Sterling's Links
“Ariel is really...um, she’s pretty great. We’re similar in that we don’t really like attention or conflict, but she won’t hesitate to raise hell if it’s for the sake of someone she cares for. That’s amazing. Being the leader at the top of everything... I can’t really imagine doing it myself. So I’ll do whatever I can to support her. To me, she’s, uh, important... ahhh, what am I saying?! I’m just going to get back to work now...”
"Sterling's a man with a plan! And a backup plan for that plan! A master of underwater blindfolded 10D chess! He feels like the one bastion of sanity in this insane ocean storm of chaos and drama, sometimes... and he doesn't realize what a great catch he is! Well, it's more for me, so it's not like I should complain."
“But the last person who relied solely on your ‘household management’ was defeated and killed. By us.”
...
“Ah. It looks like I’ve offended him again, so I’ll have to handle my own dinner for the next few days. While he’s a pain sometimes, he’s incredibly reliable. I'm glad he's on our side."
“He is the head of milord’s household, as well as every operation with her name on it. This one cannot find any fault in his work, but as someone with experience in running a household smoothly for centuries, would I not be better suited for the position? As a fellow servant, this one shall not speak further, but he wears his heart on his sleeve for somebody who accuses others of ulterior motives.”
"Apparently Russet is considered intimidating and hard to read, so I've heard. She's one of the most expressive and open people I've ever met so it's befuddling. People are thick like that, though. There's nobody else I'd prefer as a partner."
Russet dismissed Sterling at first, but now she views him as someone so close to her he may as well be an extension of herself. She likes how easily he reads her and never misunderstands her. Apart from her grandmother, he’s one of the only few who can get past her walls and reduce her to a fully affectionate, kitten-like state.
“He’s got an irreplaceable skill set and the stuff he makes terrifies me in terms of how different they are in temperament from the creator. And he’ll get moody and weird for a month after designing some sort of crazy self-driving car. He doesn’t make any sense at all, but I’m glad he’s on our side. Though I wish he'd get my name right... is it a power dynamic thing?"
"Steven's got a good heart and quite the mind for analysis. I do think he'd make an excellent student if he ever decided to stray from the path of organized crime."
"We rarely deal with each other, as our Leader Dearest is the one who corresponds with him directly. Which is a relief, because I don't think I'd have the emotional energy to see past all the doublespeak and smirking to get work done."
"With no offense to Ariel, anyone paying attention can see that the young sir right here is the true mastermind behind his faction's success. And he's something of a catch himself, if he would deign to leave the dungeon of his office sometimes.”
"Patrizio... does he know how much stress he adds onto my day? Does he ever think about that before causing an international incident or unleashing some centuries-old curse or making a stupid bet with a deity... actually, is it okay to call someone like this an ally? I feel a tension headache coming on just thinking about it. Is he trying to say he wants to spend more time as a group together? Dinner, a movie, hiking... there's so many other better, harmless activities we could do. Maybe I should just start preemptively sending Ariel over to save myself grief. Or Minato."
Hahahaha, my apologies, I was just remembering the last mess Sterling had to clean up for me. Did you know cursed video tapes are a thing now? Really, I was quite surprised, I can hardly understand this "video" technology, but to think curses had advanced enough to affect them as well. Needless to say, it put a rather big damper on our movie night. Ah, and the time before that, when we went on a camping trip, and the site happened to be next to the shrine of a long-deceased god, who's rage from humans forgetting him started to affect the lay of the land. Oh now that I think about, before even that when I took everyone out to eat, and the sushi place was /actually/ housing a rather massive smuggling op that was exporting Mermaid flesh, and the order was mixed up so we ended up eating it. Except the smugglers were being scammed, and it was /actually/ sea hag flesh, and so we all got violently sick for the next week. Ahahaha, rather fun times, those. Honestly, where would we be without our beloved Sterling? We'd surely be hopelessly lost in this storm we call life. Though, it does make me wonder, just why did all those things happen when all I wanted was to share some joy with my comrades?
“He’s a daunting guy who makes lively conversation with thin air. He accuses people of doing incredibly heinous things... seriously, what’s with that, I’ve never even... I shouldn’t let myself get flustered, though. Isn’t that all just projection, really? Like, what he’d do if he was in my position... wait, that means that HE’D... oh, boy. Patrizio’s strangely tight-lipped about him too, unlike when we were against Kurosaki. And, the genuine love the folks here have for him, it’s all a bunch of puzzle pieces that don’t even look like they’re in the same set. I have a rough idea of what we can do but it’s a flimsy plan at best without more information. For now... let’s keep him from being alone with Ariel.”
Yo, it's the lady-killer himself. You think he always kills on the first date? --- Killing on the first date!? That's so lewd! That's at least a third date thing! He didn't even bother holding her hand or whispering their eternal hatred for each other! Make sure not to follow this floozy's example, Kai! --- Right? Talk about a perverted first impression. You think he's planning on killing his boss too? It'd only be to his benefit, really. Practically already running the place. Is the sex really that good that'd he just follow her so willingly? Or is he just a total masochist? So boring. Well, whatever. I heard he's good at underwater blindfolded 10D chess, so I wanted to try that out. See which one of us is the better planner, or at least better at holding their breath. Either that or have a cook off. Actually, you think we could do both? --- Denied! I warned you about stacking that many lies before! We don't want another repeat of what you did back in 1999! --- I thought we promised not to talk about why they call me the Giraffe Grafter. Anyway, it'll be fine~. Like you said, it’s not the first time we stacked up that many lies. We can just cook up some passing by fish while blindfolded underwater and playing chess in the tenth dimension. It'll be funny, trust me.