Belphegor, there is something I would like to talk to you about. It is not important, but it is important for you to know that I think it is not important. Because we've all made mistakes. Even very big mistakes, and whatever might have happened between you and Hiro is something I am not concerned about. I understand that this sort of thing happens, and I am not upset.
That's all. If this has been upsetting you then it has been needlessly.
We've only had two conversations... I am not jealous, though. I trust you more than I trust him, so... clearly, your word is the one I'll accept over his.
[He says so with stunning earnestness, for someone with his general unemotional stand-offishness.]
[Then it wasn't as if they'd been speaking at great length or had time to become friends. That was good.]
Hiro is...strange. [she says, seating herself on a corner of the mattress] He came to this board demanding Belphegor show themself, was very antagonistic toward me and my sisters for awhile and kept insisting he would 'put me inside of him'.
[Despite what sounds like a pretty skeevy situation, her expression looks overall unconcerned. Maybe a little indulgent, even...like someone relaying someone else's most embarrassing moment.]
It made Mammon very angry. She made no disguises about the fact she planned to do something about him. Maybe she did.
[When she takes a seat, he seems to take it as a sign that it's OK to do so, as well. So he sits next to her. At first, he finds it oddly amusing that she seems to think that Hiro is strange while remaining on good terms with L, of all people, but the sentiment quickly turns to bemusement when she quotes him.]
That's... not anatomically possible, is it?
[A troubled expression clouds his stark features when she says that it made Mammon angry.]
[his question fetches a chuff of laughter from her] Asmo wondered the same thing. To my knowledge, he had no answer for her.
As for Mammon...I don't know that you should be afraid of her. Not unless you've gone out of your way to threaten or upset her. She's very possessive of things and people she considers to be hers. She doesn't like to share them, and likes it even less if she thinks someone's threatening to take them away from her, or break them.
Why would you think that they'd be anywhere near his? [she asks, meeting eyes with him. As far as she knows, he's not the sort who's openly antagonistic or threatening. ....nevermind what some of the acquaintances he's made since he's become more social on the network might say.]
It will take time, regardless. My sisters aren't the type who blindly accept people for more than passing interests, and Mammon is the hardest to convince. It should come out all right in the end as long as she doesn't have reason to believe you're aiming to hurt or deceive.
I wouldn't think so, but... I'm aware that my perceptions aren't always accurate, with this sort of situation. I have a difficult time seeing them clearly, often, and... it's why I am interested in your perspective. I want to know that I'm not... well, blowing it.
[He fidgets, hugging his knees and staring at the wall rather than looking directly at Belphegor.]
[She watches him draw into himself, furrowing her brow. As far as she's concerned, he's done fine. There have been terse moments, there have been times when she's done a double-take in his direction, wondering if she'd REALLY just heard what had come out of his mouth, there have even been times when she's paused to wonder if he's really a human at all for as far detached as he seems from what she's come to know of humanity. But all in all, nothing she would condemn him for.
And if he'd truly gone out of his way to offend one of her sisters, she certainly would have heard about it by now.
There's a hesitation before she shifts her position, leaning over on her knees to place her hand gently on his cheek, coaxing his head back in her direction]
I think you're fine, Ryuzaki. [she says quietly.] And I think the more you worry about nothing, the more it's likely to manifest.
[He glances at her uncertainly as she shifts; really, even he's aware that Belphegor is more tolerant of him than most other people have been, or would be even if they made an effort to understand where he was coming from.]
It's really senseless to create problems where none exist... that's true. It's hardly practical.
[Her hand on his cheek is... nice. Warm, soft... he rather likes it. He doesn't mind it as much as he might have when he first arrived. Maybe there are other things he wouldn't mind as much, either.]
There's enough for the people here to worry about as it is without creating things. [her thumb idly strokes the gaunt outline of one cheekboke as she speaks]
I'm not interested in you being anything but you.
[a pause hangs in the air, and she feels more could be said. She could explain to him exactly what she means by that...that if he'd been the norm of what arrived in Johto - someone teeming with defensive (and typical) questions about where they'd ended up and how to get home - they would not be having this conversation as her interest in him would not have been piqued in the first place. That if he'd never made her wonder, and at first pity him, she would likely still not know he existed.
She COULD explain, but instead she leans in further, resting her brow to his, putting their faces quite close to one another]
You're very easy to please, then. I don't think I could be anyone besides myself if I tried. It's not physically possible, and... barring an extreme mental illness, something schizoid or dissociative, I don't think that I could mentally, eith...
[He stops talking when he suddenly realizes just how close their faces are. His eyes flick back and forth, unable to read her expression at this proximity, and that's probably for the best. It would serve as a distraction, ultimately.]
[Originally she'd had an idea in mind of how this was going to go. And then, teetering on the point of no return, had reminded herself that humanity...or at least Ryuzaki...did not follow the conventions and standards that represented them in the late-night movies she'd watched over Ange's shoulder while she'd been up late finishing schoolwork.
She draws back once more, sitting up straight]
It isn't unheard of to be other people. [she offers] Witches are known to take one another's names and titles and become someone else for any number of reasons. Sometimes even if it's just to escape their reality for a time and explore a new one. Is the same not true of humans?
