nysalogs | ( closed ) april questing

[ What their bird has retrieved is decidedly not the sparkly (to help keep its interest) bauble they'd sent it off to fetch. Oh, it'll be easy, Cree had assured them. They're very smart birds! he'd said. You'll have no trouble at all! Just feed them, get them used to fetching and carrying, it'll be a snap!

Cain stares down at the thing their magpie has retrieved. This is merely the latest in a long, long line of things that are not the correct thing. They have a large pile of items they're going to have to spend the day hunting down the owners of because their bird keeps returning with whatever its fluffy bird brain decides is shiny, not what they've sent it off to retrieve.

This has NOT been a snap.

Slowly, he turns to stare at Akira.

The dog — Percival's fluffy pomeranian — sitting at their feet yips. ]

He probably hasn't noticed that she's missing yet.

[ Cain says it fatalistically. He doesn't believe for a second that Percival hasn't noticed that his dog has been dognapped. ]

[ For once, it's not a trinket, or a bauble, or other useless accessory, or piece of dining ware, etc...

However. However.

Akira blinks down at the bundle of fluff in front of them, then to Cain. Then back down. (He's impressed, and also deeply concerned.) ]

...

[ He's also extremely distracted by all those soft tufts of fur. He crouches down to pet the dog, as if trying to distract himself from their inevitable fate—getting incinerated by Percival. ]

We could wait until he puts up 'Missing Dog' posters.

[ (?) And then return the dog, pretending they had found it... (?) Just spitballing suggestions here... ]

[ Cain takes a break from staring down at their fluffy, fluffy doom to give Akira an incredibly unimpressed stare. He doesn't seriously think that Percival is someone who'd go around putting up missing dog posters, does he? ]

I can't help but wonder... [ Cain's tone is mild. Maybe a little too mild. ] What about Percival strikes you as the kind of guy who'd go for posters instead of storming the city with drawn sword?

[ He's just, y'know, curious. ]

Edited 2018-04-30 15:00 (UTC)

[ M-maybe his true motive was to spend more time with this tiny adorable creature (nevermind he has his own tiny adorable creature at home), don't judge Cain!!!! ]

Hmm.

[ ...Okay that's a completely valid point though. He'd only just managed to get himself off Percival's shitlist and all... ]

Maybe we need another Christmas miracle.

[ He's... referring to the time he and Yusuke had snuck Lohengrin back into the Granblue house... ]

[ If only... that would mean their birdbrained bird had actually been trained! ]

You mean the Christmas Miracle where I caught you breaking in?

[ Cain huffs out an amused laugh and crouches down to offer his hand to their dognapped new companion. At least Duchess is familiar with him; she only yips happily and trots over to let Cain scratch her head, wagging her fluffy little tail at full throttle. Such full throttle that her whole body ends up doing a little shimmy.

The magpie eyes her hungrily. Cain gives it a warning look and shifts to shield the dog from its view with his body, just in case it gets any ideas. ]

I can try, but I'm not sure how successful I'll be at soothing any ruffled feathers this time... Percival is very attached to Princess.

[ Yes, even though the dog's name is Duchess. ]

...Yes.

[ Exactly that. (Or perhaps the true miracle was that Percival had eventually come to realize that Akira hadn't actually stolen the sword in the first place!) ]

We could just send him a text and explain.

[ He stoops down to snap a selfie of himself, Cain, and pupper, quickly taps out a caption, and turns the screen for Cain to review:

Your Princess is in another castle! ]

...He doesn't know the joke, does he.

[ He deletes, and tries again: We're taking her for a walk.

Not much better. ]

...If you got any ideas, I'm listening.

[ He can go at this all day... (Just useless... I'm sorry Cain...) ]

I don't know the joke, either.

[ Cain says it prosaically — and then scoops up the dog and gestures the bird over to Akira's shoulder. The bird, at least, is trained enough for that instead of flying off to get yet another unasked for creature.

Helpfully, he holds Princess up so Akira can take another selfie, this time with the three of them plus the magpie in the frame. ]

But we should just tell him the truth.

