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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.
no subject
WELL, it's A LOT. It's a lot. D remembers the eyepatch from the bar, and now more things make sense.
The slip into the pain and fear doesn't frighten him in its familiarity, though only because he has had ten thousand years to heal with distance what had happened to him. But it is still familiar. The smells, the sounds, the feelings. Reliving it through her mind doesn't scare him; instead, it hurts him. He is sad for her, sad she had to experience such a thing at all.
This is probably what earns her more of his interest. He would never wish experimentation of any kind on even his enemies. A mercy.
The iciness returned back to her is clearly not directed at her specifically. A barren snowfield of distaste, frigid, the ground covered in frozen ash. He isn't sure why Liem vouched for him after he showed up at Liem's door the way he had, but he appreciates it anyway.]
Are you searching for a doctor, or do you know of one already you want to make contact with?
[...]
I can make the eye you have undetectable for a short time. I can't be sure it would keep them from spying without knowing how it's done, but the spell shields against scrying and divination.
no subject
Hayame does not want pity, because she has never lived in a world where the weak were allowed to survive. And in that moment, more than the pain... She could take the pain. Even if her body reacted, thrashed and bucked and struggled to escape despite the expert way she'd been twisted and tied down to neutralize the strengths of a jinba... It was the shame she could not stand.
And every time she shared even a snippet of what happened to her, every time a single person was added to the very few who knew-
D's reaction is enough. It is... good enough. Ice. Ash.]
I know of no doctors of that sort. Certainly not those skilled enough with surgery to do such a delicate procedure.
[She had always taken care of her own injuries. If they were damaging enough, she asked a magic healer... so this-]
... I think I know someone who can manipulate the eye. What I need is someone who can connect the-
[... She does not know the words. Someone who can connect the eyeball to her ocular nerves.]
Who can make the eye work in my head.
[...]
I am wearing an eyepatch for now. How long does your spell last?
no subject
I understand.
[She requires someone to completely connect the eye back. He thinks about offering to try, but he isn't a surgeon even if he has a surgeon's precision with a blade and thousands of years of scientific research.
It'd be better if they can get her someone.]
About eight hours. You can use it before the procedure so there isn't any interference. Hopefully.
[He realizes he still hasn't exactly agreed to anything, so:]
I accept. I'll help you.
sorry she's so normal cw: suicidal ideation
But there is another long pause. Another long pause where she wishes this had never happened to her. Where she wishes any other jinba had arrived in Kenos but her to fight for their world, that she had succeeded in biting off her tongue before the demon shoved the bit in, so that she could just... just die, and not suffer like this. Not be shamed like this, and now have to go crawling around hoping for crumbs from those few who met standards she has been forced to lower time and time again just to not end up hated and alone.
But if she died, then-]
... I see.
[Most people. Normal people. She thinks they would say "thank you". She should probably say that, yet... that is just as shameful. She hates it more. Being forced to feel gratitude just because someone chose to her side over that of a soul-eating demon made of eyes and mouths and shadows just because it talked pretty, flattered nicely, hosted parties, apparently fucked well-
Why is everyone so-]
What would you like in return?
I would appreciate if you would name something properly, unlike last time.
[... The birthday advice. It had helped her, and he hadn't asked for anything.]
🥹 hayame!!!
Without rushing her, D politely waits on the other end for her to reconcile with her pride and ideations. He really does think she deserves to exist, but won't force such a thing down her throat. He has met other warriors just the same. Fought them even, and any outcome less than victory was a request for him to end them completely.
The lack of thank you doesn't bother him either. If she only knew how many times he was never thanked out of prejudice despite completing a job and saving loved ones--wives daughters, children.
But then it's his turn to be silent for a long time. He wants to ask for something insignificant to her, but knows she will be offended by a lackluster request. He thinks she expects to be asked something worse, too. To be used for her dual body or her strength, to maybe even be assaulted.]
...I am searching for pieces of more advanced technology, or for conversations with the vampires of Kowloon.
[He understands Hayame probably won't know advanced technology, but she may know a place, like the Cache Liem had told him about. And he wouldn't be surprised if she avoided the vampires like the plague.]
I am trying to make something I had on thr Frontier: pills of artificial blood that melt in water.
🥹🥹🥹 d!!!
That is. D names his requests... but she cannot even be happy with them. They sound suitable, they sound serious, but she...
I am not one to know what is... "advanced technology". I have been told that I barely have the right to say I know what "technology" is. If I find something strange and metal, I could alert you, but...
[What are the odds of that??? And even worse-]
... I cannot operate well in Kowloon, either.
[She hopes she does not have to spell out why. The streets are crowded, there are countless stairs, many of the alleys are too narrow for her to turn around in, and... Yeah. A very hostile environment for a centaur who likes to be able to defend herself. While also being a stupid sounding excuse- that of course, again, her not being human shaped in these other godsdamned worlds has come to make her a liability or an outlier again.]
If it is vampires, I have heard they live in Highstorm as well...
[... Somewhere she refuses to go. But she knows, does she know, that many Meridian shard-bearers frequent that place.]
If it is blood you need...
[... Is she- ?]
no subject
And it's also not a refusal, or something that feels lackluster.]
It's alright. You can tell me if you happen to learn anything.
[He knows she doesn't want to hear it isn't something she has to put time and effort into, so he won't tell her as much. It's just better for him to have a few eyes (stop) and ears listening out while he searches himself.]
The bite of a vampire from the Frontier can be dangerous. [There isn't any point in running around and biting people, he'd like to say... and yet... Kenos is happening more and more, and here he is biting people.] There isn't any point in bloodletting.
Keep your strength.
no subject
You may be waiting a very long time.
