Tomhas, true to his word, twiddled his thumbs, lost in thought.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Tadaaki didn't back down. Ky kept eye contact with him for a long, long moment, trying to think of how to communicate with him that they needed to not run away -- without Tomhas or Gaius noticing that they'd been planning on running away in the first place. She supposed that was a conversation that they would need privacy to get through.
"...We can figure it out, I guess," Ky muttered under her breath, hoping she wouldn't get pressed for a for-sure answer until she heard what Anneke and the other kids thought about all this. It sounded entirely awful for her to be shipped off to Serpent Keep while the rest of the Loquiturs stayed put here. But it felt petulant to insist on staying here if the others were going to Serpent Keep. She really did just wish people would tell her what to do.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Tomhas dipped his head. "We can revisit this soon. Once Anneke wakes up I'll talk to her, and Gaius can talk to Sara."
(Almost wrote Santa there)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Hahaha reminds me — my real name is Sarah and my autocorrect once changed it to Satan and was like okay um, first of all, rude. xD)
“Sounds good…” Ky nodded, a fresh wave of exhaustion hitting her. But she resolved to power through it. The longer she moped, the more danger she put them all in. Time was of the essence.
“I’ll talk to my wife after you’ve both talked to yours,” Tadaaki murmured. “But I don’t foresee her having an opinion.”
At least, not an opinion that couldn’t be easily swayed.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(XD oh my gosh! That's quite a leap, autocorrect.)
"Great." Tomhas got to his feet. "Well, I should probably check on my kids and get Raina off Anneke's hands. They're both probably awake by now."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“When are we going to talk about, the, uh….?” She looked at Gaius. It seemed like she was about to be left alone with the man as soon as Tadaaki, with nothing to talk about since she’d refused to tell him about Aleth’s empire until Tomhas was here. It was going to be tense.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Certainly." Gaius nodded. "If you're ready to?" He glanced at Tomhas. "She'd like to talk about Aleth," he explained. "What she knows." "Oh!" Tomhas leaned forward.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Tadaaki tensed, everything within him screaming to run away. But he wouldn’t do that. He was going to be here. For Ky. If she had to relive being with Aleth, he did, too.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Let's begin with an exact location of his home, if you can." Gaius let himself slip into the cool, objective state of observation necessary for complete recollection of a conversation. His eyes fixed intently on Ky, and he felt his mind open.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
They both felt his energy change. And we’re intimidated by it. But Ky forced herself to take a deep breath. She could do this. She had to. But she glanced at Tadaaki. “You can go.”
He shook his head. No. He was going to be here. For her.
“You don’t know anything I don’t,” Ky said gently. “There’s no point in you remembering. Go.”
Tadaaki hesitated, glancing at the brothers. Would he look weak if he left a half-grown girl to relive her trauma while he ran away?
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Tomhas looked to Tadaaki. "You can stay or go; it's up to you. We won't push too hard." He wasn't actually sure Gaius would be so considerate. He'd seen his brother's eyes grow vacant while remaining terribly present; that cold state of in between meant he was going to be processing, not taking time for feelings.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“I’ll remember better if you’re not here,” Ky lied. He was just trying to be here for solidarity. And there was no point in them both getting fucked emotionally. Gods knew they were both already in a state. “You’ll just distract me.”
Tadaaki looked at her a moment longer then sighed. She was just trying to spare his feelings. Still. He needed the emotional capacity to absorb Aashi’s feelings. And he wasn’t going to have it if he stay led here. He stood up and hesitantly walked towards the door.
Ky looked back at Gaius. “It was in Lutalya — in the southwest region of Rhaebaki. It was three streets north of Temple Street, which was the most prominent one.”
(Not me, cramming our worlds together haha)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"What does the house look like?" Gaius asked. Tomhas wished he had a pen and paper, but he knew Gaius would forget none of this.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“There’s a tall stone wall all around his estate — it’s maybe a one acre lot. There’s a gate made of interlocking thick bars of iron. It’ll be locked. The key is…” She looked at Tomhas sheepishly. “In the chest.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
