enteloki: antibiotical (pic#17033635)
goro "intrusive thoughts" akechi ([personal profile] enteloki) wrote2024-03-06 07:47 pm

LABY - IC INBOX



[ TEXT - AUDIO - VIDEO - ACTION ] 
placation: placation (art: frkdlsch_draws) - dns (with all my marbles in the fight)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-24 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ You little shit. ♥

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.
placation: rosebursts (i don't know what we'd talk about)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-25 08:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ 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.

[ Casual. Calm. Offhand.

So very curious.
]

Why, are they bothering you?
placation: seishirou (the eastern sun behind him)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-25 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Are they?

[ 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.
placation: rosebursts (so you could find)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-25 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
They're not bothering me, though.

[ Maruki's continuing to eat his stir fry! He can do that and argue at the same time. Yummy yummy baby corn. ]
placation: rosebursts (and stumble into the night)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-25 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ 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.
placation: placation (art: pixiv 11317886) - dns ('cause here's the thing)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-26 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ 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. ]
placation: placation (art: weiss__ming) - dns (when they ask: what do i see?)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-26 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ And there goes his one chance! ]

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.
placation: placation (art: frkdlsch_draws) - dns (how the world could be)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-26 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
Don't mistake that for a request.

[ 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?
placation: placation (art: iroko_x) - dns (and still begin to sing it again)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-26 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ 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.
]

Lead the way. You know where we're going.
placation: placation (art: iroko_x) - dns (as if it might turn out this time)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-26 10:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ Maruki's simmering the whole way, his blood a low rolling boil in his veins. The nonsense Akechi has pulled on him while trying to keep the wool over his eyes – repeatedly speaking to him about the purely hypothetical idea of a psyche so split that it manifested two personas, as if Maruki's too stupid to realize that nothing he's ever said has been purely hypothetical – it absolutely infuriates him.

He can tolerate a lot from Akechi. A nearly infinite amount of bullshit. He can take verbal abuse, threats of all kinds, physical violence, sleepless nights, endless training, thankless work, mutual lies–

He can no longer tolerate Akechi faking certain things. His personality. His knowledge of the cognitive world. His estimation of what Maruki can observe and analyze.

There is a fundamental respect between them. And to Maruki's mind, if Akechi respects him at all, then he had better start respecting him enough not to treat him like a goddamn idiot.

They make it to the clearing behind the castle, partially obscured by a hill. The site of so many nighttime training sessions. The place where Akechi lay on the ground after the Green Knight was defeated, panting and staring up at the sky as Maruki admitted that it was in fact grief over a friend that drove him to discovering new heights of power.

Here he rounds on Akechi, the first part of what he's said drawing a couple wry quips onto the tip of his tongue to try to lessen the tension between them before they do battle, but then–

We could have avoided the distressing loss of our only kettle.

Maruki blinks.

Smiles at him, quick and sharp and nowhere near reaching his eyes before it drops away again.

Takes a step back.

Brings his hand up to adjust his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose–
]

Let's begin.

[ Bitten out. Harsh. Far more so than Akechi's likely to have heard before, two words even more acidic than whatever Maruki barked when he would break up fights in the forest.

And without further ado, there's a nice Piercing Strike headed straight for Akechi.

Better act fast.
]
placation: placation (art: frkdlsch_draws) - dns (is it coming this way?)

[personal profile] placation 2024-07-27 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ Of course it's the Prince disguise. Of course it's Robin Hood. What did Maruki really expect?

He isn't going to make demands now that they're out here and the battle has begun. He's going to ferret out the splintered, unstable parts of Akechi that he's managed to keep hidden until tonight using every tool in his arsenal. The same way he can get people to easily open up and tell him anything, he can draw out the jagged edges of a broken mind. If they slice his palms in the process, all the better. In the history of mankind, there's never been a martyr that didn't bleed.

He clocks the intent of Akechi's attack as soon as it makes contact with its target. Maruki has spent enough time with Azathoth now to recognize the different tentacles despite their identical appearance, but without the benefit of that connection, Akechi defaults to the easiest way to determine which is which. It's smart. He gets it.

He hates it.

Watching the Tentacle of Healing crumple from one attack irritates him every single time. It's the most important one; it shouldn't have such an easily exploitable weakness. The others don't, as far as he knows. Azathoth certainly doesn't.

It isn't knocked out of the battle yet – it always takes at least a few attacks before they get to that point – but it's down, twitching weakly among the writhing mass. The other two alongside it react in kind, nullifying or reflecting the attack back at Akechi and rearing up–

So that one can buff Maruki's defenses, for when Akechi inevitably switches his target, and the other can–

Maruki wants to see something.
]

You don't know what I'm really like, Akechi.

[ Normally, the Tentacle of Assistance acts as a sort of energy source for him, ramping up his power at steady intervals throughout their training. It's a reliable friend.

This isn't training, though.

Maruki knows the tentacles don't attack, necessarily, but if he can shift his intention to using them against Akechi rather than for himself, he thinks he might–

Ah. Yeah. There it is. Get Tarunda'd, idiot.
]

To borrow a turn of phrase... If you were holding back on me this whole time, I'll never forgive you.

[ It's time to Amplify Force! Enjoy the free turn, Akechi! ]

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