無駄で : IN VaiN

fray or flay 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

reversedpsync​:

@cabaretconnoisseur

Oh no. Oh no. 

On a loooong list of things Ryuki didn’t want Date to see him like, him currently transformed into a literal kitten because of those weird Halloween candies was pretty high up that list. What was the best word to use here- embarrassed? Mortified? He wasn’t sure, but he started pawing anxiously at Date’s leg in an attempt to explain himself.

M-Mr. Date! I don’t know why this happened, but I’ll figure it out, just- don’t worry about me, I’m fine!!

Unfortunately for him, his words still just sounded like mewls, still absolutely not helping the ‘pathetic’ vibe he had going on. At least he looked pretty cute. Or maybe that was another downside, hard to tell for him at the moment. His pride could only take so much.

Flicking the candy in his hand like a coin, he listened to the slight whistle of the wrapper before deftly catching it in his palm. He’s heard something or other about how these things gave you powers, but now that just sounded suspicious. Pocketing the thing in his coat, and most likely forgetting about it forever, he almost missed the needle claws digging into his leg. 

Glancing down, he leaned as well, coming back up with a little cat hanging by the scruff. He hasn’t stepped on it, right? “Huh. When I said I was a ... cat, magnet this isn’t really what I had in mind.” 

God this thing talked a lot. Maybe he was hurting it? Holding it like a football instead, he decided adopting another creature was not high on his priority list. Still... 

“You are kinda cute. In a whiney way. Pathetic? Maybe that’s the word.” 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

Which one of your biggest flaws do you like to rationalize the most?

@reversedpsync sent // *: ･ﾟ✧   90 LOADED QUESTIONS

No filter, lack of self-restraint, porn addiction, CVS receipt long list of fetishes, lack of self-worth, massive ego, fear of snakes, alcoholism, emotional unavailability, murderous tendencies, takes law into own hands, gluttony, fights 12 year olds, workaholic tendencies, absent father, lack of financial stability (relies on 12 year old), abuse of power, terrible memory

Spoilers for AI:SF 

Well, not now, but I know there was a time when taking the law into my own hands was something I was rationalizing. I couldn't remember that I'd even been doing that, amnesia and whatever. But remembering it all at once felt like shit. I always knew I had my own sense of justice and want to make sure people that deserved it got what was coming. But to think I'd go as far as murder? Not a very good addition to an already shit week, you know? And maybe I'm not completely over it either. I mean, I wouldn't go and kill anyone in cold blood like that again. But I can't help thinking that sometimes we just aren't doing enough. Which is why I just break rules to speed up the process of solving cases. There's a fine line between bending the rules riiight before they snap- and following through to make sure you're still within the boundaries of the law to escape with a slap on the wrist from Boss at most, instead of a suspension with no pay. Results always let you get away with more than you should be allowed. Guess that was my problem the first time around too. Too efficient for my own good. Ha.

Oh right, he was supposed to be answering Ryuki.

"Biggest flaw? That there's only one of me to keep all those babes company. It's a disservice to them that I can't be at two places at once. But when duty calls, you have to answer. Besides, hourly fees at cabaret clubs are expensive. Gotta work to be able to cover them."

[cabaretconnoisseur]

reversedpsync​:

“Haha… well, I guess I could say the same about me and Tama.” 

He’d never had any sort of relationship like that before just in general, so it wasn’t like it’d be a difficult feat. Not that he and Tama were like that either, but getting stuck on little details was just going to distract him. The point was clear enough here. Now, he did have to wonder just what exactly it was that Date and Boss had- but considering it seemed like most of their department was just… like that sometimes, it wasn’t worth worrying too much over.

“Busy? Well, not really, no.” Shaking his head, Ryuki quirked a brow with some curiosity. Date could have… interesting hobbies, but Ryuki did still enjoy hanging out with the other officer. “Did you have something in mind, Mr. Date?”

