Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 29, 2021 22:11:28 GMT -5
Watari’s brow raised as he entered the room. L tended to be jumpy, but he was rarely that jumpy. It was unusual for him to practically leap into the air just at the sound of Watari’s voice. He edged a little bit closer into the room, trying to get a gauge of the situation without having to jump into an interrogation. There was nothing particularly wrong with what L was doing, unless Orpheus had asked it of him. It was likely just a misguided attempt to help. It was Orpheus’ work, though… where was the boy? Watari hadn’t seen him yet. Was it possible that L had noticed that Orpheus wasn’t there and had decided to do his work for him? No, that seemed unlikely. It wasn’t that L didn’t take initiative, it was just that Watari doubted his first course of action would be to do Orpheus’ work for him if he was absent. He was more likely to go out looking for him. This was infinitely preferable, at least. “It’s near afternoon,” Watari amended, glancing at a pocket watch before looking back up at L. “Although it technically is, still morning.” He gave a thin smile as he slid the watch back into position and looked up at L. “What are you spending your time on, today?” It wasn’t exactly a pointed question, but if L had been doing something he thought he shouldn’t… Watari had a feeling he’d be able to tell from L’s answer.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 29, 2021 22:30:09 GMT -5
Was L doing something he shouldn’t? Technically…probably, yes. Orpheus had indicated that he wasn’t supposed to be cleaning, anyway. Or at least not cleaning the things Orpheus was meant to be cleaning. He had asked L not to tell Watari, at the very least, and L had promised not to, which meant Watari wasn’t to find out what he was doing. L would have been a lot more confident in his (usually very good) ability to lie his way out of this, if it had been anyone else. Unfortunately, Watari was psychic. Probably not actually psychic, L reminded himself an instant later, but that had been his running theory when he was seven, and it hadn’t been easy to forget. Logically, Watari shouldn’t be able to tell with 100% accuracy when L was lying. And yet, L couldn’t remember a single time he’d been wrong. And it wasn’t for lack of effort on L’s part, either. He considered the question with care. It wasn’t too direct. He could get by on a technicality and not be caught lying. “Several things,” he replied simply. “I plan to read a book at some point after it’s dark.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 29, 2021 22:49:17 GMT -5
Everyone had tells when they were lying. L was much better than most at hiding his, of course (though Watari sometimes wondered whether that was a good thing or a bad thing). Still, Watari had picked up on them when L was small, and though the tells became far more subtle as time went on, they hadn’t disappeared entirely. At least, it seemed, L didn’t directly lie very often. He had just gotten very good at avoiding a question he didn’t want to answer. Watari gave a small sigh as he realized that was, in fact, what L was doing now. He was answering the question truthfully, just avoiding the things Watari wanted to know. He had a suspicion that L knew exactly what he was asking, just chose to avoid the point. Watari would have to be a bit more clever if he wanted a proper answer. “What have you been up to this morning?” Watari amended, brow raising as he regarded L. It was vague enough that L would still probably be able to give a non-answer, but he wasn’t going to jump straight to the direct question. He was going to give L a chance to answer him and tell him the whole truth – he saw no reason why the boy shouldn’t give the whole truth. Well… there were reasons, but there weren’t any that Watari liked very much.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 29, 2021 22:58:37 GMT -5
L knew some of his own tells. He was aware that eye contact was a problem. He tended to avoid it when lying to Watari, or at least that was what he was automatically inclined to do. The problem was that he also struggled with eye contact in general…namely, how it actually worked. Staring was rude. Not meeting anyone’s eye ever was also rude. He was forced to look at someone for five seconds, look away for four, look back for three, look away for six…he tried to vary the times, to make it more natural at balls, when he was most likely to need to be social, but then the temptation was to get distracted counting the seconds and forget to pay attention to the actual conversation. Human interaction was exhausting. He could try that now. But he rarely did so with Watari. It was probably safest to merely stare as he normally would. He met Watari’s gaze, expression neutral. “I ate cake this morning,” he replied almost immediately, his brain moving fast enough to (hopefully) make it look like a genuine reply, and not a cover up. He could also mention looking out the window, but Watari might ask what he was looking for, and that would be difficult to evade.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 29, 2021 23:19:50 GMT -5
