[ Akechi arrives when Maruki expects him. He calls out from the kitchen to welcome him home; old habits truly do die hard. But otherwise, he focuses on the task at hand: Refrigerator cleanout stir fry, a truly massive and random assortment of leftovers at his disposal for it. The hazards of having cooked enough for an army at Vash's birthday...
He doesn't look up as he hears Akechi settle in, doesn't say anything at all until he speaks first. But then his response is immediate. ]
Oh, I can't stand it.
[ A spoonful of the sauce he's cobbled together, and then a surprised little face. It's actually not bad. ]
I would take the townsfolks' inexplicable violence over this, any day. I'm not cut out for video game mechanics. Back in my day, all we had was Pong, and we were perfectly happy with it...
[ That last part is a joke, and he looks over at Akechi with a grin before dumping the sauce into the sizzling pan. ]
Why, did something happen to you on your way over?
Akechi waves a hand - irate. The walk prior to their text exchange was annoying beyond measure and tested his limited patience.
He would also prefer the villager volatility. At least that was entertaining. This shit is stupid.]
Nothing worth mentioning.
[He became a tetris block and was crushed by a goblin. It was-
Not fun.]
Though on the way back, my mind wandered to a somewhat morbid topic. I often find it fascinating how others will punish their own. Did you know there was a time when people were sentenced to be crushed or dismembered by an elephant?
[The goblin had tusks that reminded him of one. Maybe there's a relation.]
They were trained to kill, usually by royalty. A person's head would be placed on stone block and elephant's foot would smash it down. Other times, they were simply slowly torn apart. Sometimes they would attach rings the animal's foot, and to the prisoner, so the body was broken with every step as the victim remained partially tied to a stake.
[ Throughout the new entry into the ever-growing list of Akechi Fun Facts! Maruki's focus slowly shifts from the nearly complete stir fry to the boy seated at the counter.
By elephant's foot would smash it down, his head is fully turned toward Akechi.
By so the body was broken with every step, his mouth has dropped open slightly and his eyes are wide behind his glasses.
At I thought that was interesting–
Maruki makes a noise that cannot possibly be quantified in any way. Part horrified, part baffled, part absurdly amused.
What the hell is Akechi's deal. ]
That's... Wow. Okay.
[ Another couple blinks at Akechi and then he shakes his head forcibly, almost violently, and returns his focus to the pan. He shifts the food around with the chopsticks that had been frozen in one hand, stares down at it for a moment longer – the chunks of leftover kabob meat, broken bits of a body smashed by an animal who wouldn't know any better what it was being used for.
His stomach lurches miserably. ]
You certainly have no shortage of interesting information to go around. I'm so grateful you seemingly always choose to share it with me.
[ Stop?? Doing this???? ]
How hungry are you?
[ BECAUSE MARUKI'S REALLY NOT, AFTER THAT STORY. ]
The same as always. I didn't do anything strenuous enough to work up an appetite.
[His reaction is-
Funny.
Akechi states these things on a whim - interesting facts he knows are morbid enough to incite a reaction, but it's not his intent. They're niche. Unknown. He wants to be the one to provide knowledge. Whether it's the cognitive world, a past torture method, volcano deaths or -
Facts over a chess match. In a palace, with a group of reckless teenagers.
He lets his hands settle on the counter and waits to be served, like a prince in a castle.]
And to your previous point, perhaps it says more about you that you seem to elicit that reaction from others. It must be the energy of being a researcher and a counselor - you naturally invoke this.
Maruki rolls his eyes, grabs two bowls from the cabinet. ]
You're right. I do have one of those faces that invites people to tell me everything.
[ It's said sarcastically, but... well, it sort of is true, isn't it.
Right. Enough food to feed a small bird for Akechi, then. And until his stomach stops turning over and over itself at the mental images Akechi's implanted into his mind, he'll take the same.
Two small portions doled out, one placed in front of Akechi, the other in front of the empty seat next to him. Maruki flicks the stove off, grabs chopsticks, napkins, comes around to join him at the bar–
And now that he's out of the way, dead center in Akechi's line of vision are the pot and kettle from earlier, freshly washed and set on a towel on the counter to dry.
Maruki slides easily into his seat, casual as he always is in their house. ]
Where do you learn all these things, anyway? Without the internet I feel like my own bank of new trivia has dried up quickly.
His eyes catch the glint of a pot. A kettle. Directly in front of him.
The food is aggressively shoved into his mouth - his eyes tear away from the suddenly offensive, innocuous kitchen items to Maruki when he sits down next to him. Normal. Questioning. Food in hand.
