ashioki: (Default)
oushi ([personal profile] ashioki) wrote2025-06-08 12:38 pm
paperpusher: (but you don't know that you can survive)

the one normal piece of paper he got and he destroyed it immediately

[personal profile] paperpusher 2025-06-14 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[The doll seems perfectly content to hang around; it just lies there like any old doll cut out of a romance novel. It'll hold its magic for a very long time-- but it's still a piece of paper, so. It'll need to be replaced if it gets wet or catches on fire or anything (Oushi isn't powerful enough to make it burst spontaneously into flames, but it has happened to the protag-tier powerful).]

I was suspicious too, but someone who has been here much longer than I have didn't seem concerned. The sweets are already gone, though.

Yes, it seems as though almost everyone gets something-- but it's not always a tangible item. Sometimes it sounds more like a curse.
paperpusher: (can't stand still)

[personal profile] paperpusher 2025-06-14 04:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's very obvious that Oushi did not specify the nature of the curse, which is presumably for a reason. Ultimately Natori only cares about it for one reason:]

I'm going to assume it's not the sort of curse that an exorcist could take care of? I received multiple copies of The Time I, An Introverted Receptionist At A Luxury Hotel, Saw My Movie Star Guest Changing?! if you want that one.
paperpusher: (and my eyes won't close)

[personal profile] paperpusher 2025-06-14 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
If it happens when you're impolite, I've actually spoken to someone today who had the same experience.

[Though he suspects it's a little more targeted than that; that doesn't seem like it'd be Oushi's problem.]

Not especially. This is to be expected. What you should know about ayakashi is that they feed off of vulnerabilities in the human heart. It's unsurprising that a place like this would try to unsettle us by using tools like that.

[Which he means as a gentle warning to Oushi more than anything else: expect something similar, so you're not caught off guard when it happens to you.]

Besides, I think a lot of this is just because the receptionists are fans of mine.
paperpusher: (did its people want too much?)

[personal profile] paperpusher 2025-06-14 07:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Haha, I wouldn't beat yourself up for that. I've been doing this for a long time, and it's still tough to fight your instinctive reaction to things, especially when they're designed to get a rise out of you.

[Did he come here literally less than 24 hours after an illusion ayakashi tricked him into playing house with her based on a childhood memory she plucked out of his head? Yes. Is he going to take that fact to his grave? He'll certainly try.]
paperpusher: (what are you wondering?)

[personal profile] paperpusher 2025-06-15 01:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Hang on, don't ask the question yet. I want to test something.

[and what he tests is what happens if they just don't say anything-- and after a few minutes of surprising silence from Chirpy, he comes back.]

Interesting. I think so long as neither of us pose the question or pick an option, we might be able to end this? Unless the bird is annoyed at you?

[specifically because Chirpy is still yelling at him for ghosting someone who asked truth or dare, even after several back-and-forths-- maybe so long as they don't leave a question hanging, they can slip out of here?]
paperpusher: (I don't wanna talk about it)

[personal profile] paperpusher 2025-06-15 02:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, it's just a paper doll. You don't have to call it anything, just tell it to go when you need it to and it should go.
paperpusher: (is it cause you work in an office?)

[personal profile] paperpusher 2025-06-15 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[cute... it'll even wave at him when he sets it down, hello.]

You too!