* FUNERAL / PYRE

“it’s actually not that weird that they kept this place under wraps.” keith states casually as if he’s speaking of the weather and not about an underwater section city. he really is stuck here now—as annoying as that realization is. he’s trying to be calmer about things, at the very least, think a bit before leaping and all that—though it’s up to debate how much actual thinking he tends to do about these things depending on who’s asked.

INTERVIEW THE MUSE ✦ no longer accepting

@skiesadieu SAID: ‘ have you ever taken part in an uprising? ‘

INTERVIEW THE MUSE ✦ no longer accepting

@torimachikazami SAID: ‘ are you a good person? ’

HOLIDAY ASKS

@hakuchigun​ SAID: "Happy Holidays. You're doing a good job, and you have a good heart. Hope it stays that way." Chuuya hands over a small bag. Inside, there's a very stylish hat! He also leans down and calls Kosmo to him, gives the space-puppy a rustle on the head and passes him a small box that's easily openable with puppy teeth. Inside, there's a collection of tug toys, chew toys and balls.

the gifts are surprising—for him and kosmo no less—considering that keith didn’t expect much of anything at all even if the holiday season calls for it. it’s kind and considerate, and while keith feels bad for not having anything in return, he makes a mental note to figure something out at a later date.

“Hehehe, you’d never do something like that, right?” Fingers scratch behind ears, a casual shrug of her shoulders at advice given to her ( really, does it count as such if she doesn’t acknowledge it as advice? ) “Naaah, it’s fine! Mona never minded either.” Morgana most absolutely did mind— let alone the fact that Morgana was a cat and also not even what should be used as a standard example of an animal. “Besides, a few scratches never hurt anyone.” That’s not quite true, and even she knows that; either way, that’s probably besides the point when he probably means an injury worse than that.

     ❝ YOU got it. Stands are rare and don’t form societies, so all that’s known about us is through word of mouth through humans. That is to say, humans have spread around much misinformation on the topic. ❞

He gives a shrug. It is what is. Stands have bigger things to worry about than rumor mills.

❝ And what about you? ❞

He gestures up and down to Keith with a tilt of the head.

❝ What are you? ❞

While partly to keep the conversation on equal ground, he knows it’s unwise to assume anyone around his human.

*:・ﾟ☆

“human” is the initial response, but keith catches himself. considers. that’s a ship long since sailed, that’s for sure. the easiest answer he’s used to giving without accidentally stirring up anyone’s flight or fight responses. not that he cared; it just got annoying and grating to deal with the time. here though, he doubts he’ll get the same response. 

       ❝ yeah – i’ve seen a lot of wolves in my time, but nothing like that. ❞

       having a wolf isn’t entirely odd to her – wolves could be excellent companions && guards if trained right – besides, most people didn’t have birds of prey as their best friends (  not to mention her friend’s best friend was a chameleon  ). if anything, it’s more respectable than odd to her – but she wasn’t by any means a normal sort of person, she’d always preferred weapons && predators to common house pets && cross-stitch. arms cross under her chest as her owl moves up to her shoulder, making himself comfortable while looking over the new pair curiously.

       ❝ honestly ? no offence, but anyone who thinks he’s just a dog is a moron. so, where’d he come from ? since he’s not, you know, exactly normal. ❞

“oh, i’m not offended. it’s true.” it’s an easy agreement on keith’s part having to deal with the brunt of the correcting process. he knows wolves aren’t exactly common pets for genuine reasons, but he knows for a fact that it’s not exactly unheard. that aside, kosmo is blue and tends to glow softly in the dark; he isn’t sure how many dogs actually do that even when taking into consideration different planets and worlds.

peace and a place where he could unabashedly stuff his face were two of the things hawks was searching for; gaining a reputation with his business meant that either curious people or supports felt more inclined to stop him on the street— not that he was complaining, hawks enjoyed how well it was being received… he would just prefer to have his lunch break uninterrupted today. which is how he ended up in a tree in the first place; in fact, it wasn’t all too bad. it was quiet, serene, scenic…

alright, it sucked and it wasn’t his scene at all. mistakes were made, but at least he would know better the next time he tried to go out of his way, again. 

finishing most of his meal while idly scrolling through his phone, he barely noticed the wolf peering up at him; had the voice below not spoken up, he would have been completely oblivious —  he was growing a bit too soft. 

curiosity getting the best of him, he wasted no time in propelling himself off from where he was perched; with a gentle few flaps from his wings, he landed without much trouble. eyeing the two curiously, they were an odd pair at best, but hawks wasn’t particularly wary of the duo; in fact, he was almost glad he had some company out here. “ hah, cute pooch you got there! hope he’s not too disappointed that i’m not a midday snack. ”

keith doesn’t really know what to expect despite the bare glimpses he caught; a human with wings definitely wasn’t on the top of his list, however. He’s seen aliens with wings though none of them feathered like an actual bird’s nor their appearance humanoid enough to be anything other than extraterrestrial. no wonder kosmo was initially curious; keith wishes that he didn’t take to wandering off so much these days.

rhetorical or not—it isn’t though keith can tell anyway—he answers the question regardless. “he should be fine; he just ate something. besides, he doesn’t eat people.” though that descriptor causes him to backtrack a little; the wings are right there, after all. “birds?” not much better anyway and kosmo has taken to eating poultry despite what he might have just accidentally implied.

keith cants his head to the side slightly and tries again. third time’s the charm. “bird-people? sorry.” he shrugs, unable to properly puzzle it out just by guessing. “i’ve seen all sorts, but i don’t ever remember seeing someone with wings—not feathered anyway. you belong to specific species or..?”

    there were few places that the faunus found to be good for a bit of training and her search for one throughout the day had left her empty handed. but she would not give up easily. she was restless, itching to do something and so she scoured and searched until one suitable place made itself known to her. she went farther and farther until the sounds of human conversation were drowned out by leaves rustling in the wind and the ambiance of nature took over. the silence brought her a sense of calm– one that usually stayed with her for a few good hours. one of the many perks she enjoyed going about keeping herself in shape this way.  

        it would be silly to think she was the only one who would do the same thing. to seek out this place away from others to do whatever it is they wish. the surprise at a new voice is little, but enough that it halts her movements.

