perfectmatch | week three

[ He isn't. But this Edamura feels

alien, to her.

There is always more than what one can see. This is fact. He is, she finds, a wonderful storyteller. Able to draw someone in with his words... to keep them in suspense, even if her patience is wearing ever-thin. Little wonder that he was so good at swindling, poisonous as the thought lay.

Odile settles back, hands on her lap, and stares at him warily. ]

Edamura. I'd like to ask you a question, expecting honesty.

[it is, unfortunately, the actor in him. the part of him that is capable of swindling the amount of people he has swindled, even if his intentions here are. . . to be truthful, for once]

[the smile fades, brows raising in bemusement, but he does nod]

. . . yeah, sure. Go ahead.

Perhaps it's a spoiler to the end of your tale, which you are so lovingly crafting to annoy me with impatience, but... do you still engaging in swindling others?

[ There's a follow-up to this question, which is more important than the question itself, but... she does want to know this first. And sooner than what he's giving. ]

[SHE'S SPOILING IIIIIIT]

[frowning a bit at having his little story time interrupted, but. . . she jumps forward to that question so quickly that he imagines it is gnawing on her. a deep inhale, a slow exhale]

. . . I'm supposed to be in retirement now. The confidence man lifestyle is-- [waves. . . a hand] And sometimes, it just. . . sounds nice. The idea of finding someone normal and peaceful to settle down with. Finally finding honest work. Just. . . being an average guy, living an average life, in an average world.

[it's. . . why he had come onto this show, actually. to change things for himself. to be something more than Edamura the swindler]

[. . .]

[but that's a lie too, isn't it? the things he says he wants differ far too much from the things he actually wants]

. . . but there's a job waiting for me when I get back home.

[because Laurent will always come calling when he has need of his favorite business partner, won't he?]

I haven't decided if I'll take it, yet.

[. . .]

But I probably will.

... You enjoy it.

[ It's blunt, and a little cold. ]

[. . .]

[a sharp exhale. he does not flinch back, even if the ice in her words stings. that's to be expected. she is, after all, objectively correct in her harsh judgment, and he knows it]

. . . can I finish my story?

...

[ Odile exhales slowly, lowering her gaze back to the puzzle. What a stupid thing it is, to like someone. Her hand moves to start putting it together. ]

Continue.

[a small bow of his head, but now his gaze is focused on the few pieces he as already put together. he finds a few more, arranging them around the tiny picture that has begun to form in front of him. it's one of the flowers]

. . . I was pretty stupid back then. In the years after my mom died. In all honesty, I'm not proud of the person I was. A cocky kid who felt like he had nothing to lose.

[he admits to that with a surprising amount of clarity and understanding of his own character. when he thinks back on those years-- the years of Japan's greatest swindler-- he almost feels. . . ashamed. what a dumb and hurt kid he had been, making dumb and hurtful decisions, all because he couldn't cope with the turns his life had taken]

But then one day, I met. . . someone else. A man named Laurent. I tried to swindle him, but I was two steps behind his every move. He was the one conning me. And then. . . he recruited me for my biggest job yet.

[. . .]

. . . the world is full of rich jerks who are untouchable by the law, you know? People who get away with shitting on others just because they have cash to spend. He introduced me to one such person: some small-time movie maker who preyed on aspiring actresses. Who ruined lives for his own sick entertainment. Laurent wanted to con him out of his entire fortune as some kind of punishment for the things he had done.

[another piece. another small exhale]

When we completed that job. . . my perspective on the world completely changed.

[. . .]

. . . I took the money Laurent paid me for my role in the confidence scheme and used it to pay back every single person I had swindled myself.

And then I turned myself in to the police.

[SHE MISSED THAT PART!!!]

[ ...

Rather than swindle the common man now, he acts as a kind of robin des bois. But he's aware of his faults -- older now, seeing differently, looking back with a heavier heart at the things he'd done and... seeking to make reparations. Odile continues to work on the framework, unresponsive, as if she hadn't heard him.

It's simply her mind turning over itself, checking through his words and who she knows-- knew him to be, judging each and weighing their worth. By the time she's settled, the outside is complete.

... ... ... ]

[ Odile knows better than anyone that a cardinal rule of reading is never to skip ahead, and yet--

She's taking off her shoe to solidly fwap him with it. ]

[ With that, however, her expression returns to something softer in a sorrowed way, trying best to work out how she wants to speak. It is-- incredibly hard, always, to say things. Even in all her years, all her "old" age now, it never, never gets easier, and

she feels uneasy, for the first time, at what others might hide just the same. The lack of anything that Verso wants in his future, as a prime example. What had caused it. Why. She still wants to know, certainly, but-- ]

I have a penchant for picking up theatrical fools, it seems. Do lead with a reassurance of good faith -- should you have any to spare -- rather than what you did. It makes you sound far too "edgy" otherwise.

[WHAP]

-- ow!! Odile. . .!

[rubs his forehead, which is now a bit red from the SHOE IMPACT]

. . . I thought about it! But then I thought you might want the whole story, not just-- "by the way, I'm not a freelancer, I'm a confidence man!"

To be frank, if you'd described it that way, I would have said you were in no way a "confidence" anything.

[ Wuss.

... ]

Have you been enjoying yourself here?

[ It's a double entendre of sorts, between the Edamura she met and the Edamura she knows now. At least it makes sense now, how he was so... adaptable, how easily he could compose himself or overdramatize as needed. Odile's stomach turns unhappily. ]

[HEY???]

Don't be so harsh! I can be confident!

[not just a confidence man, but like. a confident man!!]

[but as to her question. . . he frowns deeply, nudging a few more flat edges in her direction, now trying to build upon the frame that she started]

[. . .]

[. . . right. that's why it had been so hard to share, isn't it? why he had rolled with "freelancer" when people had asked him about his job back home. because the moment he is honest about it. . . nobody will believe him ever again. and why should they? who can trust a con man? who should trust a con man?]

. . . and don't-- talk around it, Odile. Ask me what you want to ask me.

[an exhale]

"Are you conning anyone right now?" Or maybe, "are you being sincere with everyone here?"

... The latter.

[ But it's said softly. She works steadily on her side, voice raising slightly in agitation. ]

How much of the Edamura we see is the one that was raised by his kind mother, and how much is the one that was raised by his poor mistakes? Have you been sincere in your time here? What is it, exactly, that you've been seeking?

[he answers her questions in order]

All of him, and none of him. And of course I have; I'm not trying to be anything other than. . . myself. For once. Just. . . me. And I'm looking for--

[. . .]

. . . the same thing I said I was looking for when I first got here. New connections.

[. . . he pulls up a tiny smile. slightly lopsided and familiar. that's the Edamura she knows]

The chance to be something more than just a swindler.

... I should use my other shoe on you too.

[ But she doesn't, simply staring at him -- weighing, again, the worth of his words, before she exhales loudly and rests back on her hands.

Okay. She's going to die from high blood pressure one of these days, but. Okay. ]

Alright then. Thank you for telling me the truth, Edamura. My own secret feels far less weighted in comparison. Is this Laurent of yours single?

[. . . what]

[what????]

[is who single?? is Laurent single?]

[is. . . Laurent. . . single. . . . . . . . . ?????]

[IS LAURENT SINGLE?????]

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

[holy shit that is SO LOUD that his voice is ECHOING ACROSS THE STORE!!!]

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1/??? christ this thread closes my eyes

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