[treasure 8] it's black and white, this message is for you

[throwmoreswords]

WHO: Gilgamesh, Sampo Koski, and you
WHERE: Gemini
WHEN: endish of January
WHAT: in which Gilgamesh is only so good at waiting before his temper snaps and a few executive decisions need to be made. Payments arranged. Favors compensated. Please help.
WARNINGS: n/a

one. voice; un: AUO - to whom it may concern (and it should concern you)

in which a king needs to buy stuff like rocks and labor

[ Gil's tone is... strange. neither of his usual emotions--bored or smug--seem to be present in the tension that he speaks with, and he's trying to sound... neutral. overwhelmingly so. he is pulling a facade of calm into his voice that feels like it doesn't quite fit right. ]

I am quite tired of waiting for the pieces of a puzzle to fall into place, and so, I will see them seized for myself.

I need material ore. Whether it's tin, copper, gold, silver, tungsten, platinum, cobalt, or diamond itself--or some unknown to me magical panacea rock that exists only in an anomalous riftgate, I am in the market to purchase ore or information regarding ore.

If you know a deposit that can be pulled up, or have the means to put together a mining expedition if only you had the currency, I am paying for your services. If you need someone to keep beasts at bay while you collect the ore, I am available for the work, or I will fund your hirelings. Hook or crook, I simply need a stockpile of materials and I need it a month ago.

My. [ and that neutral, authoritative tone falters here; he takes in a breath, digs his teeth into his tongue and steadies himself again, though there's a noticeable shift and an unease in his attempt to sound like the boss of you. ] My partner has a crystal growing in his skin and the symptoms are getting worse. It glows constantly and he's lost the ability to differentiate temperature. He has a forgemaster on retainer, but they need materials to find one that can contain whatever the hell it is-- [ oops, that's an emotion, can't have those.

swallow it down. go back to neutral, even though it's cracked and his temper is beginning to show through. he's shifted to a sort of... resolved, unflinchingly firm calm. ] I will not lose him a second time. I don't care what it costs. I don't care if you think to bleed me dry. I'm available at the Auguries of Innocence during the day, and if I'm not there in the evenings, the Vogue.

[ a long pause. another slow breath. ]

I do not know what I will do if he's taken from me again. Therefore, I will not entertain the possibility. You may respond to this solicitation, or to me directly.

[ that's not a threat.

that's a promise.

a King does not break his promises.

and then, soft and so very, very tired. ]

... please.

two. action - with lightning in my heels and my heart on fire

cash for gold. or silver. or titanium. or rainbow magic rock.

[ and as he promised, if you have stuff to sell, Gilgamesh is outside of his teapot and ready to pull out his fancy golden wallet. he's given to the masculine urge to perch on the roof, standing on the Auguries bundled up in many, many layers of expensive winterwear because he was still born in a dry, desert climate, and this sucks, but he needs fresh air and to not be near people unless they're doing his bidding.

if you'd prefer a Vogue introduction, there's a certain particularly gothic corner of the party palace that he's sitting adjacently to, nursing a glass of wine and trying not to look like he wants to explode. the look on his face is dire--anger, concern, constipation. he's bottling things and it's fine; one day, like all proud rich and powerful men, he'll do enough cocaine about it that he'll probably explode and die. ]

three. closed to Sampo and close CR - and oh, I am so tired

when i'm alone, i fall apart

[ and when he's not brooding and hovering over his phone, waiting for someone to come through with something, Gil is doing a surprisingly good job at avoiding the people who might be coming to see him just for him. he's running on a few anxious months of watching things get worse while Sampo laughs that it'll be all right, just let ol' Bladie work and then here it is.

not all right.

Sampo's skin freezing cold to the touch because he stood in an icy, unheated shower for thirty minutes, unaware that he'd forgotten to put the heat on. he's angry, he's tired, he's scared and he's digging his teeth into his lip until he tastes blood as he runs through a hundred different contingency plans and keeps coming back around to what happens if the worst happens.

the King may have fallen apart in his grief for Enkidu

but Gilgamesh has mourned Samuel Kouvac once before, so all he has left is to get angry about it and that... feels like it won't end well for anyone.

so he does his level best to avoid the people who know him best. including Sampo. especially Sampo. ]

Comments

voice; un: midnightfishing

[illucesco]

I'll do it. You don't have to pay me and frankly I wouldn't take it anyway, I'll do it. He's my brother. [rubbing tiredly at his temples] Stardew Valley has mines, and Hyrule's loaded with resources. I'll hit Hyrule, see what materials I can dig up there.

text; un: AUO

[throwmoreswords]

[ sometimes you've used up your allotment of calm, reasonable words for a day when you're using your talking mouth so you switch gears to text. ]

You will be compensated for your work. This is not negotiable. Keep me posted on anything that might require multiple people and I'll arrange for the work.

private; un; Mr.ColdFeet

[anyprice]

[ aha
haha... hah. ]

Your ol' pal Sam might have downplayed the severity of all of this. It really was just no sleep without getting tired, but.
I.
You know.
...
It'll be fine, I'm sure of it. Hehe.

