There was no sound of wings flapping or talons scraping against the wooden floors or birdlike screeches when Eichio opened the door. There were no blood splatters or loose feathers, either, just a layer of dust along the furniture that would be imperceptible to anyone not conditioned to make their living space spotless. It was as if the hybrid creature who raised him never existed at all. Its lack of presence was palpable, yet somehow, it felt easier to breathe. The absence of noise and fury, but also the absence of fear and dread. Eichio stood in the doorway for a long moment, taking in every nook and cranny of the room, making sure everything clicked as his new reality.

Strangely, while the hive had not been cleaned since he was last here, all the flowers indoors and out on the balcony appear to have been looked after. He wondered if Mister Espino had been watering the plants as well. 

He pushed the wooden wedge up against the door with his foot to keep it open, and began his usual routine of opening every curtain and window in the room to let in the fresh air. The inside of the hive was stuffy, but not stiflingly so. With each window opened, Eichio would look over his shoulder, expecting to see his lusus there waiting to lecture him about a chore he had not completed correctly before leaving for work. Of course, there was nothing there, and he felt a paradoxical wave of grief but also a release of tension in his shoulders. His hands were no longer shaking.

Is this how the atmosphere of a hive is supposed to feel? He knew there was something missing, and he felt awful about why that void now exists, but it’s all so… Quiet.

He headed over the kitchen to check the fridge. Sure enough, the carton of milk was gone and had not been replaced. The rest of the fridge was relatively bare, some vegetables in the crisper that he had intended to use in the meals he planned out the other week, a tub of butter, a carton of eggs, and various drinks to be used as mixers whenever he practiced his bartending skills. The pantry tended to fare much better, filled with staples that could be used to throw together a quick meal that takes as little preparation and ingredients as possible because- 

What do you think you’re doing? You’ve been home for five minutes and you’re already dodging responsibilities? This hive isn’t going to clean itself!

Of course, those words are solely in Eichio’s head, because the one who normally told him that is no longer alive. He instinctively flinched at the thought, but then it dawned on him that he won’t be forced to prioritise his lusus’ many tasks over his own needs anymore. He could eat whenever he wanted. He could sleep whenever he wanted. He could even wear whatever clothes he wanted without his lusus chastising him for looking ‘unprofessional’. It would be just like how he lived at Mister Espino’s hive (with even more freedom, as his boss would still look for him to make sure he was eating enough every night), or how Gerrel talked about his hive life. 

He grabbed a couple ingredients from the pantry - a bottle of olive oil, a bulb of garlic, a small jar of chilli flakes, and a handful of spaghetti noodles - retrieved a bag of grated parmesan from the fridge, and began bringing a pot of water to boil to prepare something to eat. He’d never gotten this opportunity to cook so early into the night for just himself, and it was around the time most trolls would normally be eating dinner. 

As he sat at the dining table with his bowl of pasta, he thought of what still needed to be done. He needed to dust and polish all the furniture, most obviously, then clean all the windows, vacuum and sweep the floors (redundant, but that was what his lusus always wanted), clean the bathroom (but he hasn’t used it in over a week so it should only be dusty, right?), wash the bedsheets and swap the pillows and duvet with manchester that had fresh sopor (again, he hasn’t slept here in over a week), and… That’s it. He could do it all tonight, but then what would he do for the rest of the week? And even with spreading out all the chores over a couple days, how else is he supposed to fill his new-found free time?

He could visit friends, since that privilege was recently taken away from him by his lusus. He could spend time brainstorming the best way to repay Mister Espino for his kindness without his lusus accusing him of ‘slacking off’ by not actively working on something. He could even-

God, what was he thinking? He almost choked on his forkful of pasta. All this talk about freedom, meanwhile his lusus is still dead. That is precisely why he’s free. How could he be so selfish, so quickly? Gliese said she killed his lusus because of what it was doing to him, as if she was doing him a favour. To be entertaining these thoughts so freely was sickening, and he could no longer enjoy the half-eaten meal left in the bowl. He can’t bring himself to agree with someone who acted so cruelly for no good reason. 

Gliese said that his lusus was never going to change, and that was why he had to die. Mister Espino said that the animosity would cool down in time, and his lusus may learn to appreciate him more after a period of separation. Gerrel said his home life was not normal, and a loving lusus would not act this way. His lusus said that it did everything because it wanted the best for him. Everyone did what they thought was best for him, but none of it made him feel good. 

He’d spent the last few weeks wondering if he ever felt good in the first place. 

