[It's a rough night. Living alone and separated from her friends and family back home is sometimes hard on Hibiki. Everyone close to her knows it. She's a girl who resembles the sun, but sometimes the sun sets and all that's left is someone who's really lonely. Surrounding herself with pets does fix the problem! For the most part.
But it doesn't tonight. She lays awake after finishing reading through everything she needs to know for the coming week. Lots of practice, two Lives, a commercial...she's really busy. It's not enough to put her to sleep, though, so she finds herself looking for someone to text.
She could text Takane, but...she decides to text Robert instead. He'd helped with security once since he was the bodyguard of someone Hibiki knew, but it had been an "awful" experience. She's kept in touch with him ever since for reasons she doesn't quite understand.]
Are you awake? I bet you're doing some kind of scary job, aren't you.
[ well, she's not completely incorrect. it's just that "scary" happens to be subjective here. midnight happens to be his prime wakefulness hour, what with how screwy his sleep schedule is.
the text causes him to doubletake; casting a glance about the area, he's hasty in his reply. ]
Yes, I'm awake. I began the night shift a few hours ago. As of this moment, the area appears secured; however, that could change at any moment. I imagine that's when things would get "scary". What are you doing up? You should be in bed. [ qurl it's past your bedtime. ]
[He's definitely doing scary things, then. Of course he is. She wonders if someone will punch him tonight. Probably not, he's armed to the teeth like always. He's so scary, but Hibiki likes texting him anyways.
It's hard to explain.]
I can't sleep. Tomorrow's my only day off so I can be awake a little longer. Don't do anything that will get you shown on the news, alright? Please?
[That isn't a very interesting text, though, so she hesitates and sends a second.]
If I am on the news tomorrow, then it was inevitable and for the greater good. But if that's the case, then perhaps do something that will exhaust you. For instance, some extreme pilates... Provided that doesn't get your adrenaline going.
[ texting to her like this, it's risky. it means looking away from his surroundings for more than a few seconds... he'll indulge it, for now. ]
The quiet is something that should be cherished. You can hear your enemies sneaking up on you more easily that way.
If you can get through the night without blowing anything up, I'll tell Weda that you're doing a really great job.
[AU where Weda is from Okinawa and is Hibiki's family friend? That's what we're going with. She thinks the two of them are close and that she's making a clever offer, but she is so used to being disappointed by Robert's stubbornness.]
What enemies?! Why would you tell me I have enemies this late at night, Robert? Now I want to sleep even less!
Why would she take your opinion over fact? Perhaps a job well done necessitates blowing something up. That's not precisely my style, anyway, unless destroying evidence became a necessity.
[ well, that backfired. he'll backpedal as well as he's awkwardly able to... ]
My apologies. I was using that a general example. Not to imply you DON'T have enemies, but you should be safe for now.
Her family and my family are pretty good friends! She talks about you sometimes, but I shouldn't be telling you that.
[She's trying so hard to get an upper hand here. And yes, that's awful.]
I thought I was all over having enemies once Jupiter was disbanded! One time, they sent a car to pick me up and brought me to a remote location and left me there while my show was about to start. I ended up falling down a cliff! I don't want that to happen again!
[ well, you've brought it up now, he thinks, staring at that cliffhanger a little sourly. it gets a rise of impatience out of him, though that's likely unclear through text, telling only by the speed in which he sends back— ]
What does she say?
[ and then the next message to follow, once he's finished parsing and being horrified over her story: ]
You said opinion doesn't matter as much as fact, so it wouldn't mean anything to you, huh?
[Aha, she finally has the upper hand! She'll take her sweet time in sending that reply, making him wait for it while she makes some tea. If she's going to be texting, she might as well sit with Hamuzou while she does it.]
The road they left me on gave out while I was looking for help. They left me in the mountains. That's why you were brought on for my next few jobs, I think.
[Either Weda made him, or he was hired. Either or.]
[ omg congrats yes, he wants to tear his hair out. amazing!! ]
You're purposefully misconstruing me. It's fact that she had an opinion that may or may not be valid. I'm simply interested in hearing her perspective about... my character.
