[Console]: Video

[stubbornlittleshit]

[Arno's a fast learner, anyway, and even though he's not adventurous enough to try playing with the console configurations he's been taught yet,or actually inspecting it with someone not around to wonder what the hell it is he's doing, he might as well announce his presence here. Obviously, his robes are off, currently drying after he cleaned off the evidence of his romantic encounter with whatever was in that stable nosing him when he came to, but the hangover's worn off, he's relatively accepted that the story he was told is not some drugged hallucination, and that he's not suddenly discovered Hell is real, so that is something.

There's a beat, and he's leaning forward, pasting a charming, almost too charming grin onto his face. Practiced social smile though it is, there is at least something sparkling in his eyes, even if he might be just a bit more nervous than he's planning to let on. At any rate, he's shrugging at the screen a little, muttering a little to himself for just a moment.]

What is it they say about not being able to beat them, and joining in?

[There's another beat and then he's speaking, this time for real.]


Well, let us get the introductions done with, shall we? I think they've given me enough detail to explain what's going on here, even though the last time I got hit with half of this, I wasn't exactly sober, and were it not for lacking the requisite headache, I would probably assume I've either drowned my current sorrows way too much, or someone somewhere's dosed me with something, again. It wouldn't be the first time it's been tried.

Speaking of druggings, other people, and the like, I don't suppose anyone here's spotted a redhead with a sword who looks like she was born to it? She would as likely run me through as soon as hear she's pretty, but all the same between us, Elise de La Serre's rather stunning, sometimes literally if I'm not being careful.

[At which point, he's rubbing his temple exaggeratedly, the implications of that pretty clear, even before the smile turns into a smirk instead.]

Since I am pretty sure, I'd rather not be knocked out in a strange new world, where the boundaries between reality and dreams are blurred, humans are part of an invading force, and local gangs don't like us much, you can say that Arno's been sniffing around for her, and things shouldn't get too heated.

While I'm waiting the mademoiselle's appearance, what's the going rate on work and food these days, have foreigners become the national symbol and currency of the current situation like the nobility's done in Paris, and is anyone eager to tell me how delivering our heads to whoever runs came about if what seems to be true is true?

The real story, not this vague "war" answer I've been getting. Every good war has its stories, no?

I wait with baited breath if nothing else.

Comments

[theideaguy]

[Geez, this guy talks more than Enjolras.]

You know for someone who is offering introductions, you could probably spend a little more time talking about yourself.

[Ahem, allow Sokka to show you how this is done, good sir.]

Hello, Arno, I am Sokka of the Water Tribe. And this, [he says with a dramatic gesture to the side,] is Boomerang.

Can I just say that it sounds like you could probably use with a slight change of friends or occupation if you keep getting drugged all the time? I mean, it couldn't hurt, could it?

[stubbornlittleshit]

[Sometimes! When he's especially into...well, himself, or trying to hide the fact that he has no fucking clue what's going on and wants to appear unaffected, definitely.

He has to say, he likes this kid already, though he's keeping the snicker short enough for now. And okay, there's a stab of jealousy because he got his own favorite toy weapon confiscated back in Paris. All that said, he's inclining his head a little at the introduction as odd as it is. Not so much for the brevity but for the fact he's trying to place 'Water Tribe' with anything he's read, but no, that's drawing a complete blank there. That said, he'll be propping his elbows up on the console now, offering a smile that's less polished, and more smirk.]

You see, I knew there was some etiquette lesson or other on this thing that I was missing. Merci, monsieur, I am in your debt.

[As far as occupation goes, being told to leave is still too raw, too near for him to even think of turning into something to laugh off, even though a part of him desperately wants to do just that.

But instead, he's exaggeratedly glancing around himself, adding a booted foot to the table the console rests on, trying, maybe a bit too hard to look relaxed right now.]

I do believe that being here solves both of those problems quite neatly. Pity, though, a few of them would just go mad at everything they have to offer here.

[The sad thing is? He does know people, templars, mostly, who would love to get ahold of this.]

[theideaguy]

[There's a brief moment when Sokka feels like he's being mocked just a little bit. This would be a perfectly natural (albeit rude) riposte to Sokka's sarcastic (and also rude) initial reply. However, after he continues, it doesn't sound like this Arno guy actually is making fun of him at all and instead might be just a little serious.]

