[open] someone once said burn my dread, babe

[simulatio]

Who: Goro Akechi + y'all 👀
What: early December prompts + future catch-all
Where: Throughout the Void
When: "December"ish
Content Warnings: N/A (yet)



A. Wall Market Bathhouse

[Whilst in the Mementos-that-wasn't-Mementos, Goro Akechi died.

He's no stranger to death; people die all the time. In his experience, rarely do they come back. He'd spent the time after his death with the other Phantom Thieves, doing his best to pretend that everything was normal. If he'd been more withdrawn, less prone to smile his princely smile and converse pleasantly, perhaps he could be excused. The deepest, darkest parts of his soul had been wandering around without him for a time, after all.

But he certainly can't hide forever, and the lack of showers in the apartment he shares with Ren drives him to the bathhouse. It's one of the most comfortable places for him, especially now that there aren't fish swimming in the bath. He sinks up to his chin in the warm water and closes his eyes, as relaxed as he can be in a public space.]

B. Mortis Lake

Stop following me!

[Akechi is trying his very best to sound as pleasant as possible, even as he waves his arms in an attempt to frighten off the winged giraffe-like creature that's taken to following him through the forest of trees. It's almost comical how annoyed he's getting as the animal continues to follow him, large doe-like eyes wide with interest as it pads along behind him. Every now and then, it flaps its wings to glide awkwardly over the ground to make sure it keeps up, plaintively letting out a mournful cry whenever Akechi gets too far away from it.]

Would you go find the rest of your herd already? [he snaps as it catches up and tries for a friendly nibble at the back of his hair.] What the fu-

[He freezes upon realizing that he has an audience nearby and clears his throat with a cough, correcting his tone to a more pleasant,] Pardon me. Could you give me a hand?

C. Heavenly Blanc

[Some time ago, Ren had sat outside the bar/café working on a shogi board. Now it's Akechi's turn with the same piece of wood, though he's taken over one of the tables inside. He's working on the other side of the shogi board to create a grid with fewer squares, tracing thin lines with one of the large knives from Heavenly Blanc's kitchen while using his cell phone as a guide.

Once he's done outlining the board with the knife, he goes back over the 8x8 grid with a marker, the cap held between his teeth as he concentrates. Beside him are gemstones from the Academy's store, separated into two sets of what look like clear diamonds and deep red rubies, marked with English letters: several marked with the letter "P," two each labeled "R, B, Kn," and one each "Ki" and "Q."]

A chessboard, [he'll explain to anyone who happens to glance over curiously, though he doesn't stop working.]

D. Gymnasium

[Akechi's never really been one for team sports, but the cycling machines attract special attention. Dressed in a spare gym uniform from the Academy (washed beforehand, of course), he's currently working through a rather challenging-looking course on one of the bikes. Loose strands of his hair, the parts that escaped being drawn back into the small ponytail at the base of his neck, stick to his cheeks as he huffs for air, pursuing an invisible finish line that only he can see.

It's only once he's finished that course and is taking a drink of water from a water bottle that he notices he has company, and offers an easy smile.]

Care for a race? They may be stationary machines, but we could always compare times.

E. Wildcard!

[I'll be adding additional prompts in comments as needed throughout the month, but feel free to use this post for just about anything involving Akechi! Feel free to chat with me @jaderhade if you want to do anything with this nasty man. As always, I have a screened spoiler opt-out page for anyone looking to avoid Persona 5 or Persona 5 Royal spoilers!]

Comments

[simulatio]

[He snorts when Damien trails off, the beginnings of a laugh. What an implied question to ask. There are so many things left unanswered, things he doesn't know or would rather not discuss.]

I'm not injured, either. [He rotates his shoulder as if to prove it. It hadn't been a lasting injury, and the healing he'd received in Mementos had been enough to cure it.] Though I'm afraid the experience will leave scars.

[Mental, obviously, but also the healed skin in the very center of his forehead, obscured by his bangs from this position. He's rather tired of getting scars from fatal wounds, to tell the truth.

A beat, and then he sighs, setting down the piece he'd been drawing on and looking across the table.]

I've been told there were parts of me wandering around without my permission. Did you have the misfortune of encountering any of them?

