Maybe it shouldn't be. They are sisters, after all. But Caitlyn and Vi are... close. Closer than normal friends, or so he'd think if he had even the barest knowledge as to how ordinary friends act. Claude knows that if he himself had to choose between Shahid and Marianne, or Shahid and Ethlyn, he'd go against his brother every time -- but maybe what Jinx and Vi have may yet be salvaged.
He chooses not to voice any of that out loud. No need to make this any more difficult than it already is. ]
So Jinx is dealt with, and now you have to deal with Caitlyn, [ he says, though he knows some of his surprise must bleed through his voice, tired as he is. ]
Okay. We can deal with this. I don't keep anything that potent down here with the rest of my medications. It's just too dangerous. But I keep some upstairs, in my chambers. C'mon, come with me.
[ He leads Vi upstairs to his little apartment. It's clearly not one that sees many visitors, with one of the chairs covered with a thin layer of dust, the entire place cluttered with books on every flat surface (most of them visibly half-read and dog-eared), experiments here and there, the shelves lined with bottles and powders and knick knacks and weapon maintenance tools. ]
So, we just want to make her sleep... does she have any allergies that I should know of? Any other health concerns? It's very easy for a sleeping draught to be much more deadly than it's meant to be.
As a rich boy myself, I'd say a little less than normal, [ Claude points out with a low huff of a laugh, ] considering her lack of interest in lazing about all day, but I get your meaning. I won't worry too much about the side effects until we're there -- and maybe I'll bring some medication, just in case.
[ He drums his fingers against the counter, thinking. ]
I can figure out something that ought to work for that. The trouble is, I don't think we can convince her to drink it. We'll have to administer it another way.
[ Not that he relishes the idea of hurting Cait, but... he picks up one of the arrows off the table, twirling it between his fingers. ]
I'm not a bad shot. I think shooting her with it might be the only way. No chance of us getting close enough to pour it down her gullet without her using her powers to kill us first.
[ And yes, that's us; he's not keen on letting Vi face down her girlfriend-not-girlfriend in one-on-one combat. Nobody deserves that. ]
[we all know Caitlyn's weird as fuck otherwise -- normally people like her wouldn't associate herself with people like Vi.
but her train of thought is broken when Claude speaks again, and she looks at the arrow. she winces. she hated the thought of using that to hurt her... she hated the idea of throwing anything at her at all. fighting her.]
Any metal in that? That's her powers, if you didn't know.
[just in case. she keeps her eyes on the arrow, her heart wrenching.]
You don't... have to hit anything major to do it, right?
As long as it's in her bloodstream, where I hit her doesn't matter. [ He twirls the arrow between his fingers, an old, practiced trick he can do without even thinking about it. ] I'm certainly not intending to hit anything major. But even so, arrows are far less lethal than those guns of yours -- there's a reason we're trained to fire off three at a time.
[ That's his Almyran training, anyhow; you pepper your opponents with enough arrows to properly slow them down instead of relying on your ability to strike them just so. In many ways, this is an inconvenience. But when you're hoping to take someone out of commission instead of killing them, you need to ask an archer every single time, as far as Claude is concerned. His comrades with guns or big fuck-off axes aren't great at leaving their foes alive. ]
And for her? We'll only need the one. I'm not familiar with these powers of hers, though. Tell me more.
[she'd seen too many people shot... and even though she knows Caitlyn shoots, she prefers to stick with her fists. it's better, to her.]
She can like... "bend" [air quotes] metal. At least that's what Toph says. She's been teaching Caitlyn how to use it, how to deflect bullets and shit like that. She did that when Jinx attacked her. So... if the arrow has a bunch of metal in it and we don't get her by surprise, it's possible she'll just deflect that too.
Oh, like Toph! [ Claude snaps his fingers in recognition. He wouldn't have been able to understand as readily otherwise, but having seen Toph's powers in motion, it's easy for him to imagine exactly what that looks like. ]
I can't believe she's had a power like that underneath her belt this entire time without telling me. [ He rubs a thoughtful thumb over the shaft of the arrow. ] I'm glad you told me. That could have gone very badly, very quickly. These are made with metal, but being that we're not aiming to actually hurt her, I can carve out a decent arrowhead out of some stone. I should still remember how to do it.
[ He gestures for Vi to follow him out into the yard, grabbing the most promising looking rocks to wash and hack away at inside. ]
...when Jinx attacked her. Was that because of what's happening now, or...?
Yeah? How's this the first time I've heard of that happening?
[ This place can give you new powers? And here's Claude, stuck with his bow and arrow, his paltry bits and bobs of magic enough to close up a minor wound or irritate someone with a biting wind. This place continues to be divinely unfair although, he has to acknowledge, he's not the one currently stuck as some sort of horrible murderous monster, so he shouldn't waste much time on being envious of Cait right now.
Not that he's ever much jealous of Cait. They'd spoken before, at the bar, about their impossible position. About her and Vi, about her fears for the future, about the possibility of Jinx getting in-between the two of them. Blood is thicker than water, or so they say, and Jinx is the sort of blood to shed a lot of it too.
This won't help matters. A frown tugs at the corner of his mouth. ]
I was under the impression that everyone taken by those murderous impulses were on the same side.
