Shiba glances at Mikagi from the corner of his eye, a smile plastered across his face like a mask, like he doesn't smell of fresh blood and salt. He's used his power again. His Dissonance.
The sigil on his back should be aching, he should feel like his body is being torn to shreds--a lowly Reaper should not be able to use the power unscathed. But, Shiba feels none of it. It's always made him numb, physically and emotionally.
Unfortunately, it's one of the very few things that gives him the power to fix some of the more stubborn glitches in the city. Really, it should be Mikagi's job to handle them, but Shiba has the means and he can't stand to not act when something is within his power.
He must fix what he broke, no matter the cost.
"Mikagi, is there something on my face?" He asks pleasantly.
Their Conductor smells like violence again. It turns to rot where it settles in the back of Hazuki's throat, like raw meat left untended for too long. They swallow, but the cloying, metallic taste sticks to the roof of their mouth. To mask the sensation and their discomfort both, Hazuki clicks their tongue and matches Shiba's smile with a one of their own, a polite grin that barely reaches the corners of their mouth—the less said of their eyes, the better.
"Hm. Funny you should ask. I wasn't aware one could wear overreach, and yet somehow you've got it plastered all over yourself. A little uncouth, if you ask me."
Their feathers, firmly tucked outside this plane, feel like someone's taken a rough hand and dragged it against the vane, leaving their wings rankled and out of sorts. It isn't that their Conductor is being unruly, though he is, and Hazuki wishes he wasn't; Shiba's pointing his destruction inward and calling it construction, a descanter rather than conductor to their composer. He carries the scent of wounded prey but acts like his hurt is untouchable beneath the cocky charm. Hazuki can't tell if they're being taunted or faulted.
"Shiba," the familiarity is a reprimand, and Hazuki selects dissatisfaction to be the emotion to colour their voice, to cover any other note they'd rather not be heard, "Is there a reason you're putting out fires beyond your station instead of reporting them to me?"