Is he fucking kidding?
Akechi can still see it - the corner of his eye feels like his pupil in that moment. Maruki's outside of his sight. The pot is directly in it.]
Retaining information is a specialty of mine.
[He does not give a shit about this.
Feigning nonchalance and ease, another helping of food is brought to lips, but before he chows down-
Casual. Calm. Offhand.]
Did you forget to put those up? You probably should before you start your meal. It would be a shame if food got on them and they had to be rewashed.
[ Quiet thanks mumbled quickly over the bowl before he tucks in. Maruki doesn't pay a lick of attention to Akechi or where he's looking, focused solely on trying to force his stomach out of knots so he can enjoy the dinner he worked hard on.
But he knows. He doesn't have to look to know what Akechi's seeing. ]
Hm?
[ He glances up at the question, follows his line of sight. ]
Oh, those? They're fine. I just wanted to be sure they were completely dry before I put them away again.
[ Maruki doesn't startle, not at the sight of Robin Hood – cakes! cakes in the kitchen!! – nor at the attack on the cookware. He only looks over at Akechi, unimpressed. ]
Interesting...
[ One raised eyebrow. ]
So in the end, you chose the pot for yourself, not the kettle.
Robin Hood appears again in another flurry of blue flames, Akechi resisting the temptation to bomb the whole kitchen. His kitchen. The kitchen with food Maruki, for all his shitty comments, cooks for him in.
Another Kouga will make the point. Akechi prepares for another 'accident' and-]
An issue occurs - he can tell that immediately by the way his chest starts to ignite. Heart racing. Soul thriving. A little cackle escaping his lips before he can even hold it back because Robin Hood vanishes under a pixelated glitch. Erased from existence and replaced with-
Loki.
A Loki who immediately uses Riot Gun on the kettle. Sparks hitting stir fry, plate, a static residual hitting Akechi's own arm from lack of distance.]
[ That does get a reaction out of Maruki. The cackle is familiar– the persona, and the attack it produces, not at all.
He throws an arm up in front of him as the static shrapnel strikes him too, glancing off with a jolting burn. Not enough to make Azathoth claw its way out of his soul, but it's certainly awake now, and Maruki–
Stares at Akechi.
Just stares.
Screw the kettle. Forget the mushrooms. ]
That wasn't a glitch. That wasn't a different appearance. What was that?
[ Akechi gets one chance to not treat Maruki like an idiot about this before the conversation takes a very different turn. ]
I'm unsure - it disappeared before I could see, though I did sense a shift. Your guess is as good as mine.
[A mushroom dug out and plopped into his mouth - Akechi should be feigning surprise. Acting concerned. He tries to force the hesitation to his expression and-
An act lost the second he felt that comfortable within Loki's rebellion.
It's unlikely Maruki will brush this off entirely, but his persona wasn't out long enough to study. If he can answer the attack-]
If you mean the ability itself - it's one Robin Hood had back in our reality. I didn't think it worked here.
[A beat. Some vegetables. He doesn't meet Maruki's eyes at all.]
[ Chopsticks balanced on top of the bowl, napkin set down on the counter. ]
Those were some interesting anecdotal hypotheticals you told me earlier about what it might take to have multiple personas, if such a thing were even possible.
[ And then he pushes the chair away and stands, grips the back of Akechi's shirt between his shoulder blades to yank him to stand as well. ]
It must be a side effect of the enthrallment era - his body doesn't even fucking react to having a hand curl around his shirt and pull him up.
His mouth does though. An immediate -]
Aren't you bold today. No, I don't think I will.
[Coming out of his mouth, despite being completely off the chair, standing straight.
The hell does Maruki think he's doing?
Now it's his turn to have once goddamn chance to let him go. Akechi's arms reaching for the arm behind him to drag him off - all nail and erratic movement to peel him away, feet plastered to the ground and muscles tense to stay put for the long haul.]
[ Sure, try to grapple! Maruki's not about to get into a wrestling match with him.
Azathoth is summoned instantly, silently. Two tentacles snake around Akechi's torso as Maruki lets him go and stares at him, brows raised, eyes wild. ]
Would you like to be dragged outside or are you going to walk yourself?
[Azathoth is the bane of his fucking existence. His fingers drop to dig into the shitty tentacles - an effort he knows is wasted from every other time these stupid appendages have dragged him. No Almighty. Nothing. Bless works on the healing one - it's not coiled around him. Even if it was, that removes one of many.
