i got no time for private consultation under the milky way tonight

[deadelfwalking]

Date & Time: Right now
Location: Chloe's cell
Characters: Chloe & Kolts
Summary: visiting his sister from another mister
Warnings: misery business


[Koltira hasn't seen much of Chloe since their last conversation. He's been keeping to the cells, of course, lingering and loitering no matter what anyone tells him, but he's also got a lot in his head right now. Aside from the ever-present agitation at all the living everyone's doing, that is. Bariyan's return. Ashraf's disastrous confession. And that idiot woman.

He leans against Chloe's door, rapping gently.]

Evening, Chloe.

Comments

[totallytrustworthy]

[Chloe's not walking the room as much lately. Without something solid to go by as a point of reference time is less relevant, more fluid. And for someone that prides herself on the ability to roam, it's starting to get painful. Digs down under her skin when she tries to sleep-- and she's been attempting it all too often. The lights aren't usually on anymore. They're not on now.]

Is it? [Despite how she asks (all habit) it's not really a joke.]

[deadelfwalking]

[He presses his forehead against the door; exhales frost.]

I suppose it's impossible to tell. But let's presume. Tell me: can I do anything for you?

[totallytrustworthy]

Sure, fetch me a hot tub and I'll set you up as my personal guard for the rest of this indefinite affair.

[She sits upright, moving closer to the door for the sake of catching the sound of his voice-- and snapping on the lights. ] Speaking of, how's Seviilia?

[deadelfwalking]

I'm not certain that a hot tub would fit in your cell. The guarding, however, I can do.

[he runs a hand over his face. he isn't tired--it's not physically possible--but he is weary.]

Seviilia is not faring well.

[totallytrustworthy]

That doesn't sound good...what are you planning on doing? [She doesn't say it, but 'kill her again' is definitely the obvious concern here. ]

[deadelfwalking]

... I don't know. I only know that she cannot be held like this for much longer. [he mutters, and there's a growling edge to his voice.] Nor can I.

[totallytrustworthy]

[One long, uneasy beat and then:] You ought to take her and run. I could talk to them-- the Initiative staff. They're sensible enough, they'd let you out if it got that bad.

[deadelfwalking]

I have thought of it, but -- no. We cannot. We risk making the situation worse. For all of you.

[totallytrustworthy]

Koltira you can't be serious. I'd rather you not get killed off over this if it can be stopped. [Chloe's about as close to the door as she can reasonably get, voice all sharp, tone more harsh than anything remotely persuasive.]

[deadelfwalking]

I will be fine. I am far more concerned about Seviilia. And--I am concerned for you, Chloe. Solitude is not your natural state.

[totallytrustworthy]

Please, this isn't my first time in. [Which isn't anything close to saying she's managing, but having something-- someone else-- to focus on has her feeling less desparate. Less like she's about to go under entirely the next time she mentally tries to gauge where the next hour starts and ends. ]

And I'm not the one currently fighting off Mr Hyde.

[deadelfwalking]

Fighting off -- who? I know no such man.

[Koltira has learned a lot of modern earth culture: cell phones, cars, flat-screen TVs. But English literature; not so much.]

[totallytrustworthy]

It's-- never mind. Not important. [You're lucky it wasn't Charlie making that reference: he'd tell you the entire story and then some. ] I just want to be sure you won't go off the deep end, darling. Because after all this I promise you they're not gonna have the patience to just lock you up.

Either of you.

[deadelfwalking]

If I harmed an innocent, I would take whatever punishment they saw fit to give me.

[totallytrustworthy]

It doesn't have to get that far if you'd both just go.

I don't see how it could possibly get any worse than what we've already got.

[deadelfwalking]

[dryly.] The people here are rather creative. I have heard talk of exile, of punishments via the virtual reality rooms ... all manner of things allegedly less brutal than outright execution.

[totallytrustworthy]

[The 'allegedly' sets off a small pang of anxiety low in her chest: she's not used to being uninformed, especially not stuck in the middle of things. Jesus Christ what she wouldn't give to have just the barest bit of control back in her hands.]

Wait, what?

[deadelfwalking]

I have been trying to collect ideas for some manner of code.

[totallytrustworthy]

Not what I'd expected to hear. I thought you Death Knights already had one of those.

[deadelfwalking]

We do. The others disliked it, by and large.

[totallytrustworthy]

[It's not a laugh that she huffs out, but given the circumstances it's the closest she can manage to one. Christ, Koltira.] Well it's true that the rest of us would never survive on your code for long.

Why on earth were you proposing anything in the first place?

[deadelfwalking]

It wasn't exactly a proposal. I simply presented my viewpoint and then noted the reactions.

[totallytrustworthy]

[Wryly:] Were you trying to help us?