bakerstreet | First love

When I was still just a boy, my parents used to take me to the performances of the Mittelfrank Opera Company in Enbarr. I am not ashamed to say that I was quite taken with the star of the show... the Divine Songstress herself, Manuela Casagranda. Her presence in the stage, her voice, her skill with a sword... they all inspired me to become the very person I am today. And they are still just as inspiring as ever.

[ Ferdinand has a lot of love to give to a lot of people (just ask him about that water nymph he saw in the fountain around that time or the girl he used to light up the dance floor with when he was just a little older), but he is definitely president of the Manuela Fan Club. ]

She was... filling a void, I think. And she deserved better, so I left.

First love? I don't know if I've had one.

Plenty of people I've crushed on or whatever, but I'd hardly call it love.

He saved my life and I saved his. It didn't last, but we've grown to be friends now. I think that's what it was always meant to be.

Beauty and softness beyond compare, brilliant and glorious as the sun. Breathtaking in all ways. Beauty undeniable and unrelenting as a river's flow, and just as likely to drown those who behold her.

She saved my sorry ass -- found me in a pretty bad way after I'd escaped some slavers. Helped heal me back to health and just... let me stick around, I guess. We traveled together for a few years with her partner.

...I regret leaving.

Why did you leave? If you don't mind me asking.

That's... a long story. She and her partner wanted the three of us to leave that shithole of a country together, but their method of doing so would have put me in a rather compromising situation with the noblewoman who used to "own" me.

All those years, they'd given me very little reason not to trust them, but I just... couldn't do it. So, I left while they were asleep. And I didn't look back.

[ His face shows compassion as he listens to the details she shares, and though perhaps he ought to leave it there, he feels compelled to ask - ]

You didn't look back, but... do you regret it? Do you ever miss them?

[It's okay, she doesn't mind talking about it, and it shows in the way she speaks of them.]

I do. Sometimes I wonder what my life would've been like had I stayed. And who knows, maybe there's another version of myself in another reality that did, and things turned out fine. Or maybe their plan failed, and I'd have been right back to being a slave again, worse off than before.

[Hard not to think about the "what ifs" ever since her magical talent blossomed, making her capable of seeing into the Sea of Eventualities. She pinches the bridge of her nose.]

Either way. Those two were the first to make me feel like an actual person in a long time. And I think I needed that, back then.

She made LYLA.

His name was Kenny Li. He's the first friend I ever made. We might have... we could have probably been more if we had more time.

Well, he's kind of Death now. And by kind of...I mean he is.

She was my first real friend. We were just kids but we made a promise to each other...we'd get married. And then she died right in front of me.

[Oh man, he could relate far too well to that entire description.]

...........Did you kill her?

No, there was a car. We were trying to cross the street and the driver wasn't paying attention...we were only ten at the time.

Must have been a terrible experience for you.

It was. But not the worst part. I couldn't accept what I'd seen happen and I unknowingly cursed her spirit to stay bound to me. It was a rough couple of years before I figured it all out.

At least that didn't happen with mine. I hope wherever she is now it is a better galaxy than the one she left.

Were you eventually able to put her spirit to rest?

You're looking at him~.

[Obligatory]

My first girlfriend turned into the moon.

I would have run away with him. I would have spent the rest of my life chasing the horizon with him.

But he's an Elf. I'm a Human.

There was never going to be a happy ending. And we both knew that.

She's the most amazing and talented and beautiful witch, and she inspired me to become a great witch myself. Just seeing her fills me with so much awe!

[When your first love is a gay celebrity crush.]

Back East...I fancied Miss Byrd something fierce. She was a determined, business savvy beauty. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested. She kept pushing to get closer to me and...she found out something that I couldn't face...so I turned tail and ran West.

My master. He was the first one to beat me in a fight to the death. He spared me, even when I begged him to kill me. It's pretty embarrassing to think back on now, but I still remember how taken I was when he cut off my arm and then suplexed me afterward.

[Yeah. With a sigh, she closes her eyes and shrugs.]

I tried to make a move, a couple of years later, but he turned me down. I was pretty pissed at the time, especially because of the woman he chose over me. But now that I'm older, I know now that he was right for rejecting me. The whole master/student thing is pretty fucked to think about.

Besides, I also know that gamers don't make for good boyfriends either.

