Joint Post! Like an Old Married Couple

[fluffydeathdealer]

[From just outside the jungle's trees, near the mountainside, some bickering can be heard:]

Here. It's probably fresher than you'd like, but it's all we have.
...I can't eat that, Bakura.
You don't have the option to be picky, Malik!
No...I really can't, you fool!
Tch... I can cook it a bit more, but we have to be careful, or the smoke from the fire will give us away!
Ughh...can't you find some fruit? Just look up.
Do you want to die? If someone finds you while I'm out looking for fruit, you'll have worse problems than having to eat meat.
But Bakura... [Malik sounds a bit like he might be ill.] My stomach...
O-oy! Hold on a little longer, okay? I'll see if I can find something close by. I'll stay within earshot, so if someone approaches, scream.
Just get a couple...I don't need that much.
Be quiet, you idiot. You need to eat something. [He chomps down on the meat Malik refused to eat.]
Well? I can't eat anything if you don't go get something!

((ooc: So! Tags will come from both Bakura and Malik. If we're going to tag you with both on a turn we'll put a "1/2" in the subject line, otherwise it's just one at a time. Also since the two of them are injured, we just ask that nobody with magic healing powers comes along to heal them up and stuff. Thanks!

Warnings for adult content in some threads.))

Comments

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Is the center made of chocolate?]

Though from their reactions, and Harriet's words back then... it sounds as though that person was rather dangerous.

King, was he an enemy of yours?

[He's avoiding the obvious answer.]

[helpusduelist]

[Sure, why not?]

No. He was one of my soldiers and a loyal one, at that. Harriet was the duelist opposite me... if you've already forgotten. Why would she be frightened of someone who didn't serve me?

[fluffydeathdealer]

Heh. Eleanor didn't react the best way either, to be fair. Though it is true that Harriet is the one who went for her sword.

[A light shrug. He leans his head back against the wall, watching the not-Pharaoh with thoughtful eyes.]

King... I'd like to ask one more question. Did Eleanor tell you how she was captured?

[helpusduelist]

Eleanor was likely surprised, nothing more.

[He won't say why though.]

She did, as a matter of fact. You tricked her into thinking you were a friend, then used magic to incapacitate her.

[fluffydeathdealer]

[His shoulders shake slightly with laughter. What a twisted way to view it.]

I'll be the first to admit... I don't know much about my ancestors.

[Mostly because they weren't his, but he isn't going to admit that.]

Considering how easily you said that, I'd guess it wasn't too unlikely that this one was capable of handling 'it' too.

[He means the Ring, but really, part of him is just trying to invoke a reaction with gauged words.]

[helpusduelist]

[Interesting. Did Bakura just not do research? Or has that magic been lost in his family?]

That depends entirely on what "it" might be.

[He's being careful in his responses.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[So very guarded. Well... he supposes he owes him this much for not shanking Malik where he stood.]

You impressed me back there, so just this once, I'll tell you. Among the people I know, I'm classed as what we call a 'Dark Duelist'.

[helpusduelist]

[There's a flicker in Henry's eyes at that and his stance straightens subtly.]

I see. So you have kept your family's power, then.

[And then, in response to what he wants to know, the king offers Bakura information as well.]

Your ancestor was a man named Jack Cade; he was one of the highest of my soldiers, and one of the few I could fully trust. Quite a bit of irony, isn't it?

[fluffydeathdealer]

['Family'? Then the Ring must have been passed down more there than it was in the history he remembered. Interesting.]

Jack... Cade... [Nope, doesn't ring a bell.] Haha. I have to say, King, the irony amuses me more than it should!

[Allies in the past, in their world. Hated enemies in the present, in his. It's fascinating. And more so...

If it hadn't been for Malik's plan, he might have been able to get this one on his side. How annoying...]

[helpusduelist]

Surprising. Jack seemed quite fond of his family's legacy, but I suppose that everyone fades away into the fog of time eventually.

[He doesn't react much to the laugh, just making an almost irritated snort. He had no intention of immediately being allies with his descendants, so he didn't expect the descendants of any others to be different; what irritated him was the pang of loneliness in his heart. Not long here, and he already did miss his forces...]

I'm certain it does, to someone like you.

[fluffydeathdealer]

The past is dead and buried, King. We stand upon a pile of corpses we call 'history' and threaten to repeat it, whether we learn of it or not. What matters is what you can grasp from the future.

