M-21 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
feralheart) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crescentview2023-01-02 10:21 pm
feralheart) wrote in crescentview2023-01-02 10:21 pm
January/Summer catch-all
WHO: M-21 and anyone
WHAT: Open + catchall
WHEN: All summer
WHERE: All over the island
WARNINGS: none, TBA if needed. Plotting here!
i. message in a bottle (beginning of month)
[ M-21 can be found at the memo board leaving his incredibly compelling self-advertisement-slash-transparent attempt at cheating. He's also lingering a little over the response to another one before he takes it with him. Catch him in the act, or take him up on his proposition!
Threads using the "compelled to speak the truth" event happen before Jan 7. ]
ii. rain on the beach (Jan 10)
[ Possibly M-21 did not understand the assignment to exercise with a partner. Possibly he's just getting in his laps industriously, proving why he counts for the "works out five times a week" scavenger hunt option. Either way, a little rain isn't going to slow him down any. He's jogging contentedly along the beach with absolutely no regard to how annoying running in sand is, or the rain that should be soaking him.
Probably because there's a localized sunbeam around just him. The smugger he gets about this, the brighter it seems to shine. Does this mean the goddess made up with him? He has no idea, but he's going to bask in it while it lasts. Anyone approaching will get a relatively good-natured nod. ]
You coming?
iii. wildcard
[ Catch me on my planning/PM/discord if you want a starter! ]
WHAT: Open + catchall
WHEN: All summer
WHERE: All over the island
WARNINGS: none, TBA if needed. Plotting here!
i. message in a bottle (beginning of month)
[ M-21 can be found at the memo board leaving his incredibly compelling self-advertisement-slash-transparent attempt at cheating. He's also lingering a little over the response to another one before he takes it with him. Catch him in the act, or take him up on his proposition!
Threads using the "compelled to speak the truth" event happen before Jan 7. ]
ii. rain on the beach (Jan 10)
[ Possibly M-21 did not understand the assignment to exercise with a partner. Possibly he's just getting in his laps industriously, proving why he counts for the "works out five times a week" scavenger hunt option. Either way, a little rain isn't going to slow him down any. He's jogging contentedly along the beach with absolutely no regard to how annoying running in sand is, or the rain that should be soaking him.
Probably because there's a localized sunbeam around just him. The smugger he gets about this, the brighter it seems to shine. Does this mean the goddess made up with him? He has no idea, but he's going to bask in it while it lasts. Anyone approaching will get a relatively good-natured nod. ]
You coming?
iii. wildcard
[ Catch me on my planning/PM/discord if you want a starter! ]
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If nothing else... it doesn't sound like Mishka knows the game that much better than he does. They can both improvise. ]
Easy enough. I'll start. Truth or dare?
[ Although he took the initiative decisively, M-21 is mentally paging through what he could even dare. Nothing that would get someone killed by the goddess, constraint number one. This guy gave him a good cat name. ]
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Well, why don't we start off with something fun? I'll pick dare.
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Got it. Show me the most ridiculous dance you know.
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Ah, a challenge. My home isn't quite known for its silliness, but if I might replicate some a step I've known nobles to engage in...
( With a deft step he'll slip back to gain some space, and he'll take to replicating this ballroom dance with a fair bit of accuracy! He exaggerates it to add a bit of extra bounce to the movement, because, why not! )
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Huh. So nobles always have time for silliness. Not bad.
[ This is only funnier to him since "nobles" means "vampires" in his current experience. ]
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It must be because they live in a bubble - they've no one willing to tell them it's silly, or recognize it as such at all.
( He adjusts his broad sunhat, which probably came a bit undone with that bit of shenanigans. )
Very well, then. Truth or dare, then?
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[ M-21 opens his mouth to fearlessly say 'dare.' He pauses as he takes in Mishka's cheerful expression. He wouldn't want retribution for that dance, right?
M-21 doesn't know any dances. Maybe he'll take the coward's road this once. ]
Truth.
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Alas, Mishka is not decent, and he is quite curious. )
If you'll indulge me... What was that about being an experiment, and having a serial number?
1/2
M-series experiment. A failure to create humans with enhanced power by splicing them with other creatures. I don't know how they got their hands on the werewolf heart they put in me, but--
2/2
What the hell?
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Oh? Was that a slip of the tongue, perhaps? I would have taken any answer you gave me, I assure you, but I appreciate your honesty.
( Mishka can't really, like, know for sure there's something weird going on, but his instincts tell him there might be foul play afoot. And, as a rogue, he certainly loves foul play. )
If I may - does that make you a werewolf, then, or simply one who wields the faux power of one?
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[ ...Alright, attempt "lie to smooth it over" went about as well as he could've expected. And while Mishka has the least trustworthy smile M-21's ever seen... he's not new to the goddess's curses. Like, nya.
He clicks his tongue in annoyance and raises his hand. Claws are out now -- literally, since his nails transform into several inches of sharp and nicely polished-looking claw. ]
That enough of an answer? I wouldn't know. I've never seen a werewolf.
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Those certainly look fit to kill. Have you?
( He studies the claws for some moments, as if gauging whether they might be deadlier than his knives - more violent, certainly. )
I have, though - seen a werewolf, I mean. They're brutal creatures. Can you shift your shape and take on a more bestial look the way they do, I wonder?
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[ ...So he can say misleading things if they're not lies? Good to know. Also good to know that the claws have zero intimidation factor. He puts them away again and folds his arms sulkily. ]
Yeah. [ To which? Yes. And while he's saying true things: ] Damn, you're nosy.
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Ah, it's been some time since someone's been in the position to tell me such freely.
