khajidont | MoM IC Contact

Jaime's cell phone is more or less plugged riiiight into his brain, so he tends to pick up like 99% of the time! If not, however...

"Hey, Jaime here! Leave a message, and I'll get back to you ASAP."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

khajidont

[That's a whole lot of bad news piled on top of bad news. Whoever this person is, he won't be able to do too much as it is, Jaime thinks. He'll be keeping an eye on the newcomers as he always does - mostly out of the hope-fear that someone he knows from home will be arriving - but it looks like he'll have to keep an extra close eye on the people from Killua's world. They won't out and out say it, but at least there are a few cues here and there for him to look out for.

He shifts his weight, and sighs.] You know I don't just randomly go after people, right? If you told me, I wouldn't just show up in his house or whatever. And if this guy's bad news? I'd really like to know.

[He sets the paper on the table between them with a rueful sort of smile. He could go tit for tat, demand that Killua tells him in return for an airtight encryption, but he's just not that kind of person. If he can help, he'll help, and he'll never demand anything in return.]

But it's not like I'm gonna withhold information from you to get the name. [He taps the piece of paper in front of them.] That's not the code for private messages - that's really easy to do, but more importantly, it's easy to hack into. What you've got there is an encryption. No one should be able to get through that.

From:

gonstop

[Watching Jaime give him something so useful without even demanding that he say the name-- and those comments, too-- it makes Killua feel bad. He trusts him. He did mean that. It was just that after that scenario with Hisoka, Jaime getting so hotheaded was worrying. He'd have to protect him.

On top of Gon, himself, and now Alluka, this was beginning to be heavy. He was cracking at the edges a bit, having to deal with all of this worry. Still, he could only blame himself for his reaction. Hanging his head a bit as he accepts the paper, he holds it there for a moment quietly.]

Sorry. [Looking up, he offers a small smile, apologetic and a little tired.] I was thinking and worrying so much that I forgot that if I trusted you, this would be important to know. And I was the one who said it, before...

[That he trusted him. And he does, so--] His name is Chrollo Lucilfer. He's more than just bad news. Hisoka is dying to fight him.

[Ah, but that might not say much to Jaime, he remembers. Playing with the folded paper between his fingers, he grins now more openly.] So how do I use this? I'm good with basic things on computers and stuff, but I don't know how to encrypt anything.

Still, this is even better than what I was looking for! Thanks a lot, Jaime!

Edited (i just wanted to laugh at his name) Date: 2014-11-10 08:23 am (UTC)

From:

khajidont

[That had been some mom-level guilt tripping right there, and while a part of Jaime was aware of that, he hadn't expected that Killua would actually tell him the name. After everything Killua's told him about his family - about Gon - he has a funny feeling that being entrusted with that information is important.

Normally, he gives out the names of supervillains to everyone in the cape community he knows here. Between the team of teenaged wonders, Power Girl and Superman, they ought to have everyone on lock-down. This time, he'll respect Killua's wishes and make sure that his lips stay sealed. Genuinely, he says,] Thanks for telling me. Seriously. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone and get you guys in trouble.

[That's the last thing he wants to do anyway, and while he trusts many of his friends with his life, he doesn't necessarily trust them with information. So many of them are closer to the rest of their team than they are with him. If anything, they're the most apt to spread information without his knowledge. He doesn't hold it against them, but it alters the way he talks to them, how much he'll trust them with.

And just like that, he drops the heavy tone to kneel on the booth's seat (the waitress gives him a dirty look for it, but he ignores it) and leans across the table, his own communicator in hand.] No problem. Let me show you how to use it. You're just gonna want to save the code on your communicator so you don't have to type it out every time. Right here, between the quotation marks, that's where you put your message.

[He shows Killua. In between the quotation marks, he has written the important, secret phrase: lol whatever.]

See?

From:

gonstop

Yeah, the same to you. I'll introduce you to my sister later if I can, too. After I go over the rules a different day.

[That sounds cute and childlike as if he's got rules of protection, but he'll leave the truth of that for another day, as he said. Especially since now, he's shifting and ignoring the stares of anyone left remaining in the diner to pay attention to Jaime's instructions.]

Oh, I see. It's like a template. [Or something. He laughs a little at the message written there, pulling out his own phone.] Where can I save it? Just as a note or something?

From:

khajidont

Yep, just on your phone. Once you do it once, you don't have to bother doing it again - it'll keep the entire conversation encrypted. That means that you don't have to teach everyone you want to have private conversations with how to do it so long as you do it first.

[Gon's a sweet kid, but he's a sweet kid that doesn't seem to have the head for these sorts of things, and Killua's sister is likely too young to really wrap her head around it. If he's trying to protect his loved ones, it's best for Killua to be in charge.]