His thoughts had circled around from dreading seeing his empty hive, to considering the freedom this empty hive now brought him, and back to dreading the freedom because the hive was so empty. He knew he had to get himself out of this conflict loop so he could start moving on like he’s supposed to, but he didn’t know where to start. He couldn’t listen to his heart like his boss had told him when the heart has no idea what it wants. All he could do was think.

Cloudbat — “Yeah so fun story, and don’t look at me like I’m insane because I swear I cannot make up anything this ridiculous, I technically died when I first went to Eichio’s hive because little miss rude and blue killed me…but I think it was kind of an accident.”

“So now - and look at my eyes, that’s the fun part - I’m technically a weird zombie except I don’t eat people. Guess what I DO eat! Go on, take one stab at the obvious cliche.”

its rai — vil just kinda Stops. Pauses. acknowledges he's going to more than a few moments to process All Of That. is probably looking at ji like he just spontaneously grew a second head. 

"Hm. Actually. Scratch all of that, there's more pressing matters to attend. If you apparently have no injuries that require immediate attention, then you can use one of the showers on the second floor. What size shirt and pants do you wear again? I'll see what spare clothes I have for you in my guest wardrobe"

Cloudbat — Jikiro, amused: double xl large, and I will be impressed if you have that on hand. Don’t worry if you don’t, I have some spare stuff in my modus. I’ll definitely take the shower, though, I’m going to make the water industry very rich for the rest of my life. [chuckles gently]

its rai — Vil: when you host so many events at your own hive you start to become prepared for all sorts of people showing up in the incorrect dress code or getting clumsy and spilling their drink all over themselves within the first few minutes of arrival. i'll find something. if i cannot, do you prefer clothes that are baggier or tighter? i understand neither are preferable, of course, but in these sort of circumstances we just have to make do, don't we? 

its clear hes a bit Overwhelmed given that he has basically dragged jikiro all the way to the room on the second floor he uses to store all his extra clothes and is somewhat frantically rifling through clothes racks and pulling things out of drawers. maybe ji mentioning that he died, became a zombie, and eats something that isnt food or trolls in one fell swoop, while also showing up out of the blue covered the blood/ink and apparently not injured despite looking so, and the fact he ran off to confront gliese in the first place was not the best idea LMAO

Cloudbat — Jikiro, shrugging: definitely baggier in the arms at least or my circulation will go to shit. Yes, I still have circulation, don’t ask me how anything works because I don’t know and care less by this point. 

Jikiro stands there and realizes after a minute that Vil is indeed Overwhelmed and frowns in concern. 

“You okay, Vil? I know that’s a lot - also weird - but at least I’m not dangerous, right?” He shrugs. “Plus now we know who did it and how to get to her.”

“Though she’ll probably be more prepared if I come back.”

its rai — Vil: Yes. You still have circulation. [Finds two shirts in the size up and holds them up to see which one he thinks would suit Ji more] Of course you still have circulation, having blood pumping throughout our bodies is what makes us alive, does it not? [hands one of the shirts over to Ji. It's a pale jade but eh close enough to his colour] When Jamie told me about your escapade and asked my opinion on the undead I was under the impression he was referring to Gliese's psiionics! Now I have multiples zombies in this equation, I suppose! Zombies! I had no clue they could be sentient until five minutes ago! 

Vil, pausing for a moment to catch his breath: I'm fine. I can get this under control. I - Go get yourself cleaned up first. Then I will need you to explain everything slowly. So I know exactly what is happening and how I can re-rail any plans that may have gone off the wheels- Pants. You still need a change of pants

Cloudbat — Jikiro has nothing against pale jade and takes it with a thank-you. 

Then he frowns, then sighs, then groans. 

“Fucking Jamie. Of course he had to mention it, but at least he didn’t go the whole way. Nosy little shit.” He grumbles, but it’s clear he’s not really mad. Jikiro looks at him. 

“Take ten or fifteen, Vil. I’m not going anywhere for a bit and presumably neither are you, unless you have some super urgent job I don’t know about.” 

That said, plunks himself down on a chair if there is one. 

“Yes I do. Life, death, and pants, three constants of the universe.”

“And yeah I had no idea either. I didn’t even realize what happened at first, my lusus had to tell me.”

