inbox for golden peacock

[cartographie]

@nami

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No worries!

[tfy]

[He beams back at her.]

Isn't it? ♪

[He can explain where he got that suit from in a minute. For now, he's focused on entering the storage room. She says she wouldn't mind getting the chance to crack open a safe, and says:]

Spoken like a true spy! ♪

[Then steps inside ahead of her when she holds open the door.]

Why, thank you~♪

[It's safer for him to go first, he figures; if there are any guards milling around near the entrance, hopefully they'll be too busy going ga-ga over the sight of him in his suit to notice her slink in after him. But in a stroke of luck, there is no security hanging around at the moment, and so they're free to look around.

It's the same old storage room as last time. Shelf after shelf stocked with a mixture of hotel supplies and what appear to be guests' personal items. He spent a lot of time poking around the place in November, searching for two items of Rinne's that Reign and Keita had wanted back, and he discovered all sorts of things in the process... including varieties of sex toys he hadn't known existed. There are a lot of those in here.

He steps in between two shelves while she rifles around, keeping his voice just above a stage whisper.]

Seems that way! I'm not sure what sort of enchantment it was, though. You'd have to ask Jin Mingming—she's the one who gifted it to me for my birthday. And she even threw in a matching one for Jun-kun ♪ Though his doesn't seem to have quite the same effect as mine. It's hard to outshine me, I guess.

[cartographie]

How'd you get Jin Mingming to like you that much? I drink at her bar all the time.

[ Maybe that was why. Between the two of them, Hiyori's definitely more upstanding than Nami could ever hope to be. Still, a connection like that is enviable, and even though she's extremely into the idea of digging through this storage room, the idea of what someone that prominent among the resort staff has going on is intriguing on another level. Thankfully, the idea of finding things belonging to Rinne, or anyone else who's turned to stone not yet crossing her mind. ]

I bet she's got a lot to say about this place.

[ Looking over her shoulder at Hiyori, Nami doesn't bother to mask the curiosity on her face, her shrewd blue eyes sizing him up in the low light. The suit is very distracting, and she catches her gaze drifting back to take in the garment rather than the guy wearing it more than once, but that doesn't let it slow her snooping at all.

Still, better not to seem obviously prying. Nami has the sense to look back at the bin she's going through before she speaks up again, not bothering to keep her question coy. ]

Did she tell you anything good?

[tfy]

With my dazzling charm, of course~♪

[A cop-out answer, said with a wink. Before he admits:]

I think she might've felt sorry for us, given our situation here. So I thought perhaps she made us those suits to cheer us up. But then it turned out mine was enchanted, and then I wasn't sure what to think.

[Is there a mystery she wants him to solve? Something hidden that she wants him to uncover...? Is it remotely possible that maybe, just maybe, she thinks he can help untangle the secret behind this place, or gather ammo against the House? The longer he's trapped here, the more he worries they're all doomed—that there is no way out, other than winning that 52 game (and that's if the game isn't rigged). That they'll all turn to statues before they can complete their decks, anyway.

But he hasn't given up all hope. If Jin Mingming did enchant that suit in hopes that he'd accomplish something, then he wants to accomplish it. Even if the only thing it's helped him do so far is get Rinne's stuff back from the storage room, that's still something worthwhile.

At any rate, he tells Nami with a smile:]

I'm sure you'd look good in her embroidery, too. But as for why she didn't make you something, perhaps she thought you didn't need it to snoop around. You're already a pirate, after all~♪

[One who can pick locks, at that.

He'd be curious to hear what Nami did get for her birthday, but he doesn't ask, since it's clear her mind is elsewhere. Her interest isn't well-disguised; as a performer, he's sensitive to other people's gazes. Not that he's bothered by her question, or by the curious look in her eyes. He doesn't mind if she wants to get information out of him—he's happy to share. They are partners in crime for the night, after all.

She can look into the bin, which has (what else?) sex toys inside. He'll look at her as he explains what the proprietress told him back then.]

Depends on what you'd call "good." She did confirm it's not just sex this place runs on. "What the resort takes from us is our fate," she said—apparently meeting people from different worlds, who we wouldn't have met otherwise, and being intimate with them changes our "fate." She also said people who are destined for great things in life have more fate to give than those who aren't—like an emperor who runs a country versus a servant who's destined to die young. That was her example, anyway.

[There's more, but he gives her a moment to process.]

[cartographie]

Yeah, I'd call that good. [ Which is more than she can say for the bin of toys she peers inside before walking away from with a faint scowl on her face, even as she internally mulls over every detail. ]

So the fact that I've been stuck here for so long just confirms I've got a lot of stuff to do when I get back home?

[ She tries for another bin, this time pulling out an antique metal lighter, which she flicks the flint on to see if it lights, before holding the flame up to better look over at Hiyori through the dimly lit space. ]

And all this sex is changing my fate?

[ This is all good to know, but, this is how she processes. Dryly pouring over the issue, using sarcasm to pull on the threads of the issue, looking for a way in – or at least a way to wrap her head around this and figure out what this really means for her and everyone else here. ]

Anything else that might send me into a philosophical crisis?

[tfy]

I guess that's one way to look at it. Perhaps it means you will make that map of the world. Or you and your crew will discover a centuries-old treasure! ♪

[His words are frivolous as usual, but the gears in his head are turning. He hadn't quite thought about it like that before; to him, what Jin Mingming said about some people having "more fate to give" than others explained why the resort is populated by bigwigs. Royals, gods, big-name warriors, government officials, celebrities... people with extraordinary powers. There aren't a whole lot of normal folks around. Which made him think the House purposefully kidnaps people who are destined to make a difference in the world. And that pantheon could include Nami, couldn't it? Perhaps her whole crew is destined to make history, which would explain why several of them have turned up here.

But does all of that explain why some people stick around longer than others? Are the people who are destined for less great things always the ones who disappear first...?

That does map eerily well onto what's happened with everyone from ES. He and Jun are part of the "Big Three," while Crazy:B enjoys only a fraction of their popularity. Leo, meanwhile, is a famous composer, which might explain why he's gone nowhere. Still, he isn't sure that explains everything.

He gives a small jolt when Nami flicks on the lighter, eyes drawn to the bright flame. Is she going to try to burn something? He doesn't think so, but...!]

Er... not that I know of... actually, there is one thing, but it pretty much just confirmed something that was already obvious.

[But first:]

Careful where you hold that flame, alright? This stuff may be waterproof, but I don't think it's flame-resistant.

[He says while standing over another bin of brightly-colored toys. One vibrating dildo, still in the packaging, advertises itself as being "great for water play!"]