PSL - NSFW, approach with caution

[primordialice]

- If you're looking to make an appointment to speak with the Administrator, please speak with Ms. Marette at the front desk.
- If you're looking to schedule a boxing match with the Administrator, please speak with Mr. Roussimoff in the Pankration Ring.
- If you have a really, really urgent matter that desperately needs the Administrator's attention right now, please find a senior guard and relay your information to them.
- If you have a new tea variety you'd like the Administrator to try, please leave it with Ms. Marette at the front desk or knock to the rhythm of the first movement of Furina's Benevolence and he will be with you shortly.

All other matters are first come, first served.

Comments

[primordialice]

"You've been making yourself hard to miss, Mezzetino." Wriothesley leans back in his chair and crosses his arms, looking his junior over. Having one of his fellow Harbingers in his prison is... annoying. Having it be Scar, by far the least discreet and most impulsive member of their ranks is an active security risk. Unfortunately, Brighella is fairly certain making Mezzetino disappear into the depths of Meropide will get him censured by the Tsaritsa and Pierro, a punishment he'd rather avoid. "Don't tell me you've just been vying for my attention? I thought you'd have more self-respect than that."

[theblacklamb]

Scar gives him a faintly absurd but completely earnest doe-eyed pout. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to acknowledge me at all! Aren’t we brothers in arms? And I was bored,” he adds, as an afterthought.

Self-respect is for boring people. “I’ll stop fighting the other inmates for twenty-four hours if you spar with me,” he offers.

[primordialice]

Brighella barely manages to avoid rolling his eyes when Scar starts trying to be cute. The fact that he is cute doesn't help matters. It just makes it more irritating. "Here in Meropide I'm primarily the Warden, Mezzetino. Socializing with a Fatui Harbinger could make people wonder where my true loyalties lie."

He knows that sneaky little head nurse is always reporting to the Iudex, after all. He checks her letters before they leave the Fortress to make sure nothing too incriminating is included - he's excellent at forging her cutesy handwriting - but still. He'd rather not go to the trouble of doing too much editing.

"Twenty-four hours?" He scoffs. "Don't be ridiculous. Give me a week of good behaviour and I'll spar with you."

[theblacklamb]

“So socialize secretly. You’re a Harbinger, surely you have things in place for covert activities. Or do you think there’s someone more interesting than you here for me to befriend?” Quite a joke, the thought that anyone here might be more interesting than the Tenth Harbinger.

“Two days,” Scar counters immediately, eyes alight. If Brighella is negotiating, that means he’s willing.

[primordialice]

"I doubt there's anyone you'd find that interesting, though if you want to make the attempt with Nurse Sigewinne I'd love to watch you try." As sweet and friendly as the heard nurse is, Wriothesley is quite aware she has a sharp intelligence and surprising skills at manipulation. "Why this sudden interest in socializing with me? I was never your favourite person before." They've never been at odds with each other the way some of the Harbingers are, but they've never been close. "If you tell me it's just because there's no one else around, you'll hurt my feelings, Mezzo."

"Hmmm..." He does not want to get locked into sparring with Mezzetino every two days and he knows if he does it once, Mezzetino will probably expect it thereafter. He could probably use the stress relief, but he has actual work to do. "A week, but it's not just sparring in the Pankration Ring. I'll take you to my training ground where we can have a real match."

[theblacklamb]

Scar wrinkles his nose. “She’s much too goody two shoes and dedicated to the living. But you—you’re interesting, Brigi. You’re in your element here, and it shows you off in a way you aren't elsewhere.” He gives him a sly look. “And you’re so stern and commanding…”

"A week, a real match, but if someone challenges me I can accept." He's sure he can goad someone into it. And he doesn't want to go entire weeks without fighting at all.

[primordialice]

"You mean I don't look like a teenager." Wriothesley looks slightly amused. He never bothers to shift into something more mature-looking when he's playing the Harbinger - it helps keep some separation between his roles, and encourages people to underestimate him, which he enjoys. "But I'll take that as a compliment, I suppose."

He strokes his chin, considering it, then shrugs. "Fine. And if you want to fight in the Pankration during your off-hours, I won't stop you - just don't kill anyone. A few more broken bones will help keep Sigewinne busy."

[theblacklamb]

Scar shrugs shamelessly. "That certainly helps, but not just that. You're in charge here, the last word. And everyone knows it."

He grins. "Deal. When can we go?"

