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video; un: an.exorcist

[ The image is that of young man with longish white hair that's been pulled back in a low ponytail. Seventeen or eighteen maybe, with a bright red mark on his face that looks somewhere between a scar and a tattoo as much as it stems from a mark that's also halfway between a star or an inverted pentagram. Garishly out of place on an otherwise pale and muted complexion and gentle face. ]

With a lot of the city shut down because of the snow, if there's anyone having trouble finding food or shelter, Sanctuary in Crenshaw will be helping whoever it can. It might not be much, but it can be a meal or warm bed for the night. [ And hope everyone likes fish, because there's a lot of that that's been salted and stockpiled. But also a lot of baked things served with some of the corruption-cleansing jams from earlier in the year.

Which, anyone who already volunteers there... you can bet you were already cheerfully accosted and asked to help, soup kitchen style. ♥ It's a team effort. ✧ Either that or clearing snow; it's a big place... albeit warm itself this month, and shining like a jewel from the lunar lighting and heating within. The renovated Moon Presence monastery seems to be taking the blindingly bright bone moon and reflecting it back in a gentler manner for anyone inside. ]

There isn't a cost. Just try to help out however you can when you're able.

[ He pauses, about to leave it at that but hesitating. Expression still neutrally polite and composed, but... flickering for a moment. ]

...if anyone would like to help closer to when Christmas would normally be, it'd be nice to do something special for the orphanage as well. Maybe donate some presents for them.

[ That's it. He'll just quietly leave it at that. ]

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[ Mob. Mob if only you had led with exorcise spirits. That's kind of a big one. ]

Oh? [ ? A kid? Staring at him kind of awkwardly at first...

He doesn't recognize Mob, at least he doesn't think so, and that combined with the offer pulls a broad smile from Allen. Bright eyes. ]

I think there just might be a need for that. [ Said so kindly and just a little coy. ]

I'm Allen. What's your name?

[wait until they get to learn they both exorcise ghosts and have sort of questionable masters.

allen's warm reaction eases him considerably, enough that a lot of his awkwardness passes to a more neutral look. it seems the kid just doesn't emote much, offering a nod.] I'd like to help. I've helped my master get decorations on very high places too.

I'm Kageyama Shigeo. Sometimes people call me Mob. [he bows his head.] It's nice to meet you.

[ is... is this bonding?

The use of "master" gets Allen to hone in very specifically on that, but something else has him pause and look thoughtful for a moment, tilting his head slightly. He gives a nod, but-- ]

Do you like being called Mob?

[shonen bonding at its finest.

that's not something people really asked him before. it makes mob pause to consider it seriously, then eventually:] I don't mind it. Having a nickname can be nice.

[ Can it? Every nickname Allen has ever been given has been dreadful and he hates it, hence him stopping to ask. But he is not everyone and if this is a nickname he doesn't find derogatory, then that means it has to be endearing in some way right? ]

Then I can call you "Mob" too, if you like. Whatever you prefer to be called.

Names should be something we take pride in, right?

[another thing he hasn't thought about before, one that makes him nod because yeah. frankly he's never been sure if his is supposed to be an insult or not but master reigen calls him it, and that's always meant something nice.]

Master would say things like that. I guess this one reminds me of home too, so it's nice to hear. [bittersweet, but that's not so bad.]

[ That warms Allen, truly. The idea that it might help remind one of home-- he'll definitely call him Mob then.

But there it is again-- and this time Allen tips his head at a thoughtful angle. ]

When you say "master"-- do you mean you're a sort of apprentice?

Yes. Master Reigen gives me advice and teaches me how to use my powers. [kind. of. but hey time for the real kicker:] Usually with exorcising spirits.

[surely this is not relevant to allen at all! usually mob doesn't tell people this because they think it's weird, but the trench is weird so...] He says it's good practice and helps people.

[ -- wait... hold up there... ]

I'm sorry-- did you say "exorcising spirits"?