[He takes the insult in his stride, shaking his head carelessly.]

'Someone like me'?

[helpusduelist]

Hmm.

[And that's all he'll offer to it. He both agrees and disagrees, but that's getting into personal opinions and he's not exactly inclined to make pleasant chatting.]

Yes, someone like you.

[fluffydeathdealer]

Hm? And what do you mean by that?

[That spark of amusement is gone now, his eyes cold. There's nothing threatening about it, but the change of expression shows his true nature quite quickly.]

[helpusduelist]

Playing coy? [He matches cold with cold.] Hearing Eleanor's story was enough. You're cruel without reason and delight in the pain of others purely for the sake of it. Cruelty is often necessity, but without a force behind it, you become no better than a mad, untethered beast. Beasts are fearsome, but they will always fall to those with more conviction.

[fluffydeathdealer]

[He meets Henry's eyes, not flinching at the veiled threat. This one is interesting... If only it weren't for that truce, he'd love to see how far he could push him.

Even dying to this man might be interesting. Though not so much for Ryou.]

Cruelty with purpose is just as bad, wouldn't you say? You called me a servant before, but in a way, you were half-correct. The only one I'd call 'Master' is the one who can tether me... and that person is far from here. Then, if he were here, and gave me that direction, would you consider me just as bad? Or would I be considered 'good', simply because my cruelty has direction?

[helpusduelist]

At least cruelty with direction has a purpose, though it may be even more cruel in the end. You hardly require a Master to put a purpose to anything you do; some simply prefer to put their direction in the hands of a leader, whatever their reasons may be.

[Elizabeth, Christopher, Thomas, his mother Margaret, his grandfather Jasper, the archbishop Morton... and yes, even Cade himself... these were people who had given him the reigns of their life, to decide their purposes for them.]

A beast who orders a beast... the two are still rabid animals, regardless.

[Like cryptic bullshit? I hope so! Because he's not elaborating.]

As for "good"... [He laughs a cold, quiet laugh.] "Good" often has no place in the world of "necessity." My hands are as stained red as any of my soldiers, and I would never call any of what we did "good." It was just what was "necessary."

1/3

[fluffydeathdealer]

...h-heheh...

2/3

[fluffydeathdealer]

HehehehHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[His laughter, deranged as it is, echoes off the walls until it swells into a cacophony of twisted amusement.]

3/4

[fluffydeathdealer]

King-sama! The greatest cruelty I can offer you right now is the fact that I like you!

You're outdated, and old-fashioned... A relic of a time long since lost! But despite that, out of all of those carefree fools... You're the least foolish of them all.

[Not that it says too much. But still...]

Still, all of you people...

[fluffydeathdealer]

...can only mask your own cruelties behind words.

I suppose it's the same of all humans. It's the only way you can avoid becoming 'beasts', after all!

[helpusduelist]

[The laughing only causes Henry to tense some, watching Bakura warily. He quirks an eyebrow at the "compliment," but still denies the other any sort of reaction. It's only when he finishes that there's finally a sound, even if it is just a thoughtful breath.

Finally...]

Truth enough spoken. Purpose and soul are what help separate us from the animals we tame.

[He doesn't debate. After all, Bakura is right, in a way.]

You'll forgive me if I leave the insult be, of course.

1/2

[fluffydeathdealer]

Of course! I'd expect no less of a 'great king'... heheh.

[He's surprised by the agreement, but then, this one is of a different sort to the rest. The people of old tend to have simpler views of the world. It makes sense. Life was hard, and people did what they needed to try to make it less so.

'Soul'... What an odd thing to say.]

True enough. For someone like me, without a conscience, I may as well be called a beast by those who class themselves as 'human' still. In that regard, even Malik is above me.

[Oddly, he doesn't seem to mind it all that much. They are being honest, after all.]

But... you're wrong, in one way.

2/2

[fluffydeathdealer]

Even a beast doesn't bite unless there's something to gain from it. In that way, can't all things be said to have 'purpose'?

[helpusduelist]

[Interesting.]

Perhaps not a wild beast, but rabid ones hardly care for what they gain from biting others. Is that not true itself?

[fluffydeathdealer]

Heh. That's true. A creature like that is little more than a burden upon the world, isn't it? Something to be put down without hesitation.

Is that how you see me, King?