[ Ayabe makes a bit of a face, because what sort of house is this, it's like a shopping center with all sorts of things cobbled together into one building. ]
Have you been inside? A movie theater... It would be too much to hope Blue's been recording everything going on, would it?
Between the bell tower and the astronomy one, that seems like it.
[ He finishes drying off his dish and putting it away, giving the sink and the counter around it a wipe down too before rinsing off the cloth and hanging it to dry. The kitchen is spotless, he can leave it feeling good. ]
Let's check that one out first- I want to see if we can see anything past the forest.
[Admittedly, he's curious too. And it's probably just forest for days, but looking won't hurt, right?
Though being up there, seeing everything down below...it reminds him of a time not so long ago. Up at the top of a tower, in the swanky office of the head of the Port Mafia...
"It seems Randou had been investigating Arahabaki."
Looking up, the man sitting in the chair met his eyes. He was one for explaining the situation, it seemed.
"Apparently, the military facility he had infiltrated was researching the creation of artificial ability-users by combining ability-users and normal people."
'Artificial ability-users?' That was Chuuya himself speaking there.
The man's gaze fell to the stack of folders on the small table. "Those are the documents he collected."
Instantly, Chuuya started to reach a hand out for them. Arahabaki...those files, they must have the answers he's been looking for, right? Who he actually is, what his connection to Arahabaki is, if he's even really human or not, everything-
"I apologize-" Chuuya's hand abruptly stopped moving as the man spoke. "-but only Mafia executives have permission to view those files."
'What makes you think I won't pummel you and take the files for myself?'
"You aren't such a fool of a human. Besides, I can answer another question you would want answered."
There was a long, long pause. Then, finally, Chuuya was the one to break their eye contact, sighing irritably as he glanced away. 'You see right through me, don't you?'
The man's serious look broke slightly, as the corners of his mouth turned upwards into a small smile.
Hook, line, and sinker. As long as the mafia had what Chuuya wanted, then Chuuya would be caught in its grasp.
Chuuya doesn't realize at first that Ayabe saw what he saw. He thinks it's just memories coming back to plague him, as they often do.]
[ "Let's go," Chuuya says, but the moment the memory hits, Ayabe freezes on the spot and stops walking, reeling with the overlap while his own mind tries to parse what he's seeing and hearing. Some sort of human experimentation? Something- he can't see anymore, back in the kitchen staring at the back of Chuuya's head. ]
...You didn't take the files?
[ They were right there, baiting. There was something he needed to see, he should have just taken them. ]
[It takes a moment for Chuuya's mind to catch up with what Ayabe is asking- the memory had been particularly vivid for him as well- but when he does realize it he looks confused.]
Wait, how do you- did you see that too?
[Of course Ayabe saw it, it's memory share time! But he still has to ask before he explains himself.]
[ This place sure is shit for that, and Ayabe's going to be real glad by the end of the week that he has such a normal life compared to literally everybody else here. ]
Yeah, he is. But I'm not going to ask him to look at the files for me. I'll just become an executive and read them for myself.
...by the way, you can't say anything about the 'Arahabaki' stuff to anyone. The moment anyone finds out I'm connected to the god of chaos, they're gonna assume I'm a monster too. So don't talk about it.
[ What happened to friendship and working together!! It looks like Chuuya and Dazai are getting along better than they were when they first arrived, but Ayabe also gets doing things for himself too. He's capable, so there's no reason to drag somebody else into private matters like this. ]
I won't say anything, but who would I even tell? Who would believe me?
[ Nobody besides Chuuya and Dazai would probably even know what he's talking about. ]
I doubt understand what's so bad about it, anyways. Nobody else here would either.
You know someone would latch onto it and use it to say I'm a killer. Even if they're being sympathetic to the monsters, that wouldn't make me any less dead.
And, duh, 'God of Chaos'? Everyone who finds out about that either is afraid of me or wants to experiment on me. Dazai's the only exception, and that's because he likes teasing me more than anything else.
He's a snake. He uses people to get what he wants and then discards them when he's done.
I put up with him here because I know our goals align: we both have to get back to the mafia safely, or else the boss will have our asses. What little 'trust' he gets from me is because I know he needs me alive right now. If the situation were different, I wouldn't trust him at all.