[abeautifulgame]

Loki. [he nods] We met. He threatened me. It was all very ... [overprotective parent threatening to hurt anyone who hurts their kid, albeit in a creepy sort of way. he's still not sure how he feels about the whole interaction, either way, though, to be honest. it was unsettling, but not how you would expect. it was more the fact that something was wearing Akechi's face, rather than what was said during their exchange or Loki, himself, maybe. it wouldn't have been so bad, if he hadn't kept Akechi's face]

[either way, rather than try and put that into words, he just makes a vague gesture, dismissive. whatever. it's over now. no big deal]

[simulatio]

...I see.

[He frowns, drumming his fingers lightly against the surface of the table, wondering if he should apologize. Does he owe Damien an apology for what his inner, unmasked self might do, the part of him that has no interest in niceties or social mores? Ren would probably apologize on Loki's behalf, were they in different positions.

There's fear, too, that same kind of heart-pounding fear of abandonment that he forces himself to ignore, boxes up and shrinks down and sets aside in an innermost corner of his brain where he can pretend it doesn't exist. The more Damien knows about him, the more likely he is to decide that Akechi is irrevocably broken, and not worth the effort to stay around. Which is, on its surface, absurd -- Damien is just as wretched a human being as he is. But still, the feeling persists.]

A Persona is the innermost aspects of a person's heart, [he says finally. He won't apologize for something he was quite literally dead during, but at the very least, Damien deserves some manner of explanation.] Under the right circumstances, they can awaken in a time of crisis. A piece of the human collective unconscious, scooped out and allowing itself to become a part of you. Lending you power when your goals align with theirs.

[He picks out two of the as-of-yet-unmarked gemstones, a ruby and a diamond, and tosses them lightly in his gloved hand.]

You know enough about me that I'm certain you can see why Loki may have manifested from my heart. Tell me, are you familiar with the story of Robin Hood?

[It seems like a fairly abrupt non sequitur, but he is going somewhere with it.]

[abeautifulgame]

[he's pretty sure, if he had a Persona, it would have threatened his friends, too. like Akechi, he's been hurt a lot, over the course of his life, and by more than just Aiden. like Akechi, it made him bitter, not better, not like pain and conflict have shaped people like, say, Ren. there's a reason why he and Loki would have gotten along, under different circumstances, and for more than the fact that, when he panicked, snapped, whatever you want to call it, he took it out on Chicago]

[he nods, then, that in mind -- he understands and he understands why Akechi ended up with Loki, yes. a curious tilt of his head follows, at the change in subject, figuring that, yes, it is going somewhere, but not sure where]

Robbed from the rich and gave to the poor? Band of Merry Men out of Sherwood Forest? Had a thing for Maid Marian? [yes, he's familiar with Robin Hood]

[simulatio]

A man who served his king to the utmost of his ability, only to have his lands and castle usurped in his absence by the Sheriff of Nottingham, yes.

[Akechi snorts through his nose and sets the two gems down on the table, tapping a finger against the white one.]

Robin Hood was the first Persona I awakened. I was a child, angry at injustice, lashing out with the grand aim to fix all of it, intending to reclaim what I saw as rightfully mine from those in power who did nothing to help those beneath them.

[He taps the red gem, once, twice, and shakes his head.]

I was naïve then. Loki helped me see that more clearly than Robin Hood ever could.

[abeautifulgame]

[he shakes his head a little] Hopeful. [not naïve. there's a difference. Damien was hopeful once, too, maybe, but Chicago broke him of that quickly. Akechi's experiences broke him of that pretty quick, too, he thinks]

Either way, though. I can see why you would have reached for them, either of them.

[simulatio]

Perhaps. [He carelessly shrugs one shoulder, the one that had been injured.] Call it what you like.

[Akechi plucks the two gems off the table and weighs them in his hand, studying them carefully before starting to flip them between his gloved fingers.]

Apparently it's strange for someone to hold two Personas within them. To my knowledge, Ren and I are the only Persona-users who can do so. A person is only supposed to have one "heart," as it were. Personas can change and evolve as their users grow stronger, but having more than one is... unique.

[For once, he doesn't sound proud, or even resentful. Just pensive.]

I'm told that in my future, Robin Hood and Loki combine to form a new Persona. [Yoshizawa had dropped that particular revelation on him, and he still isn't certain how to feel about it. He clenches his jaw for a moment, then finally allows himself to set the gemstones down.] I apologize for the rambling dissertation. I suppose I just thought you deserved to know the truth, after meeting him. Or rather, that part of myself, exposed.

[abeautifulgame]

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but you didn't need to try and explain yourself to me. [if it were anyone else, or if Loki had hurt him, maybe, but -- well, it's sort of a moot point, anyway, at this point, isn't it?]

