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[chocolaterazor]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, candy-crusher. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** candy-crusher has joined 018.07.154.55 <candy-crusher> Sure, you can leave a message here if you need to reach me.

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<candy-crusher>

[chocolaterazor]

[Is this what he thinks it's about? Goddammit, of course the spider was still keeping track of him.]

I was going to get around to it.

< hazyreflection >

[intercalaryninja]

[He has five blood links and he's only using two. What else is he going to track?]

Really now.

So are you going to explain yourself? Or come back and do it to my face?

[chocolaterazor]

Where can we talk without the possibility of being eavesdropped on, then?

[intercalaryninja]

My bedroom. It's a fifteen foot drop. And it's safe. No one can enter without me knowing. Come back and I'll help you down into the forge.

[chocolaterazor]

[Oh joy. Of course that would be the most remote place to hold a major conversation with Tsukikage. Still, Sora will humor it and eventually makes his way to deepest depths of the Hill House.]

[intercalaryninja]

[Tsukikage is waiting at the the entrance for Sora, and honestly he's deliberately keeping any emotion off his face. He gives the briefest of nods before he extends his arms to Sora.]

Hop on. You don't want to get stuck down there.

[chocolaterazor]

... If you don't mind, I think I'd prefer riding on your back than being carried in that fashion.

[Or Tsukikage might decide to take a third option between those two, but surely the spider isn't that internally upset.]

[intercalaryninja]

I'm not a horse, Sora.

[Tsukikage stares at him for a few seconds before he sighs and shakes his head. He's annoyed and disappointed, but not enough to stop himself from turning around for Sora.]

Hold on to my back tight and stay close. Otherwise you'll probably hit a web and get stuck.

[chocolaterazor]

[And up Sora goes onto the arachne's abdomen.]

Didn't call you one.

[intercalaryninja]

[Tsukikage rolls his eyes. He waits for Sora to grab on before he begins to scuttle into his cave. It's a long way down, but Tsukikage is quick, and soon they're at the bottom.

Once there, the spider scuttles towards a tunnel that branches off of all the spider webs, where there's a number of lit torches. In the tunnel, there's no webs but it's HOT in here because there's a forge going on strong, with only a thin chimney there to vent the heat and smoke.]

Take a seat... Let's talk.

[He built and moved all of this himself...]

[chocolaterazor]

[Sora briefly scans the room, noting the temperature and what Tsuki has set out for a seat. Eventually he does so, but if the faces flashing across his screen are anything for the spider to go by... the robot will seem between a mix of annoyed and wary.]

I can tell you weren't planning for this to be casual one about how my day's been or something.

[intercalaryninja]

[There's a lone stool. Tsukikage prefers to stand anyway. The man merely stares at Sora with all his eyes, keeping his emotions behind a veil himself.]

You follow the Fourth. Why? Did Reira-dono convince you?

[chocolaterazor]

Not exactly.

[Treating the matter with the weight it deserves rather making light of it.]

I joined at the time because it seemed like the only option to deal with my other form... that wasn't just waiting around until the next fog and hoping for the best.

[As Sora demonstrated and explained after his incident, he was "partially" aware within the robeast form.]

Wasn't a decision I would've made lightly, but apparently that's what can happen when one of the Fourth's monsters eats a few of your memories.

[intercalaryninja]

I see... [Well... he can't be mad at that. Disappointed, because he did vouch for Sora saying he wouldn't follow a god and he could be trusted, but not mad. This was the same reason he allowed Reira to keep following the Fourth in the first place. He wondered if things would be different if he had been stronger...]

That incident... you made this decision while some of your memories were gone?

[chocolaterazor]

I did. Of course like everyone else's after that incident, they came back. So sure, I could have snapped that card in two and put it behind me...

[But?]

But that wouldn't be much more than figuratively spitting in his face.

[intercalaryninja]

... You've matured. I once thought that you wouldn't pass that opportunity up. [Tsukikage please...]

So what do you intend to do now? Serve him? [He doubts it but he doubted you joining up in the first place]

[chocolaterazor]

Just enough to be considered one of his friends, you know?

[Said so sugary sweetly that clearly the little robot brat has to be up to something.]

Sometimes it's better to work in plain sight than it is from the shadows.

[intercalaryninja]

... Do you think you'll be able to keep that facade up?

He is a 'god' of this world. You haven't done anything to this degree before? And I doubt he'll trust you until you 'prove' something to him.

[chocolaterazor]

All that power the Fourth has doesn't make him less of a kid either, as far as we've seen. Which is the one of only things we can trust as being consistent from him.

[A far larger scaled task with even bigger consequences should he ultimately slip-up, but obviously the risk won't stop Sora from rising to the challenge.]

I'm not afraid of whatever I might need to do to prove myself.

[intercalaryninja]

[So Sora wants to play double-agent again. This time Tsukikage does allow the emotion to come to his face. Worry. He's worried for Sora, as much as he trusts him. It is a very dangerous mission.]

Which is why I'm concerned. Often proving loyalty gives way into being loyal to that person. [You should know that well, Sora.]

[chocolaterazor]

Considering my own track record, I think that's the least you have to worry about. Not even Academia could keep me tied down enough, obviously.

[intercalaryninja]

... It's not Academia that I was thinking that would tie you down.

I was thinking the comparison would be closer to Yuya and Yuzu. [In that case, your track record isn't great]

[chocolaterazor]

Unlike Reira, I won't throwing myself at his feet. She thinks he's so great and we don't know anything about him besides his supposed motives and the results of everything he's done.

And as long as I have this card, you can trust me to keep an eye on her in places you can't and shouldn't go.

[intercalaryninja]

... That's true. I hope you are more cautious with your assessment of him... and you feel free to talk to me if your opinion of him changes.

[He looks at the card that Sora's been holding and he sighs, shaking his head] Please... For all I can do, I can't protect her from him. Look after her... please.

... And if you can... help me find out what he is.

[chocolaterazor]

[Such a serious mission and commitment to promise on gets more than just a completely serious nod.]

I will.