[What is she supposed to do, go out and become two-legged? ... Hmm. No, that's probably impossible...]
...
[Had her question about his need for blood been leading into an offer to take it from her neck? Was it going to be an offer of vials, perhaps, that she bloodlet from herself to hand over? Was it going to be a suggestion for someone else, or for an alternative? Welp, now they will never know... !]
But you are doing it?
[Biting people... drinking their blood... ?]
no subject
Waiting a long time doesn't bother me.
[Imagining having to wait a whole human's lifetime before showing up at the funeral to complete a promise of flowers. He's done that. It isn't a huge deal. He has... nothing but time, as a freak of natural which doesn't age.]
I would prefer not to partake in any of that. It would make me no different than the vampires I hunted. However, I don't believe this place is going to offer a choice, and I am more beneficial to the rest of you alive than dead.
So far, I have accepted a little from those consenting.
[Hayame values honesty, so he will just be very honest.]
no subject
...
[Not much more than a month ago, she had been sick after watching Liem Talbott drain the blood from a victim's throat. It had been an enemy, and still... that had not detracted from the horror of seeing a man she thought was just... just a man... turn out to be something that fed on lifeblood. But she hadn't... no, of course she found it unnatural, it was, but the real source of her anger had been the secrecy, had been finding out that she'd known him the longest of anyone in this place, that she'd trusted him more than anyone in this place, and he had kept such a thing from her, and not others...
So D...]
And you do not... have to debase yourself, to get this blood?
[... What?]
no subject
In all honesty, D doesn't usually say a whole lot about himself to other people either; however, he learned those here didn't usually understand vampires much less dhampirs. Better to tell them a little. Even better to tell Hayame a lot more. She is so easily irritable.
He still likes this about her? Sue him.]
What do you mean?
[The question hasn't offended him, he just wants to clarify what she considers debasing. He thinks drinking the blood of other people is kind of debasing in itself, but maybe she means... sex.]
no subject
… Not like she doesn’t get it, at the core. She hates having to explain jinba to people, after a lifetime of humans being able to tell what she was and guess everything about her future, her past, and her present just based off her clothing, her hairstyle, her gender, who she accompanied, and just… the fact that she had arms. But they had to, this world necessitated it no matter how distasteful…]
I mean…
[She means sex. A certain type of sex. Her talk with Liem might have left her with certain notions the other man did not properly disavow.]
Having to cater to… to people with sick tastes to get the blood you require.
[If it was that-]
no subject
No. I'm not interested in that sort of trade. Others are free to give if that's what they want. I offer nothing in return.
[Well, unless Kenos forces him to act ridiculous, then he guesses he can't stop that from happening!! He simply will become a slut for people's weird blood drinking fetishes (Gen).]
no subject
And now she’s embarrassed for asking, but.]
I did not mean to imply you were interested, just that—
[Look, she doesn’t know how many normal people are out there letting dhampir bite them in a practical and business like way!!!!]
…
A friend would be concerned.
[… and they are. “Friends” now. Aren’t they?]
no subject
I see. The friend doesn't have to worry.
[Even if weirdos happen to turn his bite into a fetish, all that'd matter to him, if he desperately needed blood for whatever reason, is the removal of the craving. He supposes that's what Hayame is worried about really.]
Shouldn't this friend be more concerned with what has been done to them instead?
no subject
… Well, that is good to hear.
[The next part… is phrased in a way that makes her feel like it was an insult, though. She tries to think of it more charitably, but-
No, she can’t stop the instinctive-]
Surely you do not think I am so weak or so selfish as that?
[Wow maybe she really doesn’t know wtf friendship is???]
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Not at all. My situation simply seems so much less pressing in comparison. [He thinks he knows what Hayame might say to this maybe. So he adds:] There isn't any need to compare them.
However, I don't think it's necessary to worry very much about mine for now. Since your eye may be compromised, it should be adjusted as quickly as possible.
no subject
...
[Yeah, she was probably going to compare them. Still.]
... Well, I agree. The sooner... the better. As long as it can be done properly.
[Which is where D comes in, but...]
I will be relying on you for this. In case of surveillance, it is best we speak primarily over Communion. Liem Talbott may serve as intermediary when needed.
Once it is done successfully, I would host you at my... home. If that is something you would desire.
no subject
[He gets along with Liem even though he so rudely showed up to Liem's door to talk about how to handle the two of them if they ever turned into a ravenous vampiric beast. Liem isn't a bad man, he doesn't think.
He isn't sure if Hayame means hosting as staying over, or hosting as visiting. Not that he minds the offer for either one. This is why Hayame is a sweet woman. But anyway:]
I am staying at Kim Dokja's house currently. [In case she ever needed him.] But I would not be opposed to visiting, if you'd like.
[He will come visit Hayame!!]
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herthem... even despite their vicious fight during the Exalt Oracle over the sudden revelation that her so-called friend had been hiding the fact that he drank blood from her...He is the only one of those so-called friends who wasn't shamelessly continuing to flirt and fraternize with the demon who had tortured her, even after seeing the pain and humiliation it had visited upon her. She will never forget that, even as she wonders... if that is really what friendship is supposed to be.]
Visiting... It is not- It is not about "like", it is about showing gratitude...
[Surely it made sense? She was asking him to do something potentially dangerous, of course she should repay him at least with some fine drink and hosting... ?]
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I'll visit after we see to your eye then.
[Hopefully this will spare her from any more fluster. He's getting the impression she is straightforward in all areas. He just has to simply say he will do something and not leave it up to her to decide if it's appropriate when she's already trying her best. That's okay.
Straightforward person to straightforward person communication.]
no subject
... I will look forward to that day, then.
[... Thanks for the merciful out of straightforward person to straightforward person communication. Yoroshiku ;;]