bakerstreet | it's time to tell the truth.

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[meme] characterization

it's time to tell the truth.

TRUTH MEME

Sometimes, you have to tell the truth. No, I mean, you have to. Maybe it's magic, or a promise, or nanobots; who knows. But you have to tell the truth, and everyone knows it. Of course, do half-tuths count? What about lying by omission? That's up to you, and how far you want this curse, this ailment, to go. The only thing that can't be escaped is the truth, whatever form that truth takes.

What happens next?

You decide.
Post your character to the meme.
They have to tell the truth when they're asked questions.
What others ask is up to them. Nothing is off limits.
Your character has to answer... eventually.
Tag around and ask other characters questions!

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[ Oh, this should be good. Fire away. ]

So just how much do you love getting your ass handed to you?

Oh, I'd wager 'bout as much as you love gettin' cornered, captured, and caught out.

Oh, cowboy alliteration, let me catch my breath and calm my tingling.

Didn't mean to give ya the vapors so soon, sugar.

Is that what you think you give me?

[ Oh there is the arrogant trademark Cage eye roll there, it's practically genetic at this point. She is such her father's daughter in attitude and the rest clearly comes from mom. ]

Nah... [ A slow, smug grin stretches across his lips. ] Y'just make it so damn easy fer me to yank those pigtails.

Give it a try and see how fast I put you down like Old Yeller.

[ She slid her sunglasses down along the bridge of her nose so she cloud fix those baby blues on him. ]

So if you're feeling froggy, jump.

I don't jump for nobody, darlin', and I ain't no cur neither. [ A pause, deafening as anything, as a thought occurred. ] Folk always wish I was though, right around when it's their time to go.

Did I actually hit a nerve?

[ Cassie paused, shades slid back into place letting his own reflection stare back at him. Black was fine when he was flapping his gums, when he went quiet and serious that was when she needed to pay attention. ]

Not my time, not by a long shot. Too young and way too pretty.

[ Yeah, she's a Cage. ]

Got me a lotta those, some older than others. [ His mouth twisted with displeasure at the strange effect that'd taken hold of him. ] They ain't for you.

[ His chuckle is oddly warm at the rejoinder, though. ]

Well, sweetheart, I ain't about to argue with ya there: you got that right — fer now.

Still, you haven't made a move yet, so what's your game? Who are you working for now or are you freelancing?

[ That's right, questions, questions are good because she sure as hell doesn't know how to respond to what he just said. With Kano, she could throw that back in his face because he'd say it like a creep. Black though, the smooth voice, the laugh... no best to keep things back on that business track before it got weird. Well, weirder. ]

I ain't bein' paid to move a muscle, simple as that. I reckon this might come as a shock, but my life don't actually revolve around tryin' to end yours fer no reason. Ya might be mistakin' me fer a fella named Kano.

Why? [ He's reached for her pigtails again, as evidenced by the fact that he looks like the cat that got the cream. ] You hirin'?

You've kinda made a career of it for a while now. [ She retorted, souring when he brought up Kano. Her hate for that particular bastard was still seething and there were scores upon scores to settle with the Ausie merc. ] But yeah, you're not him, fair enough.

[ That other though, she backed up half a step, hand twitching for her holster but not stupid enough to provoke him if he wasn't acting out of aggression. He was too damned good of a shot and she knew it. ]

Like you can do anything we'd pay for. [ Yeah, yeah ok there we go. Back on the sass train. Chin lifted, toss in a smirk, shades cover any reaction she might have had to that particular self satisfied expression of his. ] S.F. doesn't hire a lot of mercs.

Wrong place, wrong time. It ain't nothin' personal, sugar, just business. I don't do grudges, or... [ A note of legitimate uncertainty. ] Whatever that is between you'n'him.

Take it from me, you do too much for too little. [ He's serious, the tenor of his voice too deep and cut and dry to be anything else. ] You and your ma both oughtta be renegotiatin', if you ask me.

Between me and him is a whole ocean of hate. And either mom or I will see him dead one day, count on it. [Or, the other unspoken option of die trying. She refused to accept that option though. ]

Ok, this, this thing right here, [ She gestured between them back and forth. ] It's weird, right? We've gone toe to toe, been in knock-down, drag-out fights and now you're giving me career advice? What gives?

