drear | i put socks on my feet

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i put socks on my feet

[ hades himself isn't much one for social pleasantries, but he there's great importance to dinners like these, and watching their interactions really is fascinating. the meal is already winding down, but the poet who's been declaiming for the better part of an hour is still going strong.

hades is mostly ignoring him and picking at his food, humming occasional acknowledgement to when people talk to him, as head of the house. most of the slaves waiting on them are positioned around the perimeter of the room, while hades has left mitsunari largely to his own devices. ]

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Would you ask that of him?

[ hades looks at mitsunari's hand, the way his fingers are tight around the sword. ]

It is your decision. [ if not his choice. ]

[slowly, he moves into the room, paces around the bound man with a studying and judgmental gaze. once around him, and mitsunari stops, fingers flexing on the blade again.]

He would not be here if he had done otherwise. If this is so, then his actions are clearly against you, something for which the only proper punishment is death.

[he glances toward hades, head bowed slightly.]

At your will I will deliver him to the justice he deserves.

[ there's irony here, somewhere, in the idea that the proper consequence for going against death is death. hades' smile is wide when mitsunari bows his head, and cruel. ]

It is the will.

[ he points at the man, expression turning benign once again. ]

[mitsunari misses most of the smile, catching only a moment of it as hades' expression goes back to its constant calm. it doesn't make him pause, but it does make him think.

for now, though, he turns back to the man at the chair, right hand gripping the hilt of the blade and drawing it partway. automatically he falls into a slight stance, feet bracing him against the ground for the draw.]

By this, perhaps you will earn forgiveness for your crimes.

[he doesn't ask what they were. he strikes in an instant, blade flashing out almost too fast for the eye to see. the cut is very neat, and very thorough, but the result is not; the man's head falls from his shoulders accompanied by perhaps less blood than would be expected, but it's messy anyway.

mitsunari flicks the blood off his blade and sheathes it again, his attention already moving back to hades.]

[ hades watches mitsunari execute the man, unflinching. blood from the remaining stump splatters over the ground, a little landing near hades' feet. he doesn't smile again, but his posture is relaxed, welcoming.

they are in his realm now. ]

You have ended it. [ a pause. ] And yet, a cut creates two.

[ there's a severed head on the ground. hades turns his back on it; the room will be cleaned at another time, even as a shadow seems to begin to eat at the blood on the floor. ]

[out of the corner of his eye mitsunari sees the shadows move, but he doesn't turn to address it, only makes a note of it and keeps his focus on hades.]

Decapitation has always been the punishment for a traitor, as I've known. [because any crime against hades is betrayal, arguably.] But if a different end suits them better, then I will deliver it.

Ah... that one is decided but for others' gazes.

[ hades seems pleased with the decapitation, at least, but rather than leaving, he takes a seat on one of the other chairs in the room. ]

Does this "suit"?

[mitsunari considers hades' question, ignoring the blood pooling on the floor even as it creeps toward him.]

Yes. Those who cannot respect and adhere to their master's will deserve no less than this. [he gestures with his sword at the corpse without looking at it.] Whether through decapitation or simply bleeding out, their lives are forfeit.

This is not one previously within my will, but their movement brought them close.

[ he gazes at the tip of mitsunari's blade, where it's still dark with a little blood. his smile has returned, this time warmer in a way that is not welcoming. ]

Give me your sword.

[mitsunari hesitates at that order. it's only for a moment, but his grip tightens on the hilt of the blade, on the empty sheathe, before he approaches hades and offers the weapon to him. dull side toward hades, hilt closer and easier to take.]

Their 'movement'? A rebellion against you?

[ hades laughs at what mitsunari says, a low sound of amusement as he leans in. he doesn't take the sword from him but takes mitsunari's hand, bending his wrist so that the blade is pointing upward between them and stepping forward. ]

Would rebellion bring one closer?

[the movement of the blade doesn't make him flinch, even knowing how easy it would be for hades to use it against him. his expression is on the edge of confusion, though.]

It would make them obvious. And once they've revealed their true nature, they are easy enough to cut down as they deserve.

You do not know... that which is mine.

You, and he together have entered closely. [ he moves in even more, enough so that mitsunari will be able to feel the lack of body heat that hades exudes. ]

Is that clear enough, now?

[ no, no it isn't. but hades smiles as if it is. ]

[mitsunari tilts his head, trying to figure out the meaning behind hades' words to very little success. his hand is still firm on the hilt of the sword, watching hades instead of the blade.]

No. I don't understand.

[though a part of him doubts he's going to have the answer cleared up.]

Hm.

[ he could let this go now, and let mitsunari continue without knowing. but— ] You have known my works already.

[ the shadows creep closer, leaking into a liquid pool under their feet. hades' smile is soft as he leans toward the blade between them, head tipping slightly to the side and mouth opening. gently, he lets the tip of his tongue touch a stream of blood on the metal. ]

[the movement underneath catches his eye, and mitsunari glances down, momentarily stiffening at the sight. but he doesn't jerk away, doesn't try to shift out of the shadows. hades isn't worried, so why should he be?

he looks back up and watches hades' movements, a touch more wary than confused now.]

... then I have not recognized what I know. [it strikes him as a personal failing, but with hades, it seems there's so much he doesn't understand.]

[ there's a small smear of blood on hades' lower lip that he licks away with a flick of his tongue. ]

You have not. [ hades doesn't seem to mind that, all the same. ] But it is here, by your blade.

It is?

[mitsunari watches hades lick away the blood, glances down to the shadows beneath. his eyes fall on the severed head and limp body still tied to the chair. by your blade can only mean a very few things, and right here ... ]

All that my blade has done is take the life of a fool.

It took. [ hades smiles, with a deep, dark note to his voice. ] And I am its absence.

[it takes him a moment to parse hades' meaning, but he does. mitsunari's eyes widen slightly at the realization.]

The absence of - you are death?

[he sounds slightly uncertain, but there isn't a lot of room in his mind for that, and he has no reason to doubt hades - or the shadows curling on the floor.]

...no.

[ there's a pause before he says that. ]

I am not. It is an aspect.

[mitsunari hesitates before speaking, trying to piece this revelation together. his grip on the sword never wavers.]

An aspect of you. [he watches hades steadily, still a bit wary.] I'm not certain I understand ... how that is, but -

[hades' smile was enough to tell him the truth of the matter, whether he understand or not.]

Is that so.

[ he inclines his head toward mitsunari, still smiling, still soft. there are only an inch or two of space and the blade between them. ]

You will continue taking, and that is the rotting. But—it is yours.

[the idea is unfamiliar, as is the idea of his work being 'rotting'. but mitsunari doesn't argue. he only nods, just slightly, the closeness not seeming to bother him at all.]

Yes, I will. It is an honor I accept without qualm. [a pause.] Do you ... gain, from death?

[ it could be gaining an advantage or a weakness, but either way, it's a question that simply doesn't apply. ]

In the way the ocean or sky gains. That which lies beneath the earth... and the dark.

Are there boundaries to them?

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