Hey there, I know you can hear me, Hey, you, I know you can see...

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

Who: Bill Cipher and you! L U C K Y YOU
What: Secret conversations, potential band talk
When: December 17th and onward- the weeks following Naomi's murder bash
Where: A small dive and/or ViP HQ
Warnings: Bill.

[Open]

Getting away with murder is a lot more boring than Bill expected- but then, Virgo probably didn't have much to say to one of their own who was already known for covering up his own self-inflicted, debilitating injury.

The sax player steps fleet-footed outside of HQ, well aware of the security detail tailing him. Ugh, fine, if he can't have privacy, he'll just go somewhere public and give them something to stare at. ViP’s notorious Bill Cipher never turned down an audience! Hmm-- now there's an idea. Perhaps it might just be possibly to have more than one audience at the same time. He finds himself setting up comfortably at a small hole in the wall, stretched out at a corner table and softly waxing lyrics with the pad of paper in his lap.

I've seen more than you can imagine,
I've heard things to torture your soul,
Join me and we'll both get ahead,
Come shake my hand, and then, we'll both have it all,

Don't let go of this opportunity,
Cause there's no guarantee it'll last,
What's say you, hey pal, have we got a deal?
Haven't got all day, so you'd best think fast,

Turns out his voice isn't half bad when he isn't being, well, Bill. The musician taps his pen in the accompanying tune he intends to play on his sax. However, the moment he notices someone approach or begin to take interest, he'll make eye contact, and start to tap something a little different.

K.N.O.W - M.O.R.S.E. ?

[ViP]
It seems like every member of ViP have been major sad sacks after the party-- and this has got to stop. Fortunately, Bill thinks he has the perfect distraction. Gathering up his papers he slams them all on the common rooms table, commanding attention.

“BLACKOUT CONCERT! Let's do it.”

They had discussed the idea of an unscheduled outdoor concert plenty of times in the past, so why not? No time like the present~

*WILD* Want the sax playing cyclops for anything? Just go for it. Let's get weird.

Comments

[blindfoldcode]

[It's at a pause in his attention grabbing that Kido approaches. She recognizes this guy. On the bright side, she is not making him lose any body parts today.]

You really need to be in the spotlight, huh?

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

[It truly is a plus, you still owe him one, after all. Can't go wracking up all that debt, Kido! Bill pauses in his song to flash the approaching girl a mild smirk.]

"You would prefer there to be someone else?"

[blindfoldcode]

It's just a little surprising. With everyone trying to lay low. [She's judging you.]

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

[Judge away. Bill's expression falters, but doesn't altogether vanish.]

“I'm not exactly a follow-the-crowd, kinda guy. Besides--”

[He closes the notepad in his lap, adjusting to sit up better.]

“What's the point in hiding, if everyone knows that's what you're off doing?

[blindfoldcode]

I guess I shouldn't complain. If they're keeping a closer eye on you, my other friends don't have to worry.

[she does not trust Virgo one bit.]

but if you meet a friendly horse, will you communicate by mo-o-o-o-rse?

[exhumerus]

It's kind of hard to tail someone when you both have escorts, but none the less, that's what Sans is doing. It's close to HQ, and an expected trip for him to make, so his own detail is trailing at a reasonable distance. Sans is just a boring slacker, after all - nothing much to worry about here.

Sans slips in after him and takes a seat nearby, ideally without being noticed. It will make it funnier when he taps out his own message in response, when he wasn't the person Bill was focusing on in the first place.

N.O.P.E

how will you speak to that ho-o-o-o-orse?

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

Bill blinks a moment, losing interest in his current target. These dames just don't know a good time when they see it! Funny thing about Morse, though, it takes a minute to register when you aren't prepared listen for it from an unexpected source. When the letters finally click, he breaks out into a toothy grin.

S.H.A.M.E

Everything in Bill wants to just whip around and see who answered, but he'll give up the game to the guards too quick if he is that obvious. Besides, this is far more entertaining.

Side with me, kid, I'll have your back,
Count me in, when confidence is all you, lack,

He pretends to stretch, using the motion to slightly pivot over and hopefully catch a glimpse.

C.O.U.L.D H.A.V.E. B.E.E.N F.U.N

[exhumerus]

Bill is weird.

That much goes without saying. 'Being weird' isn't really a trait that Sans has cared much about in the past - he was weird, from certain perspectives, and so was a lot of ViP. In a lot of ways they were a novelty act. But Bill's weirdness always seemed to go above and beyond, and now, with new information, that has started to be a lot more relevant.

