterns... Yeah. Maybe. A bread recipe should talk about flour and dough a lot, right? Maybe that's what I'm seeing repeatin' here. Mix flour, knead dough.
[The acolyte opens his mouth to retort, but he backs down. Shura is actually looking at the text now, trying to decipher the strange words.]
I think... ah, this is hard. Ask me again in a minute.
[It will take time, but Shura will start to figure out a few things.]
This is something for Thesa, pretty sure. Some kinda prayer, maybe?
[ As Shura works so does Yoruichi, the both of them finally simmering down enough for the acolyte to breathe a sigh of relief, hands finally retreating into the folds of his robes instead of held halfway in the air, ready to dart forward at a second's notice.
The room falls into silence, interrupted by the occasional cough and the scratch of pen against paper as they pick apart the words—or try to. ]
Thesa? Could be. Most of this looks similar to other religious texts I've seen.
[ Whether or not its a prayer they're looking at remains an unknown though. ]
There seems to be something about mercy. Thesa being merciful?
[ Sounds like the description for every other god she's heard of, tbh. ]
[The acolyte will just have to pretend not to be hearing the possible blasphemies Shura's dropping as she will.]
Whoever made that note had an opinion on it, apparently. But after that--I think that's guided by her light?
[So maybe not a prayer, but maybe not far from it. Shura purses her lips, presses a finger to her temple to gently massage it, but keeps going. Time was the essence, and they were making some headway.]
[ Yoruichi hasn't gotten to the scrawled note yet and she immediately looks over, interest piqued. Religious texts or prayers or whatever this thing is are all fine and dandy, but it's the people's opinions on it that really matter to her.
Besides, it's a nice break from otherwise grueling linguistic challenges. ]
What's it say? Does it call Thesa a good-for-nothing lazybones?
[ As far as insults go it's quite mild, but that doesn't stop the acolyte from gasping audibly in his corner. ]
[The poor acolyte. Two openly blasphemous women was not what he was prepared for today. Could he even trust their translation? It might come out horribly wrong! He probably didn't do anything to deserve this.]
Mm, dunno. Maybe. It's got the same word twice, it looks like. Might just be a correction.
[It doesn't match up with anything else in the text, though.]
[ He probably did nothing to deserve this but there's an important lesson to be learned here nonetheless: life ain't fair and sometimes you just gotta deal with it.
Yoruichi slides on over to press her nose into the pages of the book they've been assigned. The runes still jitter on the page but she pushes past it to stare at the word in between. ]
Poison from poison? [ Give her a sec. ] Looks like they're implying Thesa wasn't as good and pure as she was supposed to be.
[ Another gasp from the acolyte; she shoots him a glare. ]
Hey, I'm translating what's on the paper. Very few people, and gods, are as perfect as the stories make them out to be.
[ What they giveth they can also take with ease. Best not to do anything that might incur a god's wrath. While Shura's picking at one bit, Yoruichi stares at another. ]
Seems like you're right though. This bit [ and she points towards a sentence ] says something about by her blessing? Only living by her blessing?
[ It's probably their penance for being so sacrilegious in the first place. Thesa is watching. 👀
Or maybe not, since Shura has a point. Surely she would have reached down to smite someone what with all the partying and sinning occuring in her lands down below. She's not a fool, she's taken a walk through the Red Light District. ]
She must not care then. Or perhaps [ and here her gaze slides towards the acolyte in the corner ] Thesa herself isn't as pure as everyone believes her to be and her interests lie elsewhere.
[ "Poison begets poison" after all. But at present, they have nothing more to back up this claim than a hasty note scrawled in the margin. ]
[ Hey, if they get kicked out too early, it just means they can get a drink sooner and later and blame it on some novice unable to do his job. ]
It's likely, though dragons seem more of a Wyver thing.
[ Maybe they fought over dragons? Who knows. Maybe if they keep reading, they'll get a better idea of what all is going on. Of course, that would required the runes to stay still on the page - they're already starting to wobble around with more fervor than before. Better get a move on then.
Silence descends again as she replaces word with different word, rearranges some of the phrases on her paper. Eventually, she brushes away pencil shavings from the paper she's been scribbling on. ]
We've got most of this paragraph translated now, if you want to take a look.
[ This last bit she says to their concerned watcher, who immediately springs forward to grab hold of their translation. ]
[Shura doesn't trust most, if any, of the history that's been given to her. But she's feeling relatively confident about the translation they've managed to pull out.]
