i hear the voices getting louder

[resleeves]

» WHO? takeshi kovacs + ota
» WHEN? throughout the weekend and next week
» WHERE? chapel, fitness area, bar, and various others
» WHAT? causing trouble
» WARNINGS? language but nothing else as of yet

001. chapel

[ he's not here to pray.

he's not here to do anything but sit in the quiet and think. it's been a few weeks since the arrival of the backpack (which sits on the bench beside him) and he'd thought, for a few hours, that maybe more things would arrive. maybe a gun or an oni or fuck, he'd take ortega herself showing up. but nothing else familiar arrives.

he's even started seeing less of quell. she's still there when he sleeps but the glimpses of her he used to catch from the corner of his eyes are happening less and less. he's not sure if that means his fragged mind is healing or getting worse.

maybe it seems she's alive somewhere. yeah right, what a fucking miracle that would be. he'd seen her explode and he'd probably walked on the ashes that had been her body as he'd tried to get off harlan's world.

while he's alone, he reads a few of the quotes off the wall and then reaches into the backpack to physically throw garbage at the ones he doesn't like (which is all of them). he knew that some of this shit would come in handy and making a mess was juvenile but he had fuck all else to do.

it wasn't like anyone would notice. this place was a mess anyway. ]

002. fitness area

Well, this is just fucking boring.

[ ever since the new sleeve, he's never really done a lot of solo training. quell's training two sleeves ago had stuck and from then on, a life spent being hunted and taking out those he'd been paid to kill had left him in decent enough shape.

then, there had been the life sentence and over two centuries spent on ice doing absolutely nothing. ryker's death had left a physically capable sleeve behind even if it was a sleeve that she had a fucking attachment to, unbeknownst to him until he'd been wearing the sleeve for awhile.

he drops the backpack on the ground and circles the room, staring down at the pool and making a face. didn't look like any place he wanted to take a swim in. plenty of people had probably pissed in that.

these facilities were a long way from even carnage's shitty little spectacle. at least he'd had a cheering section and some competition. ]

Ain't none of that here.

[ of course he'd think that. of course. ]

003. bar

[ even kovacs could tell the alcohol was running low. he kept expecting to stop in (during one of his daily walks through the station) and see more of it. but, that hadn't happened yet. bottles were half empty, knocked over and collecting dust.

kovacs spends some time behind the bar, remembering the one time he'd had a bartender who made some decent drinks before she'd up and disappeared. lucky fucker. if she wasn't here, she had to be somewhere better.

and yet, he's still here, stuck. one of the bottles he picks up and brings up to sniff is filled with something so strong that it burns the lining of his nose and actually makes him blink. ]

Smells like fuel.

[ which meant it was fucking perfect.

kovacs made his way over to one of the booths and laid down, long legs dangling over the side. the backpack was placed on his stomach and the bottle on the table. he stared up at the ceiling, wondering how plausible it would be to just kick his way out of this place.

answer: not plausible at all.

where was poe and his arsenal when you really needed him? ]

004. wildcard

[ got something else in mind? feel free to make it happen. hit me up at spoonishly to plot! ]

Comments

[resleeves]

Why do you care so much what other people think about you?

[ it's something kovacs doesn't understand, the need to let others hold you back. to dictate what you think and how you fucking act. no. he'd let that happen a long, long time ago and he'd been stabbed in the back.

betrayed.

and he vowed that he wasn't going to let someone pull his strings again.

he tries to ignore that that's exactly what he's letting bancroft do. good thing he's getting paid. ]

You killed someone. It's not a big deal.

[possidetur]

Would you believe me if I told you?

( vanessa doubts that he would. few would believe in her tale. she's been thought mad once for how strongly she'd believed in god, for believing herself possessed. being truthful could hurt more than the actions that had occurred )

If what I believed was not only in God, but also in Lucifer?

( that in murdering a man it had not only turned her away from god but marked her soul, taking her closer to lucifer. it wasn't a metaphor -- lucifer had wanted her soul and she'd made it easier for him. willingly taking that step )

[resleeves]

Why wouldn't I believe that?

