— i'll say a prayer, as i cast it to the flame

[redsoil]

WHO: set & others
WHERE: around the netherworld
WHEN: check headers for specific dates/times
WHAT: a catch-all for everything during his time in-game
WARNINGS: physical violence, mentions of sexual abuse, hanahaki syndrome, etc.

Comments

「DECEMBER」

[redsoil]

— @ SILCO

[ Following the directions to his 'neighbor' in Mirth is an easy task; it is the internal struggle that takes place within Set on the way that proves an inelegant distraction. More and more of him has gone into considering what to do with the substance he'd found on the bodies of the explorers, his own academic investigations proving as disinteresting as his actual sampling of it had proven the opposite. It quieted the omnipresent whisper inside of him; the doubt and the concern, the so-called 'shadow' that was spoken of as if it were a foreign entity rooting around in the minds and hearts of the Restless, and simply not their rottenness, illuminated and pointed out.

He remembers his conversation from the parade, with the slim, scarred man who also took up residence in the brilliance of Mirth and spoke to him about the variety of substances found there. The drugs, the booze, the things Set had poured into himself from day one, to fill himself with something other than that insidious memory of who he was, what he had been and done. And then - then, he had seen things in the water, in the windows and the mirrors and the shine of his own metal jewelry and it had pushed him so far, so fast. There is a gap within him, and a weakness that he cannot confront.

So, he goes to Silco. Battering on the door with his fist, following an enticing conversation about sticking it to the Hierarchy ( -- the same Hierarchy he had openly announced was a necessary thing on day one, when Amun had spoken so dismissively to the new arrivals as a whole; he did not disagree with their presence, only that their weaknesses had become so visible ) and gate-crashing the future party in Radiance. ]

Here.

[ The moment he sees him, he thrusts some of the substance into his hands. It is blue, captured in a thin tube that must have formerly served as a shotglass in some hole-in-the-wall locale. It is clean, and corked, and he brings only enough to pique Silco's interest at this time. The rest he reserves for others, never one to place all of his eggs in one basket -- or fail to create competition between intellectuals. ]

When we were in the forest, seeking the Puck, I came across the bodies of former explorers. I had mentioned a substance upon their bodies and the ground around them to the Restless as a whole, and now that I know one of its properties, I think it poignant to bring it to your attention. Let me in.

[zauneyete]

[ Silco's residence in Mirth is... rather dim. It doesn't really stand out in any way, and it's not even really decorated. He was not a man who eschewed the finer things in life, but since he had little in the way of funds, everything goes toward that. He's dead, it's not like it matters if he has too many nice things in his residence, and he isn't one for entertaining, not really. The only people who had really been by had been Mikey, and of course Jinx, but...

Set, though, Silco was keen on speaking with, so he's quick to answer the door, when Set banged on it loud enough to wake the...other dead in the neighborhood. He opened the door, and stared out at him, listened, and then, finally, he nodded behind him.

His eyes, though, stared down at the bottle of... something. Blue, with a shine that is almost reminiscent of Shimmer, if it were in liquid instead of powder. He closed the door, before he held it up, and looked at it, tipped it, examined. ]

This came from a body? [ He'd just said that, but... ]

Why don't you join me in my office? Through the doors there.

[ It's plain, just a desk and two chairs, but the fact that Silco has an office says enough, doesn't it? ]

[redsoil]

Upon and around the bodies the explorers I found in Serene's forest, [ he repeats, with distinct precision.

What it is, Set now knows, but that is information he will withhold for the moment. A battle-hungry brute he may be, but it was his intelligence and guile that had allowed him to outsmart opponents for countless centuries. He scuffs his heels on the doorframe, to ensure there is no snow or ice attached to his ( new! ) shoes, and enters once invited to.

He shunts his coat onto anything nearby, as though carelessly claiming portions of Silco's space as his own. Tacky, but very much like him; the moment he enters a room, he seems to grow to fill it, loud and brilliant and color, like the vast and deadly dunes of the desert. Too warm, too dry; murderously so. He leaves the vial to Silco, and follows in his wake with a wry twist to his mouth.

An office. ] We had spoken before about substances, and I thought you might appreciate knowing of this one. When I collected it, the presence Stygia calls our 'shadow' was decidedly upset by its existence -- you feel it, yes? The way it cringes and protests.

[zauneyete]

[ Silco followed -- in opposition to Set's fullness, his brilliance -- he's like a shadow itself. A dark splash, like the long shadow cast in the afternoon sun, reedy and thin, but he doesn't fill the room like Set does, he simply owns it. He sat in his chair, behind the desk, and crossed an ankle over his leg, commanding but sly.

He shook it, and felt that sensation Set spoke of. The feeling of nausea, rejection, the feeling of a shadow that clearly wanted nothing more than to rage and rattle the cage, fight for control and fight to crush the thing in his hand. Silco mentally slapped it down, strangled it, drowned it, like it would silence the thing. But his Shadow was not easily silenced, and Silco had to grit his teeth from the sensation.

He already indulged, whether it was in anger or murder, Silco had no qualms of such things, but where his shadow found an in was within control. He slid a dual-toned gaze toward Set, and smiled, and it was about as pleased as anyone had ever seen him in his life. ]

It does. It hates it, doesn't it? [ A controlled man with an uncontrollable shadow, and a deathly secret he couldn't share. Silco needed every advantage he could get. ]

[redsoil]

I had a thought, that a man as incandescently against the conditions thrust upon us, might be able to come up with some clever applications of this substance.

[ The shadow that coiled within Set was insidious, no less than the aggression and dark depths he'd finally relinquished before the eyes of the Ennead. Penitence was the only avenue left to him, after power and might failed him the way it never failed others; the wise and powerful were made to rule, and by his loss to his own brother's child, the shadow was left to whisper and simmer within him.

Pushing, towards that precipice of wrath and despair once more. ]

I know how to acquire more. And, I will say, you are not the only individual I will be sharing this discover with.

[ It's just good business, to encourage competition! ]

However, you're the more ambitious of the two; a man driven by his need for control -- what was it you said? That you would collar and leash any soulmate you might acquire, put them away somewhere unseen? Maybe this way, you wouldn't need to have one at all.

[zauneyete]

Hm.

[ Silco had, of course, by now, compromised this principle. He'd had to. Jinx's arrival had left Silco grasping, desperately, for anything to silence and soften his shadow, lest he open his mouth and say the words that would hurt her, more than anything else. He couldn't bear the thought, so he had compromised, and a like-minded individual, just as sharp and prickly as he, had been found.

And then that like-minded individual had vanished, and become a younger version of himself. Which was, in of itself, inconvenient, but at least he was easier to manipulate. Silco could deal with that, he suspected. At least enough to keep his secrets to himself. He would not, however, share this with Set. The man seemed like-minded enough, that... were he needed...

Well. ]

Something like this could be of great application. [ He shook the tube, curious. ]

Whatever other individual you found, I can assure you, they will likely not find a way to turn this toward profit and power. Not like I can.

[ Inject it? Perhaps. Snort, most certainly. Could it be burned, like an incense? It's all possibilities, and Silco wonders if the small amount he had would be enough to experiment. ]

If you want to find the best way to ingest this -- or sell to be ingested, we'll need a great deal more. How much more can you get? [ A beat. ] And how much of a cut?