Master of Shadow - AU Event\Backdated to Dec 4th

[door_kun]

Who: Minato and anyone who dares.
What: AU Event shenanigans (backdated)
Where: SOMEWHERE in Genessia City.



"We humans are pretty a pretty selfish lot, you know?"

A video feed flicks on at nighttime. Minato's face stares back from the viewport, seemingly alone. His eyes vaguely focused and practically clouded over. His expression was...quite off. Perhaps it was odd to see the boy anything but apathetic or in a state of restrained happiness. But not like this. This was closer to a very dark amusement about things...

"...We take anything we can get, we hoard, we lie and cheat. But really, what do we get out of it in the end? Nothing, really. All our meaningless lives, we want so much...But why should we care? We'll just lose it all, anyway."

All in all, he looks the same, aside from the expression on his face. It's a smile, yes, but a twisted one. Melancholy mixed with an odd, dreadful serenity. He tilts the camera to the side, still not saying much, the view passing over a smashed window of an apartment as he sits in a busted couch. Nothing seems to be taken and everything is just kind of thrown aside. He turns the camera back to himself and adds, with a characteristic shrug...

"I've had too much taken from me, already, to want anything out of it. That's why this world deserves what it gets."

A pause. A long, long pause. And a laugh sounding oddly chilling from the typically calm young man.

"...You know who you are. Don't keep me waiting."

The feed clicks off.

Comments

[mortal_son]

Once the feed's turned off, Shinjiro steps forward, cracking his knuckles, preparing for - a fight, orders, perhaps another monologue. The world was shit, and he wasn't sad it would all finally end. Good riddance. But, he wasn't going to be a drama queen about it.

Not that he was going to say that to Arisato. Just between him and no-one - he'd not even admit this to Aki - the kid gave him the willies. It's like he swallowed death itself, embraced it all, and was riding it.

Sure, that's what he and Aki were doing, too - but they enjoyed themselves during that. Had a bit of fun. Took time to relax for a bit of pyromania.

But, as creepy as he found him, Shinjiro was still there, waiting for - whatever strange whim had taken Arisato today.

[door_kun]

He tilts his head in Shinjiro's direction as a quiet show of respect. Aragaki was unpredictable and brash. Incredibly strong, unyielding and unbreaking. That's what made the act of breaking him so easy, it seems. He sat in that ruined couch like a king, like dark, twisted messiah amidst the chaos he caused. He can't even remember if he drove out or killed whoever occupied this place.
He barely even remembered how he got here or what he was doing, let alone how he'd made this place a mess. He simply stopped thinking for a minute, letting that feeling take over, letting that ever-present darkness take hold. Ah, yes. That's the word, occupied. These people only took up space. They exist and then don't. Why worry about what's in between.

"Aragaki. I see you haven't burned yourself out just yet. I'm disappointed. You'd shine so much brighter right before you're snuffed out."

Quite a shame, really. For a guy so close to dying, the blackened Arisato wondered why he wanted to hang on that badly. Even Minato had a reason to cling to life: Death took everything from him, and so he wanted to do the same. But...of all people...?

"...Whatever. I guess you'll cross that bridge when you come to it. You've kept busy, right? Might as well make use of what little you've got." Another hollow little snicker, as if something was all too hilarious to him. He enjoyed reminding Shinji of what little he had left to cling to. It was a generosity on Minato's part.

"I told you before, Aragaki. If you don't find a way, I'd be more than happy to...help you along, if you get tired of playing around like this."

He dares! He dares a lot!

[youfool]

[Oh boy, someone talking about humanity like a monolith. And always so negatively, too. Not that there's no cause for that, but the priests do it better. They know more.

But the interesting thing is that Minato, presumably, was one of the ones afflicted. Ted steered clear of most of this month's insanity because people not being themselves was too false to endure. Still, there's something about him--he hardly knows what--that arouses his altruism. Better make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble.]

I'm...probably not who you mean, but I'm, ah, interested! For whatever it is.

[Weirdly enough, a lot of this dreary speech resonates with him. Hoarding, loss, vanity, a contempt for the world and its inconstancy. Been there, done that, got the void to never show for it.]

Re: He dares! He dares a lot!

[door_kun]

"...You think so?"

The boy's voice, still apathetic, drips with barely contained disdain. How does this fool seek to appeal to another with such an unusual manner? He leans into the camera just a little, tenting his fingers, almost as if he were trying to gaze at him eye to eye.

"You don't seem the type to share, you know. A little too attached to life to keep the conversation going, but I guess I'll humour you for a bit. Don't bore me to death."

Another hollow snicker. If only it were that easy. "Life has no purpose except the empty fictions we throw at it, don't you know? In the end, whatever meaning we make'll just be swept away in the currents of time. Honestly, it's a mercy to cut a life short when it'd only suffer to live."

He leans back a little, arms behind his head, almost as if he's entirely relaxed himself - as if he's the only one with any real high ground, here.

"...While I'd love to strangle that optimism out of that thin throat of yours, you'll have to wait in line if you're so eager to meet your maker. Some much more important people are first in line."

He isn't clear whether that means his own allies or the innocents that might fall victim to his fits of pique. Either way, it's more than a bit concerning.

Re: He dares! He dares a lot!

[youfool]

[He has a bad habit of detecting sincerity where it isn't. Also: talking too much.]

"I'm...ahah, pretty sure. You said they'd know, and I don't know, so I know I'm not the one. I think. Am I? I'd have thought it'd be someone like Shinjiro or Junpei or, you know, someone close, not strange. It's a flattering surprise if otherwise."

The next cryptic talk makes him chuckle.

"Puhahaha. Are those loose from life very chatty, in your experience? I don't get much gab in graveyards. Nonetheless, I'll try my best to interest you enough to avoid any obits.

...if you're vulgar or a hedonist, I suppose. But I repeat myself. There is some meaning in suffering, however much one would like to avoid it. I would hope even the secular could understand that much."

He smiles at the jab at his physical appearance. That's new.

"First I've heard of that! At least I can see out of both eyes you beanpole! Well, patience is a virtue; one should probably wait a while to meet the Maker anyway. Who's in front of me? They might be the kind who's both generous and unscrupulous enough to let me cut ahead."