“Just a guy and his AI huh?” He bit back a, you should really branch out before it could leave his mouth. A comment like that wouldn’t do much good anyways. Besides, wasn’t that workplace harassment? Not that the word seems to hold any weight when he was getting electrocuted by Aiba but who was asking? 

More pressing matters though- Ryuki, not busy. Evening, free. The suspicion radiating off his junior? Palatable. 

“Calm down, I’m not planning on dragging you to a club.” 

... 

“Unless you wanted me to? Say less, you should have said so in the first place. Never knew you had it in you,” he said while heartily smacking Ryuki’s back, ignoring anything that sounded like the air being knocked from his lungs. 

“But no, I’m joking. Figured we could debrief over a drink or something like that.” 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

intelite​:

…slag. Of course he’d screw up his initial interaction with the first other agent he’s met here. Way to go, Blurr.

Things seem to be looking up at least, though, and what better way to bond than over an investigation? …assuming Date is telling the truth, of course.

“That’s a very respectable outlook and one I share and if you wouldn’t mind I reallyreallyreally wouldn’t mind assisting you because it’s hard to think of anything more important here than helping residents and overcoming our captors I mean as far as I’m concerned at least I have no intention of letting them get away with the forced botnapping of countless lifeforms! I haven’t ruled out the possibility that the Stars might have acceptable motivations forexamplesavingusfromsomepercieveddanger but that’s exactly the sort of question that needs to be investigated further and for right now at least it’s safer to assume that we’re here for unknown but immoral reasons.”

Blurr dips his head respectfully, never taking his optics off his new acquaintance.

“If you’re serious about this, Agent Kaname Date, my resources are at your disposal!”

Lacking a cellphone, the mech sends a private comm to the number listed under Date’s name in the Spirale registry:

[FROM: ᴘʀɪᴠ.ꜱᴇᴄ.ᴄʜᴀɴɴᴇʟ_𝟘𝟚𝟛[ᴀᴜᴛᴏʙᴏᴛ[ᴇʟɪᴛᴇɢᴜᴀʀᴅ[ᴄɪᴀ[ᴅᴇꜱɪɢɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ_ʙʟᴜʀʀ]]]] ] INVITATION: PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION. ORGANIZATION: ESCAPE COALITION, NO-EC. INFORMATION ATTACHED. [X]

“Great minds think alike huh,” he chimes with an annoying little two-fingered salute. 

And for someone, something (?), that seemed to hate organic lifeforms so much, this one was felt weirdly selfless. 

Savior complex. 

Unless Blurr was truly doing this out of the goodness of his carburetor. But man did this bot talk. And talk. He was starting to wonder if he should start taking notes just to keep up with all this. While he was sure he missed a few nuts and bolts here and there, he got the gist of the text wall. 

“Right, right. Infinite timelines, infinite possibilities and all that.” He didn’t believe in either of that junk, but hey, with the given situation maybe anything was possible. Or he could go back to his initial theory of it all being a mass hallucination. Before he can open his mouth and say something stupid, his phone chimes, saving the both of them that conversation. 

Blinking, squinting, and reading over it again, he gave a short, huh. 

“Did you really just send me a formal work invitation?” 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

@lokifell

As much as he would have loved to keep walking, something about the way this kid was staring very intently at the brick in his hand spelled a funny little message out for him. Mind your business. The other message was, I’m doing something potentially dangerous, unsupervised. 

Was this another one of those child detectives? Young adult detectives? Why was it that every year that went by, the agents he ended up working with got younger and younger? At least, that was his deduction on why sir ponytail crime scene gloves was in the zone. 

Well. Time to pull him out of it. 

Staying out of skull-crushing range, he cleared his throat. 

“That brick owe you money or something? You’ve got a death grip on it.” 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

reversedpsync​:

“Ha- well, I don’t think I’d get her to go on strike like Aiba did.” Honestly, knowing her, she’d probably enjoy whatever that VR watermelon splitting thing Date had mentioned was. But either way, it was hard for him to imagine Tama going on vacation for a while… even when she seemed annoyed with him, it passed pretty quickly. “But you and Aiba have known each other for a lot longer, so who knows?”

