[ this brick is still smarter than senri ]

[usogi]

Comments

[nosediving]

Yes.

[to both!]

It has been many years since I ascended to Immortality. I'm much older than I look.

[usogi]

[ . . . . . . . . ]

I need to sit down.

[ramen man you are still somehow the weirdest person he's met here]

[nosediving]

[he didn't even do anything!!]

Does it come to you as that much of a surprise . . . ?

[not sure how to feel about this.]

[usogi]

Wouldn't immortality surprise you?!

- er, well, I guess it wouldn't. Since you are immortal.

But that's not just some common thing where I come from...!!

[HE'S SO DISTRESSED]

[nosediving]

I wouldn't say that it's too common . . . but I suppose it is more prevalent to me, given the nature of my practice.

[usogi]

... I should've asked what a Peak God was, shouldn't I.

[this has strayed so far from the intention of this pc]

Um, can I give you a gift first, and then we can do storytime?

[nosediving]

[senri found out that he's been engaging a senior citizen all this time, and for what?]

A gift?

[usogi]

Mm-hmm.

[and here's senri doing some more close up magic - he flicks his wrist and a rose appears in his hand, thornless.

he offers it out]

For you.

[nosediving]

[senri . . . are you a grave robber?

with a look of surprise, he takes the rose. what a trick!]

What is the occasion?

[usogi]

[why doES EVERYONE THINK HE'S FLIRTING]

Beauty wants more people to talk to. So he sends his regards and hopes you'll come see him soon.

And I think if you show him this rose, it'll make him really happy.

[nosediving]

[he freezes. that's not how he was expecting this to go.]

Your patron god is . . . Beauty?

[usogi]

[senri tilts his head, casual as anything]

I dunno - is he?

[and he offers up a laugh]

Sorry, that's a hard question to answer right now. But I will say that I've gone to visit every god that held their hand out to me in my dream!

[nosediving]

[for a while, all shang qinghua does is stare before he seems to come back to himself.]

I should not have asked such a difficult question, nor can I refuse a divine invitation.

[usogi]

[oh - ]

... um, I think you could, maybe? He wouldn't be super offended or anything... but I think he'd be happier if you went to see him too.

He's really nice, so I don't think you have anything to lose?

[nosediving]

I don't have a reason to refuse a meeting. Since you went through the trouble of delivering this rose, I will go and see him.

[usogi]

[uh.]

Like - right now?

[HE'S SO SERIOUS]

[nosediving]

[no, silly duckling.]

It's ill-mannered to keep a host waiting, but it wouldn't be good to walk out on someone. Was there something else you wanted to talk about?

[usogi]

... well, we could go back to the immortal thing.

[still wild]

If you wanna talk about it, anyway?

[nosediving]

There isn't much to say . . . After years of cultivating, I unlocked the necessary stage to achieve immortality.

[usogi]

[what]

Cultivating... what exactly?

[please

teach senri the secret to immortality]

[nosediving]

The life force inherent in all things. Specifically, the same energy that courses in my body.

[usogi]

.... oh. Yeah, of course.

[he doesn't get it all]

[nosediving]

[is this how senri felt when explaining wi-fi? he waves dismissively.]

It bears no importance here. I'm unable to draw upon that energy in the temple.

Nito Senri, what about you? This participant would like to know you better. What did you do before you accepted the invitation to participate in this contest?

[usogi]

Oh - yeah, of course!

[THANKS FOR GUIDING HIM BACK TO FAMILIAR TERRITORY, RAMEN MAN]

I was a student and a stage actor living in Tokyo - it's a suuuper big, awesome city where I come from. I went to school and kept performing on the side.

[nosediving]

[ah . . . does senri hail from a well-to-do household, he wonders.]

Then, you are a student of the arts?