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Duplicity Game Mods ([personal profile] duplicitymods) wrote in [community profile] duplicitymemes2019-09-12 04:47 pm
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TDM #8


« « « TEST DRIVE MEME » » »


« « « AND IT GOES ON AND ON


It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit. Yet, solace is found in the lies we tell each other, comforted by the peace of knowing that we're not alone in our depravity, and once on this path, sin itself becomes the lesser of two evils masked in a cloud of normalcy.

This is how Duplicity has functioned since the beginning. The divide of power and social standing is overt in that Dominants influence the decisions made both publicly and privately while Submissives cater to the rules presented to them. It is the way of Duplicity to assign random designations at birth with no leeway in altering what has been given. Climate in the Up is far stricter than that of the Down; violating outlined personas for a Dominant or Submissive while in full view of others is punished by degree of infraction. In the Down, many tend to turn a blind eye to these sorts of offenses.

To counteract the discovery of the Deceit Gene – a natural "negative" response to all stimuli – the L.I.E.S. program was founded. The program had been designed to introduce new subjects to the current environment and test for the Deceit Gene through immersion in Duplicity's standing society. Sexual impulses and encounters increase the chances of detecting the gene within these individuals. Participants are typically released from L.I.E.S. after a year; however, results have remained unsatisfactory and testing still continues.

... and you’re here! Finally! Welcome to Duplicity.

After choosing a door and stepping through to the other side, the first thing that greets you are the enthusiastic faces of people in medical scrubs and pristine lab coats. Their enthusiasm translates to eagerness as they strip you of your clothes to perform a thorough examination—you will be healed, bathed, and given a paper gown to wear until your items can be processed and delivered to your residence later in the evening. You are also given a device that accesses the network as well as the time and location of orientation.

If you enter Duplicity into the Up, congratulations! You’re a Dominant, which means you are immediately picked up by a limo after processing and taken to your highrise. Here, it is two Dominants per floor with separate apartments. If you enter Duplicity into the Down, congratulations! You’re a Submissive, which means you are directed towards public transportation with the address of the motel you’ll be living in. Here, it is two Submissives per room with a shared common space for all rooms.

Enjoy your free time until orientation! Participation is mandatory by all new and old arrivals.

The hellish summer heat is finally starting to subside, and the cool breeze suggests autumn is approaching.



» » » TAKE A RIDE




After stepping through the door and participating in orientation, LIERS are assembled together in the Up for a tour of Duplicity in its entirety. Seats are in pairs and randomly assigned to Dominants and Submissives alike. Traveling from Fiddler's Square, the train journeys through various parts of the Up, showcasing society and examples of lifestyle. Along the way, frequent stops are made; a variety of passengers can be seen exiting and entering the doors. A Dominant with a kneeling Submissive takes a seat near the front of the train at one stop. A small group of Submissives board and sit closer to the LIERS at another, all seemingly content in their roles. As the tour continues through the Up, the train passes close to the Market and White Wall Bridge and zips by North Park before heading into the Down and bypassing Red Wall Bridge and South Park.

The train makes a "final" stop at Riddler's Square, where inhabitants of the Down are instructed to return to their temporary housing. Those who live in the Up are permitted to stay on the train and revisit the same locations while returning.



« « « A POCKET OF PENNIES




The weather’s getting cooler, and people have begun transitioning from summer clothing to the sweaters and jackets of early fall. With jackets come pockets, and with pockets come a bizarre uptick in robberies.

Then again, perhaps the correlation is flawed. In the Down, getting robbed is a constant threat. Gangs of street toughs look for lone or inattentive people who look like they’ve got valuables on hand. Uncontracted Submissives are particularly easy to rob, since authorities have little time to bother with a lowly Submissive without a Dominant to advocate for them. One particularly nasty gang of young adult men, the Bulldogs, hangs out near the train, looking to ambush unwary Submissives fresh out of Orientation. They are prone to violent muggings and will simply beat up their target and leave them in a gutter when they’re finished robbing them.

In the Up, the streets are nominally safer, but there have been reports of a group of college-aged Submissive women taking advantage of their designation to attack travelers. They, too, stand near the train and the orientation center, looking to seduce passersby into an alley where a group of them can beat and mug their victims, usually Dominants looking to capitalize on their pretty appearances.

But you’re truthfully at risk anywhere in the city. The new arrivals are easy targets, and any brazen thief might get the idea to make some quick cash. The authorities are spread too thin to help, but perhaps LIErs can look out for one another?

Or they might just get in on the thievery. Everyone’s out for themselves, after all.



« « « NEW FLESH LIKE A GLOVE


( CW: potential dubcon, drugs, BDSM/sexual torture, prostitution, public use )

Surrounding a large building near the orientation center in the Up, banners and fliers announcing the beginning of the inaugural Duplicity High Tech Sexpo, a trade show for businesses and manufacturers of adult novelties. Since this is the expo’s first year, admission is free and many excited volunteers are handing out vouchers all over the city. These vouchers can be exchanged for goods and services within the expo, but have no monetary value outside of it. Even if you refuse them, you’ll likely find two or three of them tucked into your bag or pocket.

Inside the expo hall, there are dozens of booths pitching a variety of entertainments. Many offer interactive demonstrations, showing off their tech for the crowds of interested onlookers. Competition is fierce, and booths try to attract attention and customers through any means necessary. There are private rooms all around the expo for potential customers to try out the products. Booths will also happily accept volunteers for demos, or try to recruit them by bribing them with cash or free samples. There’s a nasty rumor going around that some are recruiting volunteers via more illicit means, like drugging and dressing them up, but surely that’s an exaggeration…

Some of the smaller booths sell more traditional toys and accessories: leashes and collars, specialty lubes and massage oils, fetish gear, strap-ons, dildos and vibrators in myriad shapes and sizes, and other basic items. Others advertise apps for the devices, the most notable of which is HUGGR (which LIErs may recognize as a poorly rebuilt sex-themed version of a certain other app.) The closer you get to the big-ticket sponsor booths, the more elaborate and fantastic the products become.

One of the most eye-catching demos is for the Climax VR Headset. You and a partner both wear a VR headset, which displays a collaborative virtual scenario. Both partners can alter the setting and surroundings however they like, and any sexual activity conducted in VR transmits real sensations to their bodies. You can come together without ever physically touching.

Symphony Hydraulics have a large, loud booth where crowds gather to watch perhaps the most outrageous demo: a variety of fucking machines. Volunteers get stripped, strapped in, and turned on, brought to screaming orgasms in front of the whole crowd. There is a fifteen minute break between demos on each machine, as some poor intern hurriedly washes and sanitizes them between uses. In the interim, they offer smaller, portable versions for sale or rent at the expo. (Some may note that a few of the Symphony Hydraulics staff members look a bit familiar.)

Does all this high-tech equipment have you overwhelmed? Wish you could go back to a simpler time? Sir Robert’f Bedroome Provifionf (sic) is helmed by historical reenactor Robert Plum, who has also created his own line of medieval torture device-themed sex toys. Need a chastity belt to keep your Submissive all to yourself? A rack with an attached spreader-bar? An iron maiden with soft vibrating silicone ticklers inside? All the stocks and whips and chains you could ever need? Sir Robert has you covered. Of course, everything on display is harmlessly altered for sexual novelty purposes, but one might also ask to see Sir Robert’s “special” merchandise in the back.

Perhaps the most unassuming booth at the expo belongs to Grandma Hattie’s Snacks and Sweets. Grandma Hattie, a kindly old Submissive, has partnered with a tech company to produce what appear to be completely normal vending machines, stocked full of her tasty homemade bread, snack cakes, and other baked goods. Vouchers are good for a free sample of any treat from a vending machine. They taste amazing and have no apparent odd effects-- until 10 minutes after consumption, when you suddenly gain an insatiable craving for a random kink. Your craving will dominate your thoughts for three hours, or until it is appeased.



