It's been a slow, cozy week. Kinda boring, really, but having a few quiet days can be nice too, sometimes. You'd hate it if this became the norm, but for now, it's been a great chance to catch back up on your work. You've started to fall behind again, and that's not something you're going to meekly accept. You've shoved all the books and accoutrements you won't need right now off onto the floor, and the workbench is laden with just the essentials. The burning heat of the hakkero wafts forth from where you've slotted it into it's well-worn slot beneath the brick crucible, driving away all of the drafty winter air, while off to the side your half-finished cup of tea sits, still warm just from proximity.
You've got Patchy's copy of the Necronomicon fanned out to show the star chart you'll need, some rope keeping it tied down so that it can't thrash too hard and ruin things. The cauldron churns and bubbles violently from where you've suspended it above your fireplace - you've tried using the hakkero's heat for the brewing portion of this before too, to save on firewood, but it turns out it can soak into the ingredients and make a feedback loop later, so you've given up on that - though the resulting chain reaction did give you some ideas about how to intentionally use that...
Hm. You're getting distracted. You take a few steps closer to get a proper glance over the cauldron's blood-red contents, grabbing at one of the bunches of dried mushrooms hanging overhead as you do. Some caterpillar fungus should do the trick, you think - highly balanced yin and yang energies, plus connotations of control from the parasitic mechanism of growth... You toss it in, and nod with satisfaction as the mixture fades to a sullen orange in color, and the bubbles die down.
Since you're next to the fireplace already, you might as well grab the tongs, since you'll need them in a second. The book has been well-behaved today, but as you head next to the workbench you give it a hearty smack with the heavy metal you're carrying anyway on principle, just so it doesn't start getting any funny ideas. And then it's back to taking a seat and waiting, as the starmetal you've painstakingly extracted from the various artifacts you've collected continues to soften.
People have called your place a disorganized catastrophe before, but they simply don't understand your system.
You slowly cradle the cup of tea and sip. You might as well be comfortable, after all, since you've still got a long day ahead of you. You're going to have to keep working well past sundown, but if you've done the transpositions correctly, tonight is when the stars will be right. Then you frown, sniffing at the air - a slight charcoal scent. Right. You'll need to turn the hakkero down a touch, then. You reach out to make the adjustments - and then the sound of bells tinkles loudly, as your door gets opened.
Not Reimu, since she'd have slammed the door open more quickly and forcefully. Not Alice, she'd have come in through the side door, she has the key. A customer, then? "Be with you in a-! ...moment." You start to shout over your shoulder, but...
It was Reimu after all. But she looks... tired. Not the usual kind of "there's an Incident" tired either, more of a general mopeyness. Huh.
You could speculate about what was happening... but what would be the point, when you could just ask? "What's up?"
She draws in a deep breath, then sighs, and it's like she's trying to expel all the sorrows of the world with that single exhale. "Buddhists."
Right. Well, Reimu does get like this sometimes, especially when she's been reminded about her poor financial straits... "What'd they do this time?" You take a look at where the sun is in the sky, estimating the time this might cost you... but this is your best friend. You can spare an hour or two and still make the timeline for tonight. You'll just have to work a little harder and get things right the first time later, that's all. "Wanna spar to let it all out?"
Reimu leans back against your doorframe, her eyes closing. "Thanks, but no. And... what didn't they do? Some new Buddhist broke the barrier, and now they're trying to move into the Hakurei shrine."
Oh. If Reimu doesn't want to spar... this is serious, then. She always wants to spar. A thought has the hakkero's flame die away to nothing, as you put the whole operation on pause and grab a second cup, pouring Reimu some tea. You nudge the cup into her hands, before guiding her over to the table and the chair you were in. "Wanna gripe about it, then?"
A wan smile slowly emerges. "Yes, please. So it all started when..."
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AN: Here's a little snippet of what Reimu was up to in the morning, while y'all were out and about doing stuff with the SDM crew.