Type it in there now and let me look at it to make sure everything's right once you're done. Just to make sure.

From:

gonstop

Oh, good. [Along the same lines of thought as Jaime, Killua looks incredibly relieved at that news. He can just imagine it now, trying to explain how it works to Gon and watching him slowly overheat. Alluka definitely wouldn't be able to wrap her head around it, she's been closed in for too long, and she's a pretty normal kid for her age.

Despite her power.]

Let me see... [Unfolding the paper to take a look, he holds it in one hand while typing it out with the other. It's slow at first, but he gets the hang of it, and all in all he's pretty speedy with it. Folding the paper back up, he hands Jaime his phone for checking.]

Let me know if that's right. If it is, I can just destroy this paper, right?

[Between the quotations on this sample form is "hisoka's a creep".]

From:

khajidont

[Technically, Jaime's the one looking at it, but he's not the one judging it. That's Khaji all the way, and while his eyes are flicking over it too, he doesn't hand it back until the Scarab murmurs confirmation in his ear.

The Scarab's not entirely sure what to make of Gon and Killua's world either, and it certainly doesn't share Jaime's protectiveness over kids, but it likes Killua as much as it likes any of Jaime's friends and it knows that it's bound by duty to protect anyone Jaime's protecting. They're partners. It's how it works.

Jaime lets out a snort of laughter once he sees the message Killua wrote, and hands it back.]

You got it.

Destroying evidence: correct course of action. Possible for very skilled hacker to reverse-engineer a solution. I would notice. < Killua Zoldyck > would not.

Um, yeah, go ahead and destroy it. Try not to let anyone you don't trust find that note on your phone, okay? It's possible to hack into it if they can get their hands on the source code.

From:

gonstop

[Alright, that makes sense. And he figured it'd be something like that, too. He saves it at the bottom of a note conspicuously starting with comments about his favorite candy, and then moves to slide it away with a small smile.]

Got it. [The hand holding the scrap of paper lowers to his lap, not really hiding it from Jaime so much as everyone else in the diner. Electric nen invisible to the naked eye sparks between his fingers and lights the thing on fire and crumbles to ashes in his hand, even as he's casually reaching over with a free hand to take a few long sips of his drink.]

I won't let anyone use my phone. That shouldn't be hard when everyone has their own. I can probably work it out so if Gon needs to use it he just has to ask me, too. That way it's not saved in more places.

From:

khajidont

[Jaime's eyes flick down at the electricity that sparks between Killua's fingers curiously, mentally filing it away as another one of Killua's powers as the Scarab simultaneously murmurs something about threats and precautionary measures.

One day, Jaime hopes he'll be able to make powerful friends without a voice in his ear telling him how to take them down.]

Yeah. Good plan, [he says, a bit absently.] There's other people I'd give it too if they ask, but they're all people I'd vouch for... and I seriously doubt they'd be able to reverse engineer anything out of it.

From:

gonstop

That's more of my brother's thing.

[He says that with a smile, mostly meaning Milluki in this case and jabbing at an unknowing Jaime (with affection, of course). Though, thinking on it more, he could imagine Illumi managing to do the same... Ah, but he'd probably control other people to do it for him, first.

How'd he get on that train of thought, though? Waving it away, he drops the ashes onto a napkin and folds it up, dusting his hands off with a few claps.]

So you've run into a lot of people that can't be trusted, here? As imPorts, too? [It makes sense, but he's curious now. He's not so naive as to trust everyone he meets, but that's not to say he's been the most guarded, either. Things have changed a bit in that regard... Their threats had always been so apparent.]

Has anyone given you trouble?

From:

khajidont

[Jaime had been just about to ask further questions about Killua's family, but he's duly distracted by his question about who else to look out for around here - something that certainly takes precedent over Jaime's overactive sense of curiosity.] I wouldn't say a lot. There's a lot of good people here - more than you'd expect, considering how few of us get brought in here.

[The public could say what they like about imPorts, but Jaime's glad to have met most of them. He's met people with and without useful powers willing to put their lives and reputations on the line just to help someone else, people capable of going through great hardship and coming through the other side not unscathed, but unbroken.

They're a good bunch.]

But we've got a few bad guys hanging around too. There's this guy going around calling himself the Manipulator. He can get inside people's heads and control them that way. He's bad news.

From:

gonstop

[It's a relief to hear that not a "lot" of people are bad, at least from Jaime's perspective. Killua wasn't sure what to expect. When people have power, or are granted power, a lot of things can happen.

But maybe it's fate that this conversation keeps wrapping around to Killua's family, because the mention of someone who can control others through their mind gets a full on frown from Killua and a hidden shudder. Illumi comes to mind near-instantly, and Hisoka's haunting words in their very first greeting about how he could show up nag at the back of his mind.

