qt-579 - Tumblr blog

[qt-579]

"And the souls thing...that's from deals...?" Puzzling this out. Felt forbidden to even ask. Day one, asking how to get souls. A little gross, but it's the way of this world, should know eventually, right?

"When you own somebody's soul, that just means...they have to do what you want? I mean, they're already dead. What's a soul worth other than your time?" Probably a bit too much rambling and speculation for a question. Had to cut themself off sheepishly before they got too ahead.

QT would maintain that they are smart, but as long as they were in agreement on the terms, Alastor can think whatever he wants.

At the magic wardrobe change, QT jumped, looking down at themself. "...Okay, it's not a bad look, but WARN a guy next time." They'd complain more, but this is fine. They might've picked lighter colors, but taste is subjective. "Is that a you thing, or can all sinners do that?"

[qt-579]

QT would maintain that they are smart, but as long as they were in agreement on the terms, Alastor can think whatever he wants.

At the magic wardrobe change, QT jumped, looking down at themself. "...Okay, it's not a bad look, but WARN a guy next time." They'd complain more, but this is fine. They might've picked lighter colors, but taste is subjective. "Is that a you thing, or can all sinners do that?"

The continued sass earned a roll of Alastor's eyes, but otherwise, he contained his griping. Maybe there was something about cat-like Sinners that made them ornery and annoying to work with.

As far as a dress-code went, Alastor nodded.

"You'll need to dress the part of a hotel staff member," he lied. No one else in the building seemed to. But if he could convince QT to dress themselves more in alignment with his own tastes, then that was just as well.

With a snap of fingers, QT's outfit would change. To something just a touch more formal, though not excessively so.

Capped with, yes, a little bow-tie to match the vibe.

"There we go. Not a permanent change, but I'm sure we can make some adjustments as needed."

[qt-579]

"I don't have personal property outside my clothing." Which was the most interestingly personal thing they had. Casual clothes. The company wasn't completely cruel.

QT shrugged and went back to eating. No sense in dwelling on it, they saw no way around it. Especially no sense in dwelling on it when they had the best meal of their life in front of them. "This is the best. Subjectively speaking. I can't make value judgements on the quality of one brand's food over another."

"Ah...." His smile would be forcefully tight and polite as he withered on the inside. As QT continued, though, he would begin to wither on the outside, slowly stopping his eating as he flushed in embarrassment.

"Tha's rough... Uh, do you have, like, a phone or anythin' like that?" He was already way too invested and in Ready To Help However He Could mode.

[qt-579]

"They haven't, actually." QT's tail papped against the bench seat and they leaned back, arms crossed. "I must bring it out for you, specifically." And they're not sorry. They don't want to fuck up their whole afterlife in their first week in hell.

Alastor's agreement had them relaxing. "Cool." Bagged a job without selling their soul! Although the job is just getting them a radio and not money. Hrm. But also free housing and food at the hotel, so...works out?

Then they paused and looked Alastor up and down. "...Is there a dress code?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you are obnoxious?"

Just a comment; just a question. Just an absent wondering. But the offered terms of this pseudo-Deal are not exactly anything he can be particularly pressed about. With the radio in QT's possession, his influence is guaranteed, regardless of how long they keep it.

Hm. He sees no real losing side here.

"Fine. I think that's acceptable enough."

[qt-579]

"You didn't say for how long." GOT YOU. TRYING TO PULL ONE OVER ON QT?? Well it WON'T WORK.

They tapped a claw on the side of their glass for a few moments, then, "How about this; if I get tired of the work before you're satisfied, I'll give the radio back. Take the loss."

Ear flicked. Not gonna acknowledge it this time. You fucking nerd.

"Maintenance. Cleaning. Housekeeping. Inventory. Whatever need be done at the hotel, really that does not include you acting as pseudo security. I'd rather trust you with the mundane first before giving you any license to inflict suffering with those big ears of yours."

It is a running joke now. He's not giving it up any time soon.