He couldn’t imagine asking for something like that even six years down the line, though. That was just… not his thing.

“Oh man… I can only imagine what she might say.” He got chewed out often enough as it was, so it was easy enough to think of a few possibilities. To be fair though, this was entirely not his fault. As far as he knew, anyways. “So much for your mandated break then, huh?”

“Tough crowd.” But nothing as harsh as he he’d heard before. Besides, the VR thing wasn’t even that bad. Frankly, it felt like the story was being blown out of proportion. Everyone’s a hater nowadays, or whatever it was Ota called it. Eugh, quoting Ota on anything. That had to be a new and horrible experience to check off his list. Back to Ryuki though. 

“Oh yeah, six years and counting.” The same as the number of years of life he remembered all but a short while ago. Not that the revelation was exactly pacifying but what’s done is done. “Longest I’ve ever been with another woman. Excluding Boss, but she doesn’t count.” 

Speaking of, he was mostly positive she’d let an incident like this slide. It wasn’t even their fault that they ended up in this mess. Clapping Ryuki’s shoulder hard enough to knock him over if he were any less sturdy, he gazed wisely at the sky,  not at all distracted by the lightly slowly twinkling to life with the nightlife. “If I’m still on that break we might as well make the most of it. You busy?” 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

watcrnation​:

 “And what is that, sword swallowing?”

“If that’s what you want to call it, sure. Sword swallowing.” 

[memesfromstuff]

*: ･ﾟ✧   90 loaded questions / interview the muse.

found on this website, so credit goes to them.

What’s your favorite strategy for avoiding tough situations?

How often do you do things just for the attention?

Would you prefer to be manipulated or to be the manipulator?

What is something someone always tells you to do more of?

What is something someone always tells you to do less of?

Who do you look to blame when things go wrong?

What is the one thing people assume about you that you wish was true?

What is the one thing people assume about you that you wish wasn’t true?

When was the last time you lied to protect your image?

How often do you put on a happy face when you’re really not feeling it?

When do you think you began putting your guard up so much?

Who made you feel most anxious when you were a kid?

How do you speak about others when they’re not around?

What aspect of your life are you most delusional about?

How often do your admit you were wrong?

Which one of your biggest flaws do you like to rationalize the most?

Is it your fear of commitment or your fear of intimacy that makes you shut down more?

At what stage of a relationship are you most likely to withdraw emotionally?

What is the one compliment you always get that you’re too embarrassed to accept, so you deflect it?

What would someone say is your worst habit?

What is the one insecurity you are pretty sure has some basis in reality?

When was the last time you felt really insecure about the parts of yourself you pretend don’t exist?

What is the most interesting white lie you’ve told?

Do you ever feel like an imposter?

Do your friends know how competitive you are?

What’s the hardest thing about being rejected?

How do you deal when you know you’re being irrationally jealous?

How do you deal when you know someone’s not willing to give you what you want?

Are you ever afraid of people knowing who you really are?

If you went to a therapist today, what would they say is holding you back the most?

When was the last time you lowered your standards just to get someone else’s approval?

Is your need for revenge greater than your need for peace?

Have you stopped trying to control things yet?

Which parts of yourself do you still seek validation for?

How do you cope with being unfairly ignored?

Do you like punishing yourself for things that are out of your control?

What does someone say is your biggest problem when communicating?

Are you okay with not knowing what happens next?

Will you ever feel okay with being imperfect?

Does sabotaging yourself give you an odd sense of comfort?

How do you feel about being disliked by some people?

What’s the strangest thing you’ve done just to avoid failure?

What is the biggest risk you’ve taken just to prove yourself?

What’s the boldest thing you do every day, just to feel like you’re still in control?

What accusation would you defend yourself most fiercely against, even though you know it’s true?

What’s the most toxic thing about yourself you actually kind of secretly like?

How much do you enjoy being in control?

When do you give yourself permission to lose control?

