un: morrigan (text)

[courtintrigue]

Have you already had an unfortunate encounter with an unusual creature? Something that lured you in with the voice of family or friends? A thieving sepht making off with your valuables? Did something injure you? I would like to hear of it.

This is a bit more unusual, I suspect, but I would also like to hear of it if someone here from your world has memories that do not line up with your own. Not mere cases of he-said-she said, but something more... verifiable. Perhaps one of you bears a scar that the other knows should not exist?


[ Ongoing but closed to new threads. Thanks! ]

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[courtintrigue]

Now we get somewhere.

[ This is a bit more like the situation she holds closer to her chest than the one on which she based her questions. ]

Is no longer existing the same as being dead?

[ A recent conversation with someone who claims to have absorbed a god with their corpse makes this question seem necessary, given his phrasing. ]

What stops you from finding them again now and asking whatever questions you have?

CW: character death/ depression/ suicidal ideation

[cassus]

[ Failure isn't a word that Dazai has been afforded. No, he's never allowed himself to fall short.

Not reaching the bar of success was a death-sentence in much of his early life. And yet - this loss weighs on him more than the threat of being thrown out onto the street as a child, or neatly shot as an example of what it happens when anyone fall short in the mafia. Let alone fucking up during any step of countless missions where everyone, anyone, was an enemy intent on killing you. ]

You're very perceptive.

[ He can't physically bring himself to type the word 'yes', even though Dazai's fingers begin the word and several variations of it more than a few times. ]

I can't find him.

[ It's absurd how admitting what he's known all this time actually puts him into a desperate state; eager to forget, to erase any coherency from his mind, or to even disappear all together. There are so many ways to do that. The redlight district could likely provide more than a little help, whether his poison of choice was liquor, ladies or something far more permanent.

The slimmest hope of finding Odasaku again, in this place where the impossible is possible, halts his circling thoughts from lingering too long on that last option. ]

[courtintrigue]

[ This is considerably less bluster and feels more real -- at least as much as words typed on these devices can -- but she is uncertain she fully understands why he seems at a loss. ]

We are a large number of refugees, but you have access to this entire network. Surely finding this person and questioning him is not impossible.

[ Though she supposes that the other person could have done the same if he wanted to do so. ]

[cassus]

You would think so, in a place as connected as this.

[ Odasaku wouldn't simply stop showing up at their shared quarters or drop all communication with him. Not unless something happened. ]

People disappear here.
Judging from what I've heard he's not the first.

[ Sure, there's always that slim chance that he's been returned to hibernation because something went terribly wrong. Dazai has kept his ear close to the ground for long enough to pick up on the fact this happens.

Except he's has yet to locate Odasaku there, despite routinely checking as often as possible. ]

Then again, I suppose people vanished everyday where I was from.
Typically that just meant someone hid the body especially well.

[courtintrigue]

I read something of disappearances.

[ Sometimes missing people are a coincidence. Sometimes they mean a repeat killer. Do their hosts on Thesa keep close track of them down here? It seems improbable, but at this point she cannot call it unlikely. ]

If you are concerned as opposed to just curious and have already checked in on the station perhaps you should ask with the guard. You have a point: this world is as dangerous as any other.

[cassus]

So you've heard about those who've mysteriously vanished into thin air.
After enough people are lost without explanation, well-

You'd think the great 'Powers that Be' would figure out why.

[ Are the hibernation pods malfunctioning on a mass scale and sending people out into this new world too soon? Is this damaging the early wakers? Perhaps it was the first attack on the Thesa Station, their jettison to the planet or maybe something more sinister. ]

Or better yet, put a stop to it.

[ While he's no bleeding heart, there's an overwhelming senselessness to potentially leaving every resident here subject to the same disappearing act. Or equally vulnerable to losing a loved one this way.

Not knowing where they are, if they're safe, or if they'll come back. ]

You seem to know a lot about this.