[qt-579]

Their strained smile returned. They really don't want to be a buzzkill, they really really don't. But. "You understand that I don't get paid, right?"

Not to mention. "Q-Series robots do not require time off and can work approximately 16 hours per day, 7 days a week without any detriment to their performance." QT took a bite of burger, washed it down with milkshake. "I don't have any assigned tasks at this time, but I am always functioning within my assigned parameters."

Which is to say, they don't have "time off". Not really.

"That sounds lovely though. I'll make sure to let others know when they ask for local food recommendations."

"Oh." They do not love that. Dirty hands. But okay, that's how this is, fine. QT took a few tries to figure out which way to hold the burger and which way to wrap their mouth around it, but finally got it.

Started nodding. Yes. This is what food should taste like. This has to be the best food the world has to offer. The only thing that'd make it better is if it weren't getting on their hands.

Of course, their mouth is full, so they said none of this. Just nodded and chewed. Yeah. Yeah it doesn't need anything else. Fuck dandilions, burgers are their new king.

[qt-579]

"Oh." They do not love that. Dirty hands. But okay, that's how this is, fine. QT took a few tries to figure out which way to hold the burger and which way to wrap their mouth around it, but finally got it.

Started nodding. Yes. This is what food should taste like. This has to be the best food the world has to offer. The only thing that'd make it better is if it weren't getting on their hands.

Of course, their mouth is full, so they said none of this. Just nodded and chewed. Yeah. Yeah it doesn't need anything else. Fuck dandilions, burgers are their new king.

"I mean... Tha's jus' how it is with burgers, whether ya dip 'em in anythin' or not." Or at least juicy burgers. Or burgers with too many toppings or sauces on them... "Ya don't gotta. They're probably fine as is--" He would test that theory by taking a bite, muffled pleased hum as he chewed and nodded Definitely fine as is.

[qt-579]

"What kind of manual labor? And for how long?" FINE PRINT, PLEASE. You BETTER bide your time, cuz QT is READY. No monkeys paws today, no sir!

"Not every business transaction need require a full soul to engage."

He'd not coerced thousands of individuals in his name by being reckless about when he chose to implement soul-related deals. Alastor was an apt salesman - and very much enjoyed biding his time.

"If you'd like, you're welcome to pay it off by returning with me to the hotel for a bit of manual labor, if you are not so flimsy as to be able to accomplish it."

[qt-579]

"How do you eat it without getting it on your hands?" Their immediate question when trying to lift the burger, and things were just...sliding around. Juices. Sauces. Boi. "I don't really want to get this in the milkshake. Maybe it's better not to dip."

"I'm synthetic-organic. Everything in me was created in a lab to mimic life as best as possible without too many of the disadvantages of organic life." Their outsides were basically all synthetic organic. Eyes did have that robotic glow, though. "I suppose not. It might just be an unfortunate downside to being based on organic life."

QT frowned at the shake and the fry, and tentatively did a dip. Fine. Contamination risk deemed low. Popped it in their mouth and thought about that. "Oh, the warm fry fixes the cold issue. This is a good strategy. Do you dip the rest of the food too? Looks like it'd be a tight fit."

[qt-579]

"I like my brain and my ears as they are. For now." Like okay, admittedly they'd think about surgery if it were the only way to fix their brain chaos, but they AIN'T THERE YET. Not anywhere close.

"Well, I don't have any money. I can't buy one from you. What do you want from me?" They'd suggested spying, he hadn't seemed interested. "...Don't say my soul. I just got here."

"I never said it was a negative thing for them to be large."

Why yes, he was talking very much about them. Because it was entertaining to him in the moment.

"It's been a minute since I've done anything of the sort," he replied, though there was zero indication that he was joking. He'd done a few head-based incisions for both consumption and exploratory purposes. But that was probably just a touch too much information to share upon a first meeting, now wasn't it?

"Wireless? Ah. Battery powered. Yes, most of mine are." Or they ran off of eldritch energy - for the ones that needed to have more influence exercised over them.