[ in his experience, most religions have the good guy and the bad guy. they're always whispering sweet nothings to the good guy to keep the bad guy away but sometimes, shit happened and you ended up reserving your seat in eternal damnation. ]

Better question is if you believe it? I've killed plenty of people and no all powerful god or goddess has come for me.

[ maybe they were biding their time but why? fuck, he'd been alive long enough. ]

[possidetur]

( vanessa says nothing at first, studying him, trying to decide how true his claim is )

I do believe it.

( she doesn't falter, keeping her gaze on him. she doesn't know why it's important that he believe her, other than not wanting a stranger to think her mad. someone that she would see again in this small place. she had enjoyed his company previously )

I have been hunted by Lucifer. I had always believed that God would keep me safe but there were moments when I most needed Him and He was not there.

( but lucifer had been, whispering to her in the night, answering her when god did not )

[resleeves]

Hunted by Lucifer?

[ okay, that gets his attention because she really sounds like she believes an actual demon is on her tail. ]

Really?

[ he doesn't sound dubious. yet. but he does sound confused. he has no idea how that would even be possible. why the hell would any fucking devil concern himself with a goddamn human. seemed a waste. ]

[possidetur]

Really.

( it's a little curt, wishing to push past that doubt. or end the conversation. she isn't quite certain whether it's disbelief in his question or clarification )

But He is not here. Likely neither of them are.

[resleeves]

Are you talking about an actual fucking creature or just some overwhelming sense of dread that you'r taking to me Lucifer?

[ it seems prudent to ask right now. he won't say he's doubting her but that sounds pretty fucking far fetched. ]

Yeah, I don't think he's here.

[ some devil from hell being here would be hard to miss, he thinks. ]

[possidetur]

( he'll see the change in tone before she speaks, the shift in her body, her defences rising. he doesn't need to outwardly doubt it for her to back away. vanessa knows that it sounds ridiculous, even her friends that had seen such things, had known what she could do had found the deal with lucifer harder to swallow )

Would it matter? ( vanessa takes a fraction of a step back ) You don't believe anyway.

( or at least he'd claimed not to care what god thought. what that said to his beliefs-- )

[resleeves]

Is that right?

[ whether that's true or not, kovacs has never really liked having words put in his mouth. he can speak for himself and the edge in his voice clearly illustrates that. ]

I'm asking you fucking questions. I haven't made one fucking proclamation.

[ if he didn't believe her, he'd just say so. ]

Do you always believe some weird shit without asking question? Just sight unseen? Because fuck that.

[possidetur]

( she doesn't answer, not immediately. vanessa wanted to back away from the conversation, to no longer have her past on display, effectively. but vanessa wasn't in the habit of running from something just because it was uncomfortable )

I didn't want to believe it. ( though she'd had no choice but to. the same with all of the other weird shit in her life. some of it vanessa had never questioned but the rest-- she hadn't believed that they were in space. that had been harder to accept than vampires or the devil )

To believe that the devil was hunting me? That he had an eternal quest for my soul?

( there's distaste in her words just at the memory. lucifer is a sore subject and a large part of her past )

So no, it isn't just a sense of dread.

[resleeves]

[ pretty fucked up, wasn't it? for once, kovacs doesn't know how to respond. the devil's not really something he's ever had to deal with and the devil rising from his fiery hell and playing a game of tag with someone? yeah, never come up in conversation before. ]

Because you killed one guy?

[ that's not disbelief, that's fucking confusion at why the devil would take such an interest. ]

Is Lucifer really bored where you're from?

[possidetur]

No. ( her eyes close for a moment, not wanting to see his reaction ) Lucifer has always been there, waiting, trying to tempt me. My entire life.

( and there were certainly moments where he'd come close. when vanessa had seduced mina's fiance, when she'd been recovering from the banning clinic. but she had, or so vanessa had still believed, god on her side then. it was only in murder that turned her from him )

[resleeves]

And what is so special about you that he's your number one fan?

