coineater | Labyrinthum Inbox.

[If it's awkward, then it's only for him. For her part, Blue looks... mostly unconcerned, except for the way she tilts her head a little at his response. Curious, if anything.]

So just a search then? I can't imagine what embellishment you'd need to add for that.

[But her tone says that she'd like him to enlighten her.]

[Erm...]

A bit more than that...

[He could hem and haw until he thought of a better way to say it, but it's hard to downplay kidnapping, even if the victim in question wasn't anywhere close to being a kid.]

The job I was working before I came here -- our boss wanted us to bring in this old man. Dunno what for...but inviting him wasn't on the table, I guess. To be fair, I wouldn't want to accept that alchemist's invitations either, if I had a choice.

[Doop doop doop, busying himself with pushing buttons...]

[Ah.]

[She understands immediately what he means. It isn't hard to imagine. It's adorable that he's so nervous about it, when she already knows that he's done jobs for money. Does he think she can't imagine the less than savory requests that might have come his way?]

[She flicks his bangs lightly with her free hand, making a bid to dispel his awkwardness with humor.]

Kidnapping instead of catnapping, how could you. I hope the elderly didn't give you too much trouble.

[There's a difference between jobs that have been offered and jobs that are taken. That difference doesn't seem to matter here, and she'll feel Cat immediately easing against her, the tension in his neck and shoulders lessening.]

Hardly. Maybe he realized he was better off with us, when the other folks that got hired started trashing the place. Those Rabbits were real pieces of work, I tell you...

[Or maybe Geppetto was confident that his "son" would come for him.]

[She's glad to feel the ease of tension in him. She was never going to judge him, even if he doesn't know how little she cares about all of that. He has other qualities that are much more important, and as with all things-- Work is work.]

Aren't rabbits supposed to be docile creatures?

[Work is work -- but so far the work here, apart from not having his usual partner, has been better than what he'd been hired for back in Krat. ...This potential search aside.]

Ha. Sure... Not these ones. Even I think the Black Rabbit Brotherhood goes too far, acting the way they do. My sister and I aren't the good guys, but we're hardly on the same level.

They sound like a handful.

[And he seems good enough to her. Maybe not by a metric that others would use, but he's been good to her, and that's enough.]

[Her hand rests now near his head, after that teasing flip of his bangs. With nothing else to hold, she brushes her fingers through a few locks, nothing more than idle motions.]

Would you recognize them, if they showed their faces here? Would they give you trouble?

[He pauses his scrolling and reading, though he doesn't need to really think about it. No, of course they wouldn't. He never clashed with the Rabbits, even as they took over the Malum District. They'd been careful to allow that puppet to be the sole focus, even as they tagged along for the start of his infiltration. What happened while everyone was focused on him made it so that anything Cat and Fox might have done was hardly a drop in the bucket of offenses, and they'd let them vent out their frustrations plenty. Noway would Cat call them colleagues again anytime soon f he found avoid it, but there was no grudge formed on their end, either. At least, that's how it should be. Half of them thrived in stirring shit, now that he thinks about it...]

Nah. I'd just as soon be a stranger. They're Stalkers, too, so they all wear masks of their own, but the youngest, maybe. She only covers half her face, and she's pretty chatty, herself. Their voices I'd probably recognize. They'd be pretty low on my list of concerns, really.

[Chatty like him? she smiles and thinks, but doesn't say. She doubts this girl could be half as charming as Cat is.]

Well, that's good. I'd hate to have to give them something to be concerned about.

[She still files away the name of their group, just in case. The silence is allowed to sit for a moment or two, before she asks:]

Who would be at the top of your list? Aside from alchemists, in general.

[It's true -- the youngest could never. A little bit too unhinged.]

Aside from alchemists? [he confirms with a mirthless, soft laugh that has a wheeze hidden in its shadow.

Honestly...most of the people that wronged him are faceless figures in a crowd. How strange, to hate people you wouldn't recognize enough to name even if you could.]

I dunno. Even my last employer, Simon Manus, couldn't really do much here. Dealing with him was a chore, like all alchemists, but things aren't like how they were in Krat.

[Employer before that was Venigni...but he was more an annoyance than anything. Nothing to be concerned about. There was that girl in the hotel with him -- but for all the weapons she had, there was nothing she could do to defend her safe haven. Probably not a problem either.]