Edited 2021-04-19 04:42 (UTC)

It's just like I said: I don't do grudges. They're bad fer business and even worse for life expectancy. Ain't no good kinda sense in blood feudin' neither, but that's fer you to figure out.

You got in my way, and that's a bad place to be. [ There was something of the rattle of a snake in his demeanor, there one moment and gone the next, the deepest truth followed by an easier one. ] And when ya weren't doin' that, you were upholdin' the family tradition a causin' me grief elsewhere.

Face it, sugar, yer a menace to society.

Then I guess we can just skip the lecture there. [ Kano was personal, he was to mom and he was to Cass, the man had taken something from them and made himself a grade A target since before Cassie was even born. That deserved some payback. ]

Gosh, I'm just heartbroken to think you don't like me Mister Black, I guess my crush will just go on unrequited forever. [ She was definitely ten pounds of sass in a five pound bag alright, and one day that mouth was going to get her into trouble that even her skills might not get her out of. But that wasn't gonna be today. Besides, like Black said, no one was paying him to fight today, so it was like... neutral ground or something. ]

You do what you do for money, I do what I do because if I don't people who count on me will die. Jesus, I don't even know you personally well enough to dislike you, but damn you have a way of being there when things go sideways.

Now, I didn't say I didn't like ya. [ Truth be told, and truth appeared to be all he could tell, one way or another... ] Don't get me wrong: money's good, money's plenty. If all I got outta this life a mine was money, I would've stayed with the Black Dragon.

If nothin' in life ever went sideways, folk like you and I would be awful bored, don't ya think?

Wait..wait..what?

[ She held up a hand want a moment to process what he'd just said, all of it because there were some bits there that kind of made her stare. ]

[ Ok, so he was a merc but maybe it was the thrill he was after, she knew plenty of adrenaline junkies, dated a few in her time. She could understand that. Maybe that was a perk besides the money, he liked the thrill of the fight and all that testing his mettle bullshit. ]

[ But the liking her part, that could have knocked her on her ass if she wasn't already wary around him. It just didn't parse. ]

Well, today just went from boring to 'what the fuck' in record time.

Life just gone a little sideways again, sweetheart? [ There was genuine amusement in the quirk of his brows, the slight forward tilt of his head, but his grin was all indulgence. ] Don't act like you ain't never laid eyes on a professional before.

It don't matter whether I like ya or not when you're my business. I like ya just fine when I'm not obliged to deal with you harin' around, actin' like you own the place.

Hey I'm military, that is professional by definition.[ Which is a little hard to by when it comes out sounding a little bit like a petulant brat like that. ]

I don't go around acting like I own any place! I... I exude an air of confidence that comes from skill, training and hard work. [ Sure, that even sounded good in her own head for being something she pulled out of nowhere. Maybe Daddy wasn't the only one who could improv. ]

That why you let yer feelings get in the way of the job and take everything personal? [ Erron is just teasing her now; there's nary a hint of anything otherwise. ] Outworld was doin' fine before y'all showed up and started meddlin' with it.

Strife, civil war, assassinations, bloody revolts... [ She counted those off on her fingers. ] You got a real funny definition of doing fine.

Earthrealm got dragged into the conflict because of Mortal Kombat, things went on from there. You can blame people like Kano for keeping people having to come around.

And don't try to tell me you don't have feelings, no one is that cold, not even Kuai Liang.

Ain't that been the natural state a things for longer than you or I been alive? [ It's a fair question, given the histories of the realms as a whole, but especially Earthrealm. ] After a certain point, sugar, you just gotta accept it.

And I could blame that small-minded weevil for a whole helluva lot a things. [ Erron curled his lip and huffed in open disdain. He hadn't forgotten about the fact that Kano had done more to jeopardize his paycheck than Cassie Cage and her merry band of idiots. ] It just wouldn't do me no good.

[ The effect of the place was a heavy presence in his mind, pressing at him in ways that made him shift uncomfortably and press his lips together just to keep it from trying to escape. It was no use. ]

I ain't cold.

Erron Black 🕱 Mortal Kombat

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