WEEK 1 - SUNDAY / LIGHT (afternoon, post-execution, laundry room)

[crushcard]

[ This... isn't really the best place to have a conversation. Even though Seto knows that the lounge is relatively quiet, there's still a risk of being overheard.

There's still a risk of getting caught.

They've sidestepped each other enough, and two people have died. One of them executed.

It's not like their hands are clean - he'd voted for Hana, damned her to that fate. He actually finds that he feels sympathy for Light, however little it may be. That execution was torture for torture's sake.

Seto Kaiba looks calm. Underneath the surface, he's anything but. He laughs. It sounds more like a cry of pain. ]

... I'm sorry you were forced to do it.

[ He'd thrown his dice for Kaito, actually, since Kaito had led the investigation.

Seto's not usually the one to lay his cards bare on the table, show his hand before he's collected all the winning cards. But if Seto wants to get out alive, he's going to make sure that he's allied with the right people.

There are forty people left in this place. Light Yagami is as good an ally as any. Seto's fairly certain that he knows the stakes for this game now that he's been forced to participate in it. ]

I don't like you very much. I don't trust you, either, but we both have a vested interest in wanting to get out of this place alive.

[ His gaze will flare, blazing and feverish, he'll give Light a swift and searching look. ]

No more lies. Today isn't the first time you've killed.

[ It's said with the conviction that he knows what it's like to have killed. ]

Comments

[crushcard]

[ His blue eyes are narrow are as a razor blade's edge, especially when Light's expression changes - there's something that Seto Kaiba recognises as calculation, and it's the look of a man who is weighing all his options to see if he'll come out on top.

Good.

Seto's been intending to speak with this Light for a while now, ever since his gut feeling has indicated that there's something that isn't entirely trustworthy about Light Yagami, culminating in that show by the lake earlier this morning.

He snorts. Closes his eyes for a brief second. When he opens them again, they're blazing with a cold fire. ]

If anything, I'm convinced that having murder on your card means that you won't act recklessly.

[ If he knows anything about your Type, Light, you're the kind of person to have back-up plans for back-up plans, or to plan several steps in advance. That's something that he appreciates. ]

After all, you haven't been caught yet, back in your home world.

[ It's going to be another shot in the dark, albeit one that uses less of a stretch of the imagination - after all, it wouldn't have been considered a skill by whatever that had filled out their profile cards if Light Yagami had ever been caught guilty of murder, right? Most skilful murderers don't tend to get caught - after all, the Ghost murdered Jason Todd and was not caught for it. And the Ghost had managed to frame Hana Song in the process. ]

It would be nice to have confirmation. [ It's said dryly, with perhaps just a hint of sarcasm, just enough to convey that Seto... doesn't really care about Light's motivations. Hell, it's not like he has anything to gain from divulging Light's secrets, if anything, he loses a valuable ally if Light somehow manages to get himself implicated and executed, and that's definitely not in his best interests. ] Takes one to know one, after all.

[godly]

Confirmation? [Light actually huffs a laugh out at that, lips quirking upwards, sharp and wry. It's much unlike any kind of smile he's given anyone thus far, which means that he's already made the decision: he'll be truthful to Kaiba, as much as it's necessary. There's a reason the man is approaching him like this, wanting the charade to be wiped away, allowing them to talk more openly to each other.

After all, Kaiba is spilling the truth before him, as well. Takes one to know one, he says.]

...Fine. You have your confirmation. Murder is on my card because it belongs there, though I would never be so vain [HA YEAH RIGHT] to list it as a "skill".

Tell me your secrets and I'll tell you mine, Kaiba. You're making it sound like you're something a killer yourself.

[And while THIS IS A BAD THING TO ADMIT TO KIRA, Light realizes that the situation right now is different. He has no respect for murderers, but he will use them if at all necessary to survive. Kaiba, at least, seems smart. That's more than what can be said for the most of the group here.]

[crushcard]

[ Finally.

Seto's grin is equally sharp, and even he can tell that the mood in the room has shifted. It's a little bit less tense, and even Seto has relaxed his stance slightly. This isn't friendship of any sort, this is more a mutual understanding that they're both useful to each other's survival. This alliance is one that will probably last them until they both get out of this place alive - if it's cut short because of either one of them dying before their time? Then so be it.

He's not discounting the possibility of being stabbed in the back, either, but then again that's paranoia for you. ]

I'm sure you're finding it inconvenient, even though there are some like Yukina who prefer to think you're completely innocent.

