Audience: Mahito

[probe]

Comments

[touchups]

[Please don't be happy to see a flea...

OVER HE GOES, leaning against the bar of whatever dance pad she's not on.]

The classics are always good! I like playing at the hard levels, too.

[probe]

Something a little faster then? We can start with a warm-up and pick a playlist as we go.

[touchups]

Yup! That suits me just fine.

[OVER THE BAR HE HOPS, taking up position at the center of his mat.]

Man, you wouldn't believe the number of people here who don't know this kinda stuff. ...Well, I mean, you would 'cuz you probably knew it before we did, but you get it.

[probe]

I would definitely believe it! It's kind of funny though because it's not like you guys haven't had access to this room from the beginning. Law said he'd play games with me yesterday but I kind of figured that was just lip service considering...y'know. The murder thing.

[so they will start sorting through songs.] I taught Molly how to play recently though and that was pretty fun.

[touchups]

Some people just see a big weird machine with flashing lights and think "no", I guess.

[THEIR LOSS. He laughs at that, though...]

Eh, well. He did intend to get away with it at first, didn't he? Or he wouldn't have asked anyone for help. I think he just gave up too fast.

[The cops came at him and he just laid down and died... While she's doing her scrolling, he'll hop a bit from one arrow pad to the other in a little nonsensical pattern.]

Seems like the kinda game he'd like. Are you two close?

[probe]

Well those people are wrong. [searching, searching...]

Childe told me he asked for help. I figured you were involved, too. Were you surprised he gave up so quickly? I sort of was.

[they let him hop and seem to be trying to decide between three songs, flipping back and forth to listen to the samples.]

If you mean am I close to Molly? I think so! He's one of my favorites to spend time with and he always makes time for me. [molly indulges them in childish whims and they love it tbh]

[touchups]

Yup. [A little shrug! Where there's chaos, there's... curse...] And yeah, I was. He must have really felt cornered... Didn't even wait until they asked for his reasons for being in the pods before he came out with it. Kinda surprised he didn't throw us under the bus, too.

[He's never surprised when humans are at their worst, but he is sometimes taken a bit off guard when they're not... God. Anyway, terribly:]

Yeah! I like him a lot, too. [Said between hops with a smile.] He's really fun to talk to. That trap he and Harrow came up with was super smart, too!

[probe]

That's what Childe said, too. [they settle on a song, letting the preview loop while they lean against the other dance bar.] Either he felt cornered, or he just decided fighting wasn't worth it.

[but they nod enthusiastically.] They're both really smart, I was pretty proud of them! I wasn't even sure it was gonna work, but those pods are both a blessing and a curse.

[touchups]

[THE FACT THAT THIS IS THE SECOND TIME CAPTAIN JACK HAS COME INTO MY LIFE IN LIKE 2 DAYS.]

Humans usually do whatever they can to survive. [It's surprising when they don't... Wild shit. But! He just laughs at their enthusiasm, coming to a stop on the arrow pointing toward their dancepad.]

Yup! Though it probably would have been better if they pretended something else tipped them off about Law, instead of giving that one away. Not that I doubt they'll be able to come up with some interesting stuff in the future!

[IT WAS ANNOYING AT FIRST but Mahito's had some time to sit with it and now he's just intrigued by the challenge. Terrible.]

[probe]

[this is what you deserve]

You're not wrong. [but they wave it off.]

You're already thinking of ways to get around whatever they plan next, huh? You already made it so confusing last time!

[touchups]

[STOP THIS.

Also Mahito just sideways drapes himself over his bar at that, petulant.]

That wasn't my fault! I'm not the one who brought in the cactuses and croissants! [HE ONLY BROUGHT THE CLEETS.] Ugh... I told Gluttony I'd try to keep the next one cleaner, at least.

[AND THEN KINDNESS COMES TO KICK HIS ASS AND DERAIL HIM ANYWAY. Good thing because haha. That would have not been a cleaner kill in any definition.]

But yeah - that's the way it goes, right? Everyone uses each other to get stronger and smarter.

[probe]

You ruined a really nice table cloth and tried to frame Ashiya! pouty...] But at least you're being considerate.

I don't know if that's true for all humans. It's not like everyone just uses everyone else. People are more likely to work together instead.