UN: Wilder | Text

[wilder]

Sammy's getting worse, huh? Dammit.

[He was hoping that blacksmith would've covered it by now, but...

He'll take a picture of his own keycrest (a pendent with carvings), that's made from everstone material]

Head to the Kanto region and look for a rock that looks like this. Not a perfect fix, but it'll stop the symptoms from getting worse.

text; un: AUO

[throwmoreswords]

Indeed. My patience is running thin on the matter.

[ he's scared but if you tell anyone he'll kill you both. ]

I'll message my contacts that frequent that area, thank you. Is it dangerous to change the containment vessel for the crystal if we find a better material, or are there any other side effects we should be aware of?

voice; un: musicologyminor

[youwouldntdownloada]

[She almost sticks to text- mostly because hearing this, hearing her boss' voice like this, and hearing what's happening to Sampo, she still has that happy meal toy from Sampo, this can't be happening to SAMPO-

No, she owes her voice.]

I'm. I'm going to look for diamonds in Hyrule.

[A swallow, audible. She's trying as much as possible to keep from stumbling over the words.] I...I know they're there, I've found a few before, I. Would any of the other precious stones help? Should I be grabbing...any of those?

text; un: AUO

[throwmoreswords]

[ and where she's brave enough to offer her voice, Gilgamesh has run out of measured words to say. ]

As far as I am aware, we're at the 'throw everything at the wall until something sticks' stage of trying things. Anything you find will be useful in some form or another.

Thank you.

action;

[jackdawvision]

[Edward's never gotten on with Sam. Under normal circumstances, he'd cheerfully pickpocket and con the man, but then these aren't normal circumstances. Edward finds Gil in the Vogue, watches him for a long moment, then speaks up, his usual brash voice far more muted and soft:]

I've something called the eagle's gift. [A secret, then.] It...lets me see important things, when other people can't.

[A pause.]

I can find your materials. I know where to start—a friend of a friend has a cave in her backyard full of material ore.

action;

[throwmoreswords]

[ like plays with like; it's like a pair of dogs yapping at each other through a gate until the gate opens and they're left to wonder at one another in closer proximity.

he's nursing Zulius' top shelf wine in Vergil's brooding corner when one of the vagabonds the zebrataur keeps comes shuffling over--and so he gives him a sidelong look, giving him the boon of his silence and letting the other man get a word in edgewise. ]

... anything you can find will be richly compensated. If you need the money to hire hands, I'll take on that expense as well.

[ he seems tired; as if parroting this over and over is the last thing he can muster up the will to do, but he must all the same. ]

un: violetsmoke; voice

[infezione]

I'll help look.

[This is peak worst time for him to be doing anything, thanks to his weakening during the winter and being a water month at that, but this is more important.]

There's got to be something that'll do the trick.

text; un: AUO

[throwmoreswords]

[ who says Fugo even needs to be the one doing the digging? he can just scout things out and then sic people who aren't dizzy on account of magical bullshit at the problem. ]

That's what I'm betting on, yes. If you bring whatever you come up with to the Auguries I can take it from there.

action

[prunedworlds]

Ritsuka had, of course, seen Gil's network post. She'd also talked to Sampo back when he'd first posted about the strange rock attached to his skin. Finally, she knew Gilgamesh, in several incarnations, and how he tended to deal with things.

Or not deal with them, as the case may be. This was the same king who, in a different lifetime, had once literally worked himself to death by taking on everything he could by himself.

Which meant that, naturally, she had to go check up on him, taking shameless advantage of her Kaisou-given teleportation abilities to get the drop on the avoidant king at one of his usual haunts.

"Gil?"

action

[throwmoreswords]

"If I had a nickel for every time someone teleported to find me when I was doing my level best not to be found, I'd have three nickels, and that's more nickels than have ever been in my presence in the entirety of my lifetime."

He turns back from where he'd been about to cross into the stable gate to Hyrule--his natural inclination to wander around alone crossbreeding with the itch in his hands to do literally anything other than continue to sit and wait. He tucks his hands into his pockets as if the cold were more than a passing irritation, since the last thing he wants to think about is the problem with one's body and changes being thrust upon it...

