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[conflictresolution]

"Leave a missive, but be brief about it."

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[conflictresolution]

Guarding the essentials then. Fair enough. I will still keep an eye out for him as a just in case.

Yes the accent seems similar. He also has the benefit of being aware of us.

[traumaticus]

[......]

what do you mean by 'aware of us'?

[conflictresolution]

I have reason to believe he's aware we are lovers. Not a discussion you two have had?

[traumaticus]

you told him.
despite of what we had agreed on, you told him.

[conflictresolution]

I did not. I became aware of his knowledge on a different conversation with him, and I neither confirmed nor denied what he knew.

action; cw: voices

[opheliac]

[whenever silco returns home, whether it's during the afternoon or evening (player's choice), he will first be greeted by a recognizable jacket in his living room. the overcoat being worn isn't by the primary owner, not when the person's figure is so slender and the attire is almost gigantic. but silco will witness jinx looming over the coffee table, arched forward as she views over a massive sheet of paper with her phone idling next to it.

from afar, it's difficult to see just what she's looking over (beyond the colorful markings), but once close, it's appears to be a rough duplicate of the diagram of their "world". the bluenette stretches over to her custom-made mug from the opposite side of her phone, and sips — slurping obnoxiously with her brows bunching close together. but her upper lip curls up into a snarl, and shoots a glance to the right of her (to nothing):]

Yeah, I know traveling by wagon isn't gonna cut it. You don't have to tell me twice. I just gotta go by foot.

[browsing down to her map again, and setting her cup back in place, the teenager rolls her eyes and blows out a frustrating huff through her nostrils.]

Nooooooo, you won't survive out there alone, but I will. See? that's the difference between you and me. Now, pipe down, and listen.

[she points sharply at a little oasis at the center of the map.]

There! This is where we need to go. The only other place here that should have Honey Fruit. — All we gotta do is just go there, pluck a few, then head back. So easy-peasy, a brainless doofus can pull it off.

action;

[conflictresolution]

[The evening was falling faster these days with the change of the seasons, so he arrived home with the intention of making dinner as per normal then heading out to be at the Last Drop. He wasn't surprised to find Jinx at home before him, though he was mildly perturbed to find her in the boy's jacket. It wasn't that unusual as his daughter tended to collect and keep items that connected her with people or a stage in her life. If anything, it reinforced that the boy was well and truly gone for the time being.

He walked across the foray and the living room to head to his office in order to put his accounting books down on the desk inside. He listened to her talking to her voices in order to discern what she was up to and what to expect from tonight or even the next few days.

He emerged, shedding his jacket and setting it over the back of the couch and then moved around the furniture to find himself at the coffee table looking at the same map that she was. He folded his hands behind his back, clasping one wrist in the other as he examined her scribbles.]

Honey Fruit. You know we could have that imported, right? Are you planning a person adventure for a few weeks then?

[How? Why? With whom?]

[traumaticus]

why did you not deny it?

action;

[opheliac]

[having her father maneuvering around their home hardly breaks her concentration, in fact, when he materializes near — her pinks continue to fixate intensely on her outline. jinx holds up her index finger to help express the subject.]

Tried importing, no go. Not with the nobodies hating our guts. [she puts down her finger before reaching over a color pencil, dooling a circle around aldrip and then around the oasis.] — Besides, I gotta do it alone. Part of my... test. Thing.

[conflictresolution]

We did not speak of it openly. I wasn't going give it air.

[traumaticus]

and instead you chose to provide soil for the seed of doubt.
i assumed you would know better.

action;

[conflictresolution]

[He nodded his head slowly, his mind rolling over which contacts that he had which could potentially acquire this item. That didn't explain why she needed it, but he expected that information would come once he had ascertained this trip that she was planning.]

Your test? Were you sentenced by the Council again?

[He noted where she was going based on where she was circling on the map. He hummed and stepped away from her so that he could move to the liquor cabinet in order to pour himself a finger of whiskey.]

Are you certain you shouldn't take someone with you?

[conflictresolution]

Sometimes silence and skirting the issue is better for all parties involved.

[traumaticus]

charles is no fool. he is unsettlingly perceptive. with him the seed needs to be ripped out before it has any room to grow.

when did this happen?

[conflictresolution]

Charles does not appear to be the type of person who rumormongers. Is it a fear of discovery or shame of me that has you wishing cover this up?

Weeks ago.

[traumaticus]

we had an agreement.

why do i hear from this only now?

action;

[opheliac]

Nope! I haven't seen that giant forehead in months. [a light pause, tapping her chin with the color pencil tip.] Wonder if it's still out there... all shiny and bulbous.

[but quickly, jinx tries to keep her mind on track and proceeds to sketch out the best route to take between the two locations.]

But nah, it's a test set by my people, The INX. Or... well. Not Fanny or Chuck, but the other members. One of them is really sick, and the medicine around here isn't doing it for him. With it getting colder, Honey fruit is getting harder to come by. At least up here.

[his daughter, then again, points to the oasis with her color pencil.]

But down here, the temperature should be a little warmer, and they've told me, the stuff grows there too.

None of the nobodies like us, and the same goes for my members. They're having second thoughts, and they don't think what I'm doing will, y'know, change anything.

[there's a small hint of ache in her tone as she elaborates. because the last thing she wants is to have more people believing she doesn't know what she's doing (even though that's true), and she is just wasting everyone's time.]

BUT! If I go out there, gather all the honey fruit that I can, then come back... that will show them they can trust me, and I will make this a better place for all of us. For them, too. ... Even if they're not completely real.

[conflictresolution]

His discovery was not on account of my telling him. I didn't provide the matter air to breathe, nothing more.

It was not a problem that came into play.

[traumaticus]

and yet he somehow found out through you.

i wonder what other problems there are that you have kept from me.

[conflictresolution]

An unforeseen ripple that has borne no fruit. He spoke with Jinx before speaking to me.

Fear and shame then. Very well, we can make one less problem if you wish it so.

action;

[conflictresolution]

[Come to think of it, Silco hadn't seen much of, if any, sign of Jerry for some time. Perhaps the man had finally lost his job or even more likely he was promoted. Or in the reset, perhaps Jerry had been lost in the same way that some of the Chosen had been. In that case, nothing of real value was lost.

He added ice to his tumbler and returned to look down at the map that she was still scribbling on. The oasis was some distance away, and her reason for going in the first place was lukewarm at best in his perception. The natives were continually changing their mind about the Chosen, and he had stopped caring about their opinions since the moment that he had arrived in this place. When they were useful, he'd use them. When they were not, he ignored them.

He brought his tumbler to his lips and took a sip, humming to himself as he considered her choice of mission to partake in.] Does it matter if the nobodies like us? Leadership isn't about having people like you, though it can be useful. Though I suppose showing up for your people has a place now and again.

[He wasn't convinced leaving the city on a seeming fool's errand for people that remained wishy-washy was a worthwhile effort of her time. Still, he knew better than to order her off of it. She needed to see it for herself, and if it was that important to her, so be it.]

No doubt once you collect the fruit, you'll share it with everyone interested, hmm? Share the resources and all of that. Do you actually need to do this alone? I can arrange to have someone travel with you.

[traumaticus]

[oh, so it was the daughter's fault then? it was frustrating and angering to see how silco kept failing to follow what such small ripples would cause. richard came from world where rumors like these had more power than the deadliest blade - they would spread uncontrollably like a disease. something like this was fatal for his legacy, for richard the third. and silco did not see it.

'he is looking to break away from you. he does not respect you, richard. and why would he? a demon like yourself should know better.'

it hurt and stung, like any sort of betrayal does. and it doesn't help that silco seems to be determined on pointing the knife at him. how dare he speak of shame and fear? despite knowing richard's true form?]

if that is the outcome you are seeking then so be it. say a word and i'll release you from this pact

[conflictresolution]

[He had not seen the value of ostracizing Charles over a realization of information that may or may not have value for the man. He had been, perhaps, more frustrated that Jinx had been speaking of him in such a way but that too couldn't be helped. He expected she had found some connection and used an opportunity. No doubt Ragna knew he had someone, but the man was far too antisocial to say anything.

Silco had spent a lifetime with nothing, building up loyalties and experiencing betrayals. Everything he had came to him through a fight of some sort. Honestly, being with Richard might have been the easiest decision he had made regardless of the dogged trouble from his daughter that came with it.

Yet the idea that he couldn't and shouldn't be pleased to have the connection that they had, that it might be considered a shameful dirty secret offended him. It was not the first time that he had considered that Richard's apparent high status might be a point of contention. Oil and water.]

I'm not ashamed of what we have. I don't feel the need to hide it constantly, nor rip it out by shallow roots either. If someone has a problem with our pact, I have no issue providing them a sharp drop and sudden stop. I've murdered for less.

But if a whisper of possibility is enough to spook you to belittling my judgment, we seem to have larger problems.

action;

[opheliac]

They're all I have.

[she states, voice cracking just a touch as she finishes the last bit of her doodling.]

— You've heard what everyone said. That I might be no better than the Council, the AI, or... whoever is doing all of this crap, I've lost track.

[setting the pencil down, his daughter straightens her spine but not without wrapping her arms around her front — her fingers curling tightly on the material of the coat.]

All I want is for you, me, Vi, and everyone else I give a rat's ass about to have independence. We should be living how we want to without this stupid sentencing stuff that doesn't do anything but give all of us a migraine. And all of these, I dunno, weird happenings are only making us... lose trust in each other. And ruin relationships.

Everyone wants it to stop, but no one is doing anything about it. — And if I'm going to be here, and this is going to be my home for good, then I'm going to shape it the way it's better for me, and for all of us. ... If I got to start a war again just so we can have peace, then... I'll do it here, too.

[a pause.]

I promised Ekko I wouldn't do that, but... maybe I can pull it off without anyone getting hurt. So I got to do this, and doing this alone might send a better message. I think.

action;

[conflictresolution]

They are not all you have. They are a function of our prison.

[Silco snorted softly, taking another sip from his tumbler. He had been called similar over his many years of trying to formulate a movement, to drag the Undercity from repressed stupor to a rebellious violent mob. Most didn't believe he could do it or that he was the right person to do it. He'd learned a long time ago that the negative opinions of others were usually based in fear of change, fear of the unknown, or fear of violence against them.

He could understand how action could change opinion, and in some cases, it would. People would naturally want to be in on the action if they say momentum growing or had faith that something interesting and possibly better could emerge from it. Until then, most would wait on the sidelines and see how the chips fell. He expected it was worst with the natives of this place.]

And how will helping a sick native provide you the power to push for independence? I have no doubt that you can prove your worth without having to run across the entire surface of this place.

[However, he knew that every leader had their own manner of building their confidence. If this was what she needed to do, he supposed that he wouldn't stop her. Still, a trip like that could be a week or two, and while that wasn't the longest she had lost herself in a project, he had means of physically checking on her to assure himself everything was still in order.]

Perhaps. Have you explored medicinal options in town for this person? Ethlyn is a healer of note.