IC Contact - Exsilium

[maddeninghatter]

[ Thirty seconds of tuneless humming--beeeeeeeeep! ]

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[maddeninghatter]

[ Break turns up as well, half a minute late, as per usual: early enough not to be actually late, but late enough to annoy a person as pathologically punctual as Reim.

He slides into his usual chair and..... hesitates.......... just barely, before peevishly protesting: ]

Don't you "good morning" me!

[ Another slight, so very slight hesitation.... ]

You knew. You knew. You knew all along!

1/2

[tergiversant]

[From his concealment, Rufus Barma's eyes widened, more than a little off guard. Was he playing? No, the hesitations...

He would have to reassess all of his information...]

[tergiversant]

[Reim, on the other hand, doesn't fluster so much as his shoulders rise. Peevishness is painted across his expression clearly.]

Of course! You KNOW how he is!

[maddeninghatter]

Yes of course. I know how he is.

[ He reaches for his tea and, as usual, takes a sip and pulls a face at it. ]

Vain, pompous, craven. A wretched poltroon, the way he hides behind those illusions he’s so proud of.

[tergiversant]

[The glasses come off again, the agitated squeak following immediately.]

I was thinking of the word secretive. I'll go as far as stubborn.

[As if to imply it had been a topic of conversation between master and servant at least once.

For his part, Barma raises an eyebrow, watching every inflection, every movement of Break's, still uncertain.]

[maddeninghatter]

Mendacious is more accurate.

[ Another baleful (and sightless) glare at his tea; and then he seems to resign himself to drinking it. When he speaks again, his voice flips into sing-song: ]

I saaay, you don't have to serve him anymore, you know~! His position means nothing here. Why, the first time he turned up on the Network he —

[ Emily interjects: ]

MADE A TOTAL ASS OF HIMSELF!

1/3

[tergiversant]

[Nearly a month of this act, this game. Nearly a month and not a single quip or barb from the Hatter moved Barma whatsoever, no matter where the conversation had went. It was no show of anger, invisible and hidden to the senses as he was, that boiled hot through his veins, a pure distilled urge to strike the dog from the face of this world right here and now.

As much as Barma fully expected Reim to turn in his resignation when he regained consciousness (providing, of course, Barma survived his own gambit), this was not something this man could have.]

[tergiversant]

[Focusing on Reim's acerbic manner and sense of duty, for the first time, he outright lied:]

I have no intention of doing so whatsoever. [Reim flashes one of those crisp, polite and fragile smiles.] Besides, I should be thankful for the preposterously high tolerance of ridiculousness. It's served me well.

[tergiversant]

[The smile shatters as Reim slumps, rubbing at the bridge of his nose, a picture of nervous resignation.] Though, I should ask what he DID. Honestly, after all of that trouble!!!

[maddeninghatter]

He'd sacrifice you in an instant, you know. Despite your long years of loyal service, you're just another pawn to him.

[ The unexpected appearance of Lord Barma after he had so obviously been hiding would have been enough on its own to suggest to Break that something was not quite right, but that sensation had already been niggling at him for a while: Reim's not having a tablet, his cageyness about his roommates, and beyond that, the sensation that something is just subtly wrong about him. Reim has been behaving like the person people think he is.

For instance, Break would never suggest Reim act as anything but a perfect, loyal servant, not only because it's an affront to his core identity, but also because he wouldn't stand for it. For all his nervous, agitated timidity, Reim can be downright terrifying when crossed.

Now, having returned from Las Vegas, his connection with his enhanced chain tested and proven, he is able to borrow Mad Hatter's power, and sense Dodo clearly. It's difficult to control his anger; but if Lord Barma wants to play games, he can play them, too.

....not to mention it's terribly satisfying to be able to insult Barma to his face and know he has to sit there and take it.

Deadpan: ]

What did he do? He broke his carefully-laid cover to dispense advice on how a young man might pursue a romantic attachment.

[tergiversant]

That's the kind of person he is.

[The statement was simple and dry, neither anger nor resignation in Reim's voice, as it if was simply a matter of service, accepted and agreed upon. It suited Rufus let that illusion stay in place.

In the mean time, Rufus Barma struggled with his own anger, not an easy thing when sparked, pushing the conversation further.]

And I imagine you were shameless in turn.

[maddeninghatter]

Ha! Ha! Ha! Why, you're right as always, Mister Reim. That is the kind of person he is.

[ He finishes the last of his tea, and then sets about destroying the styrofoam-ish cup, pulling it into tiny pieces and making a pile in front of him. ]

Hm, I suppose he is rather a man to be pitied.

[ Break manages to drop his voice into a tone that resembles something sympathetic. ]

He's spent his whole life pining for something he let slip through his fingers.

[tergiversant]

[It's not the statements, nor even the words dripping in false sympathy. He could easily picture Reim having to put up with such impropriety regularly.

It was the sudden prefix returning that was the last, and perhaps most powerful tell.

Not only does Reim disappear in a flurry of black feathers, but the table and opposing chair. .... And the cup Break had been shredding.

Barma speaks up from where he'd been seated some distance behind Break, practically draped in one of the chairs. His voice is a careful mask of disdain and boredom.]

It seems this hath become a truly boorish game.