riverviewlogs | [Closed] Try to get out but we just keep sticking around

[Well fuck.

Eichi puts his fork down, glancing across the table at that stupid playful expression. He has no idea how he missed someone with so many scars and one eye even beneath a mask, but... Magic is really mysterious, it seems. He tries to ignore his stomach dropping by stubbornly clinging to some type of confidence.]

Even Satan was once an angel, you know. [This is the third time he's had to say this to someone and he still hasn't thought that it was too ridiculous to stop saying.] So you've connected the shoe to a foot, but to do it this way was a little cheap. I'm a bit disappointed you weren't able to take a little longer and find out the hard way.

[He's just annoyed, really.]

Well, if we'd slept together that night it would have been more fun for me... but I guess that can always come later.

[It puts a lot of things in better perspective. This kid isn't the sweet, shy and bemused boy he'd seen at Carnivale... he really is a chess-king at the heart. And knowing that makes him much, much easier to play.]

It's your own fault for giving me an easy clue... and for not practicing your poker face.

Kissing you is above what anyone can hide with a simple "poker face."

[Ouch. Nevermind that he'd been into it, which he is now ashamed of— he can actually hide expressions really well behind that distant smile of his, but it's a little more difficult when he finds something out like this. God.]

Is it so strange to think that I know of war? I may just be an idol, but there's a reason I was known as "Emperor" back home. Regardless of what you might think, I did work for that all on my own, three times as hard as anyone else who tried to rise the ranks the same.

[He's picking up his fork again, stabbing a little harder into his salad.] So don't think that you knowing this has me at any sort of a disadvantage. I'd gambled with that much, so of course I was prepared to lose.

You seemed pretty eager to keep going with it, from what I remember.

[He'd kissed back... and it hadn't escaped Dodger's attention how long it had taken before he finally took his leave. But he isn't really aiming to make Eichi uncomfortable, just shooting down his attempt at an insult with a flat response.]

By the way, if you want anything else after dinner, I've still got money to toss around and we'll have some daylight around where people are still out and about. So don't put yourself into a coma eating too fast, yeah?

[ Eichi frowns, but other than that, he actually looks a lot less panicked than he did at the start of their date. If anything, this tells him a lot about Dodger. It's interesting, a bit, and as he continues to offer more for this date, Eichi is pretty sure now that it's just to see if he'll get some afterwards.

But he could use this, he thinks. ]

What sort of places do you normally go on a date?

I don't. Like I said before, dates are for other people... so when I go on them, I just do whatever the other person's up for.

[It's a surprisingly open response. He has no use for dates, he gets more information on people in other ways and he'd rather sit around at home getting drunk with someone he likes. But when dates happen, he figures the best way to make them work is by just going along with whatever his partner wants... and that's always ended well, in his experience.]

Do you know how to shoot a gun, Dodger-san?

[ It probably seems wildly out of nowhere, but Eichi is very aware that most people will either nag him about this or question him as to why he wants to. So... ]

[It doesn't seem odd to Dodger... he's taught people how to shoot before, so he has a sense of where Eichi's going with this.]

I do, but you might not like my methods for teaching.

What methods might those be? To be honest, your methods for all of this are a little sloppy, so I doubt it would be much different.

[He feels observed right now and it's a little creepy. But he's still relaxing enough to pull up his left hand like it's a gun, pointing it right at Dodger and closing one eye to shoot an imaginary bullet his way.]

Bang. ☆ I've always wanted to shoot a gun before, you know? But Keito would always scold me for ideas like that, telling me that I should be resting. Since he's not here, and those other nagging friends of mine are likely busy, it would be a perfect time to go somewhere like a shooting range.

[He doesn't mind being called sloppy, because he's been called it before. He prefers to think he's testing the waters - he doesn't know this city as well as he knows his home world, and every new person is a new puzzle that he has nowhere near the resources he had when he was younger. But having someone like Eichi to help him... that would honestly make things go a lot faster.]

I wouldn't use a shooting range, if we were doing things my way.

[And if Eichi doesn't get the hint, he doesn't plan to elaborate... but the kid's pretty smart.]

Still, I think if anyone wants to learn anything it's their business what they use it for. I'll teach you if you're willing to give me something in return.