Watari raised a brow, well aware that L was still dodging the question. They could both play this game all day, he knew. It would take a direct mention of what L was doing for him to acknowledge that it had happened, it seemed. Watari was half tempted to go that route, but he wasn’t entirely certain that it was necessary. It was possible this was just a misunderstanding. It was possible that L just thought he was helping out, even though it wasn’t strictly required. Although… if he had wanted to help out with the cleaning, the best time to do it would have been before Watari hired a servant to take care of the work. It had never occurred to L at that point. “How was the cake?” he asked, wanting to at least partially engage in the things that L was offering him. It was a decent enough conversation topic, though Watari’s eyes kept drifting back to the duster in L’s hand and the half-dusted shelves behind him. Orpheus had been very thorough in his cleaning of the shelves, and though L was clearly trying, there were areas he had completely missed. It was a valiant attempt. “Are you having a nice time dusting?” he asked, a bit of a challenge in his voice. It was a verbal trap, and he wanted to see what L would attempt to do to get out of it. Or rather, if he would attempt to get out of it.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 29, 2021 23:31:47 GMT -5
L could think of creative ways to avoid the questions sent his way as long as Watari wanted to keep asking them. He could cover up what he was doing…as long as he didn’t call attention to the duster, maybe Watari wouldn’t notice it. Humans often tended to overlook what they didn’t expect to see, and L had never before attempted to dust. Watari had no reason to be looking for a duster. Maybe he wouldn’t think to see what L was holding. Which would never have worked on L himself, but L wasn’t like most people. He was more observant by far. Watari might miss things, even things that seemed obvious to him. “It was the same as it was yesterday,” he replied, latching onto the much safer topic instantly. “Since it was the same kind. I think perhaps it was slightly better. Does cake get better overnight? That sort, I mean, specifically?” He knew it did, but he hoped to be able to make Watari think about cake and not more questions. But he didn’t need to bother. The next question caught L completely off guard. He stared at Watari, eyes wide, brain racing to come up with a clever reply that wasn’t incriminating in the slightest. So Watari had noticed…that made this a whole lot harder. But he’d given his word to Orpheus, so he wasn’t going to give up now. “I…have had a nice morning,” he managed after a long moment. “Relatively speaking. I wasn’t thinking about dust when you walked in.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 29, 2021 23:40:49 GMT -5
“I believe that’s more of a subjective opinion rather than a fact,” Watari responded, brow raising. He rarely ate the cakes he made for L – there was plenty of other food he would rather eat, and it meant that there was more available for L. He would eat it all, too. None of it would go to waste. Or rather, not much of it would go to waste. Watari knew they still wasted more food than the Skaa did. They probably wasted more food than some Skaa got to eat in a month. It wasn’t as bad as the Houses that threw balls and the like, but… it was still rather shameful. He wasn’t, however, going to start rationing or starving L just so they wouldn’t have to waste so much. “If you believe that it gets better overnight, then it must. I’m just not sure others would agree with you. I, personally, would agree. That doesn’t make it fact.” Watari was happy to answer the question, but that didn’t mean he was distracted from the actual topic at hand. The dust. The duster. “Is that so?” Watari asked after a moment, sounding a little bit surprised. “I find it difficult to believe that you weren’t thinking about dust at all, when you’re holding a duster. Was it you who began dusting in here?” There was no judgement in his tone, just simple curiosity. He didn’t want to seem accusatory or aggressive. He didn’t actually believe L was at fault if there was something wrong going on here. He just… didn’t want L to believe that it was his duty to clean. And he didn’t want to hear that the servant boy had manipulated him into it. It seemed… unlikely, given what he had seen of the Skaa boy and what he knew of L, but it wasn’t impossible.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 29, 2021 23:53:37 GMT -5
L knew Watari was right about the cake. He was more than aware that his tastes in food weren’t common, and that he often had opinions on them that weren’t held by anyone else at all. Still…it felt like they had to be true, to some extent. And he was just trying to distract Watari, anyway. Which obviously hadn’t worked. L resisted the urge to glance down at the duster…he should have hidden it, but he hadn’t had time, and he hadn’t wanted to call attention to it. Too late now. Any possibility of avoiding being caught had vanished…he had promised not to tell, and he didn’t break promises, not even when they could get him into trouble. As it probably could right now. And he couldn’t stop seeing the fear on Orpheus’ face when they’d spoken the first time. Or the bruise…he’d been hurt for nothing at all. He was clearly terrified of losing his job. L trusted Watari, he did, but…he needed to keep his word. He had to make sure Orpheus wasn’t fired. He had to make absolutely certain that he didn’t starve or die of exposure. L wasn’t used to having to think in terms of those extreme needs, but he was trying to put himself in Orpheus’ shoes as best he could, He looked away at last as the direct question came out. He hadn’t been lying. - he hadn’t been directly thinking about dust, he had been thinking about moving a vase - but now… “No,” he replied, as easily as he could. It wasn’t technically a lie…Orpheus had started, a week ago. Hopefully, it passed the test.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 30, 2021 0:02:42 GMT -5
