jikan_network | [un; floralisse]

Flowers? That doesn't sound like fun?

No? What do you think is fun?

What? Me?

I like a good fight. But they're no fun here and toss you in prison.

( fights, huh? )

If they toss you in prison, doesn't that mean you're not very good at picking the right places?

( like, maybe don't fight in the street? surely there's a gym with a less than strict policy on things. )

You plan ahead for your fights? Boring.

The only time it's any fun is when it's in the heat of the moment.

Besides, they had a bigger problem with my dead body than the fighting.

[ Can he really call it dead? Not...really, but -- kind of. ]

( oh, you're one of those, huh? unfortunately, Central have orders, and orders include not getting caught. and besides, she likes getting away with murder. )

You know, plants can help dispose of those.

Seems like a lot of pointless effort for someone who comes back after a little bit.

They do?
That's fascinating! Is that normal here?

No, it's not. But I haven't killed anyone who can die here, so I suppose there's time to find out for real.

You're a feisty one. It's cute.

( adorable really. different from Rose, but no less entertaining for her. )

Cute?

[ Thanks he hates it. ]

No.

( oh? did she push a button~? )

No?
But you're trying so hard to be tough.
That's something only cute people do.

You think I'm trying to be tough?

I don't need to be.

( it's probably a good thing he can't hear her laughing at his answers, isn't it. )

In that case, why don't you prove it to me? Do you have evidence of your toughness?

I have nothing to prove to you. I don't need to or care to.

Why do you need to know so badly?

Well, you were bragging about all your fighting.

I thought you might like to prove it.

But maybe you're just lying to seem cool on the internet, huh?

You just want to fight me? You should have just said so.

Name a place.

[ he doesn't really understand the rest of it, so he just - yeah, goes with it ]

Well.

( hm, she'll have to look up some places. see if there's anything suitable. she doesn't need to have a problem with the authorities immediately, thank you. )

I hear there's a fight club in Yoshiwara. Would you join me?

I'll be there in thirty.

( well. she'll be waiting, looking innocent as anything with flowers threaded through her hair and a pristine, pastel toned dress on, twirling a rose between her fingers as she waits.

hm. she never did ask what mr. big tough man looks like. oh well. )

[ Good news for Calanthe. He stands out. Giovanni is a smaller man with thin limbs - and most importantly, he's in a suit unlike most of the people here. That's enough to easily identify him as a refugee to this city. He spots her because of the flowers, not that he's seen many flowers. But she had been asking about them. ]

You must be the one who wants to fight.

[ Said quickly, unapologetically. ]

( well then. looks like he might not be bluffing after all.

there's a second, just the smallest window, where the smile on Calanthe's face is a cold thing, a sharp blade of ice which glints in her single, visible eye.

but just as quickly it melts into something bright and delighted. )

That's me. ( the rose is quickly tossed to one side, disposable despite the obvious fondness she's displayed for flowers up to this point, and Calanthe tips her head to one side, regarding him for a long, silent moment before she gestures to the entrance. )

You're a real tough guy, huh? And I thought you were bluffing.

( she's laughing while she says this, but who knows whether she's laughing at him or herself. )

[ He watches her. She's strange, even to him. What is she waiting for? What does she actually want? A fight? Should he reach for a weapon now? His eyes are focused, though, and he's ready if he has to. ]

Why would I bluff?

[ Tch. ]

It seems like a waste of time to bluff about something like that.

[ He notes the entrance finally and then takes the steps inside. ]

( mostly? entertainment. the stranger people think she is, the more delighted she becomes. and here, where nothing matters, where her job and history have effectively been erased, she can do what she wants.

well. moreso than usual.

and this man intrigues her enough to continue prodding, so she does as they make their way inside the ring. look. they even have an audience. fun. )

It's easy to lie on the internet. Nobody looks for proof.

( that's what she bet on when she proposed the ARG to Central. no one would ever believe the story wasn't a story, but a series of missions.

but never mind that; )

Show me what you've got.

