023 - In You The Wars And The Flights Accumulated

[worldofourown]

...Really.

[ Karl is seated by an intricate gazebo in the Phantomhive garden. Sipping - tea. What? Blood isn't the only thing he drinks. He's also (mercifully) fully-clothed. ]

This isn't as scandalous or as liberating as it's being made out to be.

[ Eyeroll. ]

Still. Some of us are much better off with our clothes on. This curse will hardly contest that.

[ Himself included. Hard to be imposing in the buff. Especially for the eternally pale and bony. ]

Glad I escaped notice for this one. I don't ...tan very well.

[ Or at all. ]

[ Private to Merlin ]

Time's more than up.

You'd better have found a way to fix him. 

[ Private to Self/ Semi-Difficult to Hack ]

Another one bites the dust. Literally. It's a pity to see Mr. Aion go. I rather enjoyed speaking with someone who was knowledgeable in subjects that held my interest. I'm envious he escaped. Yet ... not. I admit, in the early days, I'd have been bitter. Especially with Saya gone. Our Vietnam War is unfinished. I haven't made her pay for her crimes against me. She will die by my hand alone. When I think of how she slipped from my grasp - how I almost had her - I want to destroy the City.

I can't remain here. It's vile and intolerable. It's like I'm being choked to death.

But ... with Diva here, I don't want to leave. I know it's not a good sign. This place is making me complacent. Because Amshel isn't here. Because there's no agendas or experiments. But that doesn't make it safe. Anyone can leave without notice. If I'm hit by a curse, I can't protect Diva. It's no safe haven for her. Or her children. A few days of being happy won't change that. I can't - It's deluded and idiotic. It's pathetic. Being so dependent on the Deities whims. There's no one I can entrust with protecting her if I'm - indisposed. Not Solomon. He's my brother. Sometimes I miss him. But he can't be trusted. Look at all he's done.

I wish I could still summon the hatred to kill you.

As you killed me.

The others ...the humans, the non-Chiropterans... They can't be trusted either. They're blood-bags. They're nothing. I'm not deluded like Saya. They have their place. I have mine. So it's always been. Yet the longer I stay away from home, the more I -

Carla. Little Setsuna. They're not human. But they're still -

It's no excuse to start thinking that ...-

This isn't a second chance. I can't let myself believe that.

Diva could still leave at any time. She's too good for this place. Or for me.

I can't...

...

I should just stop thinking at all.

Comments

Private

[beyourarmy]

Uh, well, God, and Rosiel, and Michael and Raphael. And Katan. There's also Uriel, but he doesn't live in Heaven, anymore.

Wha? No. I have three...wait. No I have six of those now. But no. Just not sure I should be showing you anything like that. [In other words, he's THINKING lately, Karl. Isn't that scary?]

Private 1/2

[worldofourown]

Uriel...

[ Ringing bells. ]

Alexiel mentioned him. He was charged with meting out her punishment, wasn't he?

[ These angels don't sound very - angelic. ]

Private 2/2

[worldofourown]

...You have six eyeballs?

[ Snerk Snerk. ]

Show me.

Perma Private

[beyourarmy]

Yeah...he did. He's not such a bad guy, though.

No! Wings! You've already seen them. I used to have three.

Perma Private

[worldofourown]

Shy about showing them off?

[beyourarmy]

No. You've seen them. Repeatedly.

[worldofourown]

So why are you hiding behind the Voice-Only Function now?

[beyourarmy]

Does it matter?

Private

[worldofourown]

Are you blushing offscreen~?

Private

[beyourarmy]

Blushing? What do you take me for? A school boy?!

Private

[worldofourown]

Yes.

[ Duh~ ]

An innocent, wide-eyed, cherubic thing. I've said it oftentimes.

Private

[beyourarmy]

I am not! I'm not wide-eyed or innocent!

Private

[worldofourown]

I bet you're beet-red and ballooning up like a fat puffin as we speak~

Private VIDEO; his annoyance got the better of him, /sobs

[beyourarmy]

Am not! See?

Private YOU POOR CHILD

[worldofourown]

[ See Karl. ]

[ See Karl pointing. ]

[ See Karl laughing and laughing. ]

Got you~

Private; lmao, I think he's relieved Karl seems amused XD

[beyourarmy]

Got what exactly? It's not like there's anything to see on a screen! Just shoulders.

Private

[worldofourown]

That was my point.

You were hiding behind your device like there were blood and entrails splashed on your walls.

Private

[beyourarmy]

Well, I don't normally care!

It's...fuck it. It's not something I can really talk about. I was just uncomfortable. [But Karl finding it amusing, or seeming to not care...HELPS.]

Private

[worldofourown]

Uncomfortable?

[ Hm... ]

Traumatic experiences in the nude?

[ Certainly the case for Karl. ]

Private

[beyourarmy]

[He's curling away, shoulders hunched up close to him.] It doesn't matter.

[Relaxes and smiles a little, looking back at the screen.]

You're making it easier.

Private

[worldofourown]

Oh? [ The body-language is so telling. ] I think it does.

...What could've happened, I wonder~?

Private

[beyourarmy]

[Closing up again. Going cold.]

No, Karl. I really don't want to talk about that.

It helped when you laughed, okay.

Private

[worldofourown]

[ Oh, secrets~ He loves prying into those. ]

Why don't we meet up?

We can laugh at the accursed together~

Private; VOICE;

[beyourarmy]

[He remembers what Kira told him and really clams up.]

I don't want to laugh at them, though. It's kinda cruel.

Private; VOICE;

[worldofourown]

Fine.

You can blubber over their stretch marks and hideous moles.

I'll laugh.