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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 13, 2021 15:44:49 GMT -5
Sal didn’t want to see Zuko as someone he could have ever been friends with. He knew if was probably possible, though. He knew that if they weren’t on opposite sides in this war, they might have been nice to each other. They might have gotten along. Sal was never going to get alone with him here, though. He couldn’t afford to. He had one job to do, and that was to keep being chased, as long as it could be. He had to keep Zuko from finding the Survivor, however he could. Nothing else mattered. He didn’t want to admit that he didn’t know the Survivor personally. He didn’t know how Zuko would react to that…it didn’t matter how he reacted. But Sal didn’t want to have to explain it to him. Besides, it might be useful if Zuko just didn’t know that particular fact. “No offense, but you’re tied to a bed with a broken leg, talking to a boy you hate,” he replied, giving Zuko a look. “I think most of your thoughts are probably about escaping.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 13, 2021 16:07:09 GMT -5
Zuko didn’t think he hated Sal. He didn’t know why he didn’t. By all accounts, he probably should have, but… there was something about the boy that wasn’t exactly… easy to hate. He was the one thing in between Zuko and his goal. Of course Zuko resented him for that, but… no, he hated him. He had to hate him. It was the only thing that made sense. He couldn’t afford to not hate him. If he had to do the unthinkable to find the Survivor, then he couldn’t be friends with the person who was in his way. Besides, Sal probably hated him, so it didn’t matter what Zuko felt. They were never going to be anything but enemies. That was fine. It… it had to be fine. “Okay, so maybe I don’t want to be here,” Zuko replied, rolling his eyes. “But you made a good point about the leg. If I walk on it now, it won’t heal right. In a way, you’re doing me a favor by stopping me from being reckless and running on it anyway.” His voice was little more than a grumble, like he was reluctant to admit that. He didn’t know what he was trying to do here. His suggestion hadn’t been born of a wish to escape, but… he could see why Sal was hesitant. “Just forget it.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 13, 2021 16:16:05 GMT -5
Sal didn’t even want to consider that he might not hate Zuko. Zuko was trying to do something that would end in countless unnecessary deaths. He may not have believed he was hurting anyone, but the fact remained that he was, and if he continued, and Sal didn’t stop him…those deaths would happen whether he liked it or not. You didn’t have to be a bad person to get people killed. Sometimes, being confused was enough. He shot Zuko a glance, narrowing his eyes a little at that. He was right, of course. Walking in his condition would have been very stupid. Running would have been even more stupid. Sal didn’t think he was stopping him because of that, but he couldn’t deny it was a result. “Your welcome,” he replied after a moment, and it was very hard to tell whether he wa being genuine or not. He wasn’t entirely sure himself. “Maybe you’ll think twice about chasing me up buildings now? It never ends well for you.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 13, 2021 17:18:06 GMT -5
One of them had to be wrong. There just wasn’t any way to make what they thought at all compatible…they were directly opposed to each other. Zuko wanted to kill the Survivor. Even if he thought he just wanted to catch him, which Sal found very hard to believe…did he think for a second the Lord Ruler would let him live after everything he’d done? He couldn’t possibly be that naive. If he thought he wasn’t killing the Survivor by bringing him to the Lord Ruler, he was lying to himself. It was easier to believe he thought the Survivor’s death was necessary, but it didn’t matter, in the end. Zuko may have had good intentions, Sal had to admit that much, but it didn’t make what he was trying to do any less catastrophic. He could try to make him see how bad it was, but if he didn’t see it after living on the streets, what could words do? “Yeah, I guess you’re not,” he sighed, leaning back against the wall. “And I’m not going to stop running until you stop chasing me. Looks like we’re stuck with each other.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 14, 2021 20:43:13 GMT -5
