He watches with a curious sort of evaluation. He's seen a lot of abilities, expressed in a lot of different ways, but everyone he's known has always specialized in one way or another. Yamada really runs with the jack-of-all-trades schtick.
But it's interesting at least, and, Yusuke thinks, could be fun to come up against himself one day. He spends those handful of seconds paging through his mental rolodex of strategies if he were in the bikers' place instead: use the environment to his advantage? try to anticipate a shift before it happens?
Regardless: he returns the gooey thumbs-up with a casual flip of the bird.]
Yeah, asshole. I missed out on a paycheck tonight for a whole lotta nothing.
[He's half-hoping something else will pop out of the woodwork, so at least he could say he blew off work for something fun. He's still on alert — though he might not look it, rifling through his pockets for a cigarette — picking around the tangled chaos of Yamada's energy for any other encroaching yōki.]
[ The versatility is certainly his strength, but there are flaws. He always tries to take a form that counters his opponent, and if it doesn't work, he moves on to another. When it comes to multiple opponents, he ends up wearing himself down. And since he's always trying new shapes, he's really a master of none. Someone who knows themselves and their powers, with refined moves, are a problem too. Like a master craftsman with a handful of tools vs a guy with a big, fancy toolbox packed with toys. Weaknesses he hasn't fully comprehended himself.
Yamada, on the other hand, is fascinated by Yusuke to learn from, not as a potential opponent. That trick with the blast was fascinating. ]
You'd have felt bad if you didn't. What's a night's pay for peace of mind? [ Yamada's elastic ooze body only seems to make his weird, swirling energy flows more erratically. Especially as he slimily slurps through the pile of riders. Perhaps that'll distract Yusuke's senses as Yamada talks. From what? The last paragraph! ] Those wheels of theirs are for sucking up loose spirit power. But they're supposed to dump it out. These guys modified them to hold onto it for their rides- so I got a mission to teach them a thing or too. My cunning strategy of getting reinforcements was a key lesson.
[ He wobbles about, still slime, talking with his hands just to make him jiggle like jello. His phrasing is deliberately as annoying as usual- he figures Yusuke would lose interest if he didn't have something to get mad at.
The thing that Yusuke may or may not notice is that the wheels have left the bikes. And are rolling over to a train, shrinking to proper size to attach there. ]
[It's an off-kilter feeling; Yamada is older than him, but Yusuke has been in the paranormal investigation game for longer. He's been freelance ever since the underworld dumped him, but all this stuff about missions and supposed tos and key lessons... He remembers what it was like to be the new guy.
sardonic:]
Glad one of us got something out of it. Next time you need reinforcements, lose my number unless you're ready to pay my rate.
[The implication being that this one truly was pro-bono. Because Yamada is right, of course; he would have felt bad.
On the downside: the slime bit is sufficiently annoying, the bends and twists of Yamada's energy are sufficiently interesting, and Yusuke himself is being sufficiently lazy, keeping tabs only on new yōki instead of watching out for existing ones, that he does in fact overlook the wanyudo rolling their way to an upgrade.]
[ Yamada wobbles with his hands up, bouncing on a single squishy tail that serves as a foot. ]
Aww, don't be that way- no one does this sort of thing for the money, right?
[ He plans to squish closer to be shoulder to... whatever slimes have that you can call a shoulder. To poke affectionately and irritatingly. Yamada's own spirtual senses are unrefined, unless he grows himself a pair of antennae for the purpose. Even his eyesight isn't so good as a blob of rubber. So it's not surprise he misses the Wanyudo too.
Until the whole area lights up with immense flickering orange light when the flames of the wheels flare up. And the yōki that comes with it is enough that even Yamada picks it up. He swirls about to look, a pair of eyes growing on his slime form just to pop out comically at the sight. The flames swirl around the train, reforging it in a single moment. The power of the wheels has merged into one, giant ferocious face on the front and flame decals. ]
...Aww beans.
[ Blazing flames shoot fron its nostrils, and it starts to move- away from the pair. It's out to collect spirits- and it wants quantity, not quality. Thinking quick, Yamada shoots out a rubber arm to snag the train and the other to grab Yusuke. He doesn't believe that 'no help without pay' thing for a second, so of course he's gonna drag him along. ]
[He opens his mouth to retort— he absolutely wants to be in it for the money, thank you very much, the ramen thing was supposed to be the side hustle and not the other way around, except that everybody keeps either running up a tab or stiffing him and he can't just be constantly doing the nice thing all the damn time— but thank god for everyone, because the situation changes before he even has a chance to get going.
