Closed(ish) | Guarding Mr. Daisy

[lotusmesenpai]

Who: Sion, Lavi, Kanda & anyone they meet at the Summit
Where: Springhill Compound, Peace Summit
When: W6D2 - D6
Summary: Guarding Sion during the summit should be an easy warrant. Unfortunately, nothing with Sion is ever actually E A S Y.
Restrictions/Warnings: Kanda's fine command of language, as usual.

Comments

W6D3 - Kanda

[rhygret]

[ Coming to a "peace summit" on a moon that recently rioted, for the purpose of the people doing the rioting is not exactly Rhys's ideal vision of a week well-spent. He might not have a head for danger or when hes about to get into it and he certainly isn't keen on being back so soon after that whole bandit ordeal, but...it could be useful. There will be people there for Westerley and Leith, people who could maybe be of some use in getting his plan off the ground.

Rhys lives a cushy lifestyle. There's no doubt about that. He has access to money and funds from his family's accounts and his own stake in the Company, but it's not enough to fund what he's got in the works, and he can't exactly see either his family or The Company being big on lending their Joy to the cause. He needs resources and backers beyond his own personal scope, and a way to make some profits fairly quickly.

So...networking. He can do this. He may be a Kendry in name, but that's really about it in the scope of evil genius levels of manipulation and competency. He's better at talking the talk than walking the walk. So he's hoping that helps him out here as he stands around and tries not to look too uncomfortable with this whole thing...

Until he spots Kanda and his stomach promptly drops even more because he sure did get his...husband? Partner?? Into a lot of trouble earlier. And while Kanda isn't exactly the nicest guy around Rhys feels like he should at least...say something. Right? So he swallows his drinks, clears his throat a little, and decides to head over. ]

H, heeeeeyh, [ yeah he may have burped a little mid-word don't think about it ] --sorry that was the water. Ho uh...how you doing? You're what? Working?

[lotusmesenpai]

[For all that Kanda's language is absolute garbage, his mannerisms, natural grace, and general sense of refined control means it's not actually that hard for him to blend in with the mixed bag that the summit turned out to be.

Even so, all he can really do is blink and scowl at bit at that - did Rhys really just burp a greeting at him?!]

...For a Qreshi, you can be pretty damn Westie, you know that?

[And then a roll of his eyes and a nod to where Sion is chatting with two other delegates, his eyes bright as he talks. ]

Bodyguard warrant. [A beat and a sidelong glance before his gaze goes back to scanning the room around his target.] Guessing you came to this shitshow because you wanted to, though.

[rhygret]

[ It's a thing Rhys canonly does, Kanda. I'm sorry. He's also narrowing his eyes at that Westie comment, wow??? ]

You could say that. It wasn't my first choice, trust me. But something good's got to come out of this whole mess. We're not exactly popular right now.

[ And by "we" he means him and the other Qresh nobility. Rhys has gotten more than a few stink-eyes since his arrival in Kendry colours. ]

[lotusmesenpai]

[What? If it walks like a Jack Westie and sounds like a Jack Westie. GUESS WHAT.

He's gonna call you a Westie. Besides, technically, Kanda was one too, before the Company bombed Sugar Point.

Snorting at Rhys, he tucks his hands in his pockets and shakes his head.]

Of course you're not, dumbass. You just told a moon full of people that spent an actual seven fucking generations trying to be good that they just lost their chance to get off this toxic rock.

Greed at those levels tends to make people... murderous. But go ahead. [Sneering, he shakes his head, turns his gaze back to Sion.] Make yourself feel better by talking, Kendry.

[rhygret]

[ We don't talk about Jack!! Kanda opens his mouth, and naturally it just makes Rhys leer a little in a very unhappy way, the complete opposite of anytime Lavi is around. Because Lavi may take pot-shots at him but at least he smiles and works in humour when he does it. ]

What is your problem?? It's not like I personally could vote to cancel them--or keep them. That's on Delle and the other family heads. [ Rhys: Accepting Responsibility Like An Adult ]

I'm sure you'd totally be willing to keep your promise to help a bunch of strangers if they attacked the people you cared about. You know, stuff like bombing...releasing deadly diseases. That sort of thing.

[lotusmesenpai]

So you think it's acceptable to punish the all for the actions of the few? Funny how the Nine can inflict that standard without having to answer to the same.

[Sneering at Rhys then, his contempt for the Nine and the Company drip from his softly spoken words like acid, venomous and deadly.]

My problem is that they're all fucking hypocrites. Especially since I was there, when the Company - on orders from the Nine - carpet bombed Sugar Point. My parents, my baby sister, all dead for having the audacity to demand the Nine provide a living wage and safe work environments.

[Catching himself abruptly, Kanda draws a sharp breath, lets it out just as swiftly to reign in his temper - he'd said too much, admitted to far more than he normally would. Time to step back and shut this part of the conversation, that shades on the personal, down.]

Despite that shit, I keep my promise every time I complete a warrant for your asses, so yeah. I can say that.

[rhygret]

[ Well that's...not at all what Rhys was expecting from that. He doesn't know much about Sugar Point, only that there was some sort of rebellion and the Company sealed it up with a wall--but to hear about bombings, about Kanda's family being the fallout over something as...as tiny as wages makes his stomach drop uncomfortably. Like the blood in his body runs a few degrees cooler. ]

I...I-I didn't know.

[ It sound pathetic even to his own ears, and unlike his peer who probably could've buffeted that without blinking an eye Rhys actually cares enough about Kanda in...a general sense, via his relation to Lavi, that it actually matters on some level to him. Rhys isn't the most sympathetic person to people he doesn't know or often think about. Nine out of ten Westies are just a way for his family to make an easy bit of Joy and uphold the status quo.

But he does know Kanda (to a very slight degree, but again: see his relation to Lavi who Rhys happens to like a great deal), and that changes things for him. As soon as there's any sort of personal attachment or involvement with a related element Rhys's opinion changes. ]

I'm...sorry.

[ He knows it won't count for anything, but he can't think of anything else to say. ]

[lotusmesenpai]

Idiot.

[Glancing to the side, Kanda's scowl deepens somewhat before he lets out an exasperated sigh and then reaches up to run a hand over his face, because this?

Exactly why he doesn't bother explaining this shit to anybody. Not... even Lavi. A moment of pique, and he'd said something to Rhys, a member of the Nine, that he hasn't even discussed with his own partner.

Clearly, this means he's spent too much time around the other idiots in the Quad. He needs a warrant that takes him to the furthest edges of the J, and soon.

For now, however, he drops his hand to the side and sighs before leveling a flat look at the bleeding heart of a noble.]

Unless you're the one that ordered the bombing, what the hell do you have to apologize for? Just don't make the same damned mistakes that your corrupt so-called nobility did and... don't wear your heart in the open so much.

[A beat, before he turns to scan the room, assess those Sion is talking to now.]

You'll make yourself a target with those more ruthless than you.

[rhygret]

......Uhhh.

[ Give Rhys a moment here, Kanda. And not just because this is the longest actual conversation he's had with the man. He actually has to regard him for a second in utter bafflement. ]

Did you...just say something almost nice to me? Like, are you....concerned? About--me?

[ Who is this man, and what has he done with Kanda? He needs to message Lavi right away and tell him his husband's been taken over by some sort of alien body snatcher and to watch out for hugs. ]