-- It took Cronus over a minute to get over the initial startlement, at least enough to manage the brief, tart reply. He didn't block her yet, though. Her explicit request amused him at least enough to stay his hand a few moments. --
-- > Latula: Drop your quirk. This is too serious a talk for such a thing. --
IG: I need to see you. In person.
IG: I owe you a face-to-face apology, and that at the least.
IG: If you're willing to do this, we'll do it your way.
IG: Bring Kankri. And/or someone stronger to stand with you, or between us. Whatever you need.
IG: I'm not expecting your trust. I'm willing to be at disadvantage.
IG: What say you?
CC: Face to face meetings havwe gone so wvell for us thusfar.
-- Bitter sarcasm was working for him so far, and he didn't feel like abandoning the tactic so easily. ...he was also not entirely comfortable with the idea of being near her again; she was fast enough to get in a first strike too easily. --
IG: As said. If we do this, it'll be on your terms.
CC: WVhy should I bother givwing you the chance?
IG: To right things.
IG: I'm not going to insist, but I want to discuss with you what I can do to repay you for my wrongdoing.
-- > Latula: do your best to keep your tone neutral. What little anger you have at the troll simmers inconsequentially far below the cautious respect you have for him, after hearing from Harlequin about the wrongs already done to him. --
CC: You didn't seem terribly uncertain about it before. Quite the change of heart.
-- Cronus was still uneasy about the idea of meeting her in person, and covering it with irritability while he mulled it over. He preferred to think of himself as offended, and not the slightest bit afraid. --
-- The injury to his /ego/ was /obviously/ the only reason he'd be reluctant to give her the time of day. Definitely. --
IG: I spoke to Arlequin.
IG: To Mituna, as well.
IG: Their words gave me reason to change my thoughts.
CC: WVhere mine did not.
CC: You havwe growvn into a stubborn wvoman, Latula.
IG: I was too angry to listen to reason.
IG: I regret it.
CC: WVith fewver healers, I wvould havwe lost the eye.
CC: A great part of me wvishes to reject your offer.
CC: I wvill need time to decide if that wvill be the wvay of it.
IG: Let me know when you've made up your mind, and on what terms.
-- iusGladii [IG] gave up trolling caepaeCaesurae [CC] --
CC: ...She earned a few points for that. He did not like her right now, but he could at least respect trying to do things the right way.
CC: Cronus seriously considered demanding she wear something ridiculous or demeaning to this meeting, if he did accept the offer. Because fuck her. ... That was not the nicest nor most reasonable impulse. He probably needed to talk to Kankri.
IG: Latula closed the conversation with a resigned grimace-- he was unreadable, and there was no way of knowing how this would pan out. Still, it had to be done, and beyond this, all that could be done was wait.
ML: Kankri thought he should demand she wear something where he could tell she wasn't carrying any weapons.
CC: And what of strife decks?
ML: Make her leave it behind
CC: Did Kankri think Cronus should go through with it? It was fairly clear he was looking for excuses to chicken out, but couldn't think of any good ones.
ML: Kankri is feeling better since he got to punch her, let her make it up to him, or hang herself.
CC: The unfortunate choice of words almost earns a laugh. It turns out as a brief unpleasant smile instead, followed a bit later by some industrious face-rubbing.
CC: Does Kankri think that, if he came along, he'd be able to keep it from going bad? He'd suggested that once, if this were ever to come up again...
ML: He could certainly try although he warns that she made him quite angry and she may be cross at him for punching her.
CC: Cronus had to think on it for several days, before coming to any conclusion. When he did, -- finally -- he would contact her via trollian. (( Do we want to play out the trollian part, or summarize? ))
IG: ((summarise for the sake of simplicity maybe?))
CC: (( *thumbs up* ))
CC: Cronus was still largely unreadable, though more businesslike. He saved the sarcasm for answers to direct questions at least, rather than allowing it to seep throughout the majority of his dialogue again. He requested she dress plainly in a way that could not conceal weapons, and come completely unarmed. He would meet her in a small park, directly across the street from a guard barracks on Derspit. ...Alone.
CC: He'd made sure to choose a park that happened to have a public transportalizer in it.
IG: Latula agreed to wear clothes that didn't allow for concealed weaponry, to bring no other weaponry, and with no strife deck-- reasonable requests, with nothing too difficult, at least.
IG: She made her way to the specified location at the specified time-- or, rather, a scant few minutes before, dressed simply as requested. Once there: if Cronus was there and detectable, she would raise a hand in simple greeting, but leave it to him to approach at first; if he was not, she would stand in plain view and keep a lookout for him, with an occasional idle glance to the guard barracks.
IG: Really, she was just relieved he got back to her and allowed for it to be planned out. At first, it seemed like a doomed idea.
CC: Cronus himself was fashionably late, just two or three minutes. He'd let Kankri know about the plan, although not the exact location. He promised to message with coordinates, if there was trouble.
CC: He arrived on the transportalizer in The Full Ensemble, from the distinctive violet cape down to the gaudy and provocatively-cut violet armor. Apparently this is what he wore to formal occasions. It looked as much like jewelry as it did any kind of garment. His posture perfectly straight, his expression grim and neutral, he quietly scanned the park until he spotted her.
CC: He flicked a fin, once, reflexively, before turning and starting to approach her. He stopped fifteen feet away, and took the opportunity to frown at her until she spoke.
IG: Cronus appeared, only ever so slightly late, at the transportaliser; he was dressed to-- impress? Intimidate? Confuse, like a fish shining bright natural lights at potential predators? Latula found herself unable to divine. Nevertheless, there he was, and whilst he stopped short of being actually face-to-face with her, he was at least close enough to speak.
IG: And frowning as if she'd just insulted his lusus. It's... a start.
IG: She took a moment before speaking, to choose her words.
IG: Finally: "... I'm glad you came. Thank you."
IG: Her tone was one of neutrality.
CC: "I try to be fair." he allowed reluctantly. He was wary and displeased, his anger a shield against betrayal or subterfuge. ...it looked like someone had healed his eye; and taken the scarring away with the injury. It focused only barely slower than the other, as though its use was still being learned. A second pair of eyelids, semitransparent and white-tinted, were closed and guarded.
CC: The Orphaner maintained direct eye contact, and clearly did not trust her even slightly.
IG: His eye was healed-- recalling what Mituna said about being proud of the other scarring, this was a small relief to Latula. (Even though it would have been kind of cool-- no, stop that train of thought. This is serious.)
IG: She made sure to keep still, with her hands in plain view by her sides; she carried no weaponry, or anything else for that matter.
IG: "You came alone?"
IG: The tone was questioning. She'd expected to see at least Kankri by his side.
CC: "Until such time as others are needed. This is betwveen you, and I, alone."
CC: "Their anger has no place here." And now he was making the 'I am judging you' face.
IG: That judgmental look spurred the tiniest urge to snap at him-- a, thankfully, easily ignored urge.
IG: "For what it's worth, I'm unarmed, and I'm not going to attack you. You're probably not going to believe that, but there it is."
IG: The lack of others being there was something of a relief. If she went through with this whilst feeling like a cornered squeakbeast, her words might not be so calm and even.
CC: "Maybe I'll believwe you after wve're done. WVe'll see. I'm not planning to do anything but talk, myself." He was definitely in poor temper, but he held it in the best check he could. Cold anger was better than hot anger, right now, and that was the best he could manage.
IG: Luckily for her, it seemed he was able to suppress the anger that ran in clear undercurrents through his voice. Well-- in front of guards, it would do neither of them any good to start a fight. It was an enforced neutrality.
IG: She took a deep breath, and let it go. Her words, when said, were carefully thought over.
IG: "...I was wrong to seek you out and injure you."
CC: "I wvarned you that, at the time. I'm glad you agree." It at least meant that he wouldn't have to worry about her doing it again, as much. Not over that particular incident anyway.
IG: "I saw Arlequin the way he was. In anger, I thought a wrong was done to him. I gave not him nor you the chance to properly explain." Her words were slightly rigid, at first-- briskly, tersely spoken. She herself was tense. "I was-- thinking of protecting him, as well as avenging. I wanted to scare you away from him more than anything."
IG: As she accustomed herself, slowly but steadily, to giving words to the thoughts which had run repeatedly through her pan, the flow of said words became more natural.
IG: "I know, now, that that was unnecessary, and I believe you would keep your word without my interference. ...Arlequin talked to me, and I have his reasoning for why he went to you, and why you did what you did. The scales were balanced thereby, and..."
IG: Slight pause.
IG: "...I owe you, as well as an apology, my gratitude for sparing his life. No matter your reason, I'm-- thankful that you let him live. You were stronger and wiser than many would have been."
IG: As much as she expected those words to taste bitter in her mouth, they did not. They were sincere.
CC: The seadweller's lips thinned slightly, and he considered her in silence for a few long seconds as he tried to absorb that, and decide where even to begin.
CC: "WVhen it wvas clear that you sought revwenge alone, and wvere shielded from all reason, wvhy did I let You livwe?"
CC: "...Answver me that."
CC: "WVhen you took my eye, wvhy did I raise no hand against you?"
CC: He had slapped her across the room, but that was mostly a surprise reflex.
CC: He tended to remember things how he intended them to go, rather than all the pesky details.
IG: She gave a good moment to thinking that over. The one parting "slap" of energy he'd sent after her hardly counted as a real attack-- he most certainly could have engaged her once the initial pain and shock had worn off, or even before, if said pain had been channelled into adrenaline.
IG: Plausible reasons ran through her mind. He was incapacitated by what she'd done? He stilled his hand for Arlequin's sake? He simply knew better?
IG: "...I'd just destroyed your eye. You were in no condition to."
IG: Then again, she wasn't so sure of that.
CC: "Gunkind. Try again."
IG: "You didn't want to fight, and risk further injury? Or, mayhap, you would rather not respond in kind, for the sake of not stooping to pointless revenge?"
IG: The moment the second guess left her mouth, she winced slightly, acutely aware of how well it described her own actions.
CC: "I am no cowvard, /Latula/. Nor am I shy of justice, wvhich is wvhat it wvould havwe been." ..his eye ached a little. Which was stupid. He ignored it. "But Pointless? Yes, I'vwe little interest in that."
CC: "WVhat I am interested in is the future, and being Right. And if I had to let you kill me to accomplish my goals? So be it."
CC: "But my feud wvith Arlequin is ended, and I wvill not let you stoke those fires."
IG: "I have no wish to. What is between you and he is-- or, was-- not what I had right to interfere with."
IG: She wondered-- what could he possibly hope to accomplish in death? That discussion, though, if it were to happen at all, was for another time. It was doubtful that he would want to discuss it at length, in any case.
IG: "If you and he consider it over, then it's over. What's left is this, and I want to make what amends I can: between you and me, not him and you. ...You have my apologies, and my regret."
IG: Pausing for a moment, she bowed her head briefly, before re-meeting his gaze and continuing.
IG: "I did wrong by you, by the law, and by the scales. What has been wronged must be righted, and I will repay you by any means you deem correct."
CC: He eyed her, gaugingly, still frowning, for a while longer.
CC: "You realise the sorts of things I asked of the last person to say that."
CC: It was almost, but not quite, a question. It was also rather flat, and he was still gauging her.
IG: "I am aware." She held his gaze unflinchingly. He seemed to be searching out a reaction-- nervousness? resentment? something else entirely?-- but she showed nothing of the sort.
CC: Latula was either remorseful and changed, a different troll than she'd been only weeks previous -- or she was one hell of a fanatic to whatever her ideals were at any given time. In the Orphaner's experience, the latter was far, far more common....although you could never be completely sure.
CC: He decided whatever he'd been trying to gauge in her, and with that decision, some of the hostility changed. Cronus was still angry -- catastrophically angry -- but she was not his enemy. Not on purpose at least. She was not a malicious force bent on his destruction, not actively, not right now. He believed her at least that much. A careless maiming wasn't much better than a malicious one, though.
CC: He scoffed, finally glancing away for a moment, and then back to her. The seadweller eyed her another moment, before straightening his back slightly, and continuing. "Before scales can be righted, one must choose wvhich scales, for there are many."
CC: "There is that wvhich wvill ensure it nevwer happens again, there is that wvhich makes it equal, and there is that wvhich returns that wvhich wvas broken to howv it had been."
CC: "I do not knowv wvhat wvould make you a cautious troll, wvilling to /listen/--" the word had a bite to it, "--to those wvho knowv Better, for I do not think you havwe that in you. I knowv wvhat wvould make the crimes betwveen us equal, although I find I wvould not care enough to bother wvhen wve could simply avwoid one another for the rest of your life instead."
CC: "Do you care for my opinion of you, or for the scales alone?"
IG: Latula listened to the troll speak. His words had a particular intonation to them-- one word was specifically sharp-- harsh, but evenly toned. Still, he gave her a choice, and one she gave solemn thought to before deciding on an answer.
IG: "You're free to ignore me for as long as you please, and as far as it's practical, I would stay out of your way, but that would not balance anything, nor would it give you what you deserve as whom was wronged."
IG: With a slight pause, "I care for-- ..both."
IG: It was, at that moment, hard to say as much, if only for that he was sure to scoff. But, there it was.
IG: "I care to at least make a start to righting things between us. I want to balance this, not run away from it. I don't expect you to forgive me immediately nor entirely, but if I can at least pay what's due, I will."
IG: It sounded, perhaps, like a sudden, perhaps even whimsical change of heart, to him-- it was, however, brought on by thought hard and ceaseless, by a biting knowledge of what right she had done wrong by, and a vigilant sense of needing to put it right. Not to mention, that quiet respect for him which had slowly, cautiously fostered and begun to put to rest her fury at him for maiming her mate.
CC: He did not scoff, although one of his fins flicked. He hadn't honestly expected her to give a damn what he thought as a person, rather than as a wronged party.
CC: "I can think of no wvay to undo wvhat has been done, for that is not the wvay of time, and nor am I a troll capable of spiteless forgivweness. ...but your eye wvould make me smile, wvhen I should be angry, and earn your forgivweness."
IG: His suggestion came unexpectedly, and produced at last a visible reaction-- a widening of the eyes, a stiffening of the posture. It was not a welcome thought at all, and her first inclination was to argue against it-- but then, it would, in his terms, earn forgiveness.
IG: An eye for an eye. The thought almost gets a wry smile. It was no less than equal.
IG: "And would you be taking it yourself?"
IG: Her voice remained surprisingly steady, spiting the pit of dread the thought pooled in her stomach.
CC: "No." The denial was calm and even, as steady as his eyes. ...Cronus was calming; his tone almost gentle. "You are the expert, here."
IG: That would prove to be difficult, to say the least. Latula swallowed against a suddenly dry throat-- the first outward display of nervousness.
IG: "I have no weapon with which to do so."
CC: The far-too-reasonable voice was soft. "...then allowv it to wvait until the time, and place, of your choosing -- so long as you do not allowv its replacement for the span of at least a perigee thereafter."
CC: "And do not speak to me, until it is gone."
CC: She had forever, if she wanted to take it.
CC: But...
IG: That allowed her a momentary reprieve from the creeping fear-- Cronus' voice had changed tone rather drastically, she noticed belatedly. He sounded as far appeased as a meowbeast given the king's share of squeakbeasts. It was both assuring and unnerving.
IG: Taking a deep breath, she let it go slowly, and nodded.
IG: "As you wish."
CC: "Havwe wve more to speak on?"
CC: Her expression, and the dread she hid, were apparently astoundingly soothing.
CC: (( Cronus is so mean sometimes... ))
IG: ((i'm just giggling at the thought of him contenting himself with her discomfort-- he actually is reminding me of a vengeful cat))
CC: (( incredibly accurate ))
IG: "...No. That's all."
IG: Latula was, it would seem, a little preoccupied with thinking of the task before her.
CC: "Then let us be done."
IG: "I'll let you know when the deed is done."
IG: Awfully casual words for such a thing. Latula chose to leave first, and turned to make her way to the nearby transportaliser, doing so in such a way as to not indirectly approach Cronus on the way.
IG: Not another word was said to him as she sent herself back to the palace.
IG: It was done-- well, that is to say, the hardest part was yet to come, but speaking to Cronus was, indeed, done.
CC: Cronus watched Latula go, head following her movements, but making no sign of approaching her, no threatening moves of his own. He was not the threat to her : She, herself, was.
CC: Something in his shoulders relaxed, just slightly, when she was gone. His instincts tried to insist that now was when well-meaning friends of hers would strike, but his mind knew... ..hoped... not.
CC: This part, the roughest for him, was over. Time would tell.
CC: He waited a good minute before heading to the transportalizer himself, to go find Kankri and collect some moirail time. He could do with a good laze.
