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Kenos Inbox
voice / text / communion
D's mind is a cacophony of things.
The landscape is shadow and darkness, and it is chilly and reserved where D sits in it; he feels like a simple young man. Quiet, soft, human. But behind the stoicism is a warm, sensual, and elegant sliver of something primordial and powerful. Embracing it is hypnotic, arousing, yet also a little horrifying.
Amidst all of this is something else, too: a craggled and old presence which can be heard on occasion cackling or chattering separately, the crusty voice belonging neither to D or the peculiar entity in the space.
The landscape is shadow and darkness, and it is chilly and reserved where D sits in it; he feels like a simple young man. Quiet, soft, human. But behind the stoicism is a warm, sensual, and elegant sliver of something primordial and powerful. Embracing it is hypnotic, arousing, yet also a little horrifying.
Amidst all of this is something else, too: a craggled and old presence which can be heard on occasion cackling or chattering separately, the crusty voice belonging neither to D or the peculiar entity in the space.
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D's answer sounds nice, though Gray has to wonder if it's possible to live in a place without suffering. Maybe her isolated little village was close to that; she could have seen D there, quietly living out the same constant day after day without complaint.
But that does bring up an important point or two that Gray feels obligated to raise. ]
I think you'll like it here. We're usually very quiet, and the animals are peaceful... though sometimes someone comes by who can be rowdy. And, um, Add can be ill-behaved at times, but please don't mind him.
[ She pulls back the right side of her cloak to reveal a small bird cage suspended from her right shoulder, which in turn contains an elaborate, many-faced cube in royal blue and gold. The forward face of the cube looks up with shock at the sudden reveal, its little eyes comically round. ]
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He's human soft.]
...
[He starts to say none of that bothers him, but pauses when Gray moves the cloak away and reveals the cube in the cage. The cube with wide, surprised eyes looking at him in return. D also looks a bit surprised. This is honestly the most emoting he has done, and it is all happening together in this damn house.
For a very long moment, he doesn't respond, though his eyes are jumping clinically around the cube, studying it. FIRSTLY:]
What is he?
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Gray unhooks the cage from her shoulder and raises it so that D can see Add better. Before she can answer D's question, the box opens its little mouth, revealing the fact that it in fact has a very big mouth. The voice of Ono Daisuke bursts forth, rough with a piercing laugh. ]
Ihihihi! Keeping staring like that and you'll make me blush!
[ Add's "mouth" splits into a sharp grin, the intricate pieces that make up his face sliding to form a mischievous expression. The effect is a bit uncanny, like a pocket of CG animation in a Hollywood movie. ]
The name's Add! I've been partners with Gray since she was a snot-nosed brat. Nice to meetcha, new guy!
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Also wow, this is familiar.]
Hello. I am D.
[MIGHT AS WELL USE HIS MANNERS TO GREET THIS CUBE. He unfortunately continues to survey Add for a long moment or two, and then he glances up at Gray... sort of like he's considering something.
There's some hesitation, and then D's left hand lifts between them, the palm turned upward. It's just a palm is all... and then, slowly, the flesh begins to distort. A very grotesque face appears on the surface of the skin, already moving animatedly.]
Letting me out in front of a cute girl, [a crusty, jeering voice says.] Something has really gotten into you, haha! Turn me around, turn me around, I can't see!
[Begrudgingly, D lifts his hand as if he's waving at Gray. The face on the hand looks like it's going to start teasing Gray, but then it gets suddenly surprised by a cube in a cage. It's squinting.]
What the...?
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While she wonders, Add takes the opportunity to to start jabbering back, hopping around excitedly in his cage with a rhythmic metallic clanking. ]
Hahahaha! Is this a joke?! You moving in on our schtick, old timer?!
[ Gray taps on his cage — a gentle warning that makes Add pause with alarm. ]
Add... please behave.
[ Her voice becomes more stern as she addresses him, a product of long familiarity. But even though she's trying to correct Add, it sounds like D's hand(??) might be just as badly behaved... Gray willfully ignores the part where it called her cute and bows a little toward it. She still doesn't understand what's happening, but when in doubt, fall back on manners?? ]
Um, hello. My name is Gray.
[ What is she supposed to call... D's hand... Who knew she and Add would get out-weirded. ]
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The face in D's palm still looks bewildered. It isn't he has never seen something like himself before--there are a few other like him on the Frontier--but to run into a similar sort of fellow in a different form... Intriguing.]
Tell me I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing? [is asked in a mouth-to-the-side stage whisper to D.] A cube in a bird cage?
His name is Add.
[D is helpful.
The eyes of the face twist to survey Gray, and a tooth grin breaks out on the mouth.]
