[He's sitting at a booth, not-quite-nursing a drink of his own. He can't afford to get drunk, he's got shit to do. And then his phone rings, and he frowns at who it is. Did she somehow get lost? But oh, she's here, nevermind. He hangs up and gestures to the seat across from himself.]
Sure am. It's Charles, by the way. Think I forgot to introduce myself.
( Well. She can't forget that face, now that she's seen it, though Kate's expression barely flickers as she slides into the seat opposite, sitting straight backed with her hands folded against the table. )
Kate. ( Usually less pale skinned, usually a bit less heavy-lidded, and almost never with her hair down like it is now. But he doesn't know her from Adam, so that particular sign of how badly she's been doing since Rage infected her mind might not be easy to pick out among the others.
Encyclopedias... She'll have to remember to put that Lucretia chick in contact with him. )
How can I help?
( No point not getting down to business, after all. )
( There's the briefest of brief pauses at his comment, the span of a mildly surprised blink, but no offense crosses her face. Honestly? Fair enough. She's not been that preoccupied with making sure she doesn't look like shit at... really any point during this time in Hadriel. )
Who didn't?
( Even the people who were lucky enough to avoid Delight's wave or Rage's fury would have had to deal with those who were affected. All in all? It was a shit time. )
... Alright. ( Give her just a moment to sip her drink and mull over the best way to talk about everything.
And, eventually, Kate launches into an explanation of everything she's learned about Hadriel as it was before she arrived for the first time, the explanation of Hope and Fear running and Fear bringing people here by reactivating The Door. It's long, for anything said by Kate, but he asked and the documentation is important.
After a while, she pauses and takes a long, long drink. She doesn't talk this much all at once, and that's a large part of why the explanation of Delight's betrayal was in text format. )
People used to try and fight them. We didn't know any better. Nothing worked.
( And that, all things considered, is a good thing. )
[He takes notes in a beat-up notebook he found a shop. Scribbles, mostly, he doesn't have the best handwriting, but it's not for anyone else so it doesn't matter.
He looks up when she stops to take her long drink. He's still barely touched his own. The chugging gets a raised eyebrow but nothing else.]
Can't say I blame them. I probably would've done the same if people hadn't told me it was pointless. And I guess you guys thought they were keeping you here. I'd be pissed, too.
[He finishes a page of notes and flips to the next one.]
So how'd things get from there to here? Like, how did we go from a city of two scared gods and a handful of scared people, to... [He gestures at the speakeasy, and the city as a whole.]
( It's been a long few months, and now she's tasked with talking like a lecturer at a university. None of this is usual, except maybe the drinking.
She nods at his conclusion — when they first came here, that was all anyone knew. The underground version of Hadriel was a vastly different place, and the gods were vastly different beings. )
Mm... Time. ( Honestly, that's... all she can really attribute it to. ) Longer we were stuck here, the more the gods got to know what we were like. Same went for us. They tried new ways of affecting us that weren't as terrible. Hope revived the others and it weren't all shit emotions all the time. They let us vote on who he brought back. After so much failing to fight 'em, people realised we needed to do something else. They told some people 'bout the fact they were running.
( Her fingers tap against the glass in her hand as she pauses long enough to breathe and consider the rest. )
Love were revived. Something went wrong when the gods tried to teleport the city. Left the city split in two. That's when we first learned about the Null and why the gods were dead.
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no subject
Sure am. It's Charles, by the way. Think I forgot to introduce myself.
no subject
Kate. ( Usually less pale skinned, usually a bit less heavy-lidded, and almost never with her hair down like it is now. But he doesn't know her from Adam, so that particular sign of how badly she's been doing since Rage infected her mind might not be easy to pick out among the others.
Encyclopedias... She'll have to remember to put that Lucretia chick in contact with him. )
How can I help?
( No point not getting down to business, after all. )
no subject
You look kinda like hell. [She looks how he feels, to be honest.] I'm guessing you had a shit time the last few days, too. I won't pry, though.
[She's free to explain if she wants, but he's not asking.]
You can help by giving me information. Mostly history stuff, like how this all started, what major shit has happened, stuff like that.
no subject
Who didn't?
( Even the people who were lucky enough to avoid Delight's wave or Rage's fury would have had to deal with those who were affected. All in all? It was a shit time. )
... Alright. ( Give her just a moment to sip her drink and mull over the best way to talk about everything.
And, eventually, Kate launches into an explanation of everything she's learned about Hadriel as it was before she arrived for the first time, the explanation of Hope and Fear running and Fear bringing people here by reactivating The Door. It's long, for anything said by Kate, but he asked and the documentation is important.
After a while, she pauses and takes a long, long drink. She doesn't talk this much all at once, and that's a large part of why the explanation of Delight's betrayal was in text format. )
People used to try and fight them. We didn't know any better. Nothing worked.
( And that, all things considered, is a good thing. )
no subject
He looks up when she stops to take her long drink. He's still barely touched his own. The chugging gets a raised eyebrow but nothing else.]
Can't say I blame them. I probably would've done the same if people hadn't told me it was pointless. And I guess you guys thought they were keeping you here. I'd be pissed, too.
[He finishes a page of notes and flips to the next one.]
So how'd things get from there to here? Like, how did we go from a city of two scared gods and a handful of scared people, to... [He gestures at the speakeasy, and the city as a whole.]
To this.
no subject
She nods at his conclusion — when they first came here, that was all anyone knew. The underground version of Hadriel was a vastly different place, and the gods were vastly different beings. )
Mm... Time. ( Honestly, that's... all she can really attribute it to. ) Longer we were stuck here, the more the gods got to know what we were like. Same went for us. They tried new ways of affecting us that weren't as terrible. Hope revived the others and it weren't all shit emotions all the time. They let us vote on who he brought back. After so much failing to fight 'em, people realised we needed to do something else. They told some people 'bout the fact they were running.
( Her fingers tap against the glass in her hand as she pauses long enough to breathe and consider the rest. )
Love were revived. Something went wrong when the gods tried to teleport the city. Left the city split in two. That's when we first learned about the Null and why the gods were dead.