Sans likes to learn things, when given the opportunity. Right now he has a tragically small pool of reference to work with, and he doesn't want to risk reaching out to anybody that's going to be a waste of his time. Bill is all about adding possibly frivolous levels of bafflement to just about any situation, though. If there's anyone who is going to be interested in secrets and capable of keeping them, it'd be him.

Might as well start close to home and work from there.

Sans doesn't wave, when Bill and his eyes meet just for a moment. Instead he just spacily glances down at his notebook, like he's busy with his own rhythmic pondering. It's a little bit difficult to catch morse on the fly, even for him.

I L.E.A.R.N F.A.S.T
B.U.T D.O T.H.E.Y ?

Hopefully it's pretty obvious who they is.

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

Ah, so that's who the mystery encoder is. Bill meets San's gaze with unwavering practiced skill before pretending to sweep the rest of the room- of course, it does help that he only has one eye; there is only so much of his expression for outsiders to read.

D.O.U.B.T.F.U.L.

Sans is both the first and last person that Bill expected to see under these circumstances. The aloof nature of the shorter man had often intrigued and frustrated the blonde. On the surface, Sans should be bland, boring, easy to manipulate. Yet as predictable as his lazy nature should make him, the man always found some way to be unexpected without deviating from his zero-effort routine. It's almost like it took effort to give so little effort. Bill could respect that kind of paradoxical behavior.

Price is simple, rather sparing,
Time is slipping,
Life is choices, let's start living,

His gaze darkens momentarily. Yes, Bill knows full well who THEY are. He scats for a half stanza longer than normal, as he considers his answer.

La, la, la, ladda, sh-ly-eh, la, la, la
Do, do, de-da

T.H.E.Y. W.O.U.L.D.
H.A.V.E. U.S.E.D I.T.

La, la, la...

For what, even the illuminati cultist isn't entirely certain, but if his label just tried to play him as a chess piece, his penchant for riddles should also have been on the table for grabs. Still... one way to be sure. Bill subtly turns his eye to one of the mindless security drones gauging for a reaction.

ladda, sh-ly-eh, la, la, la
Do, do, de-da

D.W. W.K.H. W.U.H.H.

Hopefully Sans would grasp his intent.

[exhumerus]

Or purposeful lack of intent, as it goes. Can the guards even hear what they're doing, he wonders? It seems overly optimistic to assume that any method of conversation is effectively private - not with so many unknowns. But the only way to learn is to test it, he supposes.

Which is what he presumes he's doing? Sans pauses for a moment when he first finishes decoding the last pattern in his head. Dw wkh wuhh? It takes him a moment, and then - oh damn it, it's that code language Bill was going on about for ViP isn't it? Sans had only ended up learning it because he has a fast mind for patterns, both numbers and letters, and he thought it might be funny for trolling Bill in the future if he assumed Sans was too lazy to learn something like that.

Not that "at the tree" really makes any sense either. There's a pause before he replies, if only because he needs to decide on what he's going to guess Bill is getting at.

F.D.U.H.I.X.O Q.R.Z

He finishes tapping and then starts scribbling in his notebook, grinning a bit more widely.

[panspermia]

As a matter of fact, the answer to the hidden question is "no." What Greg does know, however, is beats and rhythm, and he can hear Bill's shift as soon as they make eye contact. With what he knows of the guy, he can guess a little of what's at play here, if not the specifics.

Greg himself has been hanging around in civilian disguise, pretending to enjoy space away from the label while a guard lurks around. Now, after a moment of hard thinking, he pulls out his phone, and begins poking at the music app. With each swipe and prod, the little digital guitar strums out a fairly disjointed melody, each note unremarkable to the undiscerning ear.

E-G-A-D, D-E-A-F

Seven letters really limits your choice of words; it's the best he can manage off the top of his head.

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

Civilian clothes or not, Bill recognizes another celebrity when he sees them, although he almost isn't sure if they recognize him. It certainly seems to be that way. Greg doesn't seem to do much beyond take out his phone after they glance at each other.

Hm. What kind of notes are those? E,G,A,D, D-E...

Wow. First you joke about his eye which was hilarious, to be quite honest, now you insult his music? Rude!

Bill mimics Greg's movements and takes out his own phone, raising an eyebrow as he selects the sax from the same app. Or maybe Greg just really sucks at on the spot collaboration? He glances back over to Greg with a rueful smile.

B-A-D-

Without a way to do a question mark, he punctuates the last digital chord with an obnoxious sharp note.

[panspermia]

Well, it sounds like Bill took the hint, but--oh jeez. He'd gotten the wrong message; Greg had been trying to say he couldn't make out the code, and instead he's making a habit of insulting the guy accidentally.

He shakes his head scowling at his phone, and peeks back up at Bill again, remorseful.

