[He hears the pointed remark buried within that seemingly abrupt comment on the state of his mouth. Defiant to a fault, he shows off reddened teeth with an obstinate, incorrigible grin. Fortunately, his nose bleed has slowed to a thin trickle, though his hoodie is now stained with small, dark blotches. When the time comes to return upside, people will almost certainly notice. Maybe he can sell someone on a dramatized sob story about being mugged for a chance to get the hoodie laundered for free. In any case—]
Deal.
[Stiles doesn’t try to shake hands on it. Even if Kenos wasn’t a melting pot of disparate, foreign, and alien cultures, he still wouldn’t.]
To start off, how about we don’t get in the habit of demanding information from me without first offering up your own—as if there’s some unspoken chain of command at play here. [Drifting closer, he squints at Sasuke. Whiskey-warm brown eyes travel slowly from sheathed sword to the careful curtain of hair concealing the left-side of a pale face. They linger there.] You told me about the pins, so I’ll compromise this once. Call me “Stiles.” As for leads…
[Sasuke, with his impressive perception as a trained shinobi, will absolutely be able to pick up on the minute twitch of Stiles’ right hand—as if it had been about to move. Stiles catches himself almost immediately, but the unconscious response may have betrayed him. There’s a pocket-sized journal on his person, pages already crammed full of sharp handwriting. While he could pull it out and go through the notes he’s taken, the teen decides against sharing that much detail so early in a tentative partnership.]
…I have a few, [he admits, cagey.] The issue is…I’ve got no clue if they’re interconnected. Maybe you have more insight there. So, there’s… [and he ticks off a finger,] …the pins. I want to find out who passes them out and follow that hierarchy up to whatever head honcho exists. If what you said is actually true, then they boast enough power that even the whackjobs down here will respect the authority behind the pins. They’ll definitely know something, but meeting with them might cost us a kidney. Think we can find one on the black market?
Next, [a second finger,] “Aetós.” I’ve got almost nothing on this one, except that I’ve heard the name whispered in this dump more than once. Took me a while to figure out why it sounded familiar. You know Greece? Okay, well, it’s a country on Earth. My world. Now, some of the architecture in Springstar looks like it was ripped straight from Greece. So, there’s a basis for a connection already. And that’s important because “Aëtos”—notice the slight difference in pronunciation?—“Aëtos” is a character from Greek mythology. (Greek is like, the people, culture, and language of Greece.) I can tell you more about the myth in a minute, if you want.
Finally, [the third finger,] “World’s End.” From what I’ve been told—[(eavesdropped on)]—Shard-Bearers just visited that place. (Having a hard time adjusting to the date system in Kenos, so I’m not exactly sure when. Did you go?) Anyway, I did some research—[(snooping)]—and it seems like it’s this island that’s been stranded in the Astral Sea for ages, until just recently. Suspicious, right? Coincidentally enough, there’s something on this island that allegedly combats the Blight. (Listen, I didn’t find out what yet. Give me a break. I was juggling about a dozen different leads at once and this is only my third day in this dimension.)
no subject
Deal.
[Stiles doesn’t try to shake hands on it. Even if Kenos wasn’t a melting pot of disparate, foreign, and alien cultures, he still wouldn’t.]
To start off, how about we don’t get in the habit of demanding information from me without first offering up your own—as if there’s some unspoken chain of command at play here. [Drifting closer, he squints at Sasuke. Whiskey-warm brown eyes travel slowly from sheathed sword to the careful curtain of hair concealing the left-side of a pale face. They linger there.] You told me about the pins, so I’ll compromise this once. Call me “Stiles.” As for leads…
[Sasuke, with his impressive perception as a trained shinobi, will absolutely be able to pick up on the minute twitch of Stiles’ right hand—as if it had been about to move. Stiles catches himself almost immediately, but the unconscious response may have betrayed him. There’s a pocket-sized journal on his person, pages already crammed full of sharp handwriting. While he could pull it out and go through the notes he’s taken, the teen decides against sharing that much detail so early in a tentative partnership.]
…I have a few, [he admits, cagey.] The issue is…I’ve got no clue if they’re interconnected. Maybe you have more insight there. So, there’s… [and he ticks off a finger,] …the pins. I want to find out who passes them out and follow that hierarchy up to whatever head honcho exists. If what you said is actually true, then they boast enough power that even the whackjobs down here will respect the authority behind the pins. They’ll definitely know something, but meeting with them might cost us a kidney. Think we can find one on the black market?
Next, [a second finger,] “Aetós.” I’ve got almost nothing on this one, except that I’ve heard the name whispered in this dump more than once. Took me a while to figure out why it sounded familiar. You know Greece? Okay, well, it’s a country on Earth. My world. Now, some of the architecture in Springstar looks like it was ripped straight from Greece. So, there’s a basis for a connection already. And that’s important because “Aëtos”—notice the slight difference in pronunciation?—“Aëtos” is a character from Greek mythology. (Greek is like, the people, culture, and language of Greece.) I can tell you more about the myth in a minute, if you want.
Finally, [the third finger,] “World’s End.” From what I’ve been told—[(eavesdropped on)]—Shard-Bearers just visited that place. (Having a hard time adjusting to the date system in Kenos, so I’m not exactly sure when. Did you go?) Anyway, I did some research—[(snooping)]—and it seems like it’s this island that’s been stranded in the Astral Sea for ages, until just recently. Suspicious, right? Coincidentally enough, there’s something on this island that allegedly combats the Blight. (Listen, I didn’t find out what yet. Give me a break. I was juggling about a dozen different leads at once and this is only my third day in this dimension.)
Alright. Your turn. Let’s hear it.