No, that'll get him thinking, and thinking will send him spiraling, and when he spirals he has to pick an emotion and he's tired of all of the soft emotions. He wants to go with anger. No one else wants him to go with anger.

"Shouldn't you be keeping warm, little Master?"

un: silverrose

[fionnuisce]

I can craft gemstones, if that's of any help to you. Don't bother with payment when there's no telling if it will do anything or not.

[throwmoreswords]

[ ah, hell. it's dire when the professor turns up, isn't it? ]

If it's all the same to you, I don't know what will or won't work, so I'm perfectly happy to hedge my bets and pay for it all the same. I'd prefer to have a direct line of correlation between one action and another.

voice; un: shadeshift

[sunforging]

Been minin' for shite plenty of times, from here to th' stable gates an' back. Anythin' I got of use, I'd be more'n willing t'part with.

text; un: AUO

[throwmoreswords]

I'll buy anything you have that's big enough to encompass a costume jewelry sized stone after being worked.

If you're familiar with Blade, it's being delivered to him.

hyrule scavengers unite

[illucesco]

[Hyrule is a vast, resource-rich expanse, which makes it a good place to start for finding materials for a keycrest. Which is great, because they need this yesterday.]

[youwouldntdownloada]

[Yasuho isn't hard to find at least, if anyone looks for her before starting. She takes the pains to get near the Hyrule gate anyway in case others are joining up, so there won't be a lot of searching out.

She's got her map on her phone (admittedly incomplete, but she's been working on it), and her other hand holds a smoothie.

She's shaking. Just a bit. Just a little.]

voice; un: photocutie

[trailblazingspirit]

What—What do you mean, Sampo can't feel heat or the cold? Is he—What's happening?

text; un: AUO

[throwmoreswords]

He touched some trinket from the sketchy pawn shop and it attached to his skin. It's been encroaching on his body for months now.

He did not inform me of how dire the situation had become without strong questioning.

voice | un: chaosraccoon

[actnormal]

Are you okay with me checking dumpsters and goodwills? Sometimes you find some weird stuff and it might help.

text; un: AUO

[throwmoreswords]

I would cut the heart from someone's chest if I thought it would work. Dumpsters and goodwills are fine, I just care about results.

text; un: blade

[unreachableside]

I'm on call for when you have the ore.

[He won't apologize for being a perfectionist; this is a friend's life he's dealing with, even if he and Sampo aren't close. There's... some kinship there, somewhere, somehow, and he's not sure how to explain it. Maybe it's because of how he always seems haunted, pursued by something.]

We might have a complication. A small one. I need to make sure the ominous-looking dungeon that suddenly appeared beneath my forge isn't going to swallow half of Hyrule. If I lose my forge there are others I can use, but it would be a setback we can't afford.

[wilder]

-- what do you MEAN a dungeon's appeared beneath your forge?!

Why do these dumb crystals always make us go through dungeons?!

text; un: neoteric

[moderni]

Aides du Meropide: we're considering this an official commission request. You have permission to use guild resources on the search, and please report back with your participation results, and hours worked.

un: chaosraccoon

[actnormal]

╭( ･ㅂ･)و

voice; un: riftdancer

[thavnairian]

If you need someone to lick rocks, I did it before! Magic ones have a zing but I remember some weird moon rock in Kanto that didn't have the zing, and that's the one we used to make the charm.

text; un: AUO

[throwmoreswords]

[ oh, Amal. what the white hot fuck does that mean. he has to sit for a minute and really take that in, and honestly, it almost makes him laugh. he'll get a glass of wine and everything with how bemused he's feeling. ]

If your magic tongue can find a worthy receptacle for whatever thing needs to be forged, I'd see you handsomely compensated. Another person mentioned a Kanto stone as well, so it's good to hear more than one confirmation that it'll work enough as a stopgap.

not here

[revenge_guac]

[There Is Someone Watching You All.

Shadow won't say a thing, but... the way the bunch of absolute fools here are coming together for one of their own.

Hm.]

not here

[throwmoreswords]

[ stop hiring hedgehogs to look at gay people haven't you ever seen a community rallied before ]

three

[bebest]

[Zulius knows Gil will be trying to avoid the people who love him. He categorically knows this is something Gil will be trying. He also knows Gil will likely be prickly and unhappy with any sort of comfort. Zulius also doesn't give a single solitary fuck about any of these facts.

It took him a few goes to locate Gil. Teleporting to the man's various haunts. Eventually, he finds him on the Auguries' roof, popping into existence with the usual flash of rainbow-y light. Gil spotted, he walks over to his friend, arms folded- party against the cold, partly because he is worried here. ]

Hey you.

