[ She realizes how much she's given away. She tenses immediately; her face goes closed-off and wary and hard. Her eyes search Coupe's face, as though she can tell whether or not Coupe is trustworthy from her face alone, as though that isn't a completely absurd proposition. As though you can know someone from anything except their deeds. As though she can tell.
But. But Coupe has said the right things, at least. She's offered sympathy, and she's offered help - she's offered to educate Kitty, when it's in the best interests of tyrants to keep people ignorant...Offered her a book, didn't try to indoctrinate her or change her mind. And she has that brand. Would someone wicked have something like that? In Kitty's experience, the wicked were the people who'd never felt the oppression of power - who'd only ever exercised power over others. So.
After a long, wary moment, Kitty shakes her head no. Then, after another shorter pause, she says: ]
There is strength in caution, [ Many questions, few answers. An introduction by way of willingness to be of use. ] But you cannot be all things, to all people. Not forever.
[ Kitty hesitates another moment. I don't think that's a good idea. She alone had survived, out of the whole of the Resistance. Well - her and Nick the coward. But only them two. And they'd had their resilience. What have the people here got to keep them alive? Is there anything? She doesn't know if she can watch them all die again without losing her mind completely. Going as mad as Honorius.
But what other choice does she have? Coupe's not wrong. Kitty's got a will, and she's clever, and she's got skills other people don't have. All right. But that's not enough to change the world. Especially not when her life here is going to be so short. Rifters don't last long, she'd been told.
But - ]
It's hard to know who can be trusted, though, and who can't. We all want Corypheus dead, sure, but beyond that...I don't know what drives people.
[ Not many of them, at least. She's teased out bits here and there. Some of the mages have talked of revolution and freedom - she understands them. Others have talked of stability, and she gets that too. All right. But there are so many conflicts she scarcely understands. It's bloody hard to know which of the Inquisition will hear talk of revolution and change and hear you're a threat to my values, and to be done away with. She doesn't even know what their values are.
Well. Coupe, at least - she seems all right. Kitty hopes. She seems so straight-backed and honest...As long as that's not a lie, she can at least trust her. ]
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Date: 2018-08-17 07:08 pm (UTC)[ A shopgirl, She’d said to another. Wren knows better than to discount the possibilit — might have lived and died a butcher —
Even so. ]
Did you do it alone?
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Date: 2018-08-17 07:17 pm (UTC)But. But Coupe has said the right things, at least. She's offered sympathy, and she's offered help - she's offered to educate Kitty, when it's in the best interests of tyrants to keep people ignorant...Offered her a book, didn't try to indoctrinate her or change her mind. And she has that brand. Would someone wicked have something like that? In Kitty's experience, the wicked were the people who'd never felt the oppression of power - who'd only ever exercised power over others. So.
After a long, wary moment, Kitty shakes her head no. Then, after another shorter pause, she says: ]
Not until recently.
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Date: 2018-08-17 07:50 pm (UTC)(This isn’t an interrogation. Perfect stillness would be out of place.)
Kitty shakes her head. Wren nods. ]
That seems a place to begin.
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Date: 2018-08-17 08:03 pm (UTC)What does? Finding - other people?
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Date: 2018-08-17 08:18 pm (UTC)[ Sooner or later, they all need be seen. ]
Find those you trust.
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Date: 2018-08-17 08:33 pm (UTC)[ Kitty hesitates another moment. I don't think that's a good idea. She alone had survived, out of the whole of the Resistance. Well - her and Nick the coward. But only them two. And they'd had their resilience. What have the people here got to keep them alive? Is there anything? She doesn't know if she can watch them all die again without losing her mind completely. Going as mad as Honorius.
But what other choice does she have? Coupe's not wrong. Kitty's got a will, and she's clever, and she's got skills other people don't have. All right. But that's not enough to change the world. Especially not when her life here is going to be so short. Rifters don't last long, she'd been told.
But - ]
It's hard to know who can be trusted, though, and who can't. We all want Corypheus dead, sure, but beyond that...I don't know what drives people.
[ Not many of them, at least. She's teased out bits here and there. Some of the mages have talked of revolution and freedom - she understands them. Others have talked of stability, and she gets that too. All right. But there are so many conflicts she scarcely understands. It's bloody hard to know which of the Inquisition will hear talk of revolution and change and hear you're a threat to my values, and to be done away with. She doesn't even know what their values are.
Well. Coupe, at least - she seems all right. Kitty hopes. She seems so straight-backed and honest...As long as that's not a lie, she can at least trust her. ]