... Well may hell and all it's bells damn me- you're talkin' 'bout Travis Touchdown, aren't you girl?

[Though the thought passes that maybe she should just keep her mouth shut and deny it: 1) Shinobu was far too straightforward for that. 2) wow, someone insulted her master!]

You got a problem with my master?

[Nevermind the whole thing that he killed him and all. Shinobu is just not going to comment on that, apparently.]

[And the good doctor can do nothing else but laugh- though at least he has enough sense to shake his head as he does, and hopefully bring himself under control quick enough to see a potentially lethal swipe come his way.]

N-no, no I aheh heh, heh, Iii... don't mean any, heh offense. Just...

[Pause, Pastel. Breathe in. Breathe out. There we go.]

A case of mistaken assumptions, miss Jacobs. You ah... made quite a lot of paperwork for me, with your activities in your school.

[Does she think that dead schoolgirls, regardless of what type of school we're talking about, could be covered up or made to go away easily? The lengths he had gone to in order to make his subordinates cover those actions up... the work he'd done for the UAA overall. Who even handled all that after he was put in the ground?]

Let's just say the profile I had for you didn't give the impression you'd take a shine to a man's... voracious, as Mr Touchdown. S'pose I thought yours and his jagged edges would tear you apart, instead'f bringin' you together. And I s'pose most of all, I'm surprised he rejected your offer in the first place. Perhaps... he only thirsted for blood cooled by air and blade- instead of running warm inside an eager body.

Edited 2023-07-07 01:40 (UTC)

[Maybe in her younger years, she would have reacted more violently. However, at the place she was at now, Shinobu merely folds her prosthetic arms, closing her eyes with a sigh.]

You wanna die again?

[However, she was still not above making threats. At the very least, though, once he gets a better hold on himself, Shinobu doesn't seem to make any move to follow through on her words. While she didn't especially like to think back on her younger years, and the things she did to hide her identity, there was at least some peace she had made with herself since then.]

That was a long time ago, and I never asked you to handle the paperwork.

[Even if she knew it didn't excuse her actions, if she hadn't killed the students, someone else would have in possibly less merciful methods than she had employed. For what it was worth, Shinobu at least tried to take care of her own problems. Even if someone else was the instigator of them.]

Well, your profile was wrong. Don't really care to know what you had on me either.

[Probably pretty understandably, Shinobu had a distrust of the other assassins in the ranks. Particularly the one that was exactly one spot below her, at the time. Even if she might be more of a freelancer now, she knew she could be in danger at any moment and she'd likely never escape that the rest of her life.

Still, she manages to break her aura of stoicness at his last remarks, making a grimace instead.]

Ew. I could give you a proper response on that, but I feel like you'd rather run with your own story there.

[He disregards her idle threat, it's practically a feature of the Association-life, as much a filler term as 'like' and 'uh' at this point. Her other points feel FAR more pertinent to adress...]

Few people ask me to- I'm just s'posed to handle it anyway.

Now... I admit my methods're prone to error. Profilin' sometimes feels more like inspectors wantin' to play Sherlock Holmes than anythin' approachin' actual detective work. But as far as stories go, well... you must understand that last time I saw Mr Touchdown, he agreed with me that we were peas in a pod, two sharks out for blood and, in his case, the attention of that most vivacious viper, ms Christel. I s'pose I figured he wasn't so ah... single-minded in such pursuits.

[... In his defense for saying that, he WAS probably involved in a lot of behind the scenes stuff for the UAA and knew Sylvia, her methods and had possibly even gotten a profile where she gladly humiliated Travis by pointing out what a simp for her he was, so... don't shoot the messenger?]

You should really consider a change of scene, then.

[Granted, Shinobu was well aware that she got out of the UAA a lot easier than most do. Even if it was merely because she was more useful alive than dead - at the very least, though, if the purpose was to try (emphasis on try) to keep Travis alive, then it was a purpose she was willing to serve regardless. Maybe that was Sylvia's design all along, but it at least worked for Shinobu, so she didn't pay it much thought.

While she was content to forever talk shit - that was her way, after all - she lets out a sort of conceding sigh at his point.]

He... does tend to have that effect on people. The whole thing about feeling some relation to him, at least.

Don't really understand the whole fascination with that woman, still. [Though it used to be a topic that made her blood boil, under the surface, she had long since came to terms with it. Her prosthetic hands span out in an exaggerated shrug, before continuing.] But that's who my master chose to marry and have kids with, so...

