is it a toktik or is it a business ad? @chocobo

[mesospheric]

[ It begins with… a blink. Some guy with gravity-defying blond hair looks around, as if surveying the area for passer-by before he engages in what must surely be an embarrassing affair, like the filming of a TokTik. ]

This isn’t necessary, but—

Do you… need things done?

[ He sort of starts off strong before trailing off in classic Embarrassed Delinquent-esque reluctance. His eyes, locked ahead. His expression, stony. ]

For a fee, certain troublesome tasks can be done for you to satisfying completion. This includes but is not limited to: monster slaying, bodyguard duty, and… errands.

The fee will fluctuate depending on what a hassle I find it to be.

[ Another blink. Another look around. Something surely comes next, right? Damn. Is Cloud his own PR department? ]

… I look forward to working with you.

[ And just like that, the feed ends. ]

MERC WORK
contact Cloud Strife for more info

Comments

[photosympathies]

No! I've had sex. More than once, even! ( This doesn't really matter to him, so he doesn't know why he's defending himself so vehemently. ) But okay, I've hung out with a lot of sex workers, that's all. Sometimes I get to work on the doors for them. Kick out any undesirables. So I know a lot about the effort that goes into it. They're always nice when they know you're just hanging out and they love to chat.

( Sex is complicated. It's very human. He doesn't do it a lot because ... well. He's on the run. He's 90% scar. He's other.

He's a tiny stupid dummy that needs it to mean something. )

I'm just saying there's probably way better options!

[shadowban]

like a bouncer. or a... a john? no, a pimp. weed out the bad guys from the sad ones. i understand.

[ you take a child to the seedier parts of tokyo a few times and he thinks he understands the bigger world outside of his narrow field of vision. ]

some people appreciate inexperience, i've read. maybe you could find your niche that way? if you mean to pursue this line of work, i mean. it makes a lot of money.

[mesospheric]

Have you ever been to a red light district????

[shadowban]

a few times, it smells like piss if you go down the wrong alleys. why?

[mesospheric]

You’ve never been inside to use the services? Your file says you’re pretty young.

[shadowban]

i don't need to pay for a sex worker's time to know what they do. i'm sixteen. what are you getting at?

[mesospheric]

Too young for those places. Stop going.

[shadowban]

i'm not going there for myself, it's work.

[ wait ]

not that kind of work.

[mesospheric]

What kind of work

[shadowban]

exorcism. it's exactly what it sounds like.

Still lurking

[mace_pray_love]

[wow, Megumi seemed like such a nice boy when he was helping her with shrine architecture, but now the truth is exposed… he’s secretly a mega-perv who lurks around in sketchy districts!]

[shadowban]

[ por que no los dos, señora jessica? ]

[photosympathies]

( A PIMP. )

Ahahahaha. ( Sorry his very nervous laughter gets brought along for the ride. ) How much money?

( Vash, no. )

Actually I think I'm okay. I get why people would but I threw out all my flyers! So.

[shadowban]

no one advertises with flyers anymore. you go on apps like onlyfans or LINE or katalk now.

some make more than enough to only work a few days. or they get adopted? sugar babies, or hosting. if you have no scruples at all you could just scam women.

i know people who did that last one, it's not that uncommon.

[ you know, like his father. ]

[photosympathies]

( FUSHIGURO MEGUMI. )

I'm not gonna scam women?! I'm not gonna scam anyone. Jeeze. Also I'm too old to be a baby.

( Help. )

How do you know all of this?

[shadowban]

your age isn't necessarily part of being a sugar baby. it helps though, but it gets more dangerous the younger you are or greater the age gap between you and your 'daddy'.

[ as for how he knows— ]

my sister and i lived in a bad neighborhood before [ oh wait, hmmmmm ] we were fostered.

and back home, we have curses. few people can see and exorcise them, and i'm one of them. curses are born from the misery, guilt, and fear of people; to understand how they're killed you have you learn how they're created.

a lot of red light areas have many curses, as you can imagine.

[photosympathies]

( Does Vash now have to be concerned for all sugar babies everywhere? )

Oh, that makes a lot of sense actually. I can only imagine how bad some places get. You hear a lot of stories the more you go around.

That sounds like a lot of pressure.

[shadowban]

it's not that bad. i'm good at exorcising curses.

[ too good, despite his best efforts, and that proved a problem for everyone in the end. if megumi never has to use his cursed energy for what the elders think is its purpose, then he'll be happy. ]

a lot of people want curses exorcised all the time, but there aren't enough exorcists to help them all.

well, there weren't. it's changed now. i could probably retire early.

[photosympathies]

There aren't any here, right? So you get a break now.

Well ... apart from the kaiju.

Is it similar fighting them?

[shadowban]

technically, i brought my own. the rabbits are an older form of curses. shikigami.

fighting is fighting, i think. but i guess they're not too different. if it can be killed in some way, then i can take them on.

is it the same for you, vash-san?

[photosympathies]

But they're so cute!!! How can they be from something bad?

And kind of. I'm mostly used to trying to de-escalate. Not a lot of things not people shaped in my world. But I know how to fight, so it's fine.

[shadowban]

they've transcended their cursed nature, i think. i don't entirely understand it either, but they're their own being now. if they chose to, i'm pretty sure they could stop listening to me even if i summon them.

if i had to say, they're closer to nature spirits than normal curses. most of the older and more powerful ones, at least.

does that mean you've mostly fought people-shaped enemies?

[ you've killed people? ]

[photosympathies]

Aw, but you're their dad! I bet they won't.

And mostly? Some people go wild for the body-mod. ( Or they're his brother. ) Some grand-worms too, but people for the most part.

[shadowban]

i'm their human companion. i do appreciate them, though. i'm always fond of them even when we're not fighting.

what's it like, fighting a grand-worm? is it as tall as a building? as long as a train?

wait, do you have those things where you're from?

[photosympathies]

We do! Sort of. You have to go to one of the bigger cities to see them. The worm that almost ate me and Wolfwood was almost the size of a sand steamer. Longer than one too.

And we didn't so much as fight it as Wolfwood lazered it open. The little ones tend to storm together.