Hiding

[has_a_cult]

[Ionae has been even harder to find than normal lately. If it were up to her she'd just vanish from society entirely, but some things demand you leave your bedroom, and her notebook never stops pinging her with notifications of new network posts. Feel free to run into her on one of her few errands. She's even more withdrawn to the point of eying total strangers suspiciously or crossing the street to avoid people, so it may be tricky.

Plan A: Hide forever. Clearly it's not going to work. Maybe it's time to actually try to think like a human being...]

[Filtered to Blaine]

Can we talk? In person, preferably?

Comments

[Filtered]

[strategic_guile]

[Call him surprised to ever get a request from Ionae to speak with him. In person, too. Are more monsters invading?]

Sure. Where?

[has_a_cult]

[Monsters, like, say, the ex-demon with wings?]

I'm at my apartment. 303.

[strategic_guile]

Alright.

[Not unless she starts eating people. Ten or so minutes later there's a knock on the door. She'll get a light smile when she opens the door.]

[has_a_cult]

[Ionae looks cleaner than normal. Almost like she decided to take a shower before calling him because she didn't want to smell while he was around.

Which is ridiculous, obviously.]

Hello...

[She lets him in and closes the door.]

[strategic_guile]

[Blaine stepped in and half-turned so he could look at her, waiting. She was acting damn strange, compared to all the other times they had met. It made him suspicious as hell, not that his smile hinted at it.

And there were wings. He wasn't as surprised as he might have been a couple of months ago, but they had only been hinted at and now they were there. He'd caught a whiff of soap, so freshly showered as well. Definitely, something was going on.]

Hey. How are you?

[has_a_cult]

I shot a man.

[No beating around the bush here.]

[strategic_guile]

...

[Stare.

Stare some more.]

That explains that.

[has_a_cult]

That's it? No anger or recriminations? Just "That explains that"?

[strategic_guile]

I was wondering why you were acting so strange. [He looks at her just... so amused.]

You shot someone. I don't know who. I don't know if they're dead. I don't know why. [Lifts his hands.] I can lecture you after I find that out, if you want.

[has_a_cult]

He was following me home. I told him to go away, but he just kept taunting me. Eventually I guess I just lost my temper...

Now he's back. I guess we really can't die here. He's telling everyone else he doesn't remember who did it, but he's lying.

[strategic_guile]

[Oh, well that makes it a lot easier. He lifts his eyebrows at her, then they settle back down to polite interest height.] I'm guessing your roommates are out, but the living room isn't a good place to talk without interruptions.

[has_a_cult]

Oh. I guess not. There's my room, that might be better...

[Ionae's room, should he look, is not very interesting. Her bed is a mess of sheets and blankets, with her transport notebook sitting on top of it all. Her desk has tools for keeping her guns maintained, her rifle leaning against the side. There's a small assortment of books on the bookshelf and a few pieces of clothing dropped carelessly on the floor. Other than that, nothing.]

[strategic_guile]

[He takes note of her room, not much different from his, except his room is neater. Blaine walks over to her bed and sits at one end letting out a breath. He at least sat at the end instead of the middle, not forcing proximity if she didn't take the desk chair. Otherwise, he's perfectly comfortable invading her space.]

So you were the one who killed Takegami. What was he taunting you about?

[has_a_cult]

[She took the desk chair.]

I'm going to die. So will you, so will he. We all will! It's like some kind of twisted nightmare! Even if the Initiative can bring us back to life at their will, what happens when our bodies get so old and worn out that they start falling apart like rotten fruit? Can they keep us alive through that? Do I even WANT them to?

[strategic_guile]

[He watches this with a neutral expression until she finishes.]

You told me you were sort of human, reluctantly so at that. What were you before?

[has_a_cult]

Ambitious, eternal, powerful, callous, violent, cruel, selfish. Not a thing you would want to spend any time with.

[strategic_guile]

[Blink. He's gonna focus on the eternal part.]