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expiationlogs2024-07-15 08:13 am
no subject
Maybe it shouldn't be. They are sisters, after all. But Caitlyn and Vi are... close. Closer than normal friends, or so he'd think if he had even the barest knowledge as to how ordinary friends act. Claude knows that if he himself had to choose between Shahid and Marianne, or Shahid and Ethlyn, he'd go against his brother every time -- but maybe what Jinx and Vi have may yet be salvaged.
He chooses not to voice any of that out loud. No need to make this any more difficult than it already is. ]
So Jinx is dealt with, and now you have to deal with Caitlyn, [ he says, though he knows some of his surprise must bleed through his voice, tired as he is. ]
Okay. We can deal with this. I don't keep anything that potent down here with the rest of my medications. It's just too dangerous. But I keep some upstairs, in my chambers. C'mon, come with me.
[ He leads Vi upstairs to his little apartment. It's clearly not one that sees many visitors, with one of the chairs covered with a thin layer of dust, the entire place cluttered with books on every flat surface (most of them visibly half-read and dog-eared), experiments here and there, the shelves lined with bottles and powders and knick knacks and weapon maintenance tools. ]
So, we just want to make her sleep... does she have any allergies that I should know of? Any other health concerns? It's very easy for a sleeping draught to be much more deadly than it's meant to be.
no subject
if anything, it makes someone feel more human.
at his questions, she tilts her head slightly as she thinks about it.]
Not that I know of. She's just kind of a normal rich girl as far as I know.
[who was surprisingly in good health and shape, given her cushy life.]
no subject
[ He drums his fingers against the counter, thinking. ]
I can figure out something that ought to work for that. The trouble is, I don't think we can convince her to drink it. We'll have to administer it another way.
[ Not that he relishes the idea of hurting Cait, but... he picks up one of the arrows off the table, twirling it between his fingers. ]
I'm not a bad shot. I think shooting her with it might be the only way. No chance of us getting close enough to pour it down her gullet without her using her powers to kill us first.
[ And yes, that's us; he's not keen on letting Vi face down her girlfriend-not-girlfriend in one-on-one combat. Nobody deserves that. ]
no subject
[we all know Caitlyn's weird as fuck otherwise -- normally people like her wouldn't associate herself with people like Vi.
but her train of thought is broken when Claude speaks again, and she looks at the arrow. she winces. she hated the thought of using that to hurt her... she hated the idea of throwing anything at her at all. fighting her.]
Any metal in that? That's her powers, if you didn't know.
[just in case. she keeps her eyes on the arrow, her heart wrenching.]
You don't... have to hit anything major to do it, right?
no subject
[ That's his Almyran training, anyhow; you pepper your opponents with enough arrows to properly slow them down instead of relying on your ability to strike them just so. In many ways, this is an inconvenience. But when you're hoping to take someone out of commission instead of killing them, you need to ask an archer every single time, as far as Claude is concerned. His comrades with guns or big fuck-off axes aren't great at leaving their foes alive. ]
And for her? We'll only need the one. I'm not familiar with these powers of hers, though. Tell me more.
no subject
And that's why I don't care much for them.
[she'd seen too many people shot... and even though she knows Caitlyn shoots, she prefers to stick with her fists. it's better, to her.]
She can like... "bend" [air quotes] metal. At least that's what Toph says. She's been teaching Caitlyn how to use it, how to deflect bullets and shit like that. She did that when Jinx attacked her. So... if the arrow has a bunch of metal in it and we don't get her by surprise, it's possible she'll just deflect that too.
no subject
I can't believe she's had a power like that underneath her belt this entire time without telling me. [ He rubs a thoughtful thumb over the shaft of the arrow. ] I'm glad you told me. That could have gone very badly, very quickly. These are made with metal, but being that we're not aiming to actually hurt her, I can carve out a decent arrowhead out of some stone. I should still remember how to do it.
[ He gestures for Vi to follow him out into the yard, grabbing the most promising looking rocks to wash and hack away at inside. ]
...when Jinx attacked her. Was that because of what's happening now, or...?
no subject
Well... it hasn't been the whole time. This place gave it to her somehow. Magic doesn't typically hang around like that in our world.
[kind of??? man, she doesn't know. it's just a fairy tale to her, more often than not.
there's a moment of silence at his next question.]
It's because of what's happening now. Jinx doesn't like her, but... [man.] it was a lot different.
no subject
[ This place can give you new powers? And here's Claude, stuck with his bow and arrow, his paltry bits and bobs of magic enough to close up a minor wound or irritate someone with a biting wind. This place continues to be divinely unfair although, he has to acknowledge, he's not the one currently stuck as some sort of horrible murderous monster, so he shouldn't waste much time on being envious of Cait right now.
Not that he's ever much jealous of Cait. They'd spoken before, at the bar, about their impossible position. About her and Vi, about her fears for the future, about the possibility of Jinx getting in-between the two of them. Blood is thicker than water, or so they say, and Jinx is the sort of blood to shed a lot of it too.
This won't help matters. A frown tugs at the corner of his mouth. ]
I was under the impression that everyone taken by those murderous impulses were on the same side.