[ he wasn't quite sure what noun to place there. regardless, he's much more sure of how to respond to the other portion of the message. ]
Yes, that makes sense. As perhaps it was an unfinished job on their part. To begin with, it was an awfully sloppy attempt to be rid of someone. It's not something they'll have another chance at. But, like I've said. You're safe for the moment.
I'm not, I'm not! Are you sure you really want to hear, Robert?
[She's purposefully dragging out Robert's character assessment through another text. She's not even going to hide it.
But then the second half just leaves her exasperated, what is this whiplash.]
You know they weren't trying to kill me, right? You know they were just trying to make me late to my taping and get me fired, right? Please tell me you know these things. Please tell me you know they're not trying to kill me.
[ DOES he want to hear?? now he's second guessing himself... but he's gone this far, alas. he'd look indecisive to back out. ]
Yes, I'm sure.
[ he resists a sigh, gaze rapidly reading over her return lines. needless to describe, he's not a fan of any of it. ]
With the amount of "pleases" there, the word's beginning to lose its sincerity. That could be exactly what they want us to think. How simple would that be, to make it all look like an accident? If you died in such an allegedly natural manner — by falling off a cliff — perhaps they would only be convicted with something as minor as kidnapping.
[Why is this a fate she deserves? Still, he's the first person she thought to text, so she'll just endure it. Bickering with him kind of feels comfortable.]
Do you really think they expected me to go off and look around on my own? You know I want to sleep at some point, but here you are telling me they might have really wanted me dead. You aren't even here and I feel like I'm reminding you to stop pulling your gun out.
Just hold on, okay?
[She sends a screenshot of a conversation with Weda. It's not the complete chat, but it's enough. I can't RP Weda so The line that stands out the most is probably Hahaha! Is he still talking to you? There's no one else like him, right?.]
You want to feel safe, and yet you don't want me to use my gun. I'm afraid that you can't have both, Ms. Hibiki.
[ and... all right. that's a lot less severe than he thought it would be; it comes as something of a relief, really. "unique" is acceptable. however, he's a little too on edge at the moment to feel that emotion keenly. ]
I see. You made it sound as if this was something worth being excessively concerned about.
It was a metaphor! I think it was a metaphor. If you're whipping it out away from me, I don't care what you do with it! I was talking about how much worse I feel!
[She's ending her sentences with exclamation points, but she's really just sitting there, drinking tea, eye twitching. Don't make her punch a roll, Boberto.]
If it was something bigger than that, I'd have kept it to myself. Did you really think I'd tell you all of Weda's juicy secrets?
[She's just going to eat a little snack while he's texting during a gun fight or something.]
I see. [ he doesn't... not at all. ] If you would be so kind, would you enlighten me as to how to make you feel better the situation?
[ unfortunately, he's not so talented that he can text and fight at the same time.. being so bad with technology, he'd probably SOMEHOW accidentally send her a video of the situation. legit. ]
I'll be there in less than an hour. [ whatever that means and however that's relevant... it's relevant to him. ]
[What did she just read? She almost spills her tea on the table. She goes straight to ignoring Robert's question and responds directly to the second part of the message.]
Why are you coming here?! When did that get decided?!
[ no, it's to punish her with his mere presence for stringing him along like that, mostly. he knows she can't stand him. and it's a good thing that she can't see his smile right now, as it's pretty much downright sadistic. ]
Hold it! I'm at ease now! I'm really at ease, never felt better, nankurunaisa! See?!
[She even sends a selfie to try and fool him into thinking so! Look! Two fingers up, the victory sign! Tea poured and not spilled! Hebiki, her snake, resting in her terrarium for the night! Two hands pressed up against the window in the background despite Hibiki living a few floors up!
[ ... well, if that isn't a picture to nearly make his heart stop. honestly, there are a lot of reasons for the actions he takes next. the most pressing, he thinks, is fuck it; being hibiki's bodyguard pays better than whatever he's doing.
immediately, as he doesn't have time for texting nonsense, he's sending a voice message: ]
Hibiki. Hide. Now.
