[ Vlad is ready to snap himself, but then he realizes it's Mineo, aka, basically the only person who didn't fucking dogpile him during strip check.
Angry as he is, he doesn't want to lash out at one of the few people he feels he can trust right now. So he reins it in, saves it for the people who really deserve it. ]
Ah, it's you. My apologies. I'm merely frustrated after today's proceedings, I'm sure you understand.
[ His tone is civil, but his posture is still tense and angry--at first, anyway, he's working on straightening it out into something more neutral. ]
[ . . . . . . well. the thing is that mineo will at least not pick a fight with someone who's not matching his aggression. so it disperses a little bit when he gets the apology and he just.
sighs.]
.... yeah. I get it.
Think everybody is but - you kind of got a beating.
[mineo did too but to be fair that's his actual personality whereas vlad was just trying to help]
I'd hoped we could put that aside in favor of solving a murder. Especially considering how heavily encouraged we are to become intimate with one another--you'd think this wouldn't be a huge taboo leap.
Do you have experience with impromptu murder trials, then?
Not murder trials, no - but I used to work in Field Operations with the police.
[which is why he got a sudden 300% competence boost the second that shit got real]
You sort of learn to let go of everything that feels like it's getting in the way of an investigation, that can keep you from doing your job and helping people.
[ color him (and me) EXTREMELY SURPRISED that this dude is competent enough to work with the cops. although it does make some sense, based on his attitude during the trial. ]
Mmm, yes. While I don't have experience with the police like that, I suppose I...do tend to have a single-minded determination when I'm focused on my work.
[mineo doesn't seem to be too offended if any of the surprise shows - he's pretty used to not being taken seriously until the moment he's needed.
but! he nods in agreement]
Yeah - and I don't think that's a bad thing... mostly. But if everyone else here is different, we sorta gotta earn their cooperation first before we can expect anything.
I don't want a trial to happen again but... if it does, hopefully they'll be more understanding.
Sure - and if someone who agreed this week resists later, then that's an issue. That means they've got something to hide.
But I talked to Harrow-san and she's got her own reasons for why she won't just undress on the spot, and some things aren't worth picking fights over if you don't have probable cause to begin with. Here, we didn't even know if Suoh-san put up a physical fight, and he didn't have a history of violence, so doing a full check was more to set a precedent than to look for self-defense injuries.
So it's more like - if we see more signs of a scuffle in the future, we gotta look closely and then we can press it. Otherwise we kinda just look like assholes.
[he's an ex-cop! in part because his emotional intelligence put him off the job,,]
Are they now? I haven't heard anyone admitting to that in particular, but...I suppose it makes sense, given the sort of...chaotic behavior we witnessed back there.
[mineo's on the ground yeah and you can totally trip over him
but for the record he's on the ground with his back leaning against the closed and locked doors of the conference room, like he slumped there as soon as trial was over
[ he's just. absolutely pretzeled around himself in a heap of limbs and too disoriented to get up. the best he can do is utter the first gibberish out of his mouth and look up at Mineo. ]
[ Well, you can try, Mineo, but Vlad slaps at his hands weakly as soon as he's upright. He is a man of DIGNITY and RESPECT, he does not need to be given PIGGYBACK RIDES or to be walked to his room like a mere child!!!
He doesn't really say anything coherent, either, just kind of. pathetic whining grumbly noises. ]
The man who stands in front of you is someone you respect. You remember just a few months ago that it was impossible to trust him, to let him get to know you, but he had a steady, persistent way of speaking. He’s the ideal man - cool, composed, smart, and caring. Yet now when he turns to you, it’s easy to feel as though you’re being scolded and admonished.
Maybe you are.
But instead of being able to face that care, you are instead consumed with guilt. The suffering end of a call out. The self-pitying end of it. You bow your head to him, and take your leave - and you wish that you could have something to show for your efforts when you go back.
[ blinks rapidly and i assume by tuesday they will have had some experience with memshares already so the fact that it happened at all isn't particularly shocking, but... ]
Seems like you got exactly what you wanted out of this arrangement, then. A place to live, a roommate you admire, getting to work with who you wanted...
