shatteredservice | Deal with the Devil?

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Deal with the Devil?

It is still very early, though the reason that Dia is already up is not because he can't sleep, but because he knows it will be better to get his call to The Mage's Association done and over with by the time Set wakes up. That way if he does end up upset, he will hopefully have time to bleed off the stress before either Set or The Beast can pick up on it. The last thing Dia wants is to have to deal with bringing The Beast down after having had a stressful talk with The Association.

Because he knows this isn't going to go well. He knows the kind of shit they are going to tell him and he knows they are probably not going to buy the geis story one bit. It would be great if they did, but he isn't very confident they will. It would mean showing some common sense and decency--two things he's pretty sure they don't have.

Dia turns the phone over in his hands for a few minutes working up the nerve to dial the number. It is silly, really. He's charged into armies in the past with no worries; he fought off Caster's monster without blinking, but this simple phone call is giving him pause.

Dia sighs and sets the phone down to take one last sip of tea from the mug sitting on the bar. He runs his hand through his hair nervously, and then picks the phone back up dialing the number before he can find another reason to delay.

The phone rings for a few moments before there is a click on the line that Dia knows means he's being transferred. When the Association let everyone go out to live their lives, they were all given a number that would directly connect them to those within The Association who dealt with servant affairs.

Of course, that doesn't mean that he still doesn't have to talk to a secretary before he is put through to someone who can actually do something for him. Dia can't help but cringe at the fake cheer in her voice.

"Good morning, Cu Chulainn. What can we do for you?"

Dia isn't surprised that she knows what house is calling. He's always suspected that the number not only was a direct line, but also identified who they were. He's also not surprised that they assume that it's Set calling. After all, Set always said that they weren't going to talk to him if he could help it.

"Actually, this is Diarmuid. Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. He and I live together," Dia corrects her.

"Oh, Diarmuid, my apologies. We were told that you wouldn't be talking with us so I just assumed..."

Dia waves off her concern. It's just as fake as everything else, "It's fine and this is a different circumstance. Could I talk to someone in Affairs, please?"

"Has something happened?" Her voice is suddenly too eager. "You are fully aware of the details of your arrangement. If we need to arrange a detain..."

"You do not," All the politeness evaperates from Dia's voice and is replaced with just a hint of anger. "I just want to speak with someone in Servant Affairs."

"I would not advise trying to hide an incident, Diarmuid. It could easily lead to a violation of your contract. I'm sure you don't want that."

"I'm not hiding anything," Dia's voice is low and just a little dangerous, not that the secretary seems to notice. "I merely wish to talk with someone in Servant Affairs. Transfer me."

"Please understand, Diarmuid that there are many things The Association wants to talk to you about and haven't been able to since Cu Chulainn has insisted that we not talk to you."

"And you are not qualified to talk to me about any of them," Dia points out. "Now do your job and transfer me."

The secretary starts to say something else, but seems to decide against it. A moment later, Dia is relieved to hear a buzz as he is finally put through to Servant Affairs.

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"We were awarded the chance to live a normal life," His eyes narrow angrily. "That includes making friends and allies as you insist on terming them. And it also includes privacy." Dia's voice suddenly gains a bit of dark humor, "Unless you all have decided you're just a bunch of voyeurs. In that case, say so. I'm sure Set will have no problem taking me in front of you. Or if you would rather it a little rougher, I suppose I could see if The Beast would be willing.

"Of course, that is assuming you all don't already have an agent parked at our bedroom window..."

"No. We will not require that."

She holds the phone away from her ear. He had just given her a very disturbing image.

"And sight is not the only form of surveillance. You would do well to remember that."

"No. Really?" If an eye roll could be audible, Dia's would have been. "Please, tell me something I don't already know. I'm sure all phone calls are being recorded and there are probably bugs in several places in our home. And those would just be the mundane ways to snoop. There are probably also several magical ways in place. You guys are usually pretty thorough. Heaven forbid you miss any chance to get information that could be used to your advantage."

Dia's being rude now and he knows it, but he can't bring himself to care. There is something stirring around inside of him. Something that is dark, angry, and tired of being jerked around.

Something that if he thought about it, might feel scarily familiar. It's probably a good thing he doesn't.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was you guys who are screwing around with my journal as well. The freedom you've given us is a shame after all."

"Journal?"

This piques her interest.

"Do you mean a written journal? Or your internet activities? I don't think we have anyone monitoring internet activity yet."

"Forgive me if I don't believe you. I don't know who else would have the power to cause something inanimate like a computer to record and post things by itself," Dia pauses when a pair of arms wrap themselves around his waist.