[ A shocking suggestion , Cain knows. ]

Edited 2018-05-13 01:50 (UTC)

[ Alas, sometimes the best solution truly was the simplest.

Akira nods, shifting to accommodate the magpie on his shoulder as he crowds in for another group photo. (The bird poops on his shirt the instant it's taken. Incredible.) ]

...Think Cree will pay for dry cleaning?

[ (Definitely not.) ]

Or maybe we can get another bird.

[ (That seems about as unlikely.) He shakes his head, staring at the small pile of belongings to be returned to whoever they'd been stolen from. They could cut their losses short here, or push through to eventual(?) victory... ]

I guess this one is sort of getting there.

[ There are certain patterns of recognition that the magpie exhibits—it's brought back a spoon for a lockpick, a small handkerchief for a sheet of paper, a... Pomeranian... for whatever reason... ]

[ Truly incredible. And Cain is no help — he takes a pointed step away, lifting Princess out of the line of fire. Percy would never forgive him if he got her nice, clean fur full of bird crap, after all, especially after getting her dognapped. ]

Cree will definitely not pay for the cleaning. Or give us another bird. [ No, Cain can just imagine how that conversation would go... And how Cree would charge them for the privilege of spending time with his ill-behaved bird. Ugh. ] In fact, if we ask him for another one, he'll probably make us pay him for it.

[ Cain sighs, giving the magpie a rueful look as he tucks their wayward Pomeranian into the crook of his arm. He's not putting her down on the offchance that she smells something and decides to wander off and investigate. ]

Come on, there's a stream over here. We can practice with something a little simpler while you get cleaned up. [ Absently, Cain snags the handkerchief from their pile of misbegotten goods and ties it around the dog's neck. It's a very fetching blue! ] Maybe if we don't send birdbrain off after something out of our line of sight...

[ He transfers the magpie to his wrist and in general a safe pooping distance from his person, before making his way evenly to the stream. ]

Them's the breaks.

[ (He's not particularly fazed by the by the mess or that they're stuck with this creature, it seems.) He cleans off the best he can, resigning to a very obvious stain over his shoulder, and gets back to work. ]

Sure.

[ While Cain takes care of their accidental captive, Akira returns to the pile of their other accidental goods, selecting an ornate teaspoon for their next trial. He holds it up to the magpie for it to observe, completely unsure if it's actually doing any observing, before passing it to his partner to hold. ]

I'm gonna stand over there [ he gestures a distance away ] and send this guy for the spoon.

[ And with that he's off through the brush, walking as far off as he can while still remaining in sight. ]

Ready?

[ And the magpie is released! Akira immediately trailing after. ]

[ That's what's nice about working with Akira. Nothing ever seems to faze him. It's a bit odd, but it makes for a reliable partner in crime, which Cain certainly isn't going to complain about.

Cain holds up a thumbs up and waits for the magpie to circle over, the teaspoon waiting in his hand. Duchess, settled happily in his arm, watches the magpie near with a hint of wariness. What a smart dog!

A minute later, the magpie wings back to Akira. It deposits something shiny in his hand — not the teaspoon, but a glinting silver fork from the pile of things it'd retrieved earlier.

Cain jogs over and gives the magpie a wry look. ]

Well... that's closer than before. Maybe with some more practice... [ He waves the spoon in the magpie's face, just to hammer in that it's retrieved the wrong item. ] You know, I've been meaning to ask you, since we've got the time. How'd you get into this business, to begin with? The whole life of crime, I mean?

[ Breaking and entering, working for a shady guy like Cree... ]

[ Duchess is a good girl... At least one of the animals in their vicinity knows what its doing, smh. (And at least Cain, too, holds the qualifications of a great quest buddy—easygoing, sense of humor, sharp.)

But man, that's a bit of a loaded question, and it's a bit of a long story... Though as he says, they certainly have the time for it. Akira's sure he'll be done regaling him long before their magpie finally does as it's been told. ]

I didn't really have a choice.

