IC Contact

[untiltheend]

This is Sebastian Michaelis. I am unavailable at present, but please leave a message. Should a response be needed I will reply when time permits me. Please do keep your message brief.

Comments

[atowncalledtreffy]

God. Why couldn't I have been paired with you instead? I guess the nature of it would have made us wary of each other, but such a fucking shame.

[He says, getting his own stuff together. Infirmary first; then cave diving gear from the Admiral, then weaponry of his own.]

[untiltheend]

The Admiral works in mysterious ways, I am sure. Clearly your efforts are wasted on your ingrate of an Inmate. [Which is a roundabout way of saying "I'd like us to be paired, too ):".

But he privately agrees that them being permanently paired would likely damage things. As much as Trevor calls Sebastian 'cruel' and 'good at thinking of ways to torture people', as it is, he doesn't know half of just how terrible Sebastian is. He doubts he'd be forgiving if he did know.]

[atowncalledtreffy]

That's assuming what he does is even 'work'.

[Eeyy burns on the admiral help to lighten the mood. Trevor waits at the mouth of the cavern, a pack slung over his shoulder, for Sebastian]

[untiltheend]

[And true to his word, Sebastian is quick to arrive, in his usual uniform and carrying no visible weapons or equipment.]

Hello, sir. I presume the mission concerns your Inmate, yes?

[atowncalledtreffy]

[Trevor in contrast is looking really pissed off. Prior adventures in caves mean that he's exceptionally not thrilled to be going places where the footing is off, where there are either too few or too many escape areas, where it's damp and cold and miserable and there's no sun and his preferred weapons can catch on stupid stalagtites, all for his stupid inmate who already had a busted shoulder when he went out again.

He grunts an affirmation, holding a torch aloft. Trevor's long since stopped trying to figure out Sebastian's shit - he'll tell him if he wants to - and he knows by dint of experience that he's likely some sort of demon or fae who can handle his shit in the non-mortal way. Unlike Trevor or Dimitri or Shaw. So he doesn't have to guess at what Sebastian may or may not be carrying: unlike most of the ship, Sebastian seems to know his limits and experience.

No. He lets some of his anger pass into the void; being pissed off at Dimitri for not magically knowing what lies in this cave isn't going to get him out faster. And it's Trevor's fault for not chaining him to an infirmary bed.]

Yeah. Shaw reached me on my device about a half hour ago, says he was talking to her when there was a rock slide or a cave-in. He's hurt but it didn't sound fatal. We're going to need my dagger to find him, it tracks your permanent inmate.

[untiltheend]

Quite. [He says, producing said dagger.] I do apologise for not alerting you sooner, but since these things seem not to give any indication if the Inmate in question is in actual danger...

[Not to mention Sebastian doesn't care one whit about Dimitri. He's in a cave, so what. So has Sebastian been most of this port.

He holds out the dagger to Trevor.]

I went ahead and looked, and know where he is, but here, if you prefer to confirm for yourself.

[atowncalledtreffy]

Don't need to apologize, it's my fault. I should have locked him on the ship after he wrecked his shoulder.

[He takes the dagger just to see how the thing even works: up til now, Trevor's only had temporary assignments]

....God, is it weird to be both pissed off and grateful that this is a thing? I mean. It's damned useful to have when someone gets into trouble, but it's weird that it's only on inmates.

[he hands the dagger back to let Sebastian lead; he's faster and more sure-footed]

[untiltheend]

[Some small, small part of Sebastian feels a twinge of gratefulness as Trevor hands back the dagger. It's entirely within character of Trevor to do so, but even so, Sebastian always assumes people's natural instincts to be self-serving.]

I presume the Admiral expects Wardens to be responsible for their own actions and what risks they take, to a far greater degree than Inmates, seeing as Inmates all require a handler, according to him.

[He says as he starts walking, leading the way.]

[atowncalledtreffy]

[In a sense, it sort of is: Trevor is acknowledging Sebastian's the better party to lead them. He's always been a good strategist and sometimes that means he won't always be the best fighter in the group. He's not even the best fighter in groups of two or three but never had the ego to let it bother him: getting into pissing contests before the work was finished was something the Belmonts wouldn't stand for. As always, the work has to come first.]

One thing I don't miss: being treated like a concussed child.

[untiltheend]

Quite, [Sebastian agrees with a scoff as they walk. The dagger returns to his pocket; he knows the way without it.] Never once in my life have I been treated so condescendingly as here.