Hey, don't look so scared~ I don't get anything for making this up, y'know.
[The acolyte just shoots her a scowl before looking over the paper. These women--they might not be worth the silver they're paying them, even if their translation was accurate. But after taking a look at it, he nods. It's... not bad. Probably. He hoped to Thesa that it was at least mostly correct.]
[ Jokes on him for assuming they wouldn't be able to pull this off. Never underestimate women, that's the lesson to be learned here. Anyway, now that their work's done—
Yoruichi holds out one hand expectantly. ]
So now that you approve, where's our payment?
[ She's pretty sure they'd been promised money of some sort and she's absolutely ready to capitalize on that fact. Surprisingly, despite the fact that he's spent an entire afternoon with him, those bold behavior continues to shock the poor boy and he mutters something about a priest waiting outside with the requisite funds. ]
[ A drink, eh? She perks right up at that, their scowling supervisor gone completely forgotten in the face of something way more exciting than translating dusty books. ]
You don't even need to ask.
[ Which is a definite yes, in case the grin on her face and the gleam in her eyes aren't completely obvious. Off they go to get drinks and have a great time! Ah wait, before they go -- she turns to the poor acolyte once last time to say: ]
If you find any good recipe books, give us a call!
[ Their bakery dreams are gonna be reality one day.... ]
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jj
no subject
Maybe he should've reconsidered when he'd been asked to change into boxing trunks, leaving him more bare in public than he had been in a long time.
Not that JJ has any issue with showing skin, and he's all smile as he wanders onto the stage, the announcer's voice yelling something over the speakers as the crowd cheers and cat calls.
The smile however, disappears from his face once he sees Shura. Enticing outfit aside, he's still not over the time she tried to push him down the pillar. ]
Shura! What are you doing?
no subject
But really, what was a guy like him doing here, and just why was he asking her that?]
Ain't it obvious, idiot? Maybe you should just roll over and take the loss if you're gonna be as wimpy as you were on the pillar.
[Her hand comes to her hip, pointing at JJ with her opposite hand. Trash talking would get some cheers, right?? Really, was she supposed to put on a show with him? What a nuisance.]
no subject
Which is insane, because JJ is massively cool. And he takes a breath, keeping that cool and ensuring that it's not obvious that the taunts had gotten to him.
He fixes her with his douchiest smirk. ]
Maybe I should. At least then the crowd wouldn't have to see you cry when you don't get your way.
[ He shrugs, sticking his tongue out at her in a juvenile move before he rolls his shoulders. It's all bravado anyway, since it's not as though he has a lick of combat experience. ]
Well? Come on.
no subject
Eh? You think this crowd wants to see a woman cry? Yer a freak!
[Well, some of the audience members would be okay with it, but the rest of them are hooting at him. His douchebag smirk doesn't endear them, and he's about to make himself the bad guy of the match. But look at him--there was the possibility of him holding back some mad skills, but for some reason, Shura doubts it. Shura drops her arms to her sides, shifts her stance.]
C'mon? Better not regret saying that, okay ♥
[hey jj how quick are you cause she's coming at him real quick, aiming to ram her shoulder into his gut.]
yoruichi
Just what kinda crap are they writing about that they need to seal it up, anyway? That's just suspicious.
[it doesn't seem to matter that they're being supervised, shura's going to say whatever she wants]
no subject
Or: ]
Could be someone's great-great-great-grandmother's well-protected bread recipe. I hear people have fought to the death over those.
[ She's taking this seriously, promise. ]
no subject
Eh, that might be pretty good. I know a kid who can cook. Maybe we'll have a new business in our hands after this.
[Bread was baking, but w/e, Rin could probably figure it out. But back to business.]
I can try making a seal to see if it gets us some extra time. Dunno if I can remove whatever's actually messing with the text. If it was that easy, you'd think someone woulda already removed the enchantment.
no subject
Invite me over if he ends up making any.
[ The whole thing rests on being able to find some magical bread recipe in the first place, but eh. Surely they can find something in this hot mess of books and papers.
Yoruichi scoots over to where Shura is, and peers at their assigned text. ]
There are a few binding spells I can try. Usually they're to keep objects in place, but they might work on text.
[ Either way, it sounds like they've got a loose plan of attack. ]
How's your handwriting?
no subject
It ain't bad. It's usually good enough for this kinda thing, at least. But half of my stuff ain't working as well here as it did back home, so I can't make any promises on how effective I'm gonna be.
