[ It's shortly after breakfast when she wanders the grounds. It's been a while since she visited Japan, at least by way of extended leave from her duties at Falner. When the word had gotten out that someone had challenged Aria's position among the Searing Wind, she'd been prepared to tell Cen that whatever the outcome, she was prepared to put everything else on hold. Aria is her blade mate, her sister in more ways than simply that they are both sworn wolfhearts of Zangyaku.
She meanders down toward the pond that a bunch of people tend to overlook, sits down by the edge of it and trails her fingers over the surface of the water. ] Haven't seen you in a while. I should have thought to bring you something.
[ She'd spent the early hours of the previous day smoking up some Big Balete with Deirdra and commiserating with the Riskbreaker over their shared frustration over Aria and her stubbornness and her god-awful pride. It had helped, some. Not so much in others because getting the frustration out of the way left more room for her to feel scared.
Aria had lost -- and none too gracefully at that.
She bows her head and presses the back of her hand under her nose, sniffs and lets out a heavy sigh. ]
[Crouching down beside her now, and - after a quick mental hello to the spirit in the pond, along with a wordless offering of mana - pulling out his cigarette case.
He could check for himself, but Cisco is a blade mate, and his friend. He DOES try to respect personal boundaries.]
Do you really need to ask? [ Her smile falters when she sees him pulling out his cigarette case. Guess another conversation is due, and she acknowledges that she probably needs it.
Cisco slips out her own case and the lighter tucked inside, the small tin she keeps with her at all times following shortly. ]
[Smiling a little more at that, then taking another drag.]
There is a point in the poem where Lucifer is realizing exactly what he's gotten himself into: that he was hurt, he was angry, and he played right into the Creator's hands. That no matter what he did, he was going to lose. He wasn't going to get what he wanted.
No. He stayed and bled out every last second of his intent, his will to be different, his will to play this through to the end. He stayed, knowing full well that he would fail. He stayed in the hopes that he would, through some fashion or the other, make a mark, be remembered even in failure.
[And watching the pond now, with the Great Koi moving just beneath its surface.]
She bows her head. Yeah... yeah, she can see that. ]
It's just... [ taking one, long drag from that stick now; breathing out, looking back up at Eli with her lips pressed together before she whispers: ] When Sakura asked if anyone would speak up for her... I just couldn't.
[ And perhaps, when Malia Saab -- a woman she barely knew, and one that she skirted on principle -- did, there was a tiny, guilty part of her that felt relieved. ]
I wanted her to step down. [ Her voice is quiet; and young in a way she isn't anymore. ] I also couldn't do it in good conscience. Not after...
[ She looks askance. You're everywhere, Gio -- yes, Gio. You'd know that Hikaru came to her house, just as she has a feeling that you'd likely know how things have gone down with Aria and the Blade King. ]
[Yes, he saw all of that. It isn't too hard, catching things even if one happens to NOT be at the actual place or in the area when something big happens. It helps, as well, having the Key for one's wife.]
Then you could not do it. None of us could, even if some of us wanted to.
['Some of us'. An odd turn of the phrase, or deliberate?]
[ With you, Gio Malaahas? Most things tend to be deliberate. You've always been ready to make the call -- even the ones that hurt the most. Perhaps, especially the ones that hurt the most.
Reaching out now, to catch your hand briefly and offer a gentle squeeze before she lets hers fall away.
It's more for her than you, really. But she's always been a readily tactile creature. ]
David tried. [ She's not going to press just yet. ] But that's David.
[ A soft sigh, as she taps out the ash from her stick. ]
[ She's stepping out of the Mastigos Hallow after thanking Lia again, taking in a deep breath and regulating her exhale. She may be better now, but Dreamwalking is still Dreamwalking. She checks the time and decides she could use a snack before heading home.
Walking off now to the Great Hall, humming along to the song she's playing on her Vice Pod™.
When she reaches the Great Hall, she scans the snack bar first. Ooh, yogurt. She takes one packet, spots Eli working on one of the tables, and gets an extra packet.