“Some grade-a bullshit, but I guess I can’t complain too much since I’m still here.”

its rai — Vil: No, no, what he said was fine. We got a lead from that, a lead and a potential ally who could be able to provide the location of her hive. If that will work now. 

he's really struggling to find a pair of pants that will fit. why does he have shirts in this size but no matching pants? someone probably took a pair home with them and never returned them. whatever, he can just buy more, but that is not helping now. 

Vil: nothing urgent, although perhaps i may need to get eichio out of the hive to run errands if we're going to discuss the metaphorical elephant in the room. i don't want him to find out before we can get that damned blueblood in here to tell him herself - if i have it in me to not immediately shove her head on a pike first with all the unnecessary trouble this has all caused! 

finally he does locate a pair of pants after emptying an entire chest of drawers full of just slacks. they're grey and don't completely match, so he will just not have to look at them while Ji is wearing them 

Vil: and i suppose you can only count on two of those things being a universal constant, now can you? 

he hands the pants over and gives Ji a polite but somewhat firm push on the shoulder to prompt him to get off the seat and towards the closest guest shower. there's a bit of a smile when he makes that joke, but he's definitely stressed

Cloudbat — Jikiro, sighing. “Do not tell him that, I’ll never hear the end of it. He will be smug for weeks.” 

He sighs again. “Yeah, fair point. But I don’t think we should kill her. Beat her up, though, definitely.” He says with a grin. 

Jikiro, indeed slightly impressed he managed to find something, takes them with another thank-you. 

He laughs at the push. “Fine, fine! I’m going! And you do something for yourself while I clean up.” He says, looking at him. 

“I mean it. Do it. When I’m clean I want to hear you had one of your godawful cups of coffee or something, you heathen.” 

Then grins and goes into the shower room.

its rai — "He merely recounted what he had learned from you, so I believe the credit for that is yours." and so far that's the only credit he'll give until he gets the full story lmao 

he does smile at Ji agreeing that Gliese should be beaten up for all the trouble she's caused. Vil would definitely love to do that right now, as pointless destruction is always a great stress relief 

"do something for myself? goodness, are you my lusus now?" he says, as if he hasn't just spent the last few minutes fussing over ji like a mother hen. "very well, i'll postpone cleaning this room in favour of a coffee break. in all honesty, i do need a drink of some description." 

which vil will go off and do, as well as ask eichio to take stock of all the food in the kitchen to keep him preoccupied for some time (which ei is happy to do because he wants nothing more than to be preoccupied with distractions rn). ji would then find vil in his usual favourite chair in the library, godawful cup of coffee set aside on the table, probably got his head in his hands while he processes Everything

Cloudbat — Jikiro would’ve smirked at that. 

And when he got out all nicely dressed and his hair down instead of in its ponytail, he would’ve crossed his arms and grinned to find Vil like that. 

“Oh, I see, you can look at me like I died - okay I did but besides the point - but I tell you to take a drink and I get accused of being a lusus? Wow! Ring ring, where’s the hypocrisy cops?” 

But then he settles down and does some deep breathing himself. He might not be quite as unruffled as he’s trying to be.

its rai — first comment vil makes when ji enters the room is just. "i need to buy you more spare clothes if you're planning on showing up here looking near-dead more often." LMAO 

but he shakes his head, and takes another moment to Recollect 

"okay, so, yes. you're dead, i know you would not lie to me about something that sounds so difficult to believe, but they have always said truth is stranger than fiction. let's start there."

Cloudbat — Jikiro, amused: “Not part of the plan, I promise. Also I offered to change into my own stuff, but I could see you would be spiritually unfulfilled if you couldn’t dress me.” He nods, mock serious. 

He sighs. “Yeah. I’m way colder than I used to be, but otherwise mostly alive? Except the sun doesn’t hurt me now, I guess. I still feel pretty much like me, thank god.”

its rai — "you know what i'm like. if there's something i'm capable of and want to do, i will do it. what else were you expecting from me?" he smirks

he seems intrigued by that, so he stands up and walks over to jikiro. then he just. touches ji's face, leaving his hands pressed against his cheeks for about a minute 

"well, i would have expected the undead to feel much clammier, more akin to a walking corpse. but, i suppose no one truly has a good frame of reference when writing supernatural literature and film, no?" 

"i suppose your eyes are also a side-effect? they sell sclera contacts, if you are interested in the sort."

Cloudbat — “Dinner and a movie.” He deadpans, then cracks up.

Jikiro raises his eyebrows, amused. “You and Jamie, I swear. Do I have a sign on my face that says ‘little guys, please manhandle me’? At least you didn’t do what he did.” Snorts and shakes his head at the memory. 

