voice; "oh in my agony i do retreat"

[garyoutensei]

-The first sound anyone hears is some kind of fluid sloshing about in a container, the distinct hollow "pop" of a cork being removed, and several long, thick gulps. This is quickly followed by a sigh, a clearing of the throat, and smacking of the lips...

When Baiken speaks, her words are pretty badly slurred. She's been at it for a bit.-

I haven't dressed nice in goddamn *years*... If I wasn't interested in meeting this so called Empress myself, I wouldn't normally give a shit if some bouncer enforcing a dress code showed me out. I've never given a shit before.

But I'm being told it's required. Because of course it is. The rich and powerful are always like that, enforcing their rules and standards of conduct on people as a means of excising their own power.

You'll dress how I tell you to dress. You'll speak how I tell you to speak. If you don't, you're "uncivilized". But make no mistake, you can put a pretty bow on the common masses and they'll still look down on you. Tch...


-Another several gulps. Another cough. Another sigh.-

Whatever. We're either gonna be arrested as soon as we show up and treated like enemies of the state, used for political posturing, or both. And if we don't show up, they'll find a way to get us to show up. People like that always do.

... I need more sake...

-The voice feed cuts off at that point.-

Comments

Voice

[wheretheresawill]

...Are you okay, ma'am?

voice;

[garyoutensei]

I'm fine. The hell do you want?

voice

[wheretheresawill]

You sound kind of...upset.

Do you really distrust this Empire that much?

[garyoutensei]

You should distrust anyone that has that much power.

voice

[hatejakku]

The people here won't roll over so easily. We have strength in our numbers and bonds.

[ And yes, he doesn't care who hears that. ]

[garyoutensei]

A couple dozen assholes who only barely know one another ain't gonna amount to much against an entire empire, kid.

[hatejakku]

[ There's a silence for about half a second before he just... erupts in laughter. Oh, Baiken. Oh, Baiken. ]

I think you'd be surprised. Speaking from experience.

[ But, ah, okay, it's not really a laughing matter. It just feels like he's talking to himself right now. ] If we trust each other like we did in Ka'Pandol, like we did on Friday the 13th, then we can do this, too. At any rate, worrying, complaining, and drinking won't help. We should start preparing for the worst.

Or we drink now and prepare for the worst tomorrow?

[garyoutensei]

-She's clearly not amused by his laughter, from the way she groans.-

I left both of those incidents with more scars than I entered them with. And that wasn't even against the same type of enemy as this.

Your experience sounds like you had luck on your side, and good for you, but my experience is telling me we've got too big a fight on our hands for some "stand together" feel good nonsense.

[suigojin]

[Gi replays the audio about four times and considers his response for several minutes before actually recording and sending it. While he does see where she's coming from on some points, he doesn't agree with all of them.]

So far, it's only an imperial invitation, not an order. No one's being forced to go anywhere yet.

[garyoutensei]

Emphasis on that last word. They never just stay that way. When someone with that much power wants something, they take it.

[suigojin]

So you think they're making a power grab after years of isolation?

[garyoutensei]

-Another sloshy gulp.-

They're an Empire. These years in isolation were probably just to consolidate central power and secure it. Now it's time to do what Empires always do.

voice

[witchwithoutacause]

The way you make it sound I could probably use a drink too.

[ What's the drinking age gonna be in the empire again? ]

Goddamn right about people using every little angle they can to push you around though.

[garyoutensei]

If you could use a drink, then drink. I sure as hell ain't gonna stop you.

[witchwithoutacause]

I'm sure someone'll try to.

[garyoutensei]

Do you usually let that stop you?

voice;

[thehurricane]

[A baritone voice replies, his tone casual.]

You're talking from personal experience, I take it?

[garyoutensei]

And if I am? -Another sloshing sound, another gulp.-

[thehurricane]

It doesn't make much difference to me, really. I only thought you might like to hear from someone who doesn't think you're wrong.

[He mostly agrees, anyway. The first part is all true, if not too tame. The rich are capable of so much worse than that.]

[garyoutensei]

Tch... Well I suppose good sense isn't lost on some people. Considering some of these literal children want to hope for the best and think calling a goddamn empire what it is somehow means I'm looking for a reason to be upset...

Voice

[failtsuninari]

Not to be off topic but...where did you get sake? Feels like an eternity since I've had some.

[Sure the other boozy choices were good, but sometimes even he misses a classic like sake.]

voice;

[garyoutensei]

-This guy...-

They grow rice here. If you've got rice, you can make sake. -Aka it's her own brew.-

voice

[chefbayardee]

(( on 8/7 before disappearance, of course ))

We don't know what's gonna happen, and... [ He doesn't want to say that a one-armed, one-eyed, pink-haired samurai with an attitude would attract a ton of attention, but... it's obvious. ] Be careful, okay?

[ There's a pause, and the faint sound of a sigh from Hunk. ] I don't have a good feeling about this either. [ Especially not with Shiro missing... ]

Re: voice

[garyoutensei]

-Hunk... gets a lot of the venom to seep out of her tone, and she can only sigh, shaking her head.-

I'll be fine. I'm... more worried about you. -It was becoming less of a struggle to say things like this, but she knew Hunk was in a bad way...-

voice

[chefbayardee]

I'll be fine. [ The words are even, measured. Like he's been saying it to himself for a day or two. But as he continues, he starts to sound confident. ] I've dealt with empires, royalty, diplomats, and parties gone wrong. I- I'll... [ The words catch in his throat- it's been months of thinking about this stuff as it pertained to two Paladins of Voltron, not one. ]

We'll all be fine. [ If Shiro isn't here, then it's up to him to try and keep people going. That's what Shiro would want him to do. ] I need you at your best for this, okay Baiken?

[ Sure, he might also be talking about the drinking, but... ] If something goes wrong, we all gotta get out okay. [ You, him, and everyone who's not as good in a fight. It's worse than a serial killer, but he still trusts her in a pinch. ]