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Not at all.

[Maybe it's a twin thing.]

But I know it's important to try.

To what end?

To not be alone.

( A true widow, then. Perhaps, bereft of family. Of ties. )

You are not. ( Amputated. Unchained. Unwanted. ) Adrift alone.

I am, at home.

[But...]

Not so much here.

You are welcomed.

I know.

[By a few, at least, and that's more than she's had in a while.]

So are you.

On Wei Ying's behalf, be thanked.

You're both very welcome.

I won't be too far.

The man who called on you.

What is his nature?

He's [complicated.]--

He's... an ally. From home.

[And, since she's feeling like being honest, because it's better she say this than Stephen despite their agreement...]

I was his enemy the last time we met. We've come to an understanding.

He slaughtered freely there also?

[Maybe honesty isn't the best idea. Still, she presses on.]

No. I was the one doing the slaughter. It wasn't too dissimilar to what happened to him here.

Commanded by another?

No. Influenced, but it was still me.

[She'll never try to divert the blame.]

Stephen did his best to stop me from harming people.

Now, he and I have an agreement that I'll do the same should he ever lose control again.

This does not appear enmity.

Tolerance.

...friendship.

He's never been my friend.

[There's a bit of bite to the words. There's some deep resentment there that goes beyond the Dark hold.]

Apologies. Your matters your own.

It's all right. Things are complicated between me and people from my world. I don't expect you to know that.

They shunned a widow?

I made bad decisions in my grief.

[To put it lightly.]

I could have destroyed the world, if I wanted to do it. Ruled it, if I felt like it. I don't blame people from home for being cautious around me now.

[It's almost as if with great power comes great responsibility or something like that.]

( It chills him, blood and marrow, bone. )

How much power do you possess?

[He might know a thing or two about this, she thinks. It's why she bothers to say anything at all.]

I can rewrite reality. I've recreated the dead. [Not quite bringing them back, but remade them.] Made life out of magic.

What you've seen me do is the tip of the iceberg.

(no subject)

downswing - 2023-03-11 18:38 (UTC) - Expand