I guess that old man, Geppetto...or his puppet. Neither of them were too happy with me and my sister.

[With his confirmation, she smiles down at him with the same mirthless humor. She knows his dislike of alchemists already, so there's no need to hash out that one again. She only wants to keep in mind the ones that he thinks might be trouble.]

[That list seems to be shorter--and stranger--than she would have guessed. Simon Manus, fine. She can keep an ear to the ground for that name, even if he's not too concerned. But the other...]

Geppetto's puppet being... Pinocchio?

[If he hears skepticism in her voice, it's only because there's a lot of it in there. The Fox and the Cat was one thing, and the coin tree another; but this was just silly.]

Hm?

[The name scratches at something like an itch in his memories before he pins it down. He laughs when he realizes.]

Oh, heh, that old story? You've heard it?

[Here he thought it was just Krat that was obsessed. The idea of a fairytale so beloved by his culture had only made him roll his eyes and move onto another book instead, so he'd never actually read it himself. He supposes yes, it was about a wooden boy created by a man named Geppetto, wasn't it? Maybe that's where the old man had gotten the idea.]

Wouldn't that be funny? But I haven't got a clue. We didn't exchange names, it's not like we were friends. Just...helped each other a bit, before our interests got in the way.

It's a popular children's story in my time.

[In many of her times, really. Not every strand has every book, and not every story is crafted in the same manner when it does exist... But that one, and its variations, are well-trodden enough to be memorable to her. She has to wonder what his version is like, if he doesn't see the resemblance until she's pointed it out to him...]

[She doesn't really want to draw more comparisons than necessary. Those stories don't end well for him.]

The interests being work, and absconding with his maker. I can see how he wouldn't like that much. [And how that might prove troublesome if he showed his face here.] Tell me more about him?

Edited 2024-09-17 03:04 (UTC)

That's a bit weird then, isn't it? I didn't think it caught on outside Krat... Guess we don't hear much of other parts of the world, though. Let alone in someone else's! Maybe I should have read it after all.

[Lucky that he didn't, or he'd be even more bitter than he already is.]

Oh, let's see...

[He'd rather not linger on these thoughts, but having a working set of eyes on alert would probably make his life easier, if he was unfortunate enough to have that puppet show up.]

Not much of a talker. ...He was a bit of a handsome fellow, truthfully. Looked just like a human, a little older than me, except for his arm. It was his... [Which arm was it... Which was the one that had relentless brought a sword at him with emotion a machine shouldn't have? It would be the one opposite of that.] Left. Impressive work, fitting of a Workshop craftsman's son. Heh, must've be nice, not having to spend all his savings on a disability.

The really strange thing -- his hair got longer, between our meetings. Why waste time on a little change like that?

It's a little strange. But popular though it may be, I wasn't much impressed by it. I'm sure it was fine for children.

[--is what she says, to discourage him from ever reading it himself. There might be a copy in the library, but it would be best for him if he didn't seek it out.]

[The description she commits to memory. Quiet, handsome (subjective), a young human male save for his left arm. A changing appearance perhaps? Or just a quirk of its maker.]

Perhaps the aesthetics were important to him? I couldn't tell you. I wouldn't think a puppet would care about those things.

Was this before you kidnap its maker? Or was there someone to make a change after?

Wouldn't think a puppet would care about much at all.

[And yet!! A strange one, for sure.]

Well... Before. But when monsters are overrunning your city is an odd time for that. Not exactly practical in a fight, either...not that it stopped him.

[She smiles a little at that. True enough, whatever processing a puppet of his world is imbued with, it no doubt pales in comparison to real emotion.]

Mmm. Was he good in a fight?

[She pauses with that question and seems to reconsider asking it... then tilts her head a little as she reassess both him and his information. Their conflicting interests, his wariness of the other arriving here, and now this. The pieces fit together in a way that she doesn't quite care for.]

Did you fight him yourself?

According to my sister. He made it through scrapes I certainly wouldn't want to deal with.

[Of course, his survival wasn't much of a mystery, if the famous Geppetto, the infamous Venigni, and that feisty blacksmith girl the Hound had complained about were all on his side. Not to mention that...strange prisoner.