[And that's coming from someone whose master named him after said master's dog.]

[atowncalledtreffy]

[He follows Sebastian with diligence, worried about Dimitri now despite how pissed off he is]

Yeah. Sorry.

[untiltheend]

[He makes a little dismissive wave - no need to offer condolences. Dryly:]

Thank goodness we can at least be entrusted with trivial tasks like rescuing wayward imbeciles, since doing chores without supervision is out of the question.

[Says the man who trusts his fellow servants back home to protect their master, but doesn't trust them to manage chores without him supervising.]

Have you ventured into any of these caves before now?

[atowncalledtreffy]

[A light snort of laughter. God, he doesn't miss getting locked out of everything and needing to make food for half the ship]

No. I hate caves. Once I found one to sleep in, turned out to be the home of a fire drake. Can't really hide in them, everything you do echos, and there's limited exits.

[untiltheend]

And limited space to maneuver, at that. [But at least the cave walls make for good tools if you need to smash someone's head in-- I mean.]

Well, then: in case you did not know, some of these caves harbour gigantic insects, some of them hostile. I have not personally explored the cave your Inmate is in, so I know not yet what dwells in there.

[atowncalledtreffy]

[Trevor pauses to reconcile this fact and then growls, one hand setting on his sword as he hurries a bit faster]

Didn't I tell you? I fucking hate caves.

[untiltheend]

[Sebastian sighs - the idiot will just be resurrected if he's eaten by something, so what's the hurry? But he does obediently quicken his own pace to match Trevor's.]

There is an entrance not far from here-- a ten minutes walk at most.

[atowncalledtreffy]

Thanks.

You didn't have to come all this way. I appreciate it.

[untiltheend]

[Oh.

Sebastian pauses for a moment, surprised. He doesn't slow the pace, but it does take him a second to respond:]

...You are welcome.

Please understand: I do not care about your idiot inmate. I do not care if you are ever able to strike a Deal with the Admiral. I volunteer to do these tasks mostly out of boredom, and in the vain hope that they might contribute to the process of my graduation.

But with all that said: I truly do not mind working alongside you.

[atowncalledtreffy]

Please. I don't care about my idiot inmate. Not yet; we've only known each other a couple of weeks.

And you know my thing with deals.

I'm trying to pay you a compliment. I know it comes with all these conditions and arrangements.

Just...let me shut my brain off for two minutes and be weirdly happy in your company, yeah?

[untiltheend]

...

"I cannot recall anyone ever professing to feel 'happy' in my company."

[Other generally-thought-of-as-positive-adjectives (satisfied, vindicated, accomplished), yes... but happy?]

[atowncalledtreffy]

Shuuuut up.

[he waves Sebastian off, climbing over rocks. Seriously, fuck caves and fuck talking about feelings]

[untiltheend]

[After a moment of confusion - humans are so strange! - Sebastian laughs softly in response as they climb. Sebastian's climbing is - unsurprisingly - sure-footed and reliant almost exclusively on his feet; he rarely if ever has to take support using his hands.

Normally, he'd ask to borrow the torch for appearances' sake as he leads the way, but Trevor needs the light; Sebastian doesn't. As they go further in, losing the daylight, Sebastian eyes go from their usual amber-brown to a faintly glowing red, pupils slit and cat-like. Trevor knows already, after all.]

[atowncalledtreffy]

[Despite his worry for Dimitri, Trevor still has a part of him that's fascinated by the change in Sebastian's eyes, feeling the familiar prickle of being in the same room as a much larger predator. He's reminded of a conversation he once had with Sypha, also held below ground;

Vampires are basically an evolved predator species, so their eyesight is pretty different to ours. Turns out that if you put a big geometric shape right up close in their field of vision, it confuses the shit out of their brains, and, you know, makes them panic.

He grins to himself in the low light, imagining Sebastian like a vampire or an enormous cat.]

[untiltheend]

[brb incorporating this in my characterisation of Sebastian]

[]Once they reach a relatively even-grounded area of the cave, Sebastian stops. Tilts his head slightly, like a god, and stands there for a few seconds. Then:]

We should be able to proceed for at least fifteen or so minutes without encountering any creatures. [At least unless the cave walls are much thicker than expected.] Beyond that, I cannot tell yet.

[atowncalledtreffy]

You can see through walls, or sense body heat?

[or some other sense that he's not considered yet]