Witches' Side

[soul_mods]

Characters: OPEN, Witches' Side
Location: Factory #1
Rating: R
Time: SEPTEMBER 1-15TH 2019
Description: A place where you either live in splendor, or squalor. Where has fate thrown you? The Witches and their kin have picked up an unusual bit of excitement from those in Shibusen, just what could it be? All sorts of rumors are flying around, and not

Comments

Slave's den: September 10th

[for_xing]

It had been an odd week. Ling wasn't one to be sent out on missions too often at the request of his Master, but there seemed to have been quite a stir lately. He'd only heard passing things, something to thank his somewhat guard-dog status with Eruka for and it made him wary.

When something riled up the upper levels, it only meant work for them. And what a grim work it was. He'd had a lucky track record so far- having not had to physically kill someone he held dear, but it was only for so long one could keep hope in something as unreliable as luck.

All he could do for now was try and help the others, undoubted they were fearing possible upcoming missions. He would do what he could. Hence the small basket he was carrying. He'd gotten it from Eruka just after returning from a scouting mission. He really could have been the dog of far worse Witches-- frog theme aside.

[ooc: Ling has a mini!slave care package for anyone feeling short of food and clothes thanks to his mostly lenient Master. Anyone is welcome to approach him.]

Re: Slave's den: September 10th

[coordinatingly]

[for_xing]

"Gotten used to it" was a good way to describe Ling as well. Though, sadly death had been something he acquainted himself with far before this whole war. Such was the life of a prince with forty or more murderous siblings. He didn't like killing- but he could do it without killing too much of himself on the inside.

At Dawn's appearance he turned his head slightly and offered the girl a smile, one far less mischievous than hers.

"Not quite. It's for anyone who may need it." At that, he lifted the cover on the basket to show her its contents: Extra food rations and clothes. Not that Ling with such a thing was too surprising.

[coordinatingly]

[for_xing]

Ling answered her with a small wry smile. "More or less. Or for anyone new perhaps, who have been neglected by their Masters." Ling himself rarely had such problems, being the favored of his Master, but that didn't mean the others were in similar shape.

"Or to prepare for the days to come," He added a bit offhandedly, referring mostly to the information that had been passed around as of late.

[coordinatingly]

[for_xing]

Some of that warmth dropped from Ling's expression. He gave Dawn an honest glance before replying.

"I'm unsure. It's possible. It doesn't hurt to be prepared, regardless," For all the good it does. There were some things, one could never be prepared for. In his case, it was the possibility of meeting a ghost face to face.

[coordinatingly]

[livelyhood]

"A basket?"

No preamble, just a careful stance from a bit away, hands at his sides and looking for all the world like he was at parade rest. His mind was a bit blank, was all, which was never actually a good thing - gave too much room to think more than short little thoughts, keep his gaze narrowed and attention focused. Distractions were keen, distractions were nice; distractions were far and in between, after seven years of the same place.

There was always going over memories, but that didn't typically work. No, that was drowning; worse drowning than the constant push at the back of his mind, the weight of a now-unnoticed collar around his throat. The present was better. If he had to live, he'd live there.

Currently, that meant living in a moment of dull blinking befuddlement, unsure whether to take the sight of Ling walking about with a basket as a good thing (supplies?) or bad (a witch being decorative with deliveries?).

[for_xing]

"A basket."

Ling paused and then greeted the other with the nod of his head and a careful smile. It was always good to see Suzaku when he did. The boy might have come down here often but it seemed he'd been promoted (upgraded?) to a higher level these days.

Ling took the cover of the basket and lifted it so Suzaku could see the contents. Nothing extravagant, but something to surely make that difference in the ones who really needed it. Small moments where he was grateful to be owned and favored by a Witch that typically wasn't cruel - it was better for everyone involved.

[livelyhood]

The acknowledgment was met with another delayed nod back, stepping closer as the cover was raised, peering in to get a good look and then leaning on back. There was a normal smile on his face, though his shoulders were as tense and rigid as ever - no getting rid of that. Not in the middle of a hallway with another person around, anyway, even if it was Ling.

"From who?" Eruka, he would guess, but observations were observations, stuck in the back of the mind and growing-- unlike the present, which he was still in. "Was it a gift?"

To Ling alone, he'd also guess, but like this modified witch would ever keep to his own. That wasn't a negative thing, exactly.

[for_xing]

Ling returned the cover and looked back up at Suzaku. "Eruka," An unsurprising answer, no doubt.

He shrugged next, to answer his second question. "I suppose, but its not for me." Eruka was reasonable, and she understood that it was no use to starve and torment your subordinates. On some level, Ling knew that Eruka understood what it was like to be on the other end of such treatment.

Very few other than him understood the true extent that Eruka was trapped. She was almost as much a slave as him.

"In case someone is feeling short of provisions."

[livelyhood]

"It's good of you to deliver it." A blank statement, but not entirely a pointless one. Leading. Suzaku tilted his head, one foot sliding a bit back in idle reflex. Watching Ling rather closely, actually, because this question was generally the hardest to get answers out of, no matter how often it was asked. Right up there with 'who did you see from Shibusen' or 'who isn't here anymore' or 'who was captured.'

Too many people, really. It'd be better if there were only a few.

-- Wait, no, it wouldn't have been. What else hadn't been-- "You haven't been, right?"

In need of provisions, that was.