The other question is a little harder, and he thinks of two scars, one on his back and the other on his front, but that lined up near-perfectly. He doesn't want to think much about it -- he thinks too much about it when he tires out too quickly or wakes up with throbbing hands.

Besides, he doubts it was a fight so much as just pathetic splashing about from him. He hadn't been enough.]

Only a little. But I tried to get along, before. [...He almost sounds wistful. A child that's been trying to make a friend and failing.] He had gold coin fruit, you see. Even gave us one, once.

[So he was no push-over, then... Or that was Cat's impression as relayed by his sister. That's how she chooses to take this bit of hearsay, though she doubts that a "puppet" would give her much trouble. None of the Agency's ever did.]

[His answer to her second question isn't as illuminating as she would have liked it to be. Is she thinking too much about this?... Did he hurt you? she wants to ask, but she likes the framing of that even less than the idea of this match-up in the first place.]

How nice of him. [It sounds vaguely like she thinks the opposite of that.] Only one?

[It's hard to tell how to balance his feelings, with his genuine amusement at Blue's tone, his anger at it all, and the feeling of loss for what could have been.]

One is a lot! [It hadn't been enough, but he'd been in gleeful disbelief when the puppet had handed it over with only a hint of pause.] Maybe even the only one he had -- though I doubt it, heh. Even someone without a brain can't be that stupid.

[Cat sighs, closing his eyes as best he can. It's tiring, thinking of it again.]

...Just a couple more, and we would've had it. We could've been done.

Edited 2024-11-11 20:16 (UTC)

[With his eyes closed, Blue resumes brushing Cat's hair with her fingers, taking advantage of his tiredness though not dismissing it from her thoughts. He sounds worn down in places, and she doesn't doubt that he's been through a lot. But there's something in his tone that still doesn't sit right with her.]

It's not like you to sound so defeated.

[Not like this. Not in a way that sounds so final, hung in the heavy trappings of past tense. She knows that he has no interest in going back to his world, but if they were so close, then that begs the question, why not?]

Why does it give me the impression that there is something you're not saying?

Tch. There's always something I'm not saying. That's just good sense.

[His mumble is a little surly, though he's not actually annoyed or trying to wiggle out of anything. It's not like he's always a chatterbox, though -- and even when he was, it wasn't like he lost control of himself and shared every little thought he had!

...Is he hiding it? Not really. It's just more bothersome to bring up than things need to be. It wasn't like it could change anything anyway. Not opening his eyes (or eye, rather) Cat tries to cozy in a little more, giving in to the soothing touch. This odd duck business was hardly interesting enough that he couldn't put it away for a little longer before looking for an opening.]

Who cares? Besides... Once my sister gets here, it's the same as if we'd finished the job, you know? We won't have to worry all the time, or do that sort of thing... We just get to be a family, like normal.

I care.

[She shouldn't have to say as much; he knows already, doesn't he? But she states it for the record, stopping just short of saying that his evasiveness is worrying her. Could she say more? Perhaps. But so could he. And since he doesn't, she resigns herself to letting him steer his chattering to where he likes.]

[The mention of his sister is... not a welcome topic, but she continues brushing her fingers through his hair as he makes himself more cozy against her lap. So long as the girl is a distant potential, she poses no real threat to this equilibrium they've brokered. And she'd like to know more about the kind of life Cat sees himself in.]

...Is that what you want most? The opportunity to be a normal family?

[There's no reason to feel guilty at her admission -- it isn't a surprise, and he isn't going out of his way to keep her from finding things out in particular, really! The more she pressed, though... It's a lot easier to think when she seems to allow the conversation to move on. This is a happier topic, for sure. Well... It had its own drawbacks, some regrets, but it was still more achievable than him not dying.]

Of course. That's what it's all been about. If I didn't have this illness, we probably could have gotten it by now -- all the doctors and treatments gave our savings a beating.

[...What he wants most... Yes. Yes, that's the real answer, no matter what wish had been used to make a contract with Vaeros.]

[She hums, quiet and thoughtful as she files this information away. Savings... So money was still an issue. She supposes it would be for two people living in a city, even as she wonders if there are other options that he's considered--or if he's thought to consider them at all.]

What sort of home do you imagine making? A house, a cottage? In the mountains or by the sea? Would you go to another city and try your luck there, or would it be just the two of you in the countryside?

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