« « « PERFECTION OF THE DIGITAL




(CW: potential dubcon, objectification)

By far the largest and shiniest booth comes from expo sponsors Sexy Metal Incorporated, who have set up a display of their incredible high-tech sexbots. These life-sized dolls are made of extremely realistic material that feels like warm human skin, and come with state-of-the-art mechanics that give them lifelike movement. Engineers show off how the bots can be plugged into a computer and programmed to act any way the buyer likes.

They come in a wide variety of customizable appearances and eerily, some of the bots on display look exactly like people you may know. Booth staff encourage customers to buy these dolls, or to rent them and give them a try onstage in front of the fascinated crowds. If that’s not kinky enough, one of the engineers has purchased a VR headset from another booth, and programmed it to interface with the bot’s controls. Care to slip inside the silicone skin of another person?



« « « MOD & OOC NOTES



Please read carefully.

On each Test Drive Meme, there will be a section noting character roles; these will vary each TDM. On an IC level, characters will still have gone through the doors but assignments OOCly are still randomized. When applying, there is a section of the application that denotes whether the character chooses "left" or "right". When participating on the TDM, there will be a third option. Players may link either a top level or a thread (five or more comments from their character) from the TDM and title the link as "Door Pass". This means that the player is choosing to take the designation that they were randomly assigned on the TDM, rather than taking the designation of a door. If the player decides to select a door rather than use the pass, then they are trying their luck; they may get the same designation they had on the TDM or the opposite. Once the application is submitted, players can't change their choice.

To assign roles to characters for this TDM, use the following guide: In celebration of our one year, pick whichever role you want for your character!

» A Pocket Full of Pennies: Feel free to come up with any free-roving gangs or petty criminals you like for your characters to tangle with.

» New Flesh Like A Glove: Characters can spend money on items at the expo, or may exchange vouchers for what they want. Each voucher has a value of about $5 within the expo and they may be acquired by finding them, having them handed to characters/stuffed in their pockets or bags by expo volunteers, or paid them in exchange for “volunteering” at booths.

Characters may indeed try before they buy, either out in the open or using one of the provided private rooms with a partner. The expo has a staff of unpaid student interns tasked with cleaning and sanitizing products if they are used but not purchased.

Grandma Hattie’s snacks can inspire characters to have any kink you may desire.

» Perfection of the Digital: Sexbots can resemble any player characters, including brand new arrivals/test drive characters. They can also resemble characters that yours knows from home. The engineers have no explanation for this, and the one who identifies himself as the designer will shrug and say he gets inspiration from many places.

The sexbots are hot-ticket expensive merchandise, so security is tight around the booth. Characters who attempt to steal or destroy a sexbot (for instance, one who looks like themselves) will be quickly set upon by guards, who are meant to eject them from the expo. However, many of the guards will take bribes from other booths to provide them model “volunteers,” drugged into complacency.

If characters want to acquire a sexbot permanently, they will have to buy it or exchange a hefty 50 vouchers for it.

Please remember to mark any necessary content, and have fun!!




» » » MAIN NAVIGATION « « «

arkfall: (exhausting)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-15 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Knives takes Legato to the Up. Once again, the trip is wordless and he walks with a fast pace, expecting Legato to silently keep up.

Once they made it to the impressive apartment building, Knives takes Legato up to his apartment and opens the door for him.

"There are two bedrooms here, but you will be sharing with me," he explains. He hopes that Legato doesn't get the wrong idea, so explains, "The other I promised to someone else."
endthem: (Oh shit)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-15 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
During their walk, there is time for the relief to turn nearly giddy... and then begin to chill as the guilt catches up.

