hadriel | Today's forecast says....somebody got me fucked up; Video

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Today's forecast says....somebody got me fucked up; Video

[Set after this while he recuperates in Hope's temple.]

[When Leo starts the video, the first thing to note is that he's splattered in something so dark it's almost black in color and a little thicker than human blood, more like oil than anything else. It might take a moment to realize that it is his blood, a Sunai's being different than a normal human being's. Despite it being soaked into his skin and clothes, it doesn't look like he's injured in any way. His eyes have the usual black smudgy state going on, two black stains where they should be, but even without being able to really see them, it's clear he's mad.]

Y'know, I've played nice the entire time I've been here. I've killed one person, sure, but she asked me to. But other than that I've been minding my own damn business and staying out of the high school bullshit drama you all seem to love to engage in.

So I'm gonna give all you all one final warning: if any of you fucks try to kill me again, you better make damn sure it sticks, because if I survive, the gloves are coming off. I will go biblical on this place and see how many of you I can take with me before something puts me down for good. Maybe you'll all get a fucking clue after I rip a dozen or so souls out before I'm done.

[And then he's done, snapping the video off with a curt motion. He knows this will likely get him in hot water with people, but at this point, he's done caring.]

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[He nods. The shit about—wait, he killed Abigail? Harlan had known Leo killed someone, but he hadn't heard it was Abigail. Christ, Leo killed a kid? Harlan takes a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose. Not now. This is not what he's here to discuss.]

Don't mention it. You not murdering half the town was worth the effort. I didn't want Michael to kill you any more than I wanted you to kill him.

[If it came down to it, he would rather Michael be the murderer than the victim, but both options are still shit.]

Are you planning on telling anyone?

It would have ended badly no matter what happened.

[Leo wouldn't have stopped if he won. The hunger was all-consuming and he would have kept going until someone killed him for good.

He goes silent, arms crossed as he thinks. Notably, his left arm, the one covered in crosses, is completely empty of them. They burn off when he slips into his true form and the count starts all over again.]

That depends.

[Harlan has only met Leo once in person, but it's enough for him to notice the change in his tattoos. Hm. Curious, but he tables it for later. He has more pressing questions at the moment.]

On?

On how long of a leash you plan to put your boyfriend on.

[Yeah, someone is still quite peeved over the fact he got mauled by a fellow monster.]

[It's clear from the way his eyes narrow that Harlan isn't a fan of that response. Still, he's not going to call Leo out on it. He's trying to make peace.]

Michael won't be coming after you again. It's handled.

Handled how?

[This place is only so big and avoiding each other will only work for so long. Likewise, he doesn't think smacking Michael on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper is going to improve things between them either.]

[Harlan hesitates. His instinct is to snap back with some iteration of "none of your business." Because it isn't. It's Michael's problem, and by extension Harlan's problem, and what they're doing to solve that problem isn't information anyone else is entitled to.

Except Leo, though. For as much as Harlan doesn't like or trust Leo, he hadn't done anything to provoke the attack. Michael even admits that; yes, Leo killed someone, but that doesn't make Michael's retaliation a fair move.

He owes Leo more than he's giving him, but looping Leo in on the situation feels like a betrayal to Michael. What a shit situation this is.]

Look, do you trust me when I say I don't want this shit happening again? You've already seen that I'm capable of stopping it once it's already in motion.

[Barely, but Leo doesn't need to know that.]

Michael coming after you in the first place may as well be my fault. The Door effects hit him hard, and I didn't catch it in time. I should've been paying closer attention. I won't make that mistake twice.

[Leo's scowling, but he doesn't make any objections. Frankly, he doesn't want that to happen again anytime soon. That had taken more out of him than he wanted to admit, which was saying a lot considering how powerful his true form was.]

Fine. I'll leave it to you.

[But the two of them are going to be on very thin ice with Leo.

He scowls as Harlan tries to take the blame.]

Don't play the 'This is my fault' card. I own up when I do terrible things and so should he. Unless you dragged him to my doorstep and left him there, he still made that decision on his own.

[Harlan just grits his teeth.]

I'm not playing that card. I'm telling you that how it's being handled.

[So, in Leo's words, yes, Michael's leash has been tightened. Harlan knows full well that what happened that night was not his fault. He's a big proponent of fuck-ups being properly account for too, but it's tricky in this scenario. He's in the middle. He has to play mediator and speak for Michael at the same time, though he doesn't even want to be speaking for Michael. It's not his place, even if they're together. Michael should have his own agency in this.]

He has owned up to it, but you can't expect him to out himself publicly. That'd be a nightmare for everyone and you know it. It's not a solution.

[But he blows out a breath through his nose. That's probably not what Leo meant.]

And he'll come to you when he's ready. The Visitor's still telling him to kill you. Talking to you isn't safe yet.

[Leo doesn't really look like he entirely believes Harlan, but he's too damn tired to argue the point much. He runs a hand through his hair with his left hand, exposing the tattoo-less arm once again.]

There's a reason I haven't told everyone who tried to kill me. Fair's fair and all that.

[Leo tended to tell people what he was because it was pretty easy to tell after a certain point. He didn't particularly act human most of the time. But outing someone else would be a particularly shitty thing to do.]

I'm seriously beginning to doubt there's ever going to be a safe point between him and me.

[Harlan nods. He appreciates that Leo is playing fair in that regard. Respect where respect is earned.]

Yeah, well, you might be right. If it comes down to it, I'll play mediator.

[Maybe he could cast Dream on Michael and send him over to Leo? That would take the Visitor out of the equation... Something he'll have to talk to Michael about.]

What's up with your arm?

[The tattoos, he means, or lack thereof.]

I'm sure that won't possibly end terribly.

[Someone is still very grumpy about the whole affair, but he's not blaming Harlan. After all, the guy could have let him bleed out.

He seems to be a touch surprised at the question and looks down at his arm as if to confirm, yes, all the crosses have been wiped clean off his arm.]

Each cross represents a day I don't go dark. Gets burned into my skin every morning. I was up to 253 days, but they all burn off when I transform. So now it's back to day one.

Yeah, well, "if it comes down to it" means we've run out of other options. Terrible will have to do.

[At least they can all agree this is a shitty situation.

But, ah, Harlan feels a little guilty once Leo explains. If he was counting with that level of diligence, clearly it meant something to him.]

I'm sorry. 253 days sounds impressive.

[Indeed. It seemed to be a compulsive habit among Leo and his siblings to count their marks, but when the consequences were so dire, it made sense.]

Not so much. My sister had over a thousand stars on her skin.

[Kind of made one wonder what she had done that caused her to keep her control for over four years. The answer was nothing good.]

[Ah. Okay, so maybe it wasn't impressive by those standards, but he still feels a little bad. He knows what it's like to backslide, though admittedly he's not sure if Leo would consider this backsliding.]

What's your record?

390. But that was back when I was first created. I haven't gotten this high in a while.

[Just a little over one year or exactly how long he'd been on the streets before the Flynns found him and Ilsa. Kind of interesting he'd been better at control before he started getting used in a civil war as a weapon.]

253 was impressive, then. I'm sorry.

[He's going to feel bad about it even if Leo wants to play it off like it's not a big deal. Streaks are important—sometimes maintaining even a short one is a near-impossible task.]

I'll let you know if we make any progress with the Visitor, okay?

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