[He does not choke on his drink or sputter or go red. In fact he merely goes completely still, his eyes flicking up to Rosinante's as if that's the only part of him that still functions.
Of all the things to talk about that one had not crossed his mind. While they were more than obvious to anyone who had seen either of them together for more than thirty seconds, Kuai is still utterly convinced of their stealth and that they were holding to the utmost bounds of propriety.
However; Rosinante had seen his death, felt how he felt about seeing Scorpion in Grandmaster Hasashi's place. And Kuai had let slip that he'd go back to the Netherrealm simply because he would be there.
Eventually he looks down at his drink again.]
Yes.
[Time to down that all in one go and get another.]
[He's known for a while, he thought. Suspected, certainly, but the kind of suspicion that doesn't actually really need confirmation. It's sweet, though. Maybe bittersweet, given the circumstances.]
Wish I'd gotten to know him better while he was here, but he seemed to keep to himself. Not that I blame him. Dying isn't an easy thing.
[He refills his glass, and hovers the bottle near Kuai's. There's still whiskey if he wants it; otherwise, plenty of other things to drink at the bar.]
[Considering even he and Kuai didn't speak very often, he's not surprised that Hanzo kept to himself.
He tilts his glass towards the bottle, silent indication to fill him up again. At this point he's lost track of how many he's had. Three? Four? Too many he's sure.]
No, but at least he has experience with it. He's died several times before. But all this is new.
[He nods to the rest of the room, indicating the place at large.]
I guess he would, given the nature of your world's Netherrealm, but yes. This is still different.
[And he can't imagine it ever gets easier. He's died three times himself now and only the second time was quick and painless. Wouldn't it be nice if they were all like that? But he doesn't mention it, not wanting Kuai to have to remember exact circumstances of his - ... boyfriend?'s death.
The world feels more appropriate for young people, but oh well. It's staying in his own head.]
Sorry, this probably isn't helping any. We all have people we miss, though, and sometimes it's nicer to think about those good memories than the things around us here.
[Even the knowledge that Rosininate thought that would cause Kuai to immediately die of embarrassment. Not that he has a better term for whatever their relationship is. Just Grandmasters being Grandmasters.]
It's true. Though it's somehow much easier to dwell on the bad memories than the good. It takes so little spoil something, and so much to redeem it.
Maybe we can make better memories here. Good ones to think on when all is dark and depressing.
[He's just drunk enough that he can't think of any, but there's bound to be something. It's a visible struggle for him to come up with one. ]
The lights in the little boats we sent out into the lake was nice.
[He had braced himself for Kuai to ask about his own good memories from home and was already sorting through ones safe to talk about, or ready to invent new ones as needed, so it's a relief when instead he decides to focus on their current surroundings. Yes, good choice. Much preferred.]
Mary is a lot of fun to have around. One of the first things she did was insist we put our handprints in paint on the door to the room we share. Every time I see how much smaller hers is, I smile.
Does she? I haven't spoken to her in a while. I think I accidentally frightened her off. She's a good kid too, though. Smart.
[Maybe he'll have to message her sometime, see how she's doing. It's hard to keep tabs on every single person here, but if anyone's going to try, it's him.]
[Doesn't he fucking know it. Teenagers are something else. They can still be smart, though, but - yeah, moody, don't always make the best choices.]
That was months ago, though. If that's the worst she's done, then she's doing all right. Did you ever find out what happened to her? Why she was so intent on guarding it?
[Right, Kuai wouldn't. Too noble. If someone says not to do something, he just doesn't do it, apparently. Just how did the man become a leader of his caliber and stay there for so long? As nice as the thought of someone in charge being so kind is, he just can't quite imagine it usually works like that.]
She was too tenacious for it to just be something embarrassing. She has something she's afraid of us finding out. I wish I had tried harder to learn it when it was an option, in case it's something genuinely dangerous to us.
[Just because he's honorable doesn't mean he didn't kill a whole lot of people. Honorably. Spine ripping for a good cause.]
She has shadow powers she doesn't want anyone to know about. There is that. But she's not doing a very good job of hiding it, much as she thinks she is.
[Right, shadow powers. He seems to recall having heard that some time go, but never really followed up on it. Coraline is hard to find, and it isn't as if he goes out of his way to look.]
I haven't seen her use them. What sort of things can she do, do you know?
I've only seen her use it once. Similar to what my brother can do, manifest some solid.. shadow type things.
[Wow okay, he's definitely drunk now because he almost lost his train of thought mid sentence there after he mentioned Bi-Han. He blinks and looks down into his empty cup, trying to center himself.]
More like formless tentacles that can interact with the environment than an actual person like he has.
[Rosinante, meanwhile, is failing. It's hardly his fault - he's drinking at a normal enough pace, but he's just big. Probably should go harder. Got to match Kuai. Time to top off his glass again, and then Kuai's while he's at it. Would be rude not to.]
Formless, but they can interact?
[He's trying to picture what that means, but the alcohol has at least made his mind fuzzy enough to make that kind of difficult. Oh well - he shrugs, not actually needing a real explanation because a more interesting topic just came up.]