Sal didn’t know who Zuko was, or how he knew the Lord Ruler. He was mostly assuming that Zuko was just…some kid who had caught the wrong sort of attention. Who knew if the Lord Ruler had even sent him personally. It was equally possible that they were both fighting a war for someone who didn’t even know they existed. Just…not on the same side, it seemed. It would have been a lot easier to just convince him he was on the wrong side, but that didn’t seem to be working. He wasn’t awful with people, but he hadn’t exactly had a lot of practice, either, and trying to make someone do a complete 180 on how they thought about the world…it wouldn’t happen overnight, and Zuko’s leg was healing. Not that Sal had a clue what he’d do when it actually healed. “Seems like it,” he replied, not bothering to protest. If Zuko wanted to think it was stubbornness keeping him from staying with the Survivor, then he saw no reason not to let him. He let a moment pass. He could go out again, he knew, but he needed to conserve as much of his strength as he could. If he was exhausted and Zuko was freshly rested, he would just be caught, and he didn’t think it would be as easy to get away the next time. The silence really was going to kill him, though. “You…know any games?” He asked after a moment, not quite meeting Zuko’s eyes.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 15, 2021 0:02:26 GMT -5
Zuko didn’t know how much longer he would be here. He would be able to try to escape as soon as his leg was healed, but he had no way of knowing how long that would be. He was awful at waiting around, but he doubted that Sal was just going to let him go. He was kind, but he wasn’t stupid. Although, perhaps that was an oxymoron. In a world like this, kindness was stupid. Kindness was what had landed Zuko in this mess to begin with. He pushed the thought away. He didn’t really want Sal knowing about his situation. He wasn’t sure he would want to talk about it even if the Lord Ruler wasn’t a factor. He grit his teeth, staring at the ground for a long moment as he tried to think of something to say. Were they just going to go back to silence? That was… fine… but Zuko didn’t like it much. How long had it been since he had talked to anyone his age? That was a depressing thought. “Games?” Zuko asked, clearly surprised by the question. He bit his lip, considering. “I mean… a lot of games you sort of need to have hands for,” he replied, lifting his tied hands up. “I… won’t ask you to untie me, though. I’m not… stupid.” He shook his head just a little bit. “Do you have cards?”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 16, 2021 12:39:58 GMT -5
L’s eyes widened a little at Orpheus’ response. He looked…relieved. Like he had expected much worse, somehow. L would have assumed that Watari would see his point and allow Orpheus to keep his job, with pay, once not too long ago, but Orpheus’ arrival had managed to shake his perception of the world just a little bit. He wasn’t entirely sure he liked the sensation. He was going to have to remember not to make any more assumptions. Watari was on his side, but even he admitted his hands were tied, which meant it was unfair to include him in anything that didn’t require him. It wasn’t a matter of trust, so much as it was a matter of Watari not having to make any moral decisions about the things he didn’t know. Probably better for everyone involved. “It’s not all that impressive…” he replied, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “It’s hardly your fault you were injured, so it’s not a sign you can’t work. There was no reason to fire you. I’m quite sure Watari would have seen that even without me.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 16, 2021 12:50:25 GMT -5
Kelsier gave a soft laugh at that, a surprised grin breaking out across his face. Hearing Nico refer to himself as the fool he had been talking about was exactly the pleasant sort of surprise he had been without for a while now…this place was so grim. The people in it were even more so, as though they were so desperate for light that they made their hearts black, just so the gray would appear bright in contrast. What they didn’t seem to understand was that doing so did Hathsin’s job for it. Sabotaging yourself so no one else could do it wasn’t the same as staying safe. Kelsier knew this place could probably crush him, given enough time, but he’d be damned if he gave it even an inch it hadn’t taken by force. He didn’t stop smiling as Nico asked his question. It may have been a cruel one, but it didn’t sting as badly as Nico probably thought it would. He was still reveling in the joy of finding someone else down here willing to both call themself a fool and continue doing as they pleased. “You just spoke to Mare, didn’t you?” He replied lightly. “She’s alive. You spoke to the people trying to steal from you. They still breathe. Did you think they would have stopped with you? You had one geode, and there were how many of them? They’d have turned on each other the moment you were dead. Now, they have to live with each other a little while longer, if they want to stand a chance down here. So I’d say my success rate is…Lord Ruler, when did I last try to do any math in my head…let’s see…about 100%.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 16, 2021 13:07:35 GMT -5
