darkdisgrace | IC inbox @ Jikan

[Oh, he definitely recognizes it. Enough so he's already got a second glass in hand when she arrives, looking up with a pleased grin.]

However many we feel like. Not like we're heading anywhere tonight, as far as I know.

[ The corners of her mouth tug upward as she slips across the threshold and tips the door, moving to join him atop the bed. ]

Not tonight.

[ She shakes her head. ]

It's been a busy week and it isn't over yet. Can't have the lot of you accusing me of overworking you before we even open, now can I? It'd make it hard to hire.

Don't worry about it, work me as hard as you want.

[He'll pour her a glass of wine, passing it over with a chuckle.]

Trust me, you're not the only one eager to see it open. I feel like I'm losing my edge with how calm this place is. I don't think I'll ever get used to it.

As hard as I want, hm?

[ She'll very reluctantly put a pin in that as she accepts that glass. On second thought, that's sort of relevant, though, isn't it? She turns her glass in her hand thoughtfully, pausing. ]

About that... well, can I ask you something?

[ Personal. ]

As hard as you want.

[He'll raise his glass to her in a casual salute before taking a sip. Once she says that, though--]

Hm? Sure, go ahead.

[Did she need something new done for the club...?]

Edited 2021-06-04 09:20 (UTC)

If I were to come close to doing something like that, your average human would break, but you're... not average. I've known that since the beginning.

[ And it doesn't bother her. Perhaps it should, but then, she's always had a habit of leaning forward where others tucked their tails and ran scared. ]

I'm sure you've noticed the same of me and if you'd like to ask me about it, you can. I was wondering, though... what exactly are you?

[Chuuya's mid-sip when she asks that, and he just manages not to inhale his wine down the wrong way, though the sharp exhale and rough swallow indicate it's a very near thing.

It's a very, very particular question. It could mean a lot of things. But he knows Setsura is a hanyokai, knows she's capable of sensing things other people can't.]

And by 'what', you mean....?

[He needs to make sure that's what she's asking, though.]

Edited 2021-06-04 09:38 (UTC)

[ She isn't entirely sure what she was expecting. Something like this was possible. Many things are, but she trusts Chuuya to establish a boundary if she's pressing into territory he's uncomfortable with. ]

Human, god, something else, something in between -- that sort of 'what'.

[Uncomfortable? Maybe. But not to the extent Setsura might imagine.

His past and orgins were things he didn't talk about. There were many reasons for this, but ultimately his main one was that the past was the past. Who he was--what he was--was Nakahara Chuuya, Executive and strongest martial artist of the Port Mafia.

Everything else mattered little to him now, ultimately.

But Setsura had known all this time, and hadn't asked. More than that, she deserved an answer. He swirls his wine in his glass, looking pensive for a moment.]

...Something 'in between' would be more accurate, but not quite. Everything about me down to genetics is indistinguishable from a human being, but I was probably 'made' in a lab. You're probably one of only a few people who's figured it out, actually.

[He sets his glass down, still fiddling with the stem.] You know Akutagawa and I are Ability users, right? People with supernatural powers. There's plenty of us in our world, but on the whole it's not common.

Made in a lab?

[ That -- she wasn't expecting that and it's plain across her face. Made in a lab -- what does that even mean? Her mind is racing, grasping at what pieces she does have in an attempt to answer it, and she has to rein it back in.

She hears him and nods, not quite lifting her glass to her lips. ]

[...You know, that's a fair thing to get hung up on, yeah.] Yeah. My memories are spotty to non-existent before I was 8 years old, but I was... probably cloned from a kid with the same ability to manipulate gravity.

[He sets his chin in the palm of one hand, trying not too think back to hard to that kid. The one who'd died right before his eyes, his body melting away the moment he'd been freed.] Ability users are rare and finite, and so are our abilities. Humans are the only ones capable of using them, as well: We die, our abilities die with us. Not very convenient for a government trying to weaponize them, yeah?

[He picks up his glass again, taking another sip... well, more like a swig.] So they decided to make them. It was called the Arahabaki project.

Edited 2021-06-04 10:38 (UTC)

[ She listens intently as Chuuya speaks, but as he continues to speak, she shifts with care atop the bed so that she's on her knees with glass in hand and moving to occupy his lap because close is good, but not close enough in this moment.

Making herself comfortable? Isn't she always?

But she never stops listening, not for a second. ]

The government, hm?

[ She frowns and it's a small one, but somehow, she doesn't sound entirely surprised. She carefully lifts her glass as she considers what he's told her thus far, pausing a moment. ]

The Arahabaki project? Does that mean there were others...?

[ And she pauses again. Back in the jungle, hadn't Chuuya said something about old friends...? ]

Edited 2021-06-04 10:52 (UTC)

[Actually, he's kind of glad for that? His gloves were discarded when he'd settled in for the night, so that means he can reach down to gently play with Setsura's hair to distract himself, his other arm tucking around her.]

Yeah, there were. Besides me, there's one other guy out there who was made like that, by France. Not that Verlaine ever leaves his bunker, the shifty bastard.

[And not that Chuuya made a point of visiting much-- if ever. The man had signed up for loneliness the moment he'd murdered the Flags, similar existences or not.] Basically, both governments tapped into something-- something they called a Singularity Lifeform, 'Arahabaki'. Infinite power, infinite output, like a black hole. But weaponizing it requires a human body to use it, because only humans can use abilities. They took a kid with an ability suited to withstanding it and cloned him, infusing the clone with the lifeform's cells. [It's... Odd, talking about this with someone else. The only other people who knew in his world were there when it all came to light.]

I wouldn't know if it's a God or something else, I just know it's capable of leveling a city if I let loose. Not that I'm going to do that, especially not without someone to stop me before I die.

