To put it in layman's terms: Now What

[deadfreesia]

Who: Nagi (tots_prodigy) and Mamoru (deadfreesia)
When: Sunday afternoon
Where: Nagi's apartment
Summary: Nagi and Mamoru talk about the impact of Friday night on their alliance and on Nagi's relationship to Ken.
Warnings: TBA

Comments

[tots_prodigy]

Of course he learned fast and adapted quickly - both were completely perfect traits for Weiss's homegrown member, whether he'd been born with them or simply forced the abilities into his mind over the years. Nagi didn't seem fazed by that one bit. It meant one less thing for him to take care of helping his boss out with while he got used to the irritating circumstances they'd both been forced into.

Nagi would explain the fire later, when he could take time to gather his thoughts into solid words rather than the outbursts he'd flung at Ken over his NV yesterday. Now, though, he simply took the bag from Mamoru and nodded in answer to the questions. Chicken was fine and eating at the table was neater than leaning over the coffee table.

He stepped through the living room, guiding Mamoru to the small table and two chairs that served as both dining room and desk area. Papers with the AGI logo covered most of the space near one chair; Nagi took that one and left the other across from him where it was while he opened the styrofoam container and ignored plastic silverware in favor of cheap wooden chopsticks. "Ken's back, but Tot's still dead." A truth he felt like he had to say.

[deadfreesia]

Mamoru followed Nagi's lead to the table, claiming the chair Nagi had left. He was grateful for Nagi's introducing the topic of Ken and Tot. Mamoru was no fan of wasting time, so getting right to business suited him fine.

Besides, focusing on the problem of Tot's failure to reappear was more useful than thinking about the anger he felt deep down that Nagi had killed Ken-- never mind that Ken had somehow miraculously come back. In younger years, he surely would have confronted him, yelled at him, broken off the alliance in a heartbeat on sheer principle because Omi Tsukiyono Did Not Forgive That.

How times had changed. No sign of anger was evident across Mamoru's expression, or in any of his movements, or in the inflection of his voice. "So it seems. We'll keep on alert for her, in case something changes. This place... hasn't seemed inclined towards adherence to logic."

He did, however, suddenly find himself wishing for a cup of coffee.

[tots_prodigy]

After he spoke, Nagi dug into his food both because he needed to get something more substantial than toast in his system and because it gave Mamoru a little more time to think about whatever it was he was going to say. Even though the rice seemed a little off compared to what he was used to and the teriyaki sauce tasted a bit wrong too, Nagi couldn't find it in himself to care about details like that as he stuffed his face for a long moment.

Nagi didn't have to be a telepath to know that Mamoru was likely, at the very least, disappointed in him for the other night. And in a way, the complete difference between this silence and the loud emotional reaction Omi would have given did more to cement the ways he'd changed than any smaller action had in his brief time serving the youngest Takatori. But it seemed that he still had a role with Mamoru, since he hadn't been ignored yet. He wouldn't admit that it slightly relieved him to know that he wouldn't be dealing with too many changes all at once again.

He wiped his face off and nodded again. "Logic didn't work at home, either. Logic says abilities like mine shouldn't exist." Nagi didn't believe in cold logic; he'd always been too emotional for that. "I'm not going to apologize to either you or him for what happened. He got what he deserved." Nagi ate another bite of chicken.

[deadfreesia]

Nagi did have a point, but logic was infuriatingly absent where they were now. At home, some things-- like the superhuman abilities of Schwarz's members-- could not be explained, but at least held to an either/or status in the population. A rare person had such abilities and the staggering majority of people didn't. That was not on par with involuntary teleportation-- effective kidnapping-- from not just another location but another world altogether. It was not on par with the temporal fluctuations that seemed to exist even amongst those from the same world. It was not on par with dead people randomly coming back to life but only sometimes. Mamoru was desperate to find a pattern to the madness, but so far he'd only managed to hammer out two rules of the land: don't take anything for granted, and always carry aspirin.

He couldn't say he was surprised that Nagi had the attitude that he did, but he was a little surprised that his pronounced lack of remorse was stated so explicitly and so abruptly. It drew nothing more than a blink out of him, though.

"I don't require an apology from you." It would accomplish nothing, after all. It wouldn't make him less angry, it wouldn't change what had happened, and it wouldn't strengthen his relationship with Nagi. Ken might deserve an apology, but the time was not yet right to even hint at that.

