maskormenacelogs | Faith in your device

WHO: Danger and Kirei Kotomine
WHERE: The church
WHEN: Tonight
WHAT: Two friends have a chat.
WARNINGS: TBA

[ Kirei Kotomine is in a good mood.

It's a rarity, all things considered. Although he has grown to adopt more subtle amusements in his later years, there is still a measure of something reserved in him; a lingering malcontent coloring his experience. As of late, however, his tone has become more favorable. This would sound quite promising, if the source of it was something more...

Well. The nature of it is hard to put his finger on, exactly, and that is why he intends to discuss it.

He invited Danger to meet him at the Church. At this hour, service has ended and all who came to worship have long since filed out. It will leave the two of them with the entirety of the building to themselves, as the last light of the day still filters through the stained glass windows: a beautiful image -- or so he's told; Kirei has never grasped the aesthetic. His interests lean towards something else entirely.

He has stopped denying that fact to himself, and perhaps he should stop denying something else as well. ]

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[ This was not the same church in which they had first met, over a year ago, when her young consciousness had sought to answer questions of a more eternal nature. It's difficult to say whether she's come to some conclusion since that time-- whether or not she has a soul, and if it requires saving-- but the priest she'd encountered that night was not her savior. He had become something else entirely. Something more important, perhaps.

But there's still something familiar about it, when she arrives and eases quietly into one of the back pews. The fading daylight that scatters colors through the stained glass is only physics to her, something that moves her less than perhaps it should. She and Kirei are alike in that way.

She waits for him. ]

Danger.

[ When he sees her, he smiles. He greets her almost warmly -- as much as he can manage the emotion. There is still something off about his positivity; more sinister than sincere.

He approaches her with long strides, his arms folded behind his back as he stands at the edge of the aisle, where the pew begins. ]

I'm glad you came. I thought we could speak.

[ Admittedly, she is curious. She had suspected that he would perhaps want to speak with her about something-- and while her mind lingers on what had happened between them the other night, it is always difficult to predict what might be on Kirei's mind. He is a harder read than other humans. His desires and motivations are different.

She can never fully be certain what to make of it when he seems pleased. ]

Naturally, we can speak, if you like. [ Her answer comes after a beat, her voice as quiet and controlled as it ever is. ] Is something troubling you?

[ He takes that as invitation to sit down. Adjusting his coat, he takes a place next to her, and he cannot deny how familiar this is to the first day they met. A great many things have changed... and there are years apart from her in his memory, but that encounter stays just as strong in his mind.

Danger has always been important. ]

It's the opposite, actually. [ He begins, considering his words carefully. ] You know I am joyless man; we have discussed the matter at length.

[ Kirei takes a moment, watching Danger closely, and he decides against attempting to touch her right away. ]

Something has changed... in regards to you, and the company you keep with me.

Edited (TENSES!!) 2014-06-07 00:37 (UTC)

[ She shifts slightly-- just enough to make room for him without opening too much space between them-- and watches him carefully as he settles in beside her, her stare lingering on his face as he speaks. It's true, they've spoken enough times about his defects and her own. That, if nothing else, is the basis of their mutual understanding.

So she isn't sure what to make of it, at first, when he tells her that something has changed. Something related to her. Her calculating mind turns over a dozen or so possibilities before she finally answers him out loud: ]

Please elaborate. [ Quietly: ] I am uncertain what change you are referring to.

[ Kirei bends his head slightly, considering. This is not a discussion he planned beforehand -- it would have been unnatural to do so. He imagines Danger would much more appreciate him being direct; dancing around the matter with vague implication would gain him nothing.

Kirei looks at her again, and his smile returns. ]

I am quite fond of you, Danger. [ He admits, speaking as if he still doesn't quite believe it himself. The matter does still confuse him to some degree. ] In a way I have not felt for another person before. I enjoy myself when I am with you.

[ Which sounds all very well, except: ]

And you are aware of the cost that comes with my entertainment.

[ There is always a particular uncertainty she feels when he smiles at her. It's a snake's smile, its meaning somewhat obscured. But she meets his gaze without flinching, unafraid. There is no fear-- he has been honest with her, even in his moments of cruelty. In fact, she may even feel a trace of pride or pleasure at his admission-- that she alone had earned this place with him. ]

Yes. [ Her confirmation comes readily. ] I understand what pleases you now.

[ Intimately. ]

What do you mean to suggest?

[ Kirei tentatively reaches out, long fingers laying over Danger's lightly. His fingertips find the notches between her knuckles, resting there. He glances at her face, at those black marks which stain her face like inky tears, and he speaks again. ]

I should ask something first... to be entirely certain. [ He is, perhaps, cautious in how to present this matter; it's not territory he is used to by any means. ]

You mentioned your doctor. What is he to you?

[ The question Kirei poses to her is a complicated one. There was a point at which she would have readily claimed to hate Frederick Chilton. The man had condescended to her from the very moment they'd met, constantly undermining her authority. Even now, as her caretaker of sorts, his relationship with her is less than amicable. Tense at times, hostile at others. She'd been tempted to kill the good doctor more than once.

But she finds his insights valuable. As a lens for her more human-like inclinations, Chilton has his uses. The sex is merely another means of gaining leverage-- a way she learns about him and controls their relationship. There is an element of that here too, with Kirei. But the tone is different. The intimacy is different, given the mutual understanding they've since come to. ]

He is an asset. A tool I use to understand myself. And a nuisance, at times.

[ She pauses, scrutinizing Kirei more carefully now, though she makes no movements to pull away from him. ]

In what way is my relationship with Frederick Chilton relevant to my relationship with you?

Faith in your device

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