divus | GODLY AUDIENCES - TAKAOMI SHISHIMARU

The one that lets me ignore curfew.

[ it seemed like the most useful one. ]

[Mood, Taka.]

Makes sense. All sorts of interesting stuff happens at night. You learn a lot about a place when the rest of the world isn't active.

[Merriment should know.]

I have a question on how that works though. If someone, is sleeping near me, would they be able to notice me getting up and leaving?

[ listen he knows how clingy senri can be so he wants to be ready for the inevitable of when that binch tries to do sleepovers. ]

[One day Merriment's going to notice and mercilessly tease Taka, but until then.]

Unless they have the same power? Nah. They'll sleep right through it and won't notice at all.

[ stop he'll die on the spot ]

... good.

[ that was his main worry about it. ]

Do you have any idea what the other gods are doing or do you keep it from each other?

In general? Or with their followers? [This time Merriment leans back and sort of lounges over their chair, casually tucked up and also revealing the fact they're not wearing any shoes.]

I can't see what any of them are saying to any of their followers if that's what you mean. Goes against our whole "no interference" thing. But we talk to each other sometimes.

[ of fucking course they don't have shoes on. ]

Can you lie to each other?

[Who needs shoes, not this asshole.]

Of course we can. There are some rules we have in place that make it a little more complicated, but everything we say to you guys is off the record and we don't have to disclose the truth if we don't want to. It'd be a little harder to play against each other if we were transparent, wouldn't it?

Can you lie to us?

[ a pause, and then he snorts. ]

I realize the irony of asking that.

[That is kind of a dumb question, and there's an echoing snort.]

We could, but I'm not sure how that's going to help us either. We want you guys on our side. What would be the point of keeping things from you?

You say that but people still lie anyway.

[ ... ]

Takaomi. [The relaxed air fades again and Merriment's a little serious again.] ...I can't force you to believe what I tell you, but I never want to lie if I can help it. I can't speak for everybody else though.

[....] Have you been lied to a lot?

... I think that people hide things, and twist them, and it can break apart your relationships. Someone you think you know as well as the back of your hand can turn out to have been lying to you the whole time.

[ he is going to have a fun time in a murdergame!!! ]

Some things aren't worth that.

[...can't really discount that, and they seem to be thinking about something in particular.]

You know what the scariest thing in the world is? Trusting other people. [There. They said it.] But it's still better than being alone. Even if you learn you don't know people as well as you think you do, it's something that'll make you stronger for the next person who comes along.

[So. Try, Taka.]

[ oh this is a bad topic

and also not really something he expected to admit, especially on a first meeting. but if the gods know general information about the participants, this probably shouldn't be too surprising for merriment to hear.

hopefully. ]

... that sounds like a pain.

[Hey what the fuck is Dream!ing. It's...sort of nice though. While Merriment isn't entirely sure why they were given this name, it's also nice to know that there's someone aligned with them that isn't entirely cheerful either.]

I know. [That's said with conviction.] Isolating yourself's not a great strategy either, but trying to find a middle ground's harder than you'd think.

Doesn't help when everyone around you is...

[ he sighs, picking up one of the game pieces and turning it in his hand. ]

That's just life, or whatever, I guess.

[Hah. That's just life, indeed. They're watching Taka's hands instead, mulling over something.]

Do you at least trust yourself?

... yes.

[ he looks from the game piece to merriment. ]

If everyone else fails me, then I'm all I have left.

[Huh.]

I guess we're more alike than I thought. [A game piece moves by Merriment's hand.] Keep sight of that, at least.

You're a lot less annoying than I thought you would be.

[ he's just

getting that out there

he was prepare to hate merriment from the name alone. ]

Well thanks. [They sound amused, a low chuckle because they're kind of used to being around annoying people.] You weren't a bad pick yourself.

[Likewise they were a little worried, but.]

[ they seem a little similar in some ways, but they are also the ways that taka would prefer not to explore in any way whatsoever.

but it does make the urge of going to another god remarkably less. ]

... I'll try not to disappoint.

You haven't so far. I think you'll be fine. [There's a tilt of the head.] What else can I do for you right now?

... I think that's it for now.

[ he gestures at the game. ]

We can play this properly and then call it a night.

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divus - 2019-02-18 23:54 (UTC) - Expand