So, you're scared of dying. He rubbed it in your face. You got pissed off, shot him, and he died?

[has_a_cult]

[He gets a kind of half-hearted, wan smile.]

That's the gist of it. Now I'm just WAITING for...I don't know, a house to fall on me or something.

[strategic_guile]

Fortunately, that's not how it usually works. [Lip curl.]

Whatever happens it'll probably come directly from him. He's a bit weird.

[has_a_cult]

That doesn't exactly make me feel better. To be honest, I'm...I'm scared half to death of him.

[strategic_guile]

He didn't sound all that bothered by it when I talked to him. I don't think even I could brush that off so easily.

[Leans forward, settling his elbows onto his knees.] You seem more bothered that you killed him than he does having died.

[has_a_cult]

I've...never actually killed someone up close like that before. Someone I knew.

[She rubbed her face in her hands.]

Until recently I only had the vaguest idea of what death even WAS.

[strategic_guile]

[Watches her and steeples his fingers together before interlocking them and letting his hands hang between his knees.] It's a weird feeling. Makes you feel powerful. Then you realize it can happen to you.

[has_a_cult]

I remember lying in the woods about a month after my exile had begun, throwing up some berries that weren't fit for human consumption, when it hit me. I could end, and all it would take was some wild animal or even a particularly hard hearted human. I might even just starve to death. The next day I snuck into a town and stole a gun. I didn't ever want to feel that helpless again.

It's different, though. It's not the same kind of power. The stakes for everything are so much less important when you are truly immortal.

[strategic_guile]

That's true. [His face softens and he turns, propping a leg on the bed so he could face her.] Do you want to start practicing hand-to-hand with me? A gun is nice, but you shouldn't use it unless you mean to kill them.

[has_a_cult]

Hand-to-hand?

[She wiped her eyes, which had been getting a bit moist over the last minute or so.]

You mean melee combat and not some weird euphamism, right?

[strategic_guile]

Pft. [He snorted, giving her a canted smile.] Unfortunately, yes. I mean melee combat.

[has_a_cult]

I...Well that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Sure, if you want to.

[strategic_guile]

Do you want to? [His eyes fix on her.] I won't let you half-ass it, if you agree.

[has_a_cult]

One of those hardcore boot camp type of things, is it?

[strategic_guile]

No, I'm not the hardcore type when it comes to forcing other people to do things. You just have to be serious about it if you want to actually be able to use it without hurting yourself.

[has_a_cult]

Just what kind of martial art is this?

[strategic_guile]

It's self defense, but if you get cocky and overestimate your abilities you can get hurt. though i assume you'd run like hell if you had the chance anyway.

[has_a_cult]

That would be the sensible thing to do when you don't have the upper hand. Don't worry, I'll take it seriously.

[strategic_guile]

Good. [Light smile. Jokingly he adds.] Though I guess I don't have to teach you how to shoot, since I've had first-hand experience seeing you do that.

[has_a_cult]

Shooting is what got me into this situation in the first place.

[strategic_guile]

[Matter-of-factly.] No, a drunk guy harassing you is what got you in this situation.

[has_a_cult]

Well...thank you. You'd have done me a favor even without offering to teach me more self-defense.

[strategic_guile]

[Laughs] Really? And what favor is that?

[has_a_cult]

Well um. I don't know. I'm not much good at much, I'm starting to realize. What do people normally do in situations like this? Do you want money?

[strategic_guile]

[Sly grin.] No, I don't want money.

[has_a_cult]

Then...uh...

[Ionae looks on the verge of panic.]

[strategic_guile]

[Holds up a placating hand] It's alright. Take a breath.

[has_a_cult]

Right...Sorry, I don't know where that came from. I guess I'm even more rattled than I thought.

[strategic_guile]

[He reached out, hand hovering over hers to give her a chance to move before he settled it on hers.] It's a lot to go through.