[Introduction]

[ourraisondetre]

Comments

[cute_shinigami]

If he ventures into the kitchen, he might find a tall, slim man with tousled brown hair and violet eyes, perched on the windowsill with a cup of tea and a slice of red velvet cake. He's contentedly tucking into the cake, but there's something pensive in his eyes and in his posture.

[ourraisondetre]

And Franz does, eventually, looking a great deal more presentable now that he's found a decent shirt to wear, though he's still not sure what to make of the mansion and its mountain of peculiarities.

He doesn't bother the other man all ready inside the kitchen when he comes in, though he glances at him briefly and takes note of his far away look. Franz doesn't see a reason to bother him, beginning to rummage through the cupboards as quietly as possible for anything that might be readily edible, considering he doesn't really know how to cook anything decent for himself beyond the barest of necessities. The servants had always done it for him.

[cute_shinigami]

Tsuzuki hears the movement and looks up. "Oh, hey there, looking for something to eat? There's plenty there in the cupboards, and if you want a meal, I'd be happy to cook something," he says. Never mind that he's a death god with dead tastebuds. "I'm Asato Tsuzuki."

[ourraisondetre]

He eyes Tsuzuki with a dubious expression, pulling a packet of tea out of the cupboard. Tea was simple enough to make, wasn't it? "You're one of the cooks here?"

[cute_shinigami]

"Oh, no, not really. I'm more like a guest here," he says, laughing a little. "I just like to cook for myself and anyone who might be hungry, though just to warn you, I tend to specialize in spicy dishes."

[ourraisondetre]

Considering he hasn't eaten in heaven knows how long, Franz is tempted to take him up on his offer, even more so because he's used to food being made for him. Though the man was a guest, not a servant, and it somehow seems a bit awkward and inappropriate. "Aren't there any servants here?"

[cute_shinigami]

"As far as I know, there really aren't any, though there's a few folks who might be likely to help with certain things, like meals," he says. "Though I found there seems to be some entity that cleans up around the place and does the laundry. I've been trying to figure it out, but I suspect there may be some helpful spirits that take care of that."

[ourraisondetre]

"Spirits? Ghosts, you mean?" he says, suppressing a wry sort of smile. He might have laughed if he had been in more familiar company. "...I suppose so." He slowly admits, though he has a hard time subscribing to the theory. But then again, he's starting to believe in a lot of things he hadn't before.

"I don't believe I asked you for your name?"

[cute_shinigami]

"Well, not ghosts, but more like guardian elemental entities, what we call shikigami in my country or faeries in the West," he says. "Oh, me? I'm Asato Tsuzuki."

[ourraisondetre]

Faeries? Right. He'll supposes he'll believe them when he sees them. "You're... of Japanese descent then?"

[cute_shinigami]

"Oh, I was born in Japan and lived there all my life," he says. "I'm somewhat of an onmyodo, a magician who can fend off harmful spirits and summon helpful ones, so I'm trained to detect their presence," he adds with a note of modest pride.

[ourraisondetre]

"But you've not been able to sense any of these..." What was it again? "shikigami of yours around here?"

[cute_shinigami]

"I've picked a sense of something similar, but whatever it is, it's bigger, stronger," he says. "It's generally benign, but it causes magic to do strange things: it's been known to play a few tricks on people. We had a trickster spirit pop up back in the winter, and its magic went a bit haywire: I got turned into a puppy for a little while, which was a lot of fun, actually." He chuckles at the memory: it wasn't a whole lot of a transformation, but a delightful one.

[ourraisondetre]

A puppy. Good lord, just where did he end up? "How much stronger would you say it is?"

[cute_shinigami]

"It's at least as strong as a kami, the god-like beings that protect the earth and other big things in nature in my world, but I don't think it actually is one," he says. "It's generally harmless from what I can tell, though."

[ourraisondetre]

Franz pauses, mulling this over. The more he theories he hears about this place, the more bemused he becomes. "You think this being is the Mansion itself, or just a part of it?"