Watari gave a small sigh. It wasn’t technically a lie, he was sure. L’s tells didn’t come up, and he sounded more certain than he did when he was lying. Although, at times, he sounded overly certain when he was lying. Guessing at L’s mistruths was more of an art than a science, but Watari had gotten very good at it. This, while it wasn’t a direct lie, was another game. He just had to figure out what L meant by it. It was, he had to admit, rather frustrating. He wanted to know what was happening so he could reassure L that he didn’t need to clean, and get to the bottom of where Orpheus was. But L wasn’t answering the question, which meant he was fairly certain he was doing something wrong but didn’t want to admit to it. “You know,” Watari began softly, stepping forward to run a finger over the dust. It wasn’t terrible – it had only been a day since it had last been dusted – but it was already rather noticeable. The issue was the ash. You couldn’t escape it, even indoors. He knew that his house was much cleaner than most of the Skaa dwellings, but he wanted to keep as much ash out of his living space as possible. “We hired Orpheus for a reason. That reason means that you don’t have to worry about anything like cleaning during the day. Would you like me to show you the list of duties Orpheus has been assigned, so you don’t worry yourself completing them?”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 30, 2021 0:14:47 GMT -5
L could tell Watari was onto him, but he didn’t want to admit it just yet. He could be very stubborn when he wanted to be, as they both knew very well. He was smart. Watari was also undeniably smart, but L was secretly convinced he was just a little bit smarter, and could outwit him, if he put his mind to it. He just didn’t often try anymore, having been caught one too many times as a child. Lying, as they both knew, wouldn’t work. But technicalities flew nicely under the radar, and there were plenty of those to be had. The problem was that Watari already seemed to know what L was trying to avoid telling him. Hopefully not all of it…not the part about Orpheus…but about the dusting. He glanced reluctantly at the shelf as Watari approached, eyes wary as he noted the dust there. He hadn’t finished yet, he told himself, so it didn’t mean he’d done a bad job. But he wasn’t sure he’d actually have noticed the part Watari had touched. He was trying to be thorough, it was just…harder than it looked. “No,” he replied after a moment, voice equally soft. He didn’t quite meet Watari’s eyes as he tried to think how to reply to that. “There’s no need. I’ve been watching him since he first arrived.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 30, 2021 0:20:31 GMT -5
Yes, L had decided to make this a battle of wits. If he had been just a little bit younger, Watari might have scolded him and told him politely that this was a matter in which L needed to listen to him. But L was an adult now, and Watari was not supposed to be policing his behavior. It was just that this was the sort of behavior that could get L into a lot of trouble if the wrong person found out about it. Not to mention that it was a waste of money to pay Orpheus if L was doing his job for him. They had the spare funds to pay a servant, of course, but it was also money they could have used to get themselves ahead in the world. It had been a difficult decision to hire a servant, but it was one Watari had thought worth it. He would need to reconsider if L was the one doing all the work. “I’m going to politely request that you avoid doing Orpheus’ work for him, then,” Watari replied calmly, dipping his head to L. He waited to see if the boy would protest. If he would put the duster away and wait for Orpheus to come clean this room whenever he got to it. “I don’t see why we need to be paying him if you’re doing his work for him, do you see? I’m quite certain that you’re doing your best to be helpful, but he’s perfectly capable of doing the work himself. You don’t need to be worrying about that when you have things you could be doing with your time. Things I’m sure you find much more entertaining.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 30, 2021 0:35:56 GMT -5
It wasn’t much of a battle of wits if Watari was going to be that direct about it, L thought a little bit sullenly as he processed the request. He knew it was because Watari knew him as well as he did, and probably guessed that anything other than something that direct would be quickly evaded. Still…that put L in a very difficult position, He had given his word not to tell, so telling was out. He had also said he’d do the work, so he couldn’t agree to Watari’s terms. But he also couldn’t just refuse and continue on his way without being questioned…and Watari’s words suggested that he might fire Orpheus if L didn’t agree to stop. He could agree to stop and then continue…? But that would be a direct lie, with no technicalities to save him. He stood still a very long moment, trying to think. There was a way out of this, he just…wasn’t sure what it might be. He couldn’t let Orpheus get fired, and he couldn’t successfully lie to Watari, and he couldn’t break his word. Well…maybe he could try one of those things. “Okay,” he agreed after a moment, trying to keep his face and tone as neutral as he could, it was just one lie. It wasn’t even a big one…maybe this was the day he would finally be able to pull one off.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 30, 2021 0:41:56 GMT -5