He's still in the process of registering what's happened when there's a sudden yank around his waist, and he's abruptly taken off his feet.]
Wh— Hey! [Shouted, over the noise of the train and the rush of air as they're dragged after it. For a kid his age, he's sure got some lungs on him.] You didn't say anything about them being able to pull shit like this!
[He's at least not going to quibble about his reinforcement status now, apparently. Which is maybe why so many people are able to successfully stiff him, but that's neither here nor there.]
Thats not all it takes. It takes significant human emotion.
For example, anger. Deep seated anger thats been allowed to fester without some kind of release or outlet. Combine that with a spirit and a motive from either being and you have a mononoke.
So when Koenma explained what i was you really werent paying attention were you?
[ It's about half an hour before Kun sends another message. ]
if youre still spoiling for a fight, the next time were in the spirit world ask Shingi. The spirit world is close enough to the Shuuga that he can manifest without the need for mononoke.
Forward warnings, hes not much of a talker and wont hold back just because youre human.
[Jeez, this harping on the human thing again. He rolls his eyes and almost doesn't reply, same as he did with the first message, but eventually:]
yeah well koenma musta told you jack shit about me apparently whatever your buddy sounds like hes got less of a stick up his ass at least we'll see if i remember
He mentioned youre the current detective of the spirit world, the words 'give up' seemingly dont exist in your vocabulary and that youve got demonic heritage.
For the record, my refusal to fight you isnt because i think youre fragile. My duty is to protect humanity, the thought alone of turning around and hurting those ive sworn to keep safe doesnt sit right with me.
Luckily for you, my partner has no such reservations.
["""protecting humanity."""" where's he heard bullshit like that before? yawn.]
if you know all that then you should know im not the spirit worlds anything anymore and if you ask them i sure as hell aint human either so your "duty" or whatever doesnt even make sense
[He is notably creating separation between "the spirit world" and "Koenma" here — to him they are very much not the same thing, even after Koenma formally took over.]
whatever if you wanna be hung up on bullshit for a thousand more years be my guest just dont act all surprised when it turns out humans can be pieces of shit too
not yet setting up all the tech for it is a pain in the ass i know youre good for it though can start ya a tab or just bring me extra mcd's and we'll call it even
[It's a hot night, and he's been standing over a hot stovetop for several hours by this point. He scoops up the drink, houses half of it in a couple of gulps, and then smacks it back down on the countertop.]
Chicken ramen. [He points his long cooking chopsticks at Nico.] Extra egg. Comin' right up.
You came to the right place. You'll never hafta have any other kind after this.
[This possibly involves him skipping a few orders already in queue, but it's fine; he works quick. And flashy, too — he probably doesn't need to toss his wok that dramatically just to sear some vegetables for toppings, but whatever. Half the gig is performance, and he's always been a show-off.
The bowl sloshes a little when he plops it on the counter in front of Nico. The smaller portion, as requested.]
[Oh, yeah, Nico already knew Yusuke was a show off. But knowing that didn't mean the performance didn't enthrall him. He claps lightly when the bowel is placed before him and breaks the chopsticks.]
Itadakimasu.
[He hasn't mastered chopsticks yet but is passable when using them, so hopefully, no one's offended when he starts eating. He starts with the chicken because he really could use the protein.]
[The first half of the late night shift is always the most fun, in his opinion — young people filling their bellies before they go out to bars, packs of friends out for a late dinner, boisterous gamblers drinking beer like water. Which is to say: definitely no offense, maybe some friendly ribbing.
Meanwhile, Yusuke is trying to multitask, moving on to the rest of his orders while also shoving food in his face.]
What, that the best you got? [around a mouthful of fries:] It's damn good, is what it is.
[Nico mostly watches Yusuke, shying a bit from people, his face turning a little pink when a handsome guy around his age ribs him a little about his chopstick skills.]
I'm not an expert on ramen, so I can't really say.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
@changeyourself
He watches with a curious sort of evaluation. He's seen a lot of abilities, expressed in a lot of different ways, but everyone he's known has always specialized in one way or another. Yamada really runs with the jack-of-all-trades schtick.
