*** BlackHat has joined 333.07.333.06 <BlackHat> ^J help <BlackHat> help <BlackHat> J <BlackHat> Official business with Black Hat only. Don't waste my time.
yeah i know, but you also know i'm not stupid. i know you CAN care, but i know you don't LIKE to.
so i really doubt that you'd send him away to go take some bogus vacation that probably won't help, considering there's nowhere else to go in the world but this drag of a peninsula and even if you, of all people, gave him a break, it'd be somewhere here in bavan. i know you wouldn't want him to be where you can't keep him on hand. not only that, but i've seen him working firsthand. i seriously doubt he'd use a vacation as a *vacation* in the first place, and after everything that's happened, someone like him wouldn't wanna be away from any kind of support network he's got. which is you.
[If Jiro could hear Black Hat through the network, she'd hear him hissing and swearing like there's no tomorrow, words falling to pieces on his gnashing teeth. Damn this girl, damn her and her inquisitive ways. And damn Flug for making it so that he can't simply end her and be done with the matter until the fog returns.
Black Hat doesn't respond to that last message. Instead, he's slammed the laptop closed and storms over to where Flug's body is hunched over, drooling slightly. He yanks a paper bag over the arachne's head, none too gently, and then pushes the body entirely under the table.
He knows Jiro, he knows she'll show up, and as he pulls a slightly-stained tarp out and spreads it as a makeshift tablecloth he berates himself yet again for not paying enough attention to the trap systems he's had Flug working on. Either he'd break the damn thing, or cause it to overachieve its goal of obliterating unwanted guests. He doesn't even know how far along the things are.
[Oh, he is absolutely correct about that assumption, too. She waits a couple of minutes at least - just to give him time to reply if he plans on it - but once she concedes that she's not getting a reply, she's off. Laptop tossed to the side, her coat grabbed and pulled on, and out the door she goes.
Of course, at least he gets plenty of time to prepare; her tent's a half-hour walk to Bavan proper, then at least fifteen minutes from there to get to Black Hat's place. But soon enough, the familiar soft knock of rubber against wood graces his entryway. Because she wasn't raised in a barn, okay, she's not gonna just WALK IN.]
[It takes Jiro long enough to come that Black Hat starts to think that maybe, just maybe, she's decided to abandon this line of questioning. But it's not to be, as nearly an hour after he tucks Flug beneath the table there is a familiar knock at the door. Black Hat snarls to himself and digs his claws into the tabletop, drawing furrows along the wood. He stalls for a bit, thinking that perhaps pretending to not be present will send the girl away, and conceding to himself that, no, that wouldn't work.
Ultimately, he teleports himself to the entryway, wrenching the door open with a jerk.]
What.
[And then he visually confirms to himself it is, in fact, Jiro.]
[Well, his visual confirmation will, indeed, confirm that this is, in fact, Jiro. Unfortunately. As it always is in its neutral state, her expression's blank and steely and for once gives little leeway to guess just what she's thinking when she says -]
You know what. I wouldn't be here if you didn't.
[That's that. She's just going to wait patiently until she's let in, otherwise - not moving from the spot whatsoever.]
[Black Hat folds his arms and scowls at Jiro. It would be easy, very easy to just remove this right now. True, he's more fond of her than most, but that's a very low bar with Black Hat, and he wouldn't feel any guilt tearing off her visor. It really is Flug's response that stays his hand.]
As I informed you, he is on vacation.
[He then slams the door close. In a few moments, he'll open it up again to see if she's still standing there.]
[She is, in fact, still standing there. The only change is that her hands are on her hips and she looks a little incredulous, but she's definitely still standing there.]
... You really think I'm gonna believe that. Why can't you just tell me the truth? It's not like I have the power to do anything if it's an answer I don't like.
[Because trust her, it's not that she's ignoring what she doesn't want to hear or something - she'd LOVE to think he's just on vacation. She just knows better at this point. Unfortunately.]
[He stares at her for a long while, eye narrowed. Then, his wings sag ever so slightly.]
You're not leaving.
[Black Hat states it flatly - he wants to attack her and be done with it, but explaining that to Flug, about how he sank their bizarre alliance and hurt something Flug cares for that won't rebound so easily is a daunting prospect. Flug is so securely in his grasp now, never to leave his side, and yet he can't do something to risk it.
He can ask about it, though.]
Is there anything short of me pulling your wires out and tying them in knots that will make you go away?
[For some reason, that threat doesn't seem to affect her at all - it's almost like it doesn't even register. Simulacrum curiosity is definitely a hell of a thing to contend with.]
The only thing that'll make me leave is telling me the truth. I have to know. The way you're talking makes it sound like you did something - so what really happened?
Perhaps I'm irritated by an overly inquisitive machine prying into business that doesn't concern her.
[Black Hat glowers at her. She really isn't leaving, then, is she? Well, he's not about to tell her the truth. But if he proves Flug isn't here....?]
Fine. Fine! Get in here, I'll call Flug down so you can see for yourself!
[He spins on his heel and vanishes in a burst of fire, reappearing in the kitchen with the tarp-covered table and taking a seat. Jiro knows her way around, she can walk in on her own.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
evilopportunityemployer) wrote2019-04-25 07:38 pm
<BlackHat>
You know what he is to me. And yet you still think I'd run him ragged?
[Black Hat can't help but marvel at himself for failing to throw up right here and now as he types this. He certainly feels a bit ill.]
He's earned a respite.
<jack>
so i really doubt that you'd send him away to go take some bogus vacation that probably won't help, considering there's nowhere else to go in the world but this drag of a peninsula
and even if you, of all people, gave him a break, it'd be somewhere here in bavan. i know you wouldn't want him to be where you can't keep him on hand.
not only that, but i've seen him working firsthand. i seriously doubt he'd use a vacation as a *vacation* in the first place, and after everything that's happened, someone like him wouldn't wanna be away from any kind of support network he's got.
which is you.
so where is he?
> action??
Black Hat doesn't respond to that last message. Instead, he's slammed the laptop closed and storms over to where Flug's body is hunched over, drooling slightly. He yanks a paper bag over the arachne's head, none too gently, and then pushes the body entirely under the table.
He knows Jiro, he knows she'll show up, and as he pulls a slightly-stained tarp out and spreads it as a makeshift tablecloth he berates himself yet again for not paying enough attention to the trap systems he's had Flug working on. Either he'd break the damn thing, or cause it to overachieve its goal of obliterating unwanted guests. He doesn't even know how far along the things are.
His mood is very, very foul.]
action!!
Laptop tossed to the side, her coat grabbed and pulled on, and out the door she goes.
Of course, at least he gets plenty of time to prepare; her tent's a half-hour walk to Bavan proper, then at least fifteen minutes from there to get to Black Hat's place.
But soon enough, the familiar soft knock of rubber against wood graces his entryway. Because she wasn't raised in a barn, okay, she's not gonna just WALK IN.]
action....
Ultimately, he teleports himself to the entryway, wrenching the door open with a jerk.]
What.
[And then he visually confirms to himself it is, in fact, Jiro.]
no subject
As it always is in its neutral state, her expression's blank and steely and for once gives little leeway to guess just what she's thinking when she says -]
You know what. I wouldn't be here if you didn't.
[That's that. She's just going to wait patiently until she's let in, otherwise - not moving from the spot whatsoever.]
no subject
[Black Hat folds his arms and scowls at Jiro. It would be easy, very easy to just remove this right now. True, he's more fond of her than most, but that's a very low bar with Black Hat, and he wouldn't feel any guilt tearing off her visor. It really is Flug's response that stays his hand.]
As I informed you, he is on vacation.
[He then slams the door close. In a few moments, he'll open it up again to see if she's still standing there.]
no subject
... You really think I'm gonna believe that.
Why can't you just tell me the truth? It's not like I have the power to do anything if it's an answer I don't like.
[Because trust her, it's not that she's ignoring what she doesn't want to hear or something - she'd LOVE to think he's just on vacation.
She just knows better at this point. Unfortunately.]
no subject
You're not leaving.
[Black Hat states it flatly - he wants to attack her and be done with it, but explaining that to Flug, about how he sank their bizarre alliance and hurt something Flug cares for that won't rebound so easily is a daunting prospect. Flug is so securely in his grasp now, never to leave his side, and yet he can't do something to risk it.
He can ask about it, though.]
Is there anything short of me pulling your wires out and tying them in knots that will make you go away?
no subject
Simulacrum curiosity is definitely a hell of a thing to contend with.]
The only thing that'll make me leave is telling me the truth. I have to know.
The way you're talking makes it sound like you did something - so what really happened?
no subject
[Black Hat glowers at her. She really isn't leaving, then, is she? Well, he's not about to tell her the truth. But if he proves Flug isn't here....?]
Fine. Fine! Get in here, I'll call Flug down so you can see for yourself!
[He spins on his heel and vanishes in a burst of fire, reappearing in the kitchen with the tarp-covered table and taking a seat. Jiro knows her way around, she can walk in on her own.]