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vocab_drabblesTitle: A New, Old Friend
Fandom: Midnight Occult Civil Servants
Author:elidelio
Rating: G
Word Count: 955
Notes: Cross-posted to10prompts
Summary: Arata’s first impression of the old coyote had been that of a fearsome force he could neither afford to reason with nor to cross, he never thought there would come a day where he would genuinely consider them a friend. After all, one couldn’t befriend a tornado.
If Arata had learnt anything during his time working at the Shinjuku Ward, it was that most Another were inherently selfish creatures. But even then, ascribing their behaviour to “selfishness” was a very human way to look at it, after all, was a venomous snake selfish for biting a careless hiker on a forest trail? Was a tornado selfish for tearing apart the buildings in its path? Another were selfish in the way nature was selfish, which meant that, most of the time, they weren’t actually selfish at all, and it was usually humans who got in their way and suffered for it.
Still, Arata had found that Another came in varying degrees of “selfishness”. There were those who, just like the Tengu and Angels living in the central park, could be conversed and reasoned with as one would with other people— though Arata had to admit that was mostly thanks to his Ears of Sand —and even when communication wasn’t possible, a peaceful coexistence certainly was, in much the same way humans had learnt to live with animals despite being unable to understand them.
Then there were those Another who, rather than animals or people, would be better compared to natural disasters. Arata could understand and speak at them, sure, but he would never be able to truly communicate anything. Just like how even if one were able to understand what a tornado was saying, it didn’t mean they’d be able to persuade it to change its course or abate its winds. Arata had thankfully dealt with few of those kinds of Another during his work, but that didn’t make their existence any less impactful.
Then… there were gods.
In Arata’s experience, gods fell somewhere in the spectrum between the person-like Another and the natural disaster-like Another, though which end the god was closest to was mostly dependent on the individual itself. This way of thinking may have seemed somewhat counter-intuitive at first glance, but he had good reasons for his assessment.
His main reason being, of course, his odd friendship with the old coyote.
Kohaku was as solipsistic as they came, thinking only about their own amusement and regarding human lives as insignificant as those of ants, and yet they were strangely attached to the human known as Abe no Semei, going as far as threatening to kill Arata when they initially suspected he was trying to trick them by impersonating him. No matter how Arata tried to reason with them in the beginning, or how many short-lived didactic lectures he tried to use to explain to them why doing things like helping a demon kill a dozen humans to get his attention made him so upset, Arata just didn’t seem to be able to get through to the old trickster god. Arata’s first impression of the old coyote had been that of a fearsome force he could neither afford to reason with nor to cross, he never thought there would come a day where he would genuinely consider them a friend.
After all, one couldn’t befriend a tornado.
And yet, Huehuecóyotl had come to him because of a friendship made a thousand years ago. Abe no Semei had promised the two would be able to talk again after a thousand years, and Huehuecóyotl had found Arata while trusting in that promise. Even if the old coyote couldn’t really understand friendship the same way as humans did, surely the relationship they had with Semei could be considered as that of friends, right?
Further proof of this theory was that, even though Huehuecóyotl said they didn’t care much for names, they would not allow anyone other than Semei— and by extension, Arata —to call them Kohaku. That was the name given to them by Semei, it was the signifier of their bond.
It was precisely because of this friendship that Arata decided to take a gamble and try to reason with the unreasonable god.
Did he have a plan going into that conversation, or a plan about what to do should it fail to produce the desired results? Of course not. The trickster god was chaos incarnate, after all, and chaos was hard to plan for. Huehuecóyotl was a god who let their whims dictate their actions, they lived in the present with no regard for anything or anyone other than themselves, doing as they wanted without considering the consequences, as chaos was wont to do. One wrong move and Arata was certain he’d be killed without the slightest hesitation.
But Arata had a strange confidence that Kohaku was not as unreachable as they seemed. He didn’t have any delusions about the power his Ears of Sand gave him— he knew full well he would never be able to befriend a tornado, but a god? It was certainly worth a try.
If Kohaku had been any more like a natural disaster and any less like a human— a feat that was already incredibly hard to even imagine —Arata wouldn’t have been able to make them understand that, though he and Semei were two different people, he still considered them a friend. That was because a tornado would never be able to share experiences with a person, nor would it ever understand that a friendship is built on the memories you make with someone.
Luckily for Arata, Kohaku was just human enough to understand.
Luckily for Arata, gods weren’t all like natural disasters.
Another came in all kinds, some more approachable than others, some much easier to deal with, others best avoided. Arata was fully aware that no matter how much his power grew or how much experience he gained, he would never be able to peacefully deal with all of them to keep everyone safe— he would never be able to reason with a tornado.
But he had managed to reason with a god, more than that, he’d even struck up a friendship with one. Twice, technically.