"Little Bird, there is something dark stirring around in you. What's wrong?" The Beast's voice is a low growl into Dia's ear, though it is loud enough to be picked up by the phone. "Who do I need to kill?"

Dia leans back against The Beast, that dark thing in him seemingly comforted by his mate's presence, "It's okay, My Wild One. I'm just making that call to the Association we talked about."

"Ah. Can I kill them all then?"

"I too would like to know about the magus who could do that. Those are not our ways, and if they were, do you think such material would be in a place where you could access it?"

She strains her ears to listen to the other voice.

"Is that Cu Chulainn?"

"Honestly? I really wouldn't put anything past you people," Dia answers quickly. Before he can say more, though, The Beast drops his head to Dia's shoulder with a smirk to answer her question.

"He's not in right now. There is just me and my Little Bird. Be nice or I won't let you talk to him anymore," The Beast's hands wander restlessly across Dia's chest for a moment before settling. "You are waking something that needs to stay asleep. That must stay asleep."

She frowns. The Beast sounds so calm. The geis really did have a big effect on him.

"Greetings, Beast. We're discussing something right now. You can be assured I mean him no offense."

The Beast tilts his head, pulling Dia closer to him so that he can get his head nearer to the phone, "The dark would not be stirring if you meant no offense. And yet it does. You people--you don't know how not to offend."

"My Wild One what do you mean the dark is stirring?" Dia shifts to try and get a look at The Beast's face, but with his mate wrapped around him as tightly as he is, the best he can do is get an eyeful of dark hair. "I don't understand."

"It is not something we will talk about in such company, Little Bird," The Beast settles his head in the crook of Dia's neck like a child and hums softly. "We will talk when you are done with her."

"WHat are you talking about, the dark? Diarmuid, do you have a Berserker attribute?"

If that was the case, then perhaps even more Enforcers would need to be sent.

Dia shakes his head. Any lingering anger in his voice is gone now, replaced by confusion, "No, not at all. Only Lancer and Saber. I have no idea what he is talking about. It might be just one of his odd times. I wouldn't be surprised considering how lucid he's been lately. It's unusual for him to be so."

The Beast tsks and nips his teeth gently against Dia's throat causing the other man to jump slightly, "Not Berserker. Nope, nope, nope. Something different. Something darker."

She files the information away in her mind for later use. It certainly sounds like something that needed to be investigated.

"Your partner is not helping your case."

She should have contacted her Enforcers just about now and warned them about this "darker" thing. But she wants to give Diarmuid some leeway, just as thanks for his child-rearing advice. Maybe she would regret this later, but for now, it was just an equivalent exchange.

"No kidding? You're not the one he's wrapped around and nipping at the moment," Dia sighs when an attempt to detangle himself from The Beast fails resulting only in his mate holding him tighter. "Look, I'm not saying this in an effort to hide anything, but I really wouldn't take anything he says at face value. He's no--ouch! Hey kno--"

A moment later there is a crash as The Beast tumbles Dia to the floor and pins him there. There is dead air for several seconds before the phone is picked up again. The voice that resumes speaking isn't Dia's. though. It's The Beast.

"I can guess what you are thinking. I wouldn't recommend trying to use this against my Little Bird. It would be foolish. For you. You don't want this awake. You would never be able to handle it."

"My Wild One, please give me the phone back. We can talk about this shortly. I don't know what is bothering you, but..."

"No."

"If it is really dangerous as you say, we would test him first before doing anything further."

A pause.

"But we would not test him unless we have ample reason to do so."

Already, she is thinking of the conditions that would provoke a reaction from him. He would have to be alone, with no way of contacting the Beast or his ally. He would have to be sufficiently angry. And the Enforcer would require both strength and patience to take him alive.

The Beast is quiet for a moment and then breaks out in riotous laughter, "You are all fools. Each and every one of you! Do you think it will be so easy? That I'm the real threat?"

"That is enough!" There is the sound of a scuffle and The Beast's continued laughter, but when a voice comes over the line again, it's Dia's.

"I am so sorry. I really have no idea what is wrong with him this morning. This is just like the other night when..." Dia's voice drops off with a sigh. "Never mind. It's not important now. I know there isn't probably much I can say to convince you that what he is going on about is false, but if you have any questions that might help, please ask. I just don't understand what he is going on about."

"Because you don't know. You just don't know," The Beast sing songs in the background. "But I do. I know its touch."

Edited 2012-12-14 23:44 (UTC)

"I think at this rate, it would be easier asking him than you."

Diarmuid is either deliberately witholding the information, or he honestly does not know about his own condition. On the other hand, the Beast seems all too willing to talk.

"Who knows? Maybe if he explains well enough, we can consider submitting to some of his requests."

