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Orange hardly knows the deal between Dark and Chosen beyond the fact that the two once allied together, and now they're not allies for whatever reason. Chosen must have had his reasons for not saying anything.

And since he didn't know the whole story, he wasn't in any place to judge.

That was, until Dark made the mistake of threatening one of his friends somehow.

"Leave him out of this," he says with more conviction than he has before. That power had gone dormant again, but he's sure that under the right circumstances he could tap into it again, "unless you want me to remind you why that'd be a bad idea."

"oh relax." dark rolls his eyes when second bristles. "i'm not going to harm the guy, i personally find him more interesting than i find you." he paces around second, humming quietly to himself, though honestly, dark doesn't actually have any real plans. second is not going to make anything easy for him, which means dark has a reason to stick close to the orange hollow head.

"mind if i stick around then?" dark continues to press. his tone makes it clear that he's not asking for any sort of permission, and he's very much going to make second's life miserable for awhile. "you ever played the knife game before?" he grins widely, holding up his arm to show off his wristband.

"i'm curious to see what happens if i make you play that."

❝  bold  words  for  a  guy  who  looks  made  out  of  twizzlers.  ❞   also  dark  started  it,  yadda  yadda.

"if you want twizzlers so bad, go get the actual candy."

tastes like red dye number 40 ... ?

"i'm not edible, loki! leggo of my arm!"

"You're a fast one, aren't? Unfortunately for you, I am the one who's asking questions now." Cyno said, crossing his arms sternly. He'd given plenty to this stranger, and his willingness to indulge him had all but depleted.

After all, he'd given them something to mull over. Now it was time to return the courtesy.

"you looked striking." dark says in response, grinning at the pun. though his grin fades a moment later. "well, striking, in the aspect that your headdress is unusual. i don't see anyone else with hats like yours. i still think you look like an anubis cosplayer."

he's massively uncomfortable, being led right into the oppressive looking cathedral. while it's massive, and such a staple of the society, dark doesn't exactly like being inside, where their voices can echo and he still feels entirely exposed.

the lack of people save for the woman helps, though only just barely. dark's fighting the urge to draw his cloak tighter around himself, or even to retreat to a corner. instead, he holds still, silently counting to five before slowly and carefully pulling the hood off, followed by the rest of his cloak.

"here, see?" he says. his face is hollow, showing the area through his head. he's exactly what he appears to be: a red, hollow-headed stick figure, with black wristbands on each arm.

"not exactly the kind of entity anyone sees on a daily basis."

“Good boy.” There. Much better. The silence that ensued after their previous skirmish is jarring in contrast. Kafka sheathes her own blade and steps closer, pausing two steps before him. Magenta eyes, fathomless in their depths, studied her quarry. 

He’s immersed. But not deep enough to be pulled into the undertow of the currents. The stellaron hunter inhales quietly. 

《Listen》

Slick as an oil spill, her command oozes. Slipping in through the cracks and filling the gaps. Sifting out each pocket of space by instinct. Pouring without end. Suspending in space. Warm. Gentle. Comfortable in its lull.  

“In your head. In the deepest recesses of your mind. Buried deep. There is 《Another voice.》 Another that overrides all of your decision making and impulses. It tells you to hurt. To destroy. To hate. It’s not always obvious. Sometimes it hides but it’s always there.” 

She wonders if he knew. If he suspected that his life had never been his own. 

《Listen》  “Now that you’re aware of it. You’ll know. Might take a while but you will know. So when the time comes, 《Contain it.》 Don't worry about the rest. You just need to focus on my voice when the time comes. Understand?”

EVERYTHING SHE'S SAYING makes perfect sense to his mind, as sluggish as it may be. there's no outward sign that he's understanding, save for the vacant stare, but inwardly, his mind is shifting around to accept the new commands. he's long since been aware of his initial programming, the shit alan, his creator, had inflicted upon him. dark had spent years trying to fight it, only to give in to those impulses in the end.

dark had accepted that particular fate. he'd tried to navigate it by embracing it all wholeheartedly, though there'd always been that nagging in the back of his mind, telling him that he never had free will to begin with. dark had always hated alan for it.

but now, now there's another voice in his head, someone with a soft, but firm voice, guiding him in a different direction. were dark more coherent at the moment, he'd be trying to fight this, too. though deep down inside, dark is aware of the fact that he NEEDS that impulse control, and if not himself, who better than kafka?

CONTAIN IT.

head tilting ever so slightly to the side, dark blinks in response to that command. he can't fight his impulses forever, but containing them? fighting back and trying to ignore the programming that dictates most of his actions? THAT, he can do.

"i understand," dark responds, voice not quite a monotone. as deep in trance as he is right now, there's emotion in his voice. a hint of relief, some measure of appreciation toward her that is separate from her commands. why not appreciate the offered help, even if it's given with force?

at least she's not trying to force a personality change on him. he's sure he'd fight that with every bit of free will he possesses.

dark lifts a finger at her statement. TECHNICALLY, she's correct. except his creator hadn't exactly been a child at the time, though young enough for it to still count.

"yes," dark agrees, wagging his finger. "you nailed it, mostly. my creator wasn't exactly a kid, but close enough for it to count. i don't actually know how old he was though."

she really wants to see what he looks like, huh? dark is no stranger to shocking and horrifying people, this isn't going to be any different. well, except for the part where he doesn't want to draw attention to himself.