[RL with Justin]

[seechainsaw]

Baba Yaga's Castle was in ruins. Explosions had ripped through the spider's legs, eight explosions, eight piles of rubble. The main body of the spider was ripped open by the force of the explosions, but otherwise it was largely intact.

Everyone who could still move had run, vanishing into the jungle. Most of Arachne's followers hadn't been able to run. Mosquito was dead. Arachne was dead, and her soul missing. Mifune's body had vanished, but a splash of blood showed where he had fallen before the front doors. Giriko didn't know the details of what had gone down, but there had been no tiny body of the little witch anywhere in the castle. Whatever had happened to Mifune, likely Angela's fate was tied to that. And he couldn't give less of a shit.

The Alchemist stepped out of the front doors, a golem clumping along behind him. He stepped over a body here and there. The golem simply crushed them into the dirt after he'd passed, its step uncaring and unheeding.

He tipped back his head, draining the last of a bottle of Jack. He threw it to one side, and the glass shattered on the flagstones nearby. Maybe he'd die now. Or maybe he'd take that Shibusen priest with him. He didn't give a fuck anymore. Eight hundred years he'd waited, and now he had nothing left to wait for.

Comments

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin was rather thankful Giriko decided to drag a golem along with him, it made him that much easier to find - just follow the booming footsteps. Even if he couldn't do that, he had a feeling his new... Friend could manage to track the chainsaw down without a fuss.

He appeared almost out of nowhere not too far in front of Giriko, the Clown in tow. He'd decided it was high time he got rid of those ridiculous crosses, and he'd appropriately replaced them with a much nicer eye motif. It was a much-needed change at this point, and it might manage to pacify Giriko the slightest bit. And if it didn't, well, he was dying to try out a few new tricks anyway.

He smiled, looking quite a bit more disjointed than he had before. "Giriko-san, would you like to come along with us?"

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko's chains popped out the instant he saw Justin, winding over legs, arms, and in an 'X' shape across his torso. His eyes darted from Justin to the clown behind him, and he frowned faintly.

"What the fuck happened to you?" he demanded. Not only did Justin have one of those weird clown things with him, which wasn't really Shibusen's style, but he wasn't wearing crosses anymore.

In fact, he was wearing eyes. The symbol of the Kishin.

What the fuck was going on here?

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin giggled. "I simply thought it was time I showed the true god my proper support." He clutched onto the eye pendent around his neck in a silent prayer.

Really, he figured Giriko's face was going to be funny, but this was starting to border on priceless. It was a MasterCard commercial in the making, really.

"I wasn't lying to you when I said I had nothing to do with this attack. I wouldn't lie to people over such trivial matters." In a lot of ways, Justin had to wonder what exactly Shibusen was trying to accomplish here. Yes, Arachne might have been an idiot and a heretic for thinking she could become one with the Kishin, but the witch had her uses. She especially had her uses now that she was dead and causing Giriko an obvious amount of distress.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko wasn't as dumb as it sometimes seemed he was. He was no philosopher, no scholar or mathematical genius, but he wasn't a complete idiot. Besides, he'd been around the block a few times.

"You're a fuckin' spy," he said, his eyes widening. "Who are you really working for? The Kishin?"

How was that possible, though? The Kishin had been locked up for ages, and so far as Giriko knew, he was too crazy to do things like...organize stuff. But Justin obviously didn't follow Medusa. So what the hell? There was another faction he didn't know about?

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

"Spy is such a dirty little word. I prefer to think of myself as someone who is simply getting rid of messes no one else wants to clean up." Like, for example, a certain overly-perceptive, sandal-wearing java-junkie. Besides, he held no real malice against Shibusen; they gave him enough direction to make him strong enough to betray them, after all, and it was hard to hate them for that.

As for who he was working for... That was a hard question for him to answer. Justin could easily call the man Eibon if he wanted, but if Giriko figured out he was Eibon by technicality alone, there was a good chance he would lose his bit of leverage. Best not to lie about such trivial matters. "His name is Noah."

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko was silent for a moment. This could be some kind of lie, but that wasn't Shibusen's style, either. What could Shibusen possibly want with Giriko, anyway, other than to simply kill him, finally. With Arachnophobia broken, Giriko was no real threat to them. He hadn't even been important enough to kill. They had just left him there, sleeping like an idiot, while they destroyed his world and everything that was important to him.

The knowledge that that was true burned with an unreasonable, insane anger in his chest. But it was an anger he would stoke for now. He would stoke it, feed it, until it was more than just a fire. He'd feed it and release it at the right time, when he had a chance to really hurt those assholes, and then the heat would be so high that it would consume the world.