[first she lost her demon contract, then she got a little corrupted by the storm. life is hard.]
Hey, you--get me some paint or something. [The poor soul assigned to make sure they didn't destroy the text has been able to keep himself from protesting about the bread jokes, but he looks vaguely alarmed when Shura asks for paint.]
Eh--it's going on the table, idiot. [Well.. her seal was going to. She didn't know what Yoruichi was about to do.]
no subject
It's not too long before he returns with the requested materials, setting them in front of Shura carefully before retreating back just far enough that he won't intrude. But still close enough so that he can interrupt lest they try something sketchy. ]
Did you want to work straight from the book or make a copy for more time? Though there's no guarantee the spells won't carry over.
[ So they might be fucked either way. ]
no subject
If it was as easy as makin' a copy, I think they'd have this problem solved. [She cuts the attendant a look, sending him a leering grin.] Don't think they're that stupid.
[It's going to take Shura a couple minutes to finish up her pretty seal It's finicky and complicated, and it was so much better when she had high schoolers doing the work for her. Life is so hardddd. at least it looks kinda cool when it's done?]
This should help stabilize whatever you're doing. We'll find out, at least. Whenever you're ready, let me know.
no subject
But never mind that, they're here to crack puzzles. Or pretend like they've cracked puzzles in exchange for some coin. Shura finishes her work and they swap places, Yoruichi stretching out one hand to mutter a few words under her breath. Typical magic mumbo jumbo, nothing to see here, though that doesn't stop their attendant from continuing his suspicious squints all the same.
It doesn't take all too long before she's stepping back and gesturing for Shura to take the main stage again. ]
It's all yours.
[ And then maybe they can start the actual translation and puzzling out bits. ]
no subject
This better worth all the trouble we're goin' through.
[Time to settle down and crack open this stupid tome. Maybe it'd be worth it if she could get even just a little bit sorted out...
But hey, what's this note in the margin?]
Eh, someone's already gone through and scribbled in here. Sure this is what we need ta work on, mister?
no subject
The acolyte huffs indignantly, insisting that whatever note may have been written in the margins certainly wasn't from them and could they please take their jobs a little more seriously? To which Yoruichi replies with a dismissive wave of her hand: ]
Relax, it'll get done.
[ But how.... the words are at least stuck to the page for the time being, none of them jiggling or shifting around like before. But they're still written in a foreign language, one she's never seen before. Hmm. ]
See any patterns, or words that repeat multiple times?
no subject
What a pain, none of this makes sense. Mister, you better make sure we get paid for this.
[Harassing their watchdog is much more fun than staring at the text in front of her. But the rent had to get paid somehow, and if giving herself a headache working through this text was how it happened, then so be it.]
Hnn, patterns... Yeah. Maybe. A bread recipe should talk about flour and dough a lot, right? Maybe that's what I'm seeing repeatin' here. Mix flour, knead dough.
[The acolyte opens his mouth to retort, but he backs down. Shura is actually looking at the text now, trying to decipher the strange words.]
I think... ah, this is hard. Ask me again in a minute.
[It will take time, but Shura will start to figure out a few things.]
This is something for Thesa, pretty sure. Some kinda prayer, maybe?
no subject
The room falls into silence, interrupted by the occasional cough and the scratch of pen against paper as they pick apart the words—or try to. ]
Thesa? Could be. Most of this looks similar to other religious texts I've seen.
[ Whether or not its a prayer they're looking at remains an unknown though. ]
There seems to be something about mercy. Thesa being merciful?
[ Sounds like the description for every other god she's heard of, tbh. ]
no subject
[The acolyte will just have to pretend not to be hearing the possible blasphemies Shura's dropping as she will.]
Whoever made that note had an opinion on it, apparently. But after that--I think that's guided by her light?
[So maybe not a prayer, but maybe not far from it. Shura purses her lips, presses a finger to her temple to gently massage it, but keeps going. Time was the essence, and they were making some headway.]
no subject
[ Yoruichi hasn't gotten to the scrawled note yet and she immediately looks over, interest piqued. Religious texts or prayers or whatever this thing is are all fine and dandy, but it's the people's opinions on it that really matter to her.
Besides, it's a nice break from otherwise grueling linguistic challenges. ]
What's it say? Does it call Thesa a good-for-nothing lazybones?
