A Day In The Fated Future
Location - Unknown
(Dazai Crowley's POV)
"You know, you sure have been asking me a lot of strange questions, Dazai. What's up with that?" Glancing at me with a tilted head and a finger upon her fair chin, Blair asked me that out of curiosity.
But for some odd reason, when she asked that question, a mysterious sense of fear washed over me, leaving me extremely tense.
Why? I'm not too sure, but due to my reaction being so random yet surprising, I couldn't help but do a double take and observe her closely.
As I was making sure to pay close attention to the subtle details and process the meaning of her words, I couldn't help but feel that there was a "hidden message" encrypted inside her question.
From the looks of it, her tone and facial expressions seemed rather natural and genuine. Nothing about Blair didn't seem off, and yet in the face of those words, I felt so transparent.
The best I could describe this "fear" was something along the lines of being similar to a thief on the verge of being caught, or a politician's realization when their corrupt secrets risked publicity.
Realizing that something was amiss, I tried finding the source of my unease, by glancing back at Blair for a third time. And that was when I realized it.
The cause of my fears was her eyes.
And when I understood that, I realized that Blair was starting to show me what else she was capable of.
From a naked eye perspective, they were still the same cosmic shade of purple as before, nor did I detect any magic emanating from her. Meaning whatever this was, it wasn't some spell causing this.
But if I looked closely, I sensed a "shadow" looming over her. Although well concealed behind her cheerfulness, this shadow was no doubt the embodiment of her perceptiveness.
She was starting to see right through me.
Being aware of my efforts to pry her for information, she asked me a simple quite dangerous question.
Understanding that, I finally realized the meaning of the encrypted message that I noticed before.
A message that said; "I'm on to you."
Now that I look back on it now, I couldn't help but chuckle internally.
Blair prepared herself for two different scenarios.
The first scenario would involve what any normal person would probably do in this situation; Simply trying to hold a conversation and genuinely get to know more about her.
The second and the (probably) more realistic scenario; Playing the fool to pry information with ill intentions in mind.
Hoping to cover her bases, she concocted a quite effective plan using only three ingredients to "shut me down" and expose the type of person I was. In a mere matter of seconds, no less.
The first element she used was the timing of when she purposely interrupted my question with one of her own. This was a way to not only cut me off but strike with something else that would rattle a likely reaction out of me. A reaction that would expose my moment of weakness and reveal what I was after.
Element number two would be the subtle glare in her eyes. Believe it or not, Blair did a poor job in hiding her perceptive gaze, but what if I told you the sloppiness was actually an intentional calculation?
If I fell under scenario number two, then I would be more receptive to more subtle signals and hostile signs such as that message, to which I just did.
If I had picked up on that while making any careless mistakes, I would have revealed my character to her.
And since my whole plan on revealing her true colors relies on hiding who I am myself, this alone would have spelled checkmate for me.
The last and third element was more so a necessary failsafe for the possibility if I indeed fell under scenario number one. Her "genuine" smile and inquisitive gestures was merely a simple way to build a friendly impression that would dress her words as a natural question to ask.
For a plan concocted out of nowhere, I couldn't help but be surprised by how thoroughly developed it was.
In any case, to put things simply, basically what Blair did was reverse the flow and force me into the spotlight. And if I wasn't aware of those actions, she would have exploited my efforts and exposed me for who I am.
In reality, it was a simple, almost hard to notice, counter, but it would have proved lethal if I had made one wrong move. It was a way to snatch your opponent's advantage and force it in your favor.
A cunning tactic, to say the least.
But unfortunately for you, Blair….
Two can play at that game…..
"Do you think I'm a suspicious person, Blair?"
"Huh? What? Uh. Hmm. Not exactly, no. It's just that, up until a moment ago, you didn't seem interested in talking. So for you to suddenly want to know alot about me, I can't help but feel weird."
"That's understandable. I'll admit. I did indeed feel very distant talking with you at first. But it's like you said earlier, it's really just the two of us in this lonesome….wherever the hell we are."
"So I decided to ask a thing or two here and there and see where it would take us. Besides, who wouldn't want to get to know the woman who proclaims to be your wife?"
"Oh? Does that mean you see me as one?~" She asked with a playful smug-like smile.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, woman…."
"Jeez, you're no fun~ Heh~...."
I could tell Blair was conflicted whether or not she should chuckle or sigh out of disappointment, but seemed like she chose the former and snickered.
In any case, in an attempt to hold true to my words, I sat on the bed a few feet next to her, showing that I was atleast becoming "comfortable" around her.
Although, surprised to see me randomly do this, Blair held no complaints and smiled cheerfully.
However, even in a do or die situation where I must reclaim my lost advantage, there's only so much personal space I can give away without feeling completely out of place, as seen in my gestures.
I kept my head down to avoid eye contact, twiddled with my thumbs, all the while thinking of the next move I need to make.
One thing was made clear to me though.
Bending the truth of my actions to a relative degree gives me more room to speak honestly and use more natural expressions and gestures.
This was a fact that I planned to exploit.
And if everything goes according to plan, then the move I'm about to make is going to take me on a one way trip into Blair's good graces.
I have to execute this flawlessly.
So as I sat here with closed eyes and a steady breath, I pushed my brain to the limits, trying to recall as many fragments of the past related to "her".
Even if I can't gather much, I just need enough material to build a plausible story.
That's right. That's all I need. I can make do with the rest. Did I get it? Good.
Let's go, Dazai. Make your move.