Outwardly, it's just a serious expression.]

That's no good. Does he use a certain weapon to be able to do that? [Something to look out for, maybe?]

From:

khajidont

No, nothing like that. Apparently it's something he could do back home too. See, he's actually a ghost. When he's controlling someone, he actually possesses them - like, you can hear him inside your head. [Jaime taps his temple meaningfully.] Most people can't remember what happens when he possesses you, like a hunk of your life just went missing.

[It hadn't been like that for Jaime. He still remembered bits and pieces of it, and more than that, he had been able to fight - but even that hadn't been enough, not in the end. The Manipulator scares him more than Hisoka does when it comes down to it.

Hisoka could hurt someone. That's all. The Manipulator could make him hurt someone. That's only one of the many reasons why Jaime keeps his powers and his identity a complete secret; he had been meant to be a weapon once before, and he doesn't intend on letting it happen again.]

From:

gonstop

[And it's the ghost comment that makes it strike familiar with him. His hands that were relaxed on the table curl fingers over it now, as if he could grip the flat surface.]

That's the one who hurt Kate! [That was a little loud, and when one of the waitresses tosses him a look, he forces himself to relax his arms a little. Still, he's frowning.

Immediately, his own mind is echoing voices, telling him that it's good he didn't go to help. He could have been controlled and done something to hurt someone else. There was no way he could stand up against a power like that. No way at all.

But then, guilt hits him again. No, that risk was something you had to take for friendship! It's no wonder if she didn't consider them as friends... He didn't even go to save her.

He leans back in his seat, slouching the slightest bit.]

...The one with all those hostages. I remember.

From:

khajidont

Yeah. The one with all the hostages.

[Jaime scowls. He had been too late for that one, and it's something that makes him mad, even now; though everything seemed to have turned out all right in the end, he should have been there to do something. He's not sure what that something may have been, but he's certain that if he had been aware of it, he would have thought of something, something that didn't involve the Manipulator just hopping into his mind.

He drums his hands on the side of the table, a little restlessly.]

He took one of your friends as a hostage?

From:

gonstop

[For now, he lowers his gaze to the table and his hands on it, focusing on pressing his finger tips together. A form of fidgeting.]

Yeah. Kate's been looking out for Gon and I. Gon apparently had a nice conversation with the guy before all that, so I can see why he didn't go, but...

[But he was just afraid. He draws his index fingers away from each other, forming the tiniest sparks of electricity in his thought.] I didn't know anything about his powers. I didn't end up doing anything.

[He stops the electricity briefly, looking back up and across at Jaime. He can see that anger, and he can't help but wonder if that's guilt too. Defensiveness over himself, too? Jaime's kind. Just like Kate.]

Her arm's broken or something. When we went to check on her, it was all wrapped up.

From:

khajidont

I saw what happened after it all happened. His demands were...

[Jaime shakes his head, a little regretfully. He's scared of the Manipulator, and he's angry at him too, but even through everything he's done, Jaime pities him. He pities anyone who craves the oblivion of death so badly that they don't care who they have to run through to get it.

The Manipulator's not well. He's not well at all, and instead of letting anyone in to help him, all he does is hurt people with a power that's far more fearsome than most people even realize.]

I don't know if he's ever going to get what he wants while he's still here. Either way, I'm glad your friend's okay. With his power, it could've been a lot worse than a broken arm.

From:

gonstop

I guess he's tired of it all.

[Killua follows up on Jaime's thinking with a confirmation of solid understanding on his own. Death was what he was aiming for, right? He's sure that's why Gon didn't go, too. He may not be a bad guy at heart. He was just lost and making a lot of bad decisions.

Killua still didn't think that was right. But Gon saw things more in black and white, didn't he?]

I'm glad, too. I don't want anyone to have to get hurt, here. [When he'd first arrived, it'd seemed like a safe haven. Somewhere he and Gon could have fun and live normally, leaving the seriousness of home back there. That lasted all of two minutes before every crushing reality met them full force. Time, Kite, Hisoka, Chrollo, now Alluka-- He sighs a little, letting a bit of that out as he slumps forward over the table, resting his elbows on the top.]

I want to keep training and see what I can learn about everyone who's here. [To prevent further cases like this. He thinks Jaime will be able to understand his feelings there.]

From:

khajidont

Not a bad way of going about things.

[Caution is never a bad thing. It's only when it blooms into full-out paranoia when it becomes dangerous, and from the quick way Killua's managed to befriend him, Jaime doesn't see it going downhill that badly anytime soon. The wonderful thing about this place is that it's a place for second chances, even for people like Hisoka and the Manipulator - it's up to each and every one of them to decide what they'll do with it.]

But it sounds like you've got your hands pretty full already. [Jaime rests his elbows on the table, propping his chin up on the heel of his hand.]

I'm glad you asked me for help with the code, at least. You guys don't have to deal with any of this alone, and I don't mean just me - I meant it when I said that there's a lot of good people here. They wouldn't want to see you or your sister get hurt either.

From:

gonstop

Yeah. That's what friends are for, right?

[He smiles genuinely, face lighting up in the process. He's learned that much from his friends, and no matter what his brother or anyone else tries to say, he's going to stand by them. His father said it, too. In the end, Killua does know he can rely on his friends-- there's just a point where it feels like when they rely on him in return, he can't give them enough. Or anything at all.]

I'm always suuuuuuuper busy. Gon's always trying to get into stupid things, and he can get carried away while talking to Hisoka. But if we have this code, it should make it harder for him to pop up in our other conversations. I don't know if Chrollo is watching, either.

[Smiling a little bit, there's a light of something mischievous in his eyes as he leans over the table.] Say, Jaime, is this your power? [Everyone gets one, right?]

Even my big brother would need a computer to write out something like that. You memorized it?

From:

khajidont

Yep, [Jaime says, pressing a finger to his lips, motioning for Killua to keep it on the down-low. It's not the whole truth, but he just wouldn't feel right straight out lying after all this. The only thing is, that's not the power he's told everyone else he had gotten; the sheer breadth of his technological abilities is something best kept a secret lest they lose their effectiveness. It's a lot easier to tell everyone that he has the simple ability to scan people's bodies to read the state of their health and genetics.

It's a creepier power, certainly, but it's a lot easier to convince people that being able to tell whether or not someone has diabetes is harmless as opposed to the ability to hack into security cameras across the city.] My power's gotten me handy with technology. Pretty handy, right?

[Still, it'd benefit him to change the subject before Killua pries any deeper, and he's presented a handy little segue just for him.]

You've got a big family, don't you? I think you've mentioned your big brother to me before.

From:

gonstop

That's so cool!

[Despite the finger to Jaime's lips, he says that a little loudly, grinning sheepishly when he's tossed yet another glance. But right, he's got it. Keep quiet-- it makes sense, and he knows that feeling all too well. He may have revealed a trick or two up his sleeve to Jaime, but he hasn't shown him everything. Even Gon was in the dark about a lot for a while.

The topic shifts, though, and he blinks back to follow it.]

Oh, yeah. [Holding up his fingers, he counts them off.] There's my grandpa, my mom and dad, and as far as the kids go, I'm the middle. Two older brothers, me, my little sister, and then my youngest brother.

[He folds his arms over the table again, smile fading from his features.] ...I have a lot of complicated family stuff.

From:

khajidont

I bet you do, [Jaime says, voice a little sympathetic. Out of all of those people, Jaime wonders if Killua was the first to separate himself from the family business. Quite frankly, he wouldn't doubt it - it's hard to question what you've always seen as normal.

Still, the image of Killua's older brother is nagging at him again. He remembers waking up in a cold sweat, remembers the Scarab's prying questions into the one realm it would never have the ability to enter with him, and...

Ah. There were needles, he remembers, and death. Jaime rolls the salt shaker between the palms of his hands as he frowns, trying to put together more than bits and pieces of it. He had been the one dying, he thinks, which had been altogether odd for his dreams. In his nightmares, he's the one that does all the killing.]

I think I remember one of them, [he says, voice a little careful, aware that he's treading on careful ground.] Not here - from the night when everyone's dreams got all smushed together.

From:

gonstop

[The night everyone's dreams got smushed together. Killua immediately stiffens, focusing on those words. How could he have known that?]

You had those, too? I thought--

[That it had only been himself and Jojo. But as his mind slowly recalls the night he had started strangling Illumi only to realize it was Jojo and that whole adventure, more blurs come into focus. Like the sight of Jaime's dead body crumpled against him after his arm had gone straight through.

He looks incredibly disturbed all of a sudden, cutting himself off and staring at the table.]

Wait, I think... [It's in bits and pieces. How did that happen?] It was Illumi... Right? The one with the long black hair.

From:

khajidont

[Jaime catches that spasm of expression that crosses Killua's face, and suddenly, feels a little bad for bringing it up. It would have been wrong not to, he tells himself. He had brought up many of the imPorts' dreams after the fact, figuring that it's only right that they know how much he knows.

He's not entirely sure what happened there - all he knows is that it had just been the first in a long line of privacy invasions here in Heropa.] It was just a dream, [he says gently, and if he's troubled at all by the idea of being killed by Killua, it certainly isn't showing on his face.]

That's the one. With the needles.