They were in a surprisingly similar situation, it seemed. Both lonely but unwilling to admit it. Both trying to avoid each other, but wanting to talk, because even on the rare occasions they did need to interact with someone else, chances were pretty high it would be an adult. There were the street kids…other street kids. Was Sal a street kid? He wasn’t completely sure. He did live on the streets, but he didn’t speak their slang, and he felt less a part of their pack than he thought he would if he could be considered one of them. They were survivors of a different sort. They were the sort of people you didn’t need to kill, not the ones you couldn’t. More like rats than Inquisitors. He eyed Zuko’s tied hands. He had a point. Most games were going to be difficult for someone who couldn’t use their hands. Still…last time he’d been both conscious and untied, he had been trying to capture Sal, and probably hold him against his will. Probably not torture him, but that wasn’t something Sal felt he could count on. Desperate times and such. He shook his head a little. He did have Zuko’s swords. As long as he was armed and Zuko wasn’t…he would probably be fine. “Yeah. Hang on,” he replied, moving over to the corner he’d started using as a shelf to keep whatever he happened to stumble across. None of it was particularly useful, but everything was potentially useful, and he was in no position to turn down anything he could get without having to pay for it or steal it. He did have some old cards. The game itself was unclear, but he was pretty sure they could figure it out. He walked back over to Zuko, pausing to look at him for a long moment. Then, he gave a reluctant sigh, “Look, I don’t trust you, but we could be here a while, and I’m going to lose my mind if we don’t do something. Promise not to attack me if I untie your hands for a while? Because I will stab you, even if you do have a broken leg.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 17, 2021 3:44:58 GMT -5
The fact that Kelsier was a successful hero type was somehow even more frustrating. Heroes didn’t survive in Hathsin. Nico had only been down there for a few days, but even he could tell that. He was going to be as selfish as he could manage to be, but… he had morals he had to stick to. Morals he didn’t want to sacrifice to Hathsin, even if they were just as foolish as he had accused Kelsier of being. How long would it be before he thought only of himself? How long before he started trying to figure out who had a geode and who didn’t, just so he could try to steal from the people who did? He didn’t want to be the kind of person who lived just because other people died. That was the very nature of Hathsin. It was impossible to get around. It was, he reflected bitterly, also the nature of the nobility. The only reason they could live in such extravagance was because the Skaa were suffering beneath them. Because they were killed when they didn’t quite line up with inhuman expectations. And even if you survived a week in Hathsin, what then? What was your prize? Another week of despair? “Good for you,” Nico said after a moment, surprised to find the words only partially coated in sarcasm. The rest was genuine. The rest was surprise and respect, and maybe even a little bit awe. Just a little bit. “I hope your record stays that pristine.” In Hathisn, it wouldn’t. People died. It was just a fact of life. Nico knew that well enough without even seeing anyone die yet. The day was coming. Soon. Too soon… he needed to find a geode.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 18, 2021 1:36:56 GMT -5
It was hard to look at the two of them and believe, even for a second, that they had much in common. At least… if you knew anything about either of them. From appearances alone, Zuko may as well have been a skaa boy. He wasn’t. He was noble, and Sal was skaa, and that wasn’t what divided them. What divided them was the beliefs they had grown up with. What divided them was the treatment they had received growing up. Zuko… well, Zuko knew he had gotten lucky. He had escaped from his father’s wrath with only a burned face. If it had been anyone else… if it had been a skaa boy who had so dishonored the Lord Ruler… Zuko had no doubt he would have been tortured. It was hard to reconcile his wish to go home with the understanding he was building of the type of person his father was. Zuko wasn’t going to let himself think about that, not yet. He believed that he could make a difference. He just… didn’t believe that difference could be made by killing the Lord Ruler. It was hard to say if he believed that because he truly believed it, or if he believed it because the Lord Ruler was his father. Zuko pushed the thought violently away, focusing instead on the cards Sal pulled out. It was a bit of a surprise that he had any, but Zuko wasn’t going to question it. He was just… grateful for something to do. He was sure he would’ve lost his mind if he had been forced to sit there doing nothing for much longer. “I have no idea why me having a broken leg would stop you from stabbing me,” Zuko replied, brow raising. “But I promise.” He frowned a little bit, eyes narrowing as he looked Sal over once. “Do you even have a weapon on you?” There was no judgement in his voice, just genuine curiosity. “I mean… you have my swords, but if I were going to try something, I could probably get most of the way out of the door by the time you could grab them, even with my broken leg.