Watari thought it would be simple if he were direct. L didn’t have to tell him anything if he didn’t want to, and Watari could make sure he was out of danger. He didn’t know for sure how any other noble families might be able to find out about L doing a servant’s work, but spies were everywhere. None had ever seen inside Keep Wammy, but that didn’t mean there weren’t people looking. If they happened to see this… if they happened to notice L doing the cleaning… especially after Watari hired a servant… something like dread pulsed through his stomach, though he did his best not to show it. “You know you can’t lie to me,” Watari murmured, sounding rather wearier than he meant to. “You aren’t going to stop this, are you?” Well… it wasn’t ideal but, would it work to explain to L why he needed to stop? It depended on what was driving L to keep going… “Alright then. Will you tell me why it is you’re doing the work for him? Did he arrive this morning at all?” Concern flickered across Watari’s face. Orpheus had been a good servant for the past several days. He was dedicated and efficient, and he did everything as carefully as possible. Watari had as much respect for him as was healthy for a nobleman to have for the Skaa. Orpheus didn’t seem the type to not show up… which means he was probably the victim of some other noble’s cruelty. That was… inconvenient. Watari did his best not to apply any personal feelings to the situation. If that was the case, he needed to deal with it like he didn’t care.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 30, 2021 0:56:00 GMT -5
L looked away, hanging his head a little. He did know that, but…he hadn’t had a better option. He didn’t know Watari’s fears, not totally. He didn’t know the things that could happen…the severity of it. He was paranoid about spies and assassins, and overly cautious about poison, but he was afraid of the wrong danger, and so had walked right into this one. But he still couldn’t lie to Watari. No matter how much he needed to, it seemed. He could try again. Watari might not expect a second lie, because a second lie would be stupid, and L wasn’t at all stupid. Which meant maybe it was smart to try it when Watari least expected it. But…he didn’t want to get caught again. Watari wasn’t ever someone L feared, but he was someone L deeply respected, and that was much worse at the moment. He hesitated. He couldn’t tell him why he was doing this. Could he say Orpheus had arrived? If he did, wouldn’t Watari just want to know where he was? But he might look anyway…L shifted his weight uncomfortably. He wasn’t even sure what lie he would tell, if he decided to try it again. “It’s alright,” he managed after a moment, trying to be as vague as he could. “I know what I’m doing.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 30, 2021 1:02:12 GMT -5
“I’m not sure you do,” Watari replied, some of his fear leaking into his voice. He didn’t mean to allowt hat to happen, but now that it was out there, he couldn’t take it back. He was afraid for L, that much was obvious. He didn’t know if anyone could find out, but if anyone did… L was already strange at balls. He got a pass because still managed to socialize, and because it wasn’t as though there were young ladies lining up to try to secure his hand. That was, Watari had to admit, the benefit of being one of the smaller houses. They were still invited to balls and they were still respected members of the nobility, but they didn’t have to worry about constantly being in the spotlight. They avoided most of the conflict between the other houses. But they couldn’t afford a scandal. “Nobles aren’t supposed to clean,” he said after a moment, trying to make his voice as gentle as possible. “That’s one reason I hired Orpheus. The other houses know we have a servant now, and they’ve started to change their opinion of us. We’re more respected now, because we can afford help around the house. They’ll be expecting us to hire another one soon enough. But if any of them get word you’ve been doing a Skaa’s duties… L, they will destroy us. They will destroy you. Skaa’s work is beneath us, as far as they care. It’s worse than being ostracized at parties. It could mean real danger from people who believe we don’t deserve to belong in the nobility. From people who doubt your status already.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 30, 2021 1:20:59 GMT -5
L looked up, eyes widening as he caught the note of fear in Watari’s tone. He hadn’t expected. He had expected exasperation, maybe some weary irritation, or just confusion…he was aware Watari was also stubborn, so he had thought they might be here a while. But fear? Cleaning wasn’t dangerous. Unless there was any more broken glass, but L had cleaned that up. He had done other, more dangerous things before…in his opinion, eating at balls was very dangerous. Food could very easily be poisoned, and who would know? He searched Watari’s gaze, his eyes sharp. He didn’t know where the fear had come from, but it immediately put him on edge too. Watari wasn’t one to get spooked. This didn’t feel like a game, suddenly. It didn’t feel like L trying to convince Watari to let him stay awake a little bit longer. This felt like being told to hide under the bed and not come out no matter what by his mother. He didn’t blink, just listened as Watari spoke, eyes wide and suddenly focused. “I’m not taking over permanently.” He murmured after a long moment, voice suddenly subdued. “And I won’t say anything. Orpheus won’t, either.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 30, 2021 1:26:58 GMT -5