He's about to mouth off again when-
Being dragged out isn't an option with their housemates somewhere. One particular annoying fly on the wall doesn't need the goddamn ammo.
Tense and wound tighter than the persona around his body-]
Fine. I'll walk. We'll go outside - remove your annoying leash.
[ To his credit, he does. The tentacles retract as soon as Akechi relents, though Azathoth doesn't return to the collective unconscious ether. It hovers besides Maruki as he makes a broad, sweeping gesture with one arm and doesn't otherwise budge.
He never walks in front of Akechi anymore for a reason, after all. ]
Akechi has half a mind to make him lead the way, since he's so adamant about confirming this whole ordeal.
He turns as requested - a pair of shitty leather gloves grabbed from the counter as he moves. Petulant. Irate. He opens the front door with force - tries to slam it in Maruki's goddamn face to prove a point about bossing people around. 'The hinge is broken' muttered under his breath when that doesn't work and-
Around they go. A familiar backyard. A training ground. The same place Akechi dragged Maruki with a certain degree of intensity when he realized that man helped killed the Green Knight.
And he stands there - arms crossed over his chest. Defiant. Rebelling. For no reason at all.]
If you were so eager to train, you should have said so. We could have avoided the distressing loss of our only kettle.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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He doesn't look up as he hears Akechi settle in, doesn't say anything at all until he speaks first. But then his response is immediate. ]
Oh, I can't stand it.
[ A spoonful of the sauce he's cobbled together, and then a surprised little face. It's actually not bad. ]
I would take the townsfolks' inexplicable violence over this, any day. I'm not cut out for video game mechanics. Back in my day, all we had was Pong, and we were perfectly happy with it...
[ That last part is a joke, and he looks over at Akechi with a grin before dumping the sauce into the sizzling pan. ]
Why, did something happen to you on your way over?
cw: torture via elephant
Akechi waves a hand - irate. The walk prior to their text exchange was annoying beyond measure and tested his limited patience.
He would also prefer the villager volatility. At least that was entertaining. This shit is stupid.]
Nothing worth mentioning.
[He became a tetris block and was crushed by a goblin. It was-
Not fun.]
Though on the way back, my mind wandered to a somewhat morbid topic. I often find it fascinating how others will punish their own. Did you know there was a time when people were sentenced to be crushed or dismembered by an elephant?
[The goblin had tusks that reminded him of one. Maybe there's a relation.]
They were trained to kill, usually by royalty. A person's head would be placed on stone block and elephant's foot would smash it down. Other times, they were simply slowly torn apart. Sometimes they would attach rings the animal's foot, and to the prisoner, so the body was broken with every step as the victim remained partially tied to a stake.
[Gloves off for dinner and-
His nail's chipped. Ugh.]
I thought that was interesting.
no subject
By elephant's foot would smash it down, his head is fully turned toward Akechi.
By so the body was broken with every step, his mouth has dropped open slightly and his eyes are wide behind his glasses.
At I thought that was interesting–
Maruki makes a noise that cannot possibly be quantified in any way. Part horrified, part baffled, part absurdly amused.
What the hell is Akechi's deal. ]
That's... Wow. Okay.
[ Another couple blinks at Akechi and then he shakes his head forcibly, almost violently, and returns his focus to the pan. He shifts the food around with the chopsticks that had been frozen in one hand, stares down at it for a moment longer – the chunks of leftover kabob meat, broken bits of a body smashed by an animal who wouldn't know any better what it was being used for.
His stomach lurches miserably. ]
You certainly have no shortage of interesting information to go around. I'm so grateful you seemingly always choose to share it with me.
[ Stop?? Doing this???? ]
How hungry are you?
[ BECAUSE MARUKI'S REALLY NOT, AFTER THAT STORY. ]
no subject
[His reaction is-
Funny.
Akechi states these things on a whim - interesting facts he knows are morbid enough to incite a reaction, but it's not his intent. They're niche. Unknown. He wants to be the one to provide knowledge. Whether it's the cognitive world, a past torture method, volcano deaths or -
Facts over a chess match. In a palace, with a group of reckless teenagers.
He lets his hands settle on the counter and waits to be served, like a prince in a castle.]
And to your previous point, perhaps it says more about you that you seem to elicit that reaction from others. It must be the energy of being a researcher and a counselor - you naturally invoke this.
[It's your fault, actually. ❤️]
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Maruki rolls his eyes, grabs two bowls from the cabinet. ]
You're right. I do have one of those faces that invites people to tell me everything.
[ It's said sarcastically, but... well, it sort of is true, isn't it.