Hm. An interesting point, if I get what you're aiming at. The man is hardly a blank slate, and yet we still project onto him...

[It is only half meant as a joke- now she's really got him wondering if people are just seeing what they want to see in Travis Touchdown. A warrior hungry for battle, a bloodthirsty addict, a family man...

WAIT A DIDDLY DARN MINUTE]

You... just said... kids? I heard that right, did I?

[OOC: Sorry for delay, weekend and work-week turned out to be very draining!]

[Maybe one should question why she was even talking about anyone close to Travis in a world where assassins tended to focus on hurting other assassins through despicable threats. However, Shinobu was entirely confident in Sylvia's skill in hiding the children in question. Even if she'd never admit to such verbally.]

Uh-huh. [Her tone is dull, as if it was the most normal thing in the world that the biggest disaster, like her master, would have children.] Don't even think of trying to go after them either, they're apparently way stronger than any of us too.

[That is, if the future versions of them (and her master's apparent grandson) were anything to go by.]

[Whatever she imagined his response might be, wild laughter was probably a not on the list. And yet- here they are. Shinobu having to witness an old man laugh so much he nearly bends over wheezing... though he manages to straighten himself out soon enough.]

Aaaaaah, oh, ooohwee ms Jacobs, I... I do not know what image you've got of me but let me reassure you that the Touchdowns eh... need not fear any sudden last-minute 'Hail Mary's' from me. Heh... because I don't know if you've heard, might've just passed you by what with your general disinterest in most of the UAA but I happen to be... incredibly dead!

[Spreads out his arms, as if to say 'just look at me'.]

And frankly, I wouldn't've gone after them even if I was alive. Maybe if I were ten years younger, still felt like I had somethin' to lose and thus had somethin' to protect through whatever mean's were available to me but... honestly, if Mr Touchdown wants to make a play for domestic bliss I say I dearly hope whatever I saw of myself in him, is NOT there.

[For what it was worth, Shinobu just simply looks at him dryly through his laughter, replying in a tone that was just as deadpan.]

Yeah, well, you wouldn't exactly be the first UAA member to come back from the dead either.

[She does at least seem a little more at ease at his explanation, though.]

Honestly, that's probably for the better. Dunno if the whole domestic bliss is in the cards for him, considering who he married, but you probably don't wanna be caught up in the whirlwind of a shitstorm he's constantly finding himself in the middle of either.

An Awoken woman. She was a Lightbearer- a Titan, actually. Had a good heart and roped me into servin' with her in the Pilgrim guard. Had the bearin' of an angel, both with the biblical levels of wrath and the ability to light up a room.

Too bad she sold her soul to mouthy bastard space gods. Frickin' insane by the end of it.

[But he still misses her, and feels guilty for not coming clean about who and what he was before a particular now-dead dipshit could rat him out.]

My inspiration. A man with a vision that could redeem my family. The first person I met who really cared about more than himself.

She was beautiful and deadly and she......she was kind to me.

[One of the only people who ever was during the course of his life.]

And I killed her.

[Look, he'd known it was never going to be happily ever after between them, but that had been as bad as it possibly could have gone as an ending for him and Kilindi.]

First love

ferdinand von aegir | fire emblem: three houses

Claire Bennet ∞ Heroes ∞ OTA

becca ~ original ~ ota

Tess Mercer | Smallville

strahd von zarovich | curse of strahd/ravenloft

Jade "the Prophetess" | Enderal: Forgotten Stories

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

miguel o’hara • atsv

Kara Danvers | Supergirl (DCTV) | M/F if shipping, OTA gen

Hope Mikaelson | The Vampire Diaries Verse (Legacies)

yuuta okkotsu / jjk

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Cavendish - One Piece

Sokka | Avatar: The Last Airbender

Astrid Filiaroy | Dungeons & Dragons (OC) | F/M for shippy, otherwise OTA

Atsuko 'Akko' Kagari 🌠 Little Witch Academia 🌠 ota

Beauregard "Maverick" Chamberlain | Steel Vengeance | OTA

Shinobu Jacobs | No More Heroes 3

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Drifter - Destiny - OTA

Aria Steelwind | TC, Arcane Attorney | OTA | figure I'll mark this for spoilers since it's brand new

Darth Maul | Star Wars