[Video] un: spanglethesestars

[ukase]

[Rumlow has his set-up casual, his feet up on the table, and there's a toothpick sticking out the left side of his mouth. He's clearly sitting with two feet of the chair off the ground, but more predominant might be the healed burn scars that mark the left side of his face but particularly around his eyes. Much of the burns has clearly healed (miracle of pod life), but there is enough there to speak of previous considerable damage. His hair looks great though.]

New here. You don't care, and that's great. I'm looking for information on one subject in particular, so I won't waste time with semantics.

I need information on dragons. Specifically anatomy and how to kill them. I've got a wager with my future wife where she wants me to be the knight in shining armor and slay a dragon, but aside from the komodo kind, we don't have dragons where I'm from.

[He picks the toothpick from his mouth, twirling it in his fingers.]

Sure hope these ones taste like chicken though.

[He winks at the camera, offering a charming grin. Oh right, he wants to name drop because he knows it will annoy the person in question to the maximum degree.]

Also, if anyone knows Jessica Jones. Hit me up.

[He offers a mock little salute and the video ends.]

Comments

[ukase]

Because most things are worth fighting for.

[vorrutyer]

What a heroic sentiment. Are you a hero, monsieur?

[ukase]

I'm a soldier. I do what needs to be done.

[And that means not considering himself a hero.]

[vorrutyer]

Ahh. I understand that well. I come from a land of soldiers. They don't much care for surrender, either.

[ukase]

Everywhere has soldiers of some kind. We tend to be real bone-headed when it comes to surrender.

[vorrutyer]

Well, not everywhere. But yes, I have noticed it. It brought my planet to the brink of disaster many times.

[ukase]

Because of war?

[vorrutyer]

Civil war, yes. Did that happen with your soldiers as well?

[ukase]

No. We were too well-trained to fight among ourselves. Other countries, not so much.

[vorrutyer]

Ah, but if one accepts the commonality of all humanity, isn't fighting other countries fighting amongst yourselves?

[ukase]

Every country has their own fighting force, and it always seems to be human versus human where I'm from.

[vorrutyer]

Hm. What's the point of it?

[ukase]

The point is that patriarchy is the root of all evil. Or something.

[vorrutyer]

Yes, but truly, good fellow. You've dedicated your life to being a soldier. What's the point of it?

[ukase]

[He actually pauses for a long moment, looking serious and gathering himself. Like he's done this before.]

To try to make the world a better place for innocent people. To give them a chance at something better. I'm willing to get my hands dirty for them, so they don't have to.

[vorrutyer]

[ For just a moment, By narrows his eyes. Just a touch. It simply sounds odd to him - because it's an echo of his own aims and desires. Byerly is a professional spy, a man who betrays his friends and sabotages people he's never known, out of patriotism and out of a desire to, yes, make the world a better place for the innocent. Which is a fact that he'd never admit. Good heavens, how could you say that without feeling exceedingly embarrassed? It sounds foolishly naive even coming out of Rumlow's grizzled mouth.

Then By smiles casually, flipping a hand up with a mocking sort of flutter. ]

Ooh, and he even says it without his customary glibness. He must take this mission seriously indeed. I don't know, though - I'm not sure I've ever met any innocent people.

[ukase]

[He smirks almost right after with that comment because it's so much easier to play the asshole and get under people's skin then actually be serious. Everyone is a smart ass in their own way.

Being a double-agent, a spy, a soldier, and everything that comes with the package deal means he plays his card close to his chest on most matters. He shrugs his shoulders at the comment though.]

Children are innocent.

[vorrutyer]

Oh, that's hardly true. If you're saying that, you clearly haven't met any baby sociopaths.

[ukase]

[Now there has to be a story with a statement like that.]

Baby sociopaths? I'm going to need the background on that one.

[vorrutyer]

What - you never met them out in the play-yard? The children who'd find the ones who were smaller and weaker than they were and hold their heads under water or snap their fingers, and then convince all the adults around them that their victim was simply ever so clumsy.

[ Ah, Byerly does loathe his older cousin Richars. ]

You never encountered the little monsters?

[ukase]

[Okay, Rumlow had to laugh at that.]

I was one of those little monsters, though it took me till my older years to start snapping fingers or holding anyone underwater. You realize those kids do that shit because they are copy-catting, right? Or filling a void that comes in the home life?

[He would admit that some were just bad eggs, but way back when, he wanted nothing to do with those kids either. He pushed them around as much as the little ones.]

Did you fight back?

[vorrutyer]

[ By smiles innocently back at Rumlow. Though - good heavens. That's a hell of a thing to admit. ]

Who's to say I was the one being victimized? Maybe I was one of the victimizers, too.

[ Given his foppish mannerisms and general disposition, that seems...unlikely. ]

[ukase]

Because you look and act like someone who would be the victim for a time before turning it around on your bully. You seem like the revenge type to me.

[He grins openly. People ask the right questions, and he generally will answer. It might not always be truth. He's sometimes just looking for shock value.]

[vorrutyer]

[ By's smile turns a little crooked. Too right, that. Even if the revenge takes nearly thirty years. Ah, but he does savor the memory of Richars' smug, complacent face when he realized that Byerly - the man he'd thought he'd cowed into obedience - was the architect of his downfall... ]

Well, if you're right about me, then you've answered your own question. [ Then, rather sweetly: ] Did any of your little victims ever get their revenge on you?

[ukase]

[His own smile turns crooked at that question, and he shrugs his shoulders a little.]

That ain't a topic for open discussion. You want to know, you'll have to buy me a drink first.