Voicemail/IC Contact

[explosivecombat]

[VOICE/TEXT/VIDEO; OPEN TO ALL.]
(Carmen, you probably want this one.)

"State your name and whatever business you may have with me; I'll return your call once circumstances allow."

[Please state in the subject line if OOC planning is preferred and we can handwave like the wind, but otherwise IC will be assumed!]

Comments

[explosivecombat]

Of course, Archer.

[Well, from there it's just a matter of signing out and...taking that war declaration of a bouquet with him? Right, apparently that is a thing he's going to be doing. And we are leaving now, thank you very much.

At the very least Pallet is tiny and the inn isn't too hard to find, if a bit convoluted in the way small-town streets tend to be.]

I imagine you had no problems with Alekhine?

[sadisticwarfare]

[Archer quirks an eyebrow but says nothing about the flower arrangement for the time being, instead following Kimblee.]

I had no problem receiving him, no. Getting him to use Teleport was an entirely different matter altogether. He spent a solid hour refusing to cooperate.

[Either he was really bitter that Archer left or he was trolling. Archer has no idea which one it was.]

[explosivecombat]

[Oh, Archer...]

Well, he really must be displeased with you, then; he's been a great help to me lately.

...Perhaps not here, but back in Johto, anyway. He's likely been bored out of his mind here.

[sadisticwarfare]

Oh? What were the two of you doing in Johto?

[explosivecombat]

[He just smirks a little at that.]

We had a busy week in Olivine.

[Let him get his key out and unlock the damn door to the room; this is a discussion best not held in public, after all.]

[sadisticwarfare]

Indeed?

[Archer waits until they're inside the room with the door shut before pressing.]

Well? What were you doing in Olivine?

[explosivecombat]

I believe I told you about Seth, and what he did there; surely you don't think that one person could pull off all that on their own without being seen by someone? Such a thing takes time to set up.

He and that Gardevoir I named for you assisted me rather well, all things considered.

[sadisticwarfare]

I thought you were opposed to that sort of tactic?

[He doesn't sound accusatory, just curious.]

[explosivecombat]

I won't abandon my own principles while on a mission; if this violated that, then I wouldn't have done it.

Opposition based on preference and not principle is another matter. Consider it another facet of my work taking priority over my personal life.

[sadisticwarfare]

...I see.

[No, he really doesn't.]

So you weren't captured or killed during this attack, were you? You fled here afterwards and you've been working as a... a florist since then, correct?

[explosivecombat]

I was found, but not captured; someone managed to track me down, but they didn't see my face - I had the mask on, as always when I'm dealing with situations where the general public might see me, and he didn't get close enough to take it off.

[...]

He let me go, actually.

[sadisticwarfare]

He let you go? Why would he do that?

[explosivecombat]

[That seems to amuse him, actually.]

He made the mistake of talking to me.

[sadisticwarfare]

He...? Oh, so you managed to convince him it would be a good idea?

[Well he certainly can't say he's surprised by that.]

[explosivecombat]

Something like that; I think it was more that I planted an idea that he couldn't disagree with. Things like that have a nasty habit of playing tricks on the mind, and they tend to stay with a person for quite some time. Forever, in some cases.

I doubt he'll be much of a problem for me from now on; I've been furthering that idea every time he's spoken to me since then, whether it's as Seth or myself. In different ways, of course, but it's gotten his attention just the same.

[sadisticwarfare]

Excellent. Perhaps he'll even join us someday.

[explosivecombat]

Would you like me to try to see if he'll be useful?

[sadisticwarfare]

Well of course. What else would you do with him?

[explosivecombat]

A very valid question indeed.

[...]

It's good to see you, Archer.

[sadisticwarfare]

...Well of course it is.

[Like this is the most obvious thing in the world.]

It's unfortunate I had to leave you alone, but you seem to have done well enough on your own.

[explosivecombat]

[...Ah.

If he's fazed by that any, it doesn't seem to be making itself known across his features; his expression remains calm, as usual when discussing things like this.]

I've been alone before, Archer; I haven't forgotten how to fend for myself.

[sadisticwarfare]

Of course you haven't and that certainly isn't what I meant to imply. I merely meant that it's easier while we're both here - for both of us.

[explosivecombat]

Of course.

[The territory this is heading into is awkward, however, and it shows. It's not his behavior that's off, however, but rather what he's not doing - namely, emoting at all. That placidity is still there, but there's a strange sort of blankness to it.]

It's not something we need to be concerned about for the time being, at any rate, is it?

[sadisticwarfare]

[Normally Archer would be inclined to agree. He doesn't like discussing emotions any more than Kimblee does, but the strange blankness is really getting to him.]

...Did anything else happen while I was gone?

[That's as good a place to start as any, he supposes.]

[explosivecombat]

Not to my knowledge. Why do you ask?