Well, well! Gray, she says! Is this the girl that guy was hooking you up with? Heh heh heh! Kinda small... Don't you usually like them curvy? Still cute, though.
Quiet. Introduce yourself, or leave.
Pah, you're such a downer. Anyway! You can just call me Lefty.
He is a Carbuncle. It's best not to pay him much mind.
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Even if D says she can ignore him, Gray feels obligated to at least put a bookend on the niceties. ]
It's nice to meet you... Lefty.
[ It's a straightforward name, thinks Gray in a fit of failed self-awareness. She looks up at D. ]
I'm not familiar with Carbuncles... What does it mean to be one?
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Help them.]
Countenanced Carbuncles are symbiotes. [Why does he make this sound so dry, like he's giving a college lecture?] They attach as parasites to a host, sharing their bodies, nourishment, and thoughts.
[This makes D sound very disgusting (parasitic sharing), and that's extremely valid because it's true.]
What a way to sell me to a girl! [the hand bemoans.] Don't listen to him. He gets things out of the deal, too! I'm not just a free-loader! Cute girls like you, too, heh heh... I can smell your hair, rub your face, even massage your bre--
[D promptly closes his fist tightly.]
--mmhff!
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In any case, Gray is more than satisfied with D's dry lecture. Having been an apprentice to an actual lecturer on magecraft, she finds a short explanation a pleasant surprise. ]
I think I understand. Add... isn't a parasite, but he's connected to my consciousness too. His personality is a bit like a program based on a knight from a long time ago.
[ She settles his cage on her arm, cradling it to her chest. Add has calmed down a bit, perhaps in part to watching Lefty get finger-stabbed in the face, but he still pipes up with a grin in his voice. ]
So you can call me Sir Add!
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It takes a purposefully long time, but D finally opens his hand again so the face can appear once more, blubbering from having been squeezed off without any chance to abscond. D also has too many manners not to be annoyed by the parasite's sleaziness.]
I see.
[A knight... He glances at the caged cube again. Left Hand does not have any such honors which is clear when neither of them offer any in return. He is curious, naturally, about Add. But this is an exchange now, and he has to debate whether or not he wants to answer questions asked of him. The conundrum of wanting information... but not wanting to give out information since it can be used against you...]
He assists you?
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Yes. He helps me in battle, though he specializes as a gravekeeping tool.
[ Her definition of gravekeeping is undoubtedly different from his, though. ]
That means we're most effective against ghosts... [ Ah. Quickly, she adds, ] Um, but he wasn't particularly made to fight vampires, so you don't have to worry about that.
[ Just in case D is wondering about Gray trying to stab him in his sleep?? ]
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I'm not worried.
[Well, he's cautious regardless, but he isn't particularly worried about the two of them coming for him in his sleep. Actually, he doesn't even need to sleep, he just does it to pass the time...]
Did you often deal with ghosts?
[Gravekeeping... effective against ghost types... a spirit of a former knight...]
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Gray finds his question funny enough that she smiles a bit ruefully. ]
My village was home to a prominent cemetery. I'm sensitive to spirits, so my job was to get rid of the ghosts that would appear there.
[ Add pipes up: ] She was the best gravekeeper in all of Britain!
[ Which Gray can't refute because she can't imagine anyone else in Britain had a weird ghost-eating Arthurian artifact in their possession, and also a crippling sensitivity toward ghosts, so. ]
If you ever have a ghost problem, please let me know.
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I'll keep it in mind.
[Sometimes, you are a freak, but desire to be normal, so you pretend...
His attention shifts from Add to Gray. He doesn't argue against Add's declaration at all. Britain... It's been a long time since he has heard someone else remember that place.]
Wow, [the face on D's palm says.] Might could have used her help before we got here, huh, D?
[He doesn't really look away from her.]
Mm.
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Anyway. Naturally, Gray is pinged by Lefty's comment. Since coming here, her ghost-related critical encounters have decreased exponentially. Hearing other people's ghost stories is a bit more novel, and in this case it might be a bit like talking shop. ]
Do you two normally have a way of fighting them?
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Depends on the ghost. Don't usually go digging for ghosts if we can help it... but the sleeping girl, eh? This cute broad had been asleep for thirty years. She kept coming to D in his dreams. Hehe.
[Why must he suffer with this parasite.]
Vampire Nobles can linger behind in a place of refuge as ghosts if they are powerful enough.
Yeah, like Carmilla! Supposed mistress to the ruler of all vampires. Bbleergh. Nasty woman. Never want to taste that again.
He deals with what I'm unable to touch.
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Lefty really is similar to Add. They even complain about the same things.
