[open] some Kenoma come up to Godsblood the other day...

[baltimores]

WHO: Amos, Gen, Eustace, Childe, any Pleroma
WHAT: Amos wants a gun, Eustace wants to make a portal, and in order to make it happen they go to...
WHERE: Godsblood.
WHEN: Towards the end of Visoseri/start of Soviseri
WARNINGS: None, unless you count bullying of various Pleroma; will add as necessary


The content of this entry is intended to be an OOC explanation of what's going on to keep everyone up to speed; any characters who may be in Godsblood during this time period are free to top level or tag out. This is not an event and simply a unique instance that some characters are kinda sorta technically in enemy territory, which opens itself up to thread opportunities that would not otherwise be possible.

Basically: four Kenoma are journeying up to Godsblood, albeit not all together and through different means.

Amos and Gen will be arriving via a boat directly from Achamoth, and accordingly, will be outed as Kenoma Aions right from the get-go — the populace should know who they are, and word of their arrival would likely get around. Amos is there because he wants to build a higher quality gun than what they have in Achamoth and Godsblood is the place to do it; Gen is there to serve as backup/moral support/because they're friends, okay. Story plotting link here for more details.

Eustace and Childe will be sneaking in via carriage from the Artisan shrine/a portal and will therefore not be known as Kenoma Aions upon entry to Godsblood — unless there are characters there who already know who they are, that is. Eustace is setting up a portal to facilitate travel between Achamoth and Godsblood. This is not public knowledge and non-Kenoma Aions/NPCs are unlikely to know about this. Story plotting link here for more details.

The mods have also provided some guidelines for how interactions could go between characters so that any Pleroma wouldn't necessarily have to out themselves as Aions when it comes to interacting with Amos or Gen, who are publicly declared as such. Highlighting what was said further down in Amos' plotting comment:

It wouldn't be unreasonable for a visiting Aion to be chatting up people within Godsblood so sharing a meal ... wouldn't be a dead give away, but it might tie them to the Aions on the rumor network if they do it in public. Whether they are just strangers Gen and Amos are dining with or whether they are connected to Achamoth won't be clear, but it would definitely have implications ... It's definitely a risk, at any rate.

As for meeting in a busy street or a public park the connection is still possible but a lot less likely, since the odds of them chatting up some rando in the park is a lot more likely than sitting down for dinner with them. It'd also be a lot more obvious if someone was spying on them, unlike a closed environment like a pub or eatery, so that'd probably be the safest option without going somewhere deserted or private.

Comments

[epiprocta]

[ Gen just regards that answer slowly for a moment, like a feral dog staring down an offered hand. Then, perhaps expectedly, he just crunches down on a large chunk of candy before looking away -- it's clear what he thinks of Kim's answer even without words, but he still makes a point of gritting, ]

Bullshit.

[ With the bulk of the candy gone he settles for chewing at his lip for a moment. Now that their eyes have acclimated better to the dim evening light, it's more obvious that this attempt to quit smoking hasn't been treating Gen well -- there are obvious tired shadows beneath his eyes, and his lower lip's scabbed over with half-healed bite marks. ]

Like something like that'd be a factor when your self-righteousness is way more important. Act cool all you want, but I don't believe you for a second.

[coupris]

[Kim looks at Gen, but his expression is obscured behind lamplight that reflects off his glasses. He only moves to stub out his half-spent cigarette on the bottom of his shoe, and pocket it for later.]

Believe whatever you'd like.

[Kim looks back at the tall ship still docked in the harbor. He'd spent all afternoon fixing a leak in the boiler room that allowed it to run automatic rowing oars when it couldn't catch a wind. He's only good at the job because the technology is so rudimentary-- this isn't what he's meant to do.]

But here I am. [Not at a guard station fully stocked with ale, weapons, and a hidden stash of bribe money.]

Why are you here, Gen? [It's almost odd, to know his name after all this time.]

[epiprocta]

[ That blunt question earns a hard stare for more than one reason, and it takes a moment for Gen to remember that the guy must have cottoned onto his name from that glimpse at his memories. Reasonable as it is, it still doesn't sit well with him -- knowing that a (former) cop feels so comfortable calling him by his name. ]

Name.

[ Gen gives a derisive huff before fishing through the package for another candy to pop into his mouth. It clicks against his teeth as continues at a hoarse deadpan: ]

Your name. I don't owe you shit -- if you're gonna be asking me that shit, the least you can do is gimme your name.

[ Not that he cares. He doesn't. It's just a matter of principle. (He tells himself.) ]

[coupris]

Kim Kitsuragi.

[He ignores the persistent scrape at the back of his skull when he leaves off his rank.

He replaces it with the latent and very reasonable thought that maybe speaking so freely with a Kenoma outside of emergency circumstances like a mind plague is a bit unwise. It's not as if he trusts Gen.

Maybe he just trusts him not to care enough to make any detailed reports.]

[epiprocta]

... then, Detective Kitsuragi.

[ He hadn't even noticed any discomfort Kim might had felt about giving his name without rank. It's simply that Gen relishes any excuse to say that honorific with as much derision as he can muster; he doesn't even have an arrest record, but a childhood spent being taught cops are trash is hard to shake off. ]

What're you gonna do if I tell you I'm here to start hunting you Pleroma down? That I'm here to start flushing you out like rats? S'that why you're asking?