[touchups]

Technically Vlad ruined it. [LOOK VLAD'S THE ONE WHO STABBED!!] And I just thought framing Douman would be fun!

[And Douman is like, one of his favorite people... He truly is just a curse through and through. Anyway, he'll scuff a foot against one of the arrows, looking distracted for a second.]

--Huh. So are you the kinda person who believes in long-term cooperation?

[probe]

Hm...yes and no. I think it's very nice and I personally like it a lot. But I know other people don't feel that way. I kind of argue with Childe about this same subject a lot.

[touchups]

Haha, really? He didn't really seem like the arguing type.

[That's just because Childe and Mahito have never had a reason to argue since they VIBE SO HARD.]

Guess that makes sense, though. Do you get along with Greed pretty well? Just outta curiosity.

[probe]

Maybe it's not really arguing, but we don't agree on some stuff. [lust and childe vibe enough that when they clash it's on pretty stupid (but somewhat major) stuff.]

...I don't talk to Greed that much. They're okay, and they're really smart, but we don't have a lot in common or anything.

[touchups]

Oh! Yeah, that's not surprising.

[If only because... he and Childe vibe so hard that he can only imagine Lust and Childe also clash over similar things. He also just hums at that, nodding.]

Makes sense. I had a feeling there'd be a little too much personality clash. We had a pretty interesting chat about cooperation earlier, is all. [A little shrug.] Wanna get started? I can talk and play at the same time.

[probe]

Oh, can you? Molly had a little trouble at first so I wasn't sure. [so they jump back onto their platform and start the song!]

What kind of conversation?

[touchups]

Yep! I've played this a lot so I can multitask. [HIS EASILY DIVIDED ATTENTION SPAN... Time to DDR and converse at the same time, good work champs.]

Just about how feasible long-term cooperation is! We agreed, I think? It was kinda surprising! I don't really get them, haha.

[And yet, he is fond?? Unfortunate.]

[probe]

Great! [and they go! lust is apparently very skilled at this, too, and can dance and talk at the same time.

also that's terrible.]

I don't think they even really get themselves if it makes you feel better! I hear them mumbling to themselves a lot when they're working through things. But I know a few people don't totally agree on cooperation.

[touchups]

[The idea that they're just having a conversation about ty's other npc while DDRing at rapid speeds to Captain Jack is honestly hilarious.]

Lots of people are like that, I guess! It seems like it's hard to know yourself.

[Can't relate at all, damn.]

Anyway, everyone would probably have to be a collective hivemind species for cooperation to work all the time every time, long-term.

[probe]

[it's what we all deserve unfortunately.]

You seem to know yourself totally fine though. [literally just voicing that out loud.]

A hivemind sounds pretty scary though...but isn't that kind of like curses? You guys have pretty much the same goal, don't you?

[chaos.]

[touchups]

Yep. Curses are different from humans, there! There's no reason for us to deny what we are, so it's easier to understand ourselves.

[He seems to think about their question before answering, though... Momentary silence as the DDR screen yells PERFECT COMBO at them both.]

Mmm... Kind of! But not quite. We're all driven to destroy things and hurt humans - that's a curse's instinct! But most curses can't even talk, let alone come up with a goal. Even between us special grades, there's a lot of conflict and differences, you know? Like... Jogo thinks curses are the true humans, so we should be the dominant species, but Hanami just wants to make sure humans can't destroy the planet anymore.

[probe]

Like a hierarchy then...how do you know which view is right? Or, maybe there really isn't a right view since the instinct is destruction. [they do a fancy spin just for fun without breaking their combo.]

They say the same thing about aliens, you know. They're the dominant species who are planning to come back to the planet to overthrow us all.

[touchups]

Kinda! Sorcerers made a scale to keep track of us and themselves better.

[He does a little round of applause for their fancy little spin! Impressive DDR prowess, damn. He doesn't have many flourishes, but he does have near-perfect timing, even with his attention split.]

Anyway, I think it's the same for us as it is for humans, for that. No one view is really right... They're all just different. Some views are probably more sympathetic to humans, though! Like Hanami's! They're gentle. Their drive to destroy really only manifests in wanting to clear humans outta the way so the Earth can heal.

[Said fondly. He loves Hanami... Big ol softy that still kills tons of people, wipes tear.]

It'd be pretty funny if we all got wiped out by aliens, though.

[WHY.]