[ This is still a pretty stunning development to Gray, who truly thought of Add as one-of-a-kind. She raises his cage so that she can talk to him. ]
This might be a good thing. Add, wouldn't you like to have a friend you can relate to?
... With that old-timer?! Idiot Gray, shouldn't you go on a date yourself before you try setting other people up?
Add!
[ Gray chastises him sharply. Add refrains from laughing, if only because he can feel how close to punishment he is. He looks away innocently instead, as if he never said anything in the first place. ]
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The back-and-forth between Gray and Add reminds him a lot of himself and Left Hand. Though he is more stoic and doesn't really ever entertain a reply unless it's to tell Left Hand to shut up.
It gets the corner of his lips to twitch in an almost smile. GUESS SHE CAN FEEL THE AMUSEMENT BC THEY ARE BOTH DUMMY ADVOCATES.]
Who's old?! I'm filled with vitality! I could go all night! Wait, I do go all night, I don't sleep... Anyway, D will take you on a date! Haha! He needs more practice! Right, D?
Stop being a nuisance.
[THE EARLIER AMUSEMENT IS COMPLETELY GONE NOW.]
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D's little blip of amusement makes Gray glance over at him, a bit confused, and then she realizes that he might also be a fellow Advocate. She has to wonder if it will make living with him more complicated. Not that she has anything to hide, and neither of them are the types to tease each other... but still.
On one hand, it's convenient being able to parse D's feelings beneath his stony exterior. On the other hand, this means D will be feeling the instant alarm Gray feels when Lefty suggests a date, followed by her relief when D immediately shuts him down. That roller coaster of emotion could be interpreted as rude toward D, when really, the idea of going on a date with anybody at all is just intrinsically alarming to Gray. She's hoping he didn't notice.
Unfortunately, Add did notice. ]
What's this, Gray? Don't tell me you're gettin' excited! I'm starting to see that you have a ty—
Excuse me.
[ Gray says this politely to D. And then she walks away, into the chicken coop. The door closes behind her with a wooden clack. ]
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AAaaaAAaaAAaaAaaAA—!!
[ Like so. It's accompanied by a high-speed smash and rattle of metallic parts like a cocktail being shaked, except the cocktail is a dense metal cube.
This goes on for a good fifteen seconds.
When Gray emerges calmly from the coop, Add is nowhere to be seen. She returns to her spot and looks at D. ]
Please don't mind Add.
[ Take a drink every time D or Gray has to apologize for Lefty or Add... ]
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As soon as Gray says to excuse her, and she and Add disappear into the coop, Left Hand stretches his face around to look at D with a truly 😨 expression. The yowling and shaking make the old eyes big on the palm. Erebus lifts his head to glance around at the coop curiously, ears forward.
(Gray is getting a sliver of distant amusement again.)
D returns a taciturn, silent, pointed look at Left Hand, and the parasite winces sympathetically before hurriedly absconding inside once more. It's what happens to naughty additions.
When Gray emerges, only D is left waiting for her, one arm by his side and the other holding the horse's reins like before.]
It's alright. Don't let what the Carbuncle says bother you either.
[They like to stir them up.]
Has he been with you for very long?
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Since I was five. The master gravekeeper decided I had aptitude then, and passed Add down to me. There weren't any other children around, so he ended being my closest friend.
[ Try only friend. But still, despite all that has transpired here, D will feel a sincere warmth of gratitude emanating from Gray toward Add. ]
How long has Lefty been with you?
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And with other instances, too. When your annoying parasite entity is your only "friend".....
Gray is so forthcoming with admitting as much, so he says:]
...I was about the same age.
[For the moment, he doesn't tell her Left Hand was experimentally inserted into him... but it might be obvious in a way considering it happened when he was a child.
What child would ask for that unless they were just attacked?]
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Though she's curious, she doesn't feel familiar enough yet to pry. There are some things she'd rather not discuss with a recent acquaintance; call it projection, but she imagines D might feel the same on this particular subject. ]
I see... We really have a lot in common.
[ Freakishly so. It's startling to think that someone she can relate to in such a rare manner has spontaneously come to live under the same roof as her.
She blinks as she remembers why this happened in the first place. She glances back at the house. ]
Mr. Dokja might be surprisingly astute...
[ A mastermind even........ Gray wonders if she should reform her view of him. ]
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He won't tattle on Gray, but he will tattle on Dokja as a gentle, almost distantly affectionate bullying:]
His intent was for me to meet you. He made it sound as if it was for your benefit, [he says this as if he does not believe his company could ever be for anyone's benefit] but now I am wondering if he thought it would also be for mine...
[He follows Gray's gaze directly across the yard at the nearest window or door which would be at the kitchen.
Dokja..........]
It had not been my intent to intrude on your lives.
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