Watari didn’t enjoy spooking L, but at least now he seemed to understand the danger. The fact that what he was doing was serious, even if it didn’t seem like anything. In a fair world, it wouldn’t be anything. In a fair world, the nobility would dust their own shelves and the Skaa would be able to live like the nobility, if they wanted. But the world they lived in wasn’t fair. Watari did his best to make it more fair, but to do that he needed to stay under the radar of the nobility. It made it difficult to operate on a scale that would actually make any sort of difference. The last thing either of them needed was for L to call attention to himself by acting like he was Skaa. Watari may not have known L’s birthright entirely, but the chances that he was Skaa were… well, higher than Watari was comfortable with. As long as he claimed him as his son, it didn’t matter. Nobody had ever cared enough to look closely. “I believe you,” Watari said after a moment, then hesitated. “About yourself. I believe that you won’t say a word. But I need to speak with Orpheus. I don’t know if he put you up to this or if you decided to do it yourself, but this isn’t a game, L. This is life or death. I shudder to think what may happen to Orpheus if either of us is pegged as not truly noble. He may be killed just in case.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 30, 2021 12:03:33 GMT -5
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all, and L’s sense of justice burned with it. He had known things weren’t perfect…it was impossible not to know that, to some extent, unless you were a lot more sheltered than L had been. He wasn’t naive enough to believe the Skaa wanted to be inferior. He wasn’t blind enough to think they weren’t treated like they were. But Orpheus was so…human. Timid, yes. And eager to please. But he couldn’t mask his personhood, and L felt as though he had unintentionally opened a door he could never shut again. He wasn’t close with Orpheus, of course, it took more than a week and two short conversations to become anything near friends with L Lawliet, but his personal feelings on the matter didn’t seem important. The initial start from registering Watari’s real fear for him was wearing off, and in its place was conflict. This wasn’t right. He thought Watari knew it wasn’t right, from how he was speaking, but he was going along with it anyway. L had never been good at listening to anyone else. He had never gone along with something he didn’t really think was right. He lied, sometimes, but he was also direct and blunt, and he didn’t tell lies that hurt people. He had a moral compass, and it wasn’t directed the way Watari wanted him to look. “You can’t speak with him right now,” he replied finally, meeting Watari’s gaze. His own was cautious, uncertain, and more than a little bit spooked. He didn’t know what sort of blood flowed through his veins any more than Watari did. He wasn’t thinking of the way they might talk, once a Skaa, always a Skaa, it’s in his blood to be a servant, he can’t help it. He was just trying to save someone’s life. “He didn’t tell me to,” he added in a smaller voice. “He didn’t want me to. It’s…necessary. I gave my word not to tell you more than that.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 30, 2021 14:16:55 GMT -5
Sal was willing to risk his life for the Survivor. He was willing to risk his life for the crew, and the plan, and anything else he thought had any chance of fixing this mess of a world. He wasn’t a selfless person by nature, he knew. He wasn’t the sort of person he thought the Survivor probably was, driven by a sense of justice. He was just…Skaa, by blood and by life both. He didn’t have a chance at anything better than survival, and he was lucky to have made it to the age he was now, seeing as he didn’t have a job and was a nuisance to people better than he. He was alone in the world. He didn’t even have a crew to watch his back…or to worry about betrayal from. He ran, keeping his pace even. He could keep this up for a while if need be…as long as he stayed away from the parts of the city he hadn’t memorized, anyway. He wasn’t going to be pinned again, not ever. He didn’t know why Zuko hadn’t hurt him, or killed him, but he didn’t trust that he wasn’t desperate enough to forego whatever had stayed his hand. Maybe he’d just assumed bribery would work. He knew now that it wouldn’t. Sal didn’t want to know what he would try next. So he ran, through mostly abandoned streets, as the ash began to fall.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 30, 2021 21:56:46 GMT -5
-- A few weeks had passed since Zuko had started chasing Sal. They never exchanged any words, and the night always ended in an uneasy tie. Either Sal slipped away unnoticed, or Zuko decided he was tired and called it a night. In a way, that meant that Sal won every night, but Zuko knew it wasn’t that simple. Sal wouldn’t have officially won until Zuko stopped chasing. Until he gave up. Well, he wasn’t going to give up, even if Sal never fell for any of the traps he set. This night was no different. They had been running for at least half an hour, and they were definitely going faster than they had the very first night. It was as though that had been a warmup and every night after had been the real thing. Zuko was hot on Sal’s heels, but no faster than he had to be. This was a game of endurance. This was a game of outsmarting the other, and so far, neither of them had managed it. There had been that second night… Zuko had thought he was going to get a lead there, he had been hopeful… now he was still certain that Sal knew something, but he was less certain about how to get it from him. If he could corner him again, that would be ideal. He would be able to try something other than bribery, because that clearly hadn’t worked. He wasn’t thinking torture. That was the route Azula would go. Zuko hadn’t given up on the hope that Sal might give up the information of his own free will. Besides, he told himself, there was no guarantee that the information presented to him through torture would be the right information.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 30, 2021 22:09:41 GMT -5