"What do you want from me?" he asked finally, his voice low.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin stepped forward, the Clown continuing to hover in place, until he was well within Giriko's personal space bubble. "I want you to join us."

His reasons were mostly selfish; Justin knew Noah liked collecting things and a Weapon who didn't need a meister was a fairly rare commodity and he did not want to end up collecting dust on a shelf somewhere, so getting someone more or less exactly like him should imply that there were others which would make his collector's value go down slightly. But at the same time, he was insanely curious about Giriko and wanted to know more, they were more alike than different after all, and he had a sinking feeling that the chainsaw might either drink himself into a coma or disappear somewhere if he didn't take the time to step in.

"This is your best chance of getting revenge for Arachne's death. Your only chance, really."

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko didn't like letting Justin get so close. Didn't like Justin at all, come to think of it. Even if Justin had been faking it when he attacked Giriko before, he was still a dick, and Giriko still hated him.

But he stood his ground - recklessly, maybe.

And the word 'revenge' tripped over his skin like a shiver. Justin was a dick, but he knew what was important to Giriko right now.

"Why should I hang around with you fucks?" he snarled back, folding his arms and glaring at the priest weapon. "I still want to break your face, you know. I can get revenge all by myself."

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

"Always such a petulant little child," Justin chided. "You'll only get yourself killed if you try it alone and that will hardly accomplish anything."

He circled around Giriko slowly. "Noah happens to be in possession of a few things that may interest you." He wearily eyed the golem. Being between an Alchemist and his golem was a precarious spot indeed. At least it also meant Giriko was between him and the Clown though. "The Book of Eibon. I assume you've heard of it?"

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko didn't like Justin moving around him, especially since he used stupid bullshit like lip reading to piss him off. He turned his head to keep Justin in view, but kept an eye on that clown thing, too.

In response to a subtle movement of one hand, the golem shifted away a few steps, forming a triangle between Giriko and the clown, so it could attack the clown if it made a move towards Giriko.

He turned to face Justin again. "I've heard of it," he said warily.

He still didn't want to listen, but he couldn't seem to help it. Giriko's might be a petulant, foul-mouthed child in some ways, but he also was used to following. He was no planner, no leader. If he attacked Shibusen he'd simply go out in a blaze of glory. Somewhere deep inside, even he knew it wasn't the most effective plan.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Though he'd never admit it, Justin appreciated that Giriko turned toward him again; he needed to make sure the chainsaw was getting it, after all. "Noah happens to be in possession of it." And in possession of a certain little Shinigami, but that could wait.

"He wants to get rid of those Shibusen idiots too. Helping him is only going to help you. Strength in numbers, yes?" Though Justin wasn't sure that tactic would really work. Giriko was just as used to working alone as he was, and the idea of teaming up with a small group wasn't the optimal situation.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko grunted softly. The fact that Justin had moved around him meant that he'd turned to face the castle once more. He looked up at the structure, remembering how shitty it had been to deal with Mosquito and the others.

He was a lone kinda guy, like Justin, and if it hadn't been for the fact that Arachne-sama wanted him to do it, he'd have told those assholes to fuck off long ago.

On the other hand, he couldn't do much on his own. Maybe these guys would be easier to deal with, in some ways. He could always leave if it were too annoying, too. And it was somewhat flattering that Justin had come all the way here to offer him a place in their new gang.

He snorted softly, his lips curving in a smirk. "Yeah, okay," he said. "I'll come with you. But if you guys give me shit, I'm leaving."

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

"I always wanted to believe you were smarter than you looked," Justin said with a smirk. He was in a lot of ways thrilled; finally someone to talk to (who'd talk back, at least) who wasn't either Noah, or constantly kissing Noah's ass. It would be a nice reprieve from the others, he had a feeling.

He stepped in closer to Giriko so their chests were practically touching and called the Clown closer to him, rummaging through his robes for a few seconds before pulling out a plain piece of paper. "Hold still a moment," he ordered. With a slight frown he took a small step back. "Did you want to bring that?" Justin pointed at the golem, still standing in place obediently.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko tensed. The chains still wrapped his chest, but they weren't moving at the moment. He didn't sense any kind of killing intent from Justin, but to allow the other man so close...

"Hey, just what the--" He paused, glancing at the golem. "Well...yeah."

He didn't like that authoritative tone in Justin's voice, either. Who was this kid to be ordering him around, anyway?

"What the fuck are you doing with that paper?" he asked suspiciously.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin rolled his eyes several moments later. It was a bit harder reading Giriko's lips from this angle, a large chunk of it because Justin was getting slightly distracted wondering what the hell they must look like standing this close to each other with him staring intently at Giriko's lips.

