epitaffio | IC Inbox

[Doppio, you should be concerned about these blackouts, you know. Really concerned.]

[More concerned about them than this conversation you're about to have. It's really probably not going to be as bad as you think!]

Alright then! Whatever makes you the most comfortable.
My address is

[Shuichi proceeds to give him directions to an apartment complex in one of Bavan's cheaper resident districts. He and Kokichi live on the third floor, in unit number 310.]

[He'll be here. Waiting.]

[The blackouts are perfectly normal and nothing to go to the doctor over! Didn't you know? That's what the Boss always told him, and thus, he's spent little to no time being concerned about them, compared to how concerned he is about this conversation.

He's not even sure what the consequences might be; he just feels bad about this blunder. Even though he's dead and far away from home, it still feels like he's failed the Boss.

But he shows up, regardless of the fact that the look on his face when Shuichi greets him at the door is anything but comfortable.]

S-So... Um... [He looks around - it does look like Shuichi's alone...] I'm... here.

[The door opens of its own accord, revealing a vaguely humanoid mass of shadows just beyond it. Jiro isn't here, so he doesn't have to shapeshift into a cute animal, and keeping the lights off so that he could remain solid seems rude so...ghost boy it is.]

[He is most definitely alone though, and that much is blatantly obvious from just one look. Shuichi and Kokichi's apartment is... pretty small. It's a studio, just one main room, a little kitchen, a bathroom, and a single closet. There's a couch and a little coffee table, and a Murphy bed that's currently folded up into the wall. So unless Kokichi is hiding in that closet, he really isn't here.]

You're here. [The bottoms of the shade's eyes curve upwards in a gentle sort of smile. One that he hopes is at least a little soothing because boy, does Doppio look uncomfortable.]</smallYou can have a seat on the couch. Would you like anything? Tea? Soda? Snacks?

[The sort-of-smile is noted, although it doesn't do much. Before he sits on the couch, he looks at it kind of like he's afraid it might eat him (but he does sit, regardless).]

Er...

[He's not sure how polite of a conversation this is going to be, so maybe he ought to say no, but... as always, his stomach feels awfully empty.]

Snacks are fine, I guess.

[The shade lets out a very soft, gentle chuff of laughter. Somehow, he had a feeling that would be the waldgeist's answer.]

Alright, give me just a minute then.

[Thankfully, the couch does not eat Doppio. It doesn't even bite him! Because it is just an ordinary couch. But while Doppio has his staredown with the furniture, Shuichi floats into the kitchen. He returns after a few moments with a big bowl of chips and a bag of jerky floating alongside him.]

[Sorry, Kokichi. He'll replace your snacks later. He has to be a good host right now.]

Here you go.

[He sets the snacks down on the coffee table and then lowers himself into a sort of seated position above the floor on the opposite side of the table, across from Doppio. Sure, he could "sit" on the couch too, but face to face seems easier.]

[Oh no, he even has jerky. Is he trying to make him let his guard down? This can't possibly be about Doppio's comfort; if Shuichi cared about his comfort, he would have just forgotten about this whole thing, surely.

... But, well, he's taking some jerky regardless.]

So... What... did you want to talk about?

[Oh, like he doesn't know.]

[No, he just...grabbed whatever Kokichi had in the kitchen, really. Whatever wasn't sweets, at least, because he knows those are more sacred to the nephilim as far as junk food goes.]

[But apparently his time as a werewolf gave him something of a fondness for jerky. And so. Here it is.]

Well...mostly I wanted to make sure we were still okay after what happened in that dream world. But also... [He hesitates for a moment, seemingly debating with himself on whether or not to press on. But, well, he's already STARTED saying it. May as well finish.] I can't pretend that I'm not curious about certain things. Namely...your Boss. He's a crime boss of some kind, isn't he?

[Weirdly, this fact doesn't seem to bother Shuichi. He's as calm as ever, simply asking the question in much the same way he might ask "how are you doing today?"]

[Doppio winces. Of course Shuichi has deduced that much; he probably made it even clearer with his slip-up at the party. Denying it might only do more harm than good at this point.

It doesn't matter that Shuichi is being so casual about it. The way Doppio sees it, he's made a mistake, and if the Boss were here, he wouldn't be happy about it.]

... Yeah.

[He can only hope Shuichi isn't TOO curious.]

And that's why...you didn't want to talk about it at the party, huh? Because the Wild Cards are a hero agency...

[Which is totally fair and valid, Shuichi doesn't blame him for that. Though he is a little curious as to why an organized criminal would want to join something like a hero agency.]

And why you wanted me to forget everything that I saw in the dreamworld...your boss is the secretive type, I'm guessing?

[That deduction, Doppio is more willing to chalk up to Shuichi's skills than to his own mistakes. It doesn't make him feel much better, though.]

T... That's right. Nobody knows who he is or what he looks like.

[In fairness...most crime bosses tend to be either the secretive type or the brazenly overt type so it's not like Shuichi even needed to use his detective skills to arrive at that conclusion.]

