personavelvetroomdr | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

There's a new presence in the shadows of the Velvet Room tonight.

For a while, there's no obvious sign of this... presumably a person, just the feeling that something is watching from the darkness, listening to whatever cryptic platitudes Igor's spouting about the place tonight. Eventually, though, the presence announces itself as... an Akira, looking at the conspiracy board.

Or maybe he's a Ren? (He's both. He's neither. He's pretty sure Igor is the closest to a familiar entity here. Making connections? That's not going to be a problem at all.)

"...I have no idea what most of this means," he's forced to conclude after several minutes. "Cool."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Akira laughs. "Or it's a point for both sides."

"I guess that does help the losing side. In terms of... ratios or whatever." Listen, he might not have gone to school, but he still knows stuff. More or less. "Yeah, okay."

He figures his own name should be obvious, after this conversation, so he doesn't bother to introduce himself. "Anyway, you need help getting oriented or anything? Don't insult the board, by the way, there's a kid who's real proud of it."

"It's very well-done work. I just don't have context for three-quarters of it."

And Ren is placated. Argument with Crow or not, he still remembers being Raven's friend.

"I can probably help. Unfortunately. I've been here as long as anyone. What are you wondering about in particular?"

"No one's really said much about how these 'Shadow' things are supposed to work, only that they're supposedly dangerous." And it would be useful to know the difference between shadows and Shadows, since there's apparently a capital letter.

"Probably because they're hard to explain." Ren scratches the back of his neck with the hand that's not curled around his switchknife as he thinks. "They're, like... manifestations of human thought. I guess? But different from cognitions, so don't get them confused. They only appear at certain times or places, and there are two kinds. There are the ones based on folklore and myths and stories, basically anything enough people know about that it can appear out of the collective unconscious. Weird-looking angels and oni and stuff wandering around. They can be dangerous if you fight them, and in some places they'll attack you on sight.

"And there are the Shadows of specific people. Parts of them that they hide or don't like, turning into whole new beings in cognitive worlds. Those just look like their people, but if you fight them, they turn weird. And messing with them affects the person."

...Is that an okay explanation? He has no idea. He just learned on the job, pretty much, and then Morgana filled in the blanks not long before he was brought here.

"Huh. Not something I want to mess around with on my own, then."

It's a good enough explanation for Akira to work that much out, anyway.

Ren would've said Lotus shouldn't mess around with Shadows at all.

"You usually need a Persona to fight them, but you'd know this stuff already if you were a Persona user. Unless you can protect yourself some other way, you're better off just staying home, dude."

Akira just smirks.

And, for a moment, melts into the shadows. "Bit difficult to attack something you can't see."

...Huh. Ren tilts his head. "I see your point."

Imagine if he could do that. Maybe when he got back home, he would stand a chance of surviving. "That can't be taught, can it?"

"Probably not, no. You're not of the Realm, for one thing, and I'm not even sure how to begin that kind of lesson."

Akira doesn't stay hidden while they're talking, at least. "If I can figure out how, and we work out a suitable trade, I'm not against trying. But I can't promise any kind of useful result."

That's kind of what he thought. It was worth asking, but it was a long shot. "Yeah, I figured. I'd still be up for trying it, if you're bored one day or something."

...That brings a question to light, actually. "Do you even have a phone? If you're... of the Realm. What's the Realm?"

"Fae Realm." There's no reason not to say it, especially if Akira's going to have any hope of not amassing an army of minions.

That power might be diluted here anyway, considering there are so many of not-exactly-Crow around the place, but still.

"I do. I just got one, so I'm not very good with it yet, but I do in fact have it." There's a girl whose heart he'd like to win, and he can't have Kaede pass messages all the time.

"...Wait, seriously? The Fae Realm? Like the actual..." Ren trails off, thinking about it. "No, you know what, that's still not as weird as the version of us who's a prince."

A faerie, though. That explains the stuff about names. He dodged a bullet, not introducing himself earlier. "You can call me Drake," he says. "No one else goes by that one. Can you even use a phone? I thought technology, like, shorted out the minute you touched it. Or is that from something else?"

"Seriously." It's kind of entertaining that 'human royalty' is weirder than 'not human in the first place,' but whatever works, right?

Akira laughs. "That'll be from something else. There's not much point in using it within the Realm, since hardly anyone else has one and there's not the infrastructure for it, but I've texted people just fine."

And had Futaba cheat around the 'lack of signal in the Realm' problem, since that falls under her purview.

"Huh." Actually, hang on. "Wait, so if we exchanged contacts and my real name popped up on your phone, would I be under your command or something?"

Troubling implications...

"Nah, someone who knows you would have to speak it directly. Written doesn't hold the same power, or the vulture wouldn't be such a fucking complication." And the world's public figures would be in so much trouble.

"Besides, when 'taba set it up to work anywhere, she set it up so that it saves the names I know. Or someone's favorite, if I know more than one."

So he will be under Lotus's command if someone who knows him speaks his name. But recent events have made it clear that no one has ever or will ever meet that criterion. So he's safe from faeries, or at least these faeries. That's something.

"Who's the vulture?"

"Crow's bastard father."

"Oh, Shido." His expression darkens. "He is a fucking vulture. Can I tell you his name, or does it not count if the guy I know is from the wrong world?"

He'd love to fuck over a Shido, even if it's not his own.

"...You know, I'm not sure if that would work or not, but it can't hurt to try." If nothing else, it'll probably confirm Akira's on the right track.

Might as well, then. "His name is Masayoshi Shido."

"...Dammit. Enough rhymes that I know we're talking about a very similar person, but it's not quite enough." It's probably just as well, anyway, since Akira can't take the information home at will.

"It was worth a try, though. In exchange, I'll see if there's a way to teach you the shadow trick, but I can't guarantee anything."

Ren nods. One not-a-guarantee for another seems fair enough. "Wanna hand me your phone so we can swap contact info, then?"

He's extremely wary of slavery, and that's making him extra-careful about giving up his name to Lotus. Lotus might say he has to hear it spoken by someone who knows Ren, but who knows if that's actually true? But if he looks at the screen and sees the name Drake, or changes it himself, there'll be no issue.

"Yeah, all right."

Akira knows he doesn't have to hand his phone over to get a new contact... but also can't fault Drake for being especially careful. It's quite sensible of him, really.