[He blinks when she draws back, seeming puzzled. Even if L doesn't quite grasp where it was going, he's picking up on the fact that it has changed direction. Due to him? Something he could have controlled? His posture stays forward-leaning as she straightens, and he furrows his brow, considering it carefully. And trying not to seem like what she's saying about adopting other names is hitting close to home. Because it definitely isn't. Rue Ryuzaki would have no reason to know about that.]
I suppose that... for some humans, it must be true. If their jobs are dangerous, or if they want privacy, they might use different names.
That wouldn't surprise me. Especially in a world like this one where so much is different and some people have had to learn to exist all over again. There would be an appeal to starting over completely.
[not that it's furniture's place to adopt such guises. No matter which master she serves or how many bear the title of Golden Witch over the years, she will be always be just as she was made.
Noting that she's left him leaning forward, looking befuddled by her reaction, her hand lingers on his cheek, and her other reaches up to join it, cupping his face gently between her hands]
You've said you want to make me happy with you. And I'm happy with you being just as I met you.
[It hits close to home. L would believe strongly that he's not so different from the day he arrived, but... he acknowledges that to remain exactly the same would be impossible. He also acknowledges that, from the very start, the chance to live as someone other than L has been alluring. Maybe he's become his fictional "Rue Ryuzaki" more than he realizes.]
That's a polite thing to say. And I don't think you're lying... I have a sense, for that... but what now? You say you're happy, which... is more than satisfied, and less than thrilled.
That's all. If this has been upsetting you then it has been needlessly.
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[He says so with stunning earnestness, for someone with his general unemotional stand-offishness.]
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Hiro is...strange. [she says, seating herself on a corner of the mattress] He came to this board demanding Belphegor show themself, was very antagonistic toward me and my sisters for awhile and kept insisting he would 'put me inside of him'.
[Despite what sounds like a pretty skeevy situation, her expression looks overall unconcerned. Maybe a little indulgent, even...like someone relaying someone else's most embarrassing moment.]
It made Mammon very angry. She made no disguises about the fact she planned to do something about him. Maybe she did.
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That's... not anatomically possible, is it?
[A troubled expression clouds his stark features when she says that it made Mammon angry.]
Er. Should... I be afraid? Of Mammon?
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As for Mammon...I don't know that you should be afraid of her. Not unless you've gone out of your way to threaten or upset her. She's very possessive of things and people she considers to be hers. She doesn't like to share them, and likes it even less if she thinks someone's threatening to take them away from her, or break them.
It's Greed's nature.
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[And coming from L, it means a heck of a lot.]
In a way, that's rather what I'm worried about. Would you say that my actions are far from comparable to Hiro's?
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It will take time, regardless. My sisters aren't the type who blindly accept people for more than passing interests, and Mammon is the hardest to convince. It should come out all right in the end as long as she doesn't have reason to believe you're aiming to hurt or deceive.
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[He fidgets, hugging his knees and staring at the wall rather than looking directly at Belphegor.]
I don't want to hurt or deceive. Not you, anyway.
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And if he'd truly gone out of his way to offend one of her sisters, she certainly would have heard about it by now.
There's a hesitation before she shifts her position, leaning over on her knees to place her hand gently on his cheek, coaxing his head back in her direction]
I think you're fine, Ryuzaki. [she says quietly.] And I think the more you worry about nothing, the more it's likely to manifest.
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It's really senseless to create problems where none exist... that's true. It's hardly practical.
[Her hand on his cheek is... nice. Warm, soft... he rather likes it. He doesn't mind it as much as he might have when he first arrived. Maybe there are other things he wouldn't mind as much, either.]
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I'm not interested in you being anything but you.
[a pause hangs in the air, and she feels more could be said. She could explain to him exactly what she means by that...that if he'd been the norm of what arrived in Johto - someone teeming with defensive (and typical) questions about where they'd ended up and how to get home - they would not be having this conversation as her interest in him would not have been piqued in the first place. That if he'd never made her wonder, and at first pity him, she would likely still not know he existed.
She COULD explain, but instead she leans in further, resting her brow to his, putting their faces quite close to one another]
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[He stops talking when he suddenly realizes just how close their faces are. His eyes flick back and forth, unable to read her expression at this proximity, and that's probably for the best. It would serve as a distraction, ultimately.]
Ah, Belphegor...?
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She draws back once more, sitting up straight]
It isn't unheard of to be other people. [she offers] Witches are known to take one another's names and titles and become someone else for any number of reasons. Sometimes even if it's just to escape their reality for a time and explore a new one. Is the same not true of humans?
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I suppose that... for some humans, it must be true. If their jobs are dangerous, or if they want privacy, they might use different names.
[Cannibal. Thief.]
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[not that it's furniture's place to adopt such guises. No matter which master she serves or how many bear the title of Golden Witch over the years, she will be always be just as she was made.
Noting that she's left him leaning forward, looking befuddled by her reaction, her hand lingers on his cheek, and her other reaches up to join it, cupping his face gently between her hands]
You've said you want to make me happy with you. And I'm happy with you being just as I met you.
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That's a polite thing to say. And I don't think you're lying... I have a sense, for that... but what now? You say you're happy, which... is more than satisfied, and less than thrilled.
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