But it's interesting at least, and, Yusuke thinks, could be fun to come up against himself one day. He spends those handful of seconds paging through his mental rolodex of strategies if he were in the bikers' place instead: use the environment to his advantage? try to anticipate a shift before it happens?
Regardless: he returns the gooey thumbs-up with a casual flip of the bird.]
Yeah, asshole. I missed out on a paycheck tonight for a whole lotta nothing.
[He's half-hoping something else will pop out of the woodwork, so at least he could say he blew off work for something fun. He's still on alert — though he might not look it, rifling through his pockets for a cigarette — picking around the tangled chaos of Yamada's energy for any other encroaching yōki.]
How'd you even manage to piss them off that bad?
Thanks!
Yamada, on the other hand, is fascinated by Yusuke to learn from, not as a potential opponent. That trick with the blast was fascinating. ]
You'd have felt bad if you didn't. What's a night's pay for peace of mind? [ Yamada's elastic ooze body only seems to make his weird, swirling energy flows more erratically. Especially as he slimily slurps through the pile of riders. Perhaps that'll distract Yusuke's senses as Yamada talks. From what? The last paragraph! ] Those wheels of theirs are for sucking up loose spirit power. But they're supposed to dump it out. These guys modified them to hold onto it for their rides- so I got a mission to teach them a thing or too. My cunning strategy of getting reinforcements was a key lesson.
[ He wobbles about, still slime, talking with his hands just to make him jiggle like jello. His phrasing is deliberately as annoying as usual- he figures Yusuke would lose interest if he didn't have something to get mad at.
The thing that Yusuke may or may not notice is that the wheels have left the bikes. And are rolling over to a train, shrinking to proper size to attach there. ]
🫡
sardonic:]
Glad one of us got something out of it. Next time you need reinforcements, lose my number unless you're ready to pay my rate.
[The implication being that this one truly was pro-bono. Because Yamada is right, of course; he would have felt bad.
On the downside: the slime bit is sufficiently annoying, the bends and twists of Yamada's energy are sufficiently interesting, and Yusuke himself is being sufficiently lazy, keeping tabs only on new yōki instead of watching out for existing ones, that he does in fact overlook the wanyudo rolling their way to an upgrade.]
no subject
Aww, don't be that way- no one does this sort of thing for the money, right?
[ He plans to squish closer to be shoulder to... whatever slimes have that you can call a shoulder. To poke affectionately and irritatingly. Yamada's own spirtual senses are unrefined, unless he grows himself a pair of antennae for the purpose. Even his eyesight isn't so good as a blob of rubber. So it's not surprise he misses the Wanyudo too.
Until the whole area lights up with immense flickering orange light when the flames of the wheels flare up. And the yōki that comes with it is enough that even Yamada picks it up. He swirls about to look, a pair of eyes growing on his slime form just to pop out comically at the sight. The flames swirl around the train, reforging it in a single moment. The power of the wheels has merged into one, giant ferocious face on the front and flame decals. ]
...Aww beans.
[ Blazing flames shoot fron its nostrils, and it starts to move- away from the pair. It's out to collect spirits- and it wants quantity, not quality. Thinking quick, Yamada shoots out a rubber arm to snag the train and the other to grab Yusuke. He doesn't believe that 'no help without pay' thing for a second, so of course he's gonna drag him along. ]
no subject
He's still in the process of registering what's happened when there's a sudden yank around his waist, and he's abruptly taken off his feet.]
Wh— Hey! [Shouted, over the noise of the train and the rush of air as they're dragged after it. For a kid his age, he's sure got some lungs on him.] You didn't say anything about them being able to pull shit like this!
[He's at least not going to quibble about his reinforcement status now, apparently. Which is maybe why so many people are able to successfully stiff him, but that's neither here nor there.]
@kusuriuris
look if thats all it takes to get these things crawling around youre screwed
do you know how often people get pissed over random shit all day
no subject
For example, anger. Deep seated anger thats been allowed to fester without some kind of release or outlet. Combine that with a spirit and a motive from either being and you have a mononoke.
no subject
im REAL good at releasing my anger
release it right into some other guys jaw
no subject
no subject
no
i wanted to fight because i thought itd be fun
if id known you were that much of a buzzkill i wouldnt have bothered
no subject
[ It's about half an hour before Kun sends another message. ]
if youre still spoiling for a fight, the next time were in the spirit world ask Shingi. The spirit world is close enough to the Shuuga that he can manifest without the need for mononoke.
