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[jacksonian]

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[jacksonian]

[ Mark stuffs down the ripple of dread he feels at those words. No. He has seen the worst. ]

Okay. Fine. Then last time he was here, I wasn't rich enough to hire an entire fucking army if I wanted to. Now I am.

And we would have figured it out. Subtlety isn't his thing. Have you talked to this one?

[wizzardly]

Not yet. I'm just trying to figure out if this Lucifer remembers everything. Or anything. People come back without their memories sometimes.

Maybe it could even happen to gods.

[jacksonian]

By "god" I'm guessing you mean "asshole who's a little bit stronger than the other assholes"? Anyway, he was stuck here to begin with, and pissed off about it. You heard his ranting and raving. So, yeah, it's entirely possible that he's vulnerable to this, too.

What did you mean when you said he was in a different host?

[wizzardly]

Well there's something to hope for.

And I mean that body wasn't his. It was a person once, and he moved into them and hollowed them out. His kind can't be here physically without using a human body. The Things from the Dungeon Dimensions back home were similar.

They're called "vessels", if I'm remembering right. Some work better than others for them, but I never found out what determined that.

[jacksonian]

[ Ah. Just when he thought he couldn't hate Lucifer any more than he does. He feels a cold rage ripple over him. ]

A cannibal, then. In addition to everything else.

[wizzardly]

Sort of. They don't eat them though, just their presence sort of burns their soul away, I think.

Horrifying either way.

[jacksonian]

Then I half hope this one's the same. I hope she is so that she can suffer here.

[wizzardly]

As long as they don't think to take it out on us.

[jacksonian]

Honestly? Let her come. I'd like it if she got to find out that I'm not the same easy prey.

[wizzardly]

That's insane. You know that, right? It's important to me that you know that.

[jacksonian]

Did keeping our heads down work with the last Lucifer?

[wizzardly]

And when has looking for trouble ever helped?

[jacksonian]

[ Point. But - ]

I'm tired of being kicked around. Anyway, the only point of being rich is it means no one can touch you. And I'm rich. I should take advantage of that.

[wizzardly]

I'd like you to take a moment and imagine Miles typing those words to you.

Go on, I'll wait.

[jacksonian]

Miles would never type "I'm rich."

[wizzardly]

You're missing the point, a bit.

[jacksonian]

[ Deliberately missing the point. He fidgets uncomfortably, confronted with that. It is rather Miles-like recklessness, isn't it? And he doesn't like the thought of being Miles-like in any way, shape, or form. But -

But the thought lingers in the back of his mind that this isn't, perhaps, a Miles trait. Maybe it's a Vorkosigan trait. And he's a Vorkosigan too, isn't he? ]

Look, I'm scared as hell of her. Him. Whichever. Piss-my-pants scared. But there are these cannibals in the world who can keep cannibalizing as long as no one stands up to them. And crouching in the dirt and licking their boots kills you in a different way. Slower but worse. It's better to die standing up to him, isn't it?

[wizzardly]

No. No, it's really not. I've never gotten that, why people think dying one way can be better than another just because it's more noble. You're still dead at the end. Perception doesn't count for much with that.

If you can stand, you can run. That's better.

[jacksonian]

I don't give a shit about dying nobly. That's stupid. What I give a shit about is the people who are getting their souls burned out of their bodies.

[wizzardly]

I mean I'm not going to argue and say I approve of that sort of thing either.

It's more that I especially disapprove when said person being burned is me.

[jacksonian]

It won't be you. People like that, they want bodies that are tall and good-looking to take over.

[ Sorry, Rincewind. ]

[wizzardly]

Finally, an advantage.

Now if I just make sure my body's also "absent" I can avoid being the target for pain, death, or a magic mark again too.

[jacksonian]

I hope you can. I hope you do. I don't want anything bad to happen to you.

[wizzardly]

Well

[well what? Well that's a kind, doomed thought which is no less surprisingly, incredibly kind for being doomed?]

that goes for you too you know. You're one of the only sensible friends I've got here, I'm not eager to lose you to an ash bin.

[jacksonian]

[ A slight hesitation, then: ]

Yeah, and likewise. You're one of the only sensible friends I have, too.

[ He thinks. What is a friend even. ]

If it helps, I don't have any intention of getting thrown in any ash bins. I'm angry, not suicidal.

[ He's not Miles, after all. ]