"Makes it far easier to spread them about as needed."

[qt-579]

"Should I wear a hat? Would that make you feel better?" You're really LAYING INTO THEIR EARS, BRO. What'd their ears ever do to you? And don't think they don't see your ears. Fluffy. Lucky they're not calling you out.

"Sorry, do you normally perform lobotomies??" Boi you're CRAZY. "Should I be worried you'll start slicing things off me in my sleep if I stay at your hotel?"

The idea of a mini radio to turn their constant hearing of EVERYTHING off was pretty interesting. Wouldn't stop them from hearing all of Alastor's shit probably, but it might be helpful. "Do you have wireless radios...? I'm partly robotic, but I don't know if that means I can power things myself." Something to look into, for sure.

"Well, they are large enough to have fooled me."

Like dinner plates, those things. But it was a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, given the length of his own. As far as he was concerned, however, this was not about him.

"So it is an internal cause and effect. Brain chemistry, maybe. A lobotomy might solve the issue. Alternatively, keeping a much smaller version of my radios may also be a decent balm. Though I imagine you would need to keep it on your person at all times."

And he'd not thought, so far, to make a model that small.

Though Alastor had his belief that he could, if putting the right amount of brainpower to the task.

[qt-579]

"I'm synthetic-organic. Everything in me was created in a lab to mimic life as best as possible without too many of the disadvantages of organic life." Their outsides were basically all synthetic organic. Eyes did have that robotic glow, though. "I suppose not. It might just be an unfortunate downside to being based on organic life."

QT frowned at the shake and the fry, and tentatively did a dip. Fine. Contamination risk deemed low. Popped it in their mouth and thought about that. "Oh, the warm fry fixes the cold issue. This is a good strategy. Do you dip the rest of the food too? Looks like it'd be a tight fit."

"My organic parts aren't programmed the same way that my robotic parts are. I imagine if it were easy to remove brain freeze then they would have. Unless the cold is a genuine risk to my systems." They frowned suspiciously at the milkshake, buuuut yeah nah they're still gonna dip back into that despite the pain. Surely they'd have some sort of alarm going off more than brain freeze if they were freezing their systems.

When food arrived, QT's eyes got big, and they looked at Miles and back at the food a few times, considering whether they were obligated to ask permission again before eating anything. But the instruction to dip dislodged that concern. They instead held a fry over the milkshake, considering. "...wouldn't this contaminate the milkshake? It might be safer to put this in my mouth after taking in some of the milkshake, that way I can have both at once without cross-contaminating either food item."

[qt-579]

"My organic parts aren't programmed the same way that my robotic parts are. I imagine if it were easy to remove brain freeze then they would have. Unless the cold is a genuine risk to my systems." They frowned suspiciously at the milkshake, buuuut yeah nah they're still gonna dip back into that despite the pain. Surely they'd have some sort of alarm going off more than brain freeze if they were freezing their systems.

When food arrived, QT's eyes got big, and they looked at Miles and back at the food a few times, considering whether they were obligated to ask permission again before eating anything. But the instruction to dip dislodged that concern. They instead held a fry over the milkshake, considering. "...wouldn't this contaminate the milkshake? It might be safer to put this in my mouth after taking in some of the milkshake, that way I can have both at once without cross-contaminating either food item."

In response, once he finally caught his breath and cleared his throat, he would nod with a wide grin as h. "Pretty sure it's a metaphor, yeah."

Miles would blink at QT's outburst before he chuckles, "Oh, yeah, you gotta watch out for those." Then, after a beat, his smile would fall, "Whoever made ya, gave ya the ability t'get brain freezes...? That seems a lil cruel."

One of the staff would come from behind the counter, trays with their meals on them in hand, which they would set onto their table. They offered a big warm customer service smile, telling the two of them 'enjoy'. Miles would waste no time in digging into his fries, "Yanno, you should try dippin' one o'these in yer milkshake. I know some people love that, if ya ain't already tried it."

