darkinferno | [ic inbox]

It's going to be a lot harder to carve a chunk out of that thing than it is just cutting off a couple fingers.

[Come on, what do you want from him, Noah? You'd still have four fingers to work with! He'll just take the pinky or something. It's still a net gain, right?]

At least I don't have to worry too much about hurting you.

Sink or bathtub?

[Either one is going to be a bit of a climb, but he doesn't want to worry about making a mess, either!]

Too bad! If physical therapy works and gets this thing moving, I want five fingers!

[JEEZ DANTE]

Sink. Easier to get outta.

[And hey, there's even been a ramp set up out of various bathroom supplies to make it for an easier climb. Noah will go ahead and start walking and climbing up]

[So picky! And here he is doing you a favor, Noah... but whatever, Dante will follow Noah up the ramp toward the sink, climbing up and onto the counter top.]

Okay.

[He starts to lift his hand to summon Soul Eater, but then he glances Noah's way, hand dropping back to his side.]

Last chance to back out. You sure about this?

[When he reaches the sink, he'll pull off his jacket to show the tank top he's wearing underneath to show the arm. He holds out the arm, looking right at Dante]

Yep. Hit me.

You got it.

[It's all Dante needs to hear. He reaches out his hand, shadows twining around the length of the wing-shaped blade as it materializes out of nothingness, fitting comfortably into his hand as he takes hold of it.

With his free hand, Dante takes hold of Noah's new arm by the wrist, stepping around to position the tip of the blade at what would be the fleshy part of a forearm were it a normal arm. Somewhere that should be safe to carve a chunk out of, if it's safe at all.]

Here goes.

[Aaaaaaaaaand...

Nothing?

The tip of the blade doesn't pierce with the slightest pressure, as Dante's expecting. He frowns, adding more pressure to it.]

Can you feel any of this?

[That sword is...wicked cool looking, Noah notes. He won't openly admit it, because it's Dante's sword and eff that, but still.

Instead, he just holds still while Dante tries to pierce the arm. It doesn't hurt, at all. Just like all the other times]

I dunno, I feel pressure like you're touching me. Doesn't hurt though.

[Dante's frown deepens as he adds even more pressure to the blade, finally starting to reach a point where he worries he's going to lose purchase on the arm and the blade's going to slip to either side... and he's not so sure the blade won't pierce either of their bodies if it does. He lets go and steps back, examining the tip of his sword and its edge at large.]

Hang on a second.

[Glancing around, he catches sight of a bobby pin on the countertop. Perfect. Dante crosses to it, holding it out before him in his left hand. Then he tosses it up, arcing Soul Eater around--and the pin falls in three pieces back to the counter, sliced neatly in half by the sword.]

So it's not the sword.

I'm going to try again. Hold your arm out to your side.

[And this time, once Noah has his arm out, Dante's putting strength into a downwards swing, like he might do if he were trying to cut through the arm entirely. He's not intending on it--in fact, if the blade did start to cut through the red arm he'd immediately dismiss Soul Eater entirely--but it seems like using his full strength might be the only way to make a dent in it.]

[Noah watches the demonstration with the pin. It's so smooth and fast acting, you'd think he was watching an infomercial- but in real life. He has to do his best not to look too impressed, because again, Dante.

Whether this speaks of Noah's steel nerves or his recklessness, he holds out his arm again and doesn't flinch when Dante brings the sword down on him. Partly because again, he just feel like something bouncing off him. Which exactly what the sword does- bounces off, without a single mark on the arm]

...Well, least it didn't break.

At least it didn't break?

That arm of yours is the first thing I've come up against that this sword hasn't been able to cut through.

[Dante frowns, looking at Soul Eater. There's always the possibility that in the back of his mind something doesn't want to cut through the arm, and that's why it's not working, but it's not an idea he's ready to throw his weight behind. A strike like that should have done damage, intention or not.]

And you don't know what it's made up of?

Yeah, a few of the things I've tried against it shattered. So, least it didn't break.

[Though the idea that Dante has is admittedly partly why he asked for help in the first place. Even if he failed to cause the arm harm, there's only so much a personally will willingly do to themselves before their instincts get in the way]

No idea. It's nothing I've ever seen before, doctors say that too.

[For a moment, Noah's words distract him. Dante looks at his sword, trying to imagine it shattering. For some reason, the idea is horrifying--even though he hasn't even had it for a week yet, it feels like it's a part of him. Like any damage done to it would be a reflection of damage to himself...]

I'm pretty sure it's impossible to break. It's some sort of magic sword, dumb as it sounds.

[Dumb and yet entirely true.]

Maybe those demon jokes weren't so far off after all. [He frowns, trying to come up with something else that might shed some light on the situation.] So it sounds like for now you're stuck with it, unless you want to carve off even more of your body.

Might as well see if you can learn to use it then.

[What's the worst that could happen, right...? Dante's not saying it aloud, but he's pretty certain now that this arm has to be another of those things they're all regaining from their pasts. Noah will only learn more about it when the memories decide to let him, if that's the case.]

Tch. You know if you hadn't summoned it out of thin fucking air, I'd call it dumb, but...

[Yeah no. Magical sword seems like the most plausible explanation here.

He sighs, lowering the arm. Another unfruitful endeavor- what does it take to cut this thing?]

No, I promised I wouldn't carve it off. [For SOME reason Anya and Naoto were against amputation. Weird.] I'm doing physical therapy and that's helping it move some, but...

[He sighs, rubbing his neck] You know, it's weird. Same day I got the arm, I got another package from Retrospec. Kinda forgot to about it with the whole...arm thing.

It was just an old deck of cards. Nothing creepy about it.

Trust me, I get it. I'm living it. [Dante releases the sword, watching it be swallowed up by the darkness again. It's still weird, no matter how many times he does it.

However, once Noah gets to explaining about the cards, Dante's resting a fist on his hip, giving him a deadpan look. Really?]

Well, I don't know about you, but if there's one thing I've noticed about the stuff we've been getting, it's that it's usually not useless.

[The only one that has been is the cat plushies sent out from "Yuri's Angels."]

People have gotten weapons, clothes... I'm pretty sure these gloves came from them, right before they gave me a wooden sword to train with. So if you got a deck of cards the same day you woke up with that thing, I'm betting they're connected.

[A smirk.]

How good are you at poker?

Tch. I never said it was useless, just not creepy like the other stuff. And I just forgot about it because new limb kinda took priority for some fucking reason.

[Gosh.]

Uh...I played Go Fish once?

I wasn't saying that you said it was useless. [Come on, stick with him here!] Just, if you got it at the same time as the arm, there's probably a connection there.

[A shrug.] Who knows? Maybe it's time you learned some new tricks.

[And yes, every single one of those meanings are intended.]

Yeah, whatever.

[Dante has a point, really, but that doesn't mean he has to be happy about it]

Great, sure. Maybe I'll teach myself to play solitaire in solitude.

[Remind him to suggest to Ari that they should all work together to help him recover the use of his new arm... after all, if he puts it to her in such a way that suggests he's trying to help Noah, he's sure he could swing it somehow. It'd be worth having to put up with him to see how pissed off he was at being pulled into it for how much he cares about Ari...]

Suit yourself.

[Was that a fucking pun? No, it definitely wasn't.]

Was there anything else you wanted to try?

[Wow Dante that's both nice and dickish at the same time. Which is so...you.

He gives a bit of a look at the pun, but ignores it.]

I dunno. If that sword doesn't break it, I don't fucking know what else would.

You know, without killing the rest of me in the process.

[ic inbox]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject