♦ ♦ 18th Contract

[mortemscintilla]

[ The device snaps on to the foreshortened view of a spartan livingroom. In the corner, a wire-mesh cage with a brightly-patterned iguana is visible. The occupant stirs sluggishly across the interior, tail flicking. Closer to the screen, on the coffee-table, rests a crystal center-piece. ]

[ Someone's frigid little heart is on display for the whole City. ]

[ In the periphery, footsteps rustle. A voice, too flat and monotonous to be 'Li's, mutters, ]

So now the City's getting metaphorical on me.

Pretentious. As always.

[ Belatedly, the speaker notices the blinking device. With an irritable tch, a hand reaches to click off the feed. It won't be near midnight until the device switches itself back on. At a different spot, but with the ice-heart still in view. By that time, it'll have metamorphosed into a new shape. The blue glow it radiates is actually a spark of concentrated heat. Melting the ice from inside-out. ]

[ Hopefully it won't set the coffee-table on fire. ]

Options for Run Ins:

♠ At Home (Li/Hei): With impatient jerky movements -- almost pulling off the cabinet doors as he yanks them -- he'll be assembling lunch in the kitchen, though (for once) he isn't hungry. But he's no mood to look at that over-dramatic frozen heart. Teammates or friends are welcome to drop by and bug him!


☀ Shopping (Li): He leaves the stupid heart -- and inevitable questions via the Network device -- at home. At a supermarket, pushing a grocery cart, he feels better. After that tiresome 'revolt', he's glad to wander around and take care of mindless, not unpleasant tasks. You'll find him contemplating shelves of little fruity yogurt pots. Almond midnight mocha, juicy peach tart or blue lychee dream? Hmmmm.


∅ Recon (Reaper): Under the black sky of late night, he'll be near the City limits and the Underground, surveying the revolt's residual destruction. By now, in the groove of his routine, he's almost forgotten about the curse. The stars above are clear, and there's a pale slice of moon. He drifts from checkpoint to checkpoint, feeding an unexpected new habit of wandering around, not exactly patrolling, but getting lost. Staying lost.


[ OOC: Too cold to pierce, too hot to handle? Thawing and mellowing? Eating itself alive? Interpretations are up to you xD (Massively backtag friendly!!!!)  ]

Comments

[indecent_butterfly]

In the literal sense of the word, perhaps not.

[Ne remembers that apple.]

Who knows, you are certainly not the type for fluffy animals and frills either though.

[mortemscintilla]

[ He maintains the Exploding Apple was well-deserved. ]

Peoples' homes don't necessarily reflect their natures.

Not beyond poor housekeeping, anyway.

[ In the City, or back home, his digs never took on an impress of his personality. Which was, in fact, the point. ]

[indecent_butterfly]

Not true, most do since it's where a person feels free to be themselves. If not, they are not comfortable being themselves or are hiding from themselves.

[mortemscintilla]

Or the third possibility.

Not everyone buys into the sentiment of home and hearth.

[ With his profession, he's used to transient settings. He is himself -- whoever that self may be -- not in buildings, but with the people he's worked and fought with. ]

[indecent_butterfly]

Ah, but the longer a person is in a place the more they rub off on it.

[How long have you been stuck in one spot Li dear?]

It is inevitable. Unless you have no personality to speak of.

[mortemscintilla]

[ Never for longer than six or seven months at a stretch. That, in part, constitutes to his restlessness. He's unused to such static scenery. ]

People spend years in prison cells too. That doesn't make it any more homely. Or take away the truth that it's a prison.

[indecent_butterfly]

But even they decorate with things they wish for or those they miss. Even those who know they'll never leave.

[mortemscintilla]

[ It's rare for him to collect trinkets. While he may harbor a sentimental streak -- often unleashed to disastrous results -- he prefers to keep most of his shiny treasures safely stored in the medium of memory. ]

I find it unlikely that I'll never leave this City. Its main feature seems to be transience.

[ People come. People go. It's no different from his homeworld, in that sense. ]

[indecent_butterfly]

And yet there are those who have been here for years. No telling how long those in charge of such things might find you interesting enough to keep.

[mortemscintilla]

At the risk of false modesty, I'm not half as amusing as the other freaks this place collects.

[ With a pointedly dry glance at Hatter. ]

[indecent_butterfly]

Don't be so sure. One is quite certain someone finds you entertaining enough.

[mortemscintilla]

If by 'someone' you mean you, I'm afraid that matters very little to me.

[indecent_butterfly]

Perhaps, but this One is not responsible for your odds of returning home.

[mortemscintilla]

Presumptuous.

Not everyone is so desperate to return home.

[indecent_butterfly]

[Tell Hei, telling...]

You were the one to mention that people do not stay. But, One does agree that not all find it so disagreeable here, or less so than home.

[mortemscintilla]

[ He sees no purpose in being secretive about the upheaval in his homeworld. Even 'Li' doesn't hesitate to share that tidbit of his background with strangers. His world has always been a volatile one. Contractor or no. ]

A measure of flexibility comes with any new environment. You can either sink, or swim. [ And if the Syndicate has taught him nothing else, it's to swim. ]

[indecent_butterfly]

[Home might not be acceptable or he's found something better here...]

And are you very flexible?

[He did give nem the opening after all.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei's mind doesn't function in terms of better and worse. His history so far has been a patchwork of compromises and trade-offs. He takes what he can get with minimum fuss. ]

[ He ignores the innuendo, and the impulse at an eyeroll, ]

When it suits me. [ She can read into that however she wants. ]

[indecent_butterfly]

[Oh you know ne will...]

Ah but that does have it's disadvantages. Some do prefer the hard and rigid.

[mortemscintilla]

[ So obsessed with juvenile games. It's tedious. His experiences have taught him that those dictated by lust ultimately behave in irrational and pathetic ways. ]

They both have their uses. But in the end, they're a means to my own end. Not theirs.

[ Why, yes. He is a selfish bastard. ]

[indecent_butterfly]

[Would you prefer ne acted nir age?]

As it should be. As all should be.

[Such a glutton, Hei. For shame. Not that ne cares one way or the other. ]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Like Hatter, he wouldn't care either way. People wear masks for different reasons. He's not interested in parsing out hers. Nor is he invested with a chivalrous sense of fair-play. He's been taught since childhood to take what he wants. ]

Yet there are those who abnegate themselves for the needs of someone else.

[ There's an edge there. Of contempt, or perhaps ruefulness. He'd done it for Pai. But he didn't see it as self-sacrifice, even if Pai did. She was his sister, and he needed to help her. That was the sum of the equation. ]

[indecent_butterfly]

All have their failings. Their sins to bear. No good deed goes unpunished in the end and all do fade away.

[mortemscintilla]

And those who devote their lives to good deeds are the biggest gluttons for punishment of all.

[ At least he can be assured there's no danger of that in his existence. ]

[indecent_butterfly]

One would certainly agree with you on that assessment.