un: ut malum pluvia | audio

[somebadnews]

[ Five has, maybe predictably, not yet shared the information he overheard when he and a few others followed Sairen some days ago to his secret gambling arena. When he decides to in the middle of the night, it really sounds like he's just postulating out loud while he's pacing around a room, because... that's exactly what he's doing at two in the morning. ]

What do we know about the Beastmaster? The village has ties to him, and the Hok-Shinn's offering didn't satisfy him the last time he came. How often does he come, and what were they offering? I'd assume either bodies or weapons, but they seemed purposely vague about it.

Then there's that chemical that the clan controls to make the land fertile enough to grow on. Supposedly they withhold it from farmers who rebel against them, but where does it come from and where do they keep it? Without it they wouldn't have the same hold over their people. And who is the white wanderer that gave it to them the first time? Is that related to their deal with the warlord, or is it something we can exploit?

[ He just says these things like they're already public knowledge. Be useful and fill in the gaps for him, he'll appreciate it. — The next part comes out more direct, because he's really getting sick of spilling hot drinks on himself whenever a pair of gossiping ghosts wander through the wall. (He gets it, Klaus. They might have driven him to drugs too.) ]

Also, I need to borrow an exorcist. If one of you knows how to dispel ghosts, we've got two who don't know how to mind their own business.

[ He's absolutely looking directly at them when he says this. Take a hint, ladies. ]

Comments

[gladiokinesis]

(five doesn't say it, but diego does) you wish you had

[somebadnews]

Why are you awake, anyway? Curse keeping you up?

[ Aggressively changing the subject. ]

[gladiokinesis]

maybe a little

(mostly because he's been ignoring it...)

[somebadnews]

[ Five has no idea what that's like, but he's angry whenever he thinks about them cursing his family. He should be focusing on lifting them before anything else.

At least on helping them deal until he solves them. ]

If you want me to come over, we can work on it.

[gladiokinesis]

(look diego is more concerned about five's memory loss issues -- the curse can wait.)

does it actually matter if i want you to come over or not?

[somebadnews]

[ Not really, no. He's eager to get out of this haunted house anyway. ]

Do you need a minute to get decent?

[gladiokinesis]

yeah, give me a few

(it's late at night, he can't be expected to still be wearing pants)

[somebadnews]

[ He’s so glad he asked.

Five gives him a few generous minutes before he decides it’s been long enough. Then he teleports directly outside his door and gives it two short knocks, just in case it wasn’t. Most of his housemates are probably asleep so he’s not worried about startling them. He barely cares if they aren’t.

He also has the sleep aid Hermione inexplicably gave him in one bandaged hand. So far it’s untested, but if anyone benefits from it, it might as well be Diego. It’s the least he can do for allowing him to get cursed in the first place. ]

[gladiokinesis]

(yeah, diego is glad, and somewhat surprised, he asked too. he's also surprised he bothered with knocking. diego is tugging his shirt back on and then opening the door for his brother. his vision is a little blurrier then it used to be, but he's not paying that much mind yet...)

See you've started learning manners -- and who said old dogs can't learn new tricks.

[somebadnews]

[ Five frowns with his usual 'don't be an idiot' look as he pushes his way inside. ]

I know how you sleep. I'm not taking my chances by surprising a pack of wolves in the middle of the night. [ Like he's never done that before.

He scans the room for them briefly before he turns to study his brother. Granted, the light is dim, but he doesn't see any obvious marks. But if the curse is internal, like the mirror, he wouldn't. After a fair bit of scowling, he moves past any defense he might raise about his wolf friends so they can get to the point. ]

You said you were having trouble sleeping. What's going on?

[gladiokinesis]

(he knows five won't like it or respond well if he admits to not sleeping well partly due to him. it bothers diego to his core that five can't remember vanya. what if he starts forgetting the rest of them? )

You know, just the normal stuff. Trying to figure out how to deal with this stupid curse.

[somebadnews]

[ The vagueness of his answer is immediately irritating, but he makes an effort to school his expression. If he knew he was losing sleep over Five's issues that they can't do anything about, he'd have something to say. For now he just focuses on what he tells him. ]

Any new symptoms? [ The potion stays gripped in his hand, forgotten as he watches him. Then — ] What have you come up with so far?

[gladiokinesis]

Just some blurred vision. Nothing we need to worry about. (he tries to say it casually like five won't see through him like always.)

Don't really know what to do, honestly.

[somebadnews]

[ Five absolutely doesn't like the sound of that. He gets closer and watches his eyes like he can tell how bad his vision is just by the way his pupil adjusts to the light. When he admits that he doesn't know what to do, he breathes a heavy sigh out of his nose. ]

Nothing to worry about until it starts to throw off your aim. [ The cuts on his hands are annoying, but he'd take them over blurred vision. Thus Diego's curse is the priority. ]

We have two choices. Either we play their game and figure out whatever the hell atonement means to them, or we go to whoever created the curse and force them to lift it. [ Or both, to cover their bases. ] Someone told me it was open to interpretation, so... we just need to find the right one.

[ Then they can skip to option three, where they burn the village down for all the grief they've caused them. The dead of night is definitely the perfect time to come up with your best ideas. ]

Tell me the story again.