That had to count for something, right?
Fandom: Midnight Occult Civil Servants
Author:
elidelioRating: G
Word Count: 955
Notes: Cross-posted to
10promptsSummary: Arata’s first impression of the old coyote had been that of a fearsome force he could neither afford to reason with nor to cross, he never thought there would come a day where he would genuinely consider them a friend. After all, one couldn’t befriend a tornado.
If Arata had learnt anything during his time working at the Shinjuku Ward, it was that most Another were inherently selfish creatures. But even then, ascribing their behaviour to “selfishness” was a very human way to look at it, after all, was a venomous snake selfish for biting a careless hiker on a forest trail? Was a tornado selfish for tearing apart the buildings in its path? Another were selfish in the way nature was selfish, which meant that, most of the time, they weren’t actually selfish at all, and it was usually humans who got in their way and suffered for it.
Still, Arata had found that Another came in varying degrees of “selfishness”. There were those who, just like the Tengu and Angels living in the central park, could be conversed and reasoned with as one would with other people— though Arata had to admit that was mostly thanks to his Ears of Sand —and even when communication wasn’t possible, a peaceful coexistence certainly was, in much the same way humans had learnt to live with animals despite being unable to understand them.
Then there were those Another who, rather than animals or people, would be better compared to natural disasters. Arata could understand and speak at them, sure, but he would never be able to truly communicate anything. Just like how even if one were able to understand what a tornado was saying, it didn’t mean they’d be able to persuade it to change its course or abate its winds. Arata had thankfully dealt with few of those kinds of Another during his work, but that didn’t make their existence any less impactful.
Then… there were gods.
In Arata’s experience, gods fell somewhere in the spectrum between the person-like Another and the natural disaster-like Another, though which end the god was closest to was mostly dependent on the individual itself. This way of thinking may have seemed somewhat counter-intuitive at first glance, but he had good reasons for his assessment.
His main reason being, of course, his odd friendship with the old coyote.
Kohaku was as solipsistic as they came, thinking only about their own amusement and regarding human lives as insignificant as those of ants, and yet they were strangely attached to the human known as Abe no Semei, going as far as threatening to kill Arata when they initially suspected he was trying to trick them by impersonating him. No matter how Arata tried to reason with them in the beginning, or how many short-lived didactic lectures he tried to use to explain to them why doing things like helping a demon kill a dozen humans to get his attention made him so upset, Arata just didn’t seem to be able to get through to the old trickster god. Arata’s first impression of the old coyote had been that of a fearsome force he could neither afford to reason with nor to cross, he never thought there would come a day where he would genuinely consider them a friend.
After all, one couldn’t befriend a tornado.
And yet, Huehuecóyotl had come to him because of a friendship made a thousand years ago. Abe no Semei had promised the two would be able to talk again after a thousand years, and Huehuecóyotl had found Arata while trusting in that promise. Even if the old coyote couldn’t really understand friendship the same way as humans did, surely the relationship they had with Semei could be considered as that of friends, right?
Further proof of this theory was that, even though Huehuecóyotl said they didn’t care much for names, they would not allow anyone other than Semei— and by extension, Arata —to call them Kohaku. That was the name given to them by Semei, it was the signifier of their bond.
It was precisely because of this friendship that Arata decided to take a gamble and try to reason with the unreasonable god.
Did he have a plan going into that conversation, or a plan about what to do should it fail to produce the desired results? Of course not. The trickster god was chaos incarnate, after all, and chaos was hard to plan for. Huehuecóyotl was a god who let their whims dictate their actions, they lived in the present with no regard for anything or anyone other than themselves, doing as they wanted without considering the consequences, as chaos was wont to do. One wrong move and Arata was certain he’d be killed without the slightest hesitation.
But Arata had a strange confidence that Kohaku was not as unreachable as they seemed. He didn’t have any delusions about the power his Ears of Sand gave him— he knew full well he would never be able to befriend a tornado, but a god? It was certainly worth a try.
If Kohaku had been any more like a natural disaster and any less like a human— a feat that was already incredibly hard to even imagine —Arata wouldn’t have been able to make them understand that, though he and Semei were two different people, he still considered them a friend. That was because a tornado would never be able to share experiences with a person, nor would it ever understand that a friendship is built on the memories you make with someone.
Luckily for Arata, Kohaku was just human enough to understand.
Luckily for Arata, gods weren’t all like natural disasters.
Another came in all kinds, some more approachable than others, some much easier to deal with, others best avoided. Arata was fully aware that no matter how much his power grew or how much experience he gained, he would never be able to peacefully deal with all of them to keep everyone safe— he would never be able to reason with a tornado.
But he had managed to reason with a god, more than that, he’d even struck up a friendship with one. Twice, technically.
That had to count for something, right?
