Regardless, Baren will agree with that and continue to drink his liquid guaranteed hangover for a moment. Then, he snaps his fingers and points to indicate that Fawkes is definitely on the right track.]
I told Maury that I have four people in this city that I can rely on for future bullshit.
Now - I have no idea how much he actually trusts me, but I'll take whatever I can get. The way it's broken down, I have someone reliable in Absinthe, Cognac, and Ethanol. [And with himself in Daquiri, that's the four, apparently.]
I'm willing to bump it up to five, just so nothing gets missed.
[He doesn't like having missing pieces.
Maurice hasn't even confirmed that he needs a specific amount of people or is willing to entrust anything to Baren... but given Baren's cagey nature, he doesn't see anything wrong with preparing in advance.]
[On the one hand, Baren doesn't think Fawkes really needs to know that.
On the other, he's jumping into an unreality twist so it'd be nice to have people finish his work in case he doesn't come back. He counts off on his hands:]
Absinthe has Kiyomitsu Kashuu. Personable, loyal, and a pain in the ass but - he's mine. [It's a sword and samurai thing. But that takes too long to explain.]
Cognac has Zoro. Stubborn and stupid, but strong. If you tell him I need something, he'll probably get his shit together. Don't abuse that if you do meet him.
Ethanol has Chuuya Nakahara. [He points over to where the bar itself - though Chuuya might not be working right now.] Short-tempered and also kind of an idiot, but he's reliable.
Then a clever fox on Brandywine and a lying snake on Daquiri.
... On a good day, I'd call half of us upstanding people.
Our first task is Miss Wiseman. They think they've located her and now we're going to have to go after her. That's fine... I'll be off the grid for a while, but that's nothing new. If I don't come back, you know who to refer to now.
Maury just said that if you don't win them over, earn their trust or respect, whatever it is.... then they won't trust those folks with the more sensitive tasks. Make sense? So I'm trying to get as many people to behave as possible.
[ . . . though his nose wrinkles.]
... not that I like telling people to do... but if people might die...
Nope, just that shit can't be trusted to "volatile" people... which I agree with, but obviously everyone's got their own beef with Retrospec. Some of them won't want to wait for answers. People are stupid and sometimes their priorities are fucked, but it's not unexpected.
[As for the question - he hums thoughtfully.]
... I know liars, you know. And unless I'm really losing my touch and getting duped, I think I believe the intern about not wanting people to die. So they're -
Eh, they might still be heartless if people are still getting fucked up by what they're doing as a whole, but they're not careless.
So we may still be tools, but we think they're at least people who know better than to squander the value of their tools.
[A pause.]
And if we let them deploy us, then at the very least we'll find out something more about them — their capabilities, their motives, their priorities. Something worth knowing, I would imagine. So loath as we might be to acknowledge someone else pulling our strings...it may save people's lives, and there may be advantages to our position that we wouldn't have had without it.
[Fawkes gets it. So easily. It at least helps Baren reaffirm that he made a correct choice here, even if he had to expand according to unexpected, unfortunate circumstances.]
It's the easiest way to get information, even if they're not eager to share it. Something about certain restrictions that keep them from it, otherwise they break protocol... but what we witness for ourselves is just as important if we're working alongside them.
...It's really bothering you, isn't it? The thought of that.
[He pauses, frowning down at his hands for a minute while he sort of collects his thoughts.]
That wasn't supposed to sound like a judgment of character, or anything like that. I just meant...it's bothering you, the thought of people getting hurt because of all this. And I wonder if it's bothering you more than you're letting on. More than you're willing to tell anyone.
Baren doesn't say that, though - probably wouldn't know how to admit to it even if he tried. Since as far as he's concerned:]
It's the one thing that everyone can agree on.
Personal grudges, individual memories, whatever weird packages got sent to their house - it's still shit. That hasn't changed. But what would be shittier is if their friends or family or innocent strangers got hurt, because there are some pieces of work in this city but—
[Caring about other people is normal, even if it's just one or two people. In Baren's case, he does care a lot more than he'd let on to most people. Fawkes just recently joined the small number he'd let even this much emotion show to.]