Almost like it could read his thoughts, the Clown let out a low whistle, not like Justin could actually hear it over the noise coming out of his headphones, though.

"Then, bring it closer," Justin instructed slowly, like he was talking to a six year old. "And the paper is going to take us back to Noah." He had hoped Giriko was smart enough to make the Guy With Book + Paper connection on his own, but maybe that was expecting too much.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko scowled at the kid and glanced at the golem again, jerking his head. It lumbered forward, stepping close enough that its bulbous torso brushed against Giriko's elbow.

The chainsaw bared sharp teeth at Justin in a parody of a smile, tilting his head back a little so Justin could better see his lips moving.

"You almost look like you wanna kiss me. You a real priest or what? I guess you prefer little boys to real men, huh?" Fuck him if he thought he was going to intimidate Giriko.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, real original there Giriko, it's not like Justin had ever heard that one before. But still, it managed to get to him the slightest bit and he narrowed his eyes involuntarily before he snapped himself out of it.

"Yes, I'm a real priest. And that's hardly my preference. I'd advise you to think before speaking, but I don't think you're at all capable of the first part, are you?" Justin kept a firm hold on the slip of paper. If Giriko wanted to be an asshole, he'd make the both of them fucking walk most of the way; he certainly didn't mind the exercise. "I didn't have to offer you a position with us, so I suggest you show me some respect before I change my mind."

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

"Hey," Giriko said, leaning forward a little. He reached out and grabbed Justin by the front of the shirt, dragging him close. Close enough to kiss.

"You came to me, asswipe. Obviously you want me for somethin'. So are you gonna use that paper thing? Or are you gonna stand here flapping your lips all fuckin' day."

jsyk my brain automatically inserts a "brush my teeth with" right before "bottle of Jack" up there

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin's back was straight as a board as he was hauled up, but once he recovered from the initial shock of being quite that close to his rival, he effortlessly swatted Giriko's hands away. He didn't want his robes to wrinkle, after all.

He tossed the paper as high into the air as he could, trying to make sure it passed above the golem's head as well, and the four of them were pulled up into the page. The page itself continued to float gracefully downward until it hit the ground and promptly burst into flames.

As if Giriko uses toothpaste

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko felt a lurch as he was pulled up into the page. He wobbled uncertainly and put a hand on his golem to steady himself.

Then they landed, and he grunted with a slight impact, looking around warily to figure out where Justin had brought them.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin and the Clown landed a little ways away, farther down the nave of the church the page brought them to. He motioned Giriko towards him; the sooner he got Giriko an official place in Noah's little group, the better.

He paused to shoot a wary glance at the golem; where it was standing now had a high enough ceiling to accomidate it, but there were quite a few hallways that it would never be able to cram itself into. "You're going to need to leave that there. Destroying half the church is hardly the best introduction." Though in Giriko's case, it would certainly be an accurate representation of him, at least.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko glanced around the church curiously. He should have known that Justin would take him to a fucking church. Typical.

He shrugged and strolled towards the younger man, sticking his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Okay, it stays here, then," he said. He hadn't brought it along as protection, exactly, but because it was his.

"So this Noah guy lives here?" he asked.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

He smiled to himself; in all honesty, he was expecting Giriko to put up a bit of a fuss about leaving his golem behind. "Temporarily, yes. This has been our base of operations," Justin explained, starting to walk down the aisle and into the back part of the church.

"Noah's more than likely down in the basement. Do you want to go see him first or find yourself a room first?" There was probably some dinky little storage closet that they could squeeze Giriko into. He turned around to make sure he could actually acknowledge the chainsaw's answer, tapping his foot slightly. He did have a few things he needed to attend to and get rid of, after all.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko glanced back at the golem. "Be a statue by the fuckin' door," he ordered. It saluted and turned, clomping across the church to the door and planting itself where it would be in the way if someone entered. Then it froze, becoming completely immobile.

The chainsaw walked up to Justin. He had to admit he liked the guy a bit more when he wasn't acting like a giant dick. "Guess I should meet the guy. It ain't like I brought anything much with me."

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

There was a part of Justin that wished Giriko would turn a bit more towards him so he could figure out what exactly he said to his golem, but then, knowing Giriko, it probably wasn't nearly as interesting as Justin initially thought.

He hummed softly to himself, mostly tuning out what Giriko was saying. Something about bringing things with him? Justin really didn't know, so he didn't move or respond for a long stretch of time.

