"Senza tentazioni, senza onore."

[sharktrash]

Who: Squalo and -- you?
What: Squalo decided not to let his bandmates one-up him and went to have his own "seasonal" performance. For fun. Or so they say. He's got Empathic Influence now, so... have fun getting just a little bit too into those songs and enjoy all those new, excellent and healthy emotions that you're suddenly feeling!
When: Feb 13th
Where: "The Variable", alternative music club in Vista City
Warnings: ...Squalo. Aka: profanity, violence, public indecency, drug use, will add as necessary.


(( See comments for prompts! ))

Comments

[sharktrash]

[ He scowls back at him, tucking whatever money bill he was using into his pocket. Mei's right, of course. This isn't his private fucking quarters or anything. And it's not that he's secretive, either. Trash can think whatever they want of him -- ]

[ He might be a little worried that this particular person might think of him less now, though. The corner of his mouth still twitches in annoyance. ]

Right. Whatever. Go ahead, I'm done anyway.

[ He steps away from the sink, seemingly headed for the door. ]

[dishevelment]

Wait, Squalo--

[Koumei reached out to snatch hold of the other man's hand, and moved closer until their faces were only a breath apart.]

Why the rush?

[sharktrash]

[ He looks a little taken aback, but doesn't move away or try to pull free, just sort of stares at Koumei with a bit of confusion. ]

[ Then he groans. ]

Don't tell me you came here for a heart-to-heart instead of a piss. Come on.

[dishevelment]

Actually, I came in to clean up for a minute, but since we're here...

[He reached down for Squalo's other hand-- the one with the prosthetic.]

This is new. Nicely crafted, too-- I almost didn't notice, if not for you shredding your bows so much.

[sharktrash]

[ He has to fight the urge to pull it back. But it's fine, it's fine, this is Mei. It's fine if he of all people knows. Still -- ]

How did you know?

[ After all, a bit of awkwardness in playing might've as well been caused by an injury. He did probably tell him he was supposed to have a metal arm before, but... ]

[dishevelment]

[His memory was quite good, and he remembered that conversation about Squalo's relative dexterity and how his hand probably shouldn't be there. Humming slightly, he leaned forward to press a kiss against the firm, smooth construction of the piece.]

Your dexterity, and you've been using your off-hand more. It pays to be observant, you know.

[sharktrash]

[ Oh. That's fucking smooth. One of the most Touching things for Squalo is when people ~accept~ his stump and his mecha arm, and this is about as close to it as it gets. He's gonna doki a little, then keep frowning. ]

I could've gotten injured, you know.

Don't mind the hair...

[dishevelment]

[Frown all you want-- it was your choice to fall in with a man who was really good at observing his surroundings.]

We both know you're too tough for that.

no worries

[sharktrash]

[ Damn it. He's supposed to be really good at that too, but apparently it hasn't returned to him yet. ]

I'm not invulnerable. [ Pause, sigh. ] But you're right. I got it back.

[ He lifts his arm a bit more and pulls the sleeve back, just to show him the hard, smooth material and metal plates forming his wrist and extending over his forearm, then tugs it back down to hide it again. ]

[dishevelment]

[He nodded gravely, undertanding the seriousness of what had happened here.]

Has anyone else realized?

[Like Management. Like Santiago. Mental strength was his primary skill, and he was the sort of individual who liked to know what was happening on the overall playing field as best as he could manage.]

[sharktrash]

Not impossible. I've only showed it to Genos, Tamara and Lucifer, though.

[ More people might have noticed him having trouble playing last month, but with any luck, they weren't as sharp as Koumei, not to mention nobody else had as much context as him. ]

At least I managed to keep it a secret from our manager. Sleeves and gloves help.

[dishevelment]

They would...but only for so long.

The season's going to be changing soon. How will you manage then?

[sharktrash]

[ Yeah, that... is gonna be a problem. ]

A lot of deodorant?

[dishevelment]

And risk dying of heat stroke? You're mad!

[But he plants another kiss on the palm of the prosthetic hand, for emphasis.]

Perhaps we should find a gimmick for you, hm?

[sharktrash]

Well what the hell do you suggest?

[ But ah, wait. Koumei is smart, right? Maybe they could actually figure this out if they both work on it. He's drawing a blank, though. ]

You mean like hiding in plain sight? Just walk in with it without batting an eye and claim it's a cosplay glove or some shit?

[dishevelment]

Something like that-- or maybe get it flesh colored and go with fingerless gloves as part of your 'style'.

--Alternately, you could say it's part of an experiment for your new album. Manticores are rather vicious, if I'm recalling my mythology correctly.

[sharktrash]

Don't think so. It doesn't have nails or anything.

[ ...what ]

Yeah. What about it?

[dishevelment]

If anyone else in your band is having problems like this, you could make a play on it with your band's image. Maybe you slay Manticores off stage, or something.

[sharktrash]

...Genos, but I don't think it's gonna be a problem for him.

[ Robots don't feel hot in sleeves... except ah. His arms might actually not fit in sleeves. There's that. ]

[dishevelment]

Hmm....this is going to be problematic, then.

[He didn't know the individual circumstances of the rest of Squalo's band-- plus he was a terrible fashion advisor. :|]

[sharktrash]

Ugh, this is full of shit. I'm not even supposed to be hiding it, it's who I am! [ Yeah whoops he's getting angry. ]

[dishevelment]

I know, but I don't particularly want to see you dead.

[Because he knew that Lesedi would act violently against them if they started acting outsie of the Status Quo.]

...What happened? If that's not too personal a question.

[sharktrash]

[ He makes an annoyed noise, but there's no argument against that one. ]

...what do you mean? I just woke up with it one day.

[ Or were you asking how he got it ~originally~? Because in that case, strap in. ]

[dishevelment]

Yes, I thought so-- but, what does it mean to you?

[He'll strap in. This is a story he must here.]

[sharktrash]

[ He considers it for a moment. It's a bit hard to explain, but... what he remembers of it is clear. ]

Victory. It was a sacrifice to achieve my goals. Beat someone who was called the best swordsman in the world. [ A small pause and he looks right at Mei's eyes; he's quite morbidly curious how he'll take this next bit. ] I cut it off myself.