infiltration mission: staato!

[noash]

There's no way th' gang's gonna be happy about this, ya know. I just got a lead on Totsuka's killer, but in that place...

I'm already tellin' ya, be ready with a backup plan.


( ooc: sorry for any delay in tags! I'm sitting in an airport trying not to laugh and failing, but I'll definitely be back. >:T )

Comments

[unsteady]

Munakata.

[A public quip delivered by the Blue King himself is deserving of attention, especially in critique of HOMRA's functions. Even if it's little more than glazed acknowledgement.

He already knows better than to think Munakata wouldn't be nosy. But they don't have anything to hide about this the dressing in drag part.... though.... Mikoto doesn't know about yet...??]

Don't act surprised.

[permit]

[ alas, the drawling sound of his name only earns half of his attention despite the fact that the red king should have it in full. still, he regards suoh from out of his peripheral, and his acknowledgement comes out as nothing more than a hum vibrating from somewhere low in his throat. ]

Is that truly what it looks like? [ his smile is still set in place, edgeless and easy when he finally turns on his heel to address suoh properly. ] I suppose I am, then. But it appears I've attributed the improper feeling.

Should I extend my gratitude instead?

[unsteady]

[He knows better than to think Munakata's noncommittal regard stems from disinterest. The very fact the captain has appeared here dictates this will go the way it usually does.]

No thanks, keep it.

[Rolling a shoulder, Mikoto maintains his lazy slouch even as he surfaces a cigarette and lights it with a flare.]

You'd follow us over there, huh?

[permit]

Oh?

[ the spark earns a sharp look, a careful glance all in the same abrupt dropping motion.

... but it disappears quickly enough when he returns his gaze to suoh's eye level, when his expression smooths over pleasantly with his (serpent's) smile. ]

Not quite. [ he counters evenly, pushing at his glasses. ] 'Following' implies that your group would be the first to arrive.

No?

[unsteady]

Aa, you'll go first?

[Something indolent colors his tone, idle and borderline dismissive, but it's still charged with a challenge. As if ripping into Munakata gets any less fun should he rise to the occasion.]

To a place like that.

[The Blue King in a love hotel. Munakata in a love hotel. Please, kill him again.]

[permit]

[ lazy drawl or not, there's always a fire searing the underbelly of suoh's words -- and he's no stranger to it... nevertheless, it takes a little more than that to affect him, and the only sign of his reaction is the slight dip in his rich baritone, the slight raise of his brow. ]

The location is unfortunate, isn't it?

[ though yes, suoh mikoto in drag in a love hotel is definitely the lesser of these two evils. he might have to murder the red king before then to spare himself that kind of irreparable damage to his psyche. ]

I would suggest that you mind the nuance between what is a motive for necessity and what is one for pleasure.

[ ...and then, he offers it casually as an afterthought, calm and awfully blasé. ]

Unless you've some ulterior motive besides that of revenge.

[unsteady]

[He's yet unaware of the HOMRA's addendum to the plan: disguise by drag. But it's doubtful he'd partake in that for the sake of revenge when he can melt through the hotel's walls in pursuit. It's so much simpler, and Mikoto's not one for hiding.

The rest of HOMRA is free to entertain dresses and heels and lipstick... as long as it gratifies the goal.]

Is that what you think?

[Munakata's blatant suggestion earns its own dry, flat glance. A thin stream of smoke escapes his lips when he talks.]

Never considered it.

[He's looking at the other king a little harder -- as if to say did you? Izumo already told him the hotel fucks with you, but he doesn't care and it won't stop him.]

[permit]

I would hope you weren't planning to start.

[ -- comes out the closest to deadpan as his usual lofty tone might allow.

and while he does not agree with the means by which the red king seeks his end, there is a kind of understanding here, a silent and inadvertent sort of respect.

even if suoh deserves none of it. ]

But I suppose, regardless of the risk, it's all the same to you.

[ the hard look earns a wryly amused smile -- what do you take me for? despite how valid of a point it is, when dignity likely matters more to him than it does to suoh mikoto...

but really, a location is but a location. and if what he's gleaned about it is true, then... well. if it comes down to it, he is nothing if not a man in control of every facet of himself, whether mental or physical.

this is really dumb ]

Likewise, my original stance remains.

[unsteady]

'Course.

[Reconsideration has never been an idea, not even the spark of one; his mind is made up, sharpened to a deadly, lethal point.

But they're both dealing the same cards as kings, their duties set like cinderblocks on their shoulders. Suoh is the only one whose footing is slightly unstable beneath that weight.

And the respect is... mutual, maybe. For the burden they bear.]

It doesn't matter, huh? [Munakata will need the best of luck, because he has no intention of losing this race. HOMRA will infiltrate the hotel first and locate their target before SCEPTER4 intervenes.

Although he thinks, of the two of them, the captain's rigid composure will suffer the worst blow in that environment.

there's nothing dumb about two guys and a love hotel]

Even if you're out of your element.