[RYSLIG] IC Inbox

[luckless]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, NAGITO KOMAEDA. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 004.28.777.00 *** MrBrightside has joined 004.28.777.00 <MrBrightside> Hello there! This is Komaeda. <MrBrightside> I'm grateful that you want to talk to me.

Anonymous username(s): < Triple7 > < BlueRam >

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[fateschosen]

[The merperson Diavolo has spent the most time around is Marco Evangelisti, and, from the brief physical description he received on the network, he was expecting Komaeda to be similar in appearance. Scaled, perhaps, and bright yellow — but still undoubtedly human beneath it all. So when the mer wriggles free and bares all his fangs in a menacing, bug-eyed smile, it takes great effort to keep the initial wave of revulsion from reaching his face. Komaeda may speak gently and have a cheery laugh, but it is impossible to forget for even a moment that he is a monster.]

It happens to the best of us.

[Is this really what he's doing with his time? Entertaining the idea of a job at a convenience store of all places? Too many nights spent alone have driven him to madness. That is the only explanation for any of this. He should have walked out when he wasn't properly met, when he heard the tumbling and crashing of the boxes, when he found his would-be boss helpless on the ground. Is this what he's been reduced to? He doesn't have time for this. It's so far beneath him it's disgusting.

But he can't stand another sleepless night spent with only his thoughts for company.]

"Diavolo", if you would prefer my name.

[There, while Komaeda is still half-buried. If there's a single hint of recognition on that fishy face, it gives him plenty of time to leave unharmed. As always, when he gives it out, he stares intently in search of the slightest twitch of expression. He has far too many enemies, too many people who could have spread his name.]

[luckless]

[Komaeda might argue that this level of bad luck doesn't happen to most people. That his experiences are by far an outlier—but how could he possibly argue first thing with a prospective employee? Even if he is prone to horrible bouts of luck that, quite frankly, shouldn't be possible even now within Ryslig, he isn't about to make that this guy's issue.

Rather, he pushes aside his own hangups with his luck, and instead answers what he could only assume to be pity with the sound of an indolent, humorless laugh.

That laugh is, quite quickly, followed by a smile that looks a bit more genuine at finally receiving a proper introduction. Though it would be hard to tell otherwise, what with the distinct lack of humanoid facial cues to Komaeda's expression, he doesn't recognize the name at all. In fact, more than the name, the more he looks at Diavolo, the more the guy sort of... reminds him of someone.]

Diavolo-kun! It's nice to meet you.

[His reply is chipper as ever, and he doesn't give his name back because, well, Diavolo already knows it!]

Um... I'm sorry to trouble you, but... Do you mind helping me up?

sat here wondering if diavolo would know anything about japanese honorifics. he would be offended

[fateschosen]

[With no spark of recognition, Diavolo can begin to settle. With the introduction complete, the most unbearable part of this ordeal is surely over. Things can only go smoothly from here. He will ace this "interview", he will prove his worth and then he will never have to spend a night in dreary silence again.

And then Komaeda asks for help up.

The urge to leave returns with a vengeance. He nearly drops the box at the thought — there, right on Komaeda's head. It may not be a fatal blow, but it'd be enough to distract the mer for long enough for Diavolo to make his escape.

But that would be the coward's way out, wouldn't it? He's already come so far, and so he catches himself.

With a tilt of his head to break eye contact and a bite to his lip to disguise his immediate grimace, he takes a moment to neatly deposit the box somewhere it might belong. And then another moment to recuperate and steel himself. And then he turns his attention back to Komaeda.

Very well. He reaches a hand out as boldly as he can given the circumstances. Touch is still an intensely foreign concept to him; though it may not cause him physical pain, he cannot shake the the feeling that mere skin contact might as well burn him or cause him to break out into hives or both. Burning, he thinks, may even be preferable to this. Alas. His arm is stretched out all the way, and, helpfully, he advises:]

You really should be more careful. What would have become of you if I had not shown up?

[Take it. Take his hand so this can be done and over with. It's easier to cope with, at least, if he pretends he is touching a fish and not a person.]

Komaeda calling an adult man by kun is peak friendship in his own book ok

[luckless]

[Diavolo offers his hand with a perceptible amount of measured hesitation, and though Komaeda notices this, makes note of it even, he has no issue with immediately freeing his own hand to take it. The hand that meets Diavolo's skin, however, is not scaly nor is it yellow. It's smooth, cold metal, completely robotic, and has a vice-grip much stronger than Komaeda's would normally be as he pulls himself out of the pile by the connection of their hands.

Once successfully freed from the avalanche of boxes, Komaeda properly dusts himself off and gives his apron a few good pats before immediately turning his smiling face towards the mess at hand. Immediately, he stoops down to, weakly, pick up and restack the boxes.]

I probably would've died, to be honest! [He grunts between lifts, and when he sets one box down, it's with enough pause to laugh.] It wouldn't be the first time, but... It would have been pretty inconvenient.

So I'm glad you made good on your word, Diavolo-kun! You saved me~

[fateschosen]

[The touch of cold metal to Diavolo's skin is preferable to the slime he imagined. He takes it in stride — there's the slightest wince at the unexpected sensation (he couldn't bear to watch), but otherwise he looks relatively unbothered.

This carefree air ... it's an unusual attitude for the owner of a business. Komaeda fails to meet any of his expectations, but instead of being off-putting, it's almost a relief. This, he thinks, is vastly better than having orders barked at him or being treated like a simple, mindless employee-to-be. This sort of menial work may be undignified for someone like him, but he assists with the boxes regardless. He hefts them with ease.]

The most humiliating deaths, I find, are the ones that sting the hardest. "Inconvenient" is quite the understatement.

[He does not know what a kun is and he is not about to ask. He just averts his gaze, hoping it that the sentiment isn't anything overtly-familiar. From the tone of Komaeda's voice, he fears that it might be.]

Of course. I would not have backed down on my promise.

[A complete and utter lie, but Komaeda does not need to know that.]

[luckless]

[Komaeda would deign to sympathize with Diavolo's statement, but the fact of the matter is that humiliation is hardly a feeling felt so much as it is one that is comfortably there at the back of his mind, like a shadow looming. Overwhelming self loathing easily dwarfs any humiliation he might experience, and for the most part, dying is hardly shameful for him. Almost every death he's endured has been for a purpose, even if that purpose wasn't one of his own making.

But it wouldn't be right to foist his feelings on the matter right onto the shoulders of a guy who both hardly knows him, and just helped him out of a rather dangerous predicament. That, and he's still doing well to remember Riley's advice of thinking before speaking.]

It makes me happy to hear that, you know! The ability to keep your word is an admirable trait in an employee... [He laughs again, short and sweet,] saying something like that really makes me sound like a business owner, huh?

Still, I appreciate you showing interest in our little store. It's not much, but this was my friend's hope, so it's important to me to have the right people working here.

[Komaeda grunts as he hefts another box up, and honestly, it's questionable whether monster strength might really be a thing for him or not. He seems to struggle with the same capacity as an unathletic human. When he sets it into the stack, he pauses for a moment and turns to look back at the nephilim, one finger hooked into the collar of his shirt to flap some air through it, and cool him down.]

I can already tell you're a good guy, Diavolo-kun!

[fateschosen]

[That bit of praise floors Diavolo, and all he can do is glance away so Komaeda does not see the look that crosses his face in response. "A good guy?" That is not remotely how he would describe himself — but he will maintain the illusion as long as he can. He has nothing to lose from it, after all — aside from perhaps a bit of pride. But that had crumpled to pieces long ago, hadn't it? Long before he set foot inside these walls...?

Regardless. It is nice to be appreciated, and Komaeda's words bolster his ego. He finds himself relaxing more, stretching his wings out instead of holding them protectively against himself. The work is tedious and it's disturbingly mundane, but he continues on. Another box, and another, and another. It occurs to him, for a moment, that he is not actually employed here, at least not yet — but first impressions are so vital.

He is already succeeding at this impression, but there's no harm in sweetening this conversation and turning it further in his favor. Some respond so well to compliments. Doppio certainly does. Those come easily sincerely; what Diavolo says next is far more forced, but, again ... Komaeda does not need to know that.]

Your network post drew my attention. Your enthusiasm was palpable in every reply you wrote. This clearly means a lot to you.

[Another lie. The post only caught his eye because he was out of his mind in solitude and boredom and it struck at precisely the right time. This sort of work seemed nonthreatening enough to pursue — not like other businesses in search of security or bodyguards or the like. Here, at least, he can cling to hope that the wrong person will not wander in and he will not one day find himself reduced to a smear on the floor in the line of duty.]

It's truly admirable.

[It's a convenience store.]

A friend's hope, you say?

[Steering the topic to something more comprehensible...]

[luckless]

[For all the success Diavolo has gained throughout this interaction, just by being a decent and good guy, he'll find that direct praise seems to put an awkward air between them. Komaeda stiffens, just a bit, as he continues to stack boxes in silence. He isn't sure what to make of such kind words, or how genuine they might be. Something like this is only natural, he thinks, when you want to honor a friend's memory.

He did it for a year and a half at Insert Coin, and he's doing it again, as if it were nothing. Mukuro, too, minded the Kit-Tea-Kat cafe in Lila's absence, who only ever took it over from Regulus.]

I don't think it's admirable. [Komaeda interjects, with his words firm but his tone passive, and without looking in the other's direction.] In Ryslig, that's just what happens. People come and go, and what they leave behind is taken care of by others...

When you have friends, or people you love, it's only obvious you'll want to hold onto what was important to them. In case they come back, or... if they never come back.

[Either way, it's something that feels necessary. It's nothing admirable, nothing so chivalrous. It's just what you do.]

I'm sure if one of your friends left Ryslig, Diavolo-kun, you would want to hold onto their things too. It's like... a physical memory of them. It's just sentimentality.