thenearshore | 008

Schuldig enjoys being right. As predicted, Crawford 2.0 was mostly unruffled. The first part meant he didn't routinely deal with telepaths - possibly talents in general - but the way that reaction passed in an instant meant he'd had exactly enough experiences to make him worth speaking to.

'Flattery will get you everywhere,' he replied coyly. 'I can do a lot more than this - and not because of this elevated status they gave us. So is it safe to say you're willing to extend our conversation?'

It was more of a neutral observation than flattery: Ukoku had revised his assessment from stupidity to overconfidence. "Loki" was probably so accustomed to getting what he wanted that he felt he could afford audacity, and where he had come from, it was almost certainly true.

'I'm not busy.' Ukoku stepped closer in anticipation of a teleport, briefly entertaining the idea of going to his own temple—but now he was curious, and that would be boring.

Eh, that was high praise in his world. He'd been nigh-indestructible before they made him a god, so why change his confidence level now?

'Hm. Lucky us then.' Expectant little Psychedelico, this guy was. Schuldig made sure to snatch a general location of Ukoku's own temple before teleporting them both to the outer landmark of Loki's Hollow. He kept them far enough away from the alcove itself that maybe Ukoku wouldn't get too interested in checking it out.

Instead, Schuldig leaned against the rock wall of the green-roofed waypost and drawled out his worlds casually in the slight chill of the inner mountain area. "You're a tough cookie to get curious, Ukoku. You must've seen a whole lot of crazy stuff before and since becoming a God, hm?"

Ukoku was interested in poking around a little, but the voice, so suddenly real, interrupted his curiosity. (Did he prefer to speak out loud? Maybe it made no difference to him.) The name was mildly jarring because he hadn't given it, and only one person—a nebulous, tranquil silhouette—had ever known that name without hearing it spoken first.

He had a detached, pleasant thought: this could be dangerous.

Then he recovered, tossing his cigarette on the ground to let it smolder to death. "It's been nice here, actually! We've had a picnic, a school field trip, a cleaning day; it's like one long vacation. There was that one shot at a coup, but it didn't go well. It could stand to be a little more exciting, if you ask me."

Schuldig was constantly aware of his surroundings, nowhere more so than in his own temple. His wasn't the 'open to the public for visitation hours' type of place. He was guarding it viciously and only showing it to a select few by choice. Telepathic communication was something he didn't want to expend energy on in a place he could be convinced was secured in the first place - which was why his actual shields and radar-like checks were the ones on full blast right now. That and a continual canvas of Ukoku himself. At least he'd caught the man's interest.

"Finally something we can agree on - I live for that kind of exciting," Schuldig replied eagerly. "Coups are one of those things that 100% succeed or 100% fail, so not surprising to hear one failed. I take it the offenders aren't around anymore." He started humming the tune of Tell me more, tell me more, did you get very far?

The flurry of thoughts that followed was automatic: he could no more have stopped it than he could have looked at a logic puzzle and stopped himself from thinking of the answer. Could he, Loki, take direction? Ordinarily Ukoku gave people suggestions, but in this case he'd hear them for what they were, anyway. How cautious had he been with other people at the picnic? Who was his shinki? Did he know anyone else here? If he was into revolutions, he'd love the new god-old god divide. He could probably stoke the flames of that looming nora issue perfectly, especially if he didn't need a reason. It would be useful to have him check the minds of Amaterasu's people—her shinki, her advisers, herself, if possible.

And he was probably hearing all of this.

Well, it saved effort, anyway.

"His name was Susano'o, and yes, he's probably gone. How much of this are you getting?" He pointed to his own head. "Is it constant?"

The steady stream of Ukoku's thoughts did give him a lot of information to process quickly, but most of it was that they had the potential to align goals. Or in Schuldig's case, find a goal to throw himself at for the hell of it anyway. In due time, he may have found out about the old-new god divide, or 'the nora issue', but now his ears would perk up even sooner if he caught wind of those topics because now they were important.

Schuldig's eyes lit up when Ukoku was still not put out that he was reading his thoughts. His body posture was all tingling excitement. He didn't even begrudge Ukoku wondering if he - Schuldig - could take direction. He was too thrilled with the development - the opportunity to take his title of Loki and run with it, to the heavens' own dismay.