[though] Though, I thought you said you ended up dead, back home? [like him. that has come up, hasn't it? their ultimate, shitty fates? maybe Ren told him. either way, he knows how things end for Akechi, so how can he be said to have a future, let alone one that ends with his Personas fusing?]

[simulatio]

I wanted to. [His eyes flick up to meet Damien's, searching briefly to see if he'd made a mistake. If the conscious choice to remove a piece of his armor was the wrong move.] You're one of the few men here I think intelligent enough to grasp the concept without me holding your hand.

[He doesn't say trust, because, well, that simply isn't true, is it? Sometimes, he thinks, he can't even trust Ren. But intelligence, Damien has in spades, and he's seen enough already that giving him more information doesn't feel like a critical weakness.]

As for my death, [he continues carelessly, as if remarking on the intermittent gusts of wind outside,] I do have some time left. Just over two weeks, according to Yoshizawa-san. [His gloved fingertips gently drum against the two gemstones as his gaze grows distant.] Somewhere in that interim, something must have changed, but she wasn't privy to the details.

[abeautifulgame]

[Damien holds his gaze for a long moment, and then nods slowly, slightly. he appreciates the explanation -- and that little bit of stroking for his ego, whether or not his intelligence is fact and not something Akechi is inflating to make him feel good about himself. he didn't make a mistake]

[he looks away again, when Akechi addresses his death, out of an odd sort of politeness] Maybe you found peace, managed to reconcile wanting to fix everything and destroy everything, somehow. [and wouldn't that be the way the world fucking works? figuring yourself out just in time to die? it's not fair, any way you look at it]

[simulatio]

[He snorts, then laughs with genuine amusement, belatedly covering his mouth with his hand to stifle the sound to something more polite lest it attract the attention of others.]

That would certainly be a unique enough situation, I would think.

[Finding peace. Even now, he doesn't know if he's found true peace. Being with Ren is something like it, he thinks, and yet there's still a never-ending anxiety in the back of his mind about their inevitable return. About dying. About what comes next. Hell, even about Ren simply deciding enough is enough, and abandoning him as everyone else in Akechi's life has done thus far.]

Thank you, [he says finally when the laughter fades, the tense set to his shoulders somewhat eased from earlier.] For allowing me to explain.

[abeautifulgame]

[he nods]

You're welcome.

[a moment of pause follows, that said, as Damien takes a moment to study him, first at idle and then more sharply, as clearly something sees to occur to him. he doesn't want to ruin the moment, Akechi's ease, but -- ] You know, he asked me what my plans were, as far as you and I are concerned. I told him for once, my only agenda was that I didn't have an agenda, and I meant that. [ -- but he needs to hear that from him, directly]

[simulatio]

[Unfortunately for Akechi, Loki doesn't often simply tell him things. Whatever conversation they'd had together, Loki certainly wouldn't bother to keep him informed. His Persona suits him, in that way -- needlessly difficult, offering advice when it's not wanted and staying silent when it would help him to speak up.

A beat as Akechi absorbs this confession, this revelation, for what it is. He chews at his cheek for a moment before catching himself in the old habit and consciously stopping himself in favor of meeting Damien's eyes. Maybe he's saying what he thinks Akechi wants to hear. Maybe, he's just reporting back what he'd told Loki, under the assumption that he'd already know about it.

Maybe he does mean it, when he says he doesn't have an agenda.]

Well, [he says finally, when he trusts himself to speak.] You'd be one of the few.

[abeautifulgame]

[maybe, a lifetime away, he would have had something in mind for Akechi. he can see how he'd be useful, back home -- a clever, morally questionable boy, handy with a gun and a sword, not afraid to get his hands dirty, and at his beck and call? well, Aiden would never see him coming. neither would that fucking fixer. maybe he'd actually survive the next few hours, when he gets home. and oh, the fun he and Akechi could have, after -- the things he could teach him. it'd be nice to have a protégé that isn't too noble for his own fucking good]

[here, though? well, like he told Loki -- what would be the point?]

[he simply shrugs, then, that in mind, and starts to tell him that he's welcome. he changes tracks at the last second, however, a little smile tugging at the corners of his mouth] I take it back. [a beat] You're obligated to play a game or two with me, when you finish. [and as if it isn't obvious what he's talking about, he gestures to the board. he's going to 'use' you as his chess partner, Akechi]