Believe me, anyone that would actually want to be here is just a little bit mad by definition. I mean, it's not like this place is some happy magical dream land where life and everything is wonderful. But, as I've heard it said, "misery is company." The more, the merrier, I suppose.

[But that's besides the point.]

So I'm guessing you've already gotten the standard tour around here? Figured out where everything is?

[stubbornlittleshit]

[It's less mocking of Sokka anyway, and more of the concept of manners and etiquette in general. Arno's prone to that most of the time at home, with most people as it is, and under these circumstances, well, it's a surprise people would still care about that sort of thing.

Though, yes, that is just for the moment, and the concept, and he's sobering enough after a beat.]

Ah, no, reconstruction after war is never an enjoyable place to be, at that. Still, there are some I cannot help but think would make their way here well enough. And so it is. Well, perhaps between all of us here, we can find some antidote to misery or other.

Mostly? They've gotten me settled in the hotel anyway. Is there more I ought to know aside the gathering places of the gangs?

[theideaguy]

[Sokka just looks a little sceptically at Arno. People who'd want to be here? Well, there were madmen in the world.]

Well, if they're really that convinced that they want to come here, well, let's just hope they end up on our side, hm?

[Sokka thinks for a moment about the natural landmarks that are important to think of.]

Well, I suppose not really? I mean, there are some great places to go as a tourist, but... I don't think there's actually much to the town right now of note that's relevant other than the locations of the nearest café that won't try to poison you.

[stubbornlittleshit]

[Arno never said that any of the people he knows who would like to be here are sane. He's imagining someone along the lines of the Marquis de Sade, perhaps, or Robespierre, God forbid that, but if the gangs would overlook the fact he was a foreigner, well, there are reasons he's shaking his head firmly.]

Ah, that's precisely why I hope they never find a way. If any of the gangs here could be persuaded to forget someone is not from here, or managed to get themselves hooked into the tenants of that order, things would not go very well.

[He's pausing, stretching a bit and thinking about how best to go on explaining.]

Out of chaos comes a need for power, yes? That IS how things came to their current state I'd guess. Imagine a group of people with a creed that calls for power over everything, including thought itself. Should they manage to end up here, I do not doubt I know where their place in the current state of things would be, and if they got close to the rest of us, I know what they would try to do. I somehow doubt that there could be much benefit.

With any luck, the way I got here is somehow barred to any of those people. Well, except for one who does know better, who I know that we could trust.

[For a second there's a very stupid, sappy smile crossing Arno's face, even though he knows by now he should know better himself than to play that card so openly. It's just as well that he's quickly shoving the thought aside instead.]

Somehow, I did not think I would be able to attend the local opera, no. Knowing somewhere I won't be poisoned IS a good idea. It's such a cheap, disgraceful way for a coward to kill someone, isn't it?

[theideaguy]

A group of people that want power over everything? Already been there and saw that guy in my world. [Sokka sticks his thumb behind his shoulder, as if to say that that's behind him and that he'd not like to see it again.] From what I understand, we got rid of him too, though I personally haven't gotten to experience it firsthand. Thankfully, he managed to not be crazy successful at that.

So yeah, remind me not to invite your acquaintances here the next time we all get together to send letters of invitation to this place.

[Sokka's smiling slightly, almost as if he's finding his own jokes internally very funny, even if Arno won't.]

As far as the opera, can't say I've got an interest in that. The one play I saw recently was, well, let's just say it was ridiculously bad, though at least they did get one pivotal moment pretty good. [There's a small pause as he reminisces over that scene depicting the death of Yue; it's not that the acting was particularly good... just that Sokka is way too sentimental sometimes for his own good.] As for the cafés, thankfully there are more restaurants out there that will just refuse to serve you than go to the trouble of poisoning you, so I suppose that's a step up.

But yeah, pretty cowardly, I agree. Then again, I suppose it's a little less risky than going toe-to-toe with someone that can singe you with blasts of fire.

[CONSOLE]

[pushtheboundaries]

[Callaghan dislikes this guy already. but he does ask at least one question that's been on his own mind as well.]

