rippedoff | IC CONTACT

Your concern is unnecessary, but appreciated. [Oh, look how sassy she is.]

The details is that I didn't really like breathing sand, so I went to the tunnels. Been fighting with some guy that's even more of a samurai wannabe than I am.

What's been up with you? Hasn't been the same without doing you some kind of favor lately.

[ Girl, you'd better back that sass up. ]

"Fighting with" as in side-by-side or against?

[ There are, after all, only so many samurai wannabes allowed in a single place at any given time. There's a beat that follows; a tangible pause in the back and forth. ]

I've been preoccupied, unfortunately.
Dante's gone missing but I'm confident he'll show up again soon.

Side-by-side. [As much as it chagrined her to admit this, Shinobu saw no point in lying about it.] Those jackals provide more of a challenge than most things around here.

It's about the most fun I've had around this place.

[If not a little frustrating -- if she couldn't defeat one of those things on her own, Shinobu still wasn't at par with the level of skill she desired. Being the assassin champion of Asia meant nothing here.]

Wait. Your brother went missing AGAIN? I'm beginning to think this place has some weird fondness and/or fixation with you and your brother.

[A minute later, she sends another text.]

I managed to avoid the word "fetish". Are you proud?

Edited (hurrrr) 2013-11-30 03:01 (UTC)

I'm not sure "proud" is the right word for it, but you've spared me having to imagine what exactly qualifies as a Dante and Vergil fetish.

[ Thanks for that, Shinobu. ]

COMPASS goes out of its way to look for weaknesses.
Clearly, my brother and I are each other's.

[ A pause and Vergil circles back round to the beginning of conversation. ]

He must be good if you keep him at your side.
I know you wouldn't fight alongside just anybody.

Edited 2013-11-30 03:08 (UTC)

[Shinobu asks if Vergil is okay, but she felt like she was at least beginning to understand how he functioned -- it was similar to her own ways, at times. He would likely say he was fine and that her concern was appreciated, but unnecessary, even if he wasn't fine.

Might as well not ask questions she wouldn't get a straight answer from. Waste of time.]

He can handle his own. Also, he's a neighbor. Or used to be, if we're ever able to go back to the dorms. It was convenient.

Our current situation is no doubt temporary.
COMPASS' gambits never last more than a week, two at best.
You'll be able to return to your lack of hot showers soon enough, Shinobu.

Does he have a sword?

[ Is it a metaphor? THE WORLD WILL NEVER KNOW. ]

I think so too, but I'd rather not give my hopes up just to find that I'm stuck here.
Without even the cold showers.

And he has a katana, yes.
Why? Are you jealous?

There's a river.
Or did I just make it worse?

Let's call it 'curious'.

[Shinobu chooses to ignore that line of questioning, because his "curiosity" reminded her of something she should actually address.]

Speaking of which, I don't know if you've tried to get a hold of him lately, but Henry's gone now.

As far as I know, I'm the only one left here from Santa Destroy now.

That's unfortunate.
I thought the radio silence on his end was simply a result of the storm.

[ Vergil leaves it at that for a long while and only thinks to ask much later. ]

Are you all right?

Unfortunate for us, but probably better for him. He can get back to cat-sitting, I guess.

I'm fine, really. [And for once, she's actually being genuine here. Sure, she'd sort of miss everyone from her world, but she was also a woman that kind of randomly decided to spend her time abroad in Asia for three years on her own.] Guess this place prefers me more. Only natural when I'm the only one of the bunch with loose ends to tie up.

[Not that she was a little bitter about that or anything, nope.]

[ Shinobu says that she's fine and Vergil doesn't question it. They're not the type to coddle or be coddled — that's not how their relationship works and they're not those kinds of people. He makes a soft sound like an exhale— (cat sitting, he'll never understand Shinobu's world) — and maybe Vergil's even laughed, though it's hard to say. ]

COMPASS' constant aim is to agitate us.
Your loose ends are a built-in freebie for them.

[ A beat, then: ] Do you know how it ultimately turns out?
For Henry and his brother.

Really, they're just giving me more training. [Really goddamned annoying training that she didn't really want any part of.] But I'll give you that they are kind of agitating at times.

[She hesitates on answering his question, wondering if this was information that should be freely handed out -- this was their business and not anybody else's. Though she supposed it really wouldn't matter anyway, as it really wasn't anything that could be used against either of them, if it should come up somehow.]

Pretty sure I came from a slightly earlier time than both of them. Not by far at all, maybe just by a day or two. But I've heard bits and pieces from the both of them.

Travis went on to conquer the UAA ranks again and apparently had to fight some parade float at the top. Don't ask, even I don't know WTF is up with that. Either way, he got the revenge he wanted. Good for him.

All I really know about Henry is that he somehow wound up cat-sitting Travis' cat. Who knows if he'll ever get to actually fight his brother to the death, if Travis is all up in Sylvia's business now.

[Fucking Sylvia.]

Edited (WOW I'M DUMB) 2013-12-06 18:45 (UTC)

[ Vergil takes whatever Shinobu offers which, at the end of the day isn't much, but which still ends up being more than he would have gotten otherwise. Ultimately, he's not surprised by the fact that she doesn't know much — Henry seemed the most frank and upfront out of the three of them but even then there hadn't been much effort to poke or prod.

The idea of Henry cat-sitting at home is confusing, but most of Santa Destroy's culture was. ]

Slyvia?

[This reply takes Shinobu a little while, as she debated on just what was the right amount of loathing to put in text.]

Ranking agent of the UAA, basically she's the one that sets up all the matches. Used to be married to Henry, but who knows how he put up with her for as long as he did. Sure, maybe she seems to know more than all of us assassins combined, but she's insufferable. Can't see herself objectively. She has a way of wrapping men around her finger.

[Basically, she has no love for her at all, apart from the information she could pull out of her. Still, not someone worth killing either. Ugh, why was Travis into her.]

Edited (OH MY GOD I've got to quit screwing this up) 2013-12-08 18:44 (UTC)

[ It's not that Vergil particularly enjoys Shinobu's annoyance, but there's something about when she gets judgmental about people that amuses him. He is in fact smirking at his device when he taps out and finally sends a quick:

You don't like her.

[ Which is Vergil pointing out the obvious, but to him you can never be too on the nose. ]

Edited 2013-12-08 22:05 (UTC)

You think? [At the very least, she was very open about her dislike for her to pretty much anyone who would listen. Including Sylvia.]

I mean, don't you have anyone that you just kind of hate without actually wanting to kill them?

[ Vergil actually has to think about that. ]

No.
If I hate them enough, I'll destroy them.

[ Not kill necessarily, but take them apart. Piece by piece, brick by brick. Then utterly obliterate them. ]

Hate requires a lot of effort to maintain.

[It's that frankness that might turn off most, normal people, but Shinobu thought it was more amusing herself than anything. Shaking her head (along with a humored smirk), she types back.]

No kidding. It keeps one occupied, though.

[Of course, once her father's killer was found, who knows what she'd do next.]

[ If being the head of the Order has taught Vergil anything, it's this: know your audience. Never a fan of lying outright, Vergil specializes in shifting the truth to be best viewed from whatever perspective is necessary. With Shinobu, however, much of that pretense is set aside.

It doesn't make them open with one another, but it makes Vergil frank. He suspects she wouldn't like his company half as much if he bothered with pulling any of his own punches. ]

There's always the question of what comes after.

[ Because hate, no matter the circumstances, always destroyed someone. Whether it was the subject of such strong emotions or the one that harbored them, somebody had to go down. ]

You deal with that, whenever it comes up. Best not to stress your mind about what might or might not happen.

[Oh yes, there was always going to be fallout, but Shinobu was someone that lived in the present, never caring too much about what might come up in the future.]

Contingency plans happen to be a speciality of mine.

[ Which, at the end of the day, is just a nice way of saying I'm a control freak with too much spare time. But Shinobu knows that about Vergil just as readily as Vergil knows that anything beyond the Moment isn't really her thing. Like with Dante, it should be a point of contention — but for some reason, it isn't. ]

But that's because I hate losing.

Yeah, I get that. But why bother planning when you never know how the outcome will turn out anyway?

But at least we have that in common. Just who wants to be a loser anyway?

Plan enough and you understand the likelihood of every outcome.

[ You do realize he's a big nerd who sits behind his computers all day back home, right? ]

I don't think it's the sort of thing people exactly strive for, Shinobu.

[ Then again, he wouldn't know. ]

Not all of them.

[Because three years ago, she would have never guessed that she'd be walking around today with one arm.]

I dunno. Some people seem content living as losers. I'm not one of those people.

( i x : d 3 : no never )

( i x : d 3 : lmao they're so bad at social calls )

( i x : d 3 : it is pretty sad, isn't it )

( i x : d 3 : sad and kind of endearing )

( i x : d 3 : indeed )

( i x : d 3 : that's why they're besties )

( i x : d 3 : the best worst friends )

( i x : d 3 : the worst best friends )

( i x : d 3 : who care way too much about the state of their hair products )

( i x : d 3 : and who would talk about themselves )

( i x : d 3 : because narcissism is definitely a thing here )

( i x : d 3 : insert appropriate emote )

( i x : d 3 : cutesy octopus 4 u )

( i x : d 3 : u da best )

( i x : d 3 : no u )

( i x : d 3 : lmao they're such assholes )

( i x : d 3 : at this point they should get a burn book )

( i x : d 3 : pretty sure they just started one right now )

( i x : d 3 : just write it in the burn book, vergil )

( i x : d 3 : ngl sometimes i wish one of them had an enemy ingame to DESTROY )

( i x : d 3 : me too, sometimes, it could be beautiful )

( i x : d 3 : #rp bucketlist )

( i x : d 3 : C'mon, Vergil, Y O L O )

( i x : d 3 : i know not the meaning of the word shinobu )

( i x : d 3 : wow vergil you're even worse than i am )