lazybox | [voicetest] it's this guy

[There had been so many sandwiches waiting for Dakki, when she returned to her room in The Pendants. More than she could finish on her own, though not for a lack of trying. The efforts she'd been putting in to helping save the First were exhausting, and this was the first properly prepared food she'd had in days... but even a Warrior of Darkness has limits. And thus, leftovers.

She really doesn't want any of this to go to waste.

And she has a feeling that someone is lingering about the lobby even when, surely, he ought to have better things to do.

So it is why, after sighing and wrapping everything up neatly in a napkin, she makes her way down to where she last spotted Emet-Selch. Through all of this, she is starting to feel a funny sort of... almost-fondness for him. And being so ominous and dramatic had to be exhausting, too. Surely even an Ascian needs to eat...?]

[There's no sign of him, at first. It simply wouldn't do for him to be caught in the same place twice; he has a reputation to uphold, and no mortal role to play on this particular stage. The First requires his touch only due to the failure of its previous caretakers, and he can push things along perfectly well from the shadows.

But a bit of looking around will eventually reveal him well enough, perched on a ledge overlooking the comings-and-going of the little ants of the Crystarium. True to his words, Emet-Selch chooses to watch, rather than interact.

When he's inevitably spotted, he gives a bit of a smile and a little wave. Hello, hero, here he is, in perfectly plain view. Nothing at all suspicious going on here, no?]

[Well. She should have known that this wouldn't be as easy and trotting down some stairs. She takes in the lobby with a frown, pondering to herself just where an Emet-Selch would go if he has no one to pester. It would be reasonable for him to want to keep an eye on things... and he's not likely to be be anywhere all that social, she guesses...

Out Dakki wanders, looking this way and that... and she almost misses him on his spot from high up above. She stops and double-takes... and then she finds herself frowning at that wave. No, no, there's nothing suspicious about him being up there. Just a bit annoying. How is she going to get up there fast enough that he won't just walk away?

He will see her tilt her head, see her gaze wander this way and that... then see her set off for a nearby stack of crates at a steady run. To hells with taking the stairs and the long way around. She's going to climb. Those crates will get her a boost to the top of a high fence, and that will get her within leaping distance of the balcony, if she gets a strong enough start.

She'd done far more ridiculously athletic things while in Eulmore. This is fine.]

[Why on earth is she...?

If Dakki is expecting anything other than the 'are you fucking with me right now' expression by the time she arrives, she's in for a sore disappointment. Because there are not really words to express it, just that particular look that says that some mortal has done something both inexplicable and stupid yet again.]

In such a rush to see me, are you?

[After all, in the whole course of her climb up to him, other than his head following her movements, Emet-Selch hasn't moved in the slightest, legs still dangling over the edge of the ledge where he's seated.]

[There is a certain satisfaction to be derived from putting that look on his face. He can disapprove all he wants... if it means he's keeping his behind planted firmly in place, it is fine with her.

A soft 'hup', then she's up onto the ledge and standing next to him. Looming, but just barely, considering how tall he is even when he's seated.]

Yes. I am.

[She has always been a straightforward person of few words. Actions speak louder, don't they? Which is why she is now pulling that neatly-wrapped bundle of sandwiches from her pack, and holding them out.]

Are you hungry?

[She tries to look serious and aloof. She doesn't quite manage it. Fussing is also one of the things she does best, and this is definitely the start of fussing.]

[Fussing is not something one does with the Emperor of Garlemald. Please give him a moment, it's been some time since he last experienced it.]

You came all this way to bring me... What are those, sandiwches?

[He shakes his head, a little dismissively, but doesn't stop her from sitting beside him if she should so choose. Still...]

Isn't it a hero's job to give aid to the less fortunate? I assure you, I am perfectly capable of fending for myself; your care would be better directed towards, I don't know, some poor unfortunate soul orphaned by the sin-eaters, would it not?

Yes.

[That is the answer to both of his questions. How nice and neat and tidy is that? And with that question answered, she does indeed sit down beside him, a bit of polite distance between the both of them. She is trying to be friendly, but not overly so. She sets the bundle of leftover sandwiches upon her lap.

His retort leaves her considering his words, and her head gives a little tilt... but then she sets about unwrapping the bundle.]

I can't be everywhere.

[A truth that she has had to come to terms with. Warrior of Light or Warrior of Darkness, gifted again and again, she still has limits. There are only so few sandwiches, and so many orphans. There is only one moody Ascian lurking about. To her knowledge.]

So here I am. Have a sandwich! They're good.

[And such a selection, too! Egg salad, cured meats, bacon and lettuce and tomato... And she even managed not to squish them on the way up.]

[He just continues to stare at her for a moment. But, then, with the most tired of sighs, he lifts a hand and takes a sandwich in between two gloved fingers - not even particularly caring to look at what kind it is, but simply taking the closest one to himself from her lap.]

To the spirit of cooperation, I suppose.

[Where did he get the napkin he unfolds with a snap of his other hand to lay across his lap? A good question, and one he's not going to answer today. Aside from the fact that he's still slouching so far forward that he looks like he might fall off the ledge if someone applied the slightest bit of pressure, he's downright dainty as he actually takes a first bite of the food.

Imperial manners, after all.]

[Ah, a victory. Dakki nods and smiles as he takes a sandwich, not really noticing that he hadn't been at all choosy. Nor really noticing that a handkerchief has apparently appeared from nowhere. Such a thing is... on theme for him. Consistent with the guise he has chosen for himself. It fits him, the object and the action.

Though something else about him still seems ill-worn and out of sorts. All his slouching and strolling and eye-rolling had felt like some sort of performance he was making, at first. A grand show of how little he cares, when he actually cares very, very deeply. But the weight on his shoulders....

She looks away for the moment, gazing out at the citizens below, legs swinging absently.]

I suppose it's cooperation. I'm not sure how much help you're actually being.

[She attempts to say it with a straight face, and almost manages it. The little upturn of her tone and quirking of her lips betrays that she's not entirely serious. Just a bit serious. A small amount. They've yet to proceed on to the Rak'tika Greatwood, after all. He has yet to perform any particularly kind deeds.]

The greatest of journeys begins with the smallest of steps.

[Said before oh-so-delicately wiping a bit of mustard off his lips. That is what napkins are for, after all.

...Perhaps he'll take another, in a minute or two.]

Though that does beg the question of why you sought me out, considering exactly how keen you and your companions have been on not cooperating.

[voicetest] it's this guy

It sure is That Guy

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