[courtintrigue]

[ If she could shrug to signal that their hosts are as big a mystery to her, she would. There is no one here whose loss would leave her truly inconsolable, she thinks, despite the fact that new questions plague her. She is both glad to be alive, awake, and only willing to trust as much as she feels necessary. It is not unlike the alliance she enjoyed with Empress Celene over the last few years: an arrangement of mutual benefit with someone who has a certain amount of power that she does not, and one day the arrangement is likely to be less beneficial for one side or the other. ]

'A lot' is an exaggeration. Sometimes there is value in information shared over the network.

And sometimes it is little more than small talk I have no desire to join or read.

[cassus]

No judgment here.
It never hurts to be informed.

[ Oh, looks like she's someone else who keeps their ears and eyes open, paying attention to what the other residents talk about. He wouldn't dare to assume she's spying, exactly.

But it's more intriguing to be in the company of another person that stays abreast of the scuttlebutt around here. ]

We should compare notes sometime.
Sooner than later, if you're free.

[courtintrigue]

[ That makes her smile to herself, just a bit. She may not have the time or interest to monitor the network, but keeping informed is the only smart thing to do. ]

And perhaps you will share what you are told if you decide to take any of this up with someone on the station.

[cassus]

Scouts honor.

[ While he isn't that desperate for the company of just anybody, the kind of easy companionship that whittles away the hours isn't the easiest thing to find around here. Yet Morrigan seems to be one of those few exceptions.

And she isn't hard on the eyes. At least when it comes to words on a screen. Meaning - the conversation is good. Pleasant even. And he wouldn't mind more of that. ]

I happen to know a cozy little bar you might like.
They serve the kind of drinks that would compliment the conversations we're talking about.

[courtintrigue]

[ That phrase may be new to her, but she can take a not-quite-wild guess at the sentiment behind it. ]

If it is not a filthy tavern that allows its drunkards to sing I may be willing to visit.

[ As it happens, she often prefers face-to-face communication. The network is convenient, especially if one wishes to quickly end a conversation, but it does eliminate the fun in walking away from someone when she has had enough. ]

[cassus]

I wouldn't call it something so rustic as a tavern.
And the only kinds of lodgings it offers are charged by the hour.

[ Other men might try to procure Morrigan's time with wining and dining, but Dazai isn't his ex-partner. He doesn't have the kind of commitment in him that stems from lofty outings that actually border on real dates.

A low-lit bar and quiet conversation is plenty enough. ]

But the bartender is crude and filthy enough for the entire establishment, if that counts!

[ The name of said barkeep should sound familiar, if they happen to wind up there. He's already bashed Chuuya once tonight, so a second time feels only natural. In some ways it's out of spite - secretly blaming his ex-partner for old attachments that die hard.

Much more of himself than he'd like to admit still lives in the past, bound to people who aren't ( or shouldn't be ) a part of his present life. ]

I'm open to alternatives, if you have any ideas.

[courtintrigue]

[ Ah, a brothel. Guaranteed not to be her favorite place, but as long as it is indeed not filthy or irritatingly loud and everyone's hands are where they should be (even if they had to pay for the privilege), she can deal with a short visit.

She has not yet been, after all, and probably would not bother without a reason. ]

No, that will do.

[ Should they meet again, however, she will certainly choose the location. ]

Leave a time and any relevant details in my inbox.

[ Not being inflexible here does not mean she wants to give anyone who knows her an excuse to swoop in uninvited. ]

[cassus]

Since the lady doesn't protest, I'll look forward to it.

[ Of course it's a brothel. He has his reputation ( and several facades ) to maintain. That and people don't pay much attention to a whore-mongering drunk. Nor anyone who simply acts like one. ]

It was an absolute pleasure talking to you.
And I've no doubt our meeting will be doubly delightful.

[ Now that their chit-chat is winding down, or better yet - bridging away from more tragic conversation topics, Dazai is quick to fall back into the role of a charismatic fool. It's an easy part to play, and takes less of an emotional toll that anything near to sincerity.

Either she's 'seen' enough to peer through it, or she ends up on a very long list of people who simply take Dazai at face value, and miss everything beneath. ]