[ what more do you want that led you to this place, mineo? ]
[ Vlad doesn't get to finish his question because hey, here's your FUCKING incel lore!!!
Vlad is 24 and dying. He's lost track of time here long ago, the days all blurring together in a foggy haze of hospital white.
He still remembers so vividly how he ended up here--the accident, the blinding pain, the panic and frantic ambulance calls, entire crowds of doctors and nurses gawking at him.
Now, however, everything seems to be going faint. He can hardly focus either his vision or his mind. He's long since been moved to a quarantine room, the room retrofitted with geiger counters, and every doctor has since become a nameless creature hidden in a hazmat suit. They used to try to explain to him what they were doing--or trying to do--to figure out what was wrong with him, how to fix it, but every test had failed. If they'd ever reached a diagnosis, he didn't know--words had long since gone gooey in his ears, so difficult it was to listen or pay attention.
They don't try to talk to him anymore, explain what they're doing or why. Vlad figures it's both because his mind has become too weak to understand or hear it, and because he's already been deemed a lost cause. All they can do now is hide him away where he can't infect anyone else with his mysterious disease and wait for him to die.
He has so many regrets. So many things he wished he'd done. Now the only thing he wishes is for death to take him swiftly. And even then--what a pathetic death it would be, utterly alone. Would anyone even realize Vlad Masters had died?
Almost distantly, he can hear the beeping of his heart monitor. Normally, he pays it no mind, just a distant background noise. But now, each heartbeat comes so slowly, the sound of it comes as a surprise each time. Maybe this is going to be it. He shuts his eyes.
Another beep. Except this time, it doesn't stop. Ah, he's flatlining. Good. The life of Vlad Masters was short, painful, pathetic, and pointless...but at least it's finally over.
Except that it's not.
Vlad opens his eyes. The room, for the first time, looks vibrant and crisp. Breathing is no longer painful and laborious. He feels...great. He sits up.
His heart monitor is still flatlining, but here he is, feeling the most alive since the accident. He looks down at himself and--oh. Oh dear.
His skin is blue. He's glowing. Frantically, he grasps for the metal cart by his hospital bedside and stares at his reflection in the brushed chrome. His hair is black again, his face is completely clear, and his eyes--sclera and all--are deep red.
Then he blinks and--a familiar face stares back in the chrome. Pale skin, blue eyes, face fully healed, and hair freshly turned white. The heart monitor is beeping again at a healthy, steady rate.
Vlad is 24 and alive. ]
i can't believe that vlad is dead and i'm sitting here with this goddamn incel lore
mineo blinks - trying to make sense of exactly what he just saw. the feeling of dying, of knowing that your life is nearly over and not being able to do anything about it, and then - the resurgence.]
[ Vlad sighs heavily, a hand pressed against his temples like this is a huge inconvenience. Which it kind of is. He was trying! to keep this a SECRET!!! ]
In a sense, yes, I suppose you could call it that.
Not that it makes much difference in this place, seeing as how I can't access any of that here, but...it's the principle of the matter. I'm sure you understand.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
W0, post trial
Doesn't matter, don't care, Vlad's gonna brush past you brusquely on his way to the pantry. He's kitted out in an apron and chef hat. ]
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but he's irritable enough that he just snaps - ]
Watch it, man.
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[ Vlad is ready to snap himself, but then he realizes it's Mineo, aka, basically the only person who didn't fucking dogpile him during strip check.
Angry as he is, he doesn't want to lash out at one of the few people he feels he can trust right now. So he reins it in, saves it for the people who really deserve it. ]
Ah, it's you. My apologies. I'm merely frustrated after today's proceedings, I'm sure you understand.
[ His tone is civil, but his posture is still tense and angry--at first, anyway, he's working on straightening it out into something more neutral. ]
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sighs.]
.... yeah. I get it.
Think everybody is but - you kind of got a beating.
