[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. ]
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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.