[ UM ]

Yes. [just a full beat there before he realizes maybe he should offer more than that.]

Um, like hauntings, and curses, and possessions.

Does that mean you're a kind of exorcist?

[ A proper one? There's a touch of surprise or awe -- or both -- in his tone. ]

[huh, he's never really thought of it like that. after a moment he settles for,] I'm only a part timer, but... I guess so? A part time exorcist.

[ Amazing. ]

...What are they like? The spirits you exorcise.

Is it like cleansing corruption?

They can be a lot of things, like ghosts or ideas people gave power. Or curses.

[another pause, because this is something he's been unsure of.] I don't know. If corruption is like curses maybe, but... I haven't really seen any beasts or anything. [and it scares him, if he's honest, all the corruption stuff. far less so it hurting him and far more it infecting him and how much he could hurt people if that happened.]

[ He notes the pause, recognizing it as a delicate topic or something else that makes Mob hesitant. Actually, something Mob brings up a second time is something that makes Allen also pause, becoming a little solemnly thoughtful. ]

What makes something a "curse"?

Hatred. [a bit simply said, though after a beat he considers more and adds,] Negativity and pouring it all into wanting to hurt someone or something. That's what it feels like to sense it, I think.

[he also starts easing a little, because he appreciates the questions for what they are. they're ones people don't usually ask really, they just want to know how to destroy it or stop it. or be creeped out by it.]

[ Simply but effectively said. And it actually... takes Allen a little aback. Because that is obvious, isn't it? The difference is that when he looks at akuma, the corrupted souls he exorcises—he recognizes that through what just seems like a howling inferno of rage and pain and hatred for what they've become... ultimately, they became what they were out of a twisted form of love. Something pure that was perverted. Something they still are at the core. Curses are something different, and despite being someone who was cursed he's always... tried to avoid really dwelling on that. What it means vs. what he can do with it, and the subconscious amends he's tried to make his whole life. Mana's soul and skeletal construct form screaming and lashing out, cursing him—and then a split second later saying he loved him. To please destroy him.

He was cursed in a breath of hatred and told he was loved a moment later. And love is how Allen ultimately chose to see his curse, why he changed the part in his hair to no longer hide his star-like mark, the hidden pentagram, but to showcase it. Because it was a lingering presence of Mana, who... actually Allen doesn't know if he loved him or who he might have seen him as, but Allen loved Mana.

Who also cursed him in a breath of anything but love. In grief and rage so great even the gentlest man who ever lived wanted to strike out and hurt.

Allen lingers on the thought a little uneasily, putting it aside for now. It touches on something very, very uncomfortable—because he also believes Mob isn't wrong. Even if the curses they deal with might be very different. ]

...does it get better then, after you exorcise it? Does all that suffering get released?

[ He says it very quietly after a moment. Gentle, but carefully so. ]

If it was human, or something similar... is it saved?

Edited 2023-01-08 22:44 (UTC)

[mob regards the screen, patient, not particularly picking up on any shifts in mood because he's never been good at that sort of thing. he still understands these topics are complicated ones, ones that require a lot of thought, deserve a lot of thought.

so once again he considers allen's questions seriously, still finding himself grateful for them. it was... well, people didn't usually live in both worlds like mob did. they didn't think much about it all.]

Well... if someone is cursed, or an item is cursed, it's usually not too hard to banish it away. I guess they can be kind of like an illness. You feel bad but when you're cured you feel the way you did before.

[another beat, then a little more solemnly:] It's not always like that. Sometimes things get... complicated. Sometimes people want the power. Too much of them gets eaten up.

It's scary.

[ Being stuck between two worlds, one of which most of the rest of humanity doesn't even know exists, is the entirety of Allen's existence. ]

I think I can understand that. [ Scary. He says it softly, with solemn gravity. Even having lived the life he has, being older and having lived as one more weapon in a war fought on this sort of battleground of the soul on a global level since he was younger than Mob. Who could see the tortured spirits he was exorcising, and ...could maybe Mob too? He said he could sense it, that negative energy.

