[Javert snorts derisively, bringing the 'life' back to his face. In a manner of speaking, for a corpselike vampire.]
It is a talisman, [he says wryly, stating the obvious.] You'll make better use out of this than me.
[He idly pricks his fingers on the succulent's pointed tips, brushing over them with a ghostly touch. It is Javert's habit to keep his hands busy under his strange anxieties.]
When you find yourself captive, or in an inescapable bind, you put this on. Around your neck, not in your pocket or elsewhere. It will put you to sleep, and when you wake, you will be... [his frown deepens with revulsion.] Elsewhere. Wherever it chooses to take you. I don't know where.
It is a talisman, [he says wryly, stating the obvious.] You'll make better use out of this than me.
[He idly pricks his fingers on the succulent's pointed tips, brushing over them with a ghostly touch. It is Javert's habit to keep his hands busy under his strange anxieties.]
When you find yourself captive, or in an inescapable bind, you put this on. Around your neck, not in your pocket or elsewhere. It will put you to sleep, and when you wake, you will be... [his frown deepens with revulsion.] Elsewhere. Wherever it chooses to take you. I don't know where.
That's mysterious. I'm sure I'll be okay, though, Boss. I don't...
[She shuddered, the events of the earlier summer still sometimes came back. She knows he's trying though and offers her hand instead. The movement reveals the black line of opal where her forearm had been hacked off under her sleeve.]
Well, I won't get myself in that kind of situation again, but I'll keep it in my pockets just in case. [She pauses, brows furrowing.] I'm glad we get to talk like this, though. Just saying.
[She shuddered, the events of the earlier summer still sometimes came back. She knows he's trying though and offers her hand instead. The movement reveals the black line of opal where her forearm had been hacked off under her sleeve.]
Well, I won't get myself in that kind of situation again, but I'll keep it in my pockets just in case. [She pauses, brows furrowing.] I'm glad we get to talk like this, though. Just saying.
Like how, Mademoiselle Witch?
[Javert tucks his perturbed pang beneath a veneer of forced lightness. It is all the more difficult to hold, when his eyes wander up from her extended hand and glimpse the black opals encircling her arm. A shadow flits across his face, and he tears his gaze away from her arm and back to Peace's face.
He draws his hand away and allows it to drop into his lap. He straightens into a precarious perch against the edge of the desk.]
I am entitled to offer protections to people under my watch. You're entitled to demand them as my employee when you go out on the field. A duty which I've failed to uphold a number of times too many. [This might come out as a bit of a jest, his brow slanted coyly:] Do you want a security detail, too? A few fine men to keep you out of nasty traps?
[Javert tucks his perturbed pang beneath a veneer of forced lightness. It is all the more difficult to hold, when his eyes wander up from her extended hand and glimpse the black opals encircling her arm. A shadow flits across his face, and he tears his gaze away from her arm and back to Peace's face.
He draws his hand away and allows it to drop into his lap. He straightens into a precarious perch against the edge of the desk.]
I am entitled to offer protections to people under my watch. You're entitled to demand them as my employee when you go out on the field. A duty which I've failed to uphold a number of times too many. [This might come out as a bit of a jest, his brow slanted coyly:] Do you want a security detail, too? A few fine men to keep you out of nasty traps?
Please, I'm so short anyone you'd put around me to keep me safe would just lose me. I'm slippery that way.
[She grins cheekily and takes his hand anyway. Her hands are warm, if one doesn't mind touching the smooth, rock-hard skin.]
I know you worry, and I know I'm just your secretary, but I can also grow twenty feet tall and can lose my temper. If I had a little bit of a better control on that then it wouldn't be too much of a problem. Besides, demanding something of you feels less helpful. You've got enough on your plate thanks to the prison. I don't need to be one more thing to consider, even if I am entitled to it.
[Her grin doesn't fade.]
And maybe I like when you get grumpy at my latest poor choice.
[Like a disappointed dad that didn't want to use her for cultist deeds.]
[She grins cheekily and takes his hand anyway. Her hands are warm, if one doesn't mind touching the smooth, rock-hard skin.]
I know you worry, and I know I'm just your secretary, but I can also grow twenty feet tall and can lose my temper. If I had a little bit of a better control on that then it wouldn't be too much of a problem. Besides, demanding something of you feels less helpful. You've got enough on your plate thanks to the prison. I don't need to be one more thing to consider, even if I am entitled to it.