[ As far as insults go it's quite mild, but that doesn't stop the acolyte from gasping audibly in his corner. ]
no subject
[The poor acolyte. Two openly blasphemous women was not what he was prepared for today. Could he even trust their translation? It might come out horribly wrong! He probably didn't do anything to deserve this.]
Mm, dunno. Maybe. It's got the same word twice, it looks like. Might just be a correction.
[It doesn't match up with anything else in the text, though.]
Poison? Urgh, I could be wrong.
no subject
Yoruichi slides on over to press her nose into the pages of the book they've been assigned. The runes still jitter on the page but she pushes past it to stare at the word in between. ]
Poison from poison? [ Give her a sec. ] Looks like they're implying Thesa wasn't as good and pure as she was supposed to be.
[ Another gasp from the acolyte; she shoots him a glare. ]
Hey, I'm translating what's on the paper. Very few people, and gods, are as perfect as the stories make them out to be.
no subject
Wonder who got mad enough to do that.
[No point in lingering much longer on that, not when the runes are still wibbling around.]
Mmm, maybe that's--owe out lives? Makes sense...
no subject
[ What they giveth they can also take with ease. Best not to do anything that might incur a god's wrath. While Shura's picking at one bit, Yoruichi stares at another. ]
Seems like you're right though. This bit [ and she points towards a sentence ] says something about by her blessing? Only living by her blessing?
[ That sure is some religious piety. ]
no subject
Mm, that's a pain~ If we piss her off, we're all dead.
[And pissing gods off tended to be pretty easy...]
'Specially being omnipotent and omnipresent. Ain't easy goin' without sin in a place like this.
no subject
Or maybe not, since Shura has a point. Surely she would have reached down to smite someone what with all the partying and sinning occuring in her lands down below. She's not a fool, she's taken a walk through the Red Light District. ]
She must not care then. Or perhaps [ and here her gaze slides towards the acolyte in the corner ] Thesa herself isn't as pure as everyone believes her to be and her interests lie elsewhere.
[ "Poison begets poison" after all. But at present, they have nothing more to back up this claim than a hasty note scrawled in the margin. ]
See anything else interesting?
no subject
Aaah~ It's too early to be having a crisis like that, you know?
[The acolyte is fuming and turning red and they're going to get kicked out before the text becomes unreadable.]
Mm--here, here's something about vengeance, I think. Swift vengeance on noble beasts... like the dragons or somethin'?
no subject
It's likely, though dragons seem more of a Wyver thing.
[ Maybe they fought over dragons? Who knows. Maybe if they keep reading, they'll get a better idea of what all is going on. Of course, that would required the runes to stay still on the page - they're already starting to wobble around with more fervor than before. Better get a move on then.
Silence descends again as she replaces word with different word, rearranges some of the phrases on her paper. Eventually, she brushes away pencil shavings from the paper she's been scribbling on. ]
We've got most of this paragraph translated now, if you want to take a look.
[ This last bit she says to their concerned watcher, who immediately springs forward to grab hold of their translation. ]
no subject
Hey, don't look so scared~ I don't get anything for making this up, y'know.
[The acolyte just shoots her a scowl before looking over the paper. These women--they might not be worth the silver they're paying them, even if their translation was accurate. But after taking a look at it, he nods. It's... not bad. Probably. He hoped to Thesa that it was at least mostly correct.]
Toldya~
no subject
Yoruichi holds out one hand expectantly. ]
So now that you approve, where's our payment?
[ She's pretty sure they'd been promised money of some sort and she's absolutely ready to capitalize on that fact. Surprisingly, despite the fact that he's spent an entire afternoon with him, those bold behavior continues to shock the poor boy and he mutters something about a priest waiting outside with the requisite funds. ]
no subject
[Ouch, did that strike a little close? Something flickers over his face, and his face turns stone cold. Leave, please.]
Fine~ This place is boring, anyway.
[Shura looks to Yoruichi as she rises from her seat, cocking her head to the side.]
Wanna get somethin' to drink? Sitting here all day's made me thirsty!
no subject
You don't even need to ask.
[ Which is a definite yes, in case the grin on her face and the gleam in her eyes aren't completely obvious. Off they go to get drinks and have a great time! Ah wait, before they go -- she turns to the poor acolyte once last time to say: ]
If you find any good recipe books, give us a call!
[ Their bakery dreams are gonna be reality one day.... ]