[Now he's eating his fancy veal, slow and polite, but he'll glance over at that last sentence. Mm, he grew up thinking that's what friendship was, just exchanging services like this, but he's learned better by now. At the same time, he is aware enough to know that that's how the world works.]

Something like what? I won't agree to anything unless I get the specifics. On top of that, I'd feel more comfortable at an official shooting range.

It's your night, so I'll take you to a shooting range if that's what you want.

[He shrugs.]

You don't seem like the type that uses non-concrete "favors" as currency, so I won't waste your time with that. I'll teach you to shoot in exchange for information - not about Reaper, I expect that's something you'd want to hold over my head, but I'm sure we can decide on someone who's worth tattling for some new skills.

Your obsessive interest with information is a little strange, Dodger-san. So you know, I'm already being taught some skills by a few different people, so I could do without this if I wanted to. It's an interest of mine to shoot a gun, but I do prefer to stand behind a meat shield and issue commands. ♪

[In a way, this whole mess has him feeling a lot... better about this whole situation. Dodger is a scary person, yes, but he's trying something here, and there's something he clearly wants. He wants everything, probably. Everything he can get to feel on top. That's the impression Eichi gets, and he thinks he understands it a little.]

Why isn't this simply part of our date? You know, if you do anything to me now, the retaliation won't be something simple that will cause you enjoyment. You'll simply be dead. I'd rather avoid something like that.

Information is what the world runs on. And I have my own reasons for wanting the information I've asked for.

[This kid fancies himself an emperor... but Dodger doesn't have any aspiration to beat him. Just to use him where they're both mutually useful to each other.

Although... "retaliation that causes enjoyment", huh... he really has been talking to Reaper.]

If you were someone I wanted to make sure stayed safe, I'd teach you for free - but information is just a simpler currency than sexual acts. Asking for sex implies you hold some sort of power over me which you seem to think information gives you, too.

But if you're not willing to give me either, we can think of something else. Just understand that I don't believe in gaining things without giving back - and you'd be gaining a lot if I of all people taught you how to handle a gun.

Doesn't it?

[Give him some sort of power. Not much, he's very well aware, but he does think there's some there, or at least that's what he's saying... He really does follow the Art of War.]

I'm well aware of fair exchanges like that. For the last few years of my life, I've spent my time using those around me as stepping stools to get where I am now. My rise here isn't very different, though it took me far less time to accomplish it. I sent a handful of lazy wastes of space crumbling to pieces at the loss of their careers, and I'm certain they're waiting tables now.

...Anyway, I wouldn't mind giving you some information on myself, if there's anything you're especially curious about. It is a date, after all.

I've gotten all the information I need about you.

[He hasn't gotten all the information he wants... but he's gotten what he needs. Still, he takes it as a hint to stop talking about business. He is, after all, sort of trying to get away from threatening each other. There's a long pause where he just concentrates on eating his burger, gears turning in his head.]

If you want, we can just agree you owe me a second date. That keeps the bridge between our chess game here and a proper attempt at romance, yeah?

Fufu... how mean.

[Saying he has all the info he needs. A personal attack on his ego, surely... but more than that, it has him wondering just what he knows. Eichi knows he tends to talk a little much, but he doesn't want to think about it.

Still, at that suggestion, he spins the veal on his fork a little to look at it. As much as he wants to frown, he doesn't, keeping that same polite smile in place.]

I was told to stay away from you, you know. [And he knows he should probably be listening... But when does he ever listen? He can't stand sitting back and waiting and wondering and being left out of everything just because he's fragile. He wants to be able to handle himself. And he's very aware that Dodger isn't snapping and threatening him back, this time.

He politely extends his right hand for a shake.]

If it means that I'll be treated like a proper date, then it shouldn't be a problem.

[Dodger relaxes a bit, having bristled despite his best efforts as the conversation progressed. After a pause, he wipes his hand on a napkin so it isn't completely drenched in grease, and lightly shakes Eichi's hand.]

Staying away from me is decent advice - is that something Reaper told you?

[It's... pretty obvious that he's more curious than he should be letting on. He can't help the way he snaps to attention when Reaper becomes the topic of conversation.]

[There's a knowing smirk from Eichi as he watches that reaction, purposefully taking his time in answering.]

