imeeji_frontstage | A Circle of Flowers

[It's maybe a little bit of a cannibal joke! But Eichi won't tell.]

Right, some people's appetites are ruined. No worries, I can feed myself as the need arises~☆

[ Snorts. Then, tilting his head and very much lowering his voice, ]

I just had something earlier. [ Beat. Has he mentioned that he figured out the Tastebuds Broke thing, because he figured it out. And in his blandest tone, he's going to say: ] Could do a mug of blood in here, maybe no one else would notice, but uh.

Kind of didn't wanna send the wrong message.

Is it the wrong message? Do we want to ally with those who might worry over our tastes?

... I suppose it isn't really "our" tastes in the end, though.

Don't worry, I'll behave to the best of my abilities.

Edited 2022-03-17 05:35 (UTC)

[ Boy is that ever not what he meant, and Lupine pushes a hand through his hair. ]

I mean, you tell me, but two days ago I tried to talk them into letting me eat one of them, so...

[ It feels like bad timing to him, and it's decidedly not Eichi's proclivities that he's worried about. ]

[His tail wags a little.]

I think we were all a little rowdy at that time. You can hardly be blamed~

But here! I don't know any of that unit. Can you inform me a little on what we're working with?

[ Snorts softly. ]

Eh, if they wanna blame me, that's their right. Besides, it's part of why we're doing this.

[ Buuut, let him think. ]

Rene and K and Valor are the ones I know best. [ Beat. More helpfully: ] Serenity, I mean.

Met her and Valor the first time doing one of those dungeon-run things under the Escape Room, then ran into all three of them during that game with the zones and the statues. That's when Rene told me we had an alliance — though Emi mentioned it early on...

[ Hmm. ]

What kinda thing do you wanna know?

Well.

I would like to know how they think when they play. I've never paid Bad End much mind, frankly, as they've never really been a threat to me.

Do they seem loyal? Pragmatic? Opportunistic? Optimistic?

[ Lips quirk slightly. Yeah, that perception of them is — probably why they were getting targeted so much that teaming up with LiliS for mutual protection seemed like a good idea in the first place. ]

—Valor's... [ Taps his bottom lip. ] Well, he varies. I think...

[ Frowns. Seems to change his mind about whatever he was going to say. ]

Sometimes he goes really hard. Sometimes he's more laid-back. He gives — more of his all for Bad End than you might expect. I think he genuinely respects his teammates, maybe especially Rene.

Sakura's — I think 'pragmatic' is probably a good word for it. You should see him fight if you haven't, though. He's fast. Efficient. Probably at most things, definitely at taking people down.

[ ...He's wishing he'd ever seen them all fighting together right now. It's hard to picture. ]

Rene's used to being underestimated. [ Really hitting his stride now. ] But she's a fighter, too, and she's good at it. Probably holds back more than she should. I don't think she loves hurting people.

[ Pause. Pause. Pushing that thought away with some self-deprecating amusement. ]

—But she does love all of her people. She'd do anything for them.

Edited 2022-04-01 03:19 (UTC)

Haven't fought K myself, [ except for that time Valor, like, used Machai Provocation on him to force it, ] but he's... scrappy. Used to be on AlcheME, still cares a lot about what happens to it.

[ He means that as a compliment, then shoots Eichi a glance and — decides not to compare it to how he's sure Eichi feels about BiT. The feeling might be the same, but the outcome's... probably different. ]

But he's devoted to Bad End, too. [ Smallest beat, then a lot more muted: ] And he's like me when it comes to killing people.

[ Last but not least? ]

...I don't know Kiri as well. [ Lipquirk. ] She's a total Bad End cheerleader, though, and—

[ Considers. ]

—I mean, I don't wanna assume anything based off that game, most of us were some flavor of crazy, but I think she actually seemed on board for being eaten? Because it was me asking. Because... it was LiliS asking.

