Option two it was, Gale sighed and squinted her eyes shut as Amy went on her self indulgent rant. Screw it. They may as well do this. The whole crew talked about her like this when she wasn't around, someone may as well have the courtesy to say it to her face. Gale let her finish up and was quiet for a moment, setting her drink aside and exhaling. She just had to 'win' all the time, this one.
"And you've got me figured out?" She said calmly. Almost sleepily. "You've got everyone figured out without of even bothering to look them in the eye or learn their names?"
Good thing Gale was cashing in soon, cus if this went wrong she was about to get on the bad side of the captain's favorite.
"Is it being above it all to feel uncomfortable when someone you've never spoken to comes into your room in the night and decides you're family? I was in a poor mood earlier, I'll admit and apologise. But if you did that in half the rooms on this ship the ex-cultists would kick your ass raw. How would you feel if they walked in and told you that you were their sister now?
Then when you reacted in a way they didn't like they bit your head off and said you 'wouldn't even recognise your home that you cling onto. What does that even mean. Sounds like a threat to most ears. Then they say how they're pain is so much greater than yours, as if that can be measured. They say they'd put you and everyone you knew 'out of their misery' to get what back the people they'd rather be here. Cus they'd act how they wanted. Now being told that would make someone feel like family." Gale went on, making sure to use the same words Amy had just given her.
"Or if this is you saying it to them, then it reminds them of the stories of how this girl burned the last person who crossed her alive and spread that word out to the world. Maybe they even saw the smoke and pyre themselves."
Gale was strumming out a few chords by this point. It helped her to keep her hands busy when things were tense.
"I wasn't judging you, Amy. I wasn't trying to attack you or break you down. I was being pissy, as people are want to do after a day of getting shot at and dragging a toddler after them. But if this is how we end the night then I'd give the advice that its hard to open up to someone who offers friendship with their first breath and death with their second. I mean are you like this if Axel or Sandra disagree with you, or do they know not to go off script? You want to try and form a bond worthy of being called family then stop trying to 'beat' everyone at it. Cus people can feel that. Most see masks clearer than you think."
Nooow she found the rhythm of that old song back. This was it. "Now, please listen or leave." Gale asked politely, sounding serene as her song. "I'm trying to jam." She gave a little yawn and hoped she wouldn't wake up in a gasoline bath.
==================================================================
MEANWHILE IN FROSTFALL
Now this was the stuff. Florian let the hot water pour over his back and fade out the aches and pains of his manic morning, turning and pacing as he enjoyed the space in his shower along with the fancy high water pressure. He'd taken the elevator back to his own rooms and was using his private bathroom. Because after experiencing this kind of luxury no way was he going back to using public places. He had seen the top of the mountain and was determined to enjoy the fun parts of this job between all the life and death decisions.
It was when he stepped out and the steam had cleared from the mirror that he had a moment to think on the sight in front of him. The scars had faded as much as they were ever going to. He'd always have that grid on his back but that didn't bother Florian as much as it once did. It still angered him if he dwelt on it, threatening to boil his blood in anger. But it was exhausting to keep thinking that way for long and Florian rarely had time for it. He didn't really think of himself that much these days, he had to put others first. Though not in the self hating, destructive, way he had under the priesthood. He just had something better to think on. He could get up and look out over that city like it was his baby.
Really he did. Literally he was told. As one morning he'd been looking out over it with a mug of coffee in hand, lost in thought, only to have Lilith sneak up behind him and whisper in his ear. "Mah baaaybeh." Along with things like. "I must go, Frostfall needs me, I am the night."
It really helped him get over the blind panic of hearing her just say about HER BABY as Flroian's mind had a quick breakdown. 'Oh shit, how? We used protection!'
He'd be seeing her again soon. He'd be seeing a lot more of her. That thought was enough to get him grinning like an idiot. He'd have to make more space for her stuff, maybe she'd want a moving truck to take that weird couch of hers. It could fit in the penthouse somewhere. Maybe they should move to a bigger one, or get an actual house? This whole thing was raising so many questions and he loved it. Florian would ponder on what they'd do as they lived together. What Lilith would do in Frostfall. She'd probably want some fresh language lessons. Maybe she'd use it as a chance to go to school? They were offering plenty of education incentives, he could hook her up with that. Hmmm, but then Erik would want to tutor her and make that hell. Maybe she'd go for a job instead. What would Lilith put on a resume? Good thing half the city workforce were ex-bandits, she'd fit right in.
'This is so awesome!' They were doing it like the normal people did!
Florian was half way through general grooming stuff right now. He wondered if Lilith would like the beard. He'd be travelling down to the boiling south soon, maybe it was time to ditch it and save his face the extra heat. No, not yet, then he'd be admitting defeat to Erik. He'd just give it a trim. Though while he was on that subject there were other areas that could do with a trim... ones that would be feeling the heat.