[ So he says, but Gen doesn't move an inch from where he's standing, his body language still relaxed and languid. He's not really gearing up for a fight, simply wanting to throw that challenge Kim's way to see how he reacts. ]

[coupris]

[He almost smiles to hear it again, derision or otherwise-- if anything, that adds to the familiarity of it. However, anything else Gen has to say just earns him a blank, yet pointed, look.]

I would say you're a bit out of your depth.

[Though the Aions in Godsblood are scattered, unless the Kenoma ascended on them en masse, they would have a tough fight ahead of them.]

And that rats have sharp teeth. If they get into a swarm, they can take down a cat if they try. I've seen it.

[epiprocta]

[ In return, Gen does smile. A smile that shows a pale sliver of teeth, curved sharp and thin at the edges like a shark's. Humorless. ]

'A swarm.' So there's more of you hiding here. [ He'd asked mostly just to provoke, but he's not going to turn it down if Kim's going to throw him a tasty morsel like that. ] I'd already run into a few, but -- good to know, that there's enough of you here that you can talk so big.

[ He lets his words hang in the air for a moment before giving a soft exhale. The candy clicks against his teeth one more; he's trying to work through this one a little more slowly. ]

... I'm here for business. I won't just take it if anyone picks a fight, but as long as nobody messes with me -- [ He gives a half-hearted shrug. ] -- should be gone in another two days or so. No mess, no fuss.

[ He says it casually enough, but it's up to Kim whether he wants to believe it or not. ]

[coupris]

You think it would take that many?

[Kim's reply is as immediate as it is caustic, layered with a sheen of skepticism that almost makes him sound genuine. Part of him regrets putting out his cigarette. Gen actually giving a straight answer, however, pushes that temptation down.]

I see.

['Business' could be anything, but he doubts it's a solo act on Gen's part, either. Unless the whispers about the Regent's brainwashing are true, he doesn't seem the type to go out of his way to curry favor.]

And what sort of business do Aions have with the likes of us?

[epiprocta]

[ Right. They haven't really seen each other fight since back in that cave, way back when they'd first ended up in Horos, huh. And while Gen isn't so arrogant as to claim he's confident he can take on all of the Pleroma on his own ... like hell he'd go down so easy against just a handful of people, not without a hell of a fight.

Gen only answers that caustic retort with a direct stare, one corner of his mouth raised in the start of a challenging smirk.

Kim had been one of those people like him in the beginning, hadn't he? Not accustomed to this fantasy magic bullshit. He wonders how the other's changed over the months. Maybe he's learned some new tricks, too. ]

Wouldn't you like to know.

[ But in the end, he's too aware of the stakes at play here. He's not about to give away any information, and he's not about to really start any fights. He'll have to settle for just making himself a thorn in Kim's side for now. ]

As grateful as I am for you giving me that hint about how many we can probably flush you Pleroma out of here -- I never promised to tell you anything in return. Shouldn't you know to be more careful with your words, officer?

[coupris]

And you said you've already met them. Sounds like a bit of a net zero gain of information for both of us.

[It was a slip of the tongue that he'll kick himself for later, but he'd be damned if Gen would even get the inkling that was going to happen. What digs under his skin more is that it wasn't a mistake he'd make around any other Kenoma.

Why the hell is he so convinced there's something worth salvaging here? Maybe because Gen hasn't already tried to put a knife between his ribs. Maybe because he provides a facsimile of someone almost familiar.

Kim's eyes flit from the candy stick in Gen's teeth, then back up again. The barest twinkle of mischief might be detectable behind his glasses, but it could just be a trick of the lamplight.]

Very respectable to try and kick a habit.

[epiprocta]

Sure, old man.

[ Maybe there are more Pleroma hiding here than the bare handful he'd run into, maybe not. He doesn't even care that much. What matters to him more is that he's managed to find some angle by which he can make himself a thorn in Kim's side -- that he can claim to have the upper hand in this conversation in some way. A scrabble for control that's basically ingrained habit by now.

At least he does let the matter go when Kim changes the subject, if only because he doesn't appreciate having his cravings brought to the forefront of his mind once more. ]

-- and what of it? [ Another click of candy against his teeth before he crunches down once more; even the combination of aggressive stress relief and sugar that working through these candies grants him doesn't completely curb the craving for a cigarette that keeps gnawing at the back of his mind. ] S'just for a month. Someone bet me I couldn't handle it. [ And, prideful teenager that he is, of course he'd taken the challenge, but he's still too mindful of his bad boy image to want to be seen by a cop doing anything very respectable. Gen huffs before grumbling, ] Whatever, it's easy.

[ It obviously isn't. Someone doth protest too much. ]

[coupris]

[Even as a master of composure, Kim can't help a small but genuine laugh. There's no mockery in it-- As someone who forces himself to one cigarette a day for his own self-flagellating reasons, Gen's excuses all sound very familiar.]

Of course. Just don't do it.

[Just for a month, and for a bet, though, seems like a waste of mental energy. Kim nods to the candy.]

My recommendation is caffeine. Easier for the body to latch onto than sugar.