[throwmoreswords]

[ Zulius needs to stop having a subscription to Gilgamesh facts like yesterday. Gilgamesh has spent a long, long time telling people exactly who he is and no one ever listens to him, so having this zebrataur weaponize him being as predictable and contented to be himself is...

well, on one hand he wants to start acting completely out of character just to spite Zulius, and on the other, tinier hand, it's a bit of a comfort. if he squints. ]

Hey yourself. Whatever are you doing out here in the uncaring elements?

voice: UN:bar_cat75

[wiseoldbartender]

[Husk isn't much of a bleeding heart- or at least, he tries to tell himself he isn't one. He can't solve everyone's problems, and this city has an absolute metric shit-ton of them. So he sees this and starts to move on until... something clicks.

This is Sampo's partner. He remembers the conversation he and Sampo had a couple months ago, about what that rock was doing to him. The issue has clearly only gotten worse. God fuckin' damnit. He heaves out a sigh.]

I don't know shit about rocks, but I got plenty of contacts in Undertown and Ghost City. I'll reach out. See what I can see. Maybe the black market's got something going on.

The little shit ain't going anywhere. He's not allowed. He owes me a bottle of whiskey.

[ See, they can BOTH pretend they don't have feelings and it'll be fine.]

text; un: AUO

[throwmoreswords]

I'll make it worth your while, whatever you find.

[ it's been an exercise in neatly assuaged frustration--Gilgamesh has always been aware on the fringes that there are options and things beyond himself, he just hasn't cared enough to pay attention to what they were. he's stuck in an odd cycle of being relieved at having names and options and possibilities, and angry that he has to be here in the first place, waiting like a bride whose husband takes to the sea for months at a time.

he hates waiting for things. he hates that he's burning money and everything is just potential. he's too old of a dog to spend his time figuring out new tricks, damn it. ]

Although I'll leave him to owe you the whiskey. I'm already spending an arm and a leg on the consequences of his actions after all.

three, time to get mimi'd.

[pranas]

[ he knows full well that Gil would not want to see people right now. much like Jing Yuan himself when he awoken to that part of himself return and the shadow of mara once again hanging over his head like a axe waiting to fall. a part of him very much wanted to go to his friend, to both of them, but the rest of him urged patience.

but is the former that won out in the end as Mimi began to insistently meow at him, sharp blue eyes staring intently at him, tail swishing sharply. ]

Mimi...

[ how is it that his will little more than paper in the face of this cat? his son, his friend, this creature who has been by his side for more years than he can count. Jing Yuan sighs picking up the creature in his arms and closes his eyes, holding the picture of Gil's longue room in his mind. within a breath they appear in the man's home, Mimi immediately leaping from his arms and letting out a questioning meow.

Gilgamesh? father? where are you? Mimi is coming to find you. ]

[throwmoreswords]

[ why did you listen to his voice post where Mimi could hear you irresponsible pet father?

the lounge is beautifully appointed (though it looks more lived in than ever), but it stands empty when Jing Yuan comes calling. Gilgamesh has been a force of movement today--unable to keep himself still for long and wanting to avoid the people who know him best with every fiber of his being, but his best laid, spiteful plans aren't... y'know. good ones.

especially not when Siduri's in the mix.

Mimi's 'nyaa?' is met with a 'miau?' as Siduri (the calico) arches her way out of an upstairs office, peeking through the railing down at her brother from another mother and the Jing Yuan that comes attached to him. she brrts out a greeting, hopping up on the railing to get a better look while also maintaining maximum tallness. ]

3

[anyprice]

[ he didn't know
how was he supposed to know?
Sure, things had stayed pretty same-y for a while. His tastebuds dull was one thing--he'd gotten used to making things more intense in flavor to help. the no sleeping thing was also fine--he had so much more time to DO things, and even if he missed sleeping, it's not like he got tired? so it was just... a new adjustment.

but when gilgamesh had tried to hug him from behind after what he'd thought was a nice, moderately-temperate shower, the reaction of the golden haired man had scared him--scared him bad.

(Samuel Kovac, did you just go roll about in the blizzard for an hour? Your lips are damn well near blue, what is wrong with you?)

he'd touched his own face, his hands, it didn't. feel? bad? a glance in the mirror, however, told him everything he needed to know.
He bit his lips, he pinched his skin, he'd even asked gil to slap him--and none of it activated a single nerve in his body. Dull sensations. Pressure. No pain--no feeling.

