Phonecall to Everyone - October 11, Afternoon [Backdated]
[Backdated to a few hours after the meeting yesterday, when Kanda returns to his room to find that someone's been eating his porridge stealing his clothes.
It would be redundant to say that he sounds angry, since he always sounds angry. This time, though, there's some bemusement mixed in.]
Who the hell has been in my bedroom?
It would be redundant to say that he sounds angry, since he always sounds angry. This time, though, there's some bemusement mixed in.]
Who the hell has been in my bedroom?
zenya blinks up at the ceiling in surprise, drumming his fingers on the phone's stem, drawing it back from his mouth a bit. noooo-thing. just that little sound, and then a long, heavy stretch of silence. nobody else breaks it, in the meantime. oooh, are they all just listening, too? or are they alone, now?
... well, it's too late to care about this stuff, isn't it? he already spoke to that other guy, so if they're all supposed to be here and he's not, then they already know about an intruder, and it won't make a difference anyway, right?... stupid. isn't this stupid? this is just giving him a headache!
this guy can't even tell where he is, so who cares what he says? it's not like he's going to stay in this stupid place long enough for it to matter! he has a home to get back to. to christie and kitani and a family without that idiot. to youji. to dealing with tetsuo, and making everything perfect. like he has time to worry about some moron on a phone being mad at him... ]
- Oiii. Say something, if you're going to say something. It's too quiet.
[ and once he's said that, the rest cascades. ]
You're so fussyyy. It's just laundry, laundry!... Oh, does that mean that guy will be naked, right now? Maybe you're looking for a streaker, or a pervert-. ♪ Heheh, I'll tell you if I see anything nice.
But it's not like it matters. Take a blood test if it's that important! You'll know then. Maybe you'll find something really special?
Reply
Beyond that, however, he's not really sure what to make of them. The initial complaint (Fussy? Tch.) sounds almost like an admission of guilt, but then the rest of what's said just...doesn't follow.
Naked? Streaker? Blood test?]
What the hell is that supposed to mean, 'anything nice'? Find what special?
Reply
I don't know~. Depends on what's in their blood when you test it, if it's special or not... [ his voice is somewhat distant, now, having propped the phone up on his chest to free his other hand. he's brushing a lock of his own hair distractedly over his face while he listens, up and down his nose, over his naked eye. being on the phone always makes him sleepy, but at least this person doesn't talk too much. ] ... I bet they never checked it for anything, but it's probably rotten to the core.
Aaah, I really have to explain this? You're so slowww. You know-. If they're running around naked, I might see 'something nice'. So if I see something nice, I'll tell you!
Reply
What do you know about it, this man's blood?
[That's a safer question than asking anything about naked men or the satisfactions of seeing them. The topic--and the bluntness with which it's being tossed about--makes Kanda a little uncomfortable. It's not the sort of thing strangers should be saying to each other. It's not the sort of thing that anyone should be saying to each other.]
Reply
kanda is, in a respect, a little lucky. zenya's quick to forget a subject when it's stopped being raised, so he doesn't think about the way kanda dodges discussing it, he doesn't think about what his words could mean to someone hearing them. really, if he knew he'd done more than satisfy kanda's curiosity - if he knew he'd made him uncomfortable - he'd probably think it was really cute. he doesn't sound shy at all, but after all...
well. he has bigger things to think about, right now. his expression grows grave. with it, that bubbly, nasal voice grows a little disaffected. ]
You'll throw them out, right. So it's fine. I said it. I said it, already, that it's probably rotten. Why would I know anything else?
Reply
Anywayyy. ★
If nobody owns up, what will you do?
Reply
Why would you know that? "Probably rotten"?
[Coming from his world and his time, he sees no reason why a person should think of blood-borne contagion. Unless they know something.
It's enough to make him think that momentary hint of discomfort he's hearing isn't just his imagination.
His voice grows colder.]
Who are you?
Reply
[ he exhales deeply through his nose, like he's disappointed. that guy's getting mad, isn't he. isn't it zenya who should be mad, right now? ]
You're being really stubborn, you know. This was fun before now, but you're starting to put me in a bad mood.
Someone who leaves their clothes in someone else's room is definitely rotten to the core, aren't they. I don't want to explain boring things. You already know, anyway, if you're here too. It's the only reason I'd be here.
[ his tone turns a little aggressive and breathy, and the bedsprings groan as he sits up, bringing his mouth close to the wire. ]
Say your name, first. Yours first!
Reply
He's starting to wonder if the person with whom he's speaking might be more than a little...unhinged, though. Half of what he says doesn't seem to make any sense at all and Kanda's irritated at the difficulty of deciphering it. His impatience bleeds through in his tone.]
Tch. What reason that you're here? [What the hell do you think I know? But he elects to speak only the single simple question. Fewer words, so hopefully he'll get a clear answer sooner.
As for his name, he never shies away from giving that when he's asked, even if he is saying it as so much of a challenge, the throwing down of a gauntlet that says he's not afraid of anyone knowing him.]
Kanda.
