jacopo.

[tactic]

Comments

[tactic]

[ Just listens to Jacopo with a smile. ]

You've got a sensible head on your shoulders and a rather large heart in your chest, don't you?

[obdure]

Is that something to say to a man who sacrificed everything and everyone?

[ Including the people he cared most about? Actually, he wants out of this garden before they get weird. ]

Either way, it's common sense.

[tactic]

Everything comes with a price. You paid a significant amount to be where you are now.

[ Maybe that's the tradeoff. ]

[obdure]

I did.

[ Which in part he wished he didn't, but he still did.

Should they be in there too long and get a stupid curse. ]

Is there any truth to what she said about your people? It all sounds like hearsay to me. Stupid conflated anecdotes from bitter and miserable people.

[tactic]

[ NO THEY CAN LEAVE ]

... Thank you, Jacopo. [ It's been a long time since anyone's defended his people. ] Well, it doesn't matter if there's any truth to her words or not. The Avgins were all massacred years ago, leaving me as the sole survivor.

[ May as well get to it before his memories do. ]

[obdure]

[ you don't want them to obsess over blindboxes ]

Don't thank me.

[ If anything, he's confused by it. It should be common sense, common decency, absolute bare minimum. ALSO, MY GOD. WHAT DO YOU SAY TO A MAN WHO'S THE LAST OF HIS PEOPLE. That's maddening.

So hateful, actually. ]

... Why?

[tactic]

[ shafluflu hunting?

But he's quiet for a moment as the exit the park, his gaze distant as he looks to nowhere in particular. ]

The actions of a rival clan. I don't know if it's possible to explain the sort of hatred that can wipe out an entire race.

[obdure]

[ He stays quiet for longer... Wouldn't it be better to just die? Or maybe not. Jacopo always finds that in many situations and against all odds he'd survive.

Maybe it's the same for Aventurine, but he does not add any of that. ]

Hiding any thirst for revenge under your amicable personality?

[tactic]

... Narratively speaking, that would be what makes the most sense, wouldn't it?

[ Clasps his hands behind his back as they continue their walk. ]

But I have my sights set elsewhere.

[obdure]

It would be. Even if it felt empty, it would only be fair.

[ To even the odds. Everyone loves patting backs, this is fine. ]

Where would that be?

[tactic]

I suppose it does no harm to tell you.

[ Though this may mean he will have to retract his job offer. ]

My place of employment.

[obdure]

And you were trying to recruit me.

[ He is so funny. ]

[tactic]

I'm after a certain department. Nothing would have happened to you.

[ We could have been haters together. ]

[obdure]

The fall of one department could very well mean the destruction of the corporation.

[ But he supposes if he had enough money, he wouldn't care about megacorp going down. ]

What's going on there?

[tactic]

Or a restructuring.

[ But he's got a faraway look to his eyes as he continues. ]

I won't bore you with the details, but had a promise been kept, my clan might be alive today. That's all.

[obdure]

It wouldn't bore me. At the moment, we have all the time in the world.

[ But he isn't going to press him. ]

This sounds like a type of betrayal to me... And that should be evened, too. I'll be praying for your success, Aventurine.

[tactic]

... Thank you, Jacopo.

[ Gets a better understanding of this man... Also lets this one go. ]