[Her grin doesn't fade.]
And maybe I like when you get grumpy at my latest poor choice.
[Like a disappointed dad that didn't want to use her for cultist deeds.]
Oh, come now! Your choices aren't so poor, [Javert huffs, his knuckles rapping against the desk. He hops off, standing up straight and tall and fruitlessly smoothing the curled, tattered hems of his collar.] I would have turned you out by now, sent you packing, otherwise.
[He smiles tersely.]
But I think you don't come out with your twenty-foot berserker quite enough. That might spare you from a good portion of your messes, you know.
[He crosses to the cabinet and pulls out the files from the Iskall Resort affair, gingerly placing them on the desk in front of Peace.]
I need you to place some calls with the Bavan City police about their files on Eriksen. Then, you must keep an ear open for a Doctor Gabriel Morgenstern. I am having him take a look at the creature-scrap samples I scraped out of the mountains. Can you manage?
[He smiles tersely.]
But I think you don't come out with your twenty-foot berserker quite enough. That might spare you from a good portion of your messes, you know.
[He crosses to the cabinet and pulls out the files from the Iskall Resort affair, gingerly placing them on the desk in front of Peace.]
I need you to place some calls with the Bavan City police about their files on Eriksen. Then, you must keep an ear open for a Doctor Gabriel Morgenstern. I am having him take a look at the creature-scrap samples I scraped out of the mountains. Can you manage?
In my defense, I don't want to be twenty feet tall and naked more than I need to be.
[Peace looks down at her new files and flipped through them.]
No, this won't be any problem. Doctor Morgenstern, got it.
Truly, I won't be able to handle this load of work you've put on me, Boss. I will wither away~
[She put her hand to her forehead in mock weakness.]
But yeah, I'll be fine. I'll have the information to you before you can say 'sacré bleu'
[Peace looks down at her new files and flipped through them.]
No, this won't be any problem. Doctor Morgenstern, got it.
Truly, I won't be able to handle this load of work you've put on me, Boss. I will wither away~
[She put her hand to her forehead in mock weakness.]
But yeah, I'll be fine. I'll have the information to you before you can say 'sacré bleu'
[It takes a great deal of hemming and hawing and false starts, but finally, after what feels like an eternity of loitering outside the door to Peace's room, there is the softest taptaptap. Souma waits a moment, then quickly falters and rethinks this, and starts to turn to go but changes his mind and tries to steel himself and fasten his feet to the spot.
No, he doesn't want to go. He wants to give the gift he is carrying in his hands. It is a box about the size of a bakery cake box, wrapped in a deep maroon wrapping cloth. There is a bouquet of peach, pink, and orange-hued hothouse flowers cradled in his left elbow. Lisianthus, but Souma knows them as something else. They smell like vanilla and cloves.]
No, he doesn't want to go. He wants to give the gift he is carrying in his hands. It is a box about the size of a bakery cake box, wrapped in a deep maroon wrapping cloth. There is a bouquet of peach, pink, and orange-hued hothouse flowers cradled in his left elbow. Lisianthus, but Souma knows them as something else. They smell like vanilla and cloves.]
Morgenstern the Manticore. He's spotted, two feline ears--
[A blank pause, where the word hangs in the air like he meant to append it with something more.
Javert's measured stare doesn't change. He presses his lips together.]
Do you need something tailored to a twenty-foot ogre? You didn't tell me so!
[A blank pause, where the word hangs in the air like he meant to append it with something more.
Javert's measured stare doesn't change. He presses his lips together.]
Do you need something tailored to a twenty-foot ogre? You didn't tell me so!
[Peace groaned and rolled herself out of bed. Both Javert and Handsome Jack had given their staff the day off, and since she was so sensitive to the daylight anyway, Peace had decided to languish in bed until she couldn't see the sun through her window. (A noble, if incredibly slothful, sacrifice, in her opinion.)
Still, she could hear the tapping on her door, so she struggled out of her nest of bedcovers and padded her way to her door, pulling a soft robe around her as best she could despite her opals. Her red hair was fluffed around her head, and her red cat's tail was equally as bed-tousled as the rest of her, wrapped around her leg.]
Hi, Souma, you're up early.
[Read: earlier than she expected anyone to come looking for her, that is.]
