IC Contact + Inventory for @sticksandbones

[foreversembrace]

INVENTORY:


-A futuristic looking collar the aliens use to control their human pets will be already on his neck on arrival. The color (green or red) indicates the wearer’s mood. It’s not explicitly told how the collars work, but I’m choosing to play it as the “wearer/owner” of the collar cannot remove it themselves under any circumstance, but it can be removed by others. Wearer is likely subject to something akin to an electric shock or worse if they try to tamper with it.Can also be worn around the mouth as a form of gag.
-An electric guitar. It’s make and model seem like nothing from earth, and it likely works (somehow) on its own without needing an external power source (idk it’s aliens)
-A flower crown made from the fake flowers from Anakt Garden
-A pair of modern clothing from "home", the outfit he wears with the spray-painted shirt

Comments

[thebladebringstheflame]

Passenger's old cafe. [It's not old, it's still standing, but the point is Passenger isn't running it anymore.] I need some spicy food. Figured we could talk a bit and go for a walk after, and maybe if I'm lucky, I get to kiss you on the cheek.

How's that sound?

[foreversembrace]

[aaaAAAA-

Till already feels a little in over his head, tugging his scarf up a little further over his mouth shyly when Flamebringer talks about kissing him again.]

A-...alright. But just 'cause it's you, got it?

[thebladebringstheflame]

[Ruffles Till's hair as they walk because he's Awful.]

Lucky me.

[Off they go, then! Flamebringer will just make small talk until they're there, at which point he's swinging into a sit at one of the floor tables.]

How've you been lately, anyway?

[foreversembrace]

I've been okay.

[He answers, brushing his hair back into place as he sits across from him.]

Last month, uh...sucked.

[He isn't directly referencing it because he Super Doesn't Want To Talk About It but he still feels guilty as hell for killing Stan, and honestly he's shocked Flamebringer isn't trying to kill HIM for doing it, even if it was an accident.]

[thebladebringstheflame]

No fucking kidding. Here I thought I was going to have a great time gutting Wolfwood.

[...]

I'm not mad, by the way. About Zeyde. [Stan.] I'd be a goddamn hypocrite if I was, and it's you, so... I know you didn't mean to. That whole situation was a nightmare anyway.

[foreversembrace]

[And just like that, Till's posture relaxes a little. He sits forward, his furrowed brow becoming less...intense.]

Wh...wait. You're not?

[thebladebringstheflame]

No, I'm not. You think I'm gonna take a guy on a date if I'm pissed off? [i mean probably] Maybe I'm biased toward you, but that whole thing was set up to make us fight anyway. And... as it happens, all those sacrifices got rid of the shit in the sky.

I know it's fucked up, but it helped. And the person... people? I'm mad at are the fucking Forest and that thing in the sky. Not you.

[foreversembrace]

[Wow. That's...actually a huge weight off his shoulders, hearing Flamebringer say that. Till's slightly dour expression becomes marginally less so, relaxed enough that he can actually look at the menu without feeling the need to be on high alert.]

...okay. Thank you, Flamebringer.

[Genuinely, he means that.]

I uh...

[And now he's tracing the menu with his finger, looking at it instead of Flamebringer directly.]

Did. Did I ever tell you about what was happening before I first showed up here? Back where I'm from, I mean.

[thebladebringstheflame]

[At some point their food will come while they're talking about this. Time to yap and eat.]

Loosely. I figured out you were some sort of slave when we first met, and that the flowers were surveillance cameras, and we vaguely talked about the stage and all that shit. I wasn't gonna press. It was hard enough to get close to you at the time since you were about as skittish as a kitten with the claws to match.

[foreversembrace]

Yeah. Sorry about that.

[His fingers pull idly at the edge of his scarf. It's there to keep him from picking at the spot on his neck where his brand once was.]

I don't remember what exactly I told you about the Stage, so just...to give context. Every human that still exists no longer has free will. We're all owned by a race called the Segyein, who took over our planet a long time ago. We're basically bought, sold, and bred to be able to sing, dance, and perform. S'why I can...could do what I do.

Once we got good enough, and I guess old enough, they'd make us sing against each other on the Stage. Whoever got the most points would move on to the next round. Whoever didn't got executed on the spot.

[thebladebringstheflame]

[...stops chewing.]

What the fuck. That's some shit they'd do in Kazdel at the Scar Market if they got any bright ideas. You lived that?

[New hitlist acquired! First we do Wolfwood's goons then we do Till's goons. Anyone else need an assassination speak now or forever hold your peace!!!]

[foreversembrace]

[Till nods, his body sinking back into his chair.]

S'why I had my name on my neck. Everyone's got one, and it basically identifies you for whoever owns you. I wasn't the perfect angel child everyone wanted, so when I was eventually bought for cheap, my owner loved to take out all his anger on me. Especially if I decided one night I wasn't gonna sing pretty.

But all that ain't why I brought it up. I was on my third round before I came here. N'...it was the first time I had to go up against someone I actually knew more than at a glance.

[thebladebringstheflame]

[Just like the fucking Scar Market, only they give you a barcode tattoo. No need to have a name when you're a Sarkaz; you'll just change it anyway, but the barcode is set in stone.