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 20, 2021 7:30:30 GMT -5
L knew he was unaware of certain things. It wasn’t a comfortable sort of knowledge to live with, but all he could do now was try and learn about those things, as best he could. Watari had intentionally concealed them, it seemed. He wasn’t a completely reliable source of information in this area. Not that L thought he would directly lie, but he of all people knew that you could create a lot more than the truth when armed only with honesty and wit. “No, it’s perfectly alright. I’m beginning to understand that I don’t have all the information I thought I did about this,” he replied, giving a tiny sigh. “So if anyone should apologize, I suppose it’s me. I knew some things, naturally, but I wasn’t aware of…well, probably most of the things that as completely impossible for you to ignore. Watari says we need to keep up appearances to stop other houses from attacking us, but that means he doesn’t think they’re right, he only thinks they’re powerful. Anyway…I must seem incredibly stupid, in your eyes. I’ll attempt to do better.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 21, 2021 19:52:23 GMT -5
The nobility…they had been afraid of Kelsier. They had feared the thief that was never caught, locked their doors and hoped they would be left alone. The rules hadn’t applied to him. He had never let them apply to him. Until the Lord Ruler himself had deigned to step in. It had taken a trap from him personally to stop Kelsier. Sentencing him and Mare to Hathsin had been a sort of cruel irony, Kelsier knew. After all, it had been atium that Kelsier had aimed to steal, more often than not. And here he was…aiding them in replacing all he’d taken. He had to admit, he say the poetic justice that had made the Lord Ruler choose to do it. But that didn’t mean it hadn’t been stupid. He hadn’t killed Kelsier directly. He hadn’t killed either of them, and while their hearts beat, there was a chance of escape. Leaving Kelsier alive had been a mistake . And he planned to make it one the Lord Ruler regretted, very, very deeply. “Good for me,” he agreed, stepping back a little. “For both of us. I know you don’t believe me, but you don’t have to. I don’t care if it’s impossible. I will remain myself, even now. And that means fighting back.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 21, 2021 21:29:44 GMT -5
Orpheus blinked, frowning a little bit. He would never call a noble stupid. There were a great deal who knew exactly the way the world was and who were willing to do what it took to stay on top, even if that meant hurting innocent people. Orpheus hated those nobles. They were hard, and they were cruel. L, on the other hand… Orpheus didn’t think he really trusted him, but he didn’t think he was stupid. Idealistic, perhaps. Naïve, most definitely. But not stupid. If he were stupid… well, then he would believe what the vast majority of the nobility believed. He wouldn’t be thinking for himself. “It’s not your fault that you weren’t able to see some of the things that are happening where you aren’t looking,” Orpheus murmured, shaking his head. “I’m sure if I were placed in the middle of the ball, I’d be far more clueless about the way things are than you are about the way things are for the Skaa. But… I appreciate you actually… I guess… trying to help. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t believe most of the nobility would put that sort of effort in. I’m just Skaa.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 21, 2021 21:47:05 GMT -5
L had never considered himself very idealistic. He was suspicious of most things, especially people, but…the truth was that he didn’t seem to know how the world was. He was going to have to be very careful about the things he said and did, until he understood it better. He was effectively flying blind at the moment, and he thought he might hate it. Orpheus was trying to reassure him, but the words only made him feel more helpless. He pursed his lips, watching the other person for a long moment before he dropped his gaze. “I’m no good at balls, either,” he admitted, his expression almost shy. “I don’t understand them. So the analogy doesn’t work.” He sighed lightly and dropped down next to Orpheus. “At any rate…one thing I do know is that you need rest. I can probably figure out how to get you into a bed, or something…”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 22, 2021 1:22:44 GMT -5