Still, she could hear the tapping on her door, so she struggled out of her nest of bedcovers and padded her way to her door, pulling a soft robe around her as best she could despite her opals. Her red hair was fluffed around her head, and her red cat's tail was equally as bed-tousled as the rest of her, wrapped around her leg.]
Hi, Souma, you're up early.
[Read: earlier than she expected anyone to come looking for her, that is.]
Not an ogre! Troll! I don't carry around giant clubs, you know.
[Peace huffed and her fluffy tail thrashed and bristled against the desk.]
Besides, wouldn't it need magic to work? All my clothing rips when I get bigger. No amount of spandex is going to help with that.
[Peace huffed and her fluffy tail thrashed and bristled against the desk.]
Besides, wouldn't it need magic to work? All my clothing rips when I get bigger. No amount of spandex is going to help with that.
[Souma quickly bows low and rises, keeping his eyes lowered lest he violate a lady's privacy which is, in his opinion, sacrosanct. After all, Peace probably didn't have a whole ton of privacy with so many housemates she had extended her hospitality to. He holds out the bouquet of flowers, and then the present, not sure what to say. The gift says "NATTENSFEST WISHES" in someone else's fancy script on the outside of the card.
If she opens it, Peace will read what a store clerk wrote for Souma:
Dear Lady Peace,
In my home this flower is called a bondflower. It has a meaning of respect, kindness, and a long lasting relationship. I wanted to give it to you. Thank you for your help. I appreciate you.
I wish you joy, success, and the warmest of winter holidays. May the best of this past year be unable to hold a candle to what is in store for you in the new year to come. I pray for your happiness in the coming year, this eve.
With sentiments of the truest esteem & consideration I remain, your humble & obedient servant,
Itou Souma]
If she opens it, Peace will read what a store clerk wrote for Souma:
Dear Lady Peace,
In my home this flower is called a bondflower. It has a meaning of respect, kindness, and a long lasting relationship. I wanted to give it to you. Thank you for your help. I appreciate you.
I wish you joy, success, and the warmest of winter holidays. May the best of this past year be unable to hold a candle to what is in store for you in the new year to come. I pray for your happiness in the coming year, this eve.
With sentiments of the truest esteem & consideration I remain, your humble & obedient servant,
Itou Souma]
You would look quite fetching with a polished club, Mademoiselle.
[Javert is unfazed.]
Mana's services would do the trick for your clothes, [he says lightly.] Or have a spare set nearby, sewn for your troll self. No reason you must stay indecent and immodest unless you choose it.
[Javert is unfazed.]
Mana's services would do the trick for your clothes, [he says lightly.] Or have a spare set nearby, sewn for your troll self. No reason you must stay indecent and immodest unless you choose it.
Oh hey, thanks. You didn't need to get me anything.
[Peace took the flowers and the card, and grinned at him. They were still in Ryslig, so his hopes were pretty... lofty considering what probably awaited them in the future. But she appreciated them, anyway.]
Uh... I ran out of hands. Hang on.
[Peace trotted into her room to put her flowers on her vanity, and trotted back to him to take the gift.]
I really don't know what to do with things like this.. do you want me to open it now?
[Peace took the flowers and the card, and grinned at him. They were still in Ryslig, so his hopes were pretty... lofty considering what probably awaited them in the future. But she appreciated them, anyway.]
Uh... I ran out of hands. Hang on.
[Peace trotted into her room to put her flowers on her vanity, and trotted back to him to take the gift.]
I really don't know what to do with things like this.. do you want me to open it now?
Aw, thanks, Boss. That's...
Well, that's a thing you said that I'm going to take as a positive.
[ She sticks her tongue out at him and puts the folder to her side. ]
I don't choose it, but I can't imagine lugging around clothes for someone twenty-foot tall, either. So maybe Mana can do it. I guess I'll check into that. But basically, I only get big when I get super upset, or if I have to and lately I haven't had to do either of those things.
And last time I was huge, I'm pretty sure I ate a whole person and that was... Not great. Buttons actually suck to spit up, if you weren't aware. Maybe I can see if there's another way to eat that isn't... meat-based. I can be like you; a hemotarian.
Well, that's a thing you said that I'm going to take as a positive.
[ She sticks her tongue out at him and puts the folder to her side. ]
I don't choose it, but I can't imagine lugging around clothes for someone twenty-foot tall, either. So maybe Mana can do it. I guess I'll check into that. But basically, I only get big when I get super upset, or if I have to and lately I haven't had to do either of those things.
