No, but thank you. [He'll carefully hook the cup of coffee he's brought with his own lunch as he takes a seat.] I just need enough to perk me up.
[Ah, caffeine. Please rescue him.
Anyway.]
Mm, in ways. I personally don't pay it any mind. It's the adaptive nature of it and the atmosphere of this place that concerns me, more than the personalized jabs.
I worry more for the fragile among us, should this start to reach a more violent pitch.
Perhaps not blindly, no. But I'd rather believe the better of my fellow man than leave them to die like lambs to the slaughter. What caveats need to be made will be made. Finding the ones that need the most help with their footing is a higher priority to me.
[As much as he'd love to go directly intervene, that isn't happening, especially not without his magic.]
I take it your test on the forums went successfully, given some of the whispers I've been hearing.
It's a start. [It'll be even more of one come Thursday, once it becomes clear that even their actions backstage can be caught up and assimilated almost immediately.]
You've probably already concluded that we're not likely to make any headway with open rebellion. [She holds her cups to her lips, breathes it in before sipping, and lingers.] We are part of a system that doesn't want to yield us.
[It's factual, albeit full of barely restrained displeasure. They aren't merely Father's toys...but from the sound of her words, she's anticipating that playing house on the surface will allow for them to accomplish much more behind closed doors.]
Being confident in the rules of this space, for starters. Learning to use it to our advantage, rather than our detriment. In that regard, I feel you're already taking the correct steps I'd been curious of, and I don't intend to interrupt you.
Second: As much as it may pain us to do so, playing along with the bare minimum of what is requested will at least keep us standing. Those who are strong enough to handle the burden must help those who struggle. I would not see Don's tragedy repeated out of stubbornness.
Third: Learning about one another. Even in the broadest strokes. He already has placed us in where He wants us to be, not where we are... and I fear that, the longer this goes on, the more he will try to flick those parts of us away. If He means to turn us on one another for selfish reasons and threaten to tear us apart under fear, knowing one another will help keep us together if we're to falter.
[He pauses with a firm sigh, his fork smoothly travelling over his plate as though talking about the weather.]
For all else... well. I'm sure what can be found will be made clear, in time.
Some weights belong only to those who've already weathered their storms. [A category Cantarella seems to index herself in as well, though she doesn't elaborate and moves smoothly to cover the rest. She hms.] Our roles, not just as "betrothed," but in this school, have already been determined for us. But there is much we can still define for ourselves. We may become safekeepers of more than a single missing memory.
[She considers what's written on her own rose-lined gravestone. There's nothing inherently untrue about anything there, but out of context, it's easy to see those words growing legs and heads of their own.]
I can't help but notice that I have yet to hear a question from you.
Mm. We just need to hope those who aren't as steady can trust in those that know they can handle it.
[He'll nod in the affirmative, though.]
You've provided some of the answers I needed already, believe it or not. Maybe I'd just like to keep the conversation going to see if the rest pop up naturally.
[No, Solomon, nosy is somebody else on the forums!]
Why put someone in a position to be on the defensive by asking questions when you can receive the information differently?
[She sets her teacup back down with a prim little clink. For example, she feels no desire to ask him what his impression of her is so far; she can get a sense of that over the course of the conversation, too. It isn't really being obscured that she has a sense of working those greyer areas when clarity isn't possible, and she doesn't like to belabor ineffciently.]
And what of the task to be granted Beautitude? Will you apply the same approach?
[He hums, the ring against his finger tracing idle lines into the side of his cup.]
If there was a way to directly stop it, then I would be direct.
My worry is in the edicts. Not only because of the lure of a Beatitude for the scared and desperate, but also because Father's edict demands a life to be taken. If we do not, who's to say that more aren't punished in the same way Don was?
Do we lose in the end more by complete inaction?
Edited (whoops i meant italics whoooops) 2025-08-23 01:12 (UTC)
It was to both our benefit and our detriment that we learned of that collective punishment.
[The lesson won't come later or at a more inopportune time, but everyone has felt that pain and will do what they can do to avoid it—for better or for worse.
For a moment, the taste of tea in her mouth is older, mellower, honeyed, as if she took the cup once again from Hebenon's little, shaking hands.]
The simplest way to keep innocent lives from being trampled is to make sure they never fall beneath a scrutinizing gaze. But I really do abhor senseless sacrifice, all for hollow progress.
Mm. It's a shame that removing said gaze isn't always the cleanest of options, and redirecting that gaze requires accepting the consequences of who it will hit instead.
[A beat, as his own glass is lifted, his eyes settling on her for a little longer than usual. Hm.
He swallows, a hand going up in silent apology.]
I'm sorry to change the topic so, but - the marking, on your tongue. It's striking, isn't it?
[Who needs 20 questions at the party when you can have 20 questions at the cafe?]
Frequencies, to be precise. [He'll likely have noticed from the name and the waveform itself that the tacet mark resembles a soundwave more than anything.]
You've seen something like it before. [Just as assumption, but she does make it rather boldly, without much of a pitch up to her already norally calm voice.]
Unless you're familiar with a catastrophe known as the Lament or its ensuing phenmona, there's likely a divergence from your research forking early down the line. I know less than a scientist could tell you.
[Unfortunately, her experience is more on the arcane side than the research side...and she's getting the sense that he may be prone to tumbling down rabbit holes.
Perhaps another time. and if that time comes to pass, Nik is going to accept me linking a wiki page]
Isn't it a shame, though? Fairytales often have a witch. [And here she is, powerless.]
