That New-Age therapy crap ((Open RP, Greenhouses))

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

After the first thousand years or so, Kurama found a way to control exhausting emotions like rage and hate and the like. Most of the time, he could cool down after a moment, probably following some bit of vengeful destruction, and move on.

Sometimes, however, it took more than just a little vengeful destruction.


At first, the destruction was random, mindless, angry culling of whatever flora he didn't happen to like at the moment, or that reminded him that a certain bomb-fetishist demon who shall not be named had come in and ruined the hell out of his day. Then, as the greenhouse started to look more like a disaster zone, he began to parse off each plant, vine, stem, flower, and leaf until parts of the greenhouse looked like they'd been planned out by a math-happy earth god; not a curved or unsymmetrical line to be seen.

He was obviously in a dark mood, but he had forgotten to close the greenhouse door. Belophoebe, wise cat that she was, came in at just the right moment and demanded his attention. Which he gladly gave, abandoning the wreckage of his greenhouse - half mathematical perfection, half jungle disaster chaos - to sit on a worktable and pet his cat.

Comments

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

A was on his way through the greenhouse for a walk to hopefully clear his head a little when he saw the devastation. When he spotted Kurama he gave him a shocked look.

"What, oh, oh, did someone..."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"All my doing," he smiled, though it lacked heart. "I encountered someone today who was less than welcome." then he paused, noticing something about A seemed... off. He left his perch and knelt in front of A so that they were eye-level. "A, is something wrong?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"You, oh, oh, you, someone who..." Did he mean the same person that A had met, in the sorting room? He closed his eyes and shivered.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"In the sorting room," god, had Karasu gotten to A, too? Damn him. "A, did you go there, did you see him?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"In..." So Kurama did mean the same person. "Ohhh.... I, I, I, oh, he didn't bleed enough, not enough, didn't stay cut..."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Oh, A," he took A's hands in his own. "Forgive me, I'm so sorry you had to endure him..." reaching to A's face, turning his chin so they looked each other in the eyes. "Did he harm you?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"He wanted to know my name," A whispered. "My name, he said, so he could find me again."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"I want to tell you that he won't find you again, but he is cunning and evil," Kurama said. He would not lie to A and tell him everything would be all right, even as it pained him not to. "His name is Karasu and he is a rabid dog. A," He shifted so he was on his knees, looking up at his student. "A, what happened in the sorting room? Did you fight him?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"My knife, I, oh, I had my knife and I, I stabbed his hand and he wouldn't shut up, wouldn't leave me alone, and I cut, I swung it and cut his throat, and there was blood, there was, but it, it didn't stay cut, and Mello was there, and Mello said we're leaving, but he still wouldn't shut up and I had to hex him to make him shut up."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama felt a swell of pride. A may have been teetering on the edge, but he had been composed enough to attack in a way that maximized his chances of winning. "You did well, A, you did very well." He could just imagine the look of shock on Karasu's smug face.

"Did he touch you at all? Show me where if he did."

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"My wrist," A said in something like a whimper. "My cheek."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama put a hand to A's cheek, feeling the lingering traces of demon energy there. Karasu didn't have to touch to blast off someone's limbs, but it was a favored tactic. He used his own energy -stronger now by far than it had been those years ago - to burn away the energy and ensure A's safety, doing the same with his wrist.

"You must not let him touch you, A. He can harm you greatly if he touches you, though it is not the only way he uses. If you can, attack him from a distance, and with stealth. If you can do neither, you must run from him."

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I don't want him to touch me," A wailed. "Not, oh, oh, no, no, I don't, don't, not ever touch me!" Shaking, he wrapped his arms tightly around himself and squeezed his eyes shut, trying no to remember the oily false intimacy of Karasu's words. He wasn't, not quite exactly like B, but there were similarities, yes, and not good ones.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama held out his arms to A, offering an embrace if he needed it. "A, I will help you so he will not touch you, I will teach you how to be safe." His voice he kept calm and gentle.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

Cautiously, A moved closer, taking Kurama's hands; a hug would be perhaps a bit much at the moment. "I, I, I want to learn," he said. "I want to make him not."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

He held A's hands, trying to exude as much comfort as he could. He knew very well how A felt, and didn't want him to feel that at all. "First, to calm down," he murmured, drawing A to sit on one of the worktable benches, clearing away plant bits and leaves so they could sit comfortably. Then he waved to the plants to form over them, creating a flowering canopy of calm for them to sit under. He put the bulk of his energy into the flowers, making them bloom in spectacular colors and produce soothing smells.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

The flowers did their job, too, relaxing A at least slightly with their lush, fragrant blooms. The palpable vitality of them was the most soothing of all, the unsullied life energy of growing things.

"He's not right," A whispered.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"No, he isn't," Kurama murmured. He wished now more than ever he was as skilled with reiki healing as Kusuriyuri; A would need it, after such an awful encounter. "I know how far from right he is, A, and it is very far indeed." He squeezed A's hands, gentle and soothing as he could manage.

"But I also know that he can be contained, and even beaten at his own game. Very soon now I will teach you how to defend yourself against him and people like him."

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

A nodded, and smiled. "Thank you, I, I, oh, I want to stop him, to make it hurt for him to be near me, to make him stay away."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"I cannot teach you wand magic," he mused, which was unfortunate, but he had a feeling that would be covered by someone else. Probably Mello. "I will teach you something now. Do you carry seeds with you?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I, I, no, I, what seeds should I carry?" A only carried seeds when he was taking them to be planted.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Tell me the flowers you know that can defend themselves," he said, reaching with one hand into his hair to pluck out a rose seed. He did not grow it yet, but he kept it ready. He knew A hadn't seen him use the signature weapon before, and it was a good place to start when teaching how to defend.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"Roses have thorns, of course. Thistles. Crown-of-Thorns (http://www.blankees.com/house/plants/crown.htm) has thorns and caustic latex, and flowering quinces (http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/909/) have sharp spines and can cause skin irritation as well." On that note, he brightened a little. "Blackberries and raspberries are not flowers, but they have thorns also."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Excellent. Roses are a favorite of mine, let me show you." He stood, making room for himself and standing a good distance from A. He picked up a bit of wood left over from his destruction, and tossed it in the air. With a flick of his wrist and a sweeping gesture, the rose seed went from bloom to stem to deadly-strong whip in the space of seconds, demolishing the chunk of wood like it was made of toothpicks.

"Yes, a favorite. Blackberry vines are good for this kind of weapon as well. And poison ivy, as soon as you immunize yourself from the poison." Not to mention some plants from makai, but he'd introduce those beauties to A later.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

A watched the lovely power of the rose whip with admiration, awed by its strength. "That, oh, oh, that's wonderful," he said. "How do I immunize myself to poison ivy?"