Panthera (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pantheraliam) wrote2030-03-12 03:03 pm
pantheraliam) wrote2030-03-12 03:03 pm
[Well…
[It doesn’t add up. No family she knows (yet!) could warp people into some indistinct hellpit.
[Caitlyn shakes her head, and pulls her eyes back to him.] How do they do it?
[Everyone.
[Society, peace, unity, hope… all empty words, hollow values without cause. Caitlyn’s had enough of it.
[What has Jinx done, but ruin…]
Family. [All the weight it carries.
[The wall shimmers like glass.]
[She shakes her head. That’s an answer.]
Magic-users. We shouldn’t find them here. [In other words, if you don’t know, it’s not a concern.
[Still.... That lead a dead end, Caitlyn starts walking—frustratingly directionless, but wanting to move. Does this sand go on forever…?]
They wouldn’t trap us without cause.
[The he doesn’t see the eyeroll.]
First we played a word game. Then… sand, and darkness—
[She stops, looking back over her shoulder.] Where were you before this?
[Sneering. Quickly:] You and I both have more important things to do than argue in a desert.
[But she does not take one step more.]
I have such compelling reasons to give it to you.
[The hypocrisy locks in with the fold of her arms.
[Still…]
…What do you suggest.
I have my own questions. Start with that.
[His gaze sharpens like a razor. His voice warns a low question.]
Are you an Eldian?
[It doesn't matter if she lies or if she tells the truth. Her initial reaction matters more than anything.]
[His gaze sharpens like a razor. His voice warns a low question.]
Are you an Eldian?
[It doesn't matter if she lies or if she tells the truth. Her initial reaction matters more than anything.]
[For better and/or worse, Caitlyn’s face is expressive. She’s genuine:]
What’s an— [Right. Questions, demands.
[Silent, she shakes her head. But she does want to know…]
[He'd almost suspected that she wouldn't know, but it's odd to realize that. How couldn't she know? Everyone does by now - even the people on Paradis, but this woman isn't from Paradis. Idly, he wonders if she might be from an entirely different universe...]
Forget that.
Instead, tell me...
Why would someone want to detain you like this?
Forget that.
Instead, tell me...
Why would someone want to detain you like this?
[Why wouldn’t they? Thought dismissed with a forceful blink. She’s not eager to slide the answer across the figurative table, either—but there’s no godforesaken point in lying.]
I’m the Commander of a growing city. Piltover. [A beat.] “City of Progress.”
[There’s some dryness to the quote, but her thoughts are churning elsewhere. Conceivably, any nation in Runeterra might take a political prisoner—yet nowhere, to Caitlyn’s awareness, with anyone called Eldians. If the man doesn’t recognize the name she’s offered, either, then…]
[He doesn't, but his face doesn't betray the same surprise and confusion that Caitlyn's did. He wouldn't know the name of some random city...
[He doesn't look disengaged, though. His brow is pinched, lips tugging slightly like he might snarl, though he doesn't. His right hand curls on his wrist.]
That's our commonality, then.
[No, he's not a Commander by name, but he thinks he ranks as a significant enough political prisoner that he can simplify things a bit.]
That, and our enemy.
[He doesn't look disengaged, though. His brow is pinched, lips tugging slightly like he might snarl, though he doesn't. His right hand curls on his wrist.]
That's our commonality, then.
[No, he's not a Commander by name, but he thinks he ranks as a significant enough political prisoner that he can simplify things a bit.]
That, and our enemy.
[ It's difficult to buy that Eren doesn't know him at all for a thousand reasons, a thousand promises to always remember, to never forget – but it's more difficult than ever when that's the word he chooses to start with. ]
Loss.
Loss.
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