[ There's a short, sharp bark of laughter that follows. ] I've built simulations designed to drive people insane in ten minutes, or less. The Experience of Death. Most of them killed themselves, afterwards.

[ Does it count, if he's never actually struck the killing blow? He supposes that's why 'murder' doesn't show up in plain sight on his card like it does on Light's.

It's followed by a raised brow. What, did you think he was going to divulge all his secrets at once? Your move, Light. ]

[godly]

[That's the thing with Light -- he doesn't think he's in the wrong, because he believes his own instances of murders at home are justified. He's confident about this, almost to the point of glaring narcissism, but... well. That's neither here nor there.

He knows he has to play the game. Yukina was the sort of person who wouldn't approve if she saw this side of him, and so he tailors his personality to her expectations. The same could be said of the rest of the group, the same could be said for Kaiba. Except it appears now that he'll get to see a bit of the real Light Yagami.]

So you're literate in the art of insanity? [Now that's interesting, and fitting for the setting they've found themselves in. Ah, but Kaiba is expecting an answer from him now. His weight shifts to his other foot, considering his words.]

I kill criminals. Those that deserve death. [It does count if Kaiba's never struck the killing blow, if it counts for Light, who utilizes the Death Note.] The method in which I do so isn't available to me here, however.

[crushcard]

Somewhat. [ It's offhand, like Seto is trying to play down its importance. He's not entirely proud of the things that he's done, admittedly, but in a strange, twisted way, if all his experience in creating and playing death games ends up saving him, he's going to laugh out of sheer disbelief. ] You could also say I'm intimately familiar with death. I've died once, before.

[ Obviously, he hasn't stayed dead, otherwise he wouldn't be here talking to Light. But he'll leave Light to mull over it, or react. Also, now they're getting somewhere. He makes a non-committal sound. ]

Interesting. Acting as judge, jury and-- [ Here his grin is almost sharklike, going in for the kill. ] --executioner. Colour me unsurprised.

[ Light's a fanatic idealist. Seto knows he's not a saint. That the only times that he's killed were for purely selfish reasons. Light, on the other hand? Just purely based on how he's determined himself worthy enough to mete out death? He probably thinks he is one. That it's justified.

And that's what makes the real Light Yagami dangerous. ]

By any chance, is it a magic item with ties to the supernatural? [ It's said dryly, like he's not expecting Light to take him seriously, but then again, Seto's recalled that short moment where they had been speaking with Yukina earlier in the week about the supernatural. It would make sense if it was an item, since they hadn't been able to bring any of their possessions with them - he's even surprised that his card locket made it through when he was transported here. ]

[godly]

[Died once before? As if Light won't ask about that later, because that's not just a little detail that you skim over, Kaiba. Another question slotted nicely into his mind, to be pulled out not unlike a file later. Because, obviously, Kaiba is quite alive -- if there's a way to escape death, even if it was exclusive to a world that wasn't his own, Light wants to know.

Judge, jury, and executioner though... Well, naturally.] Hmph. If a man is suited to play all three parts, then why shouldn't he? Not everyone has the willpower nor the [insanity???] determination to accomplish what I want for my world.

[Kaiba got it in one. Light is a fanatical idealist, a smart one, making him all the more dangerous. But fortunately, he'll be spared the "God of the New World" speech for now. Small miracles.]

An item? Ha, you're quick to make that deduction; that, or it's just a shot in the dark based on a snippet of conversation. [Either way, he'll explain in broad strokes.] It's a shinigami's notebook. If you write down someone's name and know their face, you can orchestrate their death as you see fit.

Though I wonder how well it would work against someone who's just prone to coming back from death?

[Told you he'd loop it around.]

i'm so mad i lost the first draft of this due to an internet glitch

[crushcard]

[ He's sharp enough to note the fact that Light is calling it his world. He has to give Light credit for his acting skills, though. Before this, he would never have pegged the other as having a god complex. One of those megalomaniacs.

Seto's had to deal with his fair share of people with god complexes and they can get annoying. ]

Hmph. [ There's a small note of condescension there, a little bit of skepticism thrown in. ] And what makes you think that you have the willpower or determination to accomplish that? To create your new world, to shape reality with your own hands?

