silverking | ✖ IC CONTACT #3

[He returns the nod, but only just.]

As if there was any question as to whether or not I would.

[He is dressed quite simply, himself. A loose, long-sleeved button-down shirt of charcoal hue, dark slacks and stout boots. Apart from his physical appearance and his sword, he looks perfectly commonplace.]

[Speaking of his sword...]

You know as well as I that it doesn't pose a threat to you.

And you brought it anyway? Don't you think that treads dangerously close to provoking?

[It's that innocent look again. But Griffith steps aside, and waves Isley to enter.]

[The landscape has changed since its former resident departed - all those minimalist decoration choices swallowed by the lux and lush: designs reminiscent of those used by Midland's aristocracy.]

[It's much more fitting a backdrop for Griffith himself.]

You really are full of interesting decisions.

Anatole has been the recent victim of various strange attacks. A sword is a useful tool capable of making short work of nuisances.

Being a swordsman yourself, you'll understand its presence, I'm sure. It's preferred to other...unnecessary methods.

[When Griffith steps aside, Isley steps across the threshold and into that strange home. It's no longer recognizable. Improved, after a fashion, but there is a part of him that regrets the absence of the minimalist decor—or perhaps mainly what, and who, it stood for.]

In any case, I sent Rigaldo to take your head. I think that treads much closer to provoking than a sheathed blade does.

[Unnecessary methods such as assassination? A flicker of annoyance crosses Griffith's face.]

So you did.

[And therein lies the rub. Griffith watchies Isley with an even gaze, and an indifferent stare, though he can't seem to withhold a slight pout.]

Why did you do that?

Edited 2012-07-17 04:09 (UTC)

[His skin should be crawling before a being that can subdue Rigaldo so effortlessly. His nerves should be frazzled. His mind should be racing, and yet...]

[Despite his initial frustration, Isley has found his calm. In acceptance. It's the only way.]

Don't pout.

[He casts a golden-eyed stare towards Griffith.]

It was nothing personal. Simply that you hold something of mine and I sought to remove the obstacle that planted itself in my way.

Do I? I wasn't aware.

[Or was he? That gaze is, at best, inscrutable.]

Many people would have asked about that.

Would you ask to take back what's yours, Griffith?

[Even if he might have done so without any harm coming to pass, it had seemed so much easier at the time to do things as he was accustomed to doing them. Removing obstacles by way of force, eradicating that which stood in his way, exterminating trespassers.]

I had been hoping to avoid long-winded conversations involving questions and the like. Killing you seemed, at the time, to be the most appealing option.

Yet, here I am anyway, stuck conversing.

[He shakes his head, and even laughs. There is a faint chill to it, like warmth bitten by frost.]

Let's just get this over with, shall we?

Hmmm.

[Yeah, still pouting. He sighs and heads past the staircase and to the lounge area, where he sort of... drapes over the purple sofa.]

It's funny, really. I wasn't surprised to find out it was you. Because, of course, I would do the same.

Even so, I find myself doing things I normally wouldn't do in this kind of situation. In the past, when someone has tried to kill me, I've always returned the favor.

[Isley follows because it's all he can do. He has no idea where Rigaldo is being held and is trying very hard not to have to ask. But when Griffith drapes himself upon that purple sofa...]

What's stopping you?

[Because really, it might just be preferable to listening to prattle when all he wants to do is collect Rigaldo and leave. Perhaps those other things which belong to him, also.]

Is it the fact that death is transient in this world? Or something else?

[Still. Standing. Because seriously, get up.]

[Nope, just going to stay here. He leans forward a little, his chin resting on his knee.]

That's a good question.

The transient nature of death is a factor. It seems like a waste of energy to kill someone when they're just going to come back. Unless their death means something in itself.

But... I'm also a little too curious about why you did it and what it is you hoped to accomplish.

What is it that I have that you want?

[How obnoxious...although it's not unlike something he would do, himself.]

You procured this home. Your death would mean it was no longer an estate that was under your tenure. I would then be free to take it, as I had originally intended to do.

[His gaze wanders away from Griffith, gradually alighting upon each new facet within the room, a room once belonging to Aizen...a room that should have been his afterward. Everything is so different...yet, Griffith spoke before of secrets the house had given up to him. Is that laboratory still intact, then? Are all the things within it still there, where he left them?]

As well, if you were dead...I would be able to collect what I wanted without anyone being the wiser.

[Gold eyes flash back to the man sitting so comfortably nearby. He should feel anger right now, even outrage, and yet...he can only smile, only laugh.]

Your still being alive has complicated matters...but I can't say that it's surprising. I would not have succumbed so easily, either.

[He sets down the small bag he brought with him containing clothes for Rigaldo.]

Do you recall the conversation we had when you first mentioned you had come into possession of this house? You can't tell me you don't know where my interests lie, Griffith.

