Snip, snip, snip
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Post by snip on Feb 1, 2016 14:13:40 GMT -8
What was he doing. What was he doing? Esther now fumed silently at herself; she should’ve asked Alim what his plans were -- in depth -- before they’d come here.
“It’s a nice place,” she said, if only to add to the conversation -- she was tired of staying still in her corner, save for breathing (and even that was hampered by the smoke in the room). She didn’t risk shooting Alim a look. That might blow a hole in whatever he was planning. Or her own credibility as a thinking, autonomous individual.
Clem had dropped the topic of Inkidortes… for now. That meant he’d probably be paying a visit later. Fun. The extended invitation had, in her opinion, pretty much sealed the deal. She prayed he liked cats, for the cats’ sake.
At least the conversation appeared to be going well. If only there was an opening for her own questions… but those would have to wait. Only briefly, but nevertheless. The negotiations going on now would have to come first.
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So many weeds and no flowers..
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Post by arealhorrorshow on Feb 3, 2016 16:40:03 GMT -8
His head whipped around to the other member of the group, one who remained so quiet that he honestly had almost forgotten she was there in his half inebriated state. “Oh, she finally speaks,” he cooed with a mocking smile, idly playing around with the tip of the pipe in his mouth. “And what brings you to this little meeting, love? Auditing for possible future enrollment perhaps? Or do you have a pitch prepared for me too?”
Clement had been rather curious about her presence since the start of their conversation though he had been a bit distracted with the Egyptian's proposal to give her the proper attention. A rather young girl in appearance, though he had learned not to associate appearance with any measure of experience in his line of work. It was an interesting and entertaining way of keeping him on his toes so he could hardly complain.
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I'm speechless.
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Post by catmom on Feb 4, 2016 21:07:29 GMT -8
"She was my plus one to the party," Alim answered this time, eyeing Esther calmly before looking back at Clement. "Esther here is my assistant, and pretty much my partner in crime," he simply explained, placing his hand lightly on top of her head. "I hope you don't mind, I wouldn't have brought her with me if I didn't have trust in her." And that was true, even though he knew there was a lot more he had to explain to the girl. He was intuitive enough to notice the pent up aggression she had, mainly due to his choices. Too bad she just had to roll with it for now until after the meeting. Besides, he had plenty of time to explain things to her after.
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Snip, snip, snip
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Post by snip on Feb 5, 2016 16:14:18 GMT -8
“Assistant”. Hm.
Well, it was a fair answer. Better than “mildly interested tagalong”, which was probably the more truthful answer.
… He had a plan, right? Of course he did. Probably. It didn’t matter; she’d find out later. Best to not talk her way into a hole. She nodded, tolerating the hand on her head, and continued to wait it out.
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So many weeds and no flowers..
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Post by arealhorrorshow on Feb 11, 2016 4:23:04 GMT -8
“Oh no, not at all~ The more the merrier as far as I’m concerned,” he mused, waving his hand dismissively even though something like this would have normally peeved him quite a bit. Well, then again, this entire meeting would have peeved him but it seemed mixing substances was doing wonders for his nerves. “Tell me, love. What is it that you hate most about Death?” he asked, his head tilted to the side with only the slightest air of curiosity.
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I'm speechless.
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Post by catmom on Feb 11, 2016 12:33:43 GMT -8
At Clement's answer Alim's smile widened, a soft laugh escaping his lips as he was pleased with the outcome. "Glad to hear that," he said, picking up the pipe once more while the hunter asked Esther a question. He couldn't help but scoff at said question, pausing mid-puff before turning his attention at the both of them.
"Death is nothing more than a lying hypocrite," he interrupted, not really caring as his eye narrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line. "I'd like to think that she's not even looking for a successor, but rather simply using her power to pluck unsuspecting victims from resting in peace to do her dirty work." At this he snorts. "I sometimes wonder if she even does reap orders anymore, now with all these apprentices running around doing her bidding..."
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Snip, snip, snip
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Post by snip on Feb 11, 2016 13:13:41 GMT -8
A thumb was jerked in Alim’s direction, accompanied by a small nod. “What he said. She keeps us here for centuries at a time, without any real explanations… or apologies.” The fingers of her left hand drummed lightly against the edge of the table; a habit brought on by agitation. “We know so little about her, and she can’t explain to us the mechanics behind things like the thread quotas, or why we were chosen, and yet she expects us to work for her without giving us any say in the matter.”