Knives doesn't know that his abilities aren't working as they should. He doesn't know about everything that has happened while Legato has been away. He doesn't know what he's done. Maybe Knives will change his mind and throw him away once he finds out.

So, the knots in Legato's stomach haven't loosened at all by the time they reach the apartment. And Knives' explanation of the living arrangements doesn't help any. For a disastrous moment, Legato just looks at him silently, uncomprehending.
arkfall: (cloak)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-15 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Knives stares back at him and feels slightly annoyed by the stupid expression on Legato's face. Then, after a moment, he makes a disgusted noise and points at the couch.

"Sit," he orders. "You have something precious and I need to understand why."
endthem: (I serve my master)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-15 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Legato is confused... and that means danger. Knives might be frightening and terrible in many ways--unpredictable, volatile, vengeful--but he's never incomprehensible. Legato is used to being able to follow the lines of logic, with him.

So, the fact that he cannot guess what Knives could be referring to is unsettling. He obeys anyway, of course, taking a seat on the couch as instructed.
arkfall: (black gun)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-15 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Knives comes over to Legato and stands in front of him. After a moment, he reaches out and puts a hand on Legato's head.

This should be something easy. He should be able to just reach out his mind and take whatever he wanted, share whatever he needed, but his power supply is so low and his abilities here capped so harshly that he isn't sure that he'll be able to maintain the connection.

Still, he reaches out and pries into Legato's memories. He wants to see what the human has been through and how he came to carry Vash's arm with him. He isn't even sure that this will work, but he wants to find answers without having to ask a ton of questions.
endthem: (You can't leave me)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-15 11:37 pm (UTC)(link)
With how many psychic assaults he'd had to fight against during his stay in the previous prison, Legato very nearly strikes back at Knives out of reflex. He is not expecting the intrusion at all, so defensive psychic energy snaps up to shove back at the assault, but he manages to desperately wrestle his own instincts back at the last moment to let Knives in.

Looking for the memory of the arm is easy. Knives' goal is clearly in mind and the memory is so terribly important to Legato that he doesn't have to spend extra energy to go digging.

The scene of the July incident is similar to the one that he would remember... but still carrying little, significant differences. It's not quite the same version of reality that he had experienced himself, but it's so vivid in Legato's mind that there's no way he could be misremembering it. Instead of leaving Vash's arm behind, the order had been given to attach it to his most valuable weapon. Knives had been fashioning the little psychic wretch he'd found into the perfect servant, from the ground up, and this addition would make him infinitely more deadly. Knives himself used the arm to create the perfect creature to torment his brother and carry out his orders with while he healed.

Legato had used that beloved arm to control and destroy... even using it to activate Vash's remaining arm, ultimately resulting in a new hole blown into the moon.
arkfall: (oh you didn't know? i don't care.)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-15 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Knives finds that memory fascinating. It's so different than what he remembers. This means that not only does this Legato have his brother's arm, but his spine is very much intact.

Knives settles into their physic connection, finding it a little easier now that Legato has access to some of Vash's abilities. He shares some of his own memories, showing Legato the differences in what they remember.

It would seem that you and I are from different realities, he communicates while he's still within Legato's memories.

He goes further back then, searching for the moment that Legato met Knives. He wants to see how much of that history is different and learn more about the abilities that this verison of Legato has.
endthem: (Then my head fell apart)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-16 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
For as wordy as Legato can be, especially mentally, he's strangely quiet during the exchange. Having Knives share anything with him--even memories, even merely for strategic purposes--is strange. And the memories themselves are both fascinating and horrifying.

Does it mean that this Knives is not the being that Legato had sworn himself to? Are they two different people, or are they still considered the same? The doubt is wordless, but it's still tangible in Legato's mind.

Legato doesn't fight him as he reaches farther back. Traveling with Knives in those early days, learning about the world and ruthlessly fighting to prove himself with every breath. And before that is that moment that is framed in Legato's mind as one of the greatest in his life.

