IC contact

[wiseoldbartender]

Husk

Fuck off.

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

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FROM: SUBJECT: FAMILY CHAT So we got a pig now. LAPIS I know you don't want a big fuss... EDWARD If you want to talk about it or... DIARMUID I heard what happened. CEREZA Knock knock, my little Sourpuss~ CAMILLA Say, Husk, you wouldn't happen to have any recommendations... LAPIS Father's Day SAMPO/LAPIS/JINWOO Husker Agapov. On the next night in... LAPIS Are you at your place right now? EUNIE how's this month's mission mildred

TO: SUBJECT: FAM CHAT What does it mean when you dream DIARMUID So. Are we gonna talk about the thing. FAM CHAT Weird request. One of you needs to come... BLADE Got a sword from that sketchy shopkeeper. ELLIOT Hey, Elliot. Think shit's calmed down enough... DIARMUID Order came. At Jinwoo's place. LAPIS That FUCKING son of a BITCH HUA CHENG Shit's getting bad. LAPIS One of those flying boxes gave me a new phone EUNIE You might wanna stay away from your regular place for a while.

code by cawaii

Comments

[twofoldfury]

The same was said about the Black Order.

[Stated matter of factly, even over text. Not to dismiss, but because this was what Diarmuid truly believed. He was in Kaisou before there was an "out". He's just doing the same thing he did with Edward, applying logic where one's inner turmoil bellowed.

Still, the same ire he felt towards the Order was being felt towards Alastor. Even if Husk would say he didn't deserve it. Even if he was once an awful tyrant as bad as his soul contract owner.]

In your past life, maybe. But the life you lead now isn't the same as the one you led before. Even if many years ago in this life you made mistakes, you raised Lapis to be more than what the Order demanded of her. You loaned your strength against the Zealots and Unyielding for a better future. You listen and advise, even helped me find my footing when I felt my resolve threaten to shake.

I'll never forget that. The people you have helped will never forget that.

The Order that dared to use you as they did for Alastor's return no longer exists. And even if Alastor himself may, he has no right to your soul in this life.

You fought hard for your family's freedom. You deserve yours just as much as anyone else.

[And if by the strangest twist of fate someone within the Order attempted to facilitate Alastor's return again? Diarmuid will gladly remind them that his loyalty is, has been and always will be to Waver Velvet, not the Black Order.]

[wiseoldbartender]

Black Order ain't one of the most powerful demons in Hell, kid. Much as they wanted to be.

[He has absolutely no hope of getting off Alastor's leash. The Order were nothing compared to the Radio Demon, in his eyes. They were awful, and they've made the last forty years of his life a living hell. He reads what Diarmuid has to say, but he can't find a lot of comfort in it. This life might be better - largely thanks to Lapis, but he never had much faith it would undo all the bad he's done in this life and the last.]

You're making me sound more heroic than I am. I didn't do it because it was the right thing to do, I was just protecting me and mine.

[Not really true, but it's a falsehood he's willing to believe. It's easier accepting the crap he's been though if he wholeheartedly believes he deserved it. That karma screwed him over, than his existence just being that shitty.]

I dunno. Alastor was a lifetime ago but on that ship? It was like no time had happened at all. Like it was just right back in that fucking life again. And that's the problem. People wake up all the time here, he don't NEED the Order to do it. One day it might just happen, and if he comes to collect?

Well. There's shit all any of us can do about that. Pretty fuckin' clear from the Order's files that his "right" to my soul carried over. The bastard owns me in this life, just as much as he did the last. He juat ain't awake to claim it yet.

[twofoldfury]

You don't need to be renowned or even without sin to be someone's hero, or perform heroic and altruistic acts. The sin may follow, but acts of good are remembered.

[Diarmuid wasn't going to let up on this matter. Though he would concede that he didn't know the full situation with Alastor.

Would it stop him?

Absolutely not. It would encourage him to fight against that fate for his friend.]

The ship you were on opened an old wound that has reared its head before this. I realize that makes it harder to believe, even for a moment, that you will ever be free.

In that case.

I will believe for you. I will believe with all I am that you will be free. That you are free. That your life, Husk, will always belong to you and who you choose to share it with.

I won't be swayed. Even if he does "come to collect", then I promise you that my swords will stand against him in the fight for your soul.

[DIARMUID.]

[wiseoldbartender]

If you say so. Still say it don't apply to me.

[What will win out? Husk's colossal self-loathing or Diarmuid's unshakable faith? Only time will tell!

And then he's just staring at what's being written, because it's a level of batshittery he's not seen in a long fucking while. Husk groans, rubbing his face with a hand, even if Dia can't see it.]

See? This is exactly why I don't tell people about him. Because I know it'll end in some insane bullshit where you decide you can fight against him to save me and that'll just get everyone killed. He's one of the most powerful demons in Hell, and most of you fuckers are squishy and mortal. Ain't no need on you getting pasted on my account. Be smart. Live a long life, Kid.