[primordialice]

"And you like that? I would have thought you'd find it annoying." Most of the Harbingers don't like to give up any power at all. Brighella is true to form in that way, so he likes having his private little kingdom and doesn't relish the idea of a power struggle with Mezzetino for it.

"...tonight would be a good night for it." It's one of the nights the guard schedule is fully Fatui in case he needs to get things done. Apparently what he needs to get done is teaching Scar a lesson.

[theblacklamb]

“Power and confidence are attractive, Brigi! Or don’t you agree? What does move the Tenth Harbinger?” The look Scar gives him is jokingly sultry, and not joking at all. In his older form, Brighella is larger, broader in the shoulders and solidly built. He looks like he could bat aside Scar’s slim muscle without effort.

Scar is still going to make him work for it, of course. What would the fun be in otherwise? He beams, smug and excited. “Now?”

[primordialice]

Wriothesley looks Scar up and down and tilts his head in consideration. Scar is attractive, he's noticed it before. Still, it's not like he's going to let him bat his eyelashes and get away with anything in his fortress. "Guess you'll have to find out, won't you?"

"I said tonight, which means after lights out. So be a good boy and wait patiently, alright?" He smirks at him. "Meet me here. If anyone questions you you can just tell them Brighella asked to see you, everyone on guard tonight is loyal."

[theblacklamb]

Excellent, he’s gotten Brighella to look at him properly, to think about it. So he’ll be thinking about it during their fight. Just like Scar will.

“Oh, I’m a very bad boy, Warden. That’s why I’m in prison, after all. But I suppose I can manage to wait a little longer to have you to myself.” It’s good to hear that there are a decent number of fatui helping run the fortress, though it would truly be absurd if Brighella hadn’t built himself and the Tsaritsa a little army in such a fertile ground for recruitment.

And he’s sure he can entertain himself the rest of the day. He didn’t promise good behavior until after Brighella fights him, after all.

[primordialice]

"Looks like I'll have to bring you to heel, then." Brighella doesn't seem too bothered by the idea. Maybe he'll get a commendation if he teaches Scar to sit, stay, and bark on command, so to speak... nah, unlikely. The other man wouldn't be a Harbinger if Pierro didn't have a use for him like this. On the other hand, doing it for his own personal entertainment isn't a bad idea either. "Get out of my office, Mezzetino, I'm busy. I'll see you tonight."

As always, he has plenty of paperwork to keep himself occupied until the rest of the Fortress is asleep. Running two facilities comes with double the load of bureaucracy, even if one is technically a secret base. One of the coupon cafeteria staff brings him dinner, but other than that he barely even notices the time passing until the lights out alert sounds.

[theblacklamb]

Shamelessly, it’s less than a minute after the lights go out that Scar appears back in the office, trailing sparks in the dim light. “I’m here for our date, Brigi!”

[primordialice]

"So eager to get started. You miss me that much?" Wriothesley stands and stretches his shoulders, though he doesn't really need it. He rarely gets stiff or sore, even though men of his age should be starting to slow down a little. He grabs his coat and slings it over his shoulders, leading his way back down his stairs and out of the administrative office.

The guards they pass all salute immediately, much more punctilious than they are in the day, respect and not a little fear written on their faces as they watch the two Harbingers walk through the prison. Brighella nods at them as they pass, headed to one of the downward elevators, where he pulls out a brass key and presses the down key five times to reveal a keyhole he unlocks. The elevator shudders and clicks. "It's a bit of a ride to the training zone. There was a surprising amount of unused space around here when I took over - apparently they dug a lot deeper into Mount Esus than anyone on the surface realized."

[theblacklamb]

Mezzetino leers cheerfully at the guards, letting his horns cast a shadow behind him even if they aren’t showing on his body. It’s good that Brighella has his forces in line.

“Picked the fortress open and taken all its secrets for your own, have you?” Scar paces idly in the elevator as it drops, clearly chafing at the wait.

[primordialice]

"It's my territory. I'd be a poor wolf if I didn't know my own hunting grounds." The elevator stops short of its usual final floor and then jerks sideways, down a horizontal track.

He leans against the wall, watching Scar pace. "Not a fan of small spaces? Or is it just that you can't speed this thing up?"

[theblacklamb]

“Will you hunt me tonight, dear Brighella?” Scar turns to look at him, eyes luminous in the dim.

“I’d have bigger problems if I minded small spaces. And I could always just leave. You know I’m a very hard man to trap. I just don’t like waiting for things that I want.” And the feeling of the elevator floor moving under his feet as he paces is interesting enough to be a mild distraction.