“Okay,” Nico said after a long moment, grateful that Kelsier had started to step back. There was so little Nico could control down here, but… he could control the space immediately around him. It felt… like his. It was the only thing he had, now. He shook his head, trying to ground himself back in the moment. Kelsier was a fool, but… so was Nico. He wouldn’t agree to Kelsier’s protection, but he couldn’t actually stop Kelsier if he wanted to protect him. He couldn’t stop Kelsier from interceding if he got attacked again. “You do that. But if you save my life again, you know that I have my own foolish set of morals. A life for a life. That’s the terms I live by. You save my life, I’ll have to save yours or… or your friend’s… later on. Deal?” When Nico had first been sent to Hathsin, he hadn’t actually pictured himself spending much time speaking to the other prisoners. He certainly hadn’t pictured himself making deals like this. There was a smart part of Nico that wanted to be competitive. A part of him that wanted to prove that he could stay himself for just as long as Kelsier. A part of him that almost wanted to prove Kelsier wrong. He didn’t want to see Kelsier break, but… if it happened, then he deserved someone to be there for it, right? To remember how hard he had fought? Maybe Nico could live that long.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 22, 2021 1:40:58 GMT -5
“Ah,” Orpheus replied, eyes widening. He had never heard of a noble who wasn’t good at balls, but the information endeared him to L even more. “Well… if I were going to call you stupid for not understanding balls, then I would have to be calling myself stupid, too. And just because I’m aware of the things that are going on around me, just because I know the risks that come with being Skaa… there’s nothing I can do to fix them. I don’t know how to help things other than to make sure I survive long enough to find a way to help. Sorry… my point is I don’t think it’s stupid to not know things you haven’t been exposed to. My thoughts are just… a little scattered.” Orpheus blushed, pushing his hair out of his face and looking firmly at the ceiling. “I’m not just saying you’re not stupid because you’re more powerful than me, by the way. I… don’t like lying. And I’m really really bad at it.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 25, 2021 3:24:23 GMT -5
Sal didn’t think there was much chance of getting through to Zuko. It wasn’t even that he thought Zuko was stubborn, though he did think that, too. He just knew how deeply he held his own opinions about the world. How sure he was that he was right. If Zuko was that sure…they were always going to be enemies. It wasn’t something they could fix. Not that Sal really wanted to that badly…maybe Zuko hadn’t hurt him when he could have, but it wasn’t like they were friends. They wanted completely opposite things here. They were direct enemies. Which meant he shouldn’t have been even considering playing cards with him, but in his defense, there wasn’t much else to do. Talking about anything relevant only made them both heated, and there was no way that could end well, so…cards it was. He hesitated, about to settle in front of Zuko again when the other boy’s words caught his ears and he stopped, eyeing him. “Maybe. Weapons are hard to steal,” he replied after a second, his tone almost defensive. “But I could probably overpower you right now pretty easily anyway. You’re not exactly armed to the teeth, you know.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 25, 2021 18:18:18 GMT -5
Zuko knew they could never be friends. Not in this world, at least. Their beliefs were so fundamentally different that they couldn’t ever reconcile them. The thing was… deep down, they both wanted the same thing. They wanted the Skaa to stop being killed. They wanted the world to be better than it was. Zuko didn’t want the throne. Well… it wasn’t that he didn’t want it, it was just… he wasn’t sure he was ready for that power. He wasn’t entirely certain that he was the right person to wield it. There were only two things he knew for certain: one, that to facilitate a smooth transition in power, the throne needed to go to someone who had a valid claim to it. Two, that the only two people with any sort of claim to it were himself and Azula, and things under Azula would just be worse. The only way to even try to fix things was to go back home and learn how to rule, and then take over when his father decided he’d had enough. Wasn’t that why he had decided to have children in the first place? “I don’t have any weapons, but I guarantee you I’m more practiced in fighting than you are,” Zuko replied, levelling his gaze to meet Sal’s. “Which is beside the point. You need a weapon. You need a weapon that you know how to use.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 2, 2021 23:52:45 GMT -5