I would apologize for complicating matters with my continued life, but it wouldn't really be sincere.

[Griffith shifts a little, watching Isley. Still, he looks... comfortable, still a little pouty, perhaps a bit thoughtful.]

But I do remember that. Yes... I do.

I would thank you for sparing me the insincerity, but that in itself might be insincere.

[He smiles thinly. Then, finally, he takes a seat on the neighboring purple sofa.]

One might be inclined to call them samples, these things that are mine. Speaking of which, I should tell you that I expect to leave here with them, as well as with Rigaldo.

You do?

[Seriously, what balls this man has. Griffith even looks a little surprised.]

Why would I let you leave this place with anything at all, aside from that pet of yours?

Well, you're welcome to hold onto those things, but that will only spawn a second attempt to retrieve them. Perhaps you fancy my company that much?

[That's fine, Griffith. Look surprised. Isley's smile doesn't falter.]

Maybe I do!

[AND THAT IS A PLEASANT SMILE. And then it fades and he gives Isley a much more serious face.]

It isn't possible to remove something from this house unless I permit it. And you'll find nothing unless I allow it. Even if you raze my home to the ground, you find nothing at all in the ashes.

But let's not be hostile. I didn't kill your servant, despite his stabbing me through every organ in my body, so I'd think I'd warrant a little courtesy instead of more threats.

Then you will consent.

[It appears as though it is just that simple as far as Isley is concerned.]

You have no need for those things, and they do not belong to you. Would you lower yourself to the likes of a petty thief, Griffith? I'd somehow thought better of you than that...even if I did try to have you killed.

[He shifts, just so, his frame pressing into the backrest of the sofa.]

At any rate, am I supposed to thank you for not taking Rigaldo's life? Because you didn't, I've had to come here myself. Am I expected to be courteous when you've only made me go even further out of my way after you took possession of this home?

...You're really amusing, if that's what you think.

Edited 2012-07-17 23:32 (UTC)

[Yeah now he's annoyed.]

You're tempting me to eject you without either of the things you've come for.

You'll do what you want either way, won't you? After all, things are entirely in your hands right now.

[Isley shrugs, but his expression has sobered significantly.]

I'm not certain why it is you've insisted on conversing to begin with. If you hadn't, we might have avoided all of this. I've long since given you my reasons for what I did...so what are yours for making me continue to wait?

Are you doing it simply because you can?

I'm not yet satisfied. And I will make you wait until I am, or until you prove so insufferably unsatisfying that I remove you from my home empty-handed.

It's as simple as that.

I'm not sure what you want from me, Griffith. All niceties were set aside when I sent an assassin for your head. Do you want me to pretend for the sake of...convenience?

[He sighs, and it's a little heavier than he would like, having risen up from deep within him. This has become tedious and...humiliating.]

...Do you want an apology? I can't offer one that is sincere. I'm not sorry for what I did. You could kill Rigaldo and I still wouldn't be sorry. This was never about him, after all. It was about those things of mine being kept in the laboratory the former owner created.

[He pauses long enough to set his hands in his lap.]

I have a promise to keep. And I need those things in order to keep that promise.

I really don't care about your promises and apologies are never sincere when it comes to these matters. I want to know why.

Why is it so important to you to wrest a handful of jars from my grasp? They emanate with an energy I don't recognize, so I can't imagine who they belong to. It is, however, similar to the energy radiating from Rigaldo, so perhaps they belong to a friend of yours?

[A slight pause, and Griffith leans forward.]

And I want to know what you are. You aren't human. That's beyond question. But I feel nothing at all from you.

[Isley examines one of his hands, holding it up before him.]

Of course you don't feel anything emanating from me. It's because there is...nothing to emanate. Or rather, it is out of reach for the time being.

But you've felt a part of my power, I'm sure. After all, one of the limbs in those jars physically belongs to me. Another is that of a friend, yes. [Priscilla.] And the remainder...well, if you don't care about that promise, I see no reason to elaborate. It's important to me, to say the least.

[His gaze travels from his hand to Griffith's face at that moment.]

...As to what I am, that's a bit more difficult to explain. The names themselves will mean nothing to you, and I can't show you anything. I used to be human, once...a very long time ago. Now, I'm anything but. In my world I'm referred to as an Abyssal One.

"Abyssal One."

[Griffith repeats the words quietly, almost to himself - as though he's tasting every syllable.]

...I like grandiose names. They convey a great deal about their owners. Are you a creature like Rigaldo?

Like is relative. In some ways yes, in others...no.

Our awakened forms couldn't be more different from one another, and the same can be said of our powers. There is a reason he serves me and not the other way around. But...we're both Awakened Beings, yes.

[...]

Which leaves me wondering exactly what you are. You said he cut you, but I see no trace. There aren't many who have met Rigaldo in battle and have lived to tell the tale.

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