engineers | (no subject)

I thought so, too. Two thirds of our number - that's not very exclusive at all.

[ he fusses with his cuff again. ] As for the demons - I wonder where he learned that information, too. Why him? Easy to prey on? Quick to act? Is the point to cull numbers, or is there a guaranteed ticket of interest if you kill someone, and... I guess, if you get away with it?

[ a pause. ] These are all such terrible questions.

I wonder if the number will dwindle over time. Just to give us a bigger sense of desperation, and hope someone else will start this all over again.

[ She hums. ]

He mentioned needing to get back to someone. Often, it's for another's sake that a person is most driven, rather than for themselves. And he's impulsive... emotional.

Easy to prey on would sound right, to me.

Impulsive, emotional. [ lu bixing repeats, softly, and adds - ] ...young, too.

[ a beat. ] So many of them are.

[ he doesn't address the bit about being driven for someone else, because boy, howdy, does he get that, but still. ]

[ She softens just a little bit, just for him. It's fucking infectious, at this point. ]

Teens in Hell. All the partying and murdering isn't good for their growth.

I'm not going to keep up with all of this energy, I'm too old.

[ that - gets him to laugh, actually, ducking his head, like he can't help it. pfft. ]

You and I both. [ bleak ]

Yeah, you might turn into dust before anyone gets around to killing you, old man.

[ She says, while calling him young man all the time too. Which is it. ]

[ rude. this pulls a more real smile, though, so there's that. ]

If we go by proportionality of lifespans, I'm younger than you are. I'm only twenty percent into mine compared to twenty-seven. We'll have to perish into dust together.

Hmm, I suppose that might be true. The average lifespan in Japan is late seventy- to eighty-odd years, but murder rates might bring that average a bit lower. Either way, I'm past "twenty percent".

And in fact, I am currently at zero percent.

[ Because we're hecking dead. ]

It's not bad company.

I guess I am, too. Or a hundred, if you look at it that way.

[ haha! he has to joke about that. it's fine. her joking about it makes him huff a laugh. ]

Not at all. Hell's not always other people. [ he leans over a little to give her a brief, light nudge with his shoulder. eto you're so small but thats ok. ] ...Thanks, Eto.

[ She is so small and you all are so large.

She's nudged, and there's brief silence, first. ]

What for?

For helping me cheer up, even just a little.

[ as much as one can, after those events, anyway. ] As terrible as things are, I'm glad we've met.

...

[ Huh... that's a first if she's ever heard one. Her barely restrained glee wasn't outside of her cognition; she's aware how unhinged it might have been. ]

You're weird, you know that?

[ this gets him to actually, really laugh, a surprised bark of a noise. ]

Not the first time I've heard that one! I mean it, though, I really do.

Well...

You are.

[ She's a curse upon this world. Not one has ever told her, I'm glad to have met you. ]

... What are you going to do, from here on?

[ drawing a heart on my beloved eto

he considers the question for a moment, thoughtfully looking out at the lava sea again. ]

...Well. Increase my tolerance, for one. [ a little lighter, joking. ] And I'm going to try and keep an eye on as many people as I can, and help where I can help. Beyond that...

[ a little huff, as he considers. it's an interesting question. ]

I guess we'll see what the future holds. I know that I want to live - and I know that I want to keep the Commander safe. Whether that's live here and win a contest to go home, or live here as a dead person, I know that I don't want to die, and I don't want to lose him again. [ lu bixing tilts his head, smile returning to something a little sad. ] Maybe that's a little too selfish of me.

Selfishness is the crux of human nature.

[ She says that, plainly. She finds it to be a fact, not damning and not belittling.

Everything in the end is a justification to one's own mind first; reason still drives the most mad of men. ]

So basically, you'll proceed as you've ever done.

Well said.

[ because isn't that the truth? it's the same conversation he had with a man called a prophet, what feels like centuries ago. ]

...I think so. I think that's what I have to do. [ a little laugh. ] I've reinvented myself enough times that I'm not sure if I have the strength to do it all over again. I might actually turn to dust!

What about you, Eto? What now?

Edited 2023-02-12 14:30 (UTC)

Hm.

As long as in the process of reinvention, you don't end up losing yourself.

[ That, perhaps to her, is true madness -- to lose who you once were, in your entirety.

She thinks, tilting her head back with a sigh, letting the drink in her hand wobble a bit playfully. ]

Well.

I'm starving!

[ something about that first bit sticks. ]

Haha. Well. I've gotten closer than I like, but I've always pulled myself back from the brink. Rise up out of the ashes - like a phoenix. If you fall six times, you stand up seven.

[ the way he says that makes it sound like a mantra, maybe. like something he's told himself before. he doesn't explain, though, keeping the mystery of that little remark to himself, and instead just letting out a little laugh with the wobble. ]

Starving, huh? We can't have that! What do you like to eat? I bet we could scrounge something up.

[ i hate this ]

[ I'm innocent? Honestly after I've played three vore canons/adjacent characters and I'm still not the vore guy, I'm basically immune and unstoppable. ]

It's a popular proverb. Shichiten Hakki, or "fall seven times, get up eight". Though of course, there's also Shichiten Battou, meaning basically the exact opposite...

[ But she sighs, shaking her head. ]

The food here really doesn't cut it. I hope we get something better sooner or later; still, something is better than nothing. Shall we?

[ Anything but the Weedy's. ]

Edited 2023-02-12 14:45 (UTC)

[ i hate you

anyway, he smiles, pleased. bixing's not surprised that she knew the reference, but it always makes him happy, nonetheless. friendship ] That's the one. Someone said it to me, a long time ago, and I've tried to keep it in mind.

[ to say the least. as for food - ]

Yes! I think we might be able to doctor up something decent with enough experimentation, huh? I don't know about you, but I could use the distraction.

[ let's go doctor up some fast food ]

[ I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING AND YOU CAN'T PROVE IT ]

I just know some people who perhaps take the proverb a little too seriously.

[ Seriously, some people just never fucking die in this canon, I really cannot emphasise this enough. ]

It'll certainly keep me focused. I warn you, I'm not a particularly talented cook...

[ Who knows, maybe her little mania near end of trial was just because of a little hangry on top of the utter absolute insanity they all just collectively went through. Folie a... thirty (in French). ]

[ yet.

he laughs, though, at that. ]

That's okay. I'm still learning, but, we can figure it out, right? If nothing, let's just think of it like an experiment! And if we make something terrible, we can bring it to the demons and they'll get a kick out of it.

[ it sounds like he's joking, at least, brightening up. eto you really did help. ]

[ What an absolutely odd concept. She's not going to think about it too much. ]

I'm not so bad that I'm going to set the kitchen on fire, young man.

[ She's like LET'S MAKE ONE THING CLEAR SIR. ]

[ he

snortlaughs ]

I didn't think so! Are you trying to set the bar that low for expectations already?

(no subject)

bileygr - 2023-02-13 12:18 (UTC) - Expand