"Why are your teeth so sharp?" It was the oddest thing to fixate on right now, he knew, but that had been bothering him for a while and it was probably in his best interest to say something.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko stared at him. He'd just told Justin he wanted to meet their leader or whatever the fuck he was, and he'd just stood there for a long while before asking him about something completely irrelevant.

"I don't fuckin' know. They just are," he said incredulously. "Why are you a moron? We gonna go meet this Noah guy or what?"

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Hell no they weren't; Noah could wait. He was probably distracting himself well enough with rearranging his collection or whatever it was he did all day, anyway.

"I'm not a moron, I'm just forced to stare at your mouth constantly in order to figure out what you're saying. It's like a shark's, really." Justin smirked, still standing in place and not giving any indication that he was planning on moving any time soon.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

So much for having things to attend to. Giriko shrugged again.

"Maybe if ya took out those stupid headphones and stopped making yourself deaf, you wouldn't have so many problems with my mouth," he pointed out, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, it ain't like I filed them that way or anythin'. I guess it's cause I'm a chainsaw. But that kid I fought back then, the scythe - he's got pointed teeth, too, didn't he?"

It wasn't like he paid close attention, but he thought maybe he remembered that.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin scowled. The only time those earphones were coming out were if someone either grabbed them or he was dead. Voluntarily? No way. "I never said I had a problem with it," he murmured. "I was just stating a fact."

He fought down the slowly increasing urge to punch Giriko in the stomach and just walk away. "Mm, Soul I think his name was." Justin sort of remembered some of those kids' names. He got on better with them than the other Death Scythes; probably too much of an age difference. "And yes, he did. Long lost cousin of yours?"

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

"Don't be a dick," Giriko said. "He's probably the great, great, great, great grandson of some whore I fucked."

He smirked and tapped Justin on the forehead, right between the eyes.

"Just like you."

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin startled a bit as Giriko poked him. He really wasn't expecting that in the slightest and the odd thudding sound that echoed around his head was not particularly pleasant.

"Did you never sleep with anyone respectable?" It was already weird enough being related to Giriko, but the thought that his long-since dead grandmother was just some whore stung slightly. There had to have been at least one half-way decent woman he could be related to instead.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko laughed and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I did. Whores are expensive. You can't do that every fuckin' day."

He shrugged. There were times when he'd dated people long term. Those tended to be the ones he raised kids with. And other bitches he'd just raped and left behind. Maybe Justin was from one of those.

"Why's it matter to you?" he asked, smirking.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin's nose wrinkled a bit. Of course that was Giriko's reasoning. He didn't really know why it mattered so much to him, he just knew that for whatever reason, it irritated him. So he stayed quiet while he thought of an answer. "I'm not allowed to be curious about my own family? You certainly give me plenty to be curious about."

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko couldn't care less about his own family. They were dust, as far as he was concerned, and nothing much to love in the first place.

"Well, I can't help ya," he said honestly. "I've fucked a lotta women over the centuries, and I have no idea which one wound up bein' your ancestor. It ain't like I kept track of all of my kids. It's better to just pretend we ain't related, anyway, far as I'm concerned."

He slung his arm around the boy's shoulders. "Come on, show me where I'm gonna be sleeping."

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin slumped slightly as Giriko rested his arm on him; he wasn't expecting that in the slightest and the extra weight was a bit of a shock. "Mm, I think your right. It would make things very strange to say the least."

He brought his hand up and grabbed Giriko's, intending to push the arm off his shoulders, but he ended up just resting it there.

"Very well, follow me," Justin said, walking down the hall. He didn't bother letting go of Giriko's hand, instead holding it hostage near his shoulder.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko had honestly been expecting Justin to push him away. His eyebrows climbed as Justin not only failed to shove him off, but began to walk away holding his hand.

He followed, of course, resting his hand lightly on the boy's shoulder and curling his fingers a little around Justin's hand, bemused.

Maybe Justin was a little lonely, a little scared. He was young - younger than Giriko had first thought, he reckoned, now that he'd had a chance to spend more time with him. And he might have betrayed Shibusen, but they were probably all the family he knew.

Yeah, this had potential.

He kept silent, just looking around himself and thinking, as Justin led him deeper into the church.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

He led Giriko down a series of hallways until they got to an area that probably used to function as some sort of administrative wing that Noah had decided would now function as tiny little bedrooms for his team. Justin pointed at one of the doors - the one across the hall from his own room, mostly because he felt safer with Giriko in that room than anyone else Noah might drag here.