[Hopefully Ayabe can keep up with that explanation.]
[ He tries to think of what he knows of Dazai, and he can see it either way- doing what he wants and acting for his own purpose. If his goal is to keep Chuuya safe and get him out alive, then that's just as well. ]
What would he do to meet that goal? Would he throw the rest of us under the bus just to save himself and you?
[Now that was where Chuuya hesitated. As much as he would have liked to throw Dazai under the bus, he didn't want to draw unneeded attention to him either. Especially not from Ayabe. Knowing the teen, he would probably try to get involved, and Chuuya didn't want Dazai to decide that offing Ayabe was for the best.]
In other situations, maybe. But I don't think he would here. The risk of failing is too great for the reward of escaping.
[It absolutely could happen. Chuuya is gonna be pretty broken up if Ayabe dies though.]
I'll keep him on a leash.
...thanks, though. For your trust. And for not freaking out about the Arahabaki thing. I think you're the first person to learn about it who hasn't either tried to kill me or treated me like a science experiment.
[Even with Dazai's shitty past, he's still a manipulative dick.]
Be careful of him, okay? You're too nice. And while Dazai probably won't get you killed or anything, eventually he's going to take advantage of that niceness.
[And, for reasons he doesn't fully understand yet, he REALLY doesn't want that to happen. He'd rather see Ayabe...well okay, the guy doesn't smile, but he looks peaceful sometimes. That's a better look for him.]
[ I can't believe we all just gave up on Ayabe smiling and had to settle for peaceful, but that's fair. ]
I'll be careful. But if it's things like cooking and cleaning, that's not something he's taking advantage of. It's what I want to do.
[ In that sort of innocent, narrow-minded way, that's the only "taking advantage" he can think of, the way his little siblings worked him to the bone but it was more like him making that conscious choice to work himself to be bone for their sake. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2020-03-09 08:11 pm (UTC)Have you been inside? A movie theater... It would be too much to hope Blue's been recording everything going on, would it?
[ The real horror movies: curfew murders ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-09 08:26 pm (UTC)[But hey, maybe they'll luck out and see some murders on there, who knows?]
There's also an astronomy tower there too. It probably means we're near the top floor, huh? Since that has to be open to the sky and all.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-09 08:51 pm (UTC)[ He finishes drying off his dish and putting it away, giving the sink and the counter around it a wipe down too before rinsing off the cloth and hanging it to dry. The kitchen is spotless, he can leave it feeling good. ]
Let's check that one out first- I want to see if we can see anything past the forest.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-09 10:03 pm (UTC)[Admittedly, he's curious too. And it's probably just forest for days, but looking won't hurt, right?
Though being up there, seeing everything down below...it reminds him of a time not so long ago. Up at the top of a tower, in the swanky office of the head of the Port Mafia...
"It seems Randou had been investigating Arahabaki."
Looking up, the man sitting in the chair met his eyes. He was one for explaining the situation, it seemed.
"Apparently, the military facility he had infiltrated was researching the creation of artificial ability-users by combining ability-users and normal people."
'Artificial ability-users?' That was Chuuya himself speaking there.
The man's gaze fell to the stack of folders on the small table. "Those are the documents he collected."
Instantly, Chuuya started to reach a hand out for them. Arahabaki...those files, they must have the answers he's been looking for, right? Who he actually is, what his connection to Arahabaki is, if he's even really human or not, everything-
"I apologize-" Chuuya's hand abruptly stopped moving as the man spoke. "-but only Mafia executives have permission to view those files."
'What makes you think I won't pummel you and take the files for myself?'
"You aren't such a fool of a human. Besides, I can answer another question you would want answered."
There was a long, long pause. Then, finally, Chuuya was the one to break their eye contact, sighing irritably as he glanced away. 'You see right through me, don't you?'
The man's serious look broke slightly, as the corners of his mouth turned upwards into a small smile.
Hook, line, and sinker. As long as the mafia had what Chuuya wanted, then Chuuya would be caught in its grasp.
