WEEK 2

[akudamods]

Saturday passes uneventfully save a little rain. It's on Sunday that you get a little notification of probation for new areas: Neo-Nipponbashi and Chuo. It'd be possible to investigate, to check out some anime, or to worship the defunct Shinkansen. But maybe it's hard to get excited about any of that when Friday’s events suggest that you have simply been provided some additional photogenic places to commit murder. Are you going to bother either overseer after their participation in some mockery of justice? Troll the internet? Get a bat out of Hyper Zone and just take out your frustration on everything?

Those of you who entered the pods will experience fewer “painful bursts of color” as your body is unaffected below the knees, though the same amount of “slight teleportation” glitches. Those of you who abstained from the pods will continue to experience all of the above as well as electric shock sensations occasionally when touching metal objects.

INTERNET | SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

((Internet investigations of any kind go here, and for all IRL areas, please use "investigate" in the subject line of your top-level comment, or link the thread to a moderator!))

Comments

[priori]

[ wow??

Coffee, takoyaki, and vending machine food make for a balanced diet... or a diet with a lot of caffeine and carbs. Given Astrals are practically immortal though, it isn't like this food will kill him. Probably.

Anyway, that response earns an exasperated "haa." ]

If you have an idea, I'll hear it. Otherwise you're just wasting time.

[ Which they have a lot of anyway. Irritably, he picks up another stick and holds the takoyaki out to Belial. Warm it up. ]

[intimations]

[ouo

Wow, just because it won't kill him doesn't mean it's harmless!! Gotta keep up that lean figure of his, okay. Meanwhile, Belial spends a few seconds in mock thought as the takoyaki is held up, glancing at it briefly before returning his gaze to Lucilius.]

Hmmm... then how about giving me a spot of praise? Just to start off slowly.

[And with a wide smile, he leans over the snack and lightly cups his hands around it before slowly breathing on it a few times.]

[priori]

[ Maybe he had this coming, maybe he didn't. Regardless, his eyes narrow and his first instinct is to pull his hand away. Though he refrains from actually doing it, even as Belial's warm breath seeps past his bodysuit and onto his skin.

Disgusting. ]

... Asking for praise while blatantly misbehaving. What makes you think I'd reward this?

[ A punishment won't accomplish anything either. He knows that, yet still he plunges the stick into Belial's mouth. Not enough to hurt, but probably enough to make him gag for a few seconds. ]

[intimations]

[And gag he does, because even if he's half-expecting some kind of retaliation or reprimand, that still doesn't necessarily mean he's prepared to deal with the sudden food being forced into his mouth. Still, there's something of a laugh in there even as he pulls his head back, catching the takoyaki with his teeth and dragging it off the stick before chewing at the morsel. As he finally swallows it with a gulp, he continues grinning back at Lucilius, same as always.]

Hehehe... you can't blame a man for trying. Besides, what you already did was reward enough.

Thanks for the meal.

[priori]

[ He didn't expect that to accomplish anything, not really. Yet somehow the results disappoint him more than he expected. Belial truly is beyond his understanding.

And, it seems, impossible to deter. Lucilius sighs quietly and leans back in his chair. At his side, he subtly wipes his hand against his robe. ]

Was it? You have a poor concept of what constitutes a "reward."

[intimations]

[Unperturbed by Lucilius' apparent resignation, Belial resumes his previous position as he reaches over with his free arm to slide the takoyaki tray back over to his side. Skewering another piece onto a stick, he raises it up in the air between them, gesturing lightly with it.]

Do I? It's not everyday you go ramming something inside my mouth. I just know how to savor these simple moments between us.

[Because there's nothing like almost being choked by your not!bf, right.]

[priori]

[ If you're into that sort of thing—and in fairness, Belial clearly is. ]

... What miserable incident led you to become so irrevocably broken. [ Since taking it away was meant to be a punishment (albeit, a pitiful one), Lucilius pulls the takoyaki back over to his side of the table. And takes one. ] Engaging you in this topic is a waste of energy, but it seems I have nowhere better to channel it. I'll indulge you.