You seem pretty certain she'll make an appearance. Is there a reason for that?

[CONSOLE]

[stubbornlittleshit]

[Honestly, for the simple reason that he would feel better with another sword that certainly is on his side, and because, generally, wherever Arno is, there is Elise. Or vice versa, as the case has very often been.

That said, he's simply grinning there, playing the lover, as that seems the easiest path to take in this particular conversation. Easiest, until he knows exactly who he's dealing with.]

Wishful thinking? Something quite heavily along all those lines, I suppose. We had...unfinished business if you will.

[CONSOLE]

[pushtheboundaries]

[not surety, then. well, he can't...quite fault for that.] Well, I certainly hope you don't plan to waste your time just 'wishing'. If we're...stuck [and he doesn't seem quite certain of his wording but it's the best he can think of at the moment] here for a while, it seems to me that'd only offer distraction.

[CONSOLE]

[stubbornlittleshit]

[No, certainly not that. Much as Arno would LIKE it, he's learning that surety here is a really stupid concept to even consider. That said, he's raising an eyebrow, not at the wording, or even the concept but the rest.]

Distraction hardly sounds so bad if we're facing up to that one, I should think. Although I do admit, I'm hardly in love with the idea of walking straight into one of the street gangs unawares.

[Aware though? That's another matter right there.]

All that said, we are especially bottom of the barrel just now, aren't we?

[CONSOLE]

[pushtheboundaries]

There's a difference between the sort of distraction that's helpful in the long run, and those that tend to only waste time. [it's a light chide, without any much malice if any; while he doesn't seem to be taking to Arno like an old friend, there's still that professionalism that keeps him from outright fully dismissing anyone.

maybe in a few more minutes.]

You mean with having to worry about the gangs, or ending up on a giant turtle with nothing but the clothes on our backs?

[to be fair, he also had some microbots.]

[CONSOLE]

[stubbornlittleshit]

[Professional courtesy works, for the most part. One of the last times Arno can remember when someone told him thinking about Elise, and Elise's presence in general were distractions he didn't need, the words were by far different. He does smirk a little anyway, even though thinking of Bellec right now is not the best thing in the world.]

Well, that's a nicer way to put it than most people have before.

And either of those things, yes. Both? Maybe both. I'd guess our bigger problem is the gangs and hostile natives. I don't think the turtle eats us, so there's that, barring climate oddities and the fact I'm barely armed.

[The last few words are rather blase, at worst, it being easier to dismiss things than to consider how serious the problem really is. Then, Arno's good at making almost every possible bad circumstance look like it could be worse due to his powers of deflection. They seem to work with almost anything, at least.]

text;

[skeletonenigma]

War.

[A couple of seconds later, there's another message.]

We're not entirely sure why people are still arriving. A blurring of those dimensional boundaries, probably. You would have been here to help fight that war, but since the war is over, there's nothing left for you to do but accept your fate.

[Good luck with that.]

[Console]

[stubbornlittleshit]

[Not exactly the answer Arno was looking for there, no. He's debating trying out the text himself, when the second answer comes through, and after starring at it for a moment, he's considering a response.]

You mean I missed out on all the fun?

Accept my fate? Sounds easy enough, before the terms and conditions are applied. Before I do that, what am I accepting then, besides the fact that I'll be here?

text;

[skeletonenigma]

In as far as you can call battling a malicious and intangible entity in a realm of dreams 'fun.'

Have you been to the Midnight Hotel yet? Anton Shudder is a friend of mine, and he's very good at explaining these things. Just tell him the skeleton sent you.

[Console]

[stubbornlittleshit]

Hmm... [Arno's resting his chin in his hand at that, letting a finger slowly trace along the cheekbone there. ] Generally not my idea of it, no. Malicious I can handle; I've met Comtesse du Barry. Intangible? I'll take my chances at saying no.

[AKA, their carriages crossed paths once and he got a look at the woman's face. The infamy was written on it, all the same, despite the fact he'd been a child at the time.]

The skeleton sent me, right. I had wondered if this was some elaborate masque, but you legitimately...Interesting. Sorry if that's rude, most people I meet who look like you are lying in the catacombs and not exactly speaking anymore.

