Hold up, we don't need guest list, we be the bestest

Can't touch me, like Gojo—Look good in all my photos

"And THAT'S how I defeated the void vipers that were attacking Lena!" Kaisel declared, finishing his very brave and heroic re-telling of a recent adventure to the Greatwoods to Koa. "I think Zavien might give me an award or something." Completely fabricated, of course, but did that really matter? What was one little white line among cousins?

Kaisel quieted as they drew upon the line of statues that marked the revered section of the Celestine. His grin faltered into a serious, and slightly worried, line that bordered a frown. "So you think she will help?" Kaisel asked Koa, maybe for the 10th time, as a strange feeling roiled in his gut. Was that—NAH couldn't be—nerves? Him, nervous?

He dropped to one knee after inhaling deeply, and rustled in his jacket pockets for a moment. He withdrew some particularly shiny rocks, ribbed with crystals and colors, and set them at the foot of Safrin's shrine. He rather thought they looked like the stars, though nowhere near as lovely. He also placed some of the fuller flowers he'd found, their petals still vibrant and open, and lastly he secured a piece of his mom's homemade berry pie. He cast a wary glance over his shoulder at Koa, then turned back and bowed his head, eyes shutting.

"Safrin, please hear me. I need a weapon to protect the ones I care about, something to help me be stronger."

---

Kaisel is praying to Safrin for this item: Knuckle knives that deals air damage.

Koa is joining to help with the roll :D

Citizenship Ability
With so many favoured in one place, fickle spirits tend to leave you alone. You cannot be cursed when visiting a shrine by a spirit.
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.

Hopefully I didn't fuck it up this time.

Kaisel

Sexy jutsu, I feel like Naruto—Fightin' demons in my head like I'm Itadori

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

"Oh, an award at least," Koa agrees enthusiastically as Kai concludes his bullshit story. "Might even make you his future baby's godfather." A serious nod is utterly belied by the glittering amusement in his eyes, but he isn't gonna be the one to call Kai on his shit. Tall tales are a long-standing family tradition, after all, and Koa had spun his fair share for his cousin and sister when they'd been young and impressionable children.

Which, to his worldly and mature 23-year-old eyes, the both of them still are.

And besides, telling the story had calmed Kai's nerves, though they seem to be flaring up again. "She definitely will," Koa reassures his cousin with the confident air of someone who's said this a number of times, throwing his arm over Kai's shoulder and giving him a gentle shake. "Just remember to be respectful, and polite, and don't gawk too much. Which is hard, because Safrin is definitely the most beautiful woman you'll ever see." He gives this advice with a sage sort of cockiness, his affection for the goddess shining through.

They reach the shrine presently enough, and Koa releases his hold on Kai with one final reassuring pat on the back. The Dragoon maintains a little distance to allow his cousin center stage, watching with amusement and fondness as the boy sets out his offerings. Crossing strong arms over his chest, Koa adds a silent prayer of his own: Please, my Lady Safrin, bless my cousin with your presence. He's a good kid, I promise. Give him a chance to prove himself, as you gave to me.

-----

Koa is here, too!

Citizenship Ability
With so many favoured in one place, fickle spirits tend to leave you alone. You cannot be cursed when visiting a shrine by a spirit.
Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc.

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

every bait and switch was a work of art

Starlight spilled slowly across the water gardens of the Celestine. It did not blaze, nor fall like a comet—no, it shimmered, soft and precise, unfurling like silk through the twilight-drenched air. The flowers leaned toward it. The glassy pools rippled beneath it. Somewhere, one of the mythical creatures resting in the enclosures gave a low, contented sigh, as if lulled to sleep by its gentle call. The stars overhead seemed to still themselves.

And then Safrin arrived.

She stepped from the air itself, radiant and poised, her gown a waterfall of indigo and pearl that shifted as she moved. Twilight clung to her skin. Starlight glinted in her hair. She walked as if she belonged here—because she did. It was rumoured she had shaped this place with her own hands, and her presence now seemed only to confirm it. The shrine quieted. The night itself seemed to listen.

Her gaze, luminous and sharp, slid first to @Koa—and warmed instantly. A smile curled at her lips, something fond and knowing. "My favourite troublemaker," she purred, her voice like constellations caught in the throat, both amused and fond before her eyes shifted to Kaisel. She did not smile, not immediately. Instead, she studied him—openly and thoroughly, her expression unreadable. There was something weighing behind her gaze: not judgment, not suspicion, but expectation. Curiosity. The gleam of a star wondering if it might catch fire in something new.

"Koa's cousin," she said at last, not as a question but a soft confirmation. Safrin stepped closer, the starlight bending slightly around her form as if reluctant to let her go. She tilted her head, looking between the two of them now. "So," she asked, her tone turning silk again, "what is it that brings you both to me?"

you're the one prize i'd cheat to win

Can't touch me, like Gojo—Look good in all my photos

Kaisel did not often stop to admire the world around him. He took beauty for granted often, his sights more likely to appraise something for its strength, or the actions of one's bravery and talents—that was beauty to him. Yet, even Kaisel could appreciate the shine that coasted through the shrine as Safrin twinkled into reality, the stars seeming to sweep behind her like some heavenly staircase.