Was it your regeneration?

[intimations]

[Just going to pop the one he already has in his mouth then!! He will at least swallow before he speaks because he isn't that ill-mannered, even if that doesn't stop him from being crude in almost every other respect.]

'Fraid you'll have to dig deeper than that. But I won't leave you wanting. [He leans in, almost conspiratorially.] I've been like this since the day I was created. Thanks to you, Cilius.

[priori]

[ A bold claim—and one that's unrepentantly incorrect. But he doesn't note it and simply moves on. ]

You attribute your affliction to me? [ After a moment of thought... Fair, he supposes. ] Hm. You're proposing it was a flaw in your biology, not a learned response. ... An anomaly in your sensory receptors, then? Something that could have thrown your perceptions into disarray.

[ He thought he tested all of this when Belial was created, but perhaps he missed something. Some minute defect that worsened over time. How annoying.

Lucilius deposits an elbow onto the table and holds his hand out toward Belial. The gesture is similar to the way one might ask a dog for its paw. ]

[intimations]

[Ah, when Lucilius starts musing to himself like that, Belial knows better than to interrupt. There's a certain glint of fondness in his stare as he listens to the other man, tilting his head slightly as the rhetorical questions come and go. And when the hand goes out, his eyes narrow in amusement as he languidly places his free one into Lucilius'.]

I see your lust for knowledge is as insatiable as ever. That look in your eyes, picking me apart piece by piece as you search for any signs of imperfection... I could watch it forever. But I'm afraid you'll find that physically, everything's in working order. You'll need to really get inside me if you want to find your answer.

[priori]

[ ... this creature.

He didn't need the reminder, but from this exchange alone it's easy to see why he never pressed the issue. Lucilius rolls his wrist, inadvertently allowing his palm to slide against Belial's skin. More importantly, it provides a better angle to smack the offending hand away.

Whatever plans he had for it have tragically been abandoned. ]

A vivisection isn't out of the question.

[intimations]

[On one hand, he's a bit disappointed he won't find out what Lucilius had in store for him. On the other, that proposal... well, it's certainly an interesting one. In any case, Belial doesn't make any effort to resist getting slapped away as he just lets his hand hang there for a bit before retracting it and laying it back in front of him on the table.]

Ohhh, edgeplay, is it? If that's what you're into, then I'm all yours. Ah, but we might run into a bit of a problem when it comes to equipment though. Unless you don't mind getting really down and dirty.

[He says, but good thing week 3 has the cybernetics mall!!! Looks like that location can be useful for something?!]

[priori]

[ As always, no reaction. Reprimanding Belial truly is an exercise in futility. One he continues to engage in, for reasons unknown to even him. ]

Have I ever? Still, will does not equate interest—and the only play I desire demands a closing curtain.

[ Which is a sentiment he's uncertain Belial shares, no matter what his teasing suggests. Thankfully, allegiance is not the topic of this conversation. Nor does it particularly concern him given, well, everything going on here.

For the second time today, Lucilius reclines back in his chair. He even remembers to place the takoyaki he's been holding into his mouth and take a bite of it. ]

[intimations]

[Rejected again, huh. It's not unexpected though, considering everything here. Belial's well aware that there's nothing to be gained from impairing him in a situation like this after all, and even if that wasn't the case, he's used to Lucilius' empty threats by now.

And then he brings that up. As the conversation shifts to the grand finale--their grand finale--a glint of something else flickers to life in Belial's eyes. Because in the end, for all the flirtations, insinuations and double entendres he makes, it's never been about anything physical when it comes to his creator. He's already experienced plenty of those dalliances with too many skydwellers to count, but no one else has ever aroused that same spark of interest in him--that fascination that threatens to sear him inside and out in all its self-destructive splendor.

Ahh, Lucilius really is the same as usual, even if he is different.

Belial folds his arms onto the table and leans forward, gaze intent as reverence drips forth from every one of his softly-spoken words.]

And that's why I'll be with you every step of the way. My body is yours to command, Cilius.