"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

[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.

[dishevelment]

[his breath caught in his chest at the sudden intensity of those words, and he found himself trying to imagine the sort of determination and will power it would take to perform an action of that calibur. Although his own memories of violence were accompanied by an odd sense of understanding and peace, it paled in comparison to what was described because he knew for a fact that the ideals he was working toward were, ultimately, the dreams of another person.

But Koumei didn't tear his eyes away from Squalo. Instead, he simply sought to recover his breath.]

That kind of determination is...admirable, [he said, squeezing the well crafted prosthetic in his own hands, as if to understand the piece a little better.]

It's attractive too...though it's hard to imagine the depth of your drivve.

[sharktrash]

[ ...admiration, rather than outrage. Congratulations, Mei, you keep passing his tests. His expression slowly shifts into a grin. ]

Of course it is! There's a reason I'm the best now. [ The grin fades a bit. Yeah, that drive... ] ...it's a bit overwhelming, actually. I keep getting back bits and pieces but it's not the whole thing, and it already drives me mad.

[dishevelment]

[Hah. That cocky declaration...so comforting, so familiar.]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't have the entire picture myself, and it's definitely getting more maddening. I don't like this strange state of not knowing that we're stuck in.

[sharktrash]

Voooii...

[ Yeah, just venting his frustration here. ]

So now what. Just go out and act like everything's the same.

[dishevelment]

Precisely.

[He hated it too, but there was an air of grudging acceptance in his voice.]

We can't let them know that we're on to anything-- or else we'll end up like Xan.

[sharktrash]

[ Yeah, it's the reasonable thing to do. Squalo is stubborn, though. ]

He looks fine now.

[dishevelment]

Did you forget that incident where Santiago would have let him die?

[It was around the holidays, at that inter-label party...]

I'm not sure what he did, but Sandiago didn't like it. It's better to not be on her radar, if you understand.

[sharktrash]

Oh yeah, that. [ He almost forgot. But yeah, that was what Luci's deal was about, wasn't it? ] Well, he was a colossal asshole.

[ Bullying oldbies or whatever, he can see how the management's patience could run out. ]

Yeah, yeah. [ He grimaces a bit and side-glares at him. ] I'll be good, mom.

[dishevelment]

Even so, he stepped out of line-- and the same might happen to us if we do too.

[It was one thing that he was moderately afraid of-- retaliation at the hands of Lesedi Santiago.]

Besides, I'm not your mom. I just like you too much to see you hurt.

[sharktrash]

That's true. [ His eyes narrow slightly. ] But I hate the idea of sucking up to someone out of fear.