Sal knew very well that, the longer he did this, the more likely Zuko was to give you and try something else. He knew their second encounter had probably made it pretty clear that he had absolutely no intention of giving the Survivor’s location up…at least, not willingly. Which meant the next time he was caught would be much, much worse. Zuko wouldn’t try bribery again, and what options did he have? And still, he came, every night. Still he ran, never too fast, at least until he actually needed to get away. The problem was that Zuko could simply quit if he tired, but Sal didn’t have that option. He could escape or be caught. The ash fell thick tonight, he noted as he ran, crossing the street and dodging down another one. That probably meant those tasked with cleaning would be out in force before too long. Witnesses…hadn’t been much of an issue so far, as not many people cared what others did. But he didn’t like to think what would happen if someone tried to interfere. He probably should have had a better plan. Not getting caught hadn’t worked out flawlessly, after all. But he was alive, and he was running, and he didn’t plan to let Zuko take either of those from him, whatever he promised about not killing him. Of course he wouldn’t kill. Not until he had what he wanted.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 30, 2021 22:44:00 GMT -5
Zuko had been given plenty of time to consider his next steps. If he ever caught up with Sal again, he thought he would try to talk to him. Try to figure out why he was protecting the Survivor with so much of his being. Why was he willing to die for a man who was going to cause more bloodshed instead of helping those who were dying now? It was likely that Sal didn’t see it that way, but if Zuko could understand how he saw it, maybe he could get more information. He had been out during the day trying to pursue other leads, but they all lead to dead ends. Either nobody knew where the Survivor was, or there were a lot of people who were willing to die for him. While Zuko wouldn’t have been surprised if it were the latter, he had also met plenty of Skaa who seemed absolutely terrified of the Survivor. People who seemed to understand the kind of chaos a revolution would bring. The way things were now weren’t good. Zuko was aware of that, though he hadn’t been when he had first been exiled. He just… didn’t think that killing his father would fix any of it. Perhaps that was because part of him was still loyal to him, part of him still wanted to go home, but… he thought a larger part of him believed that chaos and a war would be much worse than trying to remake the system they had currently. Perhaps the Skaa were right. Perhaps he hadn’t truly seen how broken the system was. He was still going to try to fix it if he could. He needed to stop thinking. He had trailed a little bit too far behind Sal, so he pushed himself a little bit more forward. He couldn’t afford to lose him. He could try to cut him off again, but he didn’t know if that would work… he circled around behind a building, putting on a burst of speed to try to be in front of Sal by the time he passed it.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 30, 2021 22:56:03 GMT -5
Watari couldn’t make it fair. He did his best – he had his inventions, the things he made that made it at least a little bit more fair. It wasn’t enough, and he knew it. He would have done more, if he hadn’t thought L would be negatively impacted. If he had to choose between the Skaa as a whole and L, he would choose L every time. That was what a father did. They did everything in their power to protect their children, and though he doubted sometimes that L saw him as a father, he wasn’t going to change his mind about how he handled this. He hadn’t, of course, planned on L actually speaking with the boy. L was paranoid by nature, and though Watari had been ready for him to watch the Skaa boy with suspicion, he had doubted either would initiate conversation with the other. It seemed he had been wrong, and it seemed that the two were keeping secrets. Secrets would get the Skaa boy fired, but he didn’t say that now. He didn’t want to cut off the information that L was giving him, even if it was begrudging. “I see,” he said after a moment, shaking his head just a little bit. “I am, however, his employer, and you are not. I believe it is not within your power to decide when I can and cannot speak to him. As long as it only lasts today… you have my blessing to do as you promised. So long as he’s back to work by tomorrow and understands that, should this continue for more than today, I will dock his pay. This isn’t pettiness, L. This is my best efforts to keep you safe.” L had grown up sheltered, and for the first time Watari couldn’t help but wonder if that was a good idea. If he had allowed L to see more of how the world was, if he had exposed him to all of the cruelty of it, would he understand why he was in danger just by virtue of doing a servant’s work? Or would he be just as stubborn about doing it anyway?