... but it's the easiest way to get people to get themselves in order.
Motivational. And uniting. And moreover, it takes all kinds — sometimes the pieces of work are precisely the ones who can do what other people can't. Willing to do what needs to be done, even if it's unpleasant...or uncomfortable.
[And that makes him pause a minute, like there's something nebulous about that thought that he's almost-but-not-quite trying to grasp, but whatever it was he thought might be lurking there, he can't seem to reach it, and shakes his head.]
Killing monsters to prevent people from getting hurt or worse. There are some people in the world who wouldn't be able to do it, aren't there?
Of course and they should go home if that's the case or - I dunno, find cover until the coast is clear.
[He can't say just get out of the way, because some people won't want to do that. Baren wouldn't want to do that. Even if he was useless, there'd be something that'd make him want to help.... and he thinks of some people on his own team who don't have quite the same level of ability as everyone else.]
But there are more people who are getting freaky memories that make them all too battle ready. Their bodies moving on their own, whatever the case.
[He shivers visibly at the mention of that — all too battle ready, bodies moving on their own — and by the time he realizes it, it's too late to catch himself and try to hide it.]
It is weird.
[He hesitates, just for a moment, and then decides that the best possible option is to go with what he'd promised — the truth.]
When you just...need something to happen, and then it happens, and you can't explain how. It's very weird.
[It's too obvious and - normally Baren would've let Fawkes get away with not mentioning whatever he didn't want to mention but.... there's something about it that appears to be bothering him.
I killed something. ...Or I suppose a tree did, but I presume it was because I willed it to.
[He shakes his head a little, staring at his drink.]
The branches grew at an accelerated rate, and skewered one of those monsters. A group of four of them had Dr. Lutece and I cornered, and it just...happened so fast, really. Too fast to really comprehend, until it was over.
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roseblooms) wrote2020-04-24 08:15 pm
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Regardless, Baren will agree with that and continue to drink his liquid guaranteed hangover for a moment. Then, he snaps his fingers and points to indicate that Fawkes is definitely on the right track.]
I told Maury that I have four people in this city that I can rely on for future bullshit.
Now - I have no idea how much he actually trusts me, but I'll take whatever I can get. The way it's broken down, I have someone reliable in Absinthe, Cognac, and Ethanol. [And with himself in Daquiri, that's the four, apparently.]
I'm willing to bump it up to five, just so nothing gets missed.
[He doesn't like having missing pieces.
Maurice hasn't even confirmed that he needs a specific amount of people or is willing to entrust anything to Baren... but given Baren's cagey nature, he doesn't see anything wrong with preparing in advance.]
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[Nosy.]
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On the other, he's jumping into an unreality twist so it'd be nice to have people finish his work in case he doesn't come back. He counts off on his hands:]
Absinthe has Kiyomitsu Kashuu. Personable, loyal, and a pain in the ass but - he's mine. [It's a sword and samurai thing. But that takes too long to explain.]
Cognac has Zoro. Stubborn and stupid, but strong. If you tell him I need something, he'll probably get his shit together. Don't abuse that if you do meet him.
Ethanol has Chuuya Nakahara. [He points over to where the bar itself - though Chuuya might not be working right now.] Short-tempered and also kind of an idiot, but he's reliable.
Then a clever fox on Brandywine and a lying snake on Daquiri.
... On a good day, I'd call half of us upstanding people.
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[how does he put this in a way that isn't awkward]
...We've made a human pyramid before. So I suppose that's worthy of being called acquaintance.
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Was he on the bottom.
Did you step on him repeatedly.
Say yes.
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[He sort of mimes with his hands, a "flipped myself the fuck up into the air and landed on some guys" sort of motion.]
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Nice, nice!! Yeah, kick his ass! That's my favorite pastime.
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[Is this like Majima's thing of wanting to fight everyone he thinks is hot...]
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[but also one of baren's 5 trusted people in the city
yeah]
Of course I wanna kick his ass for existing.
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[Still.]
Does he feel the same way about you?
