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Post by mugenginga on Apr 18, 2012 22:30:57 GMT -5
Cain had a scowl on his face as he walked down the stairs leading up to the door of the hotel. He could all but feel the effort of the doorman to look anywhere but at him. Normally the thought of how well Abel's actions and presence had cowed the hotel's staff would have been enough to put a smirk on his face. Today the indication that the thought had crossed his mind was a mere flicker of his eyes.
There had been no word about how things were going in the place the lapdog variant of his brother was staying. Neither party had been watching the other, although there was a silent understanding Cain could feel was matched by the other that they both knew where they were at. The lack of word was to be expected. Seth had "defected" and Cain couldn't be sure how much of Abel's attitude about the matter was for show. His frown deepened at that - it seemed Abel really held concern over Seth's exposure to the "Messiah". While he and Seth stood rather starkly contrasted on their opinions of humanity, Cain knew Seth would abandon his choices no more than he would.
Aside from all that, he had not quite calculated the trouble being a child again would cause with his interactions with Abel. He didn't calculate much time had passed in this reality since his death and his return in his current life, but Abel's attitude had taken a sharp shift. In the greater scheme of things it was an improvement, but Abel's attitude towards him lately was firmly in the camp of trolling. He still couldn't get a read on Abel, and the little bit of ground he'd shown early on would be hard to regain. All he could be grateful for was that Loki hadn't shown up again.
He turned at the bottom of the stairs, his head having nearly sorted through the recent developments, when the movement of a half-starved boy caught his attention. The child with eyes betraying a creepy maturity paused and blinked for a moment. There was no doubt about who it was, and the realization of how he'd let his condition deteorate caused Cain's expression to turn into one of contempt. And Seth argued about man's tenacity.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 19, 2012 23:03:11 GMT -5
After the scare with Souji, things had calmed down enough that Atsuro could get back to his daily searches, as fruitless as they were. Despite his talks with Sugoroku, Atsuro had yet to inform Yuugi exactly what he was doing. Once he had some definite information, he'd tell him... but things were difficult on that front lately. As if they'd ever not been difficult. And with Bakura's trial getting closer, Atsuro could feel the pressure increasing.
Which was why he'd taken a large gamble and stolen Yuugi's COMP. If things went well, he'd be able to get it back to him. The COMPs could detect demons, so long as he managed to enable the demon summoning based features on the COMP. He could use the information contained within the COMP to either find Nyarlathotep or, if things came to it, force Abel to find him for him. He didn't want to use Abel like that, but he was getting desperate.
A movement in the corner of his eye caused Atsuro to stop walking and turn toward the hotel doors. There was a boy standing at the foot of the stairs... and Atsuro couldn't help but think that he looked familiar.
"Nah... couldn't be," Atsuro mumbled to himself, and he got back to walking. "It's too soon for that, isn't it?"
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 20, 2012 18:19:09 GMT -5
With a bit of effort, Cain dropped most of his creepily mature air. There was little he could do about the way his eyes betrayed his actual years, but it was enough that most even among demons would be merely unsettled at worst - even among demons, ageless human children were all but unheard of. His only slip, and it was only momentary, was a narrowing of eyes at the device in Atsuro's hands. If his memory served, and if nothing else that was perfect, that was Yuugi's. It looked like a curious kid trotting towards Atsuro, but inwardly Cain was smirking. What could have happened to turn the boy so brazen...?
"Mister, what's that?" said "Kanjou". He seemed to be referring to the COMP.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 20, 2012 23:07:15 GMT -5
Atsuro had only looked away from the boy for about a minute when he came up to him. It seemed odd that the same boy he'd been wondering about just a few minutes ago was suddenly coming up to him. He gave a slight frown at the kid's interest in the COMP.
"Oh, it's a COMP. You know what those are, right? They're video game systems, but they're made so that you can email people on them and stuff. They're pretty fun." He gave a wide grin.
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 20, 2012 23:14:41 GMT -5
Kanjou scrunched up his face for a bit, managing to look completely buried in thought. He didn't seem to recognize Atsuro's fairly simple explanation. There was enough time spent that Atsuro was probably very close to attempting to explain it from another angle when the kid's eyes popped open in sudden realization and terror. He grabbed a hold of Atsuro's pants leg suddenly, clinging close and looking around suddenly like any one of the people wandering around minding their own business might suddenly attack them. He seemed to be trying not to tremble as he looked up at Atsuro. His eyes were wide in terror rarely seen in adults.
"Mister, you really shouldn't have that! You should get rid of it right now! People totally aren't supposed to have those!!" he managed to talk quietly despite the urgency.