Forward warnings, hes not much of a talker and wont hold back just because youre human.
no subject
yeah well koenma musta told you jack shit about me apparently
whatever
your buddy sounds like hes got less of a stick up his ass at least
we'll see if i remember
no subject
For the record, my refusal to fight you isnt because i think youre fragile. My duty is to protect humanity, the thought alone of turning around and hurting those ive sworn to keep safe doesnt sit right with me.
Luckily for you, my partner has no such reservations.
no subject
["""protecting humanity."""" where's he heard bullshit like that before? yawn.]
if you know all that then you should know im not the spirit worlds anything anymore
and if you ask them i sure as hell aint human either
so your "duty" or whatever doesnt even make sense
[He is notably creating separation between "the spirit world" and "Koenma" here — to him they are very much not the same thing, even after Koenma formally took over.]
no subject
Its something thats been ingrained in me since the edo period, one human shaped demon descendant isnt going to change that.
no subject
if you wanna be hung up on bullshit for a thousand more years be my guest
just dont act all surprised when it turns out humans can be pieces of shit too
no subject
Im not arguing this with you anymore.
no subject
cause im already sick of hearing about it
@brokeassgoing
hey and now you get free entertainment too
youre WELCOME
no subject
watching a kid beat the shit outta a grown man isn't my kind of entertainment, THANKSno subject
look just gimme 10
then you can come have your old man beer in the peace and quiet
no subject
I GOT GREAT TASTE!! YOURE JUST A LITTLE BALLLESS BRATi like VODKA TOO thank you very much
no subject
you watching your figure or somethin ?
maybe if the night gets real crazy you can try splashing some oj in there
no subject
FUCK OFF!!!!!!!@refantasma
not yet
setting up all the tech for it is a pain in the ass
i know youre good for it though
can start ya a tab
or just bring me extra mcd's and we'll call it even
no subject
ill bring the extra Mcdonalds
never now what would happen in the next hour.
[Morbid, sure. He knows that better than anyone.]
you want nuggets or burgers?
no subject
oh shit
nugs all day
pork or chicken?
no subject
[He'll get them two twenty McNugget meals with large fries. He won't be able to eat all of it, but what he won't, he'll give to Yusuke]
chicken for chicken.
no subject
throw in a soda and i'll throw in an extra egg
im doing dinner and late night
come on over whenever you can stand up straight again
no subject
im gonna nap some more. so ill see you tonight.
btw
I dont do anything straight =P
no subject
凸( •̀_•́ )凸
see ya when i see ya
no subject
see you later
[And a few hours later, he steps out of the shadows near Yusuke's stall, walks over, and takes a seat.]
Hey.
[He passes over a bag of McDonald's and cup of Coke.]
no subject
[It's a hot night, and he's been standing over a hot stovetop for several hours by this point. He scoops up the drink, houses half of it in a couple of gulps, and then smacks it back down on the countertop.]
Chicken ramen. [He points his long cooking chopsticks at Nico.] Extra egg. Comin' right up.
no subject
[Nico's a bit picky regarding food, though not by choice. He's just never been a big eater.]
I'm not a big eater, so a small bowl's probably best. But I'll take the extra egg. I could use the protein.
no subject
[This possibly involves him skipping a few orders already in queue, but it's fine; he works quick. And flashy, too — he probably doesn't need to toss his wok that dramatically just to sear some vegetables for toppings, but whatever. Half the gig is performance, and he's always been a show-off.
The bowl sloshes a little when he plops it on the counter in front of Nico. The smaller portion, as requested.]
Order up!
no subject
Itadakimasu.
[He hasn't mastered chopsticks yet but is passable when using them, so hopefully, no one's offended when he starts eating. He starts with the chicken because he really could use the protein.]
Mmm... This is good.
no subject
Meanwhile, Yusuke is trying to multitask, moving on to the rest of his orders while also shoving food in his face.]
What, that the best you got? [around a mouthful of fries:] It's damn good, is what it is.
no subject
I'm not an expert on ramen, so I can't really say.
[Another slurp of noodles.]
But it's good. Feels good going down.