[ ...Or at least, the other options happened to be terrible and ineffectual. He tries to explain best he can, about his arrest, and the formation of the ragtag Phantom Thieves... (By the time he's managed a semblance of a preamble, the magpie has succeeded in retrieving two different butter knives, a second fork, and a ladle. He sighs, and feeds it another small portion of food if only to keep its strength up.)

Anyway, the point is, it was crime for a purpose—For Justice. Vigilante children working under the guise of cartoony codenames, etc. ]

...What's your story?

[ He still... knows practically nothing about Cain... ]

[ By this point, Cain's wondering if maybe they should be training Duchess and giving up on the bird entirely. They could get her a costume and dress her up as a magpie and lend her out to Cree, and it'd be more effective... but no, Percy would never forgive him, and he does actually like being in Percy's good graces. ]

I'm just a shady guy, I guess... [ He gives Akira a bright smile. But no, he'll actually answer the question. ] I guess it's just I'm used to this sort of thing. Back home, I was a general in the army, doing special missions, taking care of problems, finding information on enemy movements, that sort of thing. [ A spy. He was a spy, for all that he had such a high rank. ] And when I got here and found out that someone like Cree was around and doing dangerous things like spreading that virus around, I figured since I was good at it, I might as well put my talents to use and get myself in a position where I can stop him the next time he tries something like that.

[ It's dangerous, giving Akira this information, maybe. But crime for a purpose, for justice... Akira seems like the sort of person who won't betray Cain to Cree. ]

[ It's strange hearing Cain refer to himself as "shady", if only because he presents himself as such a cheerful person, carefree and cordial. But Akira of all people would know there's more than what meets the eye, that people hide behind all manner of masks.

It seems Cain trusts him enough to let down his guard so much, and he accepts it with care, attentive to his story and circumstances. (He seems rather young to be a general, but then again most high schools didn't pull extensive heists or fake their own deaths, either.) ]

If Cree was behind that virus...

[ That's bad news, but a good warning. He trails off with a frown, pensive for a moment before resuming. ]

I'll keep an ear to the ground, too.

[ This isn't something he can ignore, either. ]

...Did you enjoy your work?

[ (Or did he regret it? Being skilled is one thing, but being willing is another.) ]

I liked it well enough. I got to help people. That was better than anything else I could ask for.

[ The most important thing he could be doing. He was a soldier, and he had to fight, but Cain's well aware that sometimes, battles can't be avoided. Sometimes, fighting is necessary for the things you believe in. And being on the frontlines, fighting, was the best place to be, at least with the leeway he'd been given, to prevent all-out war. ]

[ This is very, very much against Cain's better instincts. Very much against them.

And yet, if he wants any chance of having real impact at the Cage, a real chance to stop the worst of Cree's plans, he needs an ally. An ally who Cree trusts. An ally who might put the knife in Cree's back instead of Cain's.

That doesn't mean Cain likes standing here beside Takasugi and not throwing a punch into Takasugi's stupid, smirking face. It's a very, very real temptation, one that he has to fight down. His hand is curled in a fist at his side; he hasn't entirely discarded the possibility.

First things first: ground rules. ]

No more killing. Anyone.

[Oh, how Cain must hate this.

Fist clenched, the man at Takasugi's side is a picture of thin restraint. As easy to rupture as taut paper, the fragility of it tempting to ruin, but captivating enough to stay his hand.

For now.]

...no promises. [Takasugi hasn't set out to hound the fugitives hiding in Olympia with murderous intent - they were his allies. And they could be again.

They could be Cain's allies too, if he'd think broadly enough.]

[ Cain rounds on Takasugi, that restraint crackling, lightning sparking over his skin, a storm brewing. He scowls at Takasugi and takes quick steps, shoving Takasugi back, hands against Takasugi's shoulders for all that the other man is taller than him. One step, two, until Takasugi's back hits the wall of the alley they're in.

He takes a deep breath, but it's not to keep himself in check. Not yet. He's not letting Takasugi get to him so easily. ]

Not good enough.

