darkinferno | [ic inbox]

yeah, sure

i'll be there in 15

[And he is! It doesn't take him long to get there, so quickly enough there will be a knocking on Vera's door. Knock knock!]

you're not the only one allowed to have cool things you know

[Vera is quick to open the door, giving her dear friend a reserved smile. Wearing little makeup and dressed in only sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt, her appearance is a far cry from the meticulously-crafted look she strives for when in public. She trusts Dante not to care about her appearance, and it's nice to be able to put her guard down every once in a while.]

Hey Dante, thanks for coming. I've got some drinks chilling in the fridge if you want one.

[Freya snorts, not looking over initially. She knew he was coming, and besides, how many people could get up here?]

I wish. Even if "highs school goth" isn't my style. Ugly thing, isn't it? [When she does glance over, her eyes linger over the hipster cider accompanied by a curiously arched eyebrow, and she reaches for one of those. She likes sweeter alcohol, sue her.]

How's the app been treatin' you?

I know that.

I'm the one that snapped him out of it.

Not that I know how, of course.

But the two of you seemed to have some bad blood between you even before then... and yet you still thought it your responsibility to bail him out of the messes that he makes for himself. Why is that? Doesn't it get frustrating after a while?

...and don't give me any of that crap about being a decent human being. Even if that's true, there's a limit to how much you can do when that person has no interest in bettering themselves, isn't there?

wait, you did?

how? i mean... what happened?

[Sorry, that's a #distraction. He'll come back to Bakhura's actual question in a moment though!]

It's not that bad. [Honestly, he's kind of intrigued. It's an interesting design! But Freya doesn't seem like she wants to get into it right now, so he passes over the cider, popping his own and raising it for a pseudo-toast, eyebrow quirked.]

Can't complain too much, I guess. [A half-shrug... and then he pauses. A moment passes, and Dante snorts before shaking his head and leaning back onto his elbows, a sardonic twist pulling at his expression.]

How fucked up is that? I got a memory of the other guy last month almost dying, and it's par for the course.

obviously i am

did you really get a magic tool belt

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure.

I just remember that he had had a strong reaction to this card he had given me whenever he was near it, though how or why, I can't say for certain. If I had to guess, I would assume that it has some sort of magical properties.

...I still have it just in case. But I also haven't seen him react like that to it since despite carrying it everywhere with me.

[ He's also not speaking to Malik at the moment, but he's not going to mention that unless it becomes relevant. ]

huh

do you think i could take a look at it some time? maybe i could figure out what's up with it

[But anyways, let him get back to the question at hand...]

i guess i want to help malik because i could've been him. my parents didn't care what i did unless it would hurt my dad's name so i did a lot of the same stuff he did, at least before the warehouse

[and it was my fault the warehouse happened and ruined him, he wants to add, but before he hits send it's deleted.]

[In spite of how serious their conversation has been, the corner of his mouth still turns up to see her dressed so casually. It really says a lot for how their friendship has grown that she trusts him enough to lower her shields like this.]

Hey. What sort of drinks? I might take you up on that.

you bet i did
i can pull all kinds of stuff out of this thing
and it seems like i can store pretty much anything without any extra weight as long as it fits
it's pretty awesome
though it's pretty insistent on mints for some reason

Yeah, sure. Just give me a time and a place.

[ Bakhura is hesitant to give the card up, but he also knows that it's important that the mechanisms behind the card are understood - and besides, Dante has just as much reason to want to prevent that other side of Malik from coming back as he does. He'll take the risk. ]

Really? That's interesting because a while ago he called you a "good kid." It wasn't exactly a compliment, though.

any time. i'm always at the dojo in tisse sunday nights if you want to swing by then

[Honestly, Dante wouldn't even ask to take the card from him. He just wants to look at it and see if there's any sense he can get from it, anything that might have given Malik that strong reaction...]

i'm not surprised

malik's the sort of guy that doesn't care how the world works, he's going to do what he wants and he thinks the world should bend to him. i grew up watching pretentious fame-chasers bending themselves to what the world wanted of them. malik hates that i learned how to bend the world by playing along with it first

so you're like a walking armory now

too bad you didn't have the mints back in february, maybe it's trying to give you a hint

You've got it.

And that sounds like Malik, all right. Petty is practically his middle name.

[ Not that Bakhura is one to talk, but he'll pause between this line and the next - ]

Do you think that Malik is capable of learning that, too? To bend himself to what the world wants instead of expecting it to play along with him? Even just trying... even if it takes time...

[There's a pause from Dante's end too.]

i don't know

it all depends on if he's willing to. if he keeps refusing like he is now, things are just gonna keep going the same way

i guess that's why i keep trying to help

because there's saying fuck the world and there's saying fuck my life and malik hasn't figured out the difference yet

In other words, you're still helping him on the off-chance that he might be willing to try? That's an awfully big risk.

Are you sure it's worth taking?

who knows? maybe it isn't

but people took risks on me even when i wanted to push them away

even if things never change, i don't think i could forgive myself if i just gave up on him

I see.

Knowing that there's someone out there who would be willing to take that chance on you, who can believe that you're capable of change even when you don't think that you are certainly would make a difference in what you think you can do, wouldn't it?

I wonder why that wasn't more obvious to me before.

[She meets the pseudo-toast with an obligatory 'cheers,' before taking a drink. Freya listens quietly, idly waving her foot. Then, a casual shrug.]

Yeah. Sounds about right. Lotta people remember almost dying. Guess it is pretty fucked up that I don't consider that messed. No major phantom pain, I hope.

huh? what do you mean?

it's not exactly that though, it's more like... there's no reason to care what other people thought because they wouldn't be around anyways. either you'll move and they'll stop contacting you or they'll leave when things get rough

it takes a while before the idea that they WON'T go away sinks in

That's true. However, people can realistically only be expected to put up with so much for so long even if they want to help you... and eventually, those limits become apparent enough to you for you to figure out just how much you can push them until people go away, no matter how determined they are to stay by your side. I know because that's what I've done to others, and that's what he's done to me despite everything I've gone through with him.

What makes people want to keep playing that game? Knowing that it's all just a ruse and has nothing to do with them?

And it's nothing. Don't worry about it.

[ He might have been projecting a little in his last response, but he's sure as hell not going to admit it. He's already said too much as it is, but after a conversation on the network the day before, he can't keep his thoughts to himself any longer. ]

[He shakes his head, a voiceless huff of dry laughter escaping.]

Nah. I got that back in September when Cleo broke my ribs at fight club. I remembered him taking the hit that was meant for someone else... this was what happened after all that. I don't know if it's when he really died or not, but he sure thought he was.

What about you? Aside from unwanted tattoos, how've your memories been?

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HELLO that's totally okay! real life is more important

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