shatteredservice | Deal with the Devil?

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Current Location: The Kitchen

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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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"Your beast side harrassed your partner and fed me false information. If he had continued his facade for even a little longer, I believe it could have created a messy situation."

She remains quiet for a second, listening to Cu Chulainn comforting his partner.

"...Is he alright?"

"A messy situation? What the hell was going on?" Set sounds angry and confused all at the same time. "He was just going to call you to tell you about the geis. How did that become a messy situation?"

Set's thumbs gently stoke the sides of Dia's face wiping away the tears that are on his cheeks. His lover isn't actively crying anymore, but he's not talking either and his eyes are broken and distant.

"All right is really such a subjective thing..."

"Your Beast side took the phone and told me that there was a corruption inside your partner and it was being provoked. I was ready to order my Enforcers to apprehend him if that were the case. Please, stay away from those lies next time."

She sighs.

"Would you like me to hang up now and give you some time. You can call back, even if you might need to be put on hold."

"Fuck, I'm sorry. He really did make a mess of things, didn't he?" From the tone of his voice, it's a little hard to tell if Set is taking to Dia or to her, but the next words are for her definitely for her. "My Baby's starting to come around if you want to wait a little longer. I don't know that he would want things to end like this. He was really hoping we could come to some kind of understanding to help each other."

"Yes, give the phone back to him. If he is capable of doing it, I would like to continue the discussion."

"Okay, just be aware that I'm going to be listening. So no shit," Set looks to Dia who looks back at him with tired though slightly more focused eyes. "Baby, she wants to talk to you some more."

"Fine," Dia's voice is flat, though it does waver just slightly. He takes the phone back from Set and after a moment, puts it to his ear, "Yes?"

"Sorry."

Her tone is too calm for her to be sincere, but she still offers an apology out of formality.

"You are quite sure that there is nothing evil within you, correct? You feel nothing stirring when you are provoked in any way?"

Dia ignores the apology. He can easily tell just how insincere it is, "As far as I know, no there is not. What you need to understand, though, is that I have always felt emotion strongly but until these wars started, I never knew hatred or rage so when I feel them now it is like something dark is stirring inside of me. All I can guess is that is what The Beast was sensing. That makes more sense than there being some evil force inside of me. Why would something like that be inside of me anyway? How would it have come to be there?"

"You would know about that better than I. Anyway, for now, I will see about lessening the number of Enforcers. Please do not give me any reason to increase their number again."

Dia nods from where he is curled into Set's arms, "I thank you. You really have no reason to still consider my request so I am grateful for the second chance. You won't get in trouble for this, will you? Perhaps there is another question I could answer for you to try and sweeten the deal for the Association?"

Set grumbles a little under his breath, "Don't offer them too much, Babe. They will take you for all they can."

She taps her fingers against the table, thinking.

"I would like to know the purpose of your journal. Can you tell me that?"

Dia is quiet for several seconds trying to decide how exactly to answer her question without giving away everything. He is pretty sure that will cause her to take back her offer and Dia knows there is no way they will get a third chance.

His pause causes Set to give him a questioning look, but Dia just shakes his head no to keep him from saying anything. While he loves Set very much, there are times when he wishes that his lover would think a little more before he speaks.

"The journal was made to help Set and I find other servants to speak with and share stories with. As I am sure you are aware, there aren't really many other servants in the area anymore and with Set and I practically under house arrest, we don't have the chance to go and find others like us. The journal seemed like a good way to do that.

"We are lonely. Surely, you can understand that? And while talking with normal humans is great, there are just some things you can only talk about with fellow Heroic Spirits."

"I understand."

For once, she sounds sincere and sympathetic, as if she has experience with the topic.

"As long as it does not interfere with the Assocation's operations, by all means, leave it running."

Dia blinks, honestly surprised by her reaction, "T-thank you. But aren't you worried about how strangely it acts? Are you sure such a thing should be allowed to continue existing? You never know what else it might try to record. What if it records your agents?

"Not that I believe that you could actually do anything to stop it. Ever since its creation it's worked to preserve itself. There is something working through it. I just wish I knew what it was and why it chose me."

"If you have nothing to do with what it records, I do not think you can be blamed. I can try to find it and see what you've recorded so far, but I doubt I will be able to make any sense of it."

Human technology was a bother. This is why her phone is still rather primitive by modern standards.

"It won't be hard to find," Dia states listing off the web address and title of his journal. "After all, if it were hard to find, how could I expect other servants to find it? If you don't think you can understand it though, why not find someone who can? Surely, there are a few mages who know technology or if not perhaps there is a mage who has a friend who could help?"

Bazett pops into his mind almost immediately since it would be a great way to get her back into working with the Association so she could spy on them. It was just too bad she didn't understand what was up with the journal any better than he and Set did.

"I'll consider it."

Nemesis herself has a few muggle acquaintances. If needed, she could get their help.

Dia nods. That is really all he expected as an answer since he still doesn't believe that they don't have something to do with it. Even if they don't, unless it is to their benefit to tell him what they find out, he is certain they wouldn't tell him anything. He, Set, and Bazett will just have to keep working on their own to see if they can figure something out.

"I wish you luck then. Is there anything else I could tell you that might help?"

"No, nothing for now. If there's nothing more to say, I'll hang up now."

She's grateful that there were no interruptions for the time being.

"No, I believe that is it. Thank you for your time," Dia sighs and shuts his eyes as soon as he turns the phone off, extreme weariness washing over him. Set actually has to catch the phone as it slips out of his hand.

"There is something, isn't there? Something more than unfamiliar feelings," Set asks, setting the phone aside so that he can hold Dia closer.

"I-I don't know for sure," Dia's voice is barely above a whisper and Set leans his head in closer so he can hear his lover better. "I'm not really sure how to even begin explaining it and I'm really too tired to care. Please, take me back to bed?"

"Of course."

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Deal with the Devil?

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