What guilty pleasure are you currently justifying to yourself?

What is the most passive-aggressive way you’ve dealt with your rage?

What is the pettiest and most immature way you’ve avoided losing face?

What’s the worst habit you have that rewards you the most?

How do you get your needs met when you’re alone?

What is the most ridiculous thing you’ve done to please people?

What is the most ridiculous way you’ve rebelled?

What’s your favorite way to channel your aggression?

How do you cope with being betrayed?

Are you okay with disliking someone?

What is your favorite form of self-destruction?

What’s the one thing you struggle most to manifest in your life?

What’s the one thing that you manifest so easily, people are jealous of it?

What’s the most irrational reason you’ve ever had for disliking someone?

What is one fear that you’d be ashamed of your friends knowing about?

Which one of your deepest secrets do you think is the least common?

How do people normally find out you hate them?

What is your go-to strategy to deflect criticism, even constructive criticism?

What is one thing people always get wrong about you?

What emotion motivates you the most when you’re down?

What emotion makes you want to give up?

Are people shocked when you stand up for yourself?

How often do you say yes to the things you really want to say yes to?

How often do you say no to the things that make your skin crawl?

How far are you willing to go to maintain a relationship, even an unhealthy one?

What is the worst way someone’s ever abandoned you?

What is the worst way you’ve ever abandoned yourself?

How do you entertain yourself when you’re not around people?

Are you happier alone because you enjoy being alone or because you prefer it to being surrounded by horrible people?

What habit do you know you could quit but don’t want to?

What is your favorite strategy for avoiding difficult people?

What is your favorite strategy for avoiding conflict?

What is the weirdest thing that gets you angry?

What is the weirdest thing that makes you sad?

How often do you take responsibility for other people’s crappy behavior?

When are you most likely to shut people out?

Which insecurity would shock people if they knew about it?

What do you find yourself justifying to people, even when no justification is needed?

When was the last time you tried to please someone who made you angry?

What do people often tell you need to focus more on?

What do people often tell you need to focus less on?

What is the one thing that could make you happy, but you refuse to do it because you’re afraid of what others would think?

[cabaretconnoisseur]

intelite​:

“Unfortunate is one way of putting it but more than that it’s confusing! Why would they release me just to bring me back? And why let me keep certain abilities when they removed them all the first time? It makes no sense and it won’t make sense until I get more information about the Stars and their possible goals but Primus knows how I’m going to accomplish that!”

A week– so they moved here around the same time. In Blurr’s experience with newcomers, a week is long enough for the initial shock to wear away, but not long enough for new arrivals to have gotten stable footing in the city. The mech’s considering recommending that Date make use of the newcomer support programs at NO-EC, but then the man says something that makes him seem more suited for the organization’s other branch.

“Witness?” Drawing his servo back to set it in his lap, the Autobot eyes Date with genuine, positive interest for the first time since their awkward interaction began.

“You’re planning to make a report? Bring the Stars to justice? Were you involved in your home world’s system of justice before you came here or are you just making plans based on personal ethics?”

“If it’s confusing we just have to figure out all the details that make it un-confusing.” His explanation was uninspired but simple. And how was he supposed to know why people were being dragged back and forth between worlds? The comment about powers being put into check was a weird little detail to tuck into his pocket for later, but huh- it was sounding more and more like a video game when Blurr explained it like that. A thousand impossible situations rolled into one, and all following the smoldering embers of the case hot off his back. There really was no rest for him huh. Still, all the questions that he couldn’t answer made for a good base to begin an investigation. 

But some investigation it was if he was the one getting grilled. It’s not like he could get a real gauge for how Blurr was feeling towards him, but if he had little cat ears or something, he think they would have peaked in interest. 

And what the hell are Stars? 

“Not sure who I’d be reporting to, but if there’s someone to bring to justice, I’d gladly do it.” Head tilting just a bit to the side, he vaguely gestured at the prying question. That position at ABIS is supposed to be a secret. “Something like that. Special agent, personal ethics. Driving forces meet at a point somewhere. Why?” 