[qt-579]

"You're the best earplugs I have." Laughed, although being called earplugs may not be the MOST complimentary thing you could hear, in context it makes sense. Let them live.

QT gave Alastor a stonefaced look. Then nodded solumnly. "How do you think I got here? I'm lucky I got my ears back in death..."

They shook their head though, jokes aside. Put hands over their ears, flattening them tight to their head. "My ears are mostly getting in-person sound. I hear your voice directly in my head as well as that, clear as day no matter what I do with my ears. I don't think my ears are COMPLETELY uninvolved, they seem to help me tell what direction things are coming from, but I could still hear signals without them, pretty sure."

Released their ears and brushed their fur back into order. "I probably look better with them on, regardless."

"I suppose earplugs don't exactly have the desired effect."

His more threatening aura faded some as the other seemed to peel back from their pseudo-threats, gaze returning to a slightly duller expression at the apparent wasted potential. He supposed all newer Sinners were that way. It was nicer to target those who knew what they were capable of, not freshly fallen meat still finding their legs.

But still. It was not out of the question.

"Have you tried cutting them off?"

The grin that split his face then was obviously a tease. He did not truly mean it.

...Maybe. Unless cutting them off would yield any actual results. Who knew!!!

[qt-579]

"I guess my talent isn't bluffing." Admitted with a sheepish shrug.

They leaned back under his gaze, chewing their lip. "Fuck, I don't know. I've barely had a minute to think since I've gotten here." Gaining status was the least of their worries. Just getting any sort of anywhere would be nice.

But if they thought optimistically, then well, yeah. Would be nice. "I'd have to get my hearing under control before I can do much of anything. If I can do that, then who knows, I guess."

"If your hope is to endear yourself to me to prevent a subsequent flogging, you are doing a poor job, I think."

Just a little observation. Alastor dealt enough with Vox's efforts to disparage him on a regular basis - he did not need the other to receive any sideline help.

"I am sure your talents are best put to use elsewhere to further bolster your status instead of lowering-" or attempting to, "the status of others."

But his gaze fixed itself on their fuzzy face, the unwavering stare looking to pierce that outer shell of snark and humor that they seemed to be hiding behind.

"Or do you not see that potential in yourself?"

[qt-579]

"...Is that funny? You know that song, right? I hear it from the store radio sometimes." They frowned, staring down at the milkshake. "...Is it a metaphor? or a pun? Or should I not ask?"

Wouldn't be the first time they'd stumbled onto something like that, oops. They could let it go. Big SIPS time- then stopped when it hurt?? But wait, no, they've heard of this phenomenon. "Oh! Brain freeze is real! I don't like that."

"Eh, I feel that." They could be fun when it was just a mess around with friends kind of game, but primary and high school had soured the enjoyment of sports for Miles.

He would be taking a sip of his own milkshake as QT spoke, only to choke on it, laughing between coughs and splutters as he wiped at his mouth and chin. "Hah... Y-yeah, they absolutely attract boys with a sweet tooth..."

[qt-579]

QT's ears flattened, and they rubbed their hands together for a moment before forcing them to relax at their sides. Sheathed their claws too. They'd come out briefly. "...It's been a few days since I died."

Next question was almost drowned out by other broadcast conversation they were hearing. Their ears were flicking and they turned to look away for just a moment, pinpointing one of the sounds to a demon nearby watching tiktoks or something with earbuds in. Really need to learn to drown that out- right, fuck. "Sorry- sent me? No, no." They waved both hands in front of them. "I don't know shit about fuck, or hell about anyone. I saw an opportunity, I seized it, I fucked it up immediately. Can't all be winners, right? Hahahah...So....no harm no foul? Since he'll respawn?"

Heh-heh. He chuckled all low, seductive, and somewhat dangerous.

"You new, gatito? Or misplaced?" He'd start there in deciding what to do with them. "Someone send you? Be honest, hunny." Hard to say if his smirk was a good thing. "Or I can't help you."