Gentle Persuasion (closed)

[devouringdeep]

Who: Childe & Shiraishi
What: Just a casual conversation between two pals who have yet to speak to each other
When: 9/23 (backdated just a bit bc I'm The Whole Circus)
Where: Just outside of 1-E
Warnings: CW Childe Tartaglia, TBD

Comments

[devouringdeep]

He didn’t ask. [It’s a negligible thing to make such a small correction to, but for some reason Childe feels like he needs to.] Kid had just lost the person who meant more to him than anyone else in the whole world. I just wanted to make sure he could grieve in peace.

[The rest of it, though... Childe himself had to admit sometimes that he was stubborn as all hell, and that when he had a goal set in mind there was little anyone could do to deter him from his path. His own ambition to conquer the world was a prime example, as even given the circumstances of being fully removed from his home, that hadn’t waned. He was still going to do it, no matter what it took to get back there.

Honestly, this was the third time that his personal fascination with violence had somehow landed him a job offer. It was starting to become a pattern, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about that.]

It’s good to see you’re smart enough not to trust so easily. [He’s sighing then, mulling things over for just a brief moment longer before he’s rolling his shoulders up and into a shrug.] Fine. I’ll play along and do some legwork for you in my downtime here and there. But I’m not signing anything. [He’d had enough of contracts to last a lifetime.]

[outvalue]

[ It might be negligible... or it might not be. It's sort of the kind of thing that ripples cleanly through the character of both people involved, lending them just that slight trace of a different nuance that can change quite a bit of how they're classed in his mind. So Shiraishi makes note of that. ]

You make it sound as if someone conned you before.

[ He's a little curious about that, but maybe it's a question for a different time, if they ever sit down for a more leisurely chat. For now, it's starting to rain for real around them, and while he normally couldn't care less about what sort of environment he puts himself in... this place seems like it would make it a real pain if you got sick. You know, in that survival of the fittest sense where they should both take care not to expose themselves to any unnecessary weakness.

So after a second, he pulls a hand from his pockets at last, holding something thin and long that stays hidden behind his fingers. It has the vibes of nothing dangerous though, and he makes certain to keep at least that much clear, since he doesn't wanna ruin his work. The thing is, he deposits it into Childe's pocket instead, or whatever opening in his clothing he can find if there aren't any of those on his current outfit. When checked, it appears to be a single random cigarette of whatever make. ]

There. Found a whooole bunch of these on the roof above the classrooms when I woke up, stashed away in a little corner. Whether they're relevant to the mystery of this place or not, I suppose it can't hurt to ask around a little.

[ Maybe Childe's first task, if he finds it intriguing too. He can have a little plot clue sharing, as a treat. ]

[devouringdeep]

[There’s a very obvious flash of some old seated annoyance that flares up at the mention of past double crossing.] You could say that. [He also makes the decision to not delve into it at this time, although his reasoning is less about the weather and more about the fact that he just doesn’t like to dwell on his single greatest loss. Not when he’s yet to make up for it with a victory to overshadow it, at least.

The rain isn’t exactly something he minds much anyway, given his own affinity for water. The most the falling droplets receive from him is a passing thought about how much he’d love to be back home right about now, so that he could go fishing once it lets up.

There’s a cautious look once Shiraishi reaches directly into his pocket to deposit the prize, and for a moment he’s under the impression that it’s something he’s not allowed to look at in public. That is... Until Shiraishi just sort of starts talking about it immediately, which earns a puzzled look before Childe is pulling it out of his pocket so that he can just... Look at it. Which he muses would have been a lot easier if it had just been. Handed to him.

He’s not particularly familiar with cigarettes themselves, but tobacco has to exist somewhere on Teyvat. Probably in Snezhnaya. Because Fantasy Russians™. Given that, a cursory sniff of the thing is enough for him to piece together what it’s for.]

I’ll see what I can dig up. Can’t imagine it would be too difficult to find someone who over indulges in a smoking habit. The scent tends to linger, after all.

[outvalue]

[ It's okay, if Snezhnaya doesn't have cigarettes exactly, you can't tell me the fake French people don't, I refuse to believe it. But anyway, don't worry too much about why it was handed to him in the way it was, Shiraishi just lives to be annoying, make no sense, and test people's patience without even trying to half the time.

He brushes damp hair backwards over his shoulder, before sticking his hands back in his pockets. ]

Someone... or a group of someones, but finding even one in these cases tends to lead easily to the rest.

[ For obvious reasons, but regardless, he turns to start walking towards the school again, when he seems to remember something and lazily offers it back over his shoulder in the process. ]

Oh, right. I almost forgot since we veered from the topic, but about what we mentioned earlier.

Normally, the sensible assumption about the track would just be that the culprit forgot it, maybe because they weren't thinking clearly in the moment. But in this case... coupling it with the specificity of the victim's state, [ you know, burnt to a crisp and thrown into the pool as a snack, ] it's a lot more likely it didn't serve their purpose.

[ Now, what purpose could that be? A mystery... Basically, this is only further evidence that the burning has to have been on purpose, that there's a reason for certain why they didn't want the identity of the body in the pool to be known. Or maybe they'd even wanted to sink it, for it to never be found at all, and the burning was a backup plan which... obviously, had been a good idea given how things went. ]

[devouringdeep]

[SOMEONE has gotta have cigars at least. You can’t tell me Signora wouldn’t walk around holding those long smoker things like Cruella. He’s opening his uniform coat to tuck the cigarette away in the inner pocket, that way it’s a lot less likely to get crumbled up and destroyed during his day. A glance up at the sky tells him that yeah, he should probably head inside about now as well. He’s got a mostly perfect attendance record to uphold after all, and so he ends up trailing along behind Shiraishi back towards the main building.

This meeting of theirs had included a lot less physical fighting than he had anticipated, though that didn’t seem to be all that bad of a thing given the amount of intrigue that was now dangled in front of him. He’d never been a big fan of puzzles, but this one seemed like one he wouldn’t mind sinking his teeth into. Given the company he was now keeping, it seemed like it would - at the very least - be entertaining.

Staring contests aside, he felt like he knew enough about Shiraishi now to form an actual opinion. He was eccentric, though in a way that reminded him less of Dottore and somewhere more along the lines of Zhongli. There was that sort fundamental lack of understanding of basic social cues that was almost... Endearing. When it wasn’t focused on conning him out of a Gnosis.

Yes, he rather enjoyed the company, and it made him feel just a little homesick. Not enough to let his guard down just yet, of course. But that was a given.

He gives a little thoughtful nod, absentmindedly drawing ahead once more so that he can hold open the door again once they inevitably reach it.]

Yeah, you’ve got a point there. Definitely seems like covering something up, doesn’t it? Especially considering... Well. The lack of actual clothing. The robes they were found in weren’t burnt, which means they were definitely wearing something that would have probably identified them fairly easily. [He pauses, a light smirk crossing his face.] Hey, maybe they actually did use the track. And then the burning came afterwards, sort of as an afterthought? I can’t recall if the body had any grievous wounds other then... Well. The fire. And the legs.