You're a little like a puppy at times, Dodger-san. I wonder if that's why you have a dog.

[He could literally die from a shove and yet he's bold enough to say this shit, but that's just how he is. For as much as he risks his life, he tries to only do it when it's important to his goals, important to his interests, or he believes he can survive it one way or another.]

He did say that. He was quite angry, but rather than giving you the satisfaction of a confrontation and a warning, it seems that he intends to wait and see if you'll foolishly try something again. I wonder if he could even be watching us now?

[Eichi...]

I'm sure he has better things to do than stalk me.

[A very, very ironic statement coming from Dodger. He knows Reaper won't be around, because he chose a time when he knew Reaper wouldn't be up to anything worth keeping tabs on... and he'll be able to pick right back up on following him around in the morning. He can prove himself to Reaper on his own time, but that doesn't mean he intends to stop invading his privacy when he thinks he can get away with it.

He's silent for a moment, leaning back in his chair and scratching his wrist under the table to alleviate the itch of going this long without a cigarette, before he speaks again.]

Were you the type of kid that put things on his balls so the family dog would lick it off, Tenshouin?

[Haha, he won't say anything on that first comment, and the second one is so crude it's almost surprising, even for Dodger. Still, he manages to keep his cool.]

What a strange question for a restaurant like this. We never had a dog. [Yeah, he's going to play it off like this, for now, eating his food and not seeming offended at all. He just thinks it's sort of funny, really... But he really does know he should calm down on being so cheeky.]

[He knows it's a strange question... but honestly, it's just where his mind went when Eichi mentioned him being a dog. Which should say enough on its own.]

The man that raised me was. You could see it in the way he held himself. He was always looking for power, for sex, for money, for some way to crush other people so he'd have something to stand on, to put himself up a little higher.

[His tips his head to the side, playing with his food now more than eating it as he tells the story.]

So, I got raised to be his dog. Obeying every one of his commands, no matter what it meant for me. Even if it was humiliating, or dangerous, or even impossible. I did it. And I did it well. No matter who I had to kill, or what I had to sacrifice, I've always done what my master says. So it's funny that you call me a dog, since that's been my purpose since birth... and since I'm planning to keep being one here.

[Which, if Eichi's thinking about it... puts a lot of things into light about how Dodger views and treats Reaper.]

[Oh. That's a lot more information than he ever thought he was going to get, but he actually listens politely the whole time, not making any faces or anything.]

Was that all to give yourself a purpose? [What a way to be. It reminds him of a way darker Tsumugi, who was always going out of his way to please everyone around him and listen to what he's told. He was very easy to manipulate. Dodger is very different, of course... he's not sane, Eichi knows that much. But he's still trying to figure it out.]

And if it's Re... Reaper-san that you're trying to make your "master," I'll have to tell you he's not the type of person that could fill that role at all. He may act like it, and he may be a highly competent leader, but he pushes people away rather than taking any responsibility for their actions. He'll gladly guide someone in the right direction, but if it's orders and whims you're looking to satisfy, you're looking in the wrong place.

But that's just my opinion, after all.

[In some part of his mind, he knows that. He knows Reaper isn't actually as ruthless as he portrays himself to be, and he won't be able to treat Dodger as cruelly as he likes. But Eichi does make a point that he'd failed to let himself consider - that Reaper doesn't want a pet project. A fact that Reaper himself has brought up multiple times, but it's finally starting to sink in that he can't just adjust himself until he fits under Reaper's skin.]

What happens between Reaper and me isn't really your business.

[He doesn't intend it, but it comes off defensively. Reaper has become a deep obsession since they met, one that he can't shake despite many distractions pulling at his attention. Reaper is something he wants desperately, despite being nowhere near prepared to earn him... and it's a consistent source of frustration and anguish.]

[Finished with his food (he ate that meat pretty fast), he sets his fork down and pushes the plate to the side slightly, bringing a hand to his chin in thought.]

That may be true, but you of all people should know that there are people who make things their business when they want something. Above all, he's a precious friend, and I'd like to keep it that way without you causing any interruptions.

[Since he doesn't see this ending in any good way. Just like in chess, he tries to predict the moves, and every one he sees Dodger making ends in a messy loss.] Though he denies it, he's a good person who wouldn't leave even someone like me to be hurt.

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