Don’t tell me this robot’s a cop. 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

reversedpsync​:

“Exactly, Mr. Date.” Justice was an important thing to him, and he knew Date had to understand. Their job was to bring the worst types of people to justice, after all. For the sake of his dream, he couldn’t let up.

“Well…” He couldn’t really argue that- he wouldn’t deny that Tama certainly did try to get him to take breaks more often. And she was pretty good at it, usually. In fact, she was just about the only person these days who had any level of repeat success with getting him to slow down and look after himself. “I just… don’t want her worrying any more than she already does. She’s my partner, but I don’t want to just make more work for her.”

Pay no mind to the fact that looking after his mental health was literally one of her main functions. 

“Mr. Date… thank you.” He could always trust the other would have wise words, the smile on his face now far more genuine that before. “It’s frustrating being away from that case, but I can’t give up.”

From more than one drunken night after work, he’d gathered enough about Ryuki to say with confidence that they had more parallels than he’d want anyone to have with him. So hearing about an inclination for justice did make his shoulders stiffen just a touch. It was good that Ryuki had a firm and gentle hand in Tama to help guide him from making the same mistakes he had, and he’d do what little he could to see if he might keep him from falling into the mindset of complete despair he’d had. 

On brighter notes, it was endearing that Ryuki’s kindness extended itself to not only people but to the AI as well. “I think it’s part of her job to worry about you. Or at least, Aiba was doing some work on the side for me. And if Tama hated it that much she’d just hop out of your eye and leave for a couple weeks.” It happened to the best of them. 

“You work as hard as the rest of us, so don’t feel guilty about something out of your control.” That case in question wasn’t even his, but he understood how it would feel to get ripped out of if midway through the investigation. “Let’s focus on what we can do here to get back. That way, Boss might chew us out less.” 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

aibal​:

aiba://             thank god. an acceptable joke.

 “your JOKE is tasteful. i enjoyed it because ice cream is in fact a DAIRY product.”

that was… one way to laugh without laughing!

“are you CURRENTLY busy??”

“Tasteful? Are you cracking a joke too?” 

Didn’t know she had it in her. 

And he’s going to ignore that her expectations for him were so low that the bar was clipping through the floor. 

“I was thinking about washing the lawn but I can put it off for now.” 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

aibal​:

aiba://              … what on earth was this about?              “it becomes your second.”

To think she’d be outplayed by a joke printed on the popsicle stick he just finished.

“No, it’s your secondairy. Anyways. What’s up?” 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

watcrnation​:

 “Its simply how to control your throat muscle. Hardly the most impressive skill to have.”

“I’ll have to respectfully disagree. Having fine-tuned control like that isn’t something to write off. Never know when that might come in handy.” 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

date.

"Aiba, perfect timing. Help me answer this. After your first, what does ice cream become?"

[cabaretconnoisseur]

intelite​:

That’s definitely a joke. Probably.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.” Although it certainly wouldn’t have been the first time he had soured someone’s day just by talking– perhaps it’s time to treat this more like a mission and less like a social interaction and keep his vocalizer silenced.

No housing rights for vehicles? Is he being sarcastic? Blurr’s faceplate sets into a deep frown and he almost goes off on a less than kind tirade about how he’s clearly not just a vehicle, and that snatching lifeforms of one kind and failing to provide them with the same resources with which all other stolen lifeforms are supplied is hardly equitable and, yes, quite indicative of deeper issues of selectivity and disregard for the rights of residents forced to live here, and–

He catches himself before he can do more than splutter out an offended-sounding trill. Right. Silence. This is still salvageable for both of them.

Blurr sits down heavily on the curb so he’s not towering over the human quite so much, extending a servo out towards Date for the common Detroit greeting of a “handshake.” Touch is different in root mode, and certainly different when it’s done on his own terms.