He makes a face at that idea. “I guess being magic saved me from that. Whatever the reason I’m grateful, because that would be gross. And yeah, you got me. I probably want those…but on the other hand I’m kind of tempted to say fuck it. Let people say what they want, it doesn’t affect my ability to do business.”

its rai — "i suppose neither of those could hurt in a time like this, no?" playing along with the joke while also curious to see how Ji reacts to him 'agreeing' to dinner and a movie 

"i've never seen a sentient zombie in the flesh before, let alone held one. sometimes one does need to let their curiosity get the better of them!" he pinches ji's cheeks for being called a little guy, since he's only a couple inches shorter, and then takes his hands off him. "i don't think i could imagine what vulgar things Jamie attempted on you." 

"Hm, well! the offer is there regardless, i do have contacts in the, ah, contact industry, if you pardon the mild pun. but, anyone can get away with anything with enough confidence, i've discovered."

Cloudbat — “Definitely not.” He agrees fervently. “I bet you still have tons I haven’t seen.” 

“Sometimes? You, Vil, are the peak of fuck around and find out.” He says, amused. “And hey - hands off the face, I need that. You know, for my huge line of suitors who think ‘undead ink guy’ is…the dog’s bark?” 

He looks slightly blank, but decides he doesn’t care if he misremembered the saying or not. 

“Honestly he just put his hand on my chest. He talks a lot worse than he does, if he thinks anyone’s trying to flirt with him he gets all suspicious.” 

Jikiro shrugs. “I just…what’s the point of hiding and worrying? Everything’s different now. Really not looking forward to having to talk to my signmates, but I’ll deal with it.” He grimaces.

its rai — oh vil does have a ton of movies alright LMAO 

"that cat's meow?" he corrects, amused. "well, with how popular the horror genre is, i would not count yourself out." 

he looks away for a moment, and brings his fist up to his mouth to hide his smile. is that all jamie did? vil was expecting much worse, and he finds it a little funny that ji thought that jamie putting his hand on his chest was supposedly worse than vil pinching his cheeks. or is he just weak to more genuine displays of affection? 

"a hand on your chest was truly that bad? my, i never took you to be a protagonist from an old victorian novel! although, that does beg the question, if you are still mostly alive and can have circulatory issues from tight clothing, does that mean your heart still beats?"

Cloudbat — Ji snaps his fingers in agreement. “That.” He rolls his eyes. 

“I’m not even scary…mostly. Apparently Gliese took one look in my head and skedaddled, but hey, I didn’t do that on purpose. Her fault for being a nosy psychic.” 

Then he huffs, crossing his arms. 

“I didn’t say it was bad, I’m not a prude. It’s more that it was ridiculous in context. And yeah, it does, that’s what freckles was looking for besides being his usual self - a pulse. I think it’s a little slower, but it’s still there.”

its rai — "Interesting! i do wonder what the mind of an undead would be like, but i lack the psiionic ability to see for myself. or perhaps hear would be the more appropriate sense, no? but, yes, i do wonder if that could be used against her in some way..." 

he chuckles quietly at ji's reaction. 

"does it not make sense that one would check for a pulse after discovering someone close to them had died? perhaps i am the strange one for feeling your body heat instead, but admittedly this sort of business is rather new to me. it is possible to check for a pulse using the wrists or the neck, but feeling for a heartbeat is certainly the easiest and quickest method." 

"although, with the mention of Gliese, that does segue nicely into the more pressing matter, don't you think? what possessed you to go about this alone in the first place?" 

vil knows that he most likely egged ji on by not believing him, but he still wants to hear it upfront to get a proper explanation

Cloudbat — “Dark and wet in my case.” He says bluntly. “Cause of the ink. I guess that’s horrifying. Woooo.” 

“New theory: you’re both weird.” He says with amusement. “Not because of this, just in general.” 

Jikiro sighs. “Because I wanted to actually get the job done, in some way. I wanted to prove I could get some tangible, useful result by myself. Yeah, yeah, that was a bit dumb, but can you blame me? At least I got some intel.”

its rai — vil actually looks somewhat sympathetic when ji admits that he wanted to prove himself. he doesn't really feel bad for him since that was his conscious decision to be stubborn and try something with a small chance of success, but he can understand the sentiment behind it. although that sympathy fades into dismissiveness when ji tries to downplay the consequences of his actions. 