And last time I was huge, I'm pretty sure I ate a whole person and that was... Not great. Buttons actually suck to spit up, if you weren't aware. Maybe I can see if there's another way to eat that isn't... meat-based. I can be like you; a hemotarian.
[Souma nods down at her, his expression earnest. He's kind of nervous if she will like it and that shows in the way he stands absolutely still, unmoving, hands curled into the oversized sleeves of his knitted black sweater. It is the sort of stance one uses when trying to creep silently in the forest.
Inside the box is a pair of handmade rose-colored suede gloves lined with soft white rabbit fur for warmth. They are resting atop a white fur capelet and a set of hair combs, each decorated with a little cascade of golden stars hanging from each one. At the bottom there is a sachet of something that smells like coffee, cloves, and oranges, and bottle of liqueur which is pink in color and has flowers inside it.
Souma bites his lower lip and looks up from the gifts to Peace's face. They seem embarrassingly inadequate right now and he's pretty sure this was a shitty idea. Fuck.]
Inside the box is a pair of handmade rose-colored suede gloves lined with soft white rabbit fur for warmth. They are resting atop a white fur capelet and a set of hair combs, each decorated with a little cascade of golden stars hanging from each one. At the bottom there is a sachet of something that smells like coffee, cloves, and oranges, and bottle of liqueur which is pink in color and has flowers inside it.
Souma bites his lower lip and looks up from the gifts to Peace's face. They seem embarrassingly inadequate right now and he's pretty sure this was a shitty idea. Fuck.]
Edited 2021-02-12 06:30 (UTC)
You want to drink blood?
[It tumbles out a tad more harsh than he means it, a lopsided grimace snagging the corner of his mouth. Javert wrestles with himself inwardly, and for once in his existence he contemplates the tact of what he is about to tell her.]
Thank carefully before you make that bargain, [he cautions.] People have it in their skulls that drinking blood simplifies the feast, that it is gentler. No, I do not think so. Once you have a smell and a taste for the stuff, it... [his grimace darkens, eyes glazing as his focus fixes on a point several feet past Peace's left ear] devours and consumes. It is all you will smell and listen for when you...
[He lapses into a tepid silence, a vivid portrait of heartbeats and coursing blood pulsing above the noise of their conversation.]
[It tumbles out a tad more harsh than he means it, a lopsided grimace snagging the corner of his mouth. Javert wrestles with himself inwardly, and for once in his existence he contemplates the tact of what he is about to tell her.]
Thank carefully before you make that bargain, [he cautions.] People have it in their skulls that drinking blood simplifies the feast, that it is gentler. No, I do not think so. Once you have a smell and a taste for the stuff, it... [his grimace darkens, eyes glazing as his focus fixes on a point several feet past Peace's left ear] devours and consumes. It is all you will smell and listen for when you...
[He lapses into a tepid silence, a vivid portrait of heartbeats and coursing blood pulsing above the noise of their conversation.]
But that's still better than flesh and not as sacrosanct as souls. I can just ask someone with a connection to get things from the local blood bank.
Feeding on flesh - even if it's what you and Jack provide - it ruins just talking to people. Because you find yourself thinking about how that person's too gamey and this person is too fat, and that other person is probably fine to eat.
Alternately, blood is fine. I'm not a vampire - no special senses, unless you count being really good at digging holes, or in Altair's case, controlling rocks. I won't think about it unless I have to eat it and even then I can make a quick and easy few swallows. You know?
So I'll take one annoying issue against the one that means someone's life has to absolutely end.
Feeding on flesh - even if it's what you and Jack provide - it ruins just talking to people. Because you find yourself thinking about how that person's too gamey and this person is too fat, and that other person is probably fine to eat.
Alternately, blood is fine. I'm not a vampire - no special senses, unless you count being really good at digging holes, or in Altair's case, controlling rocks. I won't think about it unless I have to eat it and even then I can make a quick and easy few swallows. You know?
So I'll take one annoying issue against the one that means someone's life has to absolutely end.
Oh wow!!
[Peace ran a hand over the capelet, and picked up a hair comb, making the stars clink together with the gentle movement.]
This is all so nice, I don't know if it's right of me to accept it, actually... Are you really sure, Souma? Because, like, you really didn't have to go through all the trouble.