He'd been in that terrible place, subjected to humiliation and ruin at the hands of those disgusting men. Vermin. Experimenting with his ability--pure psychic control that had nothing to do with wires--when he'd been caught, beaten, and violated. Almost exactly the same scene as the one that Knives would remember, save for the variety of peculiar talent that the young boy had been developing and used to barely protect himself from being slashed apart when Knives descended on the place.
arkfall: (the way the music matched the screams)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-16 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
Learning about the change in Legato's abilities manages to pique his interest. There was something genuinely supernatural with this version of Legato, and he can understand why his counterpoint would have wanted to craft that into something much more powerful. There's almost a giddiness at that thought, as he realizes how much power this human brings with him.

In the physical world, his hand slips from Legato's hair to his face. In their minds, his memory blends with Legato's showing him the ways they have the same history. The strings were different, of course, but the impact of their meeting is the same.

You're still mine, he reassures, but the tone is less warm and comforting and more like a deadly promise. A trap.

He zooms through more of Legato's memories, getting a grasp of the general course of his life, and sharing when their memories align. He doesn't really share any information that Legato doesn't already know, keeping the realities of his own abilities close to the chest for now. He knows he's combing through someone's mind and that can be overwhelming for the weak-minded, but somehow he has faith that Legato will survive it in one peice.
endthem: (In the presence of a god)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-16 12:46 am (UTC)(link)
It's that deadly tone that truly eases Legato's mind. That is the demeanor of the great being he'd sworn his unwavering loyalty to. The threat of it is reassuring.

Some of the anxiety loosens in him, and he gladly suffers the abuse of having his mind dragged forward through his own life. He'd never let any of the other psychic beings he'd met have this sort of access to him. It's surreal to not be the one inflicting psychic strain on himself, but he endures it without complaint. Knives owns every inch of him; memories and thoughts are no different from anything else.

Besides, there are memories in there that he actually takes pride in. Orchestrating the Gung-Ho Guns (with Knives' permission, nonetheless) and weaving the perfect string of traps to whittle down Vash's resolve. Each peace lining up and falling with precision, until the moment when he'd finally won.

Legato's entire skull is ringing by the time Knives bullies himself to the end of Legato's life. He'll get to watch Vash pull the trigger by his own free will. He'll get to experience Legato's last moments of joy, blissful and satisfied as his anguish finally ends and he fulfills the promise he'd made to his master.

There is the lingering feeling that something could be pushed even farther in Legato's mind if he kept looking, but the human's consciousness is beginning to crumble.
arkfall: (you crack me up)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-16 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
Knives pulls back from Legato's mind then, but his hand is still on Legato's face. As they both come back into the present moment, Knives' hand tightens on Legato's face.

"That was beautiful," he says, his own mind buzzing at what he had just seen. Being able to see Vash in such a desperate moment, and then giving in, makes him feel an old sense of thrill.

He probably shouldn't. He should feel shame, he realizes, but he can't muster it. He feels like everything inside of him is buzzing.

And he's also simply exhausted. The journey through Legato's mind shouldn't have pulled out so much of him, but his black hair means he can barely hold together his abilities. He pulls back finally and plops into a chair. He seems pale and a little sweaty, but he is still grinning like a madman.

"What a sight. The story of your life is oddly poetic, Bluesummers. And now, like me, you are here after death. What do you think of this world so far?"

He's more talkative now, at least, even if he isn't sure he would be able to stand for long.
endthem: (gdi)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-16 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
Though he'd been willing to endure whatever Knives had wanted to do, he finds himself immeasurably relieved when the connection breaks after that memory. It's the perfect cornerstone to end on (it's where he'd wanted it all to end, after all) and he fears anything that had come after that point being brought to light.

So, an exhausted breath rushes out of him when Knives releases him. Slumping forward to catch his face in his hands, he hangs onto the ecstatic sense of pride now welling in his chest. It's probably what keeps him conscious, really. Drinking in the idea that his master thought he had done well.