"well, yes, you certainly did. if not for that description of the culprit, and a fortunate string of acquaintances and coincidences, i doubt we would be making any progress in this matter. but, as much as i say the methods do not matter so long as they provide the necessary results, the death of a friend was not in my agenda. what would you be proving if you did not come back from beyond the grave? there would then be two deaths attributed to this girl, and even less answers for the one who needs the closure the most."

Cloudbat — Jikiro winces. “Well, I didn’t stay dead, so it doesn’t really matter, right? I had no idea she was going to be there. I just wanted to make sure the lusus didn’t die and she got all aggro.” He scowls. 

“Didn’t even lay a hand on her when we first met but no, time to pummel me with ghosts.”

“She can control a stupid amount of those, it’s insane.”

“However we fight her we’re going to need to do something about that. I can help with her physical undead, but not those.”

its rai — "it matters when it could have been avoided in the first place." not that he knows how it could have been avoided when no one could have predicted a vague acquaintance of eichio's to take up the mantle of lusus killer, but he's just kinda Still Overwhelmed in general. he can show a bit of care for his friends, as a treat. 

"i suppose we now know that she is very easily provoked. i was hoping i could simply convince her to confront eichio, using physical force if necessary, and i could have even let it slide as ultimately killing his lusus will benefit him in the long run, but this is certainly putting a spanner in the works. what exactly happened that caused her to retaliate?" 

vil rly getting annoyed at ji for acting on his own when his plan was gonna be to act on his own except this time he was confident that his plan will work LMAO hypocritical as usual

Cloudbat — Jikiro, bemused. “How? I can’t see the future. If you can, damn, you sure hid it well.” 

He puts a hand to the part of his belly where he got run through and grins ruefully. 

“Yeah, just a little. And all I did was blind her with light for a bit so I could steal the lusus from her - she had it in a sack, and I was so damn close to getting it and getting away…well, whatever, it is what it is. Then she got me. 

She muttered something too, something about someone else, that she did it for them? I don’t know, my brain was kind of shutting down by that point.” 

Bless. We love to see it

its rai — “No, I cannot see the future, but if there is an unexpected factor in my plans my first instinct is to immediately size up how dangerous they may be. A troll who has managed to break into a hive and steal an ornery lusus  without leaving any obvious signs of their handiwork should ring alarm bells that they are not to be provoked, no? Such a task requires skill and a cunning, cutthroat nature. I - and many highbloods, might I add, - have killed people for less.” 

Vil stops his exasperated rant to take a deep breath / sigh, as he knows he’s letting his emotions get the better of him. He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose in thought, trying to reorganize his thoughts and what he now knows, but then he looks back up when Ji mentions that Gliese muttered someone else’s name. There’s a bit of a devious look in his eyes now 

“Another name? Can you recall what that may be? I had questioned Ullane on if there were any bargaining chips we could play with, but no obvious leads were given.”

Cloudbat — Jikiro snorts. “I saw the psi-lights in her eyes, but come on, I figured she was a regular psychic. You can’t blame me for not realizing she could control undead; I’m teal, I have good resistance to regular powers.” 

He raises a finger. “Also, I met her at the bottom of the rope ladder, all of that is news to me.” 

He does stay quiet as Vil thinks, he knows the signs of it, then shrugs. 

“I know that scheming face, type ‘I can and will grab a troll’, but no, not really. It was like…” he squints, trying to remember. “Narcar? Narnco? I don’t think either of those are right.” He says, waving a hand. “Whatever. I feel like that would be a bad idea anyway.”

“Also I’d rather just beat her up.” Grins.

its rai — “Psiionic trolls are probably the most unpredictable trolls you could face, there’s never any obvious tells as to what power they may have, how strong it is, and to what extent they are able to control it. Would you know the psiionic abilities of both my lowblooded employees just from looking at them? Honestly, I do understand those on the upper half of the spectrum will typically do less business with the lower castes, but I do believe that should be something to easily keep in mind.” He huffs. 

He considers if either of those names sound familiar, but they don’t ring any bells. 

“Hm, as fun as it may be to force her to us instead of the other way around, not having a definitive name is too much of a gamble. A shame, really. I don’t think I could even get an exact match if I were to do a deal with the devil, and I don’t have any games prepared for him in exchange for his time and information.” 

“And, in the state you arrived here in, I doubt you would be capable of doing so. Unless your goal truly is to get beaten up again so I can keep fussing over you.” He says with a smirk.

Cloudbat — He sighs. "All right, that's true. Also, honestly, I figured she was a blueblood even before I found out for sure; she acted too much like one." He snorts. "I've dealt with blueblood psychics before." 