[Peace ran a hand over the capelet, and picked up a hair comb, making the stars clink together with the gentle movement.]
This is all so nice, I don't know if it's right of me to accept it, actually... Are you really sure, Souma? Because, like, you really didn't have to go through all the trouble.
Edited 2021-02-14 20:35 (UTC)
[Souma nods his head yes rapidly. Yes, he wants her to have it!]
I...
[A much too long pause, while he slowly works out what he wants to say, and then he murmurs:]
Like m.... making things.
[Now he startles, worried he has lied, and his ears go down under his hood. He points to the combs.]
But I-I didn't make those. Bought. They were... pretty.
I...
[A much too long pause, while he slowly works out what he wants to say, and then he murmurs:]
Like m.... making things.
[Now he startles, worried he has lied, and his ears go down under his hood. He points to the combs.]
But I-I didn't make those. Bought. They were... pretty.
[There's a breathless pause, the laser focus of his gaze finding Peace's again. He plunders the depths of her four eyes, searching, and he sees laid bare her fiery will with a touch of melancholy hope; not dissimilar to the witch of the lake he met what feels like an eternity ago, in a hazy dream world where she alone shouldered the burdens of the dead.
If anyone can conquer a lust for blood, perhaps she will. But then, where do her sins lie? It isn't the first time he wondered such a dark thing about her, and each time, he draws up relatively minor transgressions beside his own. He concedes to her explanation with a shallow bow of his head.]
Something tells me that you will never stop seeing men as the sum of their flavors, [he says dryly.] It is written for us, we the predators. But may the blood bring you the relief you want. Lord above knows there's plenty to go around.
If anyone can conquer a lust for blood, perhaps she will. But then, where do her sins lie? It isn't the first time he wondered such a dark thing about her, and each time, he draws up relatively minor transgressions beside his own. He concedes to her explanation with a shallow bow of his head.]
Something tells me that you will never stop seeing men as the sum of their flavors, [he says dryly.] It is written for us, we the predators. But may the blood bring you the relief you want. Lord above knows there's plenty to go around.
Well, I appreciate it, homemade and not. I'm sorry, I don't usually celebrate things, like I said. I don't really have anything for you in return. Can I take a rain check?
[She passed her hand over the little white capelet.]
Like an "I owe you a gift"?
[She passed her hand over the little white capelet.]
Like an "I owe you a gift"?
<jiaheng> ( forward dated until some time after the event because lmaoooo )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
itsjiaheng
2021-02-19 08:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ yes of course he's texting and especially because after all that happened this month he's not looking at anyone directly but also especially for this reason in particular. ]
hey uh
i have maybe
a question
you're still like
dating a guy or whatever right ??
what would you do if you had to choose between two people
hypothetically
I'm bored indulge meeee
hey uh
i have maybe
a question
you're still like
dating a guy or whatever right ??
what would you do if you had to choose between two people
hypothetically
I'm bored indulge meeee
There is always me.
[The corner Javert his mouth twitches.]
My reserves, I mean. Provided you do not care about the source. And I know a fellow with the skills to cook up a mean blood pudding.
[He snorts.]
I don't recommend heating the blood too much aside from pudding or sausage. There is little less appetizing than clumpy, clotted sludge.
[The corner Javert his mouth twitches.]
My reserves, I mean. Provided you do not care about the source. And I know a fellow with the skills to cook up a mean blood pudding.
[He snorts.]
I don't recommend heating the blood too much aside from pudding or sausage. There is little less appetizing than clumpy, clotted sludge.
Nnn...
Actually...
[Souma feels like squirming. This is so uncomfortable for him. In years he has built up the defenses and abilities so that he never has to say those three little words.]
I... need. Hh.
H....
Help.
[He lowers his gaze and his gray-skinned face is visibly ruddy now, ears reddening as his forelock falls over his left eye. He wants to scowl at himself in disgust. What kind of independent, free man has to ask someone for assistance?]
With something.
Actually...
[Souma feels like squirming. This is so uncomfortable for him. In years he has built up the defenses and abilities so that he never has to say those three little words.]
I... need. Hh.
H....
Help.
[He lowers his gaze and his gray-skinned face is visibly ruddy now, ears reddening as his forelock falls over his left eye. He wants to scowl at himself in disgust. What kind of independent, free man has to ask someone for assistance?]
With something.
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