mercykills | deerington: inbox

... Nicholas, it's Diarmuid.

[He sounds a little unsure, but then again, his request feels a little strange.]

I was... wondering... Well, I have a favor to ask you.

[Huh. Wolfwood isn't expecting a call from Diarmuid, not after how he had sounded on the network before. There's a pause while he sits up from where he was lying on the couch, bringing his attention back to the present.]

Hey, Diarmuid. What is it?

[Is this a bad idea? He hopes it's not a bad idea.

No, Wolfwood's a better choice than some of the other fighters he knows.

The others are too close to the situation. Too involved.]

... I've decided to meet with someone who was influenced in the dome. He had been one of the wolves who had hurt me, there, and... he wants to make peace. So I thought... perhaps... I should have someone I trust there to keep an eye over us.

From a distance.

If it's not too troublesome.

Edited 2019-09-13 03:47 (UTC)

[Oh.

Well.

His gut reaction is to reject the 'at a distance' idea and just straight-up be there with a gun in hand. If this person isn't sincere, things could go south quickly and that's the last thing Wolfwood wants. With all this team nonsense happening though, Wolfwood merely being around as a bear could be threat enough. And if Diarmuid is trusting him enough to ask this, he supposes he should honour what the kid wants.]

One've those guys, huh. [Oh, he does not sound impressed.] I'm guessing you're determined to do this.

[Diarmuid does trust easily. Not enough to not have some worries here, but enough to want to go anyway.]

Yes, I am.

... To be honest, I'm terrified, but — [He pauses, summons the mild to speak again. It takes a moment, wading through the admittedly fresh memories.] he's reached out to me... and I know this place changes people. Makes them do things they wouldn't have... without influence. Even now, I feel my team's influence, making me want to run and hide. From everyone. But...

I'm — as a monk, it's my duty to... try to make peace. To find a way to move passed it.

[There's that sense of duty again. It's a good thing this is a phone call, because Wolfwood's expression twists unpleasantly. Diarmuid doesn't owe those assholes anything, no matter what he's been taught.

The whole 'influence' thing just muddies the waters. Wolfwood knows that well enough, having seen and heard some terrible things. He'd fallen prey to something like it in the motorball arena, after all. At least there the worst he'd done was destroy some robots.

An audible sigh echoes down the line.]

All right, I'll do it, but on one condition.

[Honestly, the response he's gotten so far is better than some he could've gotten from a lot of people he knows.

(Praise be.)

Diarmuid's brows raise at the reply.]

One condition?

If this doesn't go well, you don't go getting hung up on it and wasting time trying to find another way.

[Wolfwood could have said "If this doesn't go well, I get to step in" but he figures that's implied already with him going along with it. Maybe Diarmuid wouldn't like how he steps in, but that's a problem Wolfwood would deal with later. If it comes to that.

Instead, he feels this is more important to say before the so-called meeting happens.]

... Alright. I swear to you, if it goes poorly, I'll — move on.

Just... don't hurt him unless he's truly a danger, okay?

I think there's... been enough blood spilt, this month.

Yeah, yeah, I got it.

[Just don't think he's going to get into specifics of what he thinks 'truly a danger' is. Wolfwood keeps his own definition, thanks.]

Just let me know when it's time.

[ Delivered to Wolfwood is a package containing the following:

— a note: 'Happy Holidays! I don't know if you could use a journal or not, but I figure it's good to have places to keep things written down around here. Take care and stay warm. — Shinichi'
— a leather journal
— a small tin of homemade fudge brownies
— a smaller note reading Migi, attached to an old car keytag....... Because giving gifts to one's allies is good etiquette... ]

[ A bonsai tree, since Credence remembers that Wolfwood wasn't used to trees. It has an instruction book on how to care for it. ]

[ leo went back and forth on this -- honestly, maybe it's none of his business, especially since he hadn't actually managed to help wolfwood when he'd been affected, but it's been long enough that it's probably fine. ultimately, he can't just leave it alone, so even if it's done and gone and there's not much he can do he wants to at least say something. ]

Mr. Wolfwood? It's Leo.

[ a bit of an awkward pause here as leo mentally berates himself for not having prepared anything to say. oops. eventually: ]

.... Are you doing alright?

[ nailed it. ]

[It's been a long time since their run in. A couple of months at least. It isn't so much that Wolfwood's tried to put it out of his mind, as wanted to put it behind him instead. If he were more self-reflective he might realise that he's been avoiding talking to Leo the same way Shinichi had avoided talking to him.

He's not though.

When he picks up the call however, that thought process does start ticking away in the back of his mind, to come bother him later on. For a few moments Wolfwood's only reply is a frustrated sigh.]

Yeah. Broke an arm a few weeks ago but doing fine now.

... how's your face?

[He does remember the punching.]

[ expecting wolfwood to be self-reflective is expecting the impossible tbh, unless he's literally dying. ]

[ leo laughs a little awkwardly. ] I feel like it's pretty easy to get things broken around here. I almost got burned alive the other day.

[ he says it like it's a normal occurrence. ]

Oh... it's fine. I'm no stranger to getting punched.

[ if that's of any comfort at all!!!! he doesn't normally ask for it, though. ]

Huh.

[That's to the 'burned alive' part. What else can you say to that, really? It seems par for the course around Deerington. Wolfwood was warped away to do battle with a moon monster, so he's not one to talk.]

I never would have guessed.

[So deadpan, it's hard to tell if he's being serious or not.]

[ that's the appropriate reaction. ]

Very funny.

[ leo just assumes he's mocking him. a bit of a pause. ]

.... Sorry that I wasn't able to help you out, in the end. Were you.... I mean, did you get the cure?

[ what's the tactful way of asking whether or not he's a monster ]

[There have been less tactful ways, so he's got that going for him. Wolfwood is silent for a good few seconds, before sighing.]

Yeah, I got it. I knocked that guy around too. That shit was -- pretty absolute.

[Everyone he ran into got attacked. It wasn't just Leo.]

[ he tried and therefore no one can criticize him. ]

Well, I can't exactly blame you..... considering it was eating a heart or getting injected with some mystery liquid. No one would be happy about that to begin with.

[ nevermind whatever past experiences he might have had with them. ]

.... I'm glad you're alright. It must have been horrible.

[There's a slight pause, before:]

You're joking, right? Why the hell wouldn't you blame me.

[Outside influence or not, Wolfwood punched the guy in the face. He wasn't apologetic about it. Instead, it's like Leo feels he needs to apologise. That, more than anything, is annoying.]

Because everything was crazy as shit? And I wanted to stab you with a needle or make you eat a heart? I mean, who's going to take that well?

[ it's nightow protag syndrome. ]

You weren't in your right mind, I'm not going to hold that against you.

That's nice and all, but that attitude could get you killed someday.

Most things I deal with on a regular basis could....

[ to be fair. ]

But thanks.

Yeah, well. Same to you.

[He's bad at this.]

[ he really is. ]

Want to get lunch sometime?

[ and then the titanic happens. ]

What? No.

[Automatic response. A pause.]

I don't know. If I see you around, sure.

Thanks for letting me down easy.

[ wow!!! ]

I'm sure we'll run into each other. Just hopefully not when something's trying to kill us, for once.

deerington: inbox

Voice.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

delivery | Christmas Eve

christmas present!

audio; backdated to just before titanicing

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject