Merlin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
youjustgot) wrote2023-05-02 12:58 am
youjustgot) wrote2023-05-02 12:58 am
IC Inbox
WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, MERLIN. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 135.18.129.14 *** Merlin has joined 135.18.129.14 <merlinofcourse> ⌁˚⊹ You have reached Prince Merlin ⊹˚⌁ <merlinofcourse> I know how to use computers now~ | ||||
no subject
[But she sees how well that's gone!]
But thats assumptions for you!
I need your help. I've only got two hands, after all.
[and she wiggles the materials and pearls in those hands to demonstrate.]
I thought I could count on you to keep a secret.
no subject
[That is...certainly a lot of trust.
And kind of feels a little weird.
Seeing as all he does is keep secrets from her.]
I mean...I suppose I could, but I don't understand why you didn't ask Hanna first...?
[Don't they know each other better?]
no subject
Did you know? I met Hanna and Adrian both a year ago, when I first turned into a demon!
[her wings perk up, flappin a little, but ineffectively so. She seems cheery again already, clearly pleased with what she's recounting. She has lost so many friends in being here... And Hanna and Adrian cant replace the empty rooms in her heart left by people like Sonia and Makoto, but they can certainly redecorate.]
I made a contract with Adrian back then, so, it's time to renew! And this time I've got something to mark the occasion!
[she grins, wiggling her materials again—]
Or I will... If I have someone to hold the strings for meeee~
no subject
[Still, he can't deny that this is obviously very important to her, even though his spine trembles at the idea that people have been stuck here for over a year. A part of him worries that Nanami's "where do you see yourself in five years?" thing might actually become true...
So fine, no more jokes. Merlin takes a seat in his now corrected chair and sighs as he holds out his hands.]
Very well.
no subject
She immediately takes the string of tiny oblong pearls off her wrist and leans up to hang them over Merlin's shoulder with a 'hold this', before she starts to measure one of the lengths of twine around his wrist.
She holds it sort of... Nowhere near the size of his wrist the first time, estimating the size of Adrian's big ol honkin' paws, before measuring eight more loops of it, snapping the end with her teeth.]
You know, you don't have to be like Giorno about all this.
If you still don't like me, you can say so. I'm all grown up now after all.
[she says it like she's joking, but meets his eyes with a curious look before she says—]
I can take it.
no subject
[He can't believe she's saying that, even after their friendship handshake! He puffs out his cheeks again, letting her put her pearls or whatever all over him as he tries his best to do whatever it is she needs.]
I just don't like demons. [WHICH DOESN'T REALLY SOUND MUCH BETTER.] ...whiiiich I realize is a me problem and not a you problem. I'm trying, alright? I'm...actually quite proud of myself for not attacking you on sight.
no subject
[Demon powerless or not, she has that minotaur strength still, and it probably sucks to get whacked with a scared minotaur arm.]
I know... We don't know a lot about each other yet. But I've been a spiritualist for years! I can handle whatever demon has to throw at me, emotions-wise.
[she sets aside the string again, measuring another length much closer to Merlin's wrist, and then preparing a third right around it—]
...and I would never, ever use it to hurt my friends.
[She clasps her hands around his wrist and that length of twine, making sure he's looking at her when she urges—]
I promise.
I'd even make a contract over it!
1/2
no subject
You see?! It's like a reflex!! I don't mean to, it just...comes out!
no subject
But when Merlin insists—see?!— she can't stop herself. She has to let go of Merlin's hand to cover her mouth, wings aflutter as she giggles.]
That's— crazy! You did the same thing as me!
no subject
What do you mean the same thing as you...?
no subject
When I was talking to Hanna about you! I made a joke and I couldn't stop myself!
I guess we're both just a little bit too much ourselves, sometimes.
no subject
[He stops, blinks, then leans back in his chair.]
I guess we are.
....May I ask what was it you said to Hanna, exactly?
no subject
Well... The thing is, I know Trish from the bar. When Riley was still here, they were doing stage performances together for a while. She's just a teenager, and her friends are pretty intense, too. So when she kept saying she wasn't being mean, well...
[With the longest one measured, she loops the ends to tie them and then hooks that loop around one of Merlin's fingers. Then, she undoes the furthest-hanging knot on the string of pearls (as a knot is tied between each to prevent the nacre from shedding) and holds the first pearl under her pinky and mide finger as she begins to weave the bracelet.]
I just wanted Hanna to tell me if I'd really gotten mean without realizing it, is all. And... He reminded me that your feelings are a little more delicate than usual, considering you've only been here... Almost two months on the dot.
no subject
[And Merlin can't help but smile knowing it's Hanna who stood up for him. He's getting kind of tired of people treating him like a baby just because he asks for things like kindness and understanding. "Everyone has it bad, so you should just get over it!" is such a horrible way to live. Why not "everyone has it bad, so let's treat each other a little nicer so we don't make life worse?" Is he too optimistic?
He makes no comment about Trish, if only because he knows it'll just rile him up. He doesn't care what she does or who her friends are, she's vile. The less she's in his life, the better, so why even talk about her?]
no subject
One of his really good friends disappeared a few months ago. And the whole year was pretty hard for him, too!
[Maya's hands work fast. There are already several knots in the bracelet, though at this length it doesn't look like much.]
But ever since you showed up, he's all smiles again.
no subject
[Ah, that's right, this world takes away just as much as it kidnaps. Maya's own husband is the same way, if he recalls. Merlin really hopes that Hanna isn't simply putting on a brave face for him, but he's at least glad to hear he's changed his life for the better. He can't really blame Hanna for keeping something like that to himself.]
I would've never known...
no subject
[...
The bracelet begins to take a shape—herringbone, like a tiny spine. A pearl gets threaded on, and the weave continues.]
Actually, that's something I really like about you, you know. You'll tell someone if what they're saying bothers you. Not that Hanna wouldn't, but... I sure have some friends that love to give mixed messages.
You're not like that at all.
no subject
Really now? Well, you'd be the first person to tell me that they found my constant complaining endearing.
no subject
[Twist, twist, knot, knot. Another inch, another tear-shaped pearl.]
Almost anything, anyway.
no subject
Maya just said the secret word and Merlin reacts instantly with the way he starts to kick his bark-covered feet as he continues to sit there and be a good helper. If he had a tail, surely it'd be wagging right now. He IS a pretty boy, isn't he? No wonder everyone is so mean to him on the network, they just can't see him. ...Wait, no, that's terrible, that's literally pretty privilege. After everything he's been through, Merlin knows better than to buy into that.
...Still, a part of him wonders if people really would treat him nicer if they knew who they were talking to.]
Soooooo, anyway, when would be a good time to ask what is it that we're even working on here?
no subject
[She holds the ends of the string taut so that Merlin can see the growing pattern, like a fishbone or chevron pattern of one red strand, one orange strand, and two more natural colors, with the two pearls strung on so far. The pearls clearly aren't round at all, up close— more oblong, though they're still shaped naturally and not perfectly.]
When I seal my contracts with the boys again, I'll tie them on!
[It's something she's never gotten to do before— and insurance. If she ever disappears, well, a part of her will be with them. And... if they disappear, it's something no one will fault her for taking back.]
no subject
[They'd almost be cute if not for the whole...demonic thing. Is that what he's been reduced to? Arts and crafts with a demon? Alright, alright, he knows deep in his heart Maya hasn't done anything too demonic just yet, but it's not like he's had time to see her in action.
In fact...]
And these contracts, dare I ask what are they?
no subject
I don't know exactly? But when I'm a demon it totally feels right. Like, I'll get stronger or something if I make them!
You know, not that I'm not already super strong or anything. I mean in the magical way.
[Look, she's allowed to be proud of that mino strength.]
But i've gotta promise my very best to th epeople who want it. You know, make a deal worth their while? Actually—
[She grins, clearly quite warm for a demon, as she continues to weave;]
The time I made one with Adrian? It was cos I couldn't get him to trust me to take care of him. He was just gonna wander around the streets and wouldn't even believe I'd just give him a job for nothing, no matter how long I've been here!
So, I promised him that if he'd just do anything I asked, that I'd help take care of whatever he needed. And all I had to ask him to do was help out at Nai'a!