Flamebringer makes a face.]

So... what happened? Don't beat around the bush with me, you know you don't have to.

cw: suicidal ideation jic someone's passing by

[foreversembrace]

[He appreciates that about Flamebringer. Makes it both easier and harder to say, though.]

It was the guy that killed me the first time. The one with the dark hair, and the dark eyes. Ivan.

We sang a duet. He was winning, and I just wanted to fucking die, at that point. I was ready to lose and not have to do it all anymore. So, I just stopped singing. When I did, he came across the stage and kissed me.

[Till isn't looking at Flamebringer when he says this, staring down at his plate instead.]

I tried to pull back, but he had me tight. He kissed me over, and over...and then he grabbed my neck and strangled me until he was shot to death. I wanted him to just kill me, but he wasn't pressing hard enough. He knew what he was doin'.

Then I woke up here.

[thebladebringstheflame]

[Flamebringer will continue to curl his lip until morale improves.]

So that's what that fucker did. [Sorry to all ivantill shippers, Flamebringer is not on board—] Strangling is a whole different strength set. You don't just— sorry, you don't want to hear how this guy's a failure. Nevermind.

[He's learning the fine art of biting his tongue.]

Fucking nightmare. ...sorry. At least you're free here, for all the hell that the Forest prick gives us. I'll kill that guy twice as hard as I killed the copy of him if he shows up here, if you want.

[foreversembrace]

No...it's okay. I don't want that.

[What Ivan did is fucked up, but he didn't want him to die. Quite the opposite, actually.]

He'd always been...weird, around me. He followed me around like a shadow...and we fought a lot. Punched his face in more than once. But he was still...one of the only friends I had, and they were already droppin' like flies.

Then he just. Fucking kisses me, and dies. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?

[Till picks up his fork, stabbing a little at his food with it.]

...I liked a girl. But I'm pretty sure she didn't like me back. She's gone missing anyway...and I didn't realize somebody liked me like that until they'd gone cold.

[thebladebringstheflame]

It's definitely a type of love confession, I think. I guess. Not a good one.

[...]

Was that girl the pink-haired one that I saw in that dream? When I was trying to snap you out of it months and months ago?

[foreversembrace]

...yeah.

[His voice is small when he answers, like just talking about her aloud hurts.]

Her name's Mizi. She was...the best of all of us. Way more optimistic and easy to get along with than I ever was. None of us deserved what we were goin' through, but I think she deserved it the least.

[thebladebringstheflame]

Well no fucking wonder, then. You looked... [Happy. Genuinely fucking happy. Like, Flamebringer had never seen Till in such a good mood before, and he felt like ass breaking him out of it and telling him that none of that was fucking real.] ...you just looked like you'd seen the only good thing that's ever existed, I guess.

[foreversembrace]

Yeah. She's...missing, since I last remember. A lotta people assume she died.

[But it's hard to convince himself of that when there's no body, her death wasn't ever shown...and the Segyein have some kind of fascination with public executions. With how Mizi behaved, there's no WAY they'd just silently get rid of her.

But maybe that's wishful, stupid thinking on his part.]

...I hope she got out. Somehow.

[thebladebringstheflame]

I hope so. For your sake.

[Oof. This is a rough date, okay, but Flamebringer's had worse conversations at dinners with people. It's... fine? He really should try to be more datelike and redirect the conversation so Till doesn't have a depressive crashout. Uh.]

...I hope you're doin' better. This place is a prison, but it's not... worse. Than that. [Failed step one.]

[foreversembrace]

[Oh, don't worry about that. Till is SO good at redirecting.]

I'll live. Here is a thousand times better than there. I'd rather be dead.

[He sits back, and just at around that time the little living teapot trots by to refill their drinks. It gives enough time for a pause, and then Till will continue.]

Anyway, enough about all that. I dunno what you're really 'sposed to talk about on a date, but it's probably not shit like that anyway.

[thebladebringstheflame]

Hah, I've had worse date conversations.

[They have food, they have fresh drinks, they are fed. The tea creature is so helpful. The atmosphere is good.

Flamebringer leans back a little and hums at the ceiling for a second.]

You're not still straight, are you?

[foreversembrace]

[Till stiffens, a little visible jolt causing him to sit up straighter. He's lucky he hadn't just taken a sip of his drink when Flamebringer asks that.]

W...whatdyoumean.

[thebladebringstheflame]

C'mon, I know you're not dumb. You play spin the bottle with a bunch of guys, we all make out, you get flustered by it. You say you're heterosexual, 'kay, fine. So you play again, you get guys in your lap, you get into their laps, no protests this time. You ain't playin' with the girls when they join.

[He takes a sip of his tea, raising a brow over the cup at Till, giving him a second to process before he continues.]

You know this is a date. You said yes to a date with a guy, but I also need you to understand that I don't fuck with straight boys. And I figure, been figurin', that you haven't actually thought of yourself as heterosexual for a while, but I gotta hear it from your mouth. If it's not cool, this is just lunch with my buddy Till. But if it's really a date...

You know. I might wanna do more at the end of the day than just swap spit. Your call.