But the hotel. Good idea.

text;

[skeletonenigma]

I do have those on occasion.

[Comtesse du Barry. The late 1700s, under King Louis XV in France. That was interesting. A common world, or just a common history?]

Do you spend a lot of time in catacombs? That can't be healthy, you know.

[Video:]

[stubbornlittleshit]

[Well, Arno would be one to safely say that he had never seen anyone like Skulduggery at home, so there's that to consider, possibly. Granted, he's got some stories that probably seem equally as weird. Starting with the catacombs, actually...]

I do try to keep out of them the best I can, but duty inevitably calls I am afraid. Not that I would recommend them, mind you.

video

[unetrustworthy]

[Midii hadn't used the public network since before leaving for the Dream world. She'd kept a casual eye on it, yes, to make certain there wasn't any new information being shared that she would miss. But actual conversation?]

[There weren't many people left for her to converse with. Which was why she'd kept to herself. Something she would have continued to do, had one particular line in this person's video feed not caught her interest. Or, rather, incited her ire; the now fourteen-year-old maintained a mostly neutral tone of voice in her reply, expression betraying very little...but her eyes were narrowed. Hard.]

There's no such thing as a "good" war.

Re: video

[stubbornlittleshit]

[She's just a girl, not to discredit what she must have been through, skills she must have been called here to use, according to what else he's heard, but Arno's guard slips a little all the same, though perhaps not for the reasons that might look obvious.

And, all right, he can admit it, there's something in him that generally has been programmed to respond to that sort of look from most of the feminine persuasion, over time. At any rate, he's playing a little differently here, conditioned not so much by this girl's age as by experience in dealing with another girl her age only about ten years ago, and his voice IS faltering if just a little, and the strident tones not quite so strident anymore.]

Ah, that sort of a war, then, was it? I disagree on principle that surely some are good enough but clearly not here, at least?

video

[unetrustworthy]

[If she noticed any subtle changes in his demeanor when addressing her, specifically, Midii made no note of it. Having others treat her differently, either because of her age or because she was a girl or for whatever reason--no longer bothered her. There was always a chance she could use that to her advantage. Later.]

No.

[Simple, straightforward, and actually addressing both points he had brought up. No, the War here had not been a good one. No, there were no "good" ones anywhere. Not a soul around would ever be able to convince her otherwise.]

Why would you ever try to argue otherwise?

Re: video

[stubbornlittleshit]

[The first part of the answer, regarding the war here was one thing, Arno thought, and he took that one very seriously, even as he wished for something more concrete to explain what was going on here. He could accept that first one anyway, and his eyes darkened for a moment at the answer, though when it became clear that there was more, he found that he had to shake his head a little. ]

What of the wars that stand to keep another war from spreading if it is not checked and regularly so?

[Arno's being at least serious, right now, not trying to brush things aside even as he does not fill in the details.]

The best wars eventually win the battle, but even when they only clip wings a little, anything to keep the worse ones back, I'd say. It's still better than nothing.

video

[unetrustworthy]

[She was unrelenting in her opinion, and unable to be swayed no matter how he chose to phrase his argument. Hardly waiting until he finished before responding back:]

Except "nothing" would be better.

I don't care what the reason is. I don't care if you think you're helping or will be better off in the future...war is war. People will still die. Others will suffer.

Video

[stubbornlittleshit]

[Again, there was that moment she reminded him of Elise at her age, though Elise had never been quite so...idealistic...perhaps? Or no, that wasn't the right word at all. She knew what she was talking about, and it was true, even, where she came from. It did not bode well for the conversation to go anywhere but circles, though, did it?]

And when the other side continues what it is they're doing? You may not care for the reasons, Mademoiselle, but they exist, when the outcome of that is worse than death.

[A world under Templar control, all freedoms rescinded and held far out of reach, a race of sheep, instead of people able to choose for themselves? No. Nothing Arno knows and nothing he has seen could ever promote such a way of life.]

I would not damn those future generations that you mention, if it means they must be sheep. Egalite and fraternite may be ideals out of our reach, though I would hope that they are not, but liberte ou la mort above all else, I am afraid.