Reply
... but kanda doesn't seem to follow at all. hahah, so what is he, some guy really low on the ladder, who doesn't get to know this stuff...? or... like everyone else here, maybe he just really doesn't know anything at all. it isn't the first time he's thought he might be wrong, the way nobody here says anything about it, but they still talk about weird stuff. constantine and that sigil, and all the talk about an investigation, the clothes, the phones...
he exhales shakily. haah, his heart's pounding. isn't he just scaring himself, thinking about it that way? ]
... To keep me out of the way, right. To finish what they started before I could finish it, right. Asking something like that... you should know, if you're here!
Reply
Maybe if he knew where to start he could be angry again, which is always preferable, but for now he's simply baffled.]
What the hell are you even talking about?
Reply
if kanda is confused, he isn't alone in it, and zenya bites the inside of his mouth, squeezing the phone between his legs. except, maybe he isn't that confused. not as much as he should be or wants to be, and as easy as it'd be for a member of the free people to just come in and tell him what's going on, he's starting to realise: it's not going to happen.
they don't know he's here.
... hahah. seriously. seriously. he can deny it, he can believe whatever he wants, but if nothing's adding up, he doesn't have any choice. if he takes the free people out of the equation then... ah. it doesn't make sense, yet, but it does make more sense than it did. he's not dead yet, or locked up somewhere. he's just in some weird old house in some weird old clothes, with people who don't know anything about 'them'. for no reason at all.
he laughs before he can help it, covers his mouth to stifle it and barely succeeds. hahah, what? what? what?! taken away for no reason at all, isn't that even worse than being killed?! ]
... Ah, I get it. I get it, now. Hahah, you really don't know about any of it at all. You've just been listening to a lot of bad things. Aaah, was it really confusing? So-rry.
But it's fine, if I know, now.
[ should he feel relieved? in truth, it just makes him more anxious. zenya looks at the room ahead of him with a renewed scrutiny, adding at length. ]
Hey. Kan-da. You're Japanese, right? Your name is Japanese.
Did you always speak English, too? Did you come through the thing in the basement that teaches it to you right away?
[ they're talking, after all - practically friends, since he knows his name. so that makes kanda the most natural source of answers.
... never mind how many questions he leaves kanda with in the process. the shirt and the blood on it is nothing but a long-distant memory, now. ]
Reply
The whole arrangement--finding himself giving more answers than he's getting, being asked questions just to find his replies have drawn him deeper into some cryptic maze of the unknown--is hardly one he plans to let continue. If he has to resort to threats and intimidation? Well, threats are one of the things he does well, since he knows so well that he's able to back them up with action.]
Tch. Careful, weasel. I'm not here to be your damn newsboy, and there aren't so many rooms in this house that you can hide for long if I decide to go looking for you. Make me come flush you out for answers and I'll take them out of your damn flesh.
Now. Tell me what it is that you know. [That could be such a cryptic command, and yet they're clearly speaking of one thing alone. One thing yet unknown to Kanda.
And until he does know, he has no intention of answering any more questions about where he came from or how he got here.]
Reply
... and zenya was doing a lot to make it easier for him to forget about it, too - rude. what a rude guy. doesn't he know when to let something go?
zenya's voice sours. ]
What. What do I know? What do you think I know?! If I knew anything, I wouldn't ask you, stupid!
[ ... it's that, right? he's still trying to talk about it, even after zenya told him he didn't know. what a heavy guy. what a moron! like zenya's going to tell him anything, if he's not even involved! ]
... If you're not an idiot, just throw the shirt out! Don't ask me about it, any more!
Reply
Amidst the gathering storm clouds of his anger and these newest provocations and insults, Kanda has noticed something. Something which he figures gives him the upper hand, an answer unintentionally given away amidst all that balking.
He gives a dry, humorless half-laugh at the realization, but his voice is cold, dangerous.]
I never said it was a shirt.
[And then the line goes dead. Kanda's already heading to the hallway, sword in hand. He figures he's now got twice as much motive to ferret out where this weasel is hiding.]
Reply
he glances up at the ceiling, up at the floor kanda's on, listening. hahah. well, he was really slow to come around, but he figured it out, in the end. he must be really serious about it. and there is a temptation to go, then, and find somewhere else to be when he comes downstairs - but it passes, after a moment. being realistic... it's just clothes. even if he's mad, it's not going to matter much.
maybe he can ask his questions when they're in person? he's mad about it too, after all! kanda didn't answer anything!
ah. and besides, he has a knife, if he really needs it.
zenya puts the phone down, puts the receiver back on the hook, and reaches into his pocket to feel the dice there, rolling them slowly in his palm, pressing his thumb against their surfaces. so. those guys aren't involved. he is, at least, pretty certain of that. what kind of fortune will all this lead to, now, if 'they' aren't involved at all?
imagining that such a weird thing could happen even without the involvement of the flesh feels so slim, after they've been at the core of everything. they're still there, though, and he can feel them, hear them, pounding away like the blood in his eardrums. some part of him still wonders if, maybe, they've somehow got some hidden blame.
... well, he hopes kanda isn't as fussy as he sounds. it'd be a pain to explain a bad mess, if he makes him do something. ]
Reply
Leave a comment