[ there is definitely an edge of this being inarguable to his tone, a hard edge ]
IT WAS GOING TO BE A PRANK BUT NOW I THINK THAT WOULDN'T GO OVER WELL hello action thread
[ he doesn't appreciate the questions, and she isn't listening to him... he should be used to that. while it would usually annoy him, he believes the situation too dire to let a petty grievance like that get the best of him.
she probably can hear the screech of his car's tires in the background as he jams the accelerator. looks like he'll be dropping by a bit earlier than he'd warned about, oops. ]
[But those sounds make Hibiki a little nervous. Of course, when she looks around her room, she doesn't see anything. Hebika climbs onto her shoulder and rests there. Her heart is racing, though. Either Robert is playing the worst prank on her, or...
...is there something serious going on?
Feeling a little nervous, she calmly collects her teacup and her bag of snacks and heads into the next room, shutting the door behind her. From there, she walks to the stairway and down onto her first floor, the floor with her guest bedroom and laundry services...you know, probably the floor someone would try to break into if they didn't want to raise any suspicion to the occupant.
After a moment of deciding which way to go, she heads into the laundry room and shuts the door, hopping up to sit on the machine.
Her next two texts should explain everything.]
I'm in the laundry room. This is really creeping me out. It's too late for this!
[And.]
Did you really have to cut the power? This prank is going too far! I'm sorry for teasing you about Weda, just stop it!
[ he can't even finish typing that question, the notion is so absurd. also, he's awful at multitasking and texting while driving is illegal. but apparently, he also needs to rectify hibiki's view of him as being as something of a jokester. there are a lot of issues here. an actual message of importance comes through: ]
Lock the door. When I'm there, I'll knock thrice.
[ does the laundry room have a lock? he isn't sure. he needs to install one. robert's car speeds down her neighborhood; he parks it a few doors down, so as to not alert anyone watching her household. and then, gun drawn, he stealthily creeps toward the residence-- ]
[ he can't use the front door, oh no. he has to kick in a window of the bottom floor; the resulting shatter of glass is loud, but fight him. the alarm doesn't sound because, alas, no electricity.
first step, find hibiki. next check the electricity panel. and then murder the bastard(s) that had the gall to try this. the last doesn't of those don't necessarily have to be in that order. for now, he heads toward the laundry room. if he's met by no one, he'll knock thrice (and if she doesn't answer within five seconds, the door gets kicked in). ]
tries to keep this exciting lmk if this doesn't work
[Well, she lives in an apartment building, she's just fortunate enough that she can afford a two-story one. So while Robert is making his way to her, there are probably confused passers-by outside to sneak past. And she's definitely going to have pay her lessor for the fact that Robert just broke into the building.
No big deal.
Once he's inside her apartment specifically, though, things will be easier! Hibiki is sitting inside and panicking, unsure of what's really happening. At least, that had been the plan. When Robert knocks on the door of her laundry room, his fist (or glove) will get wet.
And when he opens the door, there doesn't seem to be anyone inside. The front door is locked from the inside, and for the sake of story she lives on the 4th and 5th floor of the building.
There's a thump from upstairs—where her pet rooms and bedroom are. What does Robert do?]
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no subject
But it doesn't tonight. She lays awake after finishing reading through everything she needs to know for the coming week. Lots of practice, two Lives, a commercial...she's really busy. It's not enough to put her to sleep, though, so she finds herself looking for someone to text.
She could text Takane, but...she decides to text Robert instead. He'd helped with security once since he was the bodyguard of someone Hibiki knew, but it had been an "awful" experience. She's kept in touch with him ever since for reasons she doesn't quite understand.]
Are you awake? I bet you're doing some kind of scary job, aren't you.
no subject
the text causes him to doubletake; casting a glance about the area, he's hasty in his reply. ]
Yes, I'm awake. I began the night shift a few hours ago.
As of this moment, the area appears secured; however, that could change at any moment. I imagine that's when things would get "scary".
What are you doing up? You should be in bed. [ qurl it's past your bedtime. ]
no subject
It's hard to explain.]
I can't sleep. Tomorrow's my only day off so I can be awake a little longer. Don't do anything that will get you shown on the news, alright? Please?
[That isn't a very interesting text, though, so she hesitates and sends a second.]
It's quiet here. It's kind of annoying.
[She's lonely. :'c]
no subject
But if that's the case, then perhaps do something that will exhaust you. For instance, some extreme pilates... Provided that doesn't get your adrenaline going.
[ texting to her like this, it's risky. it means looking away from his surroundings for more than a few seconds... he'll indulge it, for now. ]
The quiet is something that should be cherished. You can hear your enemies sneaking up on you more easily that way.
no subject
[AU where Weda is from Okinawa and is Hibiki's family friend? That's what we're going with. She thinks the two of them are close and that she's making a clever offer, but she is so used to being disappointed by Robert's stubbornness.]
What enemies?! Why would you tell me I have enemies this late at night, Robert? Now I want to sleep even less!
no subject
That's not precisely my style, anyway, unless destroying evidence became a necessity.
[ well, that backfired. he'll backpedal as well as he's awkwardly able to... ]
My apologies.
I was using that a general example. Not to imply you DON'T have enemies, but you should be safe for now.
no subject
[She's trying so hard to get an upper hand here. And yes, that's awful.]
I thought I was all over having enemies once Jupiter was disbanded! One time, they sent a car to pick me up and brought me to a remote location and left me there while my show was about to start. I ended up falling down a cliff! I don't want that to happen again!
no subject
What does she say?
[ and then the next message to follow, once he's finished parsing and being horrified over her story: ]
You fell off a cliff... on your own accord?
no subject
[Aha, she finally has the upper hand! She'll take her sweet time in sending that reply, making him wait for it while she makes some tea. If she's going to be texting, she might as well sit with Hamuzou while she does it.]
The road they left me on gave out while I was looking for help. They left me in the mountains. That's why you were brought on for my next few jobs, I think.
[Either Weda made him, or he was hired. Either or.]
no subject
You're purposefully misconstruing me.
It's fact that she had an opinion that may or may not be valid. I'm simply interested in hearing her perspective about... my character.
[ he wasn't quite sure what noun to place there. regardless, he's much more sure of how to respond to the other portion of the message. ]
Yes, that makes sense.
As perhaps it was an unfinished job on their part. To begin with, it was an awfully sloppy attempt to be rid of someone. It's not something they'll have another chance at.
But, like I've said. You're safe for the moment.
no subject
I'm not, I'm not! Are you sure you really want to hear, Robert?
[She's purposefully dragging out Robert's character assessment through another text. She's not even going to hide it.
But then the second half just leaves her exasperated, what is this whiplash.]
You know they weren't trying to kill me, right? You know they were just trying to make me late to my taping and get me fired, right? Please tell me you know these things. Please tell me you know they're not trying to kill me.
no subject
Yes, I'm sure.
[ he resists a sigh, gaze rapidly reading over her return lines. needless to describe, he's not a fan of any of it. ]
With the amount of "pleases" there, the word's beginning to lose its sincerity.
That could be exactly what they want us to think.
How simple would that be, to make it all look like an accident? If you died in such an allegedly natural manner — by falling off a cliff — perhaps they would only be convicted with something as minor as kidnapping.
no subject
Do you really think they expected me to go off and look around on my own? You know I want to sleep at some point, but here you are telling me they might have really wanted me dead. You aren't even here and I feel like I'm reminding you to stop pulling your gun out.
Just hold on, okay?
[She sends a screenshot of a conversation with Weda. It's not the complete chat, but it's enough.
I can't RP Weda soThe line that stands out the most is probably Hahaha! Is he still talking to you? There's no one else like him, right?.]She thinks you're unique, see?
no subject
You want to feel safe, and yet you don't want me to use my gun.
I'm afraid that you can't have both, Ms. Hibiki.
[ and... all right. that's a lot less severe than he thought it would be; it comes as something of a relief, really. "unique" is acceptable. however, he's a little too on edge at the moment to feel that emotion keenly. ]
I see.
You made it sound as if this was something worth being excessively concerned about.
no subject
[She's ending her sentences with exclamation points, but she's really just sitting there, drinking tea, eye twitching. Don't make her punch a roll, Boberto.]
If it was something bigger than that, I'd have kept it to myself. Did you really think I'd tell you all of Weda's juicy secrets?
[She's just going to eat a little snack while he's texting during a gun fight or something.]
no subject
If you would be so kind, would you enlighten me as to how to make you feel better the situation?
[ unfortunately, he's not so talented that he can text and fight at the same time.. being so bad with technology, he'd probably SOMEHOW accidentally send her a video of the situation. legit. ]
I'll be there in less than an hour. [ whatever that means and however that's relevant... it's relevant to him. ]
no subject
Why are you coming here?! When did that get decided?!
no subject
[ no, it's to punish her with his mere presence for stringing him along like that, mostly. he knows she can't stand him. and it's a good thing that she can't see his smile right now, as it's pretty much downright sadistic. ]
no subject
[She even sends a selfie to try and fool him into thinking so! Look! Two fingers up, the victory sign! Tea poured and not spilled! Hebiki, her snake, resting in her terrarium for the night! Two hands pressed up against the window in the background despite Hibiki living a few floors up!
...
...]
literally screamed at that tag
immediately, as he doesn't have time for texting nonsense, he's sending a voice message: ]
Hibiki. Hide. Now.
[ there is definitely an edge of this being inarguable to his tone, a hard edge ]
IT WAS GOING TO BE A PRANK BUT NOW I THINK THAT WOULDN'T GO OVER WELL hello action thread
She'll leave a voice message right back at him.]
What's this all about? I was just teasin' ya about Weda, you don't need to get all scary all of a sudden! Seriously, you're gonna freak me out!
[There's hissing in the background, but that's just Hebika saying hello over the phone. Her snake is quite a chatty Kathy.]
NO... PROBABLY NOT A;SDFK;J
[ he doesn't appreciate the questions, and she isn't listening to him... he should be used to that. while it would usually annoy him, he believes the situation too dire to let a petty grievance like that get the best of him.
she probably can hear the screech of his car's tires in the background as he jams the accelerator. looks like he'll be dropping by a bit earlier than he'd warned about, oops. ]
Hide. Now!
no subject
[But those sounds make Hibiki a little nervous. Of course, when she looks around her room, she doesn't see anything. Hebika climbs onto her shoulder and rests there. Her heart is racing, though. Either Robert is playing the worst prank on her, or...
...is there something serious going on?
Feeling a little nervous, she calmly collects her teacup and her bag of snacks and heads into the next room, shutting the door behind her. From there, she walks to the stairway and down onto her first floor, the floor with her guest bedroom and laundry services...you know, probably the floor someone would try to break into if they didn't want to raise any suspicion to the occupant.
After a moment of deciding which way to go, she heads into the laundry room and shuts the door, hopping up to sit on the machine.
Her next two texts should explain everything.]
I'm in the laundry room. This is really creeping me out. It's too late for this!
[And.]
Did you really have to cut the power? This prank is going too far! I'm sorry for teasing you about Weda, just stop it!
no subject
[ he can't even finish typing that question, the notion is so absurd. also, he's awful at multitasking and texting while driving is illegal. but apparently, he also needs to rectify hibiki's view of him as being as something of a jokester. there are a lot of issues here. an actual message of importance comes through: ]
Lock the door. When I'm there, I'll knock thrice.
[ does the laundry room have a lock? he isn't sure. he needs to install one. robert's car speeds down her neighborhood; he parks it a few doors down, so as to not alert anyone watching her household. and then, gun drawn, he stealthily creeps toward the residence-- ]
[ he can't use the front door, oh no. he has to kick in a window of the bottom floor; the resulting shatter of glass is loud, but fight him. the alarm doesn't sound because, alas, no electricity.
first step, find hibiki. next check the electricity panel. and then murder the bastard(s) that had the gall to try this. the last doesn't of those don't necessarily have to be in that order. for now, he heads toward the laundry room. if he's met by no one, he'll knock thrice (and if she doesn't answer within five seconds, the door gets kicked in). ]
tries to keep this exciting lmk if this doesn't work
No big deal.
Once he's inside her apartment specifically, though, things will be easier! Hibiki is sitting inside and panicking, unsure of what's really happening. At least, that had been the plan. When Robert knocks on the door of her laundry room, his fist (or glove) will get wet.
And when he opens the door, there doesn't seem to be anyone inside. The front door is locked from the inside, and for the sake of story she lives on the 4th and 5th floor of the building.
There's a thump from upstairs—where her pet rooms and bedroom are. What does Robert do?]