Right. Enough food to feed a small bird for Akechi, then. And until his stomach stops turning over and over itself at the mental images Akechi's implanted into his mind, he'll take the same.
Two small portions doled out, one placed in front of Akechi, the other in front of the empty seat next to him. Maruki flicks the stove off, grabs chopsticks, napkins, comes around to join him at the bar–
And now that he's out of the way, dead center in Akechi's line of vision are the pot and kettle from earlier, freshly washed and set on a towel on the counter to dry.
Maruki slides easily into his seat, casual as he always is in their house. ]
Where do you learn all these things, anyway? Without the internet I feel like my own bank of new trivia has dried up quickly.
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His eyes catch the glint of a pot. A kettle. Directly in front of him.
The food is aggressively shoved into his mouth - his eyes tear away from the suddenly offensive, innocuous kitchen items to Maruki when he sits down next to him. Normal. Questioning. Food in hand.
Is he fucking kidding?
Akechi can still see it - the corner of his eye feels like his pupil in that moment. Maruki's outside of his sight. The pot is directly in it.]
Retaining information is a specialty of mine.
[He does not give a shit about this.
Feigning nonchalance and ease, another helping of food is brought to lips, but before he chows down-
Casual. Calm. Offhand.]
Did you forget to put those up? You probably should before you start your meal. It would be a shame if food got on them and they had to be rewashed.
no subject
But he knows. He doesn't have to look to know what Akechi's seeing. ]
Hm?
[ He glances up at the question, follows his line of sight. ]
Oh, those? They're fine. I just wanted to be sure they were completely dry before I put them away again.
[ Casual. Calm. Offhand.
So very curious. ]
Why, are they bothering you?
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[Immediate. Spit out with force.
They aren't bothering him - not in the slightest. It's-
The mess.
It's cluttered. No sane person wants that in their vision.]
Both are dry. I can tell from here.
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[ He squints. Removes his glasses. Cleans them. Replaces them on his face and squints again. ]
Well, if you're sure, you're welcome to put them away yourself.
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[Because he doesn't care at all if they're in front of him. At all. Not one bit. It's about putting up clutter and cleaning while you work and -
His meal's temporarily abandoned for the stupidest argument of all time.
Pot. Kettle. Dabi. He isn't fucking touching either one.]
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[ Maruki's continuing to eat his stir fry! He can do that and argue at the same time. Yummy yummy baby corn. ]
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[Happy. Chipper, even.
You know that feeling when a cat jumps on a table and chooses to perch next to a particularly full cup of water by the edge of it?
That happens, in this moment. Akechi's absolute silence after an easy agreement an ominous warning.
Robin Hood appears behind him. A second later-
Blue tinted fire. Blinding. Bright. Kouga hits the pot and forces to the ground with a clatter. It doesn't sound like anything breaks, at least.]
My apologies. I don't know what happened - ah, this world is strange sometimes, isn't it?
no subject
Interesting...
[ One raised eyebrow. ]
So in the end, you chose the pot for yourself, not the kettle.
1/3
Akechi's eyes don't leave Maruki's face for a single moment - like there's a target between his eyes he's trying to catch in his vision.
He sure did say so much with so little. An intentional act. The audacious goddamn comment.
Fuck Dabi.]
no subject
No goddamn problem actually!
Robin Hood appears again in another flurry of blue flames, Akechi resisting the temptation to bomb the whole kitchen. His kitchen. The kitchen with food Maruki, for all his shitty comments, cooks for him in.
Another Kouga will make the point. Akechi prepares for another 'accident' and-]
3/4 actually
An issue occurs - he can tell that immediately by the way his chest starts to ignite. Heart racing. Soul thriving. A little cackle escaping his lips before he can even hold it back because Robin Hood vanishes under a pixelated glitch. Erased from existence and replaced with-
Loki.
A Loki who immediately uses Riot Gun on the kettle. Sparks hitting stir fry, plate, a static residual hitting Akechi's own arm from lack of distance.]
Stupid piece of shit!
no subject
Loki vanishes. The kettle shatters. Dead silent and-
Akechi stares at his plate.
Picks up the chopsticks. A little static shock - ouchies.
And proceeds to take a bite with only a-]
That was odd. Though it makes sense glitches can happen in that manner - Robin Hood chose an interesting appearance.
[He plucks a piece of kettle out of his vegetables. Unfortunate.]
Did you put mushrooms in this?
no subject
He throws an arm up in front of him as the static shrapnel strikes him too, glancing off with a jolting burn. Not enough to make Azathoth claw its way out of his soul, but it's certainly awake now, and Maruki–
Stares at Akechi.
