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[rathercommon]

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

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[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.

[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.

[shri]

[ She listens, makes sure to keep her face reserved, fixed as she watches Kitty talk, explain. ]

A leftover horror from a different time? [ She tries not to think about it - about Kitty alone in that dark room and how it fixes in her chest. That concern, that worry. But it's familiar, her fingers tapping. ] Smart. Using their own weapons against them. It's a good first step when they won't let you arm yourself.

[rathercommon]

[ But Kitty shakes her head fiercely, looking up at Lakshmi with her jaw set. ]

It wasn't smart. Or if it was, then it got corrupted quickly. It all just turned into greed. Into acquiring for the sake of acquiring. Pretending that having things made us wonderful and powerful and successful. But at the end of the day - we all died, just the same, no matter how many things we had.

[shri]

Then the fault is in the execution, not the idea. [ Her hand lifts, her first two fingers together as she points, directly, sharply. Indicating the exact rhythm to her words. ] Tools are only as good as the people using them, you are right. If they sit about collecting dust, then they may as well have been left in that tomb.

The man who gave me... this, said it wasn't about living forever, it was what we do with that time. [ She lifts her hand to her chest, where the blackwater phial sat before they elected to take it from her. A second, even, when she falters, the surety of having it there, was gone. Her lips press together, she swallows, and as ever, she carries on. ] That is why you must train Kitty.

[rathercommon]

[ The little upwelling of grief coming from remembering the Resistance and their deaths drives her to a bit more pessimism than is her usual wont. ]

And what if I don't know what to do with that time?

[shri]

[ She shakes her head, at least - that one, that one she knew. Had learned early on.

Her husband had ever been a wise man, in his way. ] You talk, with those that you trust. No man is a island, and we are all beset with confusion, at times. Life... can give us things we never expected. There is no shame in looking to others for advice.

[rathercommon]

No. Just -

[ A little wrinkle of her nose. ]

Sometimes it feels like everyone else is just as clueless as I am.

[shri]

[ That makes her laugh. ]

Unless they are doing exactly as you are now, chances are - yes. They have no idea truly, what might come of the things they do. But they trust, and they hope, and they try.

[rathercommon]

[ With the Resistance still on her mind, and even more with her parents on her mind, she can't help but vent a little bubble of cynicism. ]

Ideally.

[ Because not everyone trusts, or hopes, or tries. ]

[shri]

[ That gives her pause, her head tilting, listening, watching. Because she's learned a fair few of Kitty's opinions with time. Learned a fair amount of her interests. Heard her talk passionately about violence and hopes of a new world. ]

What's this? Are there fangs is this cubs mouth after all?