[ He finally just reaches for one of his knives, it's one of the longer blades, sure, and he has it tucked in a sheath under his jacket. He holds it confidently. Listen, if she wants to play with him, he's not about to go halfway. He doesn't really have a care if someone is breakable. ]

Unnecessary effort. I have no reason to lie about anything.

[ He shifts, closing the distance between them with a laugh, baring his teeth at her. ]

For the sake of honesty -

[ There's a bark of amusement. ]

I regenerate.

( knives, is it? she didn't bring her own, but that's fine. a disadvantage is something she rarely gets a chance to experience outside of Central's own training rings. and, however brutal Central may be, they don't actually want their assassins to die.

so this should be new.

he comes up close to her and that's just fine. being within grabbing range applies to both of them, and she's quite capable of enduring the pain that comes as she quickly grows a vine straight out from her ankle, sending it forward to try and ensnare his own. )

Plants do that too, you know.

( despite the flippant fact, she's filed that piece of information away, hid her interest in those words behind a random sentence. that is certainly interesting. as far as she knows, even Rose can't do anything like that.

(though, if she's honest with herself, neither Central nor Rose have exactly been forthcoming about Rose's abilities.) )

Maybe that's what inspired my mother.

[ He doesn't actually know much about that sort of thing. He's mostly just being flippant about her comparison because well, they're plants. He's a living, breathing person. Whether or not he'd call himself human? Well, that could probably be put up for debate.

His ankle ensnared, he smirks up towards her. ]

Oh, you can do a neat trick. You do know that does me just as much as good as you.

[ He just wants to get in closer. ]

( Calanthe isn't sure plants and humans are that different, not when it gets down to it. all of it returns to soil eventually. a body becomes food for a plant, a plant becomes food for a body.

so aren't they all just specks upon the earth, waiting for their turn to nourish it?

(she wonders if she'll feed the ground or poison it, whenever her time comes.) )

If you wanted to touch me, why didn't you ask?

( but for the moment, it's far more fun to throw out a singsong line and let the vine grow thorns, let it dig into skin as it begins to snake up Giovanni's leg. her mouth splits open to reveal a sharp smile as she goes not for the blade (not yet) but his shirt, fingers made into claws as they latch onto fabric and she jerks him forward with an impressive amount of momentum and strength for a slender little girl in a dress. )

[ He barks out an excited laugh at the way she grabs him. The way those vines grow thorns. He doesn't flinch, he barely reacts as he feels them touch skin. It hurts, but not enough for him to even care. She's going to have to do a lot more for him to be bothered or to attempt to withdraw.

Instead, she's in reach. He reaches for her with his right hand, and twirls the knife in his left. It's really not his preferred method. ]

Do you want to die? I like to fight at close-range.

[ He reaches up a hand to go for her throat. ]

( so he's got a high pain tolerance, huh? well, that's okay. that just means more fun for her figuring out what will make him scream. withdrawal this early would just make this guy as boring as she feared he might be on the network.

but he really wasn't just bragging.

delightful. )

I've never died before. It could be fun.

( she's still lighthearted, but despite those words, Calanthe has no plans to roll over and let him touch her. she withdraws the vines and shifts gears. she leaves seeds on his shirt, small things that could barely be noticed in the heat of battle, and instead blocks his unarmed hand with a wrist, her other reaching for the blade, wood growing instantaneously between her fingers as she plunges her hand towards steel, hoping to trap it between the new webs she's crafted. )

[ She works fast, and has clear training, he notices. But he's had his own. His own training came from fighting from the day that his two feet touched the ground. But he's also not one to brag about what he is or where he came from. After all, he was still a tool intended for use in war. Just one that happened to be, essentially, something resembling a human, but still not quite.

He's diligent in watching how she moves. She takes risks, she's fun, he's delighted by this revelation. ]

You're missing out. I've died a few times.

[ In a way. With his knife trapped he releases it without a second thought and immediately reaches for another - never one to go without a back-up or two into a fight. After all, they are his only means to defend himself here without a nice supply of bullets for his favorite guns. ]

[un; floralisse]

text | un: g

disaster START

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

FFS CALANTHE

no subject

no subject

no subject

> action?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject