TLV Inbox

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

[No recording. Envy doesn't want to talk to any stupid humans.]

Comments

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Ugh, what happened to being reasonable?

(Is it possible that Envy defines being reasonable as agreeing with him?)

"Animals are for making military chimeras. It was an example. One of my brothers is made out of a door. I need something that'll work. That's all I care about."

[thereisnothing]

"It's a shitty example for what you've said you want. You want to get out. Believe me, I want that to. But you don't have the answer to 'how'."

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

"Because I'm figuring it out as I go! It's not my fault the admiral won't let me disappear. He chose something unsuitable for his whole program here, and it's up to me to find an escape that'll work. I'm reinventing things that are hundreds of years old." Which is not all that impressive as immortality goes, but shh.

[thereisnothing]

"The Admiral is the Admiral. I wouldn't make his choices. You might be unsuitable, but you're also avoiding dealing with what the Admiral might want by going around to an outside transformation."

He doesn't think that's a bad thing. It demonstrates a reasonable enough mind, which is something.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

"And I don't know how yet, so I don't know what you want me to do besides research and try things." Envy wants out, but he's tried brute force and it got him nowhere.

[thereisnothing]

"I want yo to research and try things. Trying to get someone to take you apart by annoying them into it to see if that does anything is a stupid thing to do before you've actually talked to him."

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

"I don't see a downside." If it works, good. If it doesn't, they know the admiral will drag him back. Who cares?

[thereisnothing]

"The downside is cutting yourself off from potential useful information. Just because on attempt doesn't work doesn't mean that Strange doesn't have a spell that could."

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

"When he's stuck someplace he can't die?" Envy, for all his espionage experience, is something of a blunt instrument. The greatest danger is damaging a target too much for them to be useful, and that can't happen in their current circumstances.

[thereisnothing]

"Beating information out of someone is fun, not useful. Not useful for magic - or alchemy - theory." He takes a drag on his cigarette. "When you're dealing with someone motivated by their own 'cleverness', it can be more useful to just let them run off and come up with twenty stupid ideas that might be a place to start. You're trying to invent something new, not pull out old answers."

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Well, where else does information come from? Stealing? Stealing has potential, but only if people write things down. "Yeah, getting people to do what I want them to has historically worked if I was wearing their husband's face, or their priest's." He leaned pretty heavily on powers. "Tricking people the hard way works, but it's a lot slower."

[thereisnothing]

"There are people who insist on trying to tell you things, just because you're a priest." All jobs come with their burdens. "Anyway, this is a situation where you need to try to trick someone."

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Envy sighs, but he sees the reason in it. "I'll try getting on his good side first." A great concession that leaves open the possibility of plan B when that doesn't work.

[thereisnothing]

Sanzo nods. He would say it's a pretty big concession, and as long as Envy tries that first, Sanzo won't say it's unreasonable for Envy to turn to another plan. He stubs out his cigarette. "Is there anything you 'need'?"

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

"Just to keep working on this. Once I have something concrete I'll say so." He has no reason to keep secrets under the circumstances.

[thereisnothing]

"Good." That Envy will tell him and, only slightly less importantly, that that there isn't some other issue. He stands up. "Talking a lot is annoying." The communicator offers a real gift: hanging up on people.

"Oh, I asked around. It sounds like Daniel likes you and wants you around." Sanzo's happy not to have met that paragon of terrible taste. Now you just have to figure out the birds." He holds up his hand in what could be a wave goodbye as he heads towards the door.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

A breath that would have turned into a flat what if he'd voiced it is choked off before the word escapes. Envy stares after him and decides not to ask. He's spent enough time being cryptic himself to know what someone who wanted to communicate would simply do so. All he can do is not give the warden any more satisfaction.

Frankly, he wasn't wondering before, and he is now.