[ So! Take that how you will. ]

I'll be honest, I am not sold on alliances in general. I've been burned before, so I want something solid that I can trust. Trust is something I struggle with.

[Having dealt with 'avante doesn't believe we are in an alliance' while BiT operated on the knowledge that they did have one led to some struggles. He would rather not have that misunderstanding again.]

Glad to hear they are good at combat, but I am not really that worried about their actual performance in games, I am more thinking- are they generally on the same page? Do they overall seem like they would hold an alliance agreement in high regard? Are they willing to make it "official", in a sense that they are certain to give out the information that they are in an alliance to all newcomers?

An alliance is useless here unless we have a way to establish one going forward.

...I know.

[ His tone now gentler. Though there was absolutely some 'they'd be good people to have your back in a fight' in his assessment. ]

And that, well, we're gonna have to see tonight. I think — they're loyal to each other. I think the alliance is important to Rene. [ He's pretty sure Kiri knew about it, too. ] And they agreed to come talk about it, didn't they?

It's true enough. This is what I mean to feel out, but I had hoped you would have some insight into this, since you are the one who knows them. I know none of them, and I know Tenn is a bit of a homebody, so he's unlikely to know them well. And Wei Wuxian and Persicaria are new, and I haven't a clue who they know well.

An alliance is a serious thing, so I want to take it seriously. They seem like good people and you like them, which is great, but 'friends' and 'allies' occupy different roles.

[ Rubs the back of his neck. ]

I think they'll make both. [ Even if he's not sure 'friend' is the right word for his relationship with fully half of them. ] I just...

[ Mrrr, he doesn't like speaking for anyone but himself, even in hypothetical. ]

I wanna hear what they have to say.

They certainly can be both, but we can't assume.

[Obviously BiT is not their allies, after all.]

I'm happy to hear them out. I'm just hard to impress, is all.

[It's probably obvious enough that Eichi is less being "hard to impress" and more "once bitten, twice shy". He seems very outgoing, and he's come to trust his own unit, but... people who aren't in his unit activate the wounded animal in him. Wary, whether he's being helped or harmed.]

[ Right, 'obviously'. ] [ And yeah, between this and the last conversation they had on the subject. Lupine rubs the back of his neck. ]

—Rene made it sound like we allied up because both our units got the short end of the stick a lot, and we wanted there to be at least one other unit we could count on not to write us off as an acceptable loss.

I understand, of course. It is a practical thing for certain, being able to know we will be favored by another unit.

The hardest part of an alliance is not only trusting them to pick us first, but also committing to picking them first, as a unit, always. Regardless of the members that are there during any given game, regardless of feelings for the members of other units that may develop.

If we choose to ally with Bad End, it means that if the choice comes down to a stranger on Bad End or someone I consider closer than family on BARiTONES, I will have to choose the Bad End, every time. So... I just want to know they will commit to doing the same.

Unfortunately that isn't very nice-sounding. A terrible way to start a partnership, but it's more important that we discuss those hard parts before we agree.

Would you like to take point on that serious discussion, or should I?

[ ...Frowns. ]

I'd be fine with being a second priority. [ Mildly. ] But yeah, that's probably what we're looking at.

[ Doesn't immediately answer the question, though. He doesn't love putting all the difficult, ugly parts of this on Eichi. Maybe especially if Eichi doesn't find them all that difficult. ]

—We could start by asking Rene what the alliance has been like historically. A basis for comparison.

If you want to be second priority, you might as well just rely on the friendships you have.

Sure. We can ask whoever knew of the alliance beforehand what it was like before. We are a different unit than LiliS of the past, but there is no reason not to look into it.

[ Well, he currently expects to be no priority at all, so second sounds great to him, but also: he knows he'd be comfortable with an infinitely less formal arrangement than the one Eichi wants. He's trying not to let his own distaste of red tape screw that up. Finally answering that question: ]

...I don't mind doing the talking.

[ But he's definitely going to start with an apology about the Kiri Situation. ]

A Circle of Flowers

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