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[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.

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[untiltheend]

Sebastian's eyes go even colder as Hakkai's clips drop, as much as he likewise shows no surprise. Oh, but of course this thing is another demon. He really shouldn't be surprised. This is only the second disgusting monster assigned to lord over Sebastian how much better than him they are as wardens.

He obediently hands Hakkai his cup. In the same cold tone as before: "What tea is it? I do not recognise the flavour."

No, no, he's not evading answering. He only pauses a second before continuing: "Human souls."

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"Your young master?" Hakkai inquires. Something I myself have cultivated.

"The tea is pu-erh. It's an older leaf, fermented and cooked," he adds, as he moves to the kitchen to drain away the last, bitter liquid and pour fresh water over the leaves to steep out the second pot. "Which lends it a complex flavor.

"Why don't you tell me a little about your aesthetics, Sebastian?"

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"My young master. Gorging on the poor-quality souls of the dregs of humanity... there is no appeal in that any longer."

Sebastian feels very much like killing something right now. Squeezing the life out of something, listening to its dying sounds. He wants to get up and make the damn tea himself, just for something to do with himself. For lack of anything better, he at least makes a mental note to research this pu-erh tea, learn how to brew it. Hakkai informing about the tea at least gives Sebastian a moment to push down the worst of his anger.

"My aesthetics are straightforward enough, I would think." He says it with the air of you should already know this (somehow).

"When one has a task, or a goal, one should dedicate themselves to it completely: to accomplish it in a beautiful and flawless way. I play the part of a butler, currently, thus I will be a butler to my very core, to the very end of my existence, if necessary."

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"To tell the truth," Hakkai notes, pouring the second brewing into each of their cups in turn and approaching the table again, "I think that it is an improvement to focus on developing something of value, rather than just plucking meaningless lives."

He sets Sebastian's cup in front of him and settles back into his chair. For an instant, the careful line of his shoulders slumps, showing a hint of weakness and exhaustion, but he covers it by reaching for the golden clips and slipping them back onto his ear. Appearance perfectly human again, he takes a sip of the tea and makes a small approving noise.

"How do you choose your tasks?"

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Sebastian notices the brief faltering - anger has never made him prone to overlook things. Some sickness it must be, to have whatever flavour of demon this brat is look so pathetic. Serves him right.

He still glares like he wants to bite Hakkai's face off, but the intensity of the red glow of his eyes has lessened some. He's calmer. Even so, he scoffs at Hakkai's assessment on Sebastian's changed priorities. He doesn't need the approval, brat.

"My tasks are chosen for me by my current master, naturally. The human that summons me."

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"And you gain your greatest pleasure from committing yourself fully to that task for the duration of your service," Hakkai says, thoughtful, piecing together what Sebastian's said so far. "And once it's been completed to perfection, you...?"

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Sebastian doesn't correct him, which is a good indicator that Hakkai is right.

"Why", he says, tapping a finger to his chin and smiles, showing off his fangs.

"After that, I consume my master. Ah, or do you mean 'what do I do after that'? I enter my next Contract, of course."

Is this being deliberately provoking? Yes.

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"So I assume your current young master is one of the first that you've considered worth cultivating. Or the first? If you're losing your appreciation for the flavor of the dregs of humanity."

Hakkai's tone is mild and thoughtful, unconcerned with the soul-eating prospect.

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But Hakkai, it's not fair if only one of them is upset.

"The flavour of a soul is contingent on what experiences the human has had. Grief, misery, despair... these to me are delectable in a soul. The more intense the misery, and the longer the soul has been mired in it, will surely render even more delicious results."

In other words... his current master isn't the first, but Sebastian is still relatively new at experimenting with the seasoning in his cooking.

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"I see."

That does, in fact, raise this particular fixation from the level of fucked up hobby to torturing a child to make him tastier. Which is... a challenging concept to justify, Hakkai has to admit to himself.

There are certain similarities to Hazel's blind spots, as much as the priest would have hated to hear that comparison. Sebastian, at least, has more excuse for it by reason of his nature.

"When you say the longer, are you imagining the scale of weeks? Months? Years or more?"

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"I have been in the young master's employ for three years now. Humans, as you might know, live for about a hundred years at the very most."

To think that this brat is himself a monster, and even then Sebastian has to explain such basic details as the consumption of souls... He picks up his teacup, clicks his fingers slowly against the porcelain. Normally when he's angry, he at least has something to do instead of sitting down uselessly.

"My current Contract is the longest-lasting one I have had to date."