Explain his powers to me, instead, since you know them better.
He manipulates shadow energy. Weapons, portals, that clone that follows him around. He can make more of them as well.
[He frowns. He shouldn't be describing Bi-Han as having shadow powers. That's not the future they should have had. Kuai will forever regret he wasn't there when Hanzo beheaded Quan-Chi, the man responsible for turning Bi-Han into... whatever he was now.]
They look like shadows, but they're deadly. Stay wary lest he surround you.
I see. Formidable and dangerous in a place full of darkness. You might not realize he's about to attack.
[So, point taken, he'll be extra cautious next time they have a run-in. Hopefully, the caution won't be needed, but the last time they spoke, Bi-han threatened both him and everyone who was asleep, and it's had him slightly on edge whereas before he simply found the man irritating.
He frowns, and levels his gaze at Kuai. Real talk, bro.]
What do you think the odds are that he would harm people here, directly or otherwise?
His motivations make no sense. He wants to be the ruler of the Netherrealm, a lord of the undead. And somehow he thinks he can still do that here. He'll be insufferable now that he's been bested by someone.
[He knows a thing or two about that. It's hard being the one to shoulder such a burden, but he knows in his case, he wouldn't have wanted anyone else to have to suffer through those long years of silence and feigned cooperation. He knew Doflamingo better than anyone - knew who he was, who he could be, not who those twisted, hideous followers of his wanted him to be.
Maybe it was naive, but he can see why Kuai would want to manage his own brother despite the potential risk involved.]
If you ever need any help, let me know. I'm sure I don't have his strength, can't compete with his powers, but if an emergency situation comes up, I wouldn't want to just stand by and let him do what he likes. Hopefully, though, he'll remain unprovoked.
[He doesn't want to. It's a constant reminder that the man he knew as his brother is gone. Even though Kuai will forever keep the faint hope alive that he could be reached, he knew just how unlikely that was.]
Thank you. I hope the same. I don't want anyone to be injured or worse because he decided he didn't like something or was annoyed.
[Surely that deserves another deep drink. Finally, he thinks, it's starting to hit him and he slouches heavily back in his seat on the pillow. Please be at least tipsy, he begs mentally to nobody in particular. It's been a long time since he really felt like he could forget what's going on around them.
Poor Kuai, though. Rosinante just isn't a very fun drunk and it's showing, it seems. He's just getting quieter and more frowny. Eventually he tops off his glass again, sloppily spilling some on the table - but that's just normal for him.]
[Even tired and drunk he notices that Rosinante is just getting quieter and quieter. The man seems to have a high tolerance for alcohol, on top of being gigantic.]
We are talking of unhappy things again. That seems to be the way of it.
Even when I'm not thinking about this place, I'm stuck thinking about home. What I could've done differently.
[There's no escaping those thoughts. Hazily, he regrets saying that too, for that's a subject he never brings up if he can help it, but alcohol does tend to loosen the tongue.
Six months here, now. Half a year gone by and every day he misses the kid. He's found people here he can somewhat trust, he has plenty to keep him busy and so much to work toward for all of them, but the heartache doesn't ever lessen.]
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Of all the things to talk about that one had not crossed his mind. While they were more than obvious to anyone who had seen either of them together for more than thirty seconds, Kuai is still utterly convinced of their stealth and that they were holding to the utmost bounds of propriety.
However; Rosinante had seen his death, felt how he felt about seeing Scorpion in Grandmaster Hasashi's place. And Kuai had let slip that he'd go back to the Netherrealm simply because he would be there.
Eventually he looks down at his drink again.]
Yes.
[Time to down that all in one go and get another.]
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Wish I'd gotten to know him better while he was here, but he seemed to keep to himself. Not that I blame him. Dying isn't an easy thing.
[He refills his glass, and hovers the bottle near Kuai's. There's still whiskey if he wants it; otherwise, plenty of other things to drink at the bar.]
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[Considering even he and Kuai didn't speak very often, he's not surprised that Hanzo kept to himself.
He tilts his glass towards the bottle, silent indication to fill him up again. At this point he's lost track of how many he's had. Three? Four? Too many he's sure.]
No, but at least he has experience with it. He's died several times before. But all this is new.
[He nods to the rest of the room, indicating the place at large.]
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[And he can't imagine it ever gets easier. He's died three times himself now and only the second time was quick and painless. Wouldn't it be nice if they were all like that? But he doesn't mention it, not wanting Kuai to have to remember exact circumstances of his - ... boyfriend?'s death.
The world feels more appropriate for young people, but oh well. It's staying in his own head.]
Sorry, this probably isn't helping any. We all have people we miss, though, and sometimes it's nicer to think about those good memories than the things around us here.
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It's true. Though it's somehow much easier to dwell on the bad memories than the good. It takes so little spoil something, and so much to redeem it.
Maybe we can make better memories here. Good ones to think on when all is dark and depressing.
[He's just drunk enough that he can't think of any, but there's bound to be something. It's a visible struggle for him to come up with one. ]
The lights in the little boats we sent out into the lake was nice.