Lilith always sung its praises, though Florian had never tried it. She did drop hints about liking it if he did...
'What the hey, it's a time of change.' What a happy time indeed.
"And you've got me figured out?" She said calmly. Almost sleepily. "You've got everyone figured out without of even bothering to look them in the eye or learn their names?"
Good thing Gale was cashing in soon, cus if this went wrong she was about to get on the bad side of the captain's favorite.
"Is it being above it all to feel uncomfortable when someone you've never spoken to comes into your room in the night and decides you're family? I was in a poor mood earlier, I'll admit and apologise. But if you did that in half the rooms on this ship the ex-cultists would kick your ass raw. How would you feel if they walked in and told you that you were their sister now?
Then when you reacted in a way they didn't like they bit your head off and said you 'wouldn't even recognise your home that you cling onto. What does that even mean. Sounds like a threat to most ears. Then they say how they're pain is so much greater than yours, as if that can be measured. They say they'd put you and everyone you knew 'out of their misery' to get what back the people they'd rather be here. Cus they'd act how they wanted. Now being told that would make someone feel like family." Gale went on, making sure to use the same words Amy had just given her.
"Or if this is you saying it to them, then it reminds them of the stories of how this girl burned the last person who crossed her alive and spread that word out to the world. Maybe they even saw the smoke and pyre themselves."
Gale was strumming out a few chords by this point. It helped her to keep her hands busy when things were tense.
"I wasn't judging you, Amy. I wasn't trying to attack you or break you down. I was being pissy, as people are want to do after a day of getting shot at and dragging a toddler after them. But if this is how we end the night then I'd give the advice that its hard to open up to someone who offers friendship with their first breath and death with their second. I mean are you like this if Axel or Sandra disagree with you, or do they know not to go off script? You want to try and form a bond worthy of being called family then stop trying to 'beat' everyone at it. Cus people can feel that. Most see masks clearer than you think."
Nooow she found the rhythm of that old song back. This was it. "Now, please listen or leave." Gale asked politely, sounding serene as her song. "I'm trying to jam." She gave a little yawn and hoped she wouldn't wake up in a gasoline bath.
==================================================================
MEANWHILE IN FROSTFALL
Now this was the stuff. Florian let the hot water pour over his back and fade out the aches and pains of his manic morning, turning and pacing as he enjoyed the space in his shower along with the fancy high water pressure. He'd taken the elevator back to his own rooms and was using his private bathroom. Because after experiencing this kind of luxury no way was he going back to using public places. He had seen the top of the mountain and was determined to enjoy the fun parts of this job between all the life and death decisions.
It was when he stepped out and the steam had cleared from the mirror that he had a moment to think on the sight in front of him. The scars had faded as much as they were ever going to. He'd always have that grid on his back but that didn't bother Florian as much as it once did. It still angered him if he dwelt on it, threatening to boil his blood in anger. But it was exhausting to keep thinking that way for long and Florian rarely had time for it. He didn't really think of himself that much these days, he had to put others first. Though not in the self hating, destructive, way he had under the priesthood. He just had something better to think on. He could get up and look out over that city like it was his baby.
Really he did. Literally he was told. As one morning he'd been looking out over it with a mug of coffee in hand, lost in thought, only to have Lilith sneak up behind him and whisper in his ear. "Mah baaaybeh." Along with things like. "I must go, Frostfall needs me, I am the night."
It really helped him get over the blind panic of hearing her just say about HER BABY as Flroian's mind had a quick breakdown. 'Oh shit, how? We used protection!'
He'd be seeing her again soon. He'd be seeing a lot more of her. That thought was enough to get him grinning like an idiot. He'd have to make more space for her stuff, maybe she'd want a moving truck to take that weird couch of hers. It could fit in the penthouse somewhere. Maybe they should move to a bigger one, or get an actual house? This whole thing was raising so many questions and he loved it. Florian would ponder on what they'd do as they lived together. What Lilith would do in Frostfall. She'd probably want some fresh language lessons. Maybe she'd use it as a chance to go to school? They were offering plenty of education incentives, he could hook her up with that. Hmmm, but then Erik would want to tutor her and make that hell. Maybe she'd go for a job instead. What would Lilith put on a resume? Good thing half the city workforce were ex-bandits, she'd fit right in.
'This is so awesome!' They were doing it like the normal people did!
Florian was half way through general grooming stuff right now. He wondered if Lilith would like the beard. He'd be travelling down to the boiling south soon, maybe it was time to ditch it and save his face the extra heat. No, not yet, then he'd be admitting defeat to Erik. He'd just give it a trim. Though while he was on that subject there were other areas that could do with a trim... ones that would be feeling the heat.
Lilith always sung its praises, though Florian had never tried it. She did drop hints about liking it if he did...
'What the hey, it's a time of change.' What a happy time indeed.