"Yeah, it's constant," he acknowledged. That wasn't too specific to bother him. He didn't plan on telling Ukoku every little detail, but enough to make a working relationship possible. "I get emotions, conscious thoughts, subconscious options being considered, all of that business." So long as he's focusing on a person, anyway. No need to mention the web of background chatter just yet. "Shame if he really is gone. He'd be a fun one to plumb for intel. I'm all for talking to nora, though - are there really that many of them here?"

"I can't give you a number, but no, I don't think so. It's discouraged," he added, raising his eyebrows at Schuldig. "But there are benefits to having more than one god, you know? Choice, agency, leverage—even mobility, if you want to get really practical. And there are benefits to having more than one shinki, which isn't discouraged, by the way."

So there was that angle. "How are you with discretion?" Not that Ukoku was implying he might not be great at it, but, well. The look he was giving him was frank and friendly, at least. Everyone had weaknesses! "After this thing with Susano'o, they might be keeping an eye out for mythical adversaries."

His thoughts had slid back down into still blackness—nothing, nothing, nothing, as if he were wrapping it around himself, like a coat.

So far those black thoughts were the most normal things about him, from Schuldig's perspective. Crawford's had done all kinds of hilarious gymnastics when he was getting a vision. It was just enough for Schuldig to get tipped off, even when it was quick ones. Meanwhile, thoughts like that meant comfort - that this guy enjoyed his darkness and all that meant for Schuldig was a good working partnership.

"I survived for more than 15 years on Earth as an assassin inside an organization that would just as soon as let us die." No love at all at Eszett that was for sure, even if they had practically raised him and definitely raised his telepathic powers beyond what they likely would have otherwise been. Not without effort, and he never forgave them that anyway. "Discretion isn't one of my weaknesses."

He wasn't going to admit to any weaknesses at all of course, not willingly. "They'd be even more naive if they weren't cautious, that's for sure. It'd be a little too obvious if I contacted every nora there was... But a few of them would be good to keep in touch with. Make a few new ones too, maybe, while I'm at it. Finding good shinki to work with will be pretty tough, I think. Ones that aren't going to have a problem working like this."

"Adding to the nora population would probably get you more interesting dividends than talking to the existing ones." Just, you know, as a suggestion.

"They'll give you a shinki, eventually," he adds, "but you're better off finding one yourself. This one might not mind." An image of Nagi—a memory, his pale, expressionless face in a sunny forest—comes to the surface of Ukoku's thoughts. "His name is Nagi. He's a good kid. He has a god, but it sounds like they're not close."

Adding to the nora population... true, if they were so looked down upon as he was getting the impression of - from both Ukoku and the Messgers who'd greeted him - then they were the perfect type of people to leverage against those who hated their very existence. A perfect parallel to his own life.

It took everything he had not to bust out laughing. As it was, he did smirk and close his eyes temporarily as if it took him some extra focus to see the image. "Ah ha, that kid, huh?" He opened his eyes and grinned. "I'll be speaking to him shortly, don't you worry about that. I'll keep out for any others whose connection to their god is a little on the weak side."

Ukoku deliberated with himself: would Nagi mind, if he knew? He was useful, and more than that he was interesting; it would be a shame to put a dent in that association. No—Nagi didn't seem to care about anything.

(A brief flicker of interest came on the heels of that, unrelated: what had he said, an organization for assassins? That had to have been terrible. It probably made a good story.)

He smothered that thought and shifted, looking elsewhere. "Well! I can't think of anything else, off the top of my head."

Edited 2016-10-06 07:57 (UTC)

The thoughts about Nagi aside, Schuldig actually doesn't pick up more thoughts from the man, which he supposes shouldn't be surprising if his primary preoccupation was enjoying a void. He shrugged. "That's fine. I'll know if you do, of course." He let his focus wane and his defenses of the area go casual. He decides not to add that it's only when they're in close proximity, because he doesn't plan on keeping this guy in a constant telepathic loop just yet.

"If you hear about something interesting, I'm just a thought away." Just a thought away... And he hums to himself a few more lines of Gimme Shelter. "I'll be reaching out if I hear anything too."