She hovers behind him first, kind of checking out what he's working on, totally forgetting that Eli could probably spot every insect in the Great Hall. Even while immersed in work. ]
[ Already opened the packet, and scoops a small amount in her mouth. ]
Not really. Okay well, not at all. I just wanted to say thanks again for helping out Brig with my treehouse.
[ She's toying with the ripped foil. ]
I guess it still surprises me how people would go out of their way to do small things like that for others, given how time-consuming Hunter business can be.
[Pausing in his own act of popping the yogurt open and eating it. Smiling a little more now.]
It's what Keepers of the Vigil are supposed to do: help each other out. Besides, you matter a lot to my wife, and you're taking care of my guns. It was the least that I could do.
For a community so immersed in vicious things all the time, you still do things for each other. And besides given how complicated things can get, I don't know. It's quite surprising to see everyone get along pretty well.
ANYWAY. I was hoping I can thank An'yu too for dropping in and helping.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Waking the Dead 2.0 : More Blade Feels | 15 Tuesday?
She meanders down toward the pond that a bunch of people tend to overlook, sits down by the edge of it and trails her fingers over the surface of the water. ] Haven't seen you in a while. I should have thought to bring you something.
[ She'd spent the early hours of the previous day smoking up some Big Balete with Deirdra and commiserating with the Riskbreaker over their shared frustration over Aria and her stubbornness and her god-awful pride. It had helped, some. Not so much in others because getting the frustration out of the way left more room for her to feel scared.
Aria had lost -- and none too gracefully at that.
She bows her head and presses the back of her hand under her nose, sniffs and lets out a heavy sigh. ]
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-- and then belatedly noticing that sigh. Doubling back now.]
Good morning, Cisco.
[In moments like this, with the neutral expression and the near deadpan voice, Elias really DOES look like a Filipino version of Aidan Clayce.]
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Careful, [ she says teasingly, ] that perfectly placed mask of yours may be in place, but you're starting to move like Aidan.
[ She says it with much affection. With both her parents gone to their final rest, the Voidseeker is the closest person she can look to like a parent.
Which he probably knows, even if she's never said it out loud. ]
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I don't really understand the comparison. I'm nothing like him.
[He's got a long, long, LONG way to go before he can earn a comparison like that. Aidan is a force all unto himself, and a man he deeply respects.]
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When she smiles up at him, her shoulders relax. ]
I'm fine, Eli. Just thinking.
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[Crouching down beside her now, and - after a quick mental hello to the spirit in the pond, along with a wordless offering of mana - pulling out his cigarette case.
He could check for himself, but Cisco is a blade mate, and his friend. He DOES try to respect personal boundaries.]
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Cisco slips out her own case and the lighter tucked inside, the small tin she keeps with her at all times following shortly. ]
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It's always better to hear it from the source, in her own words.
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I sat down with Deirdra about... [ she trails off, hangs her head and tries again. ]
I can still smell the way that forest burned in the ring.
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A light lift of his eyebrows is the only thing that betrays him.]
You wouldn't be the only one.
[There is no need for him to say anything more just yet.]
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She smokes through her stick in silence. And then kills it with a shaky hand. ]
She should have stepped down. She should have just backed off when Tohru walked in through that goddamn door. Why the hell didn't she step down, Gio?
[ Wincing, as she catches herself. Eli. He is Elias now. ]
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Have you read Paradise Lost before?
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That's about the extent of what I know. [ A quiet smile. ] I should probably fix that, now that we have time. More or less.
But go on.
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There is a point in the poem where Lucifer is realizing exactly what he's gotten himself into: that he was hurt, he was angry, and he played right into the Creator's hands. That no matter what he did, he was going to lose. He wasn't going to get what he wanted.
[Looking up at her now.]
What do you think he did next?
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He left?
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[And watching the pond now, with the Great Koi moving just beneath its surface.]
It was the only thing that he had left.
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Are we still talking about Aria? Or have we gone onto Hikaru now?
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While this analogy occasionally refers to my brother, I think it's closer to Aria at the moment.