A-C-E

He scratches at his hair. How can he put it?

A-D-A-G-E F-A-D-E-D

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

The second message is a little harder to parse, but the intent is a lot more clear. He smirks to himself, not wanting to draw too much attention to Greg.

G-E-E, F-A-B

Yes, he doesn't seem all that bothered at all. Actually the blonde has to admit he is fairly impressed the random jumble of notes he heard truly was a form of communication; it's an interesting method, to be sure! Now if he could mix it with some of his own Caesar and Atbash Ciphers, they might have a wider range of words to work with. He'll have to teach Greg some of his techniques...

C.L.E.V.E.R.

Maybe Greg can't understand his tapping yet, but it's worth noting anyway. He'll nod lightly in Greg's direction, making sure to take a long pause to better distinguish the phrase as two separate words.

D-E-F, A-C-E

[panspermia]

That pause is certainly an important one. Greg's reassured to hear his message got across proper this time. This is kind of cool, like being spies or something.

Aside from the fact that he still can't make sense of that tapping. C'mon, Cipher, you don't have to make fun of him, he already knows you're better at this.

C-E-D-E

ViP thread

[hanginginthere]

Bill probably didn't intend to have Shen jump a foot in the air as a result of being startled, but some things never change. He manages a brief dirty look before curiosity creeps in.

"A what?"

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

Well, Bill never does not intend to scare the pants off of people? This was just a lucky bonus!

"Blackout concert!"

The sax player repeats, as if it explains everything. He unrolls one of the papers.

"You know, surprise show? At the villa? Outside? Under black light? No one else has any gigs going on right now, this time's ripe for the picking!"

[hanginginthere]

That...okay, now that Shen thinks about it, that...could actually be a little fun. He does enjoy dressing up for the lights, experimenting with styles...

After a moment, he hesitantly gets to his feet to walk over and take a look at the papers. "Surprise show, so...no tickets?"

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

"Not unless you plan on making em!"

Bill follows Shen with his eye; a cautious smirk slowly working its way back onto his face. Yesssss this just might work!

"I thought we could benefit with going back to our roots a bit, a little live show without being sponsored by someone; our gig, our rules."

You know, given that their label just used and is currently threatening to murder them. Bill glares right at the security detail positioned nearby.

"Virgo doesn't need their hands in every pie; besides, free publicity is free publicity."

ViP

[losingherhead]

Why

ViP

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

He humored you by texting before, but Bill isn't in the mood to copy Celty's form of speech today. If he has to sound like a crazy man, so be it.

"Because we're Vandals."

And you all are really, REALLY boring like this.

[losingherhead]

Pretty sure that's just for marketing.

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

"Maybe for you, I, for one, intend to commit fully to my personas!"

Or should just be committed in general, really.

"Besides, when then last time you played for you, huh Celt? Just once, don't you wanna have a gig on your terms?"

[costumechange]

Haru's not intending to follow her band mate when she leaves the tower, she just wants somewhere not remotely related to the company for a little while. She's been having nightmares of the party, and of the strange coffin in the woods over flowing with flowers, of long florescent lit halls, and doors made of paper that feel familiar.

She'd thought about disguising herself, but there was no disguising her security, so she leaves off for once and just wanders until she finds a hole in the wall, and there's Bill, undoubtedly coming up with something brilliant and tapping out code to her. She knows it without a thought, which is confusing, because she's not sure when or how she learned it. She also knows it's not nearly as secure as someone would hope.

She crosses to sit with him and tugs a set of soft mallets from her big purse.

G.I.V.E. - M.E - S.O.M.E.T.H.I.N.G - H.A.R.D.E.R

[liarmonstersnappydresser]

At first, Bill merely turns to greet Haru but when he opens his mouth, the level of what she just messaged over to him finally registers. She's good. Not that she ever hasn't been. Of all of ViP's members, Bill could always count on Haru to feed off of his crazy ideas and add more than a few extravagant touches of her own- but he can't recall if he ever taught her this much, if this type of coding at all.

"Hm, not bad,"

He pretends to assess her playing. The guards saw them acknowledge each other, it would be suspicious if they never conversed.

"From the top?"

Walking down the street,
And you hear that heavy beat
Can't help but walk your feet,
Down all the way 'til they meet

T.H.I.S. I.S. A. S.U.R.P.R.I.S.E

How far can she decipher, he wonders?

People laughing and dancing all night long
And through the flashing lights
See the band playing their own song..

B.R.X. P.H.D.Q.
O.L.N.H W.K.L.V

He idly taps his foot three times, pretending to readjust in his seat. Hopefully Haru will catch it. 3 letters back.