Emmett + Cass, Dec 27

Dec 27 22:30:59 <Knave>	-mine, ALL MINE-
Dec 27 22:34:31 <Knave>	Emmett had made some effort to tidy himself. He'd dragged a brush through his frizzy cloud of orange hair, to little effect but pain. He'd put on a relatively laundered outfit, with a long plum coat and a ruffly shirt, because the only person he had to tell him he looked ridiculous was Elspeth. He'd polished his goggles. He wanted to make a good impression - after all, he'd heard this person was Elspeth's friend. He clears his throat into a white-gloved hand and then knocks delicately on Cass' door.
Dec 27 22:39:30 <Antichthon>	For a moment, no response. Then, from under the door, a tiny mechanical spider emerged. It was quite realistic-looking, but Emmett was the type to see through that. The delicate little thing climbed the door with awkward slowness, stopping at Emmett's eye level. There, it cleared its cute little throat and said, "WHO DARES DISTURB THE LAIR OF THE ITSY-BITSY SPIDER?"
Dec 27 22:42:18 <Knave>	He stands with an inscrutable expression for a few moments, eyes hidden by his goggles and front teeth showing from a slightly-open mouth. Then he adjusts his goggles and crosses his arms behind his back. "Emmett Walter Montgomery Percival Epstein," He says, just a hint of a Bavarian accent in his name, "Calling for Cass Walker-Handal, if it is no trouble."
Dec 27 22:50:46 <Antichthon>	"Oh, why didn't you say so?" the spider said, voice now light and cutsy. "One moment, please." It crawled back under the door. Now, knowing Cass, it wouldn't be surprising if it just left it at that, would it? Leaving the guest standing awkardly, waiting for something to happen until they realized they've been had. But, no! The spider emerged a minute later, hauling a proportionally giant business card. "Cass is busy," said the spider politely. "But here is their contact information." It handed over the card. On it was a particularly veiny hand giving a middle finger, with the number 1-800-FUCK-YOU beneath it.
Dec 27 22:56:39 <Knave>	Emmett sighs, and holds up the card in two fingers after a moment's examination, addressing the spider, "This is plainly a false number, and that leads me to believe that perhaps Cass is merely hostile rather than busy." He folds the card in half twice and then deposits it into an inside pocket of his coat, "I am a companion of Elspeth's, and merely wished to make Cass' acquaintance. If they are in fact too busy to meet me, I would be appreciative if they could simply arrange a better time." He speaks with the careful, polite calm of someone whose mother thought parenting was mostly about passing on manners.
Dec 27 23:04:19 <Antichthon>	Beat. "Oh, why didn't you say so?" the spider said again, broken record style. "One moment, please." It followed the exact same path it did before, under the door. Then, after the exact same amount of time, it emerged with another business card. "Cass is busy," said the spider politely. "But here-" The spider was interrupted by the door opening. Cass open-shirted and groggy in his wheelchair, rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Why the fuck you giving my door spider a hard time?" Cass asked. Meanwhile the spider continued its automated spiel. "-their contact information."
Dec 27 23:08:00 <Knave>	The corner of Emmett's mouth tugs downwards for a moment, then he breathes out. "Apologies to inconvenience you so, I had not realized you would be resting at this hour." He awkwardly puts his right hand out to shake, "I am Emmett Epstein,
 Elspeth's... companion. I have been hoping to make your acquaintance for some time now." He smiles oddly, the full extent of it not at all very wide.
Dec 27 23:18:35 <Antichthon>	"I'm always resting when-" Assholes stop by, was what he was going to say, but cut off at Emmett's introduction. "Ah, right." Cass awkwardly took the hand, as if he wasn't quite sure where the thing had been. WHich, well, he hadn't. "I've read your file. Sorta forgot you were Elspeth's new boytoy. Systems are still coming online." He pointed to his head, gave a not-so-friendly half-smile.
Dec 27 23:18:35 <Antichthon>	"Well, you've met me. Now what?" "Oh, why didn't you say-" Cass swatted the spider off the door.
Dec 27 23:22:21 <Knave>	"A fine piece of machinery." Emmett comments at the spider as it flies away. He adjusts his goggles, then says, "I have been thus far rather disappointed by my fellow inquisitive minds here at Fifth Sanctum. They are either short-sighted, or somewhat lacking in maturity, I have found. Of course, I had heard of your parent's work, and wished to meet you anyway, but hearing that you were a friend of Elspeth's, I became determined to do so." He leans in a touch conspiratorially, his weird smile suggesting approval, "You are quite difficult to get a hold of."
Dec 27 23:25:02 <Antichthon>	"The hell you mean, 'wished to meet me anyway?'" Cass narrowed his eyes, while doing his best to lean away from the weird-ass boy as he leaned in. "You have something against my fathers' work?"
Dec 27 23:28:53 <Knave>	"Not at all, quite the contrary." He shakes his head vigorously, then runs a hand back through his hair, doing absolutely nothing to smooth it down, "For a time, it seemed to me that they were my only contemporaries who made any sense at all. Their work... such speed and vision that I felt lacking in the rest of the world. Inspired and inspiring. Genius." He's beginning to sound a bit... gibbery, and self-consciously clears
Dec 27 23:28:53 <Knave>	his throat again, leaning well back. "I thought perhaps, well, that you and I might collaborate. It seems you also have quite the affinity for machinery." He gestures towards the spider.
Dec 27 23:41:23 <Antichthon>	"Oh, I see. you want to get close to me in hopes of earning favors from them, is that it?" It took a lot of effort on Cass' part to keep up the 'offended' aura and not break down laughing at how ripe a target this wreck of a boy was.