Just stares.
Screw the kettle. Forget the mushrooms. ]
That wasn't a glitch. That wasn't a different appearance. What was that?
[ Akechi gets one chance to not treat Maruki like an idiot about this before the conversation takes a very different turn. ]
no subject
[A mushroom dug out and plopped into his mouth - Akechi should be feigning surprise. Acting concerned. He tries to force the hesitation to his expression and-
An act lost the second he felt that comfortable within Loki's rebellion.
It's unlikely Maruki will brush this off entirely, but his persona wasn't out long enough to study. If he can answer the attack-]
If you mean the ability itself - it's one Robin Hood had back in our reality. I didn't think it worked here.
[A beat. Some vegetables. He doesn't meet Maruki's eyes at all.]
I'll clean up tonight.
no subject
Don't bother.
[ Chopsticks balanced on top of the bowl, napkin set down on the counter. ]
Those were some interesting anecdotal hypotheticals you told me earlier about what it might take to have multiple personas, if such a thing were even possible.
[ And then he pushes the chair away and stands, grips the back of Akechi's shirt between his shoulder blades to yank him to stand as well. ]
Outside. Now.
no subject
Oh. He does not like that.
It must be a side effect of the enthrallment era - his body doesn't even fucking react to having a hand curl around his shirt and pull him up.
His mouth does though. An immediate -]
Aren't you bold today. No, I don't think I will.
[Coming out of his mouth, despite being completely off the chair, standing straight.
The hell does Maruki think he's doing?
Now it's his turn to have once goddamn chance to let him go. Akechi's arms reaching for the arm behind him to drag him off - all nail and erratic movement to peel him away, feet plastered to the ground and muscles tense to stay put for the long haul.]
Go test your goddamn theories on your own.
no subject
[ Sure, try to grapple! Maruki's not about to get into a wrestling match with him.
Azathoth is summoned instantly, silently. Two tentacles snake around Akechi's torso as Maruki lets him go and stares at him, brows raised, eyes wild. ]
Would you like to be dragged outside or are you going to walk yourself?
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[Azathoth is the bane of his fucking existence. His fingers drop to dig into the shitty tentacles - an effort he knows is wasted from every other time these stupid appendages have dragged him. No Almighty. Nothing. Bless works on the healing one - it's not coiled around him. Even if it was, that removes one of many.
He's about to mouth off again when-
Being dragged out isn't an option with their housemates somewhere. One particular annoying fly on the wall doesn't need the goddamn ammo.
Tense and wound tighter than the persona around his body-]
Fine. I'll walk. We'll go outside - remove your annoying leash.
[He isn't taking a STEP until it goes away.]
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He never walks in front of Akechi anymore for a reason, after all. ]
Lead the way. You know where we're going.
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Akechi has half a mind to make him lead the way, since he's so adamant about confirming this whole ordeal.
He turns as requested - a pair of shitty leather gloves grabbed from the counter as he moves. Petulant. Irate. He opens the front door with force - tries to slam it in Maruki's goddamn face to prove a point about bossing people around. 'The hinge is broken' muttered under his breath when that doesn't work and-
Around they go. A familiar backyard. A training ground. The same place Akechi dragged Maruki with a certain degree of intensity when he realized that man helped killed the Green Knight.
And he stands there - arms crossed over his chest. Defiant. Rebelling. For no reason at all.]
If you were so eager to train, you should have said so. We could have avoided the distressing loss of our only kettle.
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cw: violent thoughts, graphic violence @ self, suicide reference, murder
cw referenced self-harm
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cw: violent thoughts, murder
cw brainwashing lmao here we go
cw: violent thoughts, gore, murder, self harm (???)
cw gun violence, murder, physical assault
CW: VIOLENCE!!!!!!!!! of all kinds
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cw: violence, eye damage, graphic violence. mmmm just dont click.
cw eye trauma, graphic violence - truly you should not be reading this thread, stranger
cw: ohhhh graphic violence oooo eye trauma, self harm (??), rock based violence!
cw graphic violence, eye trauma, near death experience
cw: emeto, murder, suicide, graphic violence! suicidal ideation (????)
cw get cared for after ALL THAT, IDIOT
DIRE DIRE DIRE OHHH EVIL CAITLIN
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cw injury descriptions (i don't think they're graphic, but. shrug)
cw: injury description cont!
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cw: flaying fun fact!
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cw eye trauma, graphic violence