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She bows her head. Yeah... yeah, she can see that. ]
It's just... [ taking one, long drag from that stick now; breathing out, looking back up at Eli with her lips pressed together before she whispers: ] When Sakura asked if anyone would speak up for her... I just couldn't.
[ And perhaps, when Malia Saab -- a woman she barely knew, and one that she skirted on principle -- did, there was a tiny, guilty part of her that felt relieved. ]
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[Or do you want to know why he thinks you didn't, because you probably have the same reasons as he does, if you actually can't put it into words.]
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It just hurts to think on it. ]
I wanted her to step down. [ Her voice is quiet; and young in a way she isn't anymore. ] I also couldn't do it in good conscience. Not after...
[ She looks askance. You're everywhere, Gio -- yes, Gio. You'd know that Hikaru came to her house, just as she has a feeling that you'd likely know how things have gone down with Aria and the Blade King. ]
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[Yes, he saw all of that. It isn't too hard, catching things even if one happens to NOT be at the actual place or in the area when something big happens. It helps, as well, having the Key for one's wife.]
Then you could not do it. None of us could, even if some of us wanted to.
['Some of us'. An odd turn of the phrase, or deliberate?]
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Reaching out now, to catch your hand briefly and offer a gentle squeeze before she lets hers fall away.
It's more for her than you, really. But she's always been a readily tactile creature. ]
David tried. [ She's not going to press just yet. ] But that's David.
[ A soft sigh, as she taps out the ash from her stick. ]
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[He knows that YOU know what he's really referring to here.]
Still. Even he backed down eventually.
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Walking off now to the Great Hall, humming along to the song she's playing on her Vice Pod™.
When she reaches the Great Hall, she scans the snack bar first. Ooh, yogurt. She takes one packet, spots Eli working on one of the tables, and gets an extra packet.
She hovers behind him first, kind of checking out what he's working on, totally forgetting that Eli could probably spot every insect in the Great Hall. Even while immersed in work. ]
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Finishing one last sentence in the report that he was poring over, and then turning.]
Good evening, Brianna.
[Okay so maybe he is trying to be sociable and nicer to her. Tala had scolded him for the last time, back in the onsen.]
You just finished your training session with Inquisitor Delacroix, I'm assuming.
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She hands out one packet of yogurt to Eli before sitting down next to him. ]
You bet! And good evening. Yogurt? Not here to bug you. [ LIES. ] This'll be really quick, I promise!
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[Taking it with a small nod, and indulgently putting the tablet away (read: it's vanishing into thin air.]
Did you need something?
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Not really. Okay well, not at all. I just wanted to say thanks again for helping out Brig with my treehouse.
[ She's toying with the ripped foil. ]
I guess it still surprises me how people would go out of their way to do small things like that for others, given how time-consuming Hunter business can be.
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It's what Keepers of the Vigil are supposed to do: help each other out. Besides, you matter a lot to my wife, and you're taking care of my guns. It was the least that I could do.
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I just never thought people here could be so nice, yknow? It's not like you have to.
[ She shrugs. ]
Maybe it just surprised me, all this kindness.
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What is surprising about it?
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For a community so immersed in vicious things all the time, you still do things for each other. And besides given how complicated things can get, I don't know. It's quite surprising to see everyone get along pretty well.
ANYWAY. I was hoping I can thank An'yu too for dropping in and helping.
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[Already bringing his phone out.]
I don't think he'll mind.
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That would be perf!
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[Holding his phone out now.]
You might as well get my number too, unless you already have it.
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Wait, you're sure he won't mind?
[ Not like that's gonna stop her anyway, heee. ]
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[And well, he didn't really have a choice now, did he?]
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Thanks again sir Eli, and good luck on.. that!
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[Nodding once, before he's going for... the yogurt.]
And thanks for this too.
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No problem. Anything to make things easier for you!
[ Cause... Yeah she didn't have to pay for it, plus it was just there. She's just a sweet girl.
Also she needed An'yu's number, but pfft that's just one reason. ]