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[rathercommon]

crystal | letter | cease and desist notices slipped under her door | action

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[rathercommon]

Yeah. That I do know.

[elegiaque]

This is why I thought it'd be worth discussing with you.

( not arguing. discussing. she's just—

she's really bad at not arguing. )

But the thing about the stories people construct, on purpose or just...naturally...what you get from those is how people think. You can learn the shape of them from the shape of the things they build. I mean, it isn't fool-proof. And it isn't the only thing, it's just one thing.

( that she's good at it, that she understands, that she can contextualize in a way that makes sense to her and knows how to practically apply when she has the patience and the resources. it's why she writes everything down—

to step back, and look what the shape of it makes. she is, in her peculiar ways, unexpectedly methodical. )

[rathercommon]

[ A little shrug. It does make sense. It's just...not something she's ever been especially good at. She thinks. Honestly, everyone around her, all her life, has been really just like her - for the most part - some of them Czechs, some of them Irish, some of them English, some of them from central London instead of out in Balham, some of them older and some of them younger and some of them political like her and some of them indifferent - but everyone's story was the same. Or at least one of two variants. The magicians are rotten and we'll put up with it or the magicians are rotten and we won't put up with it. Sometimes, other sorts would come through, tourists and country folk, but she'd filch their things - she wouldn't sit down and learn their stories.

Honestly, the first one who was different, really different, was Bartimaeus. And she'd come away from her conversation with him with her head spinning. So, thinking of him - ]

Guess it helps you change, too.

[shri]

[ A wound that she must take care of, like any wound. The soul can never be cut, struck at, the soul can never be harmed.

She believed wholeheartedly that, once, but life taught her otherwise. How many times the soul could be wounded, cut apart, strewn into pieces. It had been her father that taught her how to deal with such pains, it had been the love and care of others that showed her how to mend such tears. ]

Of course, Kitty. [ Tentatively, she leans in and presses a firm, affectionate kiss, to the top of Kitty's brow. Warm and sure. ] I will be here for you, no matter what else comes.

[rathercommon]

[ Kitty makes a little noise in response to that kiss - a quiet, uncertain little grunt - but she doesn't pull away, and she certainly doesn't rebuff the gesture. She does rub at the spot when Lakshmi finishes, wrinkling her nose very slightly. It's not exactly the most effective set of reactions for a girl who wants to be taken seriously. ]

Anyway. Good. So, then - you agree. If you're in danger, I've got the right to help you.

[shri]

[ Her eyebrow lifts, if not exactly for the petulance over affection honestly given.

Then certainly for how the twist turns on those words. ]

Is that so?

[rathercommon]

[ A short shrug of confirmation. ]

You agreed that we're comrades. That's not a one-way relationship. They help each other. So unless you're saying you won't step in to help save my life...

[ She lifts her eyebrows pointedly, fully expecting an immediate - and strong - denial of that. ]

[shri]

[ Lakshmi hums. Because of course, there are a half dozen reasons why she would not dare let Kitty put herself in harm's way if it came to it. ]

Well, if that's the case. Then you are to start training with me, immediately. [ A pause, thinking. About the state of this room, and the way Kitty otherwise lived. ] And come to dinner once a week.

[rathercommon]

[ Training she gets. But - ]

Why dinner?

[shri]

I've seen how you eat.

[ This is the face of a mother judging you, Kitty. Unacceptable, it is utterly unacceptable. ] A healthy meal will not poison you, you know.

[rathercommon]

[ w h a t ]

All right, first of all, there's nothing wrong with how I eat.

[shri]

[ Stares unblinkingly straight into her soul. ]

When was the last time you ate vegetables, Kitty?

[rathercommon]

[ came out to have a good time but feeling so attacked right now ]

Potatoes are a vegetable. Besides, how am I to know? It's not like I'm keeping some - loving journal of everything I've ever eaten.

[shri]

[ One.

Goddamn.

Eyebrow raise. ]

[rathercommon]

[ And Kitty widens her eyes in an unmistakable gesture - one that's half-sassy, half-fight me. ]

[shri]

[ Oh she is going to kick your ass training, Kitty. Then we'll see about fight me. ]

Potatoes do not count, ask Ireland. [ Carrying on - ] You are coming to dinner and you will be eating what I put in front of you if you ever expect to keep up with me and don't want to be half tired all the time.

[rathercommon]

[ She purses her lips. ]

And what do I get for it?

[shri]

[ And it - means more than just nagging her. It always did. There were no guns, here, nothing she can use that it didn't matter. ]

Being able to kick a man in the throat before he's even finished striking.

[rathercommon]

[ Kitty waves her hand dismissively. ]

What do I get from you. You're making rather a lot of demands of me. What do I get?

[shri]

[ She shakes her head - wonders if it's even a fair trade for the only peace of mind Lakshmi can have when Kitty firmly insists. ]

You could not fight that beast in the fade. Not head on. The look on your face...

[ An unhappy fix in the corner of her mouth. Sobers with it, and the truth there. ] I cannot always be there Kitty, nor will anyone else. One day, there will be demons like that creature, but it is my hope, that at that time, you will not need anyone else. With time, with study, you can fight such a thing. That is what you will have, one more ability to live on your own terms. Not mine or anyone else's, yours.

[katabasis]

It's fine detail, and tells him more or less what he needs - that, with the exception of her involvement in the Inquisition's interests to the North, it seems unlikely that anyone else is leveraging her attention just yet. And that particular combination--

He can think of worse circumstances.

A faint tip of the head and a speculative look across the cooling cup of tea punctuates, "How would you like another project?"

[rathercommon]

Oh. Her answer is cautious - "Depends on the project" - but it's impossible to fully hide her excitement at that question. It's a combination of curiosity and gratification, that someone would come to her with a project, that her skills have been noticed. And that it's someone who's as clever and thoughtful and politically-minded as Flint - She needs to remind herself to stay careful; she needs to remind herself that, just because she likes Flint and thinks he's clever doesn't mean that he's got her best interests at heart, and that flattery's an easy way to turn someone's head, even hers.

But even so. It's really nice.

"What are you thinking?"

[rathercommon]

I -

[ Kitty falters at that. Her lips tighten, and her gaze drops. She hadn't. She hadn't been able to. That's right.

But. ]

I don't - Things were different with him. With Honorius.

[shri]

It won't be. Next time. By all my power, it won't be. I never want to see you look like that, ever again.

[ It brooks no argument, directing forward. ] How did you meet such a being?

[rathercommon]

[ Kitty's gaze shifts again - not out of shame or shock or unhappiness this time, but from wariness. This - This is something she's not told anyone in full. She's not concealed it, either, not exactly; it's just that no one's really asked, because they've got bigger things to worry about and because they probably don't care and because, well, no one looks at Kitty and expects that she's a rebel and a traitor.

So it's not a secret, exactly. But, well, it's also not something...not secret. But Lakshmi's proven herself to have a good heart, so - ]

He was the guardian of the tomb of the Founder. William Gladstone. We were robbing it for magical artefacts to help us in our fight against the magicians.