There are games I don't care to play. This is your one chance to get this information from me. I'm not even asking about the whole city - you can play all the games you want out there. One chance. What'll it be?
[Under more normal circumstances, this is exactly the kind of trick Beckett would spot - it's a very vampire thing to do. But things have not been normal for months, and he is frantic and exhausted and now he needs information even more desperately - ]
It was human blood, as far as I could tell from scent and taste. And I should be able to tell. Next question: where are the tunnel bombs?
That didn't sound like an answer. [Or did it? He's getting suspicious. But he can't afford to be wrong. Angel is in the tunnels, and Haurchefant. And - what's left of Rhys.]
Last call. Or you can wave your information goodbye. And if we ever meet, I may happen to remember that vampires are related to bats.
[Damn it, no, this is not the end he wanted for the conversation. Beckett hisses through gritted teeth. Is he willing to -? Yes, yes he is.]
I've seen your dream, Joker. I know I can't appeal to you. But I know you want out of here as much as any of us - your fight isn't here. The only fight that matters. [This is a language he knows well.] You want this information. Tell me one thing. Please. Angel and Rhys are in the tunnels - down near the southern end. Are they safe?
I couldn't care less about your mental health. [He sounds honest about it, and deeply weary, coughing for a while before he continues.] I'm pointing out that you have unfinished business back home. Here means nothing. You want my information - and I have more, untold, than just about the blood. And I'm setting a very reasonable price on it I do think. Is Angel safe?
[A long pause, as if he's thinking. He's just being dramatic.]
No.
She's not safe.
None of us are. We could all drop dead tomorrow for the silliest reason.
But I'm in a shockingly giving mood, son, so I'll answer the question you're trying to ask me.
She is in danger down there. But if she dies it won't be because of anything I did. I've never been that far south.
[Which is true, and easily proved. He spent most of his time in the tunnels with House and Alphonse ,either of whom could tell people he hadn't been there.]
If that's your standard for wicked, clearly you haven't met many vampires.
[The dramatic pause works, much as he might hate that. Beckett holds his breath through it, through the rambling that follows, still and silent until he gets his answer, his real answer. Then all the air goes out of him at once. At least the feed is voice only, though just from the sound, Joker may get the sense of him staggering against the nearest wall.]
See. That wasn't so hard. [If only he had the energy for a better quip. This will have to do.]
I thought that the blood was tainted in some way. I couldn't keep anything down for a week after drinking it, and after that I - died, so I can't tell you if the recovery was spontaneous or the result of intervention. That was the only symptom, though - which would be odd in a poisoned human, I suppose, but fairly standard in Kindred terms. What else do you want to know?
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branchandroot
voice;
Date: 2016-05-25 06:33 am (UTC)WHAT A CAD!
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Date: 2016-05-25 06:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 06:47 am (UTC)Did it taste real?
Look real?
How the heck does a piano bleed anyway?
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Date: 2016-05-25 06:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 06:52 am (UTC)Now, the piano....
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Date: 2016-05-25 06:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 07:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 07:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 07:11 am (UTC)Listen, buddy, if I say I did something I did it. That's how the Joker rolls.
Haha!
[Which is the joke. Nowhere in his threat did he say he actually planted any bombs. He only said he might have.]
no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 07:20 am (UTC)It was human blood, as far as I could tell from scent and taste. And I should be able to tell. Next question: where are the tunnel bombs?
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Date: 2016-05-25 07:28 am (UTC)Open your dang eyes, man. You people cannot be this freaking dimwitted.
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Date: 2016-05-25 07:36 am (UTC)Last call. Or you can wave your information goodbye. And if we ever meet, I may happen to remember that vampires are related to bats.
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Date: 2016-05-25 07:41 am (UTC)If we meet we can have tea and laugh about all this, hmm?
[He can't quite afford to let the punchline out just yet, not when people might come down on him over Clayton's death.]
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Date: 2016-05-25 07:56 am (UTC)I've seen your dream, Joker. I know I can't appeal to you. But I know you want out of here as much as any of us - your fight isn't here. The only fight that matters. [This is a language he knows well.] You want this information. Tell me one thing. Please. Angel and Rhys are in the tunnels - down near the southern end. Are they safe?
no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 08:04 am (UTC)My dream? Everyone was in my dream. I saw 'em, floating around....
[Was that his dream? There hadn't been a Bat....this still distresses him.]
I don't remember seeing you.
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Date: 2016-05-25 08:23 am (UTC)I think - you didn't see anyone there. But I did. I saw the carnival, and the bat.
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Date: 2016-05-25 08:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 08:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 08:38 am (UTC)[He sounds excited, almost eager to talk about the Bat.]
He made me! Oh, sure, he probably doesn't remember it that way but he did.
Haha...
I do see him a lot... In my dreams....
Hehee...
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Date: 2016-05-25 08:45 am (UTC)[Playing therapist to mad clowns is not exactly the peak of Beckett's aspirations, but he'll take what he can get for now.]
The rest is nothing. All of us. Set dressing. You need him, don't you?
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Date: 2016-05-25 08:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-25 04:43 pm (UTC)How wicked of you.
[Joker coughs himself.]
South tunnels, you say?
[A long pause, as if he's thinking. He's just being dramatic.]
No.
She's not safe.
None of us are. We could all drop dead tomorrow for the silliest reason.
But I'm in a shockingly giving mood, son, so I'll answer the question you're trying to ask me.
She is in danger down there. But if she dies it won't be because of anything I did. I've never been that far south.
[Which is true, and easily proved. He spent most of his time in the tunnels with House and Alphonse ,either of whom could tell people he hadn't been there.]
no subject
Date: 2016-05-26 12:01 pm (UTC)[The dramatic pause works, much as he might hate that. Beckett holds his breath through it, through the rambling that follows, still and silent until he gets his answer, his real answer. Then all the air goes out of him at once. At least the feed is voice only, though just from the sound, Joker may get the sense of him staggering against the nearest wall.]
See. That wasn't so hard. [If only he had the energy for a better quip. This will have to do.]
I thought that the blood was tainted in some way. I couldn't keep anything down for a week after drinking it, and after that I - died, so I can't tell you if the recovery was spontaneous or the result of intervention. That was the only symptom, though - which would be odd in a poisoned human, I suppose, but fairly standard in Kindred terms. What else do you want to know?
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Date: 2016-05-27 05:05 am (UTC)[A wet cough.]
How'd ya die?
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