What you are is what you have been. [OPEN]

[its_dad_sanzo]

Who: Koumyou Sanzo and OPEN!
Where: All over the place!
When: Any time between the 3 questions event (Imagination 21) and the next mission.
What: A bunch of prompts and a wildcard, take your pick!
Warnings: Devero thread: some hot and heavy PDA toward the very end, and a minor reference to Dev's highly-abusive past relationship.


xxxxxWhat you'll be is what you do now.

( In all prompts, Koumyou is in his full Sanzo uniform, not train-issued clothes. )

xxxxx🌙 Cleaning and Singing

Blue team is supposed to clean, and so that's what Koumyou's doing. The priest has a broom and a dustpan, and... no plan! He can be found sweeping up the main walkways mostly, and doing an alright job of it.

And as he works, the priest is singing to himself. Quietly enough that one would have to actively listen to hear it clearly, but it's there. The chances are good that he's not even aware he's doing it. He has a lovely singing voice, even at a low volume.

xxxxx🌙 Meditating

Koumyou's found an out of the way corner somewhere, and has sat down on the floor in full lotus position, eyes closed and breathing slow and even. One could almost think he's asleep, except his back is far too rigid, and his head's not even drooping.

Is the light a little brighter, in this corner? A little colder, almost like... moonlight?

xxxxx🌙 Meditating Napping

It's been long enough since the mission on Nion that Koumyou is no longer sleeping in every random nook and cranny in the train to recover, but that doesn't mean he won't still occasionally nod off somewhere inconvenient.

Is he drooling on one of the tables in the dining car? Snoring quietly in the cinema car? Slumped over onto his side in a seat in the standard car?

Maybe someone should wake him up.

xxxxx🌙 Smoking

There's only a few places Koumyou Sanzo won't smoke. The cabin he shares with three kids, and the hospital car. He's nowhere near the walking chimney his son grows up to be, but at least once a day the priest will light up a single plain, filtered cigarette.

It takes the edge off, and no one wants Koumyou Sanzo to not take the edge off.

xxxxx🌙 Wildcard?

xxxxx(Wildcard.)

Comments

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Perhaps so," Koumyou's pretty fucking zen about it, at least. As one might expect... if one expected a priest to be a killer at all.

"I'm glad you get to be yourself now, then."

[firewalled]

"I am too. Being in a shiny happy hivemind definitely isn't my thing anymore."

He offers a small smile. "I'm glad for you too. Sounds like the stuff you got forced into was a lot worse..."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"No one forced me," Koumyou admits gently, re-opening his eyes, "although I admit I didn't even think about there being other options."

When one has only known the one life...

"Having your will subsumed sounds like the worst thing I can imagine." And he can imagine a lot, these days. "You're very strong, to have endured that as well as you have."

He doesn't know the details of how well Rich has endured it, of course, but the kid is here, upright, talking about not wanting to kill anyone -- that's pretty damn good in Koumyou's book!

[firewalled]

"Yeah, and that's probably because no one even let you consider other options. That's still awful too."

Rich didn't just deal with complete mind control, after all. Sometimes his SQUIP prefered good old fashioned manipulation.

Which is probably why he looks so embarrassed at that compliment. "I-I'm really not. I look fine now, but I was definitely a mess when I got here. And I'm all kinds of fucked here." He gestures at his head with a soft chuckle.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"You've endured well enough to still have a 'self' to be," the priest says, not un-gently. "That's better than some of us would fare."

Himself included. He has so little self left, if something like what had happened to Rich happened to him, Koumyou's not sure he'd still be walking around talking ethics.

"In my experience, everyone is some degree of fucked up, there." There being in the head, of course.

[firewalled]

"Heh... it's nice of you to say that. I have to admit, I'm still figuring out who I am after all that, but I'm glad you think I'm doing okay with that."

Maybe he can still be a person without the SQUIP interfering, even if he doesn't exactly remember the shy freshman he used to be and can't quite grasp those memories.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"If it's any consolation," Koumyou tells him, "everyone is always figuring out who they are."

[firewalled]

"I guess so. I just missed out on two of my teenage years. I thought those were kind of the years for doing the most soul-searching."

Perhaps he'll still have college... or well, his twenties.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"I'm forty-seven and I still don't know who I am," the priest says gently, "it's normal."

Maybe a little more dramatically in his own case, than in most, but he's certain most people spend their whole lives figuring themselves out.

[firewalled]

"Huh. See, from what I've heard of adults, it always seems like they've got all their shit figured out."

It's rather refreshing to meet one that says that's certainly not the case.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Most adults think that, too, so they strive to act like they also have everything figured out, to fit in."

Koumyou, however, has no reservations about admitting the game.

[firewalled]

"I'm surprised to hear an adult throw the rest of them under the bus like that," Rich snorts. "But you seem a lot better than most of the adults I've met in my life."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"I'll take that as a high compliment, then," Koumyou says with his usual cheer. Aw, the kid thinks he's alright, despite the fact that he'll totally resort to murder without batting an eye.

That's kinda fucked up, Rich. You know that, right?

[firewalled]

"Ha, guess you could call it that." Rich is at least assured that Koumyou wouldn't hurt him, since Rich wouldn't dream of hurting Devero. That's more than Rich can say for a lot of adults.

[its_dad_sanzo]

There is that, at least. The priest is unlikely to murder without a good reason, and Rich is unlikely to ever give him one.

"Then I will."

Compliment locked in. No take-backs!

[firewalled]

"Heh, go for it." He won't ever want to take back a compliment, anyways!

"Anyways, I think Devero should be safe. I'll let you know if I hear about anything that could mess with his implant, though. As far as he's said, it's not like a SQUIP."

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou nods, "As far as I understand it, it's just sensors and teeny tiny wires connecting them all together."

No computer brain involved to turn crazy on the guy. Just data transmitted to his interface, or to his exo if it was here.

[firewalled]

"Yeah. There's no artificial intelligence involved, unless something gets wired in. I don't know if that'd be possible, though... Maybe if my SQUIP got reactivated..."

That's not a great thought though... Maybe Rich should just take it for granted that he's not going to end up with any Mountain Dew in his system.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Is it getting reactivated a risk? I don't know... hardly anything about technology, let alone something on that level."

Koumyou's aware of the irony, what with his boyfriend having technology laced through his entire body.

[firewalled]

"Only if someone gets their hands on Mountain Dew... it's a soda that sort of acts as an activation agent. Don't know exactly why, but it's probably something to do with the amount of sugar in it. I haven't seen any here, though..."

Though he's staying away from any green-tinted drink from the kitchen, just in case.

[its_dad_sanzo]

...A fucking soda turns it on? That's... that's weird, Rich.

"Is there a similar way to shut it back off again?"

[firewalled]

"Yeah. There's another soda, Mountain Dew Red. But it was discontinued in '89, so it's a little hard to get my hands on it."

Listen, he's well aware how weird this sounds, judging from the look on his face, but it is what happened to him!

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Well, I bet the train wouldn't have any trouble getting some, if you ordered it at the shop. If you wanted to have some on hand, anyway, just in case."

Seems like it could be good for the guy's peace of mind.

[firewalled]

"Yeah... that's probably a good idea. I need to save up some points for that, but if I have some to ration, then people will be a lot safer."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"I'd offer to help, but for all we know any of that from my world wouldn't work." Different formula or something, perhaps.

But the brand does exist on Koumyou's Earth! Which means that specific product may have at some point as well.