[ She relaxes under his hand, in his arm, lap. Tilts her head just slightly into his hand when she feels his fingers against her hair, her eyes half lidded. She's no less attentive, filing questions into queue as they arise and certain pieces fall and fit more neatly into place. That distinct energy of his that would fray the nerves and send the average person running in a cold sweat -- looking at it, it makes more sense to her now in addition to what she gleans from her sense of it and there's things she wants to ask, things abruptly speared with a figurative pin with his last statement.

She tenses in the same instant her eyes snap open. ]

Your Ability could kill you?

[ The very same he uses so readily, easily? He'd never said anything about that before and just now he'd said if he "let it loose". She knows in this instant, she's missing something she can't afford to miss -- ]

[ -- and she's reaching with her free hand to get a grip on his collar. Pull herself just slightly up and him down, brows narrowing as she looks him dead in those blue-grey eyes she's so fond of as her heart twists. ]

I forbid it. You aren't allowed to die.

[ Before anything else, she says this, that quiet, intense energy of hers swelling, an indomitable will exerting those words. ]

Now, you're going to tell me everything. Leave nothing out.

[It's relaxing, holding and petting Setsura like this. He's pretty sure she feels the same way about it, too... at least--

Until she tenses and asks that. Chuuya's about to correct her for a moment, but then she's reaching up, tugging him down by his collar, and yanking him down.

The intensity in her eyes right now... Chuuya can't help but swallow sharply at the demand, at the emotional implication behind it. She'd already told him she was his, but this was...]

I'm not plannin' on dying, trust me.

[His voice is a little rough from the grip on his collar, the emotion or both. He moves his hand only to gently grasp her wrist in it.]

It's not my regular ability. 'Gravity manipulation' is nothing compared to 'Corruption'. [Which... is not the most reassuring name, is it?] It's a last resort, and it's something I have to choose to activate. I've only used it before when Dazai--the Dazai from my world--was around to nullify it before I died, and that bastard ditched the mafia years ago.

Edited 2021-06-05 01:32 (UTC)

[ He isn't in any immediate danger from "Corruption," and that name is far from reassuring for the connotations that term carries in her own world. It should be enough to see her grip relax if only marginally and it does, but only after the weight and warmth of his hand at her wrist registers and settles in her mind, only after a quietly frustrated clenching.

He isn't in any immediate danger. Hasn't been playing with his life with his regular Ability. He's warm and solid, he's alive, and he isn't -- he isn't going anywhere right now, not with her in his lap like this and the risk of wine on his sheets.

Still, the thought of Chuuya dying makes her heart twist and wrench in a way she isn't prepared to temper or keep from her face, that makes further apparent just how raw she is in this moment. Raw and all at once too full of emotion that spills into her words. ]

Promise me you won't use Corruption unless he's here and capable of nullifying it.

[ She's grasping. ]

That would require Dazai being anywhere near me, so of course I won't be using it.

[He makes a grumpy face at the thought. Ugh. He settles the annoyance by letting that grip on his collar guide him forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead before resting his head on her shoulder and letting out a sigh.]

It's not that big a deal, y'know. I'm still me and I'm still here. Nothing has changed. I didn't know you could even sense anything about me that was unusual, or I'd have told you before. [He grimaces slightly.] ...Sorry about that. Hope it hasn't been worrying you or anything. Most people can't tell there's anything unusual, since I'm pretty normal for an ability user... maybe a bit sturdier than most people, but still. [He was powerful, but most people just put that down to Chuuya being Chuuya. And it was... mostly.]

Only a handful of people I know are even aware of this stuff, and they were there when I found out.

Only a handful of people, hm?

[ And they were there when he found out...?

She turns her head into his. Tilts her nose, her cheek against his hair, skin in a warm nuzzle as she considers his words, that grimace. Her grip on his collar finally relaxes, but it lingers, her fingers tracing the edge, teasing skin. ]

You have nothing to apologize for. You've never given me a reason to worry... about that, anyway, and not until a moment ago. [ That's something of a questionably playful jab, but there's something else woven in there, a quiet statement.

She doesn't want to lose him. ]

Of course Chuuya is Chuuya and [ she kisses his cheek ] I'm happy you told me.

As far as I know, anyway. Probably some government assholes out there who know the details, but they don't count as far as I'm concerned.

[He was a case file to them, probably-- a thing, a former government project gone rogue. They didn't count among people that mattered.] Not that it's a particular elite club when it includes that shut-in Verlaine and the Dazai from my world, but hey.

[He rolls his eyes a little at that last bit, instead choosing to focus on the feel of her nuzzling into him, arms tightening just slightly around her. He lets out a sigh, relaxing against her.]

...Thank you.

[ She blinks at that, canting her head just so. ]

For what?

For asking. For not freaking out. For seeing me as me.

[he shrugs, smiling wryly.]

Not that I'd know, but I can't imagine it's a fun thing to sense coming from a guy, right? [Honestly, he isn't sure how that would feel except 'scary'.] And for the longest time as a kid, I wondered about my humanity, if the 'me' that existed was only a shell, a safety device. I've long realized otherwise, but it's still nice to be acknowledged.

It is, isn't it?

[ She knows. ]

Was there anything you wanted to ask me?

[ There's another question sitting on the tip of her tongue, but she holds it or the moment. ]

It is.

[He reaches up to fiddle with one of the feathers in her hair, smoothing his thumb over the edge of it gently. It's become something of a habit recently, and with her in his arms it's easy enough to fall into it once again.]

...Honestly, I was going to ask you the same thing. You've got to have some other questions, right?

[ Her breath hitches with that contact, her pupils dilating just so. She has other questions, she does, but the one that jumps to the forefront of her mind with his thumb smoothing the edge of that feather is -- ]

You said you're sturdier... than a regular human?

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