But it's scary. It's still scary sometimes. He's just learned to live with—and overcome—the fear. ]

I'm an exorcist too.

[ Said so very simply, so plainly. ]

And it sounds very similar to how corruption works.

Edited 2023-01-09 00:03 (UTC)

[mob doesn't emote much, that much is obvious after only a few moments of meeting him. everything is very subtle, very toned down. like now, when his eyes widen a little, the slight twitch of his fingers.

another exorcist was big. curses and corruption being similar was bigger. if it was maybe he could-]

Then... can we exorcise corruption? And beasts?

[maybe more than anything he desperately wants to know:] Can you exorcise beasts?

Yes, I can. Without harming the person still within.

[ An important clarification to Allen. It's something stated so simply; clean and steady. No smugness or bravado, not even technically confidence: just simple honest conviction. ]

And so can you, probably.

[ Again, conviction. The plainspoken belief in something he wants to see be fact. Even belief in someone else. ]

The process is probably different, but when it's fundamentally about cleansing the negative emotions that might be within something or someone... it's the same sort of thing, isn't it? Someone's despair or hatred, their suffering overwhelming them to that point. Even if it's caused by blood and injury, it's still that they're suffering because of something traumatic.

[ A beat, considering. ] A friend of mine, the only other exorcist I know— he talks about curses and "cursed energy" like you do. And he can exorcise it from a beast too. It isn't easy, and sometimes there isn't anything left of the person or creature they once were before to be saved, but...

...Even then, at least their soul could be put to rest.

Edited 2023-01-09 01:00 (UTC)

[yeah that is a really important distinction. maybe more the tone, without and smugness. mob's never been that impressed by powers, he doesn't think they're usually all that special. sure they can be helpful, but they're not anymore interesting or important than people who can grow food, or people who can build things. just a trait like any other trait, depending entirely on how you used it.

(and people with power, in his experiences, tended to abuse it. they could learn, they could change, but it's such a stark relief to meet someone who doesn't seem to put his powers on a pedestal. his respect for allen grows a touch.)

the idea that he could do the same makes him blink. he listens seriously though, nodding at points. tone quiet when he says,] They're be at peace...

[does he want to? he's not sure. does it really matter what he wanted though, if it could help people the way exorcisms did?]

... could you show me? I don't know if I can, but if what you said is true I should probably find out, right?

[ That sort of answer gets a small smile from Allen, soft and a little mysterious. Ah. He's someone with a really good heart. It's an important realization, a rare sense of being kindred, that he holds onto in his heart and tucks away for now. ]

I think it'd be better than having you shovel snow, don't you think?

[ a beat ]

--even if we'll both still probably have to shovel it. [ ehe ]

We can try it with something small... a little beast that was an animal maybe, that isn't so dangerous. And I can be there to purify it too if anything goes wrong. [ Better to play it safe. It isn't their own lives that hang in the balance after all, but that of who or whatever they're trying to save as well. ]

How exactly is it that you exorcise something normally...?

Probably. [he'd tire himself out and probably fall in a snowbank so really, more true than allen knows.

still mob's lips quirk faintly.

that plan sounds like a relief, something manageable. he nods, a little curious to see another exorcist at work if he's honest. he hasn't seen many, at least ones that are actually effective. he's seen plenty of weird ways that don't work at all, sure.] Okay. [a beat.] Thank you for going through the trouble.

[hm, a good question he considers for a moment.] I'm not sure how to explain it. I don't think about it that much, it happens kind of naturally. I guess... I press it with my powers? But not physically.

[confusing... he's terrible at explaining things.] Um, you know how spiritual things feel different than physical stuff? And that's how you don't hurt the person themselves?

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video; un: an.exorcist

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flails everywhere

WEH ALLEN

(º̩̩́⌣º̩̩̀ʃƪ)

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