personavelvetroomdr | (no subject)

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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."

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"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.

In the event, his name shows up in Lotus's phone as Drake, so Lotus was telling the truth about that and it was a nonissue all along. Ren's not sorry he took precautions, but it's still good to know. He hands Lotus's phone back once everything's in place.

"Usually I'd tell you how to find the fake version of wherever you live, but I don't know if there's a fake Fae Realm here... Then again, how the hell would I know, I guess?" The last bit is muttered half to himself.

Nor should he be sorry, frankly.

"Point me to the local Tokyo and I'll see what I can do. Worst case, Boss's place is probably around there somewhere, and that'll be close enough."

Ren gestures to the Tokyo door with a skeptical tilt of his head. "You're talking about Leblanc? It's around. Didn't know the fae liked coffee shops. ...Unless your Sakura-san is a fae, I guess?"

That's a bizarre image.

"Nah, just 'taba. She didn't want to try the Realm after her mother died, and then I worked out she really can't because her magic tied itself to technology. But Boss knows how to roll out a decent welcome mat."

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