After all of his suffering, after everything he'd gone through after some unnamed power had stolen the triumph of his death from him, maybe it was all working up to this moment. Maybe this was his reward for all of his loyalty and agony. When he rightly should have died and never had another moment with his master, only trusting that all would work out as planned after he was gone, here he is getting to experience it himself. It was a moment he'd dreamed about but never truly hoped would come to past.

...It's enough to almost distract him from something that Knives says next. He almost misses it, around the ringing in his head.

He raises his eyes enough to look over at his master, his glee dimming as a small knot of dread begins to form and tighten. "...Like you?"
arkfall: (splendid performance)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-16 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
"Hn," Knives replies and sits back in the chair, relaxing a bit and letting it support his body. "That's what this means." He reaches up and tugs at his hair. "I saw in your memories, Vash and I are still blond, but in our version of reality, we've both started to take on more black. More black means the end of our lives."

He doesn't want to give more details than that. "But this world, it's sustaining me. I've been brought back and forced into this shape."

He chuckles, mostly to himself. "And now I feel it's worth it to see that story in your head." He probably will feel guilty for liking it so much later, but right now he's still riding on the high.
endthem: (until our marrows mix)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-16 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
Between the mental exhaustion he'd just endured and the cold shock that this news sends through him, the world feels as though it slides out from under Legato's feet. The emotional whiplash shifts something inside him, beginning some kind of slow collapse. Without realizing, he braces his hands on the seat on either side of him in an effort to steady the reeling.

He doesn't have anything else, at first. No words, no outward reaction. Still processing what his master is saying, weighing against everything else he knows, a dull roar is beginning to build in the back of his mind.
arkfall: (the way the music matched the screams)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-16 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
Knives finds himself very curious about how Legato is responding to this news. He knows what they had just done must be making him feel raw and exposed, and now this news too.

He waits, lets Legato process, and watches to see what happens.
endthem: (Wild thing)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-16 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
The first reflex that he has is denial, because of course there's no way that Knives could die. The pedestal that he rests on in Legato's mind is one of infallibility and inevitability. But Knives also wouldn't lie. He's never had any reason to resort to something as base as that, especially without good reason.

And as Legato wrestles with the denial, the nagging, heavy thought comes crawling in... that he'd seen it before. He'd seen Knives brutalized and hanging on the brink of death before. And though that particular blow had been dealt by another all-powerful being, he also knows very well the destruction that humans are fated to cause. The angelic Plants do wither and die, all because of the ruin that humanity brings wherever it spreads. They drain and pollute and devour and defile...

So, between Vash and the humans, he knows deep down that it's possible. And with that realization, comes the rage.

It isn't fair.

After everything they worked for. After everything he suffered and gave up for their cause. He'd died for this, and all that may have done is left his master exposed to attack. None of it was fair.

His fingers tighten on the edge of the seat where they're braced.

The guilt and fury are heavy and quiet in his voice. "...I should have been there."
arkfall: (you crack me up)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-16 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Knives stares at Legato for a moment longer and then bursts out into laughter. The sound of it is more amused than dangerous, as if he genuinely finds that statement hilarious.

"And what would you have done? No matter how powerful you are, you're still human." he asks. Then he comes down from the laughter and regards Legato. Is that even still entirely true? He wonders how he would have felt about having this version of Legato under his command the entire time he fought against the infection of humanity.

"Albeit a slightly more useful one than the rest, so, perhaps..." A pause, and then he leans forward and considers Legato. "Stay with me here, and spend whatever borrowed time we have together making up for it."
endthem: (Not the same)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-16 03:39 pm (UTC)(link)
And just like that, he's a stupid child again, being rightfully rebuked for his foolishness. His jaw tightens from the shame of it and his anger folds inwards.

He hadn't been enough to keep his previous, false, inferior master from falling, so did he honestly expect he could have done better for Knives...

