[open] coping mechanisms

[shacklebreaker]

Who: Simon Blackquill (shacklebreaker), Taka, and you!
When: 21st December/early hours of 22nd
Where: Various
What: The Twisted Samurai spends the day alone for some personal reflection.
Rating/Warning: AA5 spoilers. Mentions of death/implied suicide. Drankin.

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i. AFTERNOON - CERES GARDENS

[Blackquill's brought his hawk to the gardens to give him some exercise. At the moment he's throwing scraps of meat for Taka to snatch out of midair, making the bird work for his food. If Taka catches it successfully -- which he does without fail, every time -- the hawk is whistled back and rewarded with another treat.

It's not a training session, but rather, a way to get Taka to stretch his wings. The hawk is already well-trained enough that Blackquill doesn't even need a hood or jesses for his bird. The last thing he's interested in is tying his faithful companion down when Taka can fly free, and it gives him a calming sense of peace to watch him soar and dive through the air.

Once Taka has eaten his fill, Blackquill can be found strolling through the gardens. His hawk is hidden in the trees, although anyone observant might notice the bird never strays too far away.]

ii. LATE EVENING THROUGH TO 1AM - NOVUS/REPLEA

[Given today's date, there's morbid appropriateness in stowing away for the evening in what the locals knew as the 'entrance to the underworld'. The bar might be considered seedy to some, filled with criminals and rebel activity as it was, but after seven years on death row, Blackquill is more comfortable with this brand of drinking company than anything else.

Not that he's interested in socialising. He's too wrapped up in his own thoughts for that, nursing a drink at the bar and trying to numb the dull pain that has hung over him all day.

He'd spent seven years in a cell. Seven years, waiting for his own willing demise. For seven years of sleepless nights, confinement and isolation, the past replaying over and over in his mind, he'd marched, slowly but resolutely, towards the end.

Then, at the very last moment, she'd reached out and snatched him from the jaws of death.

Were all those years worth it? Yes, if it was to serve the one more important to him than life itself. But now after all that pain, here they were, in Cerealia. Their world had been destroyed, and they owed their existences here to data. The more he thinks about it, the more he feels he'd failed her. And that her struggles, too, had been for nothing...

But such thoughts are enough to drive a man to madness. Better not to think on it. He downs the last of his beer, and slams down a hand on the bartop for another.

Tonight is going to be a long night.]

iii. EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING - APARTMENTS

[It's almost 2am when Blackquill returns to the apartment complex. He'd hoped to slip in unnoticed, but as he fumbles to find his room key, the plastic snowman Athena had put outside her room a few days prior bursts into song. Yet again.]

Curse you, you noisy thing-- [He mutters under his breath, rifling through his pockets with more urgency. He'll try and get into his room before anyone on the floor is woken up...]

Comments

[shacklebreaker]

[A dismissive shrug.] By all means. My neighbour vowed she would switch it off at this time of night, so she either neglected to do so, or it switched itself back on.

[The former he wouldn't put past Athena, but the latter he would expect from any technology here. It was all of it unpredictable at best, outright dangerous at worst.]

[aerialassault]

[Regardless of whether it was dangerous or unpredictable, it still was of interest to Cliff. The tech wasn't entirely up to the standards he was familiar with, but it was simple enough. He took the little decoration and flipped it around, quickly flipping the switch in hopes of permanently silencing the horrifically cheerful little snowmen.

He was getting tired of these snowmen.]

Some neighbor, but that's an easy thing to forget. It must have some kinda motion sensor in it, if it woke up again...

[shacklebreaker]

Yes, it detects both sound and motion, apparently. With any luck, it will stay silent this time.

[He really has no desire to be woken up by more singing... If he even gets any sleep at all.]

I apologise on my neighbour's behalf. She has a talent for causing a ruckus.

[aerialassault]

Sometimes those make for fun neighbors-- but, not at two am.

[Shrugging, he handed the offending snowman back to the stranger.]

If it keeps being a problem, I'll see if I can install some kinda timer on the thing. Then, no one will need to worry 'bout this guy anymore.

[shacklebreaker]

[He takes it back, giving it an experimental shake to make sure the motion sensors definitely won't switch the thing back on. Once he's satisfied, he sets it back down next to Athena's door.]

You're good with mechanical devices, are you?

[aerialassault]

[Oh, good. The continued silence was encouraging. Cliff leaned back on his heels, hands resting against his hips, and regarded the stranger now.]

Yeah. I'm a hobbiest back home, but that's enough for them to hire me to work on the tech here.

[A shrug. The level of tech here was low grade for him too, but that wasn't going to stop him from tinkering.]

The name's Cliff. What did they hire you for?

[shacklebreaker]

Simon Blackquill. As there's no place here for prosecutors, I was instead taken on by the police.

It's grunt work if there ever was any, but I shan't complain too much... At least I've the freedom to roam the city. [Unlike poor Edgeworth, who's stuck with a desk job. ...And it definitely beats seven years of menial prison labour, though he's keeping quiet about that part.]

[aerialassault]

Hah. I'm noticing a few folks who work in law 'round here. Pity that you can't get something in your field...but, that might be for the best. It means we're getting along all right.

[Or, it meant that they had gotten more creative with their problem solving methods, like he did.]

Might be best to just be happy for the little things. At least they didn't put us on security detail.

[shacklebreaker]

That's an optimistic way to look at it.

[Blackquill knows better, but he won't enlighten Cliff if he doesn't know already. Let him believe everything is sunshine and rainbows for a little longer, if it makes him happy.]

Why would they put us on security detail, when they have absurdly overarmed robots to do it for us?

[aerialassault]

[Cliff knew more than he was letting on, to a degree. Nothing was ever as peachy as it seemed, and he had every reason to be frustrated with life in this colony; he was simply choosing not to let it bother him for the moment.]

I dunno. I've found that overarmed robots are missing some creativity in my experience. They can only do what their told, and that isn't always right.

[shacklebreaker]

Just so. The law and its enforcers may be imperfect, but so too are the offenders. A few pre-programmed behaviours may be enough to keep order through force, but beyond that...

[He trails off.]

At any rate, such discussions are best left for another time, or it is I who will be receiving noise complaints ere long. [It is the early hours of the morning, after all.]

[aerialassault]

[Cliff nodded.]

Yeah, no kiddin'. People don't like spooks roaming the halls.

...I live a few doors down, though, and I keep odd hours. If the night ever gets too quiet for your tastes, feel free to knock-- we can share a few drinks, or just talk.

[shacklebreaker]

Very well... I shall keep the offer in mind.

[Whether he'll take him up on it is another matter; Blackquill is closed and withdrawn by nature. Even so, it's useful to have contacts.] Until next time, then.