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 30, 2021 23:02:17 GMT -5
It was easy to try and believe he wouldn’t be caught again, but Sal knew that the longer he did this, the more likely Zuko was to trap him, even if it was by pure coincidence. Sal knew the city like the back of his hand, but when he was running through it, unable to stop for even a moment to get his bearings? There were dead ends he could easily slip into without meaning to. This wasn’t a safe game by any means. And Zuko was probably only going to get more desperate as time went on, which meant he was leveling up, not down. He could stop showing up. If he tried to disappear for real…could he? He would probably have to lose the hair. The mask was alright, though a cloak and a healthy dose of deference would be better. If he was careful, and he did it fast…then yeah. He thought he could pull it off. He knew perfectly well he had no intention of doing that, but it was a nice thought. The truth was that Zuko wasn’t wrong. Not completely. A revolution would end in blood, maybe more blood than would have been shed otherwise. But Sal didn’t think for a second that things would get better if there wasn’t someone to force it. Petitioning for peace was all well and good until one side got greedy. Then it wasn’t peace anymore, no matter what the side on top crowed. He glances behind him, eye widening just a little bit as he realized Zuko had, once again, vanished. Dammit. Last time he’d pulled that - Sal swerved an instant before he saw Zuko, guessing his plan currently, if cutting it a little close. He was forced to turn into another street - a dead end - he would have cursed if he hadn’t been out of breath. This time, though, he had no intention of letting it end with him at an enemy’s mercy. He threw himself at the wall, which was poorly made and so better for climbing. This time…he had an escape.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 30, 2021 23:11:34 GMT -5
It was just luck that Sal had ended up slipping into a dead end. Zuko had just been planning on trying to tackle and catch him when he caught up, but now that he was in a dead end, they could have a conversation again. Zuko could ask his questions, and if Sal didn’t answer those… well, Zuko could look intimidating. He had his swords, and he wasn’t afraid to make a show of them, even if he planned on keeping his promise. He was not going to be the reason Sal Fisher died. Sal Fisher was innocent, except that he was associating himself with the Survivor. As far as Zuko was concerned, that wasn’t a crime. Which meant that Sal was an inconvenient roadblock, not that he deserved to be dragged in front of his father like the Survivor deserved to be. Sal wasn’t going to cause preventable bloodshed. He might contribute indirectly to it if he kept protecting the Survivor, but it wouldn’t be his fault. And Zuko would make sure he wasn’t punished for it, if he had to. Perhaps, he thought, he was beginning to get attached. He didn’t know what that meant, only that it probably wasn’t a good thing. He needed to do whatever he had to in order to capture the Survivor. If it came to it… would he hurt this boy? Yes, he thought, irate. The boy was scaling the building, which meant he was going to get away. Zuko couldn’t afford that now… he cursed softly under his breath, pushing away the rest of his thoughts. He wasn’t going to hurt Sal. He had to exhaust every other option first. Zuko wasn’t nearly as practiced in climbing as Sal seemed to be. They were both fast, but they seemed to have different athletic abilities. It made sense. As Skaa, it would be more beneficial for Sal to know how to hide and disappear, and Zuko had grown up prepared to become a guard or a soldier if he had to – it made sense for him to know how to fight and protect himself. How to fight and protect others. Not to mention it was the only thing he was good at. The only thing he was better than Azula at. He could climb, yes, he was just very, very bad at it. He hefted himself up after Sal, trying to watch where he stepped and grabbed.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 30, 2021 23:23:00 GMT -5
Sal knew how to escape much better than he knew how to fight. He didn’t know how to use a weapon, not like Zuko seemed to - if his swords were any indication, he was good at it, too - but he could run. He could hide. He could scale a building in record time, because who ever looked up? He’d have traded almost anything to be Mistborn, but that wasn’t how it worked. He was a Rioter, nothing more, no matter how hard he’d tried to burn other metals when he was younger. Emotional Allomancy. What good did it do him to make someone feel something? It didn’t feed him, it didn’t protect him, and metals were expensive. He didn’t generally bother acting like an Allomancer at all. He climbed faster, determined to make it to the top while Zuko had a ways to go. He didn’t want to pull the same stunt he had the first time again…it was risky, and he didn’t want to end up dead. But better that then let a single drop of information slip through his teeth. He wasn’t attached. He didn’t care about this boy. Zuko was an enemy, that was it. This was a game, but not a friendly one. The only reason Sal was ever pleased to see he’d arrived was because it meant he wasn’t doing something more productive.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 30, 2021 23:38:19 GMT -5