[mineo did too but to be fair that's his actual personality whereas vlad was just trying to help]
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[ or in other words, ahem: nice guys finish last /slam dunks a fedora on this dipshit ]
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.... well, don't hold it too much against them either.
[he puts a hand on vlad's shoulder]
Everyone here isn't used to stuff like this - they still wanna put propriety over progress. So gotta meet them where they are, you know?
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Do you have experience with impromptu murder trials, then?
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[which is why he got a sudden 300% competence boost the second that shit got real]
You sort of learn to let go of everything that feels like it's getting in the way of an investigation, that can keep you from doing your job and helping people.
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Mmm, yes. While I don't have experience with the police like that, I suppose I...do tend to have a single-minded determination when I'm focused on my work.
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but! he nods in agreement]
Yeah - and I don't think that's a bad thing... mostly. But if everyone else here is different, we sorta gotta earn their cooperation first before we can expect anything.
I don't want a trial to happen again but... if it does, hopefully they'll be more understanding.
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....Hypothetically, of course! Hopefully there won't be any more murder taking place.
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You gotta work on your phrasing, dude... I don't want you getting voted for just 'cause you sound super sketchy.
Also we shouldn't do that either, come on. Wanting to keep someone's clothes on shouldn't be enough to be like 'you're probably a murderer'.
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[ come on man, you're the cop here, surely this is basic stuff? ]
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But I talked to Harrow-san and she's got her own reasons for why she won't just undress on the spot, and some things aren't worth picking fights over if you don't have probable cause to begin with. Here, we didn't even know if Suoh-san put up a physical fight, and he didn't have a history of violence, so doing a full check was more to set a precedent than to look for self-defense injuries.
So it's more like - if we see more signs of a scuffle in the future, we gotta look closely and then we can press it. Otherwise we kinda just look like assholes.
[he's an ex-cop! in part because his emotional intelligence put him off the job,,]
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[ Not that he really wants to, but like. He wants to be on the chopping block even less. ]
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[well.]
... we still have to be on our guard, I guess.
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... it shouldn't have to be this way.
But if that's the situation we've found ourselves in, it's better to be careful. We don't know what could happen.
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...well. Some of us, at least.
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People are way too easily admitting they're criminals?
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"Dude, really?"
week 1, post-trial
but for the record he's on the ground with his back leaning against the closed and locked doors of the conference room, like he slumped there as soon as trial was over
please just trip over his leggies]
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mineo blinks at that, sitting up and - at least concern manages to cut through the existential dread]
Vlad-san...?
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[ he's just. absolutely pretzeled around himself in a heap of limbs and too disoriented to get up. the best he can do is utter the first gibberish out of his mouth and look up at Mineo. ]
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oh my god. mineo looks to the ceiling once before he'll get up and just. gently try to unpretzel vlad and help him out....]
... how much have you even had....
You good? How many fingers am I holding up?
[he holds up two in front of vlad's face....]
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Two. No, three.
....no.
Two.
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Who's your roommate again? You got your phone on you? Don't throw up on me or else I'll drop you.
[is what he says but. he's gonna try to slowly get vlad into sitting up and then - if he seems stable enough, he's getting a piggyback ride]
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He doesn't really say anything coherent, either, just kind of. pathetic whining grumbly noises. ]
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oh god. he hangs his head]
Vlad-san.... You don't wanna go to bed yet...?
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[ he's. trying to sound dignified. but it's kind of slurred. ]
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[like mineo is the security detail....]
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[ but only because "help, i've fallen and i can't get up" would be more mortifying than being chaperoned. ]
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[he'll do his best to be patient!! moving to stand on his own, then offering a hand to vlad]
You must've been pretty upset to get this smashed....
week 2, tuesday for variety [1/3]
welp!]
Oh - hey, Vlad-san... Just passing by.
[NOT FAST ENOUGH!]
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The man who stands in front of you is someone you respect. You remember just a few months ago that it was impossible to trust him, to let him get to know you, but he had a steady, persistent way of speaking. He’s the ideal man - cool, composed, smart, and caring. Yet now when he turns to you, it’s easy to feel as though you’re being scolded and admonished.