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[THIS RELATIONSHIP IS AN ODD ONE.]
Can we move on? Talking about Z so much makes me want to hurl. That's all five.
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[In other words: let's move on.]
You think Maury's going to set you to some task, then. Sooner or later?
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[He hums thoughtfully.]
Our first task is Miss Wiseman. They think they've located her and now we're going to have to go after her. That's fine... I'll be off the grid for a while, but that's nothing new. If I don't come back, you know who to refer to now.
Maury just said that if you don't win them over, earn their trust or respect, whatever it is.... then they won't trust those folks with the more sensitive tasks. Make sense? So I'm trying to get as many people to behave as possible.
[ . . . though his nose wrinkles.]
... not that I like telling people to do... but if people might die...
[even if it still feels gross to him]
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[He lets out a short breath, looking briefly down at the tabletop.]
...What are we, to them? Maybe that's the million-dollar question, after all is said and done.
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[As for the question - he hums thoughtfully.]
... I know liars, you know. And unless I'm really losing my touch and getting duped, I think I believe the intern about not wanting people to die. So they're -
Eh, they might still be heartless if people are still getting fucked up by what they're doing as a whole, but they're not careless.
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[A pause.]
And if we let them deploy us, then at the very least we'll find out something more about them — their capabilities, their motives, their priorities. Something worth knowing, I would imagine. So loath as we might be to acknowledge someone else pulling our strings...it may save people's lives, and there may be advantages to our position that we wouldn't have had without it.
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[Fawkes gets it. So easily. It at least helps Baren reaffirm that he made a correct choice here, even if he had to expand according to unexpected, unfortunate circumstances.]
It's the easiest way to get information, even if they're not eager to share it. Something about certain restrictions that keep them from it, otherwise they break protocol... but what we witness for ourselves is just as important if we're working alongside them.
And if we don't - people die.
But that's not happening.
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[He pauses, frowning down at his hands for a minute while he sort of collects his thoughts.]
That wasn't supposed to sound like a judgment of character, or anything like that. I just meant...it's bothering you, the thought of people getting hurt because of all this. And I wonder if it's bothering you more than you're letting on. More than you're willing to tell anyone.
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Baren doesn't say that, though - probably wouldn't know how to admit to it even if he tried. Since as far as he's concerned:]
It's the one thing that everyone can agree on.
Personal grudges, individual memories, whatever weird packages got sent to their house - it's still shit. That hasn't changed. But what would be shittier is if their friends or family or innocent strangers got hurt, because there are some pieces of work in this city but—
[Caring about other people is normal, even if it's just one or two people. In Baren's case, he does care a lot more than he'd let on to most people. Fawkes just recently joined the small number he'd let even this much emotion show to.]
... but it's the easiest way to get people to get themselves in order.
That's all.
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[And that makes him pause a minute, like there's something nebulous about that thought that he's almost-but-not-quite trying to grasp, but whatever it was he thought might be lurking there, he can't seem to reach it, and shakes his head.]
Killing monsters to prevent people from getting hurt or worse. There are some people in the world who wouldn't be able to do it, aren't there?
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[He can't say just get out of the way, because some people won't want to do that. Baren wouldn't want to do that. Even if he was useless, there'd be something that'd make him want to help.... and he thinks of some people on his own team who don't have quite the same level of ability as everyone else.]
But there are more people who are getting freaky memories that make them all too battle ready. Their bodies moving on their own, whatever the case.
... that's kinda weird too.
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It is weird.
[He hesitates, just for a moment, and then decides that the best possible option is to go with what he'd promised — the truth.]
When you just...need something to happen, and then it happens, and you can't explain how. It's very weird.
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Now he feels like he can't let it sit.]
What'd you do?
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[He shakes his head a little, staring at his drink.]
The branches grew at an accelerated rate, and skewered one of those monsters. A group of four of them had Dr. Lutece and I cornered, and it just...happened so fast, really. Too fast to really comprehend, until it was over.
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Baren is thoughtful for a moment, before tilting his head.]
Do you feel bad? Or are you just surprised at yourself?
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