[twofoldfury]

[Diarmuid has the power of god and anime on his side.

As for his response, it came with a delay. Husk was concerned for him, for anyone who would do the same as him in bringing Alastor down for Husk's sake. But there's more to Diarmuid's motivation that Husk did not know. And more to the nature of his existence, though the latter was easier for him to explain than the former. Considering he knew what he was... not who the other "Diarmuid" was or what he felt.

Still, though, he could speak for himself.]

Calling me mortal wouldn't be entirely accurate either. Though I can die, I'm not human. But I know that knowing that will not stop you from wishing you'd said less.

I am only able to exist by tethering myself, my very soul if you will, to a human that summoned Heroic Spirit Diarmuid ua Duibhne, into the modern era. Who you know me as is fortunate enough to have been summoned a person who is loyal, caring, humble and asked me when I came to this world if I wanted to renew our contract. Which I accepted.

But planes of reality exist where my Master was someone cruel, arrogant and selfish. A powerful man among his peer group who could in theory have forced me into anything. And as a Knight and a Servant I had no choice but to follow him.

I never want to see a dear friend be forced into a similar situation or believe he stands on the precipice of one.

Móralltach will sever that fate if it ever rears its head.

Your life is yours.

[wiseoldbartender]

[Husk wants to rail against this. He wants to throw his phone across the room and go back to drinking and being fucking miserable about everything. That wold be easier. He's good at that, and it means he has to talk about Alastor less. How, even living through second-hand memories, that man made his skin crawl. How he can't listen to the radio without his fight-or-flight response being triggered. How he feels weak and useless over a man he's never even come across in this lifetime.

But here's Diarmuid, coming with sound reasoning. Speaking from a level of understanding he hadn't expected from anyone else in this place. Someone who understands exactly what Husk is facing down whenever he thinks about the Radio Demon.

...Well, shit. ]

Hell's full of fuckers like him. Like me. Ain't a lot of decency there. Which is kinda the point. There's always some asshole ready to exploit another one for their own gain. It's...normal.

[But something Charlie was desperately trying to fix. That was the whole point of the Hotel, after all. Proving that people could be better. Could choose to be better. That Hell didn't mean the end of everything forever if you didn't want it to be. If you were willing to put the work in and change for the better.

Your life is yours.]

...You're really fucking obnoxiously stubborn, aren't you? How the shit ain't you dead?

[twofoldfury]

[It's a flavor of understanding neither of them would wish on another. And Diarmuid of Kaisou only knows of it essentially second hand. Until a few IC weeks from this conversation anyway, oops.

And the real answer to Husk's question is: Diarmuid has already died. Thrice, in fact. Once being left to succumb, twice for what he believed was right.

But Husk didn't need to know that. It was a burden to bear on his own.]

So I've been told. But by all means, let me be so obnoxious if it means I may look down a hopeful path. Even if those around me cannot. Especially if they cannot.

I don't mind being the man to so aggressively remind my loved ones that they are and deserve better than they might think.

[have you considered, mr. ua duibhne, taking your own fucking advice?]

[wiseoldbartender]

[Husk doesn't know that (yet) it's not a burden he carries just at this moment. But his response wouldn't be much different either way. He heaves out a sigh, reading Diarmuid's words, scraping a hand over his face. Fuck's sake, this kid will be the death of him. ]

Yeah. I'm getting that fucking impression. Reading that one loud and clear.

You never get tired of it? There's so much goddamn bullshit going on, you can't keep it up forever, right?

[Even Charlie had breaking points. Even her. ]

[twofoldfury]

[There's... a short delay at that. Diarmuid did once hit a breaking point. It wasn't a moment he was proud of. He completely lost his composure when Waver went limp in his arms in the cabin last year. He wasn't a fool, he knew everyone had one.

He just...

He could never let it be seen again.]

But as long as I can hope and believe, I will. Even as I fall to the earth, I'll pull myself up from it again and again.

[At the very least... that's what he wanted. That was what a knight had to do. Though fallible, he must never lose that image. It was who he was. It was what let him exist. If he wasn't a Knight of Fianna, what was he?]

[wiseoldbartender]

[That is not a healthy way of dealing with your shit, young man!!! ]

Fuck me, you're exhausting.

[The tenacity is so goddamn much. But isn't that what he's brought Lapis up to be? Not letting the bastards grind her down? Having Alastor appear to him has reminded him just how much can be taken away from a person. That sometimes, the bastards really can grind you down until you're dust. Nothing.

...And yet. The horrors persist, and so does he.]

Guess it ain't a terrible mentality to have. 'Specially in a place like this that's actively looking to fuck you over on a near monthly basis.