More drumming; her other hand rose to gesture vaguely as she spoke.
“She deprives us of something that should have been ours… and who’s to say it even exists at all? But that’s beside the point -- it’s cruel of her to keep so many people enslaved to do work that she’s supposed to be doing herself. Or that her successor’s supposed to be doing, but Alim is right -- she might not even be looking for them.
“And the people the surrounds herself with; the ones that tolerate her and make excuses for her indecisiveness! The echo chamber she’s created -- it’s ridiculous! It’s a breeding ground for stagnation and defeatism --”
A pause. She quieted, retracting her hands from the table and the air (respectively), and folded them in her lap, head bowed.
“... I’m sure you’ve heard these statements many times. To the point where they sound repetitive. I’m sorry.”
In truth, she wasn’t all that sorry. If given the opportunity, she might’ve tried to carry an actual conversation -- but she thought she’d said too much for the time being. It wasn’t a great idea to risk annoying someone who might have their heads if he got tired of talking to them.
Besides. If she rambled long enough, she might let her Apprentice status slip. She wasn’t sure she wanted him to know about that just yet --
… Unless he already knew. That was a distinct possibility. But it didn’t seem like he did... so for the time being, all was well. Well enough, at least.
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So many weeds and no flowers..
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Post by arealhorrorshow on Feb 20, 2016 2:36:13 GMT -8
“Oh, so you agree?” he returned, a more-than-pleased-with-himself grin pulling wide across his face as he leaned back comfortably again. He let Esther talk, his knee propping up his foot and intently listened to her despite his lax posture. Oh how he loved to hear other’s distaste of Death. He could listen to it all day long, in all honest.
“Oh, but you know she’s not, right? She has no intention of picking a successor. Now or any time soon,” he added, leaning into the two of them once it seemed like the girl had finished talking and with a flare of excitement in his voice that one might equate to the thrill of gossip. “You are exactly right, darling. I might not have been at Headquarters long, but I was there long enough to have gotten rather close to our lovely Lady. It seems that those of us that had the sense to leave had the right inclinations about her because she is indeed hiding much more than she chooses to share..”
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I'm speechless.
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Post by catmom on Feb 20, 2016 20:25:29 GMT -8
"Oh? Not surprised I was right," Alim offered as he heard Clement offer his insight after Esther was finished. He wasn't even surprised that the hunter leader knew this much about Death, but he was interested as to how much those two were affiliated. It would be rude to ask, and would risk the other's good mood, so Alim didn't question him and instead smiled back.
"So what exactly is our fair Lady hiding from us?" he asked, interests piqued as he too leaned in. "While I have been around longer, I had no real interest in getting close to Death. She is quite...unnerving to say the least. If it weren't for Cacira I would've left centuries earlier," he muttered the last part, taking a somber look as his thoughts drifted towards his former student. Wanting to get rid of said thoughts he took another huff from the pipe, leaning back so he could blow the smoke away from the others' faces. "So, why does she do it? Is it out of loneliness? Because she simply can? I'm curious now as to why she really has us apprentices around..."
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Snip, snip, snip
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Post by snip on Feb 21, 2016 13:26:32 GMT -8
Esther had settled back into silence -- there was no use repeating the question of what Death was hiding.
She wondered, for a moment, how much Clem actually knew about Death. If he answered Alim’s question, would his answer be fabricated in any way? It was difficult to tell… but she didn’t doubt that he’d gotten closer to the white-haired witch than most of the other Apprentices -- at least based on the talk she’d heard floating around HQ.
The irony of one of Death’s golden children turning on her wasn’t lost. And with one of the Apprentice leaders having fallen at one point… what did that say about Death?
… That she needed to pick better favorites, probably.
But the topic at hand was about a different kind of betrayal. What, indeed, was Death hiding from the majority of her Apprentices? There was so much ground to be covered, here -- maybe she was hiding something predictable. Maybe it was something mundane and pointless. Maybe it was something horrific; so much that someone close to Death had turned against her with a furor --
Alim’s words dragged Esther out of her cycle of conspiracies. “If it weren’t for Cacira, I would’ve left centuries ago.” Ouch.
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