Sal didn’t know much about how the throne, or any of that sort of power, might work. He didn’t know that there was even a chance of the Lord Ruler ever stepping down voluntarily…he didn’t even think of that as an option. Clearly, he wanted very badly to stay on top. So much so that he actively crushed anything that could get in his way, even hypothetically. He knew a little more about why Zuko wanted to catch the Survivor now. He needed to, to go back. But it didn’t make Sal any more inclined to let him go through with it. Maybe it wasn’t fair to Zuko that Hs couldn’t go home, but how was it fair to end hundreds of other lives just because Zuko missed having his own bed? He crossed his arms, eyeing Zuko. “You want to arm me,” he repeated, voice edging into incredulousness. “With something I know how to use.” He didn’t respond to the comment about being a better fighter. Chances were, he actually was. Still…only one of them was at risk of a permanent limp here, and if it was in self defense, it wasn’t like Sal was going to hold back. He was pretty sure Zuko knew trying anything right now would, at best, end with them both too hurt to get anywhere, which happened to be a common enough way for the Skaa to end up dead.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 3, 2021 2:05:18 GMT -5
Kelsier inclined his head, not replying right away. Nico may have had his own set of morals to live by, but that didn’t mean Kelsier had to encourage him. Of course…he did want Nico to stay himself, not give into the Pits the way it got harder and harder to resist as time went on, but at the cost of his own life? No. Kelsier wouldn’t allow the kid to get himself in trouble trying to repay a debt that didn’t exist. So…maybe he’d just have to be a little bit more subtle about saving him, then. He knew little about Allomancy, besides Mare’s, but he had never needed it to pull off heists before. And, so long as Nico never knew he’d been protected, he’d keep whatever geodes he’d found to himself. “You should go get some sleep,” he said after a moment, voice quiet. “There’s day’s work ahead of you tomorrow.” He wished he could do more. He wished he didn’t have to let Nico go, even if he barely knew the kid. But he knew better than to push it. Trying to do too much would ruin his chances of doing anything at all. The last thing he needed was for the kid to start avoiding him even more than he already was probably going to.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 3, 2021 3:02:14 GMT -5
Zuko knew that they would never be on the same side. There were some things that couldn’t be negotiated. There were some things that were so insurmountable that the difference in beliefs would render them enemies forever. Still… Zuko wasn’t sure he hated Sal. How could he, when Sal was the reason he was still alive? When Sal was undoubtedly the reason he was going to walk again. If he had been left there in the street, he might have made it somewhere safe, but his leg would have been ruined. It would have healed improperly, if it ever healed at all. That wasn’t a guarantee, especially with no medics around who would be willing to treat someone they saw as Skaa. As far as the nobility were concerned, Zuko was Skaa. As far as the Skaa were concerned, he was noble. He wasn’t welcome anywhere. And yet… Sal had taken him in. Just for a short time, and not because they were friends, but… Zuko couldn’t ignore that. “Look. Maybe I don’t want you to die. Maybe I think the way the world is set up means you’re likely to die if you don’t have a weapon. If you end up using that weapon against me, fine. Besides, it’s not like I can teach you how to use a weapon properly right now. You have time to think it over.” Zuko didn’t know why he was even considering it. Maybe it was because Sal was the only person in the world he knew of that would be there, making sure Zuko didn’t die. Maybe Zuko wanted to return the favor in the only way he could. They were always going to be enemies, but they might as well both get something out of this temporary truce.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 3, 2021 3:26:03 GMT -5
