eachdraidh | video | open to both courts (yay non-locket devices)

I've been thinking.

[ John's sitting against the base of a tree somewhere, idly scratching a stray mutt behind the ears with one hand while holding his device with the other. ]

Seelie, Unseelie. Order, Chaos. Can't really have one without the other, can you? But that's the whole thing the courts want: one to win over the other. And that's with the queens being sisters.

Sort of seems like it won't work either way, in the long run. Not in a way anyone wants.

[ This would have been essentially blasphemy, once upon a time; treason of the highest order. But John has had no shard for eight months, has only the memory of a gold cloak to his name now. It's the Shuck he serves and the Red Hand he fights for, this world and its people and those he cares about. ]

But maybe that's just me.

[ He shrugs, pausing just long enough for the dog to look up at him and whine. A snort and he goes back to generously bestowing ear scratches. ]

Anyway, if any of you are looking for something to do, a way to make money, and aren't afraid of hard work -- the Red Hand's hiring. We're a mercenary group but we'll take all sorts; we can find a job for you, if you've got something to bring to the table. We have no court-attached contracts, are focusing more on what the natives to this world need, so no worries there -- and I'm a shardless son of a bitch, so no worries about getting spanked or whatever your court does for having conversations with the 'wrong people'.

Leave your prejudiced bullshit at the door, though; we've got all sorts of races and believers among the ranks. If you can't handle that, I'm more than willing to throw you out on your ass.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We do what we're paid to do, but we pick and choose our jobs, are respectful when we go through areas. Right now we're looking at contracts for protecting people and settlements moving away from the Void.

[ There's no mention of an end goal: that's classified information that only a few know about, and John has no idea who this is or why he thinks a mercenary company has an end goal, which puts him on edge.

Well, maybe the end goal suspicion is from his little speech at the beginning, but he's hardly the first to have said things like this. It's just that most people don't do it so blatantly. ]

[ Now that's interesting. It actually sounds rather like what Dick's more willing to do, compared to, say, the be all and end all of the Seelie and, just as likely, the Unseelie. He's questioned and considered, but he can't, in good conscience, fully support the Seelie cause the way the monarchs probably want him to. The way some of the people he's gotten to know seem to.

He doesn't know if this--this Red Hand will solve all the problems, if it'll solve any of them, but at least it's a third option because... Because well. The Seelie aren't giving him what he needs, but he doesn't think defecting to the Unseelie will be any better. Might be worse, really. ]

I can bring my skills to the table, but I'm gonna put it out there first: I don't kill. I don't condone killing. If I'm doing something with someone, I'm not gonna let them kill.

[ He did say they're a mercenary group, after all, and though Dick knows this world is nothing like home, there're still some things he can't let go of. He also didn't miss how his question wasn't answered. ]

Edited 2015-07-28 12:43 (UTC)

You haven't been here for very long, have you?

About two months. Look, I get that it can seem to be necessary, and I'm not gonna condemn people for it, but it's just not how I do things. I'm a trained fighter and I can be an informant or spy, and I'm not sold on the court goals so what you're proposing sounded good to me. If you can live with the fact that I don't kill and don't support it, I really think I could work pretty well for you guys.

Edited (dammit html) 2015-07-29 06:34 (UTC)

Two things you should know, then. First is that I won't make you kill anyone, but you're probably going to have this conversation over and over again with more than one person, and that they're not going to like it if you stop someone from killing someone else and they end up dead as a result.

Second is that I work for the Black Shuck, which means I'm an aspect of Death. Kind of have to kill, it's my job, part of what makes the world keep working. So. If you can live with that, I can live with your morals.

[ This time, there's a brief pause before his reply. ]

I can live with it. And I won't let anyone die on my watch.

[ He'll try to keep to that, at least. He always does, though he doesn't always succeed. ]

Last question: if this works out, do I have to operate under my own name?

[ His compass doesn't have his full name on it, which already helps, but if he can... He'd prefer to have the safety of a codename and mask. It's not that he sees himself separate from Robin, not the way Bruce seems to differentiate between 'Bruce' and 'Batman', but it's just--something. It is. ]

[ Most of them had codenames, call signs, that were more like their actual names than their actual names back in the Marines. John gets it, sort of. ]

You don't have to, no. Though I'd appreciate it if I could know it, at least.

I think you could see it when I texted? I'm Dick, Dick Grayson. Seelie, if that matters.

John Grimm. Former Seelie, actually.

Is it ultra-rude if I ask how you lost your shard?

Whether it is or isn't, hasn't stopped anyone else.

The Black Shuck wanted me to work for Him and took it.

He can do that? Although, somehow, I'm not as surprised as I guess I should be.

[ there's a pause before his next text: ]

So how-when am I gonna find out if you're cool with me joining up?

Edited 2015-08-04 05:47 (UTC)

The Black Shuck is Death. Of course He can.

Like I said. If you can live with it, I can live with it.

Edited 2015-08-04 07:34 (UTC)

Right... I'm gonna work under Robin, if that's cool with you. Uh. Should I be doing anything to make this all official?

Some paperwork so we know who to give your pay to, that sort of thing.

[ "who do we apologize to if you die" ]

I can have someone run it by.

Yeah sure, I'm usually at the Station if I'm not somewhere else.

[ Not terribly helpful, but true. ]

Just let me know if you're not going to be there. Shouldn't take too long.

Sounds good. I'll wait for it, then.

video | open to both courts (yay non-locket devices)

private text ; compass

Re: private text ; compass

private text ; compass

Re: private text ; compass

private text ; compass

Re: private text ; compass

private text ; compass

Re: private text ; compass

private text ; compass

Re: private text ; compass

private text ; compass

Re: private text ; compass

private text ; compass

Re: private text ; compass

private text ; compass

Re: private text ; compass

private text ; compass

Re: private text ; compass