overjoyed_logs | ❁ the dead receive more flowers than the living

[ A small, restrained hum on the other end of the line. The silence draws on for a moment before she responds, her words mildly curved as in the presence of a smile. ]

I know.

[ Whether it's the matter of the decor or endings, she doesn't clarify. ]

You're going to bring the Quad to its knees, Takasugi, and I'm going to help you.

Well..

[ Another hum, then musical laughter that's not quite right. An edge of madness beneath the soft, winding lilt. ]

You and your team. Are they to your liking as well?

[Bring the Quad to it's knees, and be the man swinging the blade that severs it's head from it's neck. A fantasy he's lavished in for nearly a decade now, consuming iteration after iteration, spun with vivid verse in mind or in ink.

It's a deeply personal lust - one he divulges emphatically but not frequently. To hear it in the creaks of another's madness does not thrill him.

But it does entice.] I already have a crew.

Though, should these two wish to bear their fangs, I will direct their bite.

Are they really a crew? Or are they simply your favorite pawns?

[ She sounds as if she's considering it, debating the merits and differences between the two.

Then, abruptly: ]

Oh, I don't really care.

These are going to be your new pawns, whether they like it or not. We have a mission for you, if you're willing to play our game.

And Takasugi? I promise it's going to be a very fun, very long game if you do.

[The two are indistinguishable to Takasgui. Units romanticized as friend, as family, exist - he knows - but the bodies on his ship are simply resources of blood and bone and will.

He doesn't care either.

The man laughs, a high tone contrasting his deep voice. In the very least, the new additions could provide corpses as stepping stones.]

What prize are you dangling in front of me? [Like a child at a festival - he feels a ghost of the warm excitement felt as eager feet wander the fascination of stall after stall.]

Edited 2017-02-17 03:02 (UTC)

[ How does one appeal to a man like Takasugi? His sense of decency? Certainly not. Waxing poetic about the injustices of the world? No--he's liable to have written it better in some oft-published but rarely read sonnet.

The mirth dies in her voice, though the presence of a smile, faint and not entirely kind, might still be heard in its undercurrent. ]

The power and resources to do what you've always done.

Burn everything down.

[The sweetest songs always carried melodies with vague words. Bloated meanings gleaned from the listener's experience, rather than any substance, lulled so many into calm nights and restful sleep.

He's enough sunsets - sunrises - to not be swept into such hollows.]

Tell me, [Implorative and calm, he lets his wrist go limp, grip on the device loose.] What form will this reward take? A goldfish? Or some fireworks? [His voice settles amused, toying with the possibilities.]

[ A giggle, high-pitched and sweet, meets that question. Again, her laughter sounds slightly off, as if it's between clenched teeth, but it's not anger eddying beneath.

It's joy, vindictive and cruel, hidden by the lilt of her accent and musical quality of her speech. ]

Fireworks. Dazzling, wonderful, loud fireworks. We'll wash the sky in a red light that they'll never forget.

What you did at Sugar Point will be child's play compared to this.

[Hearing teeth in her laughter - conscious or subconscious - makes the man bare his own, a smile cutting wider and wider in a gash across his face.

Waves of jovial imagery crash against his own cruelty, fueled by everburning anger.

It flares under the added fuel of implicit blackmail.] Ah.

Will it envelop us as well? [A self-destructive plan isn't a deal breaker... but he'll be keeping his death in his own hands.]

[ Her laughter dies off, sharp and sudden, and her tone shifts, the accented voice turning to a soft, contemplative purr. ]

Hm...you, maybe. Not me.

[ It would be a lie to call this a risk free venture, and while Hyperion is far from above lies--they are to a secret organization a necessity like water--there is a time and place to use them.

Besides that, she doesn't think the prospect of potentially adding his own corpse to the pile will be a deal breaker. They'll give him plenty of leave to fill the grave before then.

On their terms, of course. ]

But you're going to kill a lot of people before then, Sweetness. And like I said, we're going to help, if you'll let us.

[ The artificiality of the choice is obvious, but it's courteous to pretend. ]

[It's nothing but a seductive threat - one he might indulge were they in the dim hallways of Eulogy. Standing among settling dust, however, Takasugi lowers the device to the desk with audible contact.

Particles swirl once more, filling a mouth widening voraciously.

He'll take her self-assured safety as a challenge. And continue the platitude of mutual cursory deception.] We'll help each other - [So long as it's convenient. So long as the benefit of using the other outweighs the burden of being used.]

What sky should I turn to for our first show? [He raises a hand to part the curtains, revealing a cloudless sky of stars. Almost as if scorched, he curls his fingers away from the window - letting the drapes fall in place.]

Edited 2017-02-20 08:37 (UTC)

Oh, wonderful. I'm so glad we don't have to kill you!

[ Just a beat for that girlish giggle to follow, high pitched and full of fangs. ]

Just kidding.

[ Not that she sounds particularly sincere about it, but she's hardly been carrying herself with the air of sincerity since this conversation again. ]

Ah-ah. No spoilers. You have to get your characters together before you tell the story. Find these people. Convince them to work with you. Use whatever means you deem necessary.

Then we can get started with your first mission.

[There has been nothing sincere in the woman's voice since the inception of the call - only unstable delight so full it permeates Takasugi's gut with an echo of the feeling.]

Aa. [Absent agreement as he turns his attention to the dossiers, glancing into the depths of information.]

You have quite the network, to gather all of this- [He assumes there's one on him as well; he voices his exasperation with of the trifling breach only by dimming his tone.]

I'd say I'd contact you if I need anything - but you'll know that too, won't you? [Not that he'll need any help coercing two soft-hearted girls into joining a cause. Those who feel the pain of others always look for ways to mitigate it, to dull their throbbing by spreading smiles thinly.

It's better to just chop off an infected limb - a thought kept to himself only shown in a flash of teeth as he closes the files.]

I will.

[ Said like an intimate promise, this vow of omnipresence, an edge of subtle threat in the smile-colored inflection. ]

We look forward to seeing your progress, Tani.

[ Laughter, ever airy and ethereal cut short with a sharp note: ]

Don't disappoint.

[ And then a soft click, barely audible, as the line goes dead. ]

❁ the dead receive more flowers than the living

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