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]

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?

[sadisticwarfare]

You seem... more closed-off than usual.

[He's not really sure how to explain it otherwise.]

[explosivecombat]

Ah, do I...?

[He just kind of tips his head a bit at that, though.]

I've been perfectly fine, and you were correct earlier; I was neither captured nor killed, and I escaped the region with no difficulty. I've been here ever since.

There's nothing to concern yourself with.

[sadisticwarfare]

That's not... No, I mean you seem emotionally closed-off; like you won't talk to me about something.

[He's not sure what that "something" is, but it certainly doesn't look good.]

[explosivecombat]

I'm not hiding anything, either.

[...]

You said you had something to ask me, regarding what happened in Olivine. Something that should be asked in person. Might I ask what it was...?

[sadisticwarfare]

You're avoiding the topic.

[But he sighs and relents, if only because maybe he can get it out of Kimblee with a different angle.]

Did you attack Olivine because you were upset that I had been sent home?

[explosivecombat]

That...!

[Damn it, Archer, you can't just do that and expect him to answer you on the spot; no one has asked him about his thoughts and feelings on the matter since it happened, and bluntly put, he's preferred it that way.

...

...Well, that's not entirely true, is it. One person has asked him, and surprisingly it's not been anyone that people might have assumed it was - Cobra managed to work it out of him surprisingly quickly, very bluntly and directly asking him if that was the reason for the declaration of war against the region. It was incredibly surreal, really.

He knows admitting to it is probably what he...should be doing, but...]

...You know I don't allow my personal thoughts to interfere with my work; I never have.

[Damn it.]