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"Normally, then, months," Hakkai interprets, and sips his tea. "Currently, years, but not a large number of them.

"Are you anticipating pushing your hobby to the extent of human lifespans? Decades or more?"

[untiltheend]

"My hobby."

Sebastian's smile widens so much it looks almost physically painful to maintain. There is a limit to how much insolence he'll put up with, and reducing what he does to that comes painfully close to it.

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"Your creative vocation?" Hakkai offers as an alternative.

(He's quite aware he's being provoking.)

[untiltheend]

Sebastian leans back slightly in his chair, forgetting entirely to try the tea, instead just thrumming at the cup.

"--So far I have seen precious little of your promised outside perspective insights, sir warden."

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Ah, he's escalated to sir warden from sir. Hakkai raises his eyebrows.

"All right," he says plainly. "I don't think you will need to stop eating souls in order to graduate -- I assume that it's not possible for you to stop, in any case? I do think that it's going to be important for you to learn to work with your masters in a more transparent way. I'm quite sure that you'll be able to find people who want to accomplish their goals so badly that they're willing to suffer for years or decades, and willing to give you a complex role to play in their lives in the process. You're certainly not required to have a positive view of random humans -- or non-humans -- in order to graduate, but I do think you need to be willing to at least leave them to live their lives and not go out of your way to hurt them due to your contempt.

"Does that sound like something that's possible for you to accomplish?"

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"Sir," - look, it went back to just sir; the backing off is accepted - "in what world would you say being a butler to one's core is compatible with going out of one's way to hurt one's master?"

Letting him be hurt is one thing. So is twisting the knife in a wound that's already there. But does Mr Cho think Sebastian actively tortures the young master? Preposterous.

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"Oh, I don't mean your young master," Hakkai corrects immediately. "I mean random humans. People who are not your master and not those who your master commands you to help him deal with. Even if -- for example -- you found yourself with a new master who wanted you to take on the identity of a violent enforcer, rather than a butler."

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"Ah."

Sebastian takes a few moments to consider this. Unlike his usual obvious body gesture when thinking something over - tapping his chin, head tilting - now he just spends those moments staring blankly at Hakkai. Sebastian is still angry with him; Hakkai doesn't deserve completely not unsettling body language.

"It is hardly as if I go around torturing random insects with no rhyme or reason as it is... Casualties will happen, of course."

But he's not outright saying no.

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"Of course. But you are someone who exercises exquisite control of your actions," Hakkai points out.

"Wouldn't it be more of a challenge to explore those kinds of restrictions? Perhaps even... to increase your master's frustration and torment, should you have a master in the future who expects you to be some sort of uncouth ravening monster, by exercising your skills with precision and preventing collateral damage."

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"Such a thing..."

Hm. He can't deny there's a certain appeal to that idea. He's no stranger to deliberately being difficult while still following orders to the letter - why, it's been another fun game between him and the young master on occasion, and the young master does get delightfully angry.

"It follows, of course, that I also would do the opposite in pursuit of a greater challenge: to cause maximum damage for a master who wishes for the minimum.

That is, of course, unless my own ultimate goal were to spare people. Which, I realise, is what you would have me work towards."

The 'do it to annoy my future masters' motive seems more doable, really.

[reformedsinner]

"I do think committing yourself to sparing people is more likely to result in your graduation," Hakkai agrees. "In the long term, in order to graduate, I think you might need to... hmm."

What would be the best way to phrase this?

"Appreciate the elegance of doing no more harm than necessary as a part of your aesthetic," he decides at last.

1/2

[untiltheend]

Sebastian isn't prone to big displays of emotion, so this reaction, too, is rather subtle: his eyes widens, taking on a more intense red hue again.

No, it's not anger this time: it's that that sort of phrasing resonates. He understands that.

[untiltheend]

Hmm, but even so...

"--Acting out such a change in perspective would be child's play, of course."

But actually believing it? That's what he'd have to genuinely do, right?

[reformedsinner]

"Which is why acting isn't enough," Hakkai agrees. "But acting might be a useful first step to see how well it resonates with you, while you're acting it out."

He tilts his head to one side, considering Sebastian thoughtfully, before adding, "I don't have a kitchen supervisor's key, of course, and supervisor keys can't be duplicated. But...."

He pulls out his greenhouse key and sets it on the table.

"I would be willing to make you another key to this room, and to leave this supervisor key in the room for you to use freely whenever I'm not using it myself."

As an opportunity to practice responsible harm reduction.