inbox

[reshapes]

action + written + crystal

Comments

[reshapes]

[He counts off on his fingers:]

Tell someone you do trust about it so they can help you beat them to the punch by doing whatever it is you want to do with these people in Tevinter before Riftwatch gets to it. Skulk around and get blackmail on the division heads. Trade what you know about something else to get them to reconsider whatever it is they're considering. Drop a brick on each of them from very high up. Cut your hand off.

[rathercommon]

I'm not -

[ Okay, those are all options. But they're all terrible ones. ]

I'm not killing anyone. Or cutting my hand off. I doubt that'd even work.

[reshapes]

My point is, you need to find yourself a bit of leverage.

[rathercommon]

[ She shakes her head. ]

Yseult's some sort of - I think she's actually a professional spy. Flint's a pirate, there's no embarrassing him. And Thranduil - Thranduil's already on my side.

[reshapes]

Now we're getting somewhere. Are either of them on Thranduil's side?

[rathercommon]

Meaning...What? Do they like him?

[reshapes]

A gross simplification of the power dynamic, but yes. [An eye roll.] Do they like him?

[rathercommon]

I guess.

[ A little shrug. ]

Everyone likes Thranduil.

[ Kitty's good at lots of things. The subtleties of interpersonal politics is not one of those things. ]

[reshapes]

That's a start. Then the next step, seeing as you're too squeamish to deal with either of them directly, is find out what Thranduil has in common with both of them.

[rathercommon]

What, so he can try to convince them?

[reshapes]

You said he was on your side, didn't you? May as well see him properly armed if it's going to be two against one.

[rathercommon]

They don't trust me at all. They'd never let me get close enough to find out what they eat for lunch, never mind what they respect and value.

[ Of course...someone unknown to them might be able to get close. Unbidden, her eyes slide over to Bartimaeus -

And then she shakes her head and looks away again. ]

[reshapes]

[It's a good thing he enjoys the sound of his own voice so much so as not to notice that so he can merrily continue on his way deepening this hole he's digging.]

And you're going to let a little thing like that stop you? Honestly Kitty, what kind of secret rebel operative were you? The lying down kind? It's as if you've never learned how to snoop properly. If you can't do it, then find someone else who can. Half of those scoundrels on Riftwatch's roster list probably want the same kind of dirt on the Division Heads that you do.

[rathercommon]

[ A bit quietly: ]

I don't trust any of them.

[reshapes]

[Here, a pause as they make their way through a particularly cramped turn in Kirkwall's maze of back alleys. He looks at her askance.]

What - none of them?

[rathercommon]

I mean -

[ Maybe that's a little harsh. Lexie - Lexie's on her side. But Gwen...Gwen had immediately rushed to defend Flint. Hadn't even heard Kitty's side, not really. And she'd counted on her. She'd really counted on her, really trusted her. So honestly...Honestly, is Lexie even to be trusted, or is she just subtler about it? Quietly planning something else? Or - Or - And what about Nikos? Nikos is liberty-minded, too, but she'd thought that about Flint, and he'd...

She stops dead in her tracks and slumps backwards against a wall. She knows it's dramatic, and that she's being dramatic, but she feels like she just can't take it, that she needs to scream. ]

I don't know. I don't know. It feels like - like everyone's got an agenda, or secrets, and I thought I understood the people here but I guess I don't at all, and I just feel so stupid, Bartimaeus, and I just don't know. There are people who I really thought would help me but they're not, they're siding against me, and I don't know who I can count on except for -

[ Except for you. But that's so stupid, isn't it? ]

I don't know.

[reshapes]

[She stops and he draws up short in response, standing there half turned as if caught between the natural desire to keep moving and expect her to buck up and do the same and-- well whatever the opposite of that is, without the impulse to comfort. Yes, yes. It's all very sad.

But also, it's a little novel isn't it? Not the part where she's miserable - let's be honest, humans have an incredible capacity for it -, but the part where they're... well, where they're having a nice conversation about something that doesn't have anything to do with magicians or spirits or what he does or doesn't owe her. Hard for her, maybe, but that's not really his problem now is it?

Poor kid.

The boy shifts all the way back around to face her properly. He stands there in the narrow of the crooked alley and regards her with hands on hips. After a moment in which he allows her to wallow, Bartimaeus says:]

I hate to break it to you, but it sounds like you might have a few agendas and secrets of your own.

[rathercommon]

Yeah, but -

[ She wipes the back of her hand across her nose. ]

I wouldn't betray someone for them.

[ Clearly, the avowed traitor has a fairly narrow and exclusionary definition of what constitutes betrayal. ]

[reshapes]

[Which probably explains the skeptical look writ large on the boy's face. Nevermind though. Here, he's turning back and making a gesture for her to follow. He has no interest in sulking in this ally. It smells and there are better places to do it.]

Honestly, I don't know why you're surprised. Wars are a nasty business.

[rathercommon]

[ She follows. Her voice is weary. ]

Yeah, I know. And it's all happened before. Honestly, sometimes I almost understand why you are the way you are.

[reshapes]

Me? I assure you, Kitty, I've always been this charming and clever. Fighting wars has had nothing to do with it.

[But let's not go down this path where they start talking about him again. Don't get him wrong, the initial ego boost is delightful - he's just seen where this ends and would rather avoid it, thank you.]

Like it or not, you can't do this on your own. And frankly, it's a bit egotistical to moan on about it. Maybe if what you wanted was something reasonable like a nice hot fish pie, or to be a hermit in the woods but your agenda [It's a good word.] seems to be rather more far reaching than either of those. And honestly, even the fish pie gets dicey - who's catching that fish, eh? Stroppy London lass like you probably doesn't know the first thing about a hook and line.

[rathercommon]

People fish in London.

[ Sort of. Desperate people fish in London. She'd never eat a fish out of the Thames. She's not even sure if there are fish left in the Thames.

Anyway, that's not the point - ]

And no one else sees my agenda as being that - important. Everyone's just focused on fighting Corypheus and beating him.

[reshapes]

[He laughs. It's a sharp noise, followed by an abrupt pause. And then he keeps laughing. Cackling? Hard to say.]

What?

[rathercommon]

[ Why is he laughing? ]

What.

[reshapes]

[He's wiping tears from his eyes. They don't come naturally, so please appreciate the effort required to both will them into being and brush them away.]

Have you heard anything they talk about? Those people couldn't agree on the color of the sky, much less what they're focused on.