Maybe you are.
But instead of being able to face that care, you are instead consumed with guilt. The suffering end of a call out. The self-pitying end of it. You bow your head to him, and take your leave - and you wish that you could have something to show for your efforts when you go back.
You know you won’t. ]
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a long-suffering sigh]
... come on....
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Your...supervisor, I take it?
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.... close, I guess.
My roommate...? But... someone I admire. We do work together. It's complicated now that I'm explaining it.
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.... Someone I wanted to work with - and then I moved into the office, so I guess we ended up living together.
But I do think that we'd have a way easier time if he was here... though I don't know if there's anything he'd want so much he'd agree to be here.
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Seems like you got exactly what you wanted out of this arrangement, then. A place to live, a roommate you admire, getting to work with who you wanted...
[ what more do you want that led you to this place, mineo? ]
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I did.
But I didn't make any progress on what actually brought me to him.
[it's too bad. also lisa give me a memshare hewwo i need incel lore]
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[ Vlad doesn't get to finish his question because hey, here's your FUCKING incel lore!!!
Vlad is 24 and dying. He's lost track of time here long ago, the days all blurring together in a foggy haze of hospital white.
He still remembers so vividly how he ended up here--the accident, the blinding pain, the panic and frantic ambulance calls, entire crowds of doctors and nurses gawking at him.
Now, however, everything seems to be going faint. He can hardly focus either his vision or his mind. He's long since been moved to a quarantine room, the room retrofitted with geiger counters, and every doctor has since become a nameless creature hidden in a hazmat suit. They used to try to explain to him what they were doing--or trying to do--to figure out what was wrong with him, how to fix it, but every test had failed. If they'd ever reached a diagnosis, he didn't know--words had long since gone gooey in his ears, so difficult it was to listen or pay attention.
They don't try to talk to him anymore, explain what they're doing or why. Vlad figures it's both because his mind has become too weak to understand or hear it, and because he's already been deemed a lost cause. All they can do now is hide him away where he can't infect anyone else with his mysterious disease and wait for him to die.
He has so many regrets. So many things he wished he'd done. Now the only thing he wishes is for death to take him swiftly. And even then--what a pathetic death it would be, utterly alone. Would anyone even realize Vlad Masters had died?
Almost distantly, he can hear the beeping of his heart monitor. Normally, he pays it no mind, just a distant background noise. But now, each heartbeat comes so slowly, the sound of it comes as a surprise each time. Maybe this is going to be it. He shuts his eyes.
Another beep. Except this time, it doesn't stop. Ah, he's flatlining. Good. The life of Vlad Masters was short, painful, pathetic, and pointless...but at least it's finally over.
Except that it's not.
Vlad opens his eyes. The room, for the first time, looks vibrant and crisp. Breathing is no longer painful and laborious. He feels...great. He sits up.
His heart monitor is still flatlining, but here he is, feeling the most alive since the accident. He looks down at himself and--oh. Oh dear.
His skin is blue. He's glowing. Frantically, he grasps for the metal cart by his hospital bedside and stares at his reflection in the brushed chrome. His hair is black again, his face is completely clear, and his eyes--sclera and all--are deep red.
Then he blinks and--a familiar face stares back in the chrome. Pale skin, blue eyes, face fully healed, and hair freshly turned white. The heart monitor is beeping again at a healthy, steady rate.
Vlad is 24 and alive. ]
i can't believe that vlad is dead and i'm sitting here with this goddamn incel lore
oh?
mineo blinks - trying to make sense of exactly what he just saw. the feeling of dying, of knowing that your life is nearly over and not being able to do anything about it, and then - the resurgence.]
Was...
Was that a second chance...?
[he doesn't even know how to articulate it.]
THE KEEPER OF THE LORE
In a sense, yes, I suppose you could call it that.
i can't stand this
well mineo at least watches vlad's expression before frowning]
... if you don't want people to know, I won't tell.
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Not that it makes much difference in this place, seeing as how I can't access any of that here, but...it's the principle of the matter. I'm sure you understand.