[Hands press into his shoulders, palms finding the stretch of skin over tender flesh. It's sharp, but not nearly as much as a blade would be. Takasugi doesn't balk against the onslaught.

He slides back into the wall, testing Cain's grip with a roll of his shoulders.]

Then you'll have to do better, too.

[His voice dips low, and he cranes his head forward. Near enough to Cain to be a mockery of the savage intimacy they'd shared months ago.] Entice me.

[ You'll have to do better, too. The worst of it is that it's nothing Cain hasn't thought to himself. Nothing he doesn't know already. Not the way that Takasugi means, of course, but the words sting all the same.

Still, he glowers as he keeps his hold on Takasugi firm, keeps him pressed against the wall. Even with that reminder of what Cain would much rather forget, he doesn't flinch away. He's resolved himself to this, he won't back down. ]

We have a deal. [ A deal that Cain hopes he's not going to regret. ] This is the least of your part you have to keep up.

[The wall grinds against his shoulder blades; Takasugi isn't as comfortable in his posture as he is in his position. Even if he's staring down at resolute eyes, alight in determination, rather than hatred-

Something immovable.

Takasugi enjoys tearing those things down, the most.

But he doesn't want to reduce this one to rubble. He wants to pry it open, to see what gory mess lies inside. (That's at once a metaphor for Cain's anguish, and not- he fondly remembers making the man bleed.)

Another roll of his shoulders, more assertive this time.] Mmn.

[It's as if Cain thinks he's leashed; a severe misinterpretation of their terms. But one Takasugi won't outwardly correct - that's a mistake that will have natural consequences soon enough.]

I'll leave the violence to you, then. [This time.

Since they're hunting some former companions of his.]

[ Cain glares for another moment, entirely distrustful; he's been stabbed in the back once. He's not going to make the mistake of thinking Takasugi's in any way tame again. There's no leash here, only the flimsy bond of words, and he has little illusion that it's a bond Takasugi won't snap when it most amuses him.

But finally, he steps away, releasing the other man, lowering his arms to his sides. ]

There won't be any violence. Not if we do this well. And don't try to pretend you're the sort who can only draw blood and not manage anything with more finesse — I know better.

[Amusement has long ceased to be a factor. He dully remembers sitting with Cain in a bar, content to deride the man in front of a pair of women they had meant to interrogate. It's a distant memory...

Now there's nothing but a hungry sort of need in his chest. How long it's been there, he doesn't know, but last they'd talked, it had been brought to frenzy.

There's no pleasure in wanting to rip into Cain - it's an instinct as crucial to survival as breathing.]

We were comrades once... [Not an admission of anything, but an idea that falls in with Cain's demands. Just like at the bar-] We'll be working together this time, too.

You, with me. They might just let you walk right in if you behave. [Takasugi isn't sure how far his reputation with the remnants of that group will get them, but it's the easiest place to start.]

I'm not the one who has problems behaving.

[ Short, snapped, the words edged with frost. He's not the one who turns into a beast, who bares claws and rips into the vulnerable undersides of the people near him, the people who've given him their trust. He's not the one with a barely contained bloodlust, who thirsts for violence.

He's not the one whose trust is balanced on a razor's edge.

Cain can't help but ask, frigidly: ]

...were we ever really comrades?

[When they'd first seen each other after sharing a dingy room, where blood ran thick from the mouth of a man Takasugi hardly remembers, Cain had made his anger known.

Just a punch - Takasugi knows that using a fist rather than a blade had been the result of tense restraint - but even that much would spoil their act.

But they'll be fine. Cain can wear himself as a facade, simmer beneath the surface for a greater purpose. And Takasugi can make up for any deficits, any cracks in the veneer of companionship.]

Heh. [His laugh cracks in his throat.

He might consider them comrades now.] Do you still want us to be?

...Yes.

[ It's a reluctant answer, but it's still the truth. He remembers what he saw in that memory, the man Takasugi had been. The good man, and the bitterness that had grown. The world that had ground him down.

