003. and in every raindrop... // open post.

[icarusalsoflew]

Take a prompt, take some time, drop in as you like. If you're from Eudio, though, mosey on down here.

Comments

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Oh god how am I going to tell him ]

SENT: 01:07 AM
Hit me back with the directions, bro. I'll run over there in a jiffy. Should I pick up drinks on the way?

[icarusalsoflew]

[And the first message contains directions: fourth floor of the Falner Manor, Malice Kings Wing on the east part of the house. The rooms all have names on the doors.

As for the next:]

SENT: 1:09 AM
Only if you want to. I've got a fuckload of booze here as it is. :))

[atlas_shrugged]

SENT: 01:11 AM
I'll grab some Corona on the way. Oh, Sta. Cruz. haha

[ arrives at the Manor after picking up some drinks. Brig runs pretty fast since apparently at speed 10 he's got the speed factor of a bloody caribou. Reindeers! Lord I love how the Promethean condition makes it nearly impossible to tire him out.]

[icarusalsoflew]

SENT: 1:12 AM
I guess some things DON'T have to stay in Mexico. :))

See you soon.

[And after that, Hikaru - fresh from the shower, dressed down in black silk pants and a tanktop - is flopped on the couch by the time Brig comes in, enjoying a cigarette.

Have a half-hearted wave, and a tired smile.]

Hey.

[No work on the desk. One full ashtray. One half-full bottle of Bourbon. One full glass of Bourbon.

Also: graying hair, and the gradually fading glow of those crimson rings.

Duty.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Nope, not with Brigbri. They enjoyed Sta. Cruz. haha ]

[ Brig plops down on a chair, more comfortable with Hikaru now since it's been a month of drinks and training bonding when Shinta can spare. He puts out the case (24 bottles. Cause bottled beer tastes better and it's never too heavy to carry good beer) of Corona and lays the bottles on the table ]

Guess that answers my question. [ Noting the rim fading away. And remembering the conversations with Kasumi on the matter ] And those are "sorties" I doubt you'll take anyone with you, even if some of us gladly would.

[ Brig pops open a bottle with his finger and downs the whole thing. Pours a glass of Bourbon and washes down the beer with it. And then pops open another bottle now that he's done with the warm-up ] So gentlemanly of you to bring out the Bourbon. I can already imagine you in a mafia suit doing the gentleman's swirl.

[icarusalsoflew]

What can I say? I've got good taste.

[Smiling as he's taking a healthy swig from his glass.]

As for this duty, well... it's mine to do, really. I let Death take me where I need to go. Not a lot of people can keep up with that.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ There's a sigh ]

Some of us can try to keep up. Sadly, there is no transmutation to let me pop in and out of places like you, Chief (Eli) and Master Tohru. Does Mr. Vice have any porting tech?

And yes, very good choice of Bourbon. Hard to come by the good stuff before Netsach. Getting a glass of Black Label in the field was like paradise.

[ Brig's just letting the conversation go along. He'll know when he might be able to admit to his brother that he'd been drinking with his mother every evening they spent at Seigi. As to how he'd do it, he wasn't quite sure. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[Those comments about the booze AND about porting makes him chuckle.]

Jessie has a whole lot of things. Whether he'd give any of it to you is another matter altogether.

[It's nice, really. These conversations. Good, little reminders that he had more people to rely on, and that he could always stay in touch.]

So. What did you want to talk to me about?

[atlas_shrugged]

Well, I guess I'll have to save up for them. Or talk to Chief if I've got clearance to loan one out of the Methuselah armory. Then there'd be the problem of putting a GPS tracker on you. But I guess there's always tracking your phone. [ Brig laughs at that. ]

[ But then kind of goes silent. ]

I don't know if you're going to kill me. [ He thinks of Kasumi smiling and chuckling at something or another in the middle of their conversations. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[...Whoa, what? Lifting an eyebrow, tilting his head.]

I guess you won't know until you tell it to me straight.

[What is this weird mood that he is reading now...]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brig just smoked through his entire cigarette pretty quickly. He lights up another one. Downs his second bottle of Corona. Pours and downs another glass of Bourbon. ohmehn, these are the times I wish I could get drunk. It looked so much easier for all the boys back in 1940. Ugh. And pops open another bottle of Corona and drinks it half way before he notices he's drank three already without popping in any lemon slices. fuck. Kasumi chuckling pops into mind again. ]

I was having drinks with your mother the week we were in Seigi.

[icarusalsoflew]

[And every little gesture Brig made that entire time was a signal. Nervousness, apprehension, worry, a healthy amount of guilt, and --

Hm.]

Were you?

[The question and tone are completely neutral.]