Chuuya doesn't realize at first that Ayabe saw what he saw. He thinks it's just memories coming back to plague him, as they often do.]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-10 02:05 am (UTC)...You didn't take the files?
[ They were right there, baiting. There was something he needed to see, he should have just taken them. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-10 02:20 am (UTC)Wait, how do you- did you see that too?
[Of course Ayabe saw it, it's memory share time! But he still has to ask before he explains himself.]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-10 02:52 am (UTC)[ He can only guess, speaking slowly and carefully as he tries to parse through the hows and gives up. ]
Did you ever get to see the files?
no subject
Date: 2020-03-10 03:10 am (UTC)[He sounds annoyed, but he also feels a bit vulnerable.]
No, I didn't. Not yet. What you saw, that happened like a day before I got dragged here. I haven't had time to become a mafia executive yet.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-10 04:13 am (UTC)Isn't an executive pretty high up? Is Dazai one?
no subject
Date: 2020-03-10 04:35 am (UTC)...by the way, you can't say anything about the 'Arahabaki' stuff to anyone. The moment anyone finds out I'm connected to the god of chaos, they're gonna assume I'm a monster too. So don't talk about it.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-10 05:33 am (UTC)I won't say anything, but who would I even tell? Who would believe me?
[ Nobody besides Chuuya and Dazai would probably even know what he's talking about. ]
I doubt understand what's so bad about it, anyways. Nobody else here would either.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-10 10:58 pm (UTC)And, duh, 'God of Chaos'? Everyone who finds out about that either is afraid of me or wants to experiment on me. Dazai's the only exception, and that's because he likes teasing me more than anything else.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-11 04:16 am (UTC)I don't believe in gods, so the impact is probably lost on me. But Dazai- he brought you into the mafia, but you two aren't friends? Or are you?
no subject
Date: 2020-03-11 04:34 am (UTC)But somehow, Chuuya is glad Ayabe is an idiot.]
Him and I? Friends? After what he did to me?
[His laugh is more like a short bark.]
No. I tolerate him because we're co-workers and I have to. But in reality, I hate him.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-11 04:40 am (UTC)[ They have sleepovers together, what is Ayabe supposed to think? ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-11 05:07 am (UTC)I put up with him here because I know our goals align: we both have to get back to the mafia safely, or else the boss will have our asses. What little 'trust' he gets from me is because I know he needs me alive right now. If the situation were different, I wouldn't trust him at all.
[Hopefully Ayabe can keep up with that explanation.]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-11 06:54 pm (UTC)What would he do to meet that goal? Would he throw the rest of us under the bus just to save himself and you?
no subject
Date: 2020-03-11 11:01 pm (UTC)In other situations, maybe. But I don't think he would here. The risk of failing is too great for the reward of escaping.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-12 01:59 am (UTC)...Alright. I'll trust your judgement of him.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-12 03:18 am (UTC)I'll keep him on a leash.
...thanks, though. For your trust. And for not freaking out about the Arahabaki thing. I think you're the first person to learn about it who hasn't either tried to kill me or treated me like a science experiment.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-13 12:02 am (UTC)I have no reason to distrust you. You were always right: from the start, you wrote that Dazai is a dick, and he is.
[ Ayabe was proven wrong day 1 ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-13 03:29 am (UTC)[Even with Dazai's shitty past, he's still a manipulative dick.]
Be careful of him, okay? You're too nice. And while Dazai probably won't get you killed or anything, eventually he's going to take advantage of that niceness.
[And, for reasons he doesn't fully understand yet, he REALLY doesn't want that to happen. He'd rather see Ayabe...well okay, the guy doesn't smile, but he looks peaceful sometimes. That's a better look for him.]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-13 03:50 am (UTC)I'll be careful. But if it's things like cooking and cleaning, that's not something he's taking advantage of. It's what I want to do.
[ In that sort of innocent, narrow-minded way, that's the only "taking advantage" he can think of, the way his little siblings worked him to the bone but it was more like him making that conscious choice to work himself to be bone for their sake. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-13 04:07 am (UTC)And Ayabe you sweet summer child.]
Aaah, I can't crush such innocent expectations like that.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-13 04:13 am (UTC)Tell me what you mean.
(no subject)
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