i am a cage in search of a bird

[crocodiline]

[ The figure inside the frosted glass snaps her fingers, and the glass falls away, sliding into grooves in the ground below. Inside, behind additional bulletproof glass, sits a woman, legs up on a transparent glass desk, absentmindedly petting a... whatever this thing is.

Say hello to your mastermind, everyone! ]

Hey there, everyone. Nice to talk to you in person - my name is Cipher, welcome to my city. Sorry I took so long to show up in person. No need to get up on my account - how about we talk business?

[ Let's drive. ]

Comments

[inaclearing]

[shrug]

Looks like they are.

[Like he wasn't a part of it at all???]

[fuckingguy]

It is just, I have been talking about cutting her head off for two months, is all. [ ... ] Hi, Brett.

[inaclearing]

[He just shrugs a little. Brett wouldn't have stopped them, if they'd wanted to kill her...but he's certainly not going to try and argue the other direction either.]

Hey, Nandor. [...] Strange question, but I've been thinking about this since I found that Vita-Chamber stuff - you're still a vampire?

[He sort of looks like still a vampire, but at this point Brett isn't confident he could tell!]

[fuckingguy]

Why is everyone asking this all of a sudden?

[ it's literally just him and jonathan, it's been two people ]

Yes, I am still a vampire... and a slug. Apparently. Do not ask me to explain it, I cannot. Not sure why anyone expected anything different.

[inaclearing]

It's because you were undead. I wasn't sure how that would interact with the...concept of coming back to life.

[......]

Where do the slugs come in?

[fuckingguy]

It was something about, eh, the vitachambers? [ Somehow, the missing hyphen and lack of capitalization are audible. ] And the resurrecting process. This body is, eh, 3% magical sea slug or some shit.

[ He attempts to wave this topic of conversation away with one arm! ]

Seo Dawon is also still a vengeful shade, I believe? But for me... my thinking is that, having no human soul in my body to pass over to the next, it makes as much sense as anything else.

[inaclearing]

[This raises several other questions, but you can sort of visibly see Brett just decide not to go down that particular rabbit hole!]

Well...glad to have you back. [THROWING AWAY THE SUITCASE] Uh...thanks for the letters, I guess?

[fuckingguy]

[ With the absolute, unshakeable, not-reading-the-room-at-all confidence only Nandor can muster, he says, graciously: ]

You are welcome. Admittedly, I did omit most of the sex stuff from my account, but I believe it was for the best.

[inaclearing]

[That wasn't even what he was thinking of, but.]

Yeah, no, I didn't need that. Very interesting story, though. [it was!] I don't know if I managed everything you wanted, but...well, I guess I didn't die or anything.

[He didn't really stop being sad. Since Tuesday, though, he hasn't been in quite the same pit of despair; it's like something broke, with the realization that things would soon be over in one way or another.]

[fuckingguy]

... Realistically speaking, was about all I expected. You are not suited to this, Brett, and as such it is enough for you to have not completely lost your shit.

And now you even know Peter was a werewolf! You will have to amend your podcast.

[inaclearing]

Yeah, I know.

[He says it like he's admitting a fault, even if not being suited to something like this seems pretty reasonable. He should've just...gotten better, or something.]

I don't...think that's actually what she said.

[fuckingguy]

It was implied, though.

[ should he just keep chasing this conversational distraction instead of talking about Brett's new and profound trauma? absolutely he should! but the extremely small part of Nandor that cares about this little man's emotional state is just strong enough for him to make a weak stab at acknowledging his tone. ]

... You know I was not saying that as a criticism.

[inaclearing]

Maybe, but wouldn't it have been better if I were? For everyone else, at least.

[Clearly he at least managed to live regardless.]

[fuckingguy]

I mean, maybe, [ he says, because of course he does, ] but you could say that about anyone here. You think Gaius isn't, like, "oh, I'm a failure as a leader, I wish I had given more speeches," when he's alone? Would it not have been better for everyone else if I had told Forrest no, last Thursday night, and gone back to coffin? Doesn't matter, as none of that shit happened.

[inaclearing]

...you think Gaius thinks like that?

[Brett's pretty observant, but Gaius has really never said anything like that to him. If anything, Brett's done a lot more dumping of his problems onto the guy.]

[fuckingguy]

It is just a feeling I get.

[ He's projecting!! ]

[inaclearing]

Huh...I never thought of that.

[From his tone, he sort of can't believe he didn't.]

I don't think any one person could've stopped it all. It was bigger than that. [.....] And you know what happened to you wasn't your fault, right?

[fuckingguy]

Yes, but, it kind of was though.

... Do not take that the wrong way, obviously I know the guy who bashed my head in bears the most responsibility. But the fact remains that Forrest could not have gotten me anywhere against my wishes.

[inaclearing]

...I guess. But you shouldn't feel bad about it. It's just...I don't know, just one of those things, I guess.

[Since when is murder just "one of those things"? Well, it's been a long two months.]