1st Call ♮ Phonecall: All ♮ early morning

[prefertragedies]

[After a long day and even longer night in this place, and nothing to indicate that there would be any sudden return trips to No.6, Nezumi had sent the old phone in his room several scathing glares before finally picking it up. The technology was too old to have anything like voice printing or tracing technology, and yet he was still loathe to use

Comments

[kandescence]

Tch. [Read: you're irritating, Nezumi.]

What if they did? You think you'd be better off on the streets where any past you spoke of would be the ranting of a madman?

[prefertragedies]

Heh. [Read: Your point?]

And what if they smile those friendly smiles and we wake up facing the point of a soldier's gun? Fancy specimens for the government pawns to pick apart. That's all we'd be.

[kandescence]

[Scowling, but he doesn't sound worried or insecure.]

Maybe that's what you'd be. [Kanda doesn't back down to anyone's gun.]

[prefertragedies]

To them. [Dry tone is so very dry.] In their eyes, we would be nothing more than rats in a cage. But thanks.

It's good to know big brother is concerned for me. I can sleep easy tonight now.

[kandescence]

[Getting progressively more irritated by the minute over here.]

And what do you think would make you sleep easier? Being out on the streets in a world you don't know where no one would believe you're from any place but this?

How do you think you'd get back where you belong? Or would you rather just stay here and not go back at all?

[prefertragedies]

[Calm as can be over here - maybe even a touch amused.]

The streets, I know. [A mirthless laugh then as he shakes his head unseen] And honestly - do you think the people of this time are any better than any other? If you're on the streets, they're not going to listen to you. You're not even a person, a human being, to them.

They don't give a damn what you say.

[He'd said more than intended, which is why he draws a sharp breath, then changes the subject.]

Besides, that wasn't the question. The question is do you think they'll never ask more of us than sit tight and play nice?

[kandescence]

You presume too much. [There's a warning tone, but he hasn't decided yet what he'll bother to say.

Maybe he'd do better not to waste his breath, but he resents the implication that he doesn't know what he's talking about. So even though he knows he doesn't owe Nezumi an answer to his question, something in him rankles enough that he chooses to give one anyway--even if it means saying something about himself.]

I'm not like you. I came here to ask something from them and I lived on the damn streets to do it. They can ask what they want. When I don't want to do what they want, I won't.

[prefertragedies]

Or you give too much credit. There is no real humanity in mankind, save an exception... maybe two. [ His own voice is flat, unemotional rather that argumentative, because it's not like he can expect a perfect stranger to understand. And more importantly, it's not like he's going to take the time to clarify his lack of faith in the human race.]

So I guess you're right. You are nothing like me, because I can't see how asking them, putting your faith in some stranger to get what you want, will do anything other than get you cut down faster.

[A beat before he continues, his tone low, utterly grim.]

In other words, you lived the streets, but I lived in the dumps, the cast off sewage of the elite like them. So where you're here because you choose to be. I'm only here because I have to be. There's a world of difference between you and I.

[kandescence]

[Kanda could go toe to toe with just about anyone on lack of faith in humanity, but he only indicates as much for now obliquely, by not bothering to talk about the state of mankind at all.]

Che.

No, you idiot. I'm telling you I turned up in this damn world in a different place. Not through that portal. Those men had nothing to do with the way I came here. I heard their names by chance and I came three thousand miles because they were the only lead I had on a way I might get home.

You want to complain because you don't have a desert to cross between your portal and men who will listen to what's happened to you? Then go wallow and whine about your bad lot to someone who'll pity you for all the crap you don't have to deal with.

[prefertragedies]

...Now who presumes too much?

[Nezumi's voice is soft, low, and unchanged, yet for a moment, he almost feels real anger. Whatever this man's issue is, his life or his hardship - and he had to of had some because you don't get eyes like that from being part of the pampered elite - not once has Nezumi put forth the effort to assume or judge beyond the initial confusion of whether he was a hunter or not.

So for Kanda to do so, and to assume he was complaining, much less looking for something so worthless as pity.

Really pissed him off.

Which is why he should just... hang up. Except he doesn't, yet.]

Maybe you're not tracking my point here. I don't give a damn about the how or why we ended up here. Fact of the matter is we're here whether we'd want to be or not. My question has everything to do with how long this facade of friendly support lasts before something wicked this way comes, my friendBe it with their support or against their will. Soldiers with trucks coming to gun down that which is beyond their control or grasp - that's

[kandescence]

[Not mincing words, his tone at the outset is completely neutral and matter-of-fact.]

I'm not your friend.

If you're afraid of being gunned down by soldiers then go an hide somewhere underground.

I have someplace that I need to get back to, and I'm going to do what I can to make that happen, not run away with my tail between my legs because of what might be in the future.

I'm not wasting my time pretending I can guess what anyone will do. They can do whatever they want, and I'll do what I need to when it's needed. [In other words: I'll kill who I need to when it's needed. He doesn't say it in so many words, but the implication is clear enough. You could stand him up against soldiers on trucks with guns and he still wouldn't back down--he'd expect to come out alive.]

[prefertragedies]

[Snorting now. Apparently sarcasm goes right over this one's head.]

Trust me, I prefer you stay a stranger.

Especially if I can count on you to stay behind and fight random soldiers in a world that isn't mine. Gives me time to escape.

[His tone makes it clear - this is perfectly acceptable for him. Let foolish men stand their ground for whatever reason they have. It's not his problem in the slightest. All he needs is a good place to go to ground when the soldiers come - because it's never if but when in his experience - and leave overconfident fools to deal with them.

All that matters to Nezumi is surviving to get back to the West Block, to destroy No. 6.]

[kandescence]

[A pause. Then flatly.]

So you're that sort.

Most cowards prefer not to advertise the fact.

Did you know that those men didn't ask for anyone's help right away. When people first started to arrive they didn't ask.

Then something attacked this house. Not soldiers. Something else. After we beat it back, that's when they asked--because we were able.

If you can do nothing but run and hide then that's what you should do. If you have nothing to offer then stay out of the way.

[prefertragedies]

More than happy ta stay out of the way of anything from soldiers to this 'something else'.

[The faint sneer is clear in his voice as he adds softly, calmly.]

You say 'coward' like the word holds meaning. There's nothing cowardly in choosing to survive, no matter how unsightly the method. So good for them, that they're part if the pampered, ideological elite. Good for you, that you can fight the masses for a song.

Me? I aim to survive.

[kandescence]

Tch. Like I would do anything else. [He says it half under his breath, not really for Nezumi's benefit. Kanda has always been determined to survive at all costs, after all.]

I fight so that the masses--like you--can survive, you damn fool. That doesn't mean that I won't.

If all you want is to hide and get by then you shouldn't have any problem taking the food that's given to you for nothing. You're the one who's being pampered. Stop complaining.

[prefertragedies]

See? That's why I say I feel so safe. Because Big Brother is suddenly looking out for me, right? I suddenly feel like a prince.

[A beat, before he shrugs unseen, lets his eyes roam the room as he continues conversationally:]

I don't recall lodging a complaint. Hell if they're going to offer free food, I'll take it and do so with a smile. I just wanted to know if anyone was thinking beyond what this means for today to what could come tomorrow.