( Only one person nags him these days - given his station, very few have the nerve to disparage him freely otherwise. )
I've lost some number of men to werewolves, if you must understand my fascination. Granted - I've lost some number of men to a great variety of creatures, so your kind - if, perhaps, the natural strain - is not a particular foe in that regard.
( He says this without thick malice - not because he doesn't care, but because tragedy, when oft repeated, becomes commonplace. )
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It's not a problem if you don't surround yourself with spineless people.
[ Days since M-21 has checked if something or someone was out of his weight class before trash-talking: once again (always) zero. But as grumpy as he is about spilling all the werewolf beans, that's probably not Mishka's fault. So he gives a little grunt of acknowledgment even if his eyes narrow minutely at "your kind." ]
I don't pick fights with humans, if that's what you want to know. I do my job and I settle my debts. Anyway, your turn for truth. What do you mean, lost men?
[ Does he care that that's not how the game is played? Apparently not, it is now. ]
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Well, since you've been honest with me, whether or not by choice, I find it fit to be honest in turn.
The cities are the jurisdiction of vampires, but the lands between are ruled by the beasts - werewolves included. Alas, my profession does ask us to travel, and no small number of times have I returned to reports of my men strewn in two, connected only by the fraying string of their innards, because they had crossed paths with a roving werewolf pack. Once, even, we retrieved a lone survivor who was in the process of turning.
( Which, you know, helped confirm that deaths with those sorts of wounds were werewolves, and not any other nasty. )
Might I ask truth again, if we're to assign it? What is your job, then?
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More vampires... Fine. I won't say you've got no reason to be curious. [ And, after a beat: ] ...Sorry about your men.
[ It's not exactly sympathy, but there's a slight softening in his tone just the same. Just because death becomes routine doesn't mean it goes completely unfelt. ]
I'm a security guard. At a school for human children. Vampires and werewolves mostly keep to themselves in my world, but experiments like me or Infected don't necessarily play by the same rules. If anything threatens the kids, I take care of it.
no subject
( He seems almost - intrigued? by the sentiment, whether or not it's sympathetic. When his people died, the Syndicate asked when he was finding better ones to complete the jobs they left undone, and why he hadn't recruited better ones to begin with.
None of them were the sorts of people most would miss. Some sent back money to lovers, or families - but they weren't soldiers. They didn't send out missives to the still living. He thinks, though, they would only be bitter if Mishka had ever spoken to them.
He does seem to take note that they have an overlap in vampires, as well. )
A security guard... That's much more mundane than I expected. ( LIKE? You're an artificial werewolf and this is the job you get? Not judging, but goodness. ) Are infected people turned by vampires and werewolves? I'm quite surprised people, however, would like to replicate those sorts of creatures when you live free of them. Why court trouble?
no subject
He knows much better than he'd like about people no one else would miss. Disposable and expendable. It figures that that would transcend worlds too. What could be more human than that? He shakes his head to forcibly dismiss that line of thought. ]
Call it a hobby of the guy who got me out of that lab.
[ HE KNOWS... He knows. No one ever believes that he's really just a security guard because it's staffing choices as made by a very eccentric scientist. ]
Yeah. People turned by experiments, anyway. They didn't tell subjects like me what they were thinking, but it's not hard to guess. Vampires and werewolves have the kind of power humans can't even touch. Eternal life? Mind control? Of course someone wanted to get their hands on that.
no subject
Ah, so someone was sympathetic enough to come to your rescue?
( Still, that concluding earns a slight frown from Mishka, rare as it is. It's not surprising, of course, that humans would self-sabotage in pursuit of the impossible, but... It is dismal, to know of a world where vampires are kept separate, and there are those who would seek to undo it. )
Hmmm... So, then, what did they intend to do with you? Use you as a soldier? I can't imagine a werewolf is the ideal pet for anyone but a fascination with the exotic.
( He knows they exist, but, you know. )
no subject
Something like that. They ended up in the organization's crosshairs, but they took me in after.
[ It was messy and a long story, in other words. He recoils a tiny bit at the word "pet," looking affronted for a moment. People really keep comparing him to a dog... ]
Raw materials. Trash. They threw us at jobs they wouldn't waste an expensive experiment on. [ There's a brief pause. ] What happened to the survivor you found? The one who was turning.
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( The question, though, is met with a beat delay. Mishka shrugs. His expression is a little more ambiguous. )
My unit is to operate precisely, and werewolves are difficult to control. The order was to contain and forward him to an alternate branch for, I believe, sale - whether trafficking or skinning, I was not privy.
I did not think he would be fond of either outcome, so I chose death for him instead, before he'd been fully altered. They were not pleased with me for that.
( Did he ask this man what he wanted? Unclear, but signs point to... )
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[ That's all M-21 has to say about that. Fucking RIP, Kranz.
He folds his arms over his chest as he listens a little less than impassively. "Trafficking or skinning"? After the lab, he wouldn't have thought he was squeamish. But that still manages to get a look of disgust out of him. ]
Tch. And I thought the Union already had a monopoly on sick hobbies. Your higher-ups are real pieces of work. They treat all your people like that?
[ As for how Mishka treats his own people... He needs to think that one over a little more. ]
no subject
On his own matters - Mishka considers it a mercy kill, but one's mercies can be colored by bias. A corner of Mishka's lips curl up in half a grin. )
We are disposable, and it is only those who prove themselves too useful who become a little less disposable. Still, we are not a good peoples - perhaps not worth your sympathy. That which my employers would do to him, they do to all people, and we are their tools toward this end.
It is perhaps merely fair that our organization may cannibalize us, in turn.
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