And you wanted to protect his identity...even if he's not here in Ryslig. [The bottoms of his eyes curve upwards ever so slightly. A gentle smile. One that's probably meant to be encouraging, but a sentiment that specific can't really be conveyed by just his eyes alone.] You're really devoted to him, huh? I mean, I figured as much from what you said in your dream but...

[But hearing this just drives that point home again all over.]

[That... kind of follows naturally from the rest of Shuichi's deductions, huh?

Doppio swallows some jerky and stares at the snacks sadly instead of eating more, at least for now. It feels... nice, to an extent, that Shuichi can tell this much. That his loyalty is clear, even here and now.]

He always said I was the only one he could trust, so... so I did my best to be a consigliere who deserved that much trust. No matter what.

Consigliere... [He repeats the word faintly ~~and slightly butchers the pronunciation~~, the tops of his eyes furrowing slightly as if brows existed.] That's...a Mafia boss's right hand man, isn't it? Their top advisor?

[Wow, he didn't realize you were that high on the chain, Doppio!]

[This latest observation, in turn, brings a sort of sparkle back into Doppio's eyes, something like pride.]

That's right, too. I was his closest subordinate.

[He's never been sure what he did to earn that level of trust, which only made him try harder to ensure the Boss never regretted it.

He's grateful, too. Who would he have been, without the Boss in his life? Nobody important, he's sure.]

[Shuichi hums a little in response, before falling back into a thoughtful sort of silence.]

Well, this...certainly explains a lot. And I'm guessing nobody else knows about this, do they? Nobody else here, I mean. In Ryslig.

Majima knows. I don't know if you know him... Werewolf guy with an eyepatch? [And he's back to fidgeting with some jerky, before relenting and eating it.] He, uh...

[Wait, is Majima being yakuza common knowledge?? He doesn't want to rat HIM out.]

Just ended up... finding out.

Mmm! [the shade nods.] I know Majima-san...not very well, admittedly, but he's helped me out a few times.

[Shuichi has his suspicions that he might be yakuza, just from his accent and demeanor but...he doesn't know that for certain. Though that odd pause and the fact that he's the only person Doppio has felt comfortable enough to tell is sort of nudging his suspicions a little bit.]

[Though, either way...does it really matter? There are no yakuza clans in Ryslig, and Majima has been nothing but helpful and upstanding from what Shuichi has seen.]

Oh, and...don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Promise. Though... [He hesitates again, pondering his words.] Well, like I said at the party, Oma-kun was a gang boss himself before we were brought here. He can probably relate to some of the things you're going through...and I still think talking to someone would be a good idea.

[He's still not 100% sure what those things Doppio needs to talk about are, but if there's one thing he picked up on from the waldgeist's dreamscape...it's that he's bottling up some possibly serious issues.]

[Doppio pauses with a bit of jerky halfway out of his mouth.]

You were serious about that? Oma being a gang boss, I mean?

[He's also not sure what he needs to talk about, because everything is Fine, but that's beside the point right now. Hopefully it will continue to be beside the point for a while.]

[No, Doppio, everything is most certainly not Fine with you!!]

[The shade gives an uncertain little laugh.]

He doesn't exactly look like one, does he? But yes, I was completely serious about that. And it's something he himself would tell you in a heartbeat...he's not exactly shy about it.

[Kokichi falls into the "loud and proud" category of crime bosses.]

Seriously? How old even is he?

[Because he looks, like... 12.]

[Like you have any room to talk, Doppio.]

He's eighteen.

[But Doppio's not a crime boss!!]

Oh. Wow... Okay. [Well, he guesses he knows what it's like to be older than you look, but...] That's still really young for a head honcho.

I guess you could say that prodigies can show up in any field?

[The shade gives a feeble sort of chuckle.]

It's not really my place to share details beyond that. While Oma-kun isn't shy about telling people about his position or the fact that he's a criminal...he keeps the actual details of his organization under very tight wraps.

[If he trusts you enough, he'll tell you the truth. And Shuichi doesn't want to betray that trust...especially since he technically found out through a source other than Kokichi himself.]

Right... I get that. Secrecy is a key part of being a successful leader, isn't it?

[After all, why else would the Boss have valued it so much?]

Mmm... [The shade's eyes crinkle up a little bit in a thoughtful sort of frown.] I think it's more important to know when and what to be secretive about. If you're too secretive, you open yourself up for just as many failures as you do if you're too open.

[He taps through his chin thoughtfully.]

But...that's just based solely on my own observations...I'm more of a follower than a leader.

[So what does he know?]

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WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, PURPLEPIPER. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 541.26.365.77 * PURPLEPIPER has joined 541.26.365.77 <PURPLEPIPER> Am I doing this right? <PURPLEPIPER> Pretty weird to just leave a message like this is an answering machine or something <PURPLEPIPER> ME leaving a message I mean! <PURPLEPIPER>** You can leave one if you want and I'll just get back to you whenever I can.