"However, I am interested in hearing your account of what happened, in as much detail as you see fit to provide. You're welcome to a few minutes to collect your thoughts."

Holy tl;dr, I am so sorry

[tots_prodigy]

People with abilities were an amazing minority at home and just as amazing a majority here. But in some cases, they were treated exactly the same way. Nagi had seen that for himself the day a bad mood had been capped off by people harassing a boy for what he could do; as far as he knew, the police still wanted him for questioning in the resulting apartment collapse. Friends with police connections could turn their interest to other things, but not make them drop the bounty completely. One day, that pesky problem would have to be taken care of even if he had to break into the police's computer systems and do it himself.

This place, for all its oddities and things that couldn't be explained with anything resembling reason, still had enough in common with what Nagi considered normal reality that he'd nearly fallen into relative comfort here before other familiar faces showed up, only for the one who mattered most to be taken away rather abruptly. If it had been anyone other than Tot, his reaction wouldn't have been as intense, nor would he have stated his thoughts as frankly. Mamoru knew, better than anyone else here, what lengths Nagi had gone to at home simply in the hope she could stay safe. And knowing that meant he could likely understand why he'd snapped.

"Good." He rarely apologized even when he was in the wrong and being pressured to do so when he saw nothing wrong with his actions wouldn't have helped his mood or improved his opinion of Mamoru. Nagi resumed eating once more as he thought everything over and tried to show it into coherency. Good thing he hadn't taken quite as much pain medication today.

"Tot wanted to get a late night snack. One of my superiors called as I was getting ready to go with her, so I said I'd join her in a moment and she left. It...took longer than I expected," he began, forcing himself to stay mentally calm despite knowing that not much would move around him if his control shook today. "After the call finished, she still wasn't back and I heard something outside. I went to go see what was going on - she was screaming for me.

"When I got there, it was her, Hidaka, and some of the monsters. His claws were out and covered in blood." In the dim light, Nagi had mistaken monster goo for blood. "I took care of the monsters, tossed him against a wall, and stayed with her until the end." Only then did his voice and hand shake. Thinking about it hurt nearly as much as the incident itself. He assumed Mamoru could at least relate to that particular feeling of helplessness, even though it had been years since Ouka's own murder. "He was moving towards me after everything stopped shaking. I fought back."

And now, Nagi took a slow breath to peel away a corner of the bandage on his shoulder, exposing deep red, blistered skin underneath rather than the expected claw marks. "He set me on fire. I've heard that people acquire abilities here...this is the first time I've had proof of that. And while I put the flames out, the blades from his claws detached and came at me." That explained the mark on his face. "I killed him after that and left him near the newcomers' apartment building."

Everything afterwards - his conversation with Light, the doctor's visit, the news that it could take people a week to come back - wasn't immediately relevant.

[deadfreesia]

Mamoru was quiet for some time after Nagi finished his explanation. Certainly, from Nagi's side of it, everything sounded reasonable as a reaction. One detail of particular note was an admission in the story that Nagi had not actually seen Ken attacking Tot. He'd arrived after Tot had already been fatally wounded, and he'd arrived when she was with both Ken and monsters. That admission made Mamoru's task much easier. It wasn't what Nagi saw that contradicted Ken's story-- it was what Nagi interpreted that sight to mean.

Before addressing that hole in the story, though, there was a certain other detail that Ken had somehow failed to mention. At first, Mamoru was not even quite sure he understood what Nagi was saying. The concept of Ken having a supernatural power was so far removed from reality. Setting on fire and acquired ability shouldn't even belong in the same sentence when it referred to him, yet that seemed to be exactly what Nagi was telling him.

"Acquired ability."

Mamoru tried again to grasp the concept for himself, but it just wasn't happening without explicit confirmation.

"What do you mean by that?"

[tots_prodigy]

He didn't bother interrupting the silence. Nagi knew very well that Mamoru would need time to run every little detail over in his mind until he decided on what seemed to be the most important things to follow up on. Rather than ruin that, he focused on making the rest of his dinner disappear as quickly as possible. It was the first substantial mean he'd had since everything happened, so polishing it off didn't take very much time.

Once finished, he set the chopsticks back in the styrofoam container and winced when that motion tugged at his burned shoulder. If he didn't have the injuries as proof, Nagi wouldn't have believed that Ken had suddenly acquired some new ability he certainly hadn't possessed at home. It still felt weird to even think about that. But Nagi had heard from Light, and others on the NVs over time, that it was possible here.