Dia narrows his eyes at The Beast who is sitting just a short way away from him. He's finally stopped laughing, but the grin on his face doesn't make Dia feel any better.

"Are you sure you want to talk to him? I honestly don't know what he is going on about. It may be just a waste of time," Dia points out. He's actually feeling a little sick at the thought of handing the phone back over to The Beast. He had worked so hard to get her to consider pulling back the agents the Association had watching them. Now, Dia actually half expected to have some Enforcers break down their door any minute.

The Beast just sits there calmly despite his grin and despite Dia's obvious discomfort, holding out his hand.

After a moments pause, Dia reluctantly hands the phone over to him. At the same time, he mouths the words, "Be good."

The way The Beast's grin widens almost makes Dia snatch the phone back, but before he can The Beast jumps up and away from him, putting the phone to his ear, "Yeeeessss?"

"I'll be straightfoward. What is this "darker" thing you're talking about and how have you encountered it?"

The Beast laughs a little to himself, "You don't know what the dark is? That thing that corrupts everything? The thing that broke the Throne? What have you been doing so long? You're even more useless than I thought!"

"Broke the Throne!" Dia's exclamation can be heard clearly though he is some distance from the phone at the moment. "Now I know you are just talking insanity. No one knows what broke the Throne. Most certainly not you! Now give me the phone and let Set back up. I'm done."

"That's too bad, Little Bird," The Beast's voice is suddenly darker, more dangerous. "I'm just starting."

It was amazing, the amount of information he was giving away.

"You know what broke the Throne?"

Once again, her cool facade is broken. Excitement has crept into her voice.

"If this...thing is present within Diarmuid, then is it present within other heroes? Can the Throne be reconstituted if this thing is removed?"

The Beast breaks into uncontrolled laughter again and it goes on for quite a bit before he finally stops and composes himself, "Excites you doesn't it? Do you really think you meaningless mortals have any hope of recreating something that the World itself created? You don't have that power and neither do we.

"However, I will tell you this. Yes, there is part of that thing that broke the Throne still in my Little Bird. And if it is something that the Holy Sword of Light couldn't remove completely what makes you think you have any hope of removing it?"

"Stop this! Just stop it! There is nothing inside of me!" Dia's voice is strained, almost in tears. "Why are you lying about this? Don't you care that they will take me from you if you keep this up?"

"They won't," The Beast's voice drops in tone so that it is almost like a dagger, "because if they try to take you from me, I will take us both from this world. Geis be damned."

"Is there anything that would specifically provoke this thing into activating?"

If the Beast is going to be cryptic about that thing's nature, then she will skip to the next question.

"No, because there is nothing to activate! Please stop this!" There is a scuffle as Dia drops to his knees and buries his head against The Beast's leg. Even with the muffling, the tears in his voice are obvious, "If you are trying to get me to admit to the dark feelings still inside of me, I will! I still feel anger and betrayal and there are times when I feel like I'm worthless because of that! Now stop! We can discuss this later...just not now."

The Beast pauses, dropping one hand to rest on Dia's head while the other hand lets the phone fall away from his ear though not so much that his next words can't be heard, "Now was that really so hard, Little Bird?"

Dia makes a small broken sound against The Beast's leg, but doesn't say anything.

For a moment, The Beast's face softens and then he brings the phone back to his ear, "See, you should have listened. He was telling you the truth. All that I just said was a load of bullshit. Congratulations for falling for it so hard. It pretty much confirmed everything I feel about your little Association."

There is a sudden pause and a shifting that can't be heard over the phone. What can be heard a moment later is a soft confused sound and then a much louder exclamation, "Shit!"

Set doesn't notice the phone in his hand right away. He is too focused on gathering his sobbing lover into his arms. Only once Set's got Dia there and is rocking him, soothingly rubbing his back with his free hand, does the blue haired man notice what is in his other hand.

There is longer string of swear words before Set manages to calm himself and bring the phone to his ear, "You still there?"

As she listens to the events on the other end, she finds herself rubbing her temple.

"That was completely unnecessary."

Not only had he wasted her time with false information, but he had left his partner a sobbing mess. She isn't sure which matter leaves her more frustrated.

"And I was only asking so I inform my Enforcers on how to avoid provoking him."

"Avoid provoking who to what?" Set asks though he is paying more attention to trying to calm Dia than talk to her. "You realize you're not talking to The Beast now, right? This is Set and I have no idea what just happened. Apparently, this is one of those times I don't get to remember anything. So nice of him, don't you think?"

Set doesn't really wait for her to answer though he shifts the phone so he can hold it against his shoulder to free up his hands instead of just setting it down. Gently, he cups Dia's head in his hands and whispers to him. The words are too faint to be heard clearly, but their tone is loving and concerned.

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