He looked back, suddenly, curiosity piqued—range was a necessary parameter, if it was that strong—but any misgivings he might have had about it suffocated before they were fully formed. He was thinking of Nothing; the question was just words.

"Really! So if I think your name, for instance, you'll hear it? No matter where I am?"

He nodded, because he was just that smug about it. "Back on the real world - the Near Shore - I worried about that sort of thing, how far it could go." Then he shrugged. "Now I don't. Imagine that." He just has a feeling about it - like that Nagi could reach out to him even as broken apart as their connection is right now and he'd hear it. "I suppose you're free to tell me if I'm wrong. I just won't believe it. I can teleport now and I can hear when people want my special skill set. If that's not answering a prayer to a God, then I don't know what is."

It was bragging and it was layering several effects at once, but he didn't particularly care. It was a heightened power set now. It was his reward.

"But that also means I can seek you out whenever I want to as well." He smiled. "And anyone else I'd like to be a guest of for a time."

The arrogance caught his attention again, disturbing the nothingness he was concentrating on. He, Loki, had been made this way, presumably through many successes—but not alone. He was actually looking for a shinki (Ukoku had never bothered), and he was candid in ways that defied sense and practicality. He was open—friendly wasn't the word for it, but it was the same sphere. He wasn't just used to company (Ukoku was used to company, and mostly found it inconvenient); he was seeking it out. He didn't like working by himself. Perhaps, given his nature, it was too dangerous.

It was a fleeting conclusion. Ukoku didn't miss a beat. "Nobody'd want to be my guest," he said, straight-faced. "The lights keep burning out. I have to apologize for the wiring every time anybody visits."

Schuldig laughed at that remark. A nothing sort of protest, indeed, from a man who enjoyed his quiet nothing sort of thoughts. He didn't mind if the guy tried to psychoanalyze him; doctors and Crawford had been doing it for years. It was the price he paid for speaking to people as morally bankrupt as he was. True, he could have worked alone and wasn't used to it, but the guy had caught his interest on Day 1 so... why make things harder on himself? He was, in point of pact, extraordinarily lazy on that front. He enjoyed winning. Everything else to get to that point was secondary.

"We don't have to see each to have a brief chat though, do we?" If this guy didn't get it fixed he probably enjoyed it that way so as not to entertain guests. "Anyway, that's my offer - and my promise. To track you down if I hear about any exciting activities to liven this place up with."

He started counting on his fingers. "Talk to some nora, possibly make some others myself... Maybe answer some prayers in a fun way that those folks weren't expecting?" He grinned. "Would you be interested in joining me back on Earth - ah, the Near Shore - to trap some flies in their own honey?" It was a metaphor he didn't expect Ukoku to care about, but the man was smart enough to piece it apart anyway, he was pretty sure.

"Anything about Amaterasu's advisers would be great," he put in helpfully. Not that he was being given options, but he was comfortable with creating his own.

"I've never really looked into doing prayers. Maybe I should! Some god, right?" And if he hadn't meant prayers, well—options. "Let me know whenever you're settled, and I'll go with you." I.e., not today: that would force him to prove his range.

"Settled?" Schuldig laughed. "I don't plan on becoming some little housewife to a fake predecessor's temple." He never had believed in the divine or profane beings that Eszett revered and sought to control. "Some god indeed."

But hmm... Amaterasu's advisors. He noted she must be some kind of Very Important God-Person. "Alright then. You've given me a lot to go on. Time to return the favor." With that, Schuldig pulled down his high-sensitivity shields. 'Because I'm such a nice guy and all, trying to help a new friend find some way to make this place more exciting for both of us.'

Schuldig pushed himself off the wall without using his hands and walked over to the other man. 'Time to get out of my precious little sanctuary, Ukoku. Back to their cute little picnic. I'll call you up soon if you don't reach out first.'

Ukoku had pulled his thoughts back to silence, though a sudden shuffle of his developing mental profile of Loki disturbed it, again: was he trying to be abrasive?—No, it felt more like he was trying to impress.

"Okay!" He patted Schuldig's arm, friendly and familiar more than openly patronizing. "Don't make too many enemies. Bye!"

Then he was gone.

008 | OVERFLOW

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