It was honestly a really strange reaction.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 20, 2012 23:23:37 GMT -5
Atsuro's eyes widened at the kid's sudden reaction, and he had to resist the urge to shake this suddenly panicked child off of him. Why would mentioning a game system make him panic so much? He'd specifically used a description that wouldn't describe the more dangerous aspects of this COMP!
"Woah, woah, back up!" Atsuro said. "What do you mean, 'people aren't supposed to have those'? Last I checked you could buy these at any old electronics store."
Well, you could in this world, anyways. That was how they'd been able to keep their stock so high.
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 20, 2012 23:32:20 GMT -5
(OOC: I worked very hard at capitalizing the right "He"s, but its meant to be confusing to hear. XD)
Kanjou's reaction had gotten a few glances, and the one he'd seemed to notice had made him lock up in what seemed to be pure terror. His head jerked up towards Atsuro as the teenager spoke again, the jerky speed similar to how a prey animal might jerk towards a sudden noise. The terror in his eyes was still evident, and they looked wet. The look seemed uncomprehending as Atsuro explained you could buy them at any electronics store. The initial sign of recognition was what little color was left draining from the kid's face.
Rather than letting go he clung tighter, burying his head in his fists that had a deathgrip on Atsuro's pants leg. Given his age it probably wouldn't be that hard to remove him, but...
"I saw him here!!" At this point the words had become tinged with the sound of tears," I saw him here and if he's here than He's here! He's always there! I know its another world but if he's here..." He jerked his head up. The kid was definitely crying. His words were broken up due to the hiccups, "P-please mister, you g-gotta get rid of that! I know this is a d-different world but Messiah-sama won't care!! You just gotta trust me that it's bad, you gotta!"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 24, 2012 21:19:12 GMT -5
Atsuro didn't have the heart to pull the kid off of him as he continued talking. This kid had to be from the same universe that Messiah was from, if he was freaking out this much about COMPs. Sounded like Messiah had gotten a bit draconian with how he handled demon tamers...
"Dammit, K1, what are you doing?" Atsuro said under his breath. He wasn't sure what to do to calm Kanjou down, so he put the COMP into his bag. "Okay, here, I'll hide it, that way Messiah can't find it, okay?"
At this rate he wasn't going to be able to shake this kid off to go do the research he needed to do. This was really kind of inconvenient.
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 24, 2012 21:27:22 GMT -5
Kanjou looked up at Atsuro, tears still clinging to the corners of his eyes and occassionally rolling down. He didn't look very convinced, and still very frightened, as Atsuro hid the COMP away. His shoulders shook with the apparent effort to not let more tears fall. After a moment he lifted up an arm and wiped the tears away with the long sleeve of his shirt. There was a bit of a smear on his face from the way his nose had begun to run. He let go of Atsuro's leg with one hand, but still clung with another. After a moment he looked back up at Atsuro.
"You really gotta get rid of that first chance you get, okay? I had a big brother that got killed because of those things...." the boy's expression suddenly became very somber. He buried his head back into Atsuro's leg and a bit of dampness indicated he had tears again... for some reason?
In the meantime, Cain hadn't exactly picked a private place to pull Atsuro aside at. If Abel or any of his demons kept any kind of perimeter check, "Kanjou"'s little spectacle would have been hard to miss.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 25, 2012 21:45:13 GMT -5
A big brother... Atsuro gained a bit of a pained look at Kanjou's words. "Don't worry about me. I'll be careful, so--"
"What is this?"
Atsuro felt his blood turn to ice, and he whirled around. Standing behind him, with that damn emotionless look on his face, was Abel. He couldn't tell which one it was, either, though he had a couple suspicions as to this one's identity.
Abel grasped Kanjou by the collar and pulled him away from Atsuro. "And what do you think you're doing?"
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 26, 2012 15:18:48 GMT -5
Kanjou's body had locked up as Abel let out his initial comment. He barely held onto Atsuro's leg as the teenager spun around, and the tripping steps from the spin put him a bit behind Atsuro's leg. All the color had drained out of his face as Abel swiftly walked forward. There was no attempted fight from the boy as Abel wrapped his fist around his collar and yanked him forward. When Abel stopped though, Kanjou didn't. His legs seemed to give out from under him and he had his hands to his face, choked sobs making him hard to understand as tears streamed down his face. Even before he spoke though, Abel would be aware Cain was up to something - any idiot would know that given the act he was putting up.
"Me-Messiah-sa-sama p-please! This is... he didn't...," Kanjou lifted his eyes up slightly above his hands. He looked terrified. Cain knew he was taking a bit of a gamble using that title, but it was definitely the quickest way to alert Abel to enough of the game for him to play along if he was inclined. Would he show enough brains to realize Atsuro could remain useful to the Court if manipulated... and would what was left of Keiichi allow it? Kanjou quickly downcast his eyes, "I'm s-sorry!!!"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 26, 2012 22:20:03 GMT -5
Abel looked down at the grovelling Cain, and picked up on his gambit rather quickly. He wasn't entirely sure why Cain was trying to convince Atsuro that he was Messiah, but the man clearly had some kind of gambit he was attempting. He knelt down and seized Cain by the hair, jerking his face up to look at him. The smile Abel had on his face was kindly, but his words were not.