No pressure at all. [A shake of his head is all he needs to shut that down, as curious as he is. A topic for later, when prying will be more productive.
He chuckles lightly against his cup.]
A witch, a warlock, a graceful god. Who's meant to be the hero, I wonder, when you leave your foes without their weapons?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Does the gossip trouble you? Words are as seafoam.
no subject
[Ah, caffeine. Please rescue him.
Anyway.]
Mm, in ways. I personally don't pay it any mind. It's the adaptive nature of it and the atmosphere of this place that concerns me, more than the personalized jabs.
I worry more for the fragile among us, should this start to reach a more violent pitch.
no subject
That'll breed suspicion, whether it's warranted or not. And...perhaps in some cases, we shouldn't trust so blindly.
[Case in point. She gestures.] If this "performance" goes as scheduled, those who can't keep up with the dance of death will lose first.
no subject
[As much as he'd love to go directly intervene, that isn't happening, especially not without his magic.]
I take it your test on the forums went successfully, given some of the whispers I've been hearing.
no subject
You've probably already concluded that we're not likely to make any headway with open rebellion. [She holds her cups to her lips, breathes it in before sipping, and lingers.] We are part of a system that doesn't want to yield us.
[It's factual, albeit full of barely restrained displeasure. They aren't merely Father's toys...but from the sound of her words, she's anticipating that playing house on the surface will allow for them to accomplish much more behind closed doors.]
Knowing this, how would you protect them?
no subject
Being confident in the rules of this space, for starters. Learning to use it to our advantage, rather than our detriment. In that regard, I feel you're already taking the correct steps I'd been curious of, and I don't intend to interrupt you.
Second: As much as it may pain us to do so, playing along with the bare minimum of what is requested will at least keep us standing. Those who are strong enough to handle the burden must help those who struggle. I would not see Don's tragedy repeated out of stubbornness.
Third: Learning about one another. Even in the broadest strokes. He already has placed us in where He wants us to be, not where we are... and I fear that, the longer this goes on, the more he will try to flick those parts of us away. If He means to turn us on one another for selfish reasons and threaten to tear us apart under fear, knowing one another will help keep us together if we're to falter.
[He pauses with a firm sigh, his fork smoothly travelling over his plate as though talking about the weather.]
For all else... well. I'm sure what can be found will be made clear, in time.
no subject
[She considers what's written on her own rose-lined gravestone. There's nothing inherently untrue about anything there, but out of context, it's easy to see those words growing legs and heads of their own.]
I can't help but notice that I have yet to hear a question from you.
no subject
[He'll nod in the affirmative, though.]
You've provided some of the answers I needed already, believe it or not. Maybe I'd just like to keep the conversation going to see if the rest pop up naturally.
Call me nosy, if you'd like.
no subject
Why put someone in a position to be on the defensive by asking questions when you can receive the information differently?
[She sets her teacup back down with a prim little clink. For example, she feels no desire to ask him what his impression of her is so far; she can get a sense of that over the course of the conversation, too. It isn't really being obscured that she has a sense of working those greyer areas when clarity isn't possible, and she doesn't like to belabor ineffciently.]
And what of the task to be granted Beautitude? Will you apply the same approach?
no subject
You mean the shedding of blood?
[He hums, the ring against his finger tracing idle lines into the side of his cup.]
If there was a way to directly stop it, then I would be direct.
My worry is in the edicts. Not only because of the lure of a Beatitude for the scared and desperate, but also because Father's edict demands a life to be taken. If we do not, who's to say that more aren't punished in the same way Don was?
Do we lose in the end more by complete inaction?
no subject
[The lesson won't come later or at a more inopportune time, but everyone has felt that pain and will do what they can do to avoid it—for better or for worse.
For a moment, the taste of tea in her mouth is older, mellower, honeyed, as if she took the cup once again from Hebenon's little, shaking hands.]
The simplest way to keep innocent lives from being trampled is to make sure they never fall beneath a scrutinizing gaze. But I really do abhor senseless sacrifice, all for hollow progress.
no subject
[A beat, as his own glass is lifted, his eyes settling on her for a little longer than usual. Hm.
He swallows, a hand going up in silent apology.]
I'm sorry to change the topic so, but - the marking, on your tongue. It's striking, isn't it?
no subject
My Tacet Mark. [It's not so restless here with no access to her Forte, but the mention of it does make it ache and itch in her mouth.]
It's an indicator of my abilities when they are actually under my control.
no subject
[Might wanna rethink him not being nosy.]
no subject
[He is nosy! She knows how to dripfeed nosiness! But at the moment, what doesn't exist need not be discussed.]
no subject
[So long as she's willing to play this game, he'll keep attempting.]
no subject
Frequencies, to be precise. [He'll likely have noticed from the name and the waveform itself that the tacet mark resembles a soundwave more than anything.]
You've seen something like it before. [Just as assumption, but she does make it rather boldly, without much of a pitch up to her already norally calm voice.]
no subject
Sigils are as abundant as they are hard to master, so I was wondering if it fell in the same families of what I normally research.
no subject
[Unfortunately, her experience is more on the arcane side than the research side...and she's getting the sense that he may be prone to tumbling down rabbit holes.
Perhaps another time.
and if that time comes to pass, Nik is going to accept me linking a wiki page]Isn't it a shame, though? Fairytales often have a witch. [And here she is, powerless.]
no subject
He chuckles lightly against his cup.]
A witch, a warlock, a graceful god. Who's meant to be the hero, I wonder, when you leave your foes without their weapons?