Jikiro looks blank for a moment, then realizes Vil is talking about Dismas and laughs - then huffs again, arms crossed. 

"I did not come here to get fussed over, you weirdo. That's all on you. I'm fine. A little sore, that's all."

"I didn't ask Jamie to come break down my door either - not that he had to, my traitor lusus let him in." He grumbles.

its rai — “Jamie did not inform me of what he had done and his motives for doing so, but it should come as no surprise that people will become concerned for the well-being of a friend who has just died and come back to life, no? I suppose that if I were to somehow end up close to death’s door, then I should not rely on you to worry about me, then?” He’s joking, but god is that a loaded question of all time

Cloudbat — Jikiro, hand to his face because god dammit Vil caught him. 

 "Okay, okay, point taken. Yes, I'd be worried about you, though I'd be a lot more worried about whoever did that to you, if anyone, because we'd shortly be looking for ways to dispose of the body." He says dryly but with amusement, not realizing how loaded this question is, just answering naturally. 

"But...yeah, I'd be here, nothing could keep me away." He says, chuckling gently, then looks a bit lost. 

"Fair enough. It's...god, it hasn't even really sunk in. I know what happened now, but I spent a whole night with barely any memory of what happened or why I was even there, just...going back hive, getting weaker until my lusus helped me."

He shakes his head. "Whatever. It all could've been a lot worse."

its rai — Vil laughs (and covers his mouth when he does so, since he knows he has a pretty toothy grin whenever he genuinely laughs), amused by Ji noticing he’s been caught out but also pleased to hear such an earnest answer. 

“Please. I would have disposed of the body before I showed up at anyone’s door.” 

“But, that will do. I’m satisfied with the results of this interrogation, and my coffee has certainly gone cold by now. You can rest here for as long as you need, god knows how I’ve ended up hosting a BnB for lost souls. Could I interest you in a drink? Something to eat?”

Cloudbat — Jikiro looks slightly puzzled as Vil covers his mouth, is he trying to be polite? Why bother, it's nice he's laughing. But he doesn't question him. 

Then he cracks up himself. 

"God, of course! Who am I to doubt you?" Genuinely finds this terrible but endearing. Jikiro please. 

He looks surprised at that, and mildly guilty about the coffee. 

"Ah, that's nice of you, but I should probably get hive. I didn't mean to stay this long anyway; just to catch you up on stuff so we could make plans. And I'm sure I have yet more emails lying in wait for me." He says with a rueful grin. "I responded to some stuff on my way hive, but I haven't had a lot of time since then except for the basics. Also, if this was an interrogation, why wasn't I tortured? Man, disappointing." He says, facetious. 

He gets up, doing a Big Stretch.

its rai — “Careful with your words, if you doubt me too much then, naturally I would have to prove you wrong!” Vil practicing the fine art known as Potentially Setting Up Ominous Foreshadowing Just In Case His Plans Fail. Boy lives for the theatrics. 

“But, very well. I am glad you stopped by, almost giving me a heart attack aside. And, since you always sound so disappointed that I don’t torture you enough, I can arrange that for next time?” Another sly smile.

Cloudbat — Jikiro looks at him. "Yeah, true, I forget I'm standing in the hive of Mr. Contrarian himself." Amused. 

He looks a bit apologetic at that. "Sorry. I really didn't mean to..." Waves a hand. "Unsettle things so much." 

Then snorts. "Oh boy, what horrors await me? That is the face of absolute trouble. Danger, danger, Viltau Espino is scheming to do terrible things to me!" Chuckles again and starts to go for the door.

its rai — Vil shrugs. “Well, what’s done is done. I suppose at the very least I will no longer have to worry about you dying on me when it has already happened.” 

“And, if you’re asking for it so badly, I suppose I will have to deliver then, no?” He pats Ji on the shoulder before he leaves. 

He’ll figure out some sort of silly ‘torture’ prank on the side, it’ll be a nice distraction from the Main Schemes

Cloudbat — Jikiro snorts. “You bet you won’t, I don’t want to know what it’d take to kill me again but I’m betting it’s a lot.” 

Jikiro, surprised but smiling at the shoulder pat, reaches out his own hand for Vil’s to shake it briefly.

its rai — “You’re lucky I have no interest in trying!” 

He smiles, and shakes Ji’s hand in return. A little too businessmanlike, but Vil expects these sorts of gestures from him