He was getting scared now.
He thought he'd escaped this kind of fear when the announcement that the Black Order had been taken over and he was told he was now a free man. He could feel it shaking in his body, and even Aha was deadly quiet. This wasn't a joke. This wasn't funny anymore.

He remembered putting up an want-ad for ore and magic stones. He'd gotten a few things he found himself, a few he'd been working with--alongside Blade--but none of them had shown any signs of lessening the stone's effect, yet.

And now it was getting worse. And he couldn't...

Seeing Gil's message to the network filled him with a weird feeling. It'd been over a decade since someone worried about him so hard. And he can't bring himself to respond to anyone who offered a kind hand yet.
He'd pulled pranks or jokes--or tried to scam most of them by now--of course they wouldn't answer a plea for help, right?
And yet, here they were.

If he could feel anything, it'd be the corners of his eyes burning.

He needs to go find gil, once he's dressed and ... mostly warm again, having spent an hour in bed trying to get his body back to a temperature that looked fine.

He'll find gil on the couch
and whether or not the anxiety-ridden king wants it or not

sampo is crawling into his lap. ]

[throwmoreswords]

[ it's been a very surreal day.

Gilgamesh is very used to spending his days idly doing whatever pleased him best; he works when he wants to, plays when he wants to, and looks for things to interest him in-between the few things that he counts as obligations. he's been in a holding pattern, frittering his days away, practicing with his odd new powers and finding ways to color his time

and Samuel Kovac has been dying beside him, in silence.

he's noticed, of course. how couldn't he notice the changes? it's been a slow, subtle enough change that it's been like a frog in a boiling pot of water--and every time Sampo laughed it off, said that work was slow but good, the fire went up a little higher, the water got a little hotter, and Gil had tried very, very hard not to notice.

he can still feel the cold on his back, hours later. the chill lingers and soaks into his magical facsimile of skin; he holds onto the feeling in the same way a penitent man brings a flogger down on his own back--it's a reminder as much as it is a punishment as much as it is a focus.

Sampo is not okay.

and Gilgamesh is not okay because Sampo is not okay.

for all that he's spent his life feeling like he is a solitary entity standing apart from the rest of the world, lonely on his throne--in this age of mortal men, so many terrible mortal, terribly frail men have done their level best to chain him down to his humanity, to keep him from staring lonely and empty towards the stars. they've plead so sweetly with him, proclaiming themselves his friends, his family, wearing these blessed titles with such innocent joy without realizing the terrible consequences that come with bearing the load of the King's humanity.

in another life, the King wept bitterly as Enkidu washed away in his hands, clay turning to mud and slipping back to the loam under the uncaring eyes of the gods.

in this life, Gilgamesh has already wept for Samuel Kovac once.

if he loses him a second time

if it is truly his fault this time

he is going to walk into hell to drag Sampo back, and then he's going to burn the world down to start the Garden anew starting with that blasted shop and its 'caveat emptor' marketing philosophy. he is going to rage and grieve and rip until the newborn pit inside of him begins to feel whole again, and whatever happens in the meantime will be his bloody corpse-laden burden to bear--

and then Sampo pulls him away from the worst case scenario with his heavy, comfortable presence; less cold this time, for better or worse. he looks up after he relaxes his jaw and breathes out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in with the tight little ball in the center of his chest, the pupils of his eyes pulled to slits as he considers Sampo Koski--Samuel Kovac--as the man perches on him like the world's saddest parrot, all tired smiles that don't reach his eyes and bed-mussed hair. ]

I am still incandescently furious with you. [ he says, in a conversational tone that he's carefully bled of all of his feelings, acquiescing to letting Sampo sit on him by uncrossing his legs even if he doesn't bring his arms up to embrace him.

he's angry at himself, too, but Sampo gets to deal with the front-facing problem, and not the inside thoughts ones. ]

voice, un: greyhunt

[faenthras]

[ she didn't know. she didn't know and something in her chest twists painfully at the thought of Sampo slowly dying all this time. ]

Whatever you need, darling, it is yours. [ already she is sending messages to some of her contacts, sourcing as many metals and gems as she can get her hands on as fast as possible. ] I know a few people who owe me favors I'm more than happy to cash in for this.

[ inhale, exhale. ]

I can even ask Percy for help, he's good at tinkering with magical stuff like this.

voice; un: badnews

[whitestonelives]

I'll do what I can, but if there's already a blacksmith on retainer then it's best if I were also on material-gathering duty.

I'd offer Cabal's Ruin, but I'm not certain its effect of absorbing magic would work on this. From what I remember, it would have to be a spell being actively cast, and this sounds as far from that as you can get.