“It’s good to meet you Kaname Date,” he says, his tone rather flat. “‘Last time’ as in the last time I was here as in I’ve been brought here before and then returned home and now brought here again for some unknown reason and it’s all hazy and I can’t access my memory files for everything that happened but I do know that things are different this time and for the better I hope. How long have you been here? It would be helpful if you had arrived before me and could give me any information about this world that I don’t already know but–” but he has a feeling that’s not the case, and verbalizing his guess that Date won’t be of any help at all doesn’t seem overly polite.

“B-But ifyoujustgotherethat’sfinetoothatmeansmaybeIcanhelpyouinsteadifyouneeditwhichyoucertainlymightnot.”

Huh. Maybe this guy was a little more touchy than he expected. Was he even supposed to feel sympathetic for Blurr? He seemed a little, how could he phrase it. Anti-squishy life forms? No but he can’t discriminate just because someone else was. And it was easier to be the bigger person here since he was the only person anyways. Probably shouldn’t have cracked that joke though. 

Brow raising at the robot sounding like a bird for a second there, he briefly wondered if he was firing up to shoot a laser at him or something along that line. Instead, he was met with a hand-shaped chunk of metal that could definitely crush his head like a cantaloupe. Taking two fingers (?) in his palm for the weirdest handshake he’s ever had, Date tried not to laugh at how unenthusiastic Blurr sounded at their acquaintance. 

“Pleasure’s all mine,” he said with a final shake. “And that sounds unfortunate.” The revelation that you could be yanked here and spit back out and then brought back without notice didn’t sound all that great. “Haven’t been here longer than a week,” he answered unhelpfully, already catching on that this bot was drawing on their conversation for appearance’s sake. How kind. 

It would be such bad detective work if he didn’t question someone with such interesting circumstances. And he let him know. 

“Actually, you could help me out. I’m not sure what’s going on here yet- but, when I do, you’d make a good witness to piece together this whole kidnapping deal.” 

[cabaretconnoisseur]

vital official lore tweets about date

[cabaretconnoisseur]

reversedpsync​:

“Haha… who knows?” He was pretty sure he’d heard Tama compare him to a wet cat once, but he wasn’t too sure why on that one. Something about his ‘vibes’, whatever that was supposed to mean. “Shouldn’t it be normal to be eager when you like what you do?”

Well, sure, but most people were still better about taking breaks. Ryuki on the other hand… not so much.

“I mean… yeah, I miss her. I bet she’d be happy to hear me say that, at least..” He’d never admit it to anyone, but he even missed her sex jokes at this point. As lame as they always were, she tried to make him laugh, and it meant a lot to him. “But I feel like I’d worry her if she showed up here and I was just moping about. I wouldn’t want that.”

She knew him well enough to know when he was putting up a front, but it would be more unusual for him to not be pushing forward. Granted, she’d probably be glad to see him taking a break on his own for once… but that was beside the point.

“Mr. Date- really, I haven’t been getting into any fights!” He wasn’t nearly as rambunctious as certain co-workers of his, after all. “I mean, maybe things haven’t been perfect, but I think I’ve been handling them well.”

“You got me there,” he said while ticking his finger like a metronome. “Wouldn’t make much sense for you to join the force if it wasn’t really your thing. Enacting justice and all.” Things should be done in moderation though, or so he’d learned. Not that he put that thinking to practice. But there was that saying to do as he says and not as he does, right? 

“Wouldn’t it make Tama feel even better if she got to help pilot someone who wasn’t, oh you know, half asleep on their feet?” Taking a shot in the dark here but Ryuki didn’t seem like the type of guy to know when to give it a rest. And he sure looked like he could do with some rest. “Putting on a brave face for her? That’s pretty nice of you actually.” Now back to being that supportive professional type; Ryuki would probably benefit from a positive role model right? If only he could find one... 

“I’m joking Ryuki,” he said with a laugh. “I know you wouldn’t start anything unless you had a good reason. You’ve been doing your best and that’s what matters. It’s been pretty rough on your own huh? Proud of you for sticking it through.”