♦ ♦ 24th CONTRACT

[mortemscintilla]

[ The feed is blurred and badly-framed. Tangles of red hair. Glimpses of Li's scowling face. The clink-clink of chains. Someone is clearly on the move, and jostling the device. After a moment of vertigo-inducing struggle, Li says, with effort, ]

Funny. I didn't think -- anything could make you twitch and squawk so much.

Not unless it came with batteries.

[ Oy, get your minds out of the gutter. They aren't up to anything. Mad Hatter just seems to have ants in nir pants, ever since the clock struck midnight. There's a longer pause -- more struggling -- before Li manages to reach for the device. His palm covers the lens as he switches it off -- but not before asking, ]

You're not turning into a pumpkin, are you? [ More hopeful than concerned. At least if one half of this handcuffed duo is a pumpkin, the other half can eat. ]

[ ooc: Part 2 of the Handcuffed! curse. Starring one jerkass assassin and one skittish Satan of Pride 8( As always, threadjacking is mightily encouraged! ]

Comments

video;

[subecho]

Beware, Cook. Demons are not for eating.

video;

[mortemscintilla]

I never said I'd eat her!

[ .....................Yet. ]

video;

[subecho]

I know the mind of man.

video; 1/3

[mortemscintilla]

Wha -- ?!

[ A-ha. A-haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. ]

Re: video;

[mortemscintilla]

[ H E A D ]

[ GO ]

[ B O O M ]

video;

[mortemscintilla]

God, no, that's. [ Drags face. ] I wouldn't --

[ Deep breath. Try and. Not go any redder. ]

I'm not even sure she's an actual lady.

video;

[subecho]

...you do not cannibalize men?

action;

[indecent_butterfly]

You speak as if One is so crude often, your own words speak more.

[Ne's at least stopped once they're away from the castle. If he wasn't such dead weight ne could have teleported them.]

video;

[mortemscintilla]

W -- No!

[ clearing throat. awkwardly. ]

I'm pretty sure there are laws against that type of thing.

video;

[subecho]

You are he who likens devil to pumpkin.

action;

[mortemscintilla]

Truth has a certain infallibility.

[ He makes use of the pause to rub the reddened skin around his wrist. And to ask, at last, the burning question, ]

What exactly are you running from?

video;

[mortemscintilla]

It's a reference from a fairytale!

Where a, um, young lady's carriage turns into a pumpkin at midnight.

video;

[subecho]

...and does she eat it?

video;

[mortemscintilla]

I.

[ And this is. So weird because. He's never thought about that before. ]

There story never m-mentions. She might have? She was at a ball all night. All that dancing would work up an appetite.

[indecent_butterfly]

Does it matter? As long as... heit isn't here. [Damn the part of nem that accepts Kira so hard in this place.]

video;

[subecho]

Why keep a pumpkin carriage, if it is not meant for eating?

[mortemscintilla]

It.

[ No eyerolling. No rubbing temples. No kicking the nearest object in range. But the look on Hei's face indicates he's tempted to do all three. It's been a long fucking day. Eventually, in a tone of forced calm, ]

We might run into It again. So it's in your best interests. To tell me what. It. Is.

video;

[mortemscintilla]

It was only a pumpkin before.

[ Ahem. Is it storytime? It feels like it's storytime c: ]

But the. Fairygodmother used her magic to turn it into a beautiful carriage. The spell would break when the clock struck midnight. So the young lady had to rush home before then. [ paaause ] It's a pretty effective way to impose curfew, if you think about it.

video;

[subecho]

But why... the pumpkin?

[indecent_butterfly]

Not necessarily. [Ne does have a good idea of where he spends his time after all.] Or you could just cooperate and follow Ones lead.

video;

[mortemscintilla]

I think -- [ His forehead wrinkles in a frown. Think, Li. Think. ] It was just the most convenient shape for a carriage. A coach shaped like a cabbage? That wouldn't have been as stylish. And I guess there's also the -- er, symbolism of pumpkins to consider. The moon, witches, evil spirits. That sort of thing.

[mortemscintilla]

[ Exhaling, Hei closes his eyes again. Rumpled and seemingly in-control, but there is a fury in all his lines and sinews. ]

Is that what you say to all your victims, before you drag them to a cave somewhere? [ Although that word -- victim -- is laughable on his lips. He's never been the type. Mostly it's apparent Hatter just wants to put space between herself and the castle. ]

video;

[subecho]

...I have a thought, Cook.

video; 1/2

[mortemscintilla]

[ A thought? ]

[ No. No. ]

[ Thoughts are BAD. ]

video;

[mortemscintilla]

......................Y-Yes?

[ Such trepidation. ]