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[He had braced himself for Kuai to ask about his own good memories from home and was already sorting through ones safe to talk about, or ready to invent new ones as needed, so it's a relief when instead he decides to focus on their current surroundings. Yes, good choice. Much preferred.]
Mary is a lot of fun to have around. One of the first things she did was insist we put our handprints in paint on the door to the room we share. Every time I see how much smaller hers is, I smile.
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Better things to think on than we currently have been. Or are.
[He frowns. Yeah, he's feeling it now. But you know what? He doesn't care.]
There are good people here. Ones that won't give up and are trying to make the best of it.
Coraline keeps wanting me to make snowmen for her.
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[Maybe he'll have to message her sometime, see how she's doing. It's hard to keep tabs on every single person here, but if anyone's going to try, it's him.]
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[He's trained a lot of them, they hold grudges and get all nervous around authority figures and have mood changes every four seconds.]
I know she can be, but she does questionable things like camp out at her gravesite so no one can see how she died.
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That was months ago, though. If that's the worst she's done, then she's doing all right. Did you ever find out what happened to her? Why she was so intent on guarding it?
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I assume it was something embarrassing.
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She was too tenacious for it to just be something embarrassing. She has something she's afraid of us finding out. I wish I had tried harder to learn it when it was an option, in case it's something genuinely dangerous to us.
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She has shadow powers she doesn't want anyone to know about. There is that. But she's not doing a very good job of hiding it, much as she thinks she is.
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I haven't seen her use them. What sort of things can she do, do you know?
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[Wow okay, he's definitely drunk now because he almost lost his train of thought mid sentence there after he mentioned Bi-Han. He blinks and looks down into his empty cup, trying to center himself.]
More like formless tentacles that can interact with the environment than an actual person like he has.
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Formless, but they can interact?
[He's trying to picture what that means, but the alcohol has at least made his mind fuzzy enough to make that kind of difficult. Oh well - he shrugs, not actually needing a real explanation because a more interesting topic just came up.]
Explain his powers to me, instead, since you know them better.
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[He frowns. He shouldn't be describing Bi-Han as having shadow powers. That's not the future they should have had. Kuai will forever regret he wasn't there when Hanzo beheaded Quan-Chi, the man responsible for turning Bi-Han into... whatever he was now.]
They look like shadows, but they're deadly. Stay wary lest he surround you.
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[So, point taken, he'll be extra cautious next time they have a run-in. Hopefully, the caution won't be needed, but the last time they spoke, Bi-han threatened both him and everyone who was asleep, and it's had him slightly on edge whereas before he simply found the man irritating.
He frowns, and levels his gaze at Kuai. Real talk, bro.]
What do you think the odds are that he would harm people here, directly or otherwise?
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[Or bored. Or if he feels like it.]
His motivations make no sense. He wants to be the ruler of the Netherrealm, a lord of the undead. And somehow he thinks he can still do that here. He'll be insufferable now that he's been bested by someone.
[Or someones. However it is he died.]
He's a danger, but he can be managed.
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[He knows a thing or two about that. It's hard being the one to shoulder such a burden, but he knows in his case, he wouldn't have wanted anyone else to have to suffer through those long years of silence and feigned cooperation. He knew Doflamingo better than anyone - knew who he was, who he could be, not who those twisted, hideous followers of his wanted him to be.
Maybe it was naive, but he can see why Kuai would want to manage his own brother despite the potential risk involved.]
If you ever need any help, let me know. I'm sure I don't have his strength, can't compete with his powers, but if an emergency situation comes up, I wouldn't want to just stand by and let him do what he likes. Hopefully, though, he'll remain unprovoked.
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[He doesn't want to. It's a constant reminder that the man he knew as his brother is gone. Even though Kuai will forever keep the faint hope alive that he could be reached, he knew just how unlikely that was.]
Thank you. I hope the same. I don't want anyone to be injured or worse because he decided he didn't like something or was annoyed.
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[Surely that deserves another deep drink. Finally, he thinks, it's starting to hit him and he slouches heavily back in his seat on the pillow. Please be at least tipsy, he begs mentally to nobody in particular. It's been a long time since he really felt like he could forget what's going on around them.
Poor Kuai, though. Rosinante just isn't a very fun drunk and it's showing, it seems. He's just getting quieter and more frowny. Eventually he tops off his glass again, sloppily spilling some on the table - but that's just normal for him.]
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We are talking of unhappy things again. That seems to be the way of it.
Thinking too much. Doing too much.
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[There's no escaping those thoughts. Hazily, he regrets saying that too, for that's a subject he never brings up if he can help it, but alcohol does tend to loosen the tongue.
Six months here, now. Half a year gone by and every day he misses the kid. He's found people here he can somewhat trust, he has plenty to keep him busy and so much to work toward for all of them, but the heartache doesn't ever lessen.]
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[He'd seen Rosinante's death, he could make some guesses about what he's thinking about that he could have done differently. ]
There's no way to escape is there? The past seems to always be haunting us.
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