Zuko had learned not to mess with Allomancers. Well… in theory he had learned not to mess with Allomancers. In practice… he was reckless and willing to do almost anything to get what he wanted. He’d gone head-to-head with more than one stubborn Allomancer to get information, though most of them had nothing. Most just hated the idea of a nobleman in the Skaa dominated parts of Luthadel, and fancied themselves a miniature version of the Survivor. Zuko had beaten every last one of them. He hadn’t killed them, but he had made sure they couldn’t get back up in time to follow him, even with Pewter. He was good at fighting. Perhaps what was giving him so much trouble about Sal was the fact that the boy seemed to avoid fighting at all costs. Did he even carry a weapon? While Zuko thought it would be a tremendously stupid idea to arm his enemy in this game, he thought it would probably be good for the boy to have at least a knife. Maybe he would learn, with time. Zuko wasn’t going to be the one to suggest it to him. He shook the thought off, not wanting to be distracted as he continued climbing. It was higher than the other building, one of the higher buildings in Luthadel. That was… unfortunate. Zuko wasn’t afraid of heights, but he wasn’t at all sure of his ability to make it to the top. He couldn’t give up, though. The shoddy workmanship of the building meant a variety of handholds and footholds. It also, however, meant that the building was more likely to crumble from wear. Zuko’s foot struck the corner of a brick and he began to push himself up higher, only to feel the brick give way under him. He let out a gasp, scrabbling at the hard face of the building with his arms, but the weight of his body was too much for him. He went crashing down towards the ground, a scream building in his throat. He did his best not to let it out, even when his leg made a sickening crunch beneath his body weight.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 30, 2021 23:53:34 GMT -5
Sal wasn’t a fighter. He just…wasn’t. He avoided conflict, at least the most outright sort, as best he could. Maybe there was why he was so good at fleeing. He should probably have carried a weapon with him. It would have been a lot safer…and better for if he was caught. But his knife had been stolen, and he hadn’t been able to get another one…not to mention he wasn’t at all good at using them anyway. It was better to avoid being caught in the first place. He hadn’t fallen in a very long time. Even with buildings like this…the climbing itself wasn’t that dangerous for him. He knew how to do it. He didn’t ever expect to slip. He had almost forgotten it was actually possible to fall. So when he heard the dull crunch behind him, he didn’t immediately understand. He looked back. Zuko…where was Zuko? Then he understood, as his eyes caught sight of the body father down, lying on the hard ground. He froze. Then, before he could think better of it, he was climbing down as quickly as he safely could. Was he even alive? He touched down and tuned, half afraid to look, until he saw movement. He was alive. For now. He stepped a little closer and stopped, hesitating, unsure what to do. He was clearly hurt…was he dying?
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 31, 2021 0:01:31 GMT -5
Zuko was aware that he probably wasn’t going to die. Usually, when people died from falls, they died the moment they hit the ground, unless they were bleeding or something. At least… that’s what he assumed. He had never fallen off of anything this high before. He just knew his leg hurt, more than almost anything he’d felt in his life. Almost. The scar across his face had hurt far more, though for much different reasons. And more numerous reasons. This just hurt because it felt like his leg was on fire, and he wasn’t entirely certain when he had ended up on the ground versus when he had been climbing. Was that shock? He couldn’t tell. He peered up at the building, trying to focus his vision to find Sal. Not that finding him would do much good, but… it would be a relief to see him. He was… much closer than Zuko had expected. He was also on the ground. Had they somehow never started to scale the building, Zuko falling behind even as he tried to force himself higher, faster? “What are you looking at?!” Zuko hissed, the pain sharpening his voice almost into a knife. He didn’t want Sal here celebrating his victory… Zuko wouldn’t be able to run after him for a while, now. He needed to find other leads, if he could. If he was going to survive this. Zuko knew it was only due to his uncle’s care that he had survived half of his face being burned off. Iroh wasn’t here to protect him now. If he wanted to survive, he was going to have to find a way to stand up right here and take care of himself.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 31, 2021 0:24:26 GMT -5
Sal didn’t move. Zuko was on the ground. Zuko was hurt, and not just a little bit. Now that he was closer, he could see the angle his leg had bent at, and it wasn’t the direction it was supposed to go. Was that all it was? All it was. His leg was broken. For a Skaa, that could easily mean death, from exposure or starvation if nothing else. For the nobility, the prognosis was better. But Zuko still showed up every night…Sal hadn’t considered why that was. He was dedicated, to be sure. More than that? Sal didn’t have enough information to say. He didn’t flinch at the harsh words. No…the desperate words. He looked a hell of a lot less threatening when he couldn’t stand up. If he left…would Zuko die? He didn’t know. It was possible he wouldn’t. It wasn’t killing to just…walk away, right? Or maybe he should just…kill him. He hated the thought as soon as he had it. But it was true, wasn’t it? If Zuko was dead, he couldn’t hurt the Survivor. And still Sal didn’t move. He just…hadn’t seen this coming. He felt as helpless as if he were one on the ground.
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