“Can you sleep in this place?” Nico asked, his voice surprisingly vulnerable. He didn’t want to be saved by Kelsier, but he didn’t want him to die, either. On the surface, the division was between Skaa and noble. On the surface, the two of them would have been on distant sides. Kelsier never would have wanted to save Nico’s life. But here, the only distinction was between guard and prisoner. As much as Nico didn’t trust the other prisoners, the last thing he wanted was to watch them die. They were all here for a variety of reasons, but they had all offended the Lord Ruler somehow. They had all proven themselves dangerous. Nico was probably less dangerous than the others, but he had dangerous ideas and the stubbornness that had marked his father as both important and difficult to work with. He was a danger to the Lord Ruler because he wouldn’t give up his beliefs that he was wrong. Because he wasn’t the one who was supposed to live. There were any number of reasons Nico was down here. “Does it matter how much sleep we get?” he added, arms crossing. “The day’s work will be just as exhausting whether we get three hours or twelve. I’d rather use my time how I want to, not trying to force sleep that will never come.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 4, 2021 2:02:51 GMT -5
“It’s the concussion,” L told him, remembering what the doctor had said. He may have doubted his abilities in most areas, but he did at least have a good memory. Well…for some things, at least. “Your thoughts will be scattered for a while. It’s best not to try and think of anything too large or complicated until you’re better, I think. But you’ll be resting, so I don’t see why that would be a problem.” He hesitated, then gave a small nod. “I’m very good at lying,” he told him. “Which means I’m familiar with most tells. I believe you.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 4, 2021 2:17:55 GMT -5
“Right,” Orpheus returned, forcing himself to lay back down. It was easy enough to forget he was injured, though his head was spinning. Perhaps it was because the Skaa spent most of their lives denying injuries. They pretended that they were unharmed, because being injured meant you couldn’t work. It meant you were weak. It meant you were left to die, even if the injury itself hadn’t been fatal. Lord Wammy was different. L… L was very, very different. Orpheus didn’t have the words for what L was. “How… do I stop my thoughts?” Orpheus asked rather bewildered by the idea. He didn’t know how to stop his thoughts. He didn’t know how to make himself think of something else. Something less… huge. If it surprised Orpheus that L was good at lying, he didn’t give any indication of it. He figured that may have been rude. “I’ve… never had time to do nothing,” Orpheus admitted after a long moment. “Are there less taxing tasks I can help with until I have recovered?”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 4, 2021 16:08:18 GMT -5
Sal hesitated, not quite looking away from Zuko. It felt like a trap, but everything did. He couldn’t see why Zuko would want him to learn how to defend himself, but he couldn’t see what ulterior motive he could have. Unless he was trying to catch Sal off guard, but…arming him while doing that would have been a very stupid idea. He shrugged to try and mask his uncertainty. Zuko was right about one thing…nothing would happen until his leg healed a bit more. Sal had time to think it through. He tossed the cards, then glanced at Zuko’s wrists. Those would make it a little hard to play, he couldn’t deny that. Well… He grit his teeth and set the cards down, then moved over and retrieved the swords. When he came back, he put them next to his spot in front of the bed, positioned within easy grabbing distance for himself, and out of Zuko’s reach. Then he took a step forward and hesitated. “I’m going to untie you. For now,” he told him, trying not to sound as doubtful about it as he felt.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 5, 2021 0:50:33 GMT -5
If Zuko were honest, he thought that untying him was a very bad idea. He wasn’t going to do anything, of course, but… Sal must have been bored out of his mind if he was actually willing to take the risk. Sal had no idea what Zuko’s situation was. As far as he knew, if Zuko could get out, he would be able to find a doctor who could fix him up in no time. But… that wasn’t the case. Zuko didn’t have anyone, not really. He did, in theory, have a crew of guards who were supposed to help him, but they had always been loyal to his uncle. Without Iroh and without the funds that Sal had taken from him… there was no way to make sure they stayed loyal. They would all leave, and Zuko knew he would deserve that. He just… needed to capture the Survivor. And then he could go home. He didn’t know how much of his desire was about the politics and how much was being a boy who missed home, but… it didn’t matter if he went home for the right reasons or not. “I get it,” he said after a moment, shaking out his hands as soon as they were released. He rubbed at the raw skin that had rubbed up against the rope. “If I try to escape, you’ll stab me. So what’s the game?”
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