[primordialice]

"If that's the kind of game you want, sure, why not?" He knows the Fortress like the back of his hand, even these tunnels farther away from the main hub. He doubts that a stranger to the place will be able to get away, no matter what kind of headstart he gives Mezzetino.

"If you break my elevator I'm cancelling our fight." He could fix it, or have one of his engineers do it, but it would be a pain in the ass. "Be patient. We'll be there soon, and you'll be off the leash."

[theblacklamb]

“Mm, no, I don’t want to run. I want to fight you. No holding back.” He’s very glad of the secret training ground—it means he’ll be able to stretch out into his other shape without any tedious worry about the consequences of letting the other prisoners see. He does feel cramped if he goes too long in human skin alone.

“I wouldn’t break it. But I can’t make a portal to where we’re going if I haven’t been there yet, so I’m being good.” The last word is accompanied by an attempt at an angelic expression.

[primordialice]

"No holding back," Wriothesley agrees. He hasn't found anything that can hurt him for long - even Capitano throwing him into a wall knocked him breathless more from awe than actually getting hurt. He's not afraid of Mezzetino's other form, no matter how monstrous it is. Not that he's seen it. It's not the kind of thing you wear to Harbinger meetings.

"Good boy." Brighella accompanies that with a sarcastic look. Of course he knows that means that once Scar's been to the restricted zone he'll probably be popping in and out of it every few minutes just out of boredom. Well, as long as he didn't disrupt anything... he'd tell his lieutenants to let him know if there was trouble. Mezzetino might be a Harbinger and able to order around the rank and file, but Brighella's orders outweigh his.

[theblacklamb]

Not many people are willing to actually let Scar let loose. Dottore will set him against things or people occasionally, to observe if his powers are still manifesting stably, but other than that, most of the time things are over too soon or he's too much stronger than his opponents. And he likes being terrifying, but it's boring when they run away. His eyes bleed yellow, pupils elongating into horizontal bars as he grins at Brighella's agreement. "Good." The other man is a higher rank than him, he might not actually be able to beat him, even going all out--and that's all the better, because he wants a challenge.

He gives Brighella an arch look. "Would you like to make me be good, Briga?" He breaks and laughs. "Dottore's tried to train me, you know. This is as much as he managed."

[primordialice]

Wriothesley watches Scar's eyes shift with interest - a fascinating clue to his other form's true nature. His own pick up a bit of his natural form's purple-blue glow - and his scars begin to glow with the same light, as though it radiates out from under his skin.

He shrugs with a bit of a crooked grin. "Being generous, Dottore's strengths don't exactly lie in behaviour modification work. The trick is in making you want to be good for me." And he's sure there's something he can find to use as motivation somewhere in Scar's psyche.

The elevator finally halts and Wriothesley leads the way out into a large mostly-natural cavern with enough lights strung around the walls and ceiling to take it from gloomy to fairly well lit. There are a few trainees exchanging blows in one corner, targets set up along wall, and a few areas cushioned with mats. Wriothesley claps his hands sharply, getting the attention of the trainees. "Everybody out! Lord Scar and I will be training here tonight. We don't need anyone getting in the way." Losing a trainee or two to one of them missing a shot doesn't sound worthwhile.

[theblacklamb]

Oh, isn't that fun? What a pretty little light show he makes. Will there be more of it, if Scar splits him open?

"You're welcome to try." If Scar minded being brought to heel, he wouldn't be a Harbinger, wouldn't be one of the Tsaritsa's attack dogs. A dog has to take some direction, after all, even if it isn't much.

He follows Brighella into the cavern--large, good. He won't have to worry about hitting his head on the ceiling. He laughs when Brighella sends the children away. "Don't want to hurt the little ones? Or don't want me to?"

[primordialice]

Wriothesley shrugs casually, his gauntlets materializing around his fists before he gives them a couple of pre-fight checks. "Maybe I will, if it seems like it's worth it." He has to make sure the effort is worth the cost, after all. He's a busy man.

The trainees salute them both nervously as they head past to the elevator that will take them back to the main hub of the prison. He chuckles at Scar's comment "What were the civilian casualty numbers from your last few missions? I don't have so many trainees I can spare a few for your fun, Mezzetino." Not every prisoner is a good fit for his special work program, after all - some are too loyal to Fontaine, some too soft, some too connected to the outside world.