genessia | [closed] silence is broken

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[closed] silence is broken

Who: Szelhamos and Tannusen
Where: Genessia City - Velvet Lust
When: Backdated to the heeeaaaatwaaaave.
What: Szel's been actively avoiding talking to Tannu, while still hanging around his bar, since the soul incident.
Warnings: Talk of old abuse.

After the first time Tannusen had approached the demon and Szel had literally just poofed away in a cloud of smoke, the tiger had backed off. Plenty of reasons ran through his head why the man may not want to deal with him directly anymore, and... well, he couldn't blame him.

Tannusen just went about business as usual, lounging around in his usual upstairs booth sipping tea. His legs were on the seat itself while his back was against the wall the booth stood beside, and he was actively doing something or other on a laptop on his lap. Reading, mostly. And sometimes a lot of typing.

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Tannusen didn't blame other victims for what had happened to them.

Only himself. Only ever himself. He'd been thoroughly brainwashed, and it had never worn off.

That was why he needed 'maintenance', and Szel, so far as Tannusen knew, did not.

"...Yeah," the tiger cleared his throat, still staring at that ring. He slid his legs off the bench and sat up properly, at least, reaching for his tea. "You gonna sit down, or is this just a drive-by 'hey I know you're crazy' and then poof?"

Maintenance happened in other shapes and forms.

Locking himself in the library for weeks on end without food or drink or conversation, or maybe storming through the fortress looking for less loyal demons to rip apart.

That was maintenance. A violent reassertion of control. He was in charge, he made the rules, he could do whatever he pleased.

With that, he did sit. Hurled himself into the seat, a flash of wings flying this way and that before they vanished once more into nothing.

"You're possibly the most annoying person I have ever met in my entire life, and that includes your fiance."

"I'm starting to think that's a compliment, from you," Tannusen fiddled with his tea on the table for a moment, then took a sip. "Assuming you still like me despite it all. Has..." a pause. How to phrase this? Phrase it in a way that didn't make him sound too fucking pathetic, anyway. "Has seeing what you've seen made you like me any less?"

He'd accept a 'yes' at face value. Expected it. Was used to it. Already braced for it, and it was there very subtly in his tone, ever so slightly resigned. It was also there in the way the vinyl seating squeaked faintly as he leaned back just a bit, unconsciously making space for it. That 'yes'...

"Well I don't hate myself, Tannusen."

So there you go.

That's pretty damn honest right there, blatantly up front with his issues and problems therein.

"..." That was an interesting response, and not the expected one. A bit messed up, but not in the usual way.

"...You know, I can't promise that if he walked in the door right now and ordered me to murder everyone in this building and then sit at his feet like a hound, that I wouldn't do it."

Brainwashing.

"Well I'd be sincerely very angry at you, and once I was finished picking his skull fragments out of my teeth I might have to not talk to you again for another month."

"I'm just saying I'm still..." Trench's. At the end of the day... no matter how he might wish he was less broken...

"Might be worth it to get him eaten, though. I've tried a few times, but."

Yeah, no conscious loyalty there. Just pure brainwashing. Programming. Trench had had access to him from before he'd known himself, after all.

"There's therapy for that. I'm not suggesting I do it either. I know for a fact I would make it worse."

So hey, at least he's trying to be a good friend right.

"Short of me giving you a concussion and hoping it wipes out the first sixteen to twenty years of your life, there's nothing I can do to help."

An amused snort at that, Tannusen back to playing with his tea cup. At least he was more relaxed about it, now, instead of tensely waiting for that rejection. So many people who'd found out even a fraction of what had happened had been quick to find other places to be.

And that hadn't been very many people.

"Yeah... let's not, I don't need more head trauma, of either variety. Besides, you stitched my soul up, I'd say that's your good deed for the month."

"I didn't even get a decent thank you from your little pet goblin for that, do you know that? Hasn't even called me up to slur insults at me and throw in a 'by the way thanks', which is how I assume he communicates."

"You did tell him not to contact you," Tannusen pointed out, "he tends to take things like that at face value. He didn't... know."

Know Tannusen and Szel's actual dynamic, that was. Know that Tannusen trusted Szel and that it was actually, shockingly enough, somewhat founded.

...Hey, to be fair, even Tannusen was surprised at this shit. Weren't they supposed to be enemies or something?

"He flat out forbade me from inviting you to the wedding. So, you know, if you eavesdrop just be sneaky. It won't be that interesting anyway, just us being mushy idiots at each other."

"Since when does he listen to me? I figured he'd do it regardless, that's how he handles everything else in his life."

Little asshole.

"Well of course he would, and no I'm not going, I'd rather stick my face in a bucket full of lobsters then see you two cry on each other and make out."

"Him listening is his 'thank you'."

Like, has Cassian ever had a reason to cooperate with something Szel said, before?

"Also he's a little busier these days than he was on your world."

"A better thank you."

No, Szel.

"I don't want to hear about how busy he is, Tannusen."

"You know, I'm still allowed to help keep you busy, too."

The cheeky grin was right there in his voice.

"Can you not. I'm still busy being angry at you for being annoying."

"Yeah, see, you say 'angry', but," Tannusen leaned forward, resting his chin on the back of a hand, elbow propped on the table. "I'm not entirely sure I buy that."

The motion was mimicked, the demon leaning in and propping his head up similarly.

"Well I'm certainly not tickled pink by it now am I?"

"If I keep leaning in are you going to keep mirroring me?"

That grin had only gotten wider.

"What did I tell you about doing that."

"I don't know, probably some words you knew wouldn't phase me anyway," the tiger leaned closer accordingly, "Maybe I just want a better look at that delightful little bit of collar bone you're showing."

He wasn't embarrassed. There was actually a little swell of indigence as Tannusen spoke.

"So at what point do you want me to titter and swoon like a busty barmaid? I'd hate to miss my cue."

"You wanted compliments," Tannusen lifted his other hand, perfectly aware at this point that Szel could hear a person's movements with ridiculous clarity. He reached out to attempt to give the edge of his shirt-collar a flick outwards. "I should think genuine ones are always best."

NOT THAT MANY COMPLIMENTS.

Yes his head tilted to the side that Tannusen reached for, and those teeth clicked for just a moment, their striking briefly flashing needle sharp fangs.

"That's just flirting, you do that as you breathe."

And one fingertip, if Szel didn't stop him, came to rest right on that exposed peek of a collar bone, just ever so lightly. No, the flash of needled teeth didn't deter him.

Neither of them were mortals, humans, even if Tannusen wore a human body like a suit.

"As I breathe? Only when I really like someone. Sometimes I wonder if you take that part for granted as surely as Cass takes my deference."

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