Knives' instruction cuts into his wallowing then, and Legato raises his eyes just enough to meet him.

"Of course, master."
arkfall: (splendid performance)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-19 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
"That's it? 'Of course, master.' No concerns that I'm a different version of your master? No linger doubts that I am the one you want to bow too?" Knives asks, he leans forward with wide eyes and a grin on his face, as if he's waiting for any sign that Legato will think less of him for being from a different reality.
endthem: (I serve my master)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-19 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
Legato fights the very human urge to glance away and off to the side while he considers his answer. He doesn't want to dwell on what shreds of doubt he might have any more than he wants Knives to see them. He keeps his focus locked on the being before him.

However, he does take a moment to remember the torturous prison he had so recently left, what it was like to live for so long with that empty gap in his soul where his master should have been. And he holds onto the much more recent image of Knives finally getting to witness Legato's final act in service to him. His master--this master--had been so pleased.

"I'm still yours," he answers, echoing the phrase that Knives had just branded in his mind.
arkfall: (smile)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-20 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
For a moment Knives is visibly pleased by that, or at least amused before he leans back and considers Legato.

"Lucky me, I still have an annoying little lap dog," he replies, unable to resist putting some kind of barb in his words. Then, after a moment, he stands and moves to the kitchen area of his loft. The open floor plan means he can still look at Legato.

"Are you hungry?" he asks. "I have food here."
endthem: (A good pet)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-20 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
The barbs, as much as they sting, are reassurance. The bite of it is familiar, even if the question that comes after is not. How long had it been since Knives had concerned himself with any of Legato's basic survival needs? It reminds him of a time when he when was small and struggling to keep up with his new god.

"...I wouldn't want to impose."

It's not really an answer, but asking something like this of his master seems wrong. It could even be a trap, for all he knows.

So, he just stays where he's at for the moment, feeling awkward and adrift on many things that he is slowly picking his mental through, deliberating how and when to ask them.
arkfall: (oh you didn't know? i don't care.)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-20 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Nonsense. The contract you signed today means that it is now my legal obligation to provide for you," Knives says in an off-handed kind of way. He might be mocking the laws here a bit, but he knows it would cause problems for him if he did break the contract.

"I'll make you a steak. I'm re-learning how to cook. It's been... A while. Since I've done that regularly." As he speaks he moves to get out everything he needs to cook. He's learning so once Vash is here he can impress his brother, but he doesn't share that fact.

"I have some birthday cake too. It's frozen, but if you want something sweet I could thaw some of it out."
endthem: (Taste the wealth of hate in me)

[personal profile] endthem 2019-09-20 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
It's still unsettling and counter-intuitive, but... there being a legal reason behind it at least makes a little more sense. He remembers that part of the orientation now that Knives brings it up. He really hadn't been paying nearly enough attention when he'd first arrived.

"It seems like it should be the other way around." But it's not his place to argue.

He stands then and slowly approaches the kitchen area. He's too anxious to sit while Knives works. He also... may have had much more experience with preparing meals over the last two years. He's morbidly curious to see how Knives fares.
arkfall: (cloak)

[personal profile] arkfall 2019-09-20 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
Knives expects that Legato would linger. He's the one that has drilled serving him into Legato's head since he was a child, after all, and he imagines that Legato's mental state would be a storm of conflicting emotions.

He doesn't offer any sympathy, but he doesn't seem to mind Legato watching him. Truthfully, he overcooks the steak a bit, but at least seems to mostly know what he's doing.

"I broke your back once," he explains as he cooks. "In the version of our reality that I'm from. I put my hand on your head and bent you in two as punishment for hurting Vash when I had not given you permission to touch him." He's still speaking so casually as if it's not horrifying. Legato had probably seen a vision of his moment when they were sharing their histories, but now Knives gives him context. "For a while, when you were still alive, you'd eat slumped over your plate, little more than the dog I've always known you to be. It will be interesting to see you eat with your hands again."

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