The man who might have chosen a different path.

If there's any of that man left instead of the cruel, selfish liar that Cain sees before him, then yes. Yes, he wants to find that man. ]

If you were the man I thought you were. If you were someone I could trust. If you were my comrade. [ If it hadn't all been a lie from the start. But he's noticed that Takasugi hasn't answered his question, and his lips press to a thin line before he continues. ] Were you?

[Takasugi has never thought of himself as a good man. But he doesn't consider Cain's morality pristine, either. If he did, they wouldn't be working together, settled into using one another for goals so insane they demand the most caustic of means.

How unattainable their desires are binds them.

If it didn't, one of them would have killed the other by now. Or maybe they would have simply faded into obscurity, washed away with the tide at the beach where they'd met.]

Doesn't matter.

We're allies now.

Soldiers don't need the same cause to watch each other's backs. [What he's fighting for has never overlapped, not truly, with any of his comrades. The simple reality of war is necessity, a unit survives where dozens of individuals would perish.

That his purpose and Cain's are so polarized doesn't make their understanding any less mutual. Or muddled.

Released, Takasugi turns down the alley. The group they're after won't be hiding in the city; they've retreated to remote hovels in the surrounding wilderness. If they leave now, they'll reach their destination by sunset.]

[ Usually, Cain has to be dragged out of bed in the morning. Usually, he'd rather huddle under the covers until noon, unless there's a mission and a minder to sneak away from. But today, he's up bright and early; there's ruins to be explored, possible ancient scriptures and artifacts to be found, and he's positively bright eyed and bushy tailed at the prospect.

He meets Dorian at the door, all but bouncing on his feet and beaming. They make it to the ruins just as the first rays of the rising sun crest the horizon, but even that doesn't pierce the gloom within. It's perfect. Cain grins, reckless and eager.

But he keeps to a stroll as they explore. He isn't here only for Voss's errand or to satisfy his own curiosity about the ruins. He has an ulterior motive in partnering up with Dorian, one that's revealed quite quickly. ]

You're a necromancer, right? [ He remembers that from the rescuing. And the drinking. There had been a lot of drinking, but he distinctly remembers Dorian mentioning something about that. ] A good one, you said.

Oh, you remember! I almost thought I was speaking too quickly for you.

[Because he had been speaking quickly that evening—anything to get Cain's mind off of the terrible events that occurred, Dorian spun a tale for until his words began slurring into one another. And even then, there was still an effort until it was time to take their leave. He only found comfort in the younger man finding comfort.

He was already delighted to be traversing with someone he didn't have to drag along in the name of discovery, but an ecstatic, genuine smile breaks through his formerly cautious one.]

I think you'll find I'm an exemplar all things considered taboo. Necromancer, death mage, Mortalitasi... Yes, I'm rather well-versed in the practice. You must want to know something about that, hm?

I wouldn't have brought it up, otherwise. [ A blithe response; Cain's not bothered at all by the subject of the taboo. Or the insinuation that he might have been too inebriated to recall what they were talking about.

There had been an awful lot of drinking going on, after all. ] Well, I might have brought it up if I was going to lecture you about it, but then I'd probably have done it somewhere with more manacles and torches instead of here.

[ Cain waves a hand, taking in the distinct lack of any sort of barred cell or instruments of torture that might be used to try to persuade a necromancer to give up the necromantic profession. The whole "a good necromancer who doesn't try to raise armies of the dead to destroy the world" thing had been an important part of the conversation, after all. ]

But no, not interested in that sort of thing. [ He'll skip the torture and repaying Dorian for his timely rescue by turning on him with suspicion and fear, thank you very much. ] I was hoping you could tell me about the theory behind it. Bringing someone back from the dead.

[ And if Cain has a very vested, personal interest in this after what happened with the kidnappings, and who didn't happen to have such a timely rescue, well... Dorian doesn't have to know that. ]

( closed ) april questing

rockin' robin' robbin

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you know how the caged bird sings

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actual pillars, outside the community

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