Don't gawk Kaisel reminded himself, Koa's advice bouncing through him, as Kaisel dared to lift his head to better greet the goddess. His jaw was kind enough to lift up with him rather than remain on the floor, but he could not keep the splendor of wonder from his eyes as they seemed to sparkle in turn upon regarding her. It was easy to do, watch her, when her attention was poured upon his cousin, the focus well deserved.

It was another matter entirely when her gaze pivoted to him.

His throat felt dry. He flexed his hands at his sides, an attempt to keep the lead from dragging him down. Yeah, okay, he was nervous.

"Kaisel Ashborn," he offered her, perhaps unnecessarily, wasn't she omnipotent or similar enough? He was also ok just being known as Koa's cousin, that was something to be proud of in it's own way, to him. "Pleased to meet you," he didn't offer a hand, it didn't seem like it was ok to shake the hand of the stars, but he did bow at his chest. He breathed. He had to focus on doing so, no different than controlling it during training, and he smiled wanly when he lifted his head back up to her. Passion burned through the wonder now. "I want to be strong enough to help defend what I love. I thought a weapon, knuckle knives that cleave with the air itself, would work well against threats."

Kaisel

Sexy jutsu, I feel like Naruto—Fightin' demons in my head like I'm Itadori

Koa

Now I just want to play on my panpipes
I just want to drink me some wine

Awesome as ever, Safrin arrives in a mantle of majesty, starlight and radiance rippling in her wake. Koa makes no attempt to hide his admiration: he wears his adoration for the goddess openly, like a badge of honor or a mark of pride. Especially when she calls him her favorite, sending a shiver of smug delight running through him as he responds with an elated grin. "My Lady," Koa answers, bowing deeply, though he keeps his face upturned to her, copper eyes glittering in the light of the stars.

And then he waits, because this is Kai's moment - his will come again, and soon. Straightening up, Koa assumes a position of attention, listening to his cousin with fond indulgence before turning his gaze back to his goddess, a charming and entreating smile upon his handsome face.

As soon as you're born you start dyin'
So you might as well have a good time

every bait and switch was a work of art

Safrin watched Kaisel with a gaze that could have bent galaxies. Silent as moonlight and just as searing, her expression gave away nothing at first—not disdain, not approval, only the slow sweep of appraisal from his boots to the crown of his head. But there was something in the way he stood his ground, the effort behind the breath he remembered to take, the passion that finally flared in his voice. And something in the way Koa looked at him too—like he was proud. That counted for something.

"Kaisel Ashborn," she repeated, her voice a low purr, not mocking but deliberate, tasting the syllables like starlight over a new horizon. She stepped forward slowly, the air warming around her with each breath. "You want to fight for what you love?" she mused, circling him like a constellation finding its orbit. "To cleave with the air itself..." She stopped just before him, her presence oppressive in its beauty, in the sheer weight of being seen by her. Safrin’s hand lifted—not to touch him, not yet, but to draw a single arc of starlight through the air. It shimmered like the edge of a blade, flickering with ghosted movement.

"I could indeed make you something devastating," she murmured, the blade spinning now like a whisper of power in the air beside her. "But before I do, I need to know you understand what it is you're asking for." Her gaze shifted—just slightly—to Koa and softened for a moment, before she looked back to Kaisel.

"Here is what you must do."

---

Kaisel has been given a quest! He must

1. Complete a thread encountering something that isn't quite what it seems
2. Complete a thread protecting something/someone he loves
3. Complete a training thread focusing on fighting with regular knuckle knives
4. Have someone use their air magic on him.

you're the one prize i'd cheat to win

Can't touch me, like Gojo—Look good in all my photos

His balls tried to climb inside his body when she said his name. It sounded incredible with her voice, but like the flare of starlight that was so beautiful, it was edged with the power of things that could be extinguished for eternity, left to nothing but the darkness of space. Unlike Frey, who had only seemed to exist as a promise of indulgence and fulfillment of fantasies, Safrin moved like a threat disguised as a smile. Wonderful, but terrible in spite of it, or because of it. Her assessment did not conjure heat in him, but rather chilled him, the prickle of worry that he might not measure up a creep of ice against his spine. He straightened against it, unwilling to waver, unwilling to fail her. Frey had been someone he could scarcely take his eyes off of, but Safrin, she almost begged him not to look—a sun that would nourish you in the right conditions, and devastate you in others.

The starlight that tumbled from her hands traced his desire, the power of it. He watched and listened like the good attentive soldier he was. He did not back down from the weight of her gaze, from the risk of her nearness, because it was an oppressive force that he wished to share a piece of. If she would give him the tool, he would carve her name into each opponent that stood before him.

"I won't let you down, ma'am" he said at last, when it seemed her calculations had completed and his orders, from the heavens themselves, had been relayed. A nodded confidently at her, the wide grin that broke his features the only betrayal of his discipline as his heart soared at the opportunity she gifted him. "Thank you."

He stepped back, to rejoin Koa and to untether himself from her gravity so that she might wink back into the stars.

[FIN]

Kaisel

Sexy jutsu, I feel like Naruto—Fightin' demons in my head like I'm Itadori