"You can sleep there. Though I doubt there's a bed in there yet." He turned himself at a slightly awkward angle to look up at Giriko in case he tried to communicate.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko tugged the door open and looked in. Nothing but a dusty, empty room and a broken chair that had probably been shoved in there once for storage and forgotten.

He glanced at Justin, looking doubtful.

"Where's your room?"

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin giggled under his breath; his room was pretty bad looking at first too, but it wasn't quite that bad, and the thought of Giriko sleeping on a broken chair struck him as oddly funny.

He pointed behind him at the door to his own room. "Across the hall." Justin's eyebrows furrowed, suddenly getting a bit suspicious of that question. "Why do you ask?"

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko wasn't sleeping in a broken chair, and he wasn't sleeping on a stone floor in the dust, either. He'd get himself some furniture tomorrow, he figured - golems were really good at carrying stuff.

Now he crossed the hall, his arm still tight around Justin. He pulled Justin's door open and looked around the little room.

"Because I'm sleepin' in here tonight," he said firmly.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin only resisted the slightest bit as he half-walked, half-was dragged into his room. "Must you?" he asked with an irritated sigh. Though, he didn't mind as much as he let on. Really, if he had to share his room with a creep, he might as well share his room with a creep that he could beat the hell out of.

He figured it was best to not try and fight him too hard against sleeping in his room. A knock-down all-out brawl with the chainsaw would really only serve to put a dent in his plans later in the week if he got a bit roughed up now.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I must," Giriko said, grinning wide at the lack of any real resistance from Justin. The kid was a bit of a pushover when you weren't fighting him head-on, it seemed.

He shrugged out of his jacket and sat down on the bed, bending over to unlace his boots. Despite having slept - in a drugged stupor - for quite a while, he was pretty tired, and it was getting late. "You can sleep on the floor," he added. "Or squish in with me. I don't give a shit, either way."

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

"This is my room; I'm certainly not sleeping on the floor," Justin bitched, more to just show that he did not approve of any of this than actually trying to change anything.

After one more quick glare at Giriko, he pulled out his earphones and used the wire to fish his iPod out of his robes, plugging it in to charge and laying it reverently on his nightstand. "You better not snore..." he mumbled, sitting down on the other side of the bed and toeing off his own shoes.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko grinned wide and kicked off his boots, then stretched out on the bed. "So you do take 'em off to sleep," he said. "I'm surprised. You got any actual hearing left, kid?"

He wondered if there were some way to sabotage the ipod. Not in a way that Justin would know he'd done it, but by causing the battery to lose charge or something. That'd be funny.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

"Unfortunately, I've yet to find a music player that doesn't run on batteries. And I can hear just fine, thank you." Just fine was a bit of an overstatement; his ears were ringing terribly, but he could still hear. And if worst came to worst he could still just as easily switch over to reading lips. "And I'm still expecting it to work in the morning so don't touch it," Justin looked over his shoulder to glare at Giriko with as much murderous intent as he could muster. There would be hell to pay if it started malfunctioning. Hell to pay.

He laid down on the edge of the bed, and silently cursed the fact that he didn't ask Noah for a bigger one. It probably wouldn't have even been a problem if Giriko wasn't a greedy little shit and decided to take up nearly the entire bed. "Can't you move over at all?"

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko grinned unrepentantly. Maybe he'd sabotage it, maybe not, but if he did he intended to wait until Justin least expected it.

He rolled onto his side and tugged Justin close. "We're gonna have to spoon or you'll have to fall off," he said with a malicious smirk. "Bed just ain't big enough for two if we ain't friendly."

Justin was a religious type, and young, and Giriko wondered if he had hangups about sex. He had denied being into diddling little boys, but it could go the other way. It'd be funny if he were a blushing virgin.

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin's back rather obviously straightened as he was pulled away from his nice safe little sliver of the bed. And while he was the sort of person who hadn't ever really looked at himself naked, he didn't really have any sexual hangups either; it was more that he just never thought too hard about it. He never really had to.

"We hardly have to get this friendly," he mumbled, squirming a little bit to get at least some distance between them. He really didn't like the way his heart was speeding up.

[seechainsaw.livejournal.com]

Giriko let him squirm away a little, only because he was too tired to really fight right now. If he tried to rape Justin, he'd probably get razor blades in some uncomfortable places, anyway, so it wasn't really worth trying.

But he kept his arms around the boy, anyway.

"Yeah, yeah," he grunted, burying his nose in the back of Justin's neck and closing his eyes. "When you hit puberty, let me know."

[gospelofclown.livejournal.com]

Justin made a soft 'hmph' sound in the back of his throat before closing his own eyes and relaxing into Giriko's hold. There were worse things, he figured.