    ❛ That’s precisely why I’m out here. ❜ a nonchalant response as she turns to gaze at the stranger. ❛ There’s no one to bother me. You must be seeking the same thing if you came out this far as well. ❜

“yeah, i am.” no reason to lie about it or beat around the bush. keith craves silence when things get too much—time to properly collect himself so he can hear his own thoughts. a holdover from his childhood home secluded and far away from people as it was.

finding a similar solstice out here is a boon of a sort, but it seems rather limited either way given the fact that it didn’t take him too long to run into someone else. not that he can complain, being the second one to show up—he can respect that much. halts his steps a comfortable distance away because of that same respect too and partially because he’s always a touch wary when strangers are concerned.  

@astrapyre​

It was only Keith’s second solo job, after a few trial runs where he’d been accompanied by another worker who knew Koi’s back alleys and meetup spots better.  

Chuuya doesn’t expect any trouble (after the first incident, where Keith had broken an unruly customer’s nose, he’d picked things up quickly and combined a strong will with a good heart, which was unsurprisingly a bit uncommon in their line of work) but as a policy, when workers meetup with their client at the scene of the job, or if the plan changes unexpectedly, they’d give the supervisor in charge a call to check in; in this case, that was Chuuya, forcing his way through several large slabs of employee contracts whilst keeping his phone close by. 

A few employees had trouble with the setup, taking it as a sort of babysitting, but it’s important for Angel’s Trumpet to make sure they don’t end up sending their own people against each other or be dragged into something bigger than they’d been paid for. 

(They’d had customers in the past who would outright lie about their job, try to rip them off, or tried to set them up to lessen the competition… Of course, it was dealt with quickly by the Angel Trumpet’s superior manpower, but the extra paperwork and cover ups they caused was a drain of time and money, so they’d set up checks and balances to avoid it.) 

Keith had already done his first check in when he’d arrived on site– client had been a bit late, but otherwise everything was usual– so when his work phone rings, once, twice and Keith’s number is listed, man takes welcome excuse to put off paperwork and answers.

“…Yo. Report?”

work at angel’s trumpet is a familiar sort, even if it’s not exactly the same as keith’s time with the blade, there are enough similarities that he can safely fall back on. it takes a bit longer than he’d like, however, to adjust properly—completely. there’s a stark difference between dealing with earth and humans than dealing with space and all it has to offer, but he’s glad for the adjustment period regardless.  

a bit less life-threatening for one; though this line of work isn’t the safest by any means, and that’s the initial reason why keith gravitated to it in the first place. it isn’t as though the fate of the known galaxy rests on his shoulders anymore, however.

flashbang of a temper and the occasional annoying customer and interaction aside—because keith really is trying to get better at holding himself back—it’s been pretty decent so far. even the mandatory calling doesn’t bother him considering that solo missions with the blade meant absolutely no contact in fear compromising everything. he doesn’t give a second thought to calling chuuya when he feels the need to.

“fuck yeah, man. chicken nuggets are the shit.” so equal parts stupid, equal parts brave. he grins unabashedly, still taking a knee as he arranges the nuggets (in the shape of a smiley face, of all things) in front of what narancia thinks is a dog. but then he remembers, surprisingly, his manners. giorno if not bruno has explained to him more about animals and pets than he thought he’d learn in a lifetime. “oh, my bad―i shoulda asked first, huh? some dogs can’t eat certain stuff ‘n all that? he’s just cute as hell, so i wanted to say hi.” 

which was perplexing and understandable all at once. when options ran thin, sometimes you had to make do. narancia for one has been in dilemmas that would hardly be considered fine dining. chicken nuggets, however, are some of the finest dining there is. he props an arm on his upright knee and wedges his chin in it. bright violet eyes peer up at keith. “mm, should i take ‘em back?”

“he’s not a dog.” is keith’s first correction, perplexity dripping from his tone. then wonders if he’s being too specific in his handling of the situation. kosmo is canine in form, that’s for sure, a hard fact to miss by anyone, so he’ll give narancia that much. however, keith didn’t primarily spend his free time wandering the deserts of arizona just to ignore the differences between domesticated pets and their wilder brethren, that much he also knows. kosmo stands too tall and is a bit too different in looks to fit in the circle of house pet despite how docile he is about every nonthreat.

     NO offense is taken. He’s been in experiments such as this long enough to have been assumed to be everything from a robot to a reanimated doll.

One last piece of broken ornate pottery is fitted into the cement, a decorative fix to where he’d punched the sidewalk last night. He straightens himself up to face Keith, dusting off his hands.

❝ I’m complicated. They call me a Stand, what they think is the manifestation of a sentient being’s fighting spirit. ❞

*:・ﾟ☆

         keith finds that his alien assumption seems a lot more believable than sentient fighting spirit. he frowns, more so from confusion than anything, but doesn’t question much. it wouldn’t be right of him to do so, having traveled as much of the galaxy as he has, wilder things are probably found elsewhere, honestly.