[ It's not like he hasn't tried. That's what his virtual reality technology is for. ]

A shinigami's notebook. [ He should be more surprised. But after seeing the things that he's seen, all the Supernatural Bullshit that Yugi Mutou has dragged him into, he's not. It's probably a milder reaction than Light expects, just Seto stilling for a moment before he exhales audibly, putting whatever pieces of the puzzle that is Light Yagami together. ] How convenient. Useful, even, if you wanted to make a clean kill. Orchestrating the last moments of their death if you know their names and faces... all of us could be dead by now if you wanted us to be. You've been using it for a while.

[ How else would Light have been able to give away such valuable information, even if disguised to be as vague as possible?

It's followed by laughter - slightly manic, even, and there's a small smirk on the edge of Seto's features. ] Wouldn't you like to test it out for yourself, Yagami? Unfortunate, really, that this dimension doesn't allow you to have your notebook with you.

[ That, and the fact that both of them are painfully aware that the highest chance of survival comes with them working with each other to level the field, as much as possible. That's what this alliance of sorts is centred upon, anyway, right? ]

Who knows, maybe this time I'll actually stay dead.

[ Nice try, Light. He's not revealing something that personal that easily. ]

no worries! it happens to us all

[godly]

[Kaiba, why would you ask this. Do you want him to go into a spiel about being the god of a new world?]

Why? [He scoffs, as if almost offended that he would be asked such a thing.] Because I've already been doing it. I have a reputation now; already people are rejoicing in the fact that criminals are being punished for their misdeeds. Slowly but surely, I'm guiding the world towards a utopia of peace and order it's never seen before.

[The way he lips twist up even further belies that he's holding back a laugh at this. It'd be a somewhat dark-sounding thing if he did.]

And I'm quite aware my methods from home won't work here. Craftly and the forces that work here against us wouldn't make it so easy for me, apparently. But I see it as a challenge. For survival. For further punishing those who would try to harm me here. I don't need a shinigami's notebook for that.

[Of course, this would be easier with an alliance. They've already made one with Yukina, Kaiba, and himself, but perhaps he can work more closely with Kaiba if need be. It just depends on how difficult the man wanted to be.]

We'll see, won't we? You better know who to trust, Kaiba. I have no doubt that betrayal will run rampant in a group like this before long. Should I be suspicious of you, I wonder? Are you the type of person to stab an ally in the back?

[crushcard]

[ clearly u need to suffer too since I had to type out his stupid card game monologue multiple times

But no, any kind of spiel about being the god of the new world isn't going to impress Seto Kaiba, especially since he's had the power of one of the Egyptian Gods at his beck and call. Y'KNOW. Light Yagami could never be a god, ha.

LUCKY HE'S NOT SAYING THIS OUT LOUD, LIGHT, because even he knows that saying that out loud is liable to offend and kill this alliance before it even starts.

He does, however, have to resist the urge to recoil and scowl - only possible because Gozaburo had trained him to keep himself impassive and unreadable, so that particular character flaw of being shy and emotional as a child had been beaten out of him completely thoroughly).

He calls bullshit.

Seto Kaiba has little to no love for this world, that's a known fact - but even he wouldn't sink to the concept of vigilante justice and purging the world. No, instead, Seto Kaiba creates tools to reshape reality, to transcend the boundaries of reality if one puts their mind to it, drags themselves out with his own two hands.

Misguided, but brilliant, is his eventual assessment of Light.

A pity. ]

I don't take betrayal lightly. [ There's a hard, furious promise in unfathomable blue eyes, one that signals a shift - Seto's thrown down the gauntlet, so to speak. This is less posturing, more intimidation, but above all, it's a clear warning.

It's the look of someone who promises death and swift (justice) vengeance, of someone who's killed and will not hesitate to do so again. ]

Do you intend to stab me in the back, Yagami? I don't trust easily, but if I gamble my lot and throw it in with you, if you plant a knife in my back--

[ There's a cold fire in his eyes and a snarl to his words. ] --I swear upon the Gods that I will take you down with me and watch you burn to ashes.

FOREVER LATER

[godly]

And I don't take lightly to threats.

[He lets those words hang in the air, so sharp and precarious that they might as well be the blade of a guillotine.]

That being said, I won't stab you in the back unless you give me a reason to. Alliances are useful to me; they're tools to be used here for the sake of survival. You have enough sense, I hope, to realize this as well.

[Kaiba's smart. Prone to something close to anger, he thinks, but smart. Surely he wouldn't discard an alliance without good reason, and as long as they remain useful to reach other, betrayal might not be something they'd have to worry about for the time being.

A precarious sort of... trust. Even though the amount of it is laughable at best, between the two of them. But an understanding isn't out of the realm of possibility.]