Dec 27 23:45:26 <Knave>	"Of course not!" He says, standing up straight at the accusation, to his not-very-impressive height. He pushes his goggles up to his forehead, revealing his deep brown eyes, and looks down with a face like thunder, "I had merely hoped that you and I might work together." He says firmly, his accent creeping in again, "Or are you not in fact as brilliant as your reputation would have it?"
Dec 27 23:48:22 <Antichthon>	Oh, well, that was a genuine surprise. Cass expected this boy to continue crumpling in on himself, not to stage a counterattack. "And what makes you think you have any value to me?" Cass crossed his arms. "Maybe I find you just as disappointing as you find everyone else."
Dec 27 23:53:52 <Knave>	"I am a genius." Emmett says, rather blankly and matter-of-fact, almost absent of any pride or pomp. Then he frowns, and expression which fits much better on his face than his weird smiles, "But if I am no more to you than value, perhaps I should reconsider a partnership altogether."
Dec 27 23:58:58 <Antichthon>	"Anyone can claim to be a genius," Cass said, reclining in his chair like a king on his throne. "I'm just asking for a little proof. My reptutation apparently precedes me, but I've been busy lately and haven't really kept up on things. So, show me something, Emmett. Impress me."
Dec 28 00:04:45 <Knave>	Emmett's overall demeanour becomes rather serious, "If you are familiar with Ben Trayson, I am the one responsible for his collar, which allows him to speak and emote in a full range of volume and emotion by using vibrational density alteration to manipulate the metal of his body." He ahems, "Alas, I do not carry a portfolio of my work with me, but here," He takes off his goggles, and offers them to Cass, "See as I do." The goggles, despite being rather ordinary looking for Emmett's fashion standards, function just like all of his eyewear. They allow not only sight in a wide array of spectrums, but also constantly feed information about what is being observed, through no readily obvious means.
Dec 28 00:10:19 <Antichthon>	He took the goggles hesitantly. "This better not be pyrovision." A glance through the goggles, and Cass raised his brow. He removed the goggles, studied them. It wasn't so much what they did that got his attention, but the lack of any apparent mechanism. Cass went from toying with the boy to genuine interest. "Do you have some sort of computational lattice embedded in the glass itself? Where's its power source?"
Dec 28 00:17:07 <Knave>	He takes the goggles back and begins smiling again, "It is a self-contained system embedded within the lenses. Light-based. Very delicate work, in fact, I believe this particular pair took me some nights to finish." He puts the goggles back on with a satisfied quirk of his grin, "I scarcely remember the details now. There are simpler methods, but this one enchanted me until I finished it."
Dec 28 00:25:21 <Antichthon>	"I've always been of the opinion the less moving parts something has, the more elgant it is. So, good job." Quite high praise coming from Cass. He switched to lean on the other side of his chair. "Alright, you've convinced me you're worth my time. But what do I have that you want? I deal more with software than hardware."
Dec 28 00:27:27 <Knave>	"Nothing particular." Emmett says vaguely, "I merely think that more can be done together than alone. If we are available to each other, we greatly expand the scope of what we can achieve." He smiles in what he probably thinks is a warm way, "Two heads, I am told, are better than one."
Dec 28 00:34:07 <Antichthon>	Despite himself, Cass did find the prospect of working on something not entirely under his control rather...exhilarating. He did have a thing for loss of control, after all. "Alright, sure. sounds...fun."
Dec 28 00:35:43 <Knave>	"Marvellous." Emmett pulls out Cass's card from inside his coat and waves it in the air, "I already have your number, should I wish to contact you." His words drip with the level of sarcasm you can only achieve when one parent is English and the other German.
Dec 28 00:44:32 <Antichthon>	"Hey, the door spider was just doing her job," Cass said. "Most people don't stick around long enough for her to cycle over." Beat. "Do give that number a call though, It's an //amazing// sex hotline."
Dec 28 00:49:28 <Knave>	Cass gets the impression that Emmett blinks behind his goggles in the pause. "I will keep that in mind." He says diplomatically, stowing the card away again, and deciding to get Cass' actual number from Elspeth. "You must receive few visitors, if your spiders turn them all away."
Dec 28 00:52:45 <Antichthon>	Cass shrugged. "Anyone I want to talk to already has my phone number. When's the last time you had a stranger come knocking on your door you gave a shit about?"
Dec 28 00:54:24 <Knave>	Emmett thinks about this for a few seconds, then answers, "I do not think a stranger has ever knocked on my door." He shakes his head, "No, I don't recall it happening."
Dec 28 00:55:39 <Antichthon>	"I'm sure if someone did, espeically when you were in the middle of a project, you'd be all smiles and kisses." Cass' smile this time wasn't so unfriendly.
Dec 28 00:56:38 <Knave>	"Perhaps." He nods with a smile that borders on the natural, "But if they present interesting opportunities, it would be unwise to turn them away, I think."
Dec 28 01:00:32 <Antichthon>	He gave Emmett a look. "Are you going, or not? If you're sticking around, I can ask Callum if we can organize a threesome. Far more fun way to exchange idle banter."
Dec 28 01:03:34 <Knave>	"I see that despite your parents' talents, instilling politeness was not among them." He says, managing to be stern and scathing despite the touches of colour forming across his pale nose and stark cheeks. "I will be going, then. Glad to have finally made your acquaintance." He gives a little stiff bow.
Dec 28 01:05:52 <Antichthon>	Cass screwed up his mouth in a repressed smile at the idea of learning politeness from his parents, of all places. "Where do you think I learned to act like this?" he asked with a lopsided grin, before twiddling his fingers. "Toodle-doo." He was at least careful not to smack Emmett in the face while closing the door.
Dec 28 01:06:50 <Knave>	-Scene met-