first shot • video

[severing]

[Dated to the morning of the 31st. He's... making the most out of the day? o/]

Hey Saya, happy birthday!

[Did that catch your attention? Too bad, since this is really just meant for Saya, but Train can't be bothered to filter this part.]

—It is your birthday, right? Anyway, since I'm pretty sure it is, let's go celebrate! I bet you know where all the good places to eat here are, so I'll leave you in charge of that. I can... go fetch milk? You probably wouldn't tell me what you want even if I asked, anyway.

[A pause]

Oh yeah! Since I don't know whether your observational skills are lacking or you've just been avoiding me, I'm giving you until noon to reply! If you don't say anything by then, I'm gonna assume you're hiding and find you. And in case you don't know...

[He smirks.]

I'm pretty good at finding people who don't want to be found. And don't think running will work either.

[Grin~]

So! You've got until noon!

[The feed appears to end—]

[Filtered to Saya; unhackable]

[—and now his expression becomes serious.]

... At least tell me what's going on. This isn't like the other times, is it? You're really real this time, right?

Comments

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

... then how about you try that and I'll continue with my method? See who can catch him first!

You could've bought a lot of stuff with that! Good food! Fancy hotels! Cruises! A farm!

[She's just listing random things that she kinda wanted.]

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

Hmm... but the guy did give me food...

[He laughs.]

It's not like I did for the money.

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

Didn't know you'd back down from a challenge, Train.

Yeah, but the money could've been an amazing bonus and you know it.

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

No way! ... But what do I do once I catch him?

Still don't regret it!

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

I think he's caused some people some trouble. Could always see if they want to do anything about it. Either way, he's kind of a tough target and I'm curious to see what you can do as a sweeper~

Well... as long as you got what you wanted, I can see why. But you're at least staying afloat as a sweeper, right?

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

Looks like you'll just have to see, then~

Yeah... We're in debt a lot [read: always] but we've got enough to eat!

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

Guess so! Good luck to you.

[..... ffffff. Hold on, she's laughing--]

He who was once the most feared assassin is now in debt in a job that relies purely on skill. Ever think that maybe you delivered too much bad luck to yourself, Train?

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

It's got nothing to do with luck or skill! Things just get... wrecked along the way. Honestly, if I catch the criminal, they shouldn't charge us for the damage...

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

Don't you ever think you might be inconveniencing people when you break things, Train?

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

They can get them fixed!

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

Wiiiith the money they take from your pay.

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

... I still think it's unfair. What if we end up starving to death one day? Then they'll be sorry.

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...

[She considers that issue seriously. Train probably won't remember this once he leaves Vatheon, but...]

Start with the dine-n-dashers. Food joints are pretty inconvenienced by them. So make a show of catching them by having one of your partners standing by the door so they don't break anything on the way out. That should leave the place in your debt so you can go back now and again for some free food if you do it right, especially if you catch multiple crooks in the same place.

[Just an innocent smile. There's an art to mooching and she's mastered it.]

That way even if you don't really have the pay for food, you should still be able to eat until you work your way back up.

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

... Huh. That sounds like it might actually work. Wonder why Sven and I never thought of this...

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to think you're hopeless without me, Train!

Do I need to give you a tutorial on how to do sweeper work while you're here?

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

Excuse me? I'll have you know that Sven and I have been sweepers for years now.

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

And you've wracked up a debt in that time, right?

Heh, you're probably good sweepers, but I think you should stop breaking things if you don't wanna dig yourself a deeper hole.

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

But doing things all fancy and sneaky-like gets kinda boring after a while...

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

Then just keep the brawling in the alleys.

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

If I can get them to the alleys.

[He's going to complain about this forever.]

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

What happened to 'skill' not being the problem?

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

But they usually strike in broad daylight. By the time they get to the alleys, stuff'll probably have been broken by then.

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

There's three of you! Are you telling me you still can't handle that?

[sweepered.livejournal.com]

Well, we can... but a good old-fashioned chase's the most fun, and it wouldn't be any fun if I caught them right away.

[sweeperesque.livejournal.com]

Maybe, but think about the people around you, too. Most people aren't accustomed to sudden chases in the middle of the street with bullets flying and I really hope none of them become accustomed to it.