[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 >

Comments

[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.