[ again, there's no accusation or dubiousness. she's just holding back and if he's going to even try to believe this pile of bullshit she's thrown on his plate, he wants to know. ]

Or is this Lucifer just some horny fucking deity that wants to screw a human and see what it's like?

[ which, ew. ]

[possidetur]

( though vanessa feels a little angered by his comment she can't help but look a little uncomfortable. it isn't really a pleasant idea, kovacs )

There was a prophecy, a telling of his life if you will. One that points to me.

( she isn't quite so clear on the details, not knowing the full truth of it. amunet reborn, if you believed it. the mother of evil. thank sir malcolm for keeping that fact from her )

Lucifer wishes to overthrow God with me at his side.

[resleeves]

[ well, it was good to know that he'd been right about her holding something back.

but, a motherfucking prophecy? had he stepped into a science fiction movie when he'd woken up on this station? between gravity going to shit, space walks and now this, kovacs is beginning to wonder if he ingested a little too much Reaper and is currently dying on the floor somewhere back home.

probably not though. his life was a shitty thing so this had to be real. ]

...why you?

[ he just has to fucking ask. ]

What can you do that he wants?

[possidetur]

I don't know.

( vanessa didn't believe it was because she was a witch. his minions were witches, she wasn't anything special )

I didn't wish to stop and ask.

( she'd been too busy sending him back to hell )

[resleeves]

[ probably a smart thing there. ]

I wouldn't of something like that as a very good conversationalist.

[ hell, kovacs probably has better interpersonal communication skills than he does. the concept of lucifer had always struck him as a very death and destruction kind of thing. ]

Well, if there's one good thing about this shitty place, it's that I doubt he can get you here. No one wants to come to this shithole. Not intentionally.

[possidetur]

Perhaps he would, being a kind of hell.

( it's an attempted joke but not a good one, something that cuts a little too close to really be funny )

I-- know that it's not an easy subject. I suppose asking you to believe it would be difficult.

( if she didn't have to then she wouldn't )

But I do appreciate the conversation.

( him just listening in a way. she felt a little less alone even if he couldnt understand )

[resleeves]

[ truthfully, he doesn't know if he believes it but she certainly does. and what the fuck does he know about her world? nothing. so, he can't say what she's witnessed, what she's felt is impossible because he doesn't know and saying otherwise would just be fucking foolish. ]

Suppose you just caught me on a good day.

[ he shrugs. listening is one of those things that he can do when he's motivated enough and doesn't absolutely hate the person talking.

so, good on you, vanessa. you're tolerable. ]

[possidetur]

Perhaps I did.

( though it would seem that she'd seemed to catch him on a good day every time. she didn't believe it was just because she was so lucky -- she didn't believe she was lucky )

I didn't ask why you'd come here.

( and considering that she hadn't technically asked it gave him an out if he didn't wish to answer )

[resleeves]

No reason.

( he'd just needed to walk, to wander, to try and get out of his own head. )

Not too many places to go on this fucking station so you end up in places where other people are more often than not. No ulterior motive behind me being here. Just where my feet took me.

[possidetur]

I daresay that's far from the strangest reason someone has come here.

( and it was probably a rather common one. she didn't want to hazard a guess at what the strangest reason was, though likely some of what she'd needed would count )

I imagine that this one room is very different from any church I'm familiar with.

( in terms of their services. how would it be done? )

[resleeves]

Yeah.

( then again, kovacs hasn't been in a church in...forever. it wasn't like his parents were exactly the religious type and once he'd gone from child to adult in the span of a day, he hadn't had the time to find religion.

it was too late for him now. )

I think it's a waste of a room. Should have used this place as alcohol storage. Fill it up so we don't end up going without.

[possidetur]

You believe that's our most important need?

( she can't tell if he's joking or not, his tone too dry and vanessa not knowing him well enough, though some here would likely agree that it was )

[resleeves]

You don't?

( while he truly believes in the need for alcohol storage, he doesn't know if that's the most pressing thing this room could be used for.

still, they should have some room set aside for it. )

The fuck's a chapel doing besides sitting here, taking up space?