OOC: Autonomic control faaaaaails him right now. Uggggh

[atlas_shrugged]

I had a feeling you didn't know. [ Brigade is looking in Hikaru's direction but off to the side of his face into the room behind him, avoiding his eyes. He takes a swig and a drag. ] She is your mother after all... and I'd like to think I'm a friend [ Trust? ] enough for you not to keep tabs on every little thing I do anymore. [ Privacy? ]

Yes, [ Brig gives out a sigh. He has absolutely no control right now over his reactions. This rarely happens. ] I was, brother. [ He doesn't say the last as an honorific. He never has with Hikaru. He's saying it with a sense of he has no idea what he's feeling. ]

I wasn't hiding it from you. I know you know that.

IT'S THE BLADE KING, IT MAKES SENSE...

[icarusalsoflew]

[Listening carefully. Watching. Then:]

I know.

[Soft and quiet. He isn't angry, though, just... thoughtful now. Very thoughtful. That much is obvious, in how his gaze has become distant, in how smoking that cigarette is taking a little longer than it should.]

Re: IT'S THE BLADE KING, IT MAKES SENSE...

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade doesn't speak. He doesn't know what to say. He's not sure how he should feel. He didn't mean for this to happen.

What was that old line again? "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall in..." No. Not yet. Just... I don't know. Interested? Curious? Hoping for a chance to explore it?

Approval? Or in the least, a nod that his brother didn't mind?

He'd wait for Hikaru to speak. He really had nothing else to say. He just needed to tell his brother the truth. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[And after he finishes that stick, he's pouring himself a drink before going for another one.]

She's been alone for a long time, you know. You're the first person outside of the family and her Whisperers that she has agreed to drink with in years.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brig's surprise shows in a twitch around his cheek. He's not even bothering to try to take autonomic control over his body. This is Hikaru. Brother Death. Brother Weapon. Brother Hikaru. ]

I didn't know that. Here I thought she'd have a line of higher ranked Hunters and Oni-Tsukai waiting for her. I'm sorry if The Storm Queen popped to mind. Your mother seems like she could have anyone she wants, and no one would know.

[icarusalsoflew]

She is.

[But his smile tells Brig that Hikaru would know. It's... a thing of theirs. And he knows Kasumi well, in as much as he respects her privacy.]

The real issue at hand is whether she even wants anyone. She didn't handle her husband's death well.

[It nearly destroyed them, in fact.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ He catches that smile Hikaru gives. Like mother like son. Like son like mother? ]

I wouldn't want to pry, sir. That seems like a private, family story. I'm not sure if [ she'd be happy ] I should be privy to it. [ Brigade wants to know. But he knows well enough when some things are private things. ]

The way you say it, she sounds very sad. It doesn't show though. As expected.

[icarusalsoflew]

I think that she's actually content with what she has now. Love simply isn't in the picture for somebody like her, with the way things have gone in her life.

[Drinking.]

She is also the Lady of the Night of Zangyaku. Attachment is difficult.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Biscuit's face flashes before his eyes. There has never been another after her. ]

[ Brigade takes a swig. ] I know... how that feels.

[ He takes a puff of his cigarette ]

I don't think I have enough access, or if there's any access, on the files of the Lady of the Night, sir [ It slips out of habit as they speak on matters of authority. ] I probably wouldn't have read up on them, even if I did.

[icarusalsoflew]

They're available, but... I'm not too surprised that Kasumi did not say much of anything to you when it came to herself.

[Yeah, they were too alike.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade laughs a bit inside ] She and you are so alike.

Though I'd rather she did speak of herself and let me know about her, from her.

[ Brigade pauses and takes a puff ] I read up on you so much in the beginning. [ He remembers how angry he was in Korea. How spiteful Hikaru's eyes were. How the red rim was just a parlor trick to him like Chief Eli's Nimbus. ] After a point, when I'd read enough, I made it a point to hear about you from others, and yourself. I rarely open your files anymore, only if it's something you've already told me and I just feel I need to fill some details.

I find that I'd rather hear it from you. Like that first time you really opened up to me at Inquisitor Lim's shop.

[icarusalsoflew]

Yeah, well... you know I'm bad at it.

[But he does try. They have been drinking together more-or-less regularly, right?]

Thanks for telling me about Kasumi. Her business is her own, really.

[But if he doesn't like it... yeah.]

[atlas_shrugged]

You'll get better at it. [ Brig laughs internally ] (I hope) We'll get better at it.

[ He doesn't know what else to say. Is there anything else to say? He waits for Hikaru to go on. He doesn't know what he wants to hear. Anything would be nice. Just hoping that some of that trust that's always there underneath his skin comes to the surface. Some of that trust that they've built together in this short time. He could use a brother.]

[ He takes another swig but finds it's empty. Pops open two new bottles, cuts a one of the lemons he bought with a knife and pops in a slice in each. He leans and places one in front of Hikaru. Then he leans back and takes a swig. ]