"The Lord does not tolerate traitors, young Kanjou-kun."
Atsuro wasn't sure what was going on. There was something really off about this whole situation... That look on Abel's face, combined with his words, sounded a lot like Messiah, and it fit with what Kanjou had to say, but at the same time... why would Abel be here, this close to the hotel? He had to know this was where the other Abel stayed.
"Hey! Let go of him!" Atsuro yelled. Abel jerked his head up to look at Atsuro. "He didn't do anything, so put him down already!"
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 26, 2012 22:41:14 GMT -5
Back in the world he'd come from, eye contact was rarely given to the "Messiah". There was no punishment for it being made, but that incarnation of his younger brother instilled an awe when he walked among the common folks. The memories of that world were united enough to know that he'd slowly withdrawn from humanity, particularly after his humans had died, and for reasons that had never seemed to be entirely His command or lack of desire for proximity - it had simply become too uncomfortable, the constant reminder that he was different, the constant treatment that a peasant might have given a lord or king.
As it had currently sat when Loki had spirited him away, the jerky switches between contact and lack of it had always come from those that had made simple mistakes that broke God's writ - the rebels defied Him openly or begged for their lives. They never had the terror he expressed for Abel now unless they knew they were about to die. It was a world of peace built on complete obedience, and the rarity of even mistakes were a testament to God's success at instilling the Law of servitude or death.
Abel pretending to be the Messiah was not the angle Cain had intended, but it was one he could work around. Kanjou didn't know this was not the Messiah, any actions otherwise would shatter the performance he'd begun. Kanjou was also young enough to think he stood a chance against the unbending law of God and his lapdog. And so even as "Kanjou" winced as the "Messiah" jerked his head up (a bit violent, but how was Atsuro to know that?), even as Kanjou seemed torn between giving the Messiah eye contact and a deferring glance away, he fought.
"H-he's not a traitor, M-Messiah-sama!" Kanjou pleaded, "He's from this world! H-he doesn't know the..." Cain paused. He jerked his eyes away from Abel the best he could with the grip the King of Bel had on his hair. Away from Atsuro as well, to avoid the teenager catching the distasteful curl of his lips. Even in an act, this title left a sour taste in his mouth to speak in a manner not mocking, "...he doesn't k-know the L-Lord b-banned them!! He's n-not like oniichan, I swear!"
A simple throwaway statement. Cain had lost what little doubt he had about Atsuro's ability to read between the lines of man's words during the Lockdown - both versions he could clearly remember. The implication that not only had his "oniichan" been a knowing traitor, but that it was par for the course to write off those who made such decisions as nothing but, at least in the presence of the God's right hand.
And perhaps, depending on how far Abel intended on carrying his side of the charade, Abel would pick up on what had happened with a close member of Kanjou's bloodline and run with it.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on May 2, 2012 21:53:07 GMT -5
Abel's eyes flicked between Kanjou and Atsuro. So this was the angle Cain was going to take? Abel let go of the boy's hair, which would cause him to drop to the ground.
"I'm well aware of who this man is," Abel stated. "And he has turned against the Lord just as much as your 'brother' had.
"Stop it!" Atsuro yelled again. "This is stupid! You're not even his Abel, so why are you pretending to act like that?!"
Abel gave a frown. Just how long had Atsuro been aware of his identity? Or had observing his actions been enough to reveal him? Interesting.
"Dammit Abel! Is this really how you get your kicks now, by fucking with kids your other self tortured?! I thought Seth said he was going to take care of you! Where the hell is he now?!"
"Seth is gone," Abel said emotionlessly. "Just as you were."
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Post by mugenginga on May 3, 2012 2:24:09 GMT -5
Kanjou fell forward, barely catching himself from faceplanting as Abel dropped him. He winced and jerked a worried and pleading look towards Atsuro as he shouted at Abel. It was hard to see for the blur the tears were causing in his vision, but he didn't wipe it away. He looked... completely lost when Atsuro stated that this wasn't "his Abel", but he didn't say anything. He just flinched. It looked like a lot was going through his head, and he lookedl like he wanted to run. But he just drew in on himself, looking between Atsuro and Abel rapidly, lost and scared seeming.
If he hadn't been focusing on his facade, he would have smirked at Abel's last line. Part of him admitted it was a pity. Atsuro was smart, and if it hadn't been for his morals would have been a good ally. Well, one didn't need to be an ally to be useful.
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