"I mean just that. People who were completely normal at their homes seem to find themselves with skills after being pulled here. An acquaintance of mine might be able to explain it, as he's learning to get a handle on it. He may also be useful to you in other ways." Offering Light to Mamoru would have happened eventually anyway. Nagi's loyalties hadn't fallen that far away from assisting his boss.

[deadfreesia]

A single eyebrow arched slightly. 'Useful' was always a word of interest to Mamoru, and the fact that Nagi was offering that connection gave him reassurance that Nagi still had every interest in maintaining the alliance. Very good. Cementing it in the wake of Tot's death would not be an uphill battle after all. Mamoru gave a small nod of appreciation for the offer.

"I'd like to meet him, if you'd be so kind."

Already, however, Mamoru's thoughts were returning to Ken and the concept of his having developed an ability like Schwarz. And one that involved fire of all things. That was his luck, wasn't it: acquire the ability to make and wield that which he most feared. And yet, entirely in its own right, it was a fitting power. Ken's personality was wild, his temper hot, and his fighting style highly destructive.

Even so, what a sick sense of humor this universe had.

[tots_prodigy]

Offering to reinforce the shaky bonds between then was as beneficial to Nagi as it was to Mamoru. He didn't need to have someone used to power and influence irritated with him and another mind on his side to share possibly-useful information with would never be a bad thing when he knew that mind wasn't planning ways to kill him.

"I'll get in touch with him as soon as I feel up to it." And as soon as he felt that Light would be okay with more private contact. He didn't know how much he could ask from that tenuous tie between them.

He hadn't intended or expected that to keep Mamoru's mind off other matters for long and Nagi absently touched the cut on his cheek as he fell silent again. Nagi didn't know that Ken feared fire; he assumed the temporary freeze in his reactions after the flames was simply the shock of doing something that should have been impossible. The fact that it, like Nagi's own ability, seemed to be connected to his emotions in a way, was both unsurprising and yet amusing. Ken would likely need to learn the same control that Eszett had forced Nagi to learn over his feelings.

It was yet another twisted little way they ended up mirroring each other.

[deadfreesia]

Mamoru opted not to share with Nagi the secret Ken had shared with him back in the days he went by the name Omi. For the time being, it served no purpose to break that confidence. That suited Mamoru quite fine; he had no desire to betray Ken's trust.

He nodded to communicate his agreement to Nagi's plan, then allowed a moment of silence to buffer his return to the original subject.

"In any case, I wonder about the situation with Ken-kun, Tot and the monsters. You said that on arriving, Tot was already wounded and Ken-kun's weapon was bloodied? What about the monsters?"

[tots_prodigy]

He thought back to that night quietly. It wasn't hard to remember some parts, but his initial reactions had happened quickly. Nagi had dealt with the monsters quickly - it was his luck that they'd turned out to be weaker to a telekinetic assault than to physical attacks.

"There were monsters near them both, some with minor injuries but others intact. This place likes to attract what someone will have a hard time fighting - I had no trouble with killing them with my power where Tot's weapon failed."

[deadfreesia]

"And Ken-kun's weapon would prove ineffective as well, being of similar nature."

It was a point worth making before continuing to his next question.

"How was Ken-kun threatening to attack you in his approach, following Tot's death?"

[tots_prodigy]

In Nagi's mind, that only reinforced that Ken's claws were a mess from hurting Tot, not from an attempt at helping her.

"His claws were still out and he moved towards me slowly." Slowly because his head had cracked against the wall Nagi made him hit.

[deadfreesia]

Mamoru's expression reacted just slightly at the word slowly. That was Bingo.

"Nagi. Ken-kun wasn't approaching with intent to attack.

"And I don't think he was responsible for Tot's death."

[tots_prodigy]

"Why don't you think so? His claws were a mess when I got there." Nagi raised an eyebrow and kept his voice neutral, although he wanted to be annoyed.

[deadfreesia]

"He was fighting the monsters. However, since the monsters are drawn to prey whose fighting tactics are less effective against them, the damage was minimal. Ken-kun and Tot both use close-range weapons intended to puncture. Most likely, all of the monsters that approached them were the type resistant to such attacks."

Mamoru sighed lightly, his tone softening. "I fought alongside Ken-kun for a long time. I know his fighting style; he never approaches slowly for a strike. He charges forward without holding back."