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 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.

Private; VOICE;

[beyourarmy]

I'm not going to blubber over it, either.

Why do you want to meet up?

Private; VOICE;

[worldofourown]

...Why?

Because I'm bored. And when I'm bored, I kill things.

[ Is he - joking? ]

Private; VOICE;

[beyourarmy]

As long as you're not going to kill me, fine. Where do you wanna meet?

[Because that has Setsuna completely alert and concerned. Karl might be playing around, but he's not taking chances. Better to entertain the vampire than him KILL things.]

Private; VOICE;

[worldofourown]

[ That worked like a charm~ ]

The Drowning Pool.

You're already naked. And I want to swim.

Private; VOICE; --> action, or assume? /sobs in a corner

[beyourarmy]

[Karl's getting to know him a little too well. At least Setsuna will be ALERT.]

A swim sounds like a good idea, actually.

Action sounds fun! \^^/

[worldofourown]

Perfect.

Unless you suffer a revisit of pesky modesty.

[ He just - wants a swim, Setsuna. Honest. ]

Action - he'll learn one day

[beyourarmy]

Even if I did, it's not like I can really cover up.

I'll meet you out there!

[Because he's flying. All six wings, and lots of feathers.]

One day. One day... xD

[worldofourown]

[ He'll be perched on a rock by the Drowning Pool. Keeping an eye out. ]

[ Six-winged or not - a flying boy is hard to miss. ]

Maybe; even when he KNOWS he still does stupid stuff

[beyourarmy]

[Setsuna lands, forgetting about the whole state of undress thing. Swimming!]

This wasn't a bad idea, Karl! I have to admit.

...why is this called Drowning Pool? [Sits at the edge and looks down into the water.]

xDDDD

[worldofourown]

[ Raised eyebrow at the Nekkid!Cherub. Huh. He really was expecting a third eyeball or something. ]

I can only imagine. Maybe it's a hot suicide spot.

...Ever read Hamlet?

[beyourarmy]

[Nope, Karl, the eyeballs are for Sandalphon. This is just six feathered wings, and a scrawny blond, with minimal hair.]

[Doesn't answer right away because he's trying to figure out if Karl's being sarcastic or not.] But people can't die here....

No. Like I told you last time, I don't read much. Especially Shakespeare. [Oh, not that he didn't look on the network when he had hands again, though.]

[worldofourown]

[ Trauma is no excuse for being unsophisticated, Setsuna. ]

...I'm going to loan you the Complete Works of Shakespeare, Cherub.

So you at least know who Ophelia is.

[beyourarmy]

Why do I need to know who Ophelia is? And I can't say I'll read it. Read enough of that stuff already. Weren't the Shakespeare murders enough?

[The trauma is why he's read "Titus Andronicus" though~! He was unsophisticated before it.]

[worldofourown]

[ One play down. A million more to go. ]

Because she may be the reason they call this place 'The Drowning Pool'.

[ Also: ]

I suspect the Shakespeare murders were the only way to force some culture into half the pigs here.