[ The unknown causes Cheris to retreat upon tenants she comprehends and maintains, by virtue of being a soldier of the hexarchate. In direct opposition, when Jedao is met with something new, something unknown ( something dangerous -- ) he leans into it, leaving the two of them to juggle practicality and a voracious appetite for investigation. There is a reason she is Kel, and he is Shuos, and it is a thing that travels throughout them both, down to the core of their person. There is no scripture in their universe, only doctrine -- no devils or demons, only the calendar and heresy against it. Multifaceted, formless heresy.
( She doesn't perceive Sebastian as heretical, only exotic - in the way that she would observe an Andan contact. A measure of mistrust, a healthy dose of disregard. The Kel were notorious for their fanaticism and xenophobia, after all. Their lives and hearts and minds given only to the hexarchate-proper. COST is an extension of her empirical duties, that is how she has accepted her position among it. Her companions, then, are extension of herself. It all relates back, one variable at a time, to the root of the formula. ) ]
Neither of us mind what you are, Sebastian. Honestly, we don't understand it, either.
[ Cheris feels her fingers curl, habitual for Jedao, the way her stillness is habit for her. ]
You're our companion, for the moment. We'll get as much out of you as you'll give, and should the day come when your time with us comes to an end... well. It'll be an amenable parting, or [ Cheris's shoulders shrug, her mouth pulling into something like a regrettable smile: ] something else entirely.
[ Between them, the Helm looks more like an elegant crown - close to the one worn by Queen Thsh. It draws the attention back to it, as though Cheris has not just permitted the general to "dib" the right to throw his reputation as an unstoppable force against someone inhuman. Someone they do not know the limits of, but have already assumed to be difficult for even COST's resources to handle. By the way her hand steadies and her mouth pulls into a frown, it's Cheris who answers him first: ] Your conversation makes my head hurt, you both speak in mazes. Games within games atop games, Shuos tricks and... clever tongues. This place suits you both. Jedao's been drawing cards all night, so he's trying to say something about all three of us.
[ No wonder she lets Jedao's handling ride at the forefront. Fairly, he answers second, after what could only be conveying his words to Cheris -- who scoffs before conveying them to Sebastian: ]
She's right. I've been fondling this deck since the day I got it. The next card is the Dagger, the card after that is the Eye. We both want to know what the other's gleaning throughout this, after all. It's the eyes, [ and s/he tosses down the two cards, one after the other. The Dagger, the Eye. As promised. Behind Cheris, Jedao's shadow stretches. Burning eyes aloft, like a crown. ] and who observes the most, that walks away with the upper hand. This is... just all shit. It's a Shuos spread, won't tell me a thing about you that you don't give me.
[ And suddenly, as if offering the most tantalizing fruit: ] There's something we want to do, and... we need the best candidates for the job.
no subject
( She doesn't perceive Sebastian as heretical, only exotic - in the way that she would observe an Andan contact. A measure of mistrust, a healthy dose of disregard. The Kel were notorious for their fanaticism and xenophobia, after all. Their lives and hearts and minds given only to the hexarchate-proper. COST is an extension of her empirical duties, that is how she has accepted her position among it. Her companions, then, are extension of herself. It all relates back, one variable at a time, to the root of the formula. ) ]
Neither of us mind what you are, Sebastian. Honestly, we don't understand it, either.
[ Cheris feels her fingers curl, habitual for Jedao, the way her stillness is habit for her. ]
You're our companion, for the moment. We'll get as much out of you as you'll give, and should the day come when your time with us comes to an end... well. It'll be an amenable parting, or [ Cheris's shoulders shrug, her mouth pulling into something like a regrettable smile: ] something else entirely.
[ Between them, the Helm looks more like an elegant crown - close to the one worn by Queen Thsh. It draws the attention back to it, as though Cheris has not just permitted the general to "dib" the right to throw his reputation as an unstoppable force against someone inhuman. Someone they do not know the limits of, but have already assumed to be difficult for even COST's resources to handle. By the way her hand steadies and her mouth pulls into a frown, it's Cheris who answers him first: ] Your conversation makes my head hurt, you both speak in mazes. Games within games atop games, Shuos tricks and... clever tongues. This place suits you both. Jedao's been drawing cards all night, so he's trying to say something about all three of us.
[ No wonder she lets Jedao's handling ride at the forefront. Fairly, he answers second, after what could only be conveying his words to Cheris -- who scoffs before conveying them to Sebastian: ]
She's right. I've been fondling this deck since the day I got it. The next card is the Dagger, the card after that is the Eye. We both want to know what the other's gleaning throughout this, after all. It's the eyes, [ and s/he tosses down the two cards, one after the other. The Dagger, the Eye. As promised. Behind Cheris, Jedao's shadow stretches. Burning eyes aloft, like a crown. ] and who observes the most, that walks away with the upper hand. This is... just all shit. It's a Shuos spread, won't tell me a thing about you that you don't give me.
[ And suddenly, as if offering the most tantalizing fruit: ] There's something we want to do, and... we need the best candidates for the job.