toyska | catchall; gideon

[the funny thing is, she's also pretty ambivalent towards four - she liked her, four was nice to her. but four killed eto. and, well.

gideon really liked eto.]

Hey. [he can find her at one of the various bars, actually. she is Drinking.]

[Yeah, he gathered as much. He's observant, though of course he doesn't know the full extent of it.

He eyes whatever she's drinking; is it just the beer, or did she get into the dangerous potion stuff? Either way he'll sit next to her, he just wants to know how much of an eye he'll have to be keeping on her.

He's quiet for a bit. But, eventually--]

...You know, in the motherland, we have a rhyme. It's something we say as kids, when you make a promise with someone. "You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life. You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice. The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off so you never lie again."

[Thanks Childe that's very reassuring.]

[oh christ no now that she knows what the love potion one does she's never doing it again. it's just beer.

besides, with how the nasty beer tastes, it's a little like punishment. that feels appropriate. she doesn't particularly believe she deserves anything good, at the moment. she swirls it absently, listening to him, and when he says that, she snorts.]

Cheery. How delightful. Sounds like something off the Ninth. [...] Are you making a point about something?

[it's not rude or accusatory, just easy.]

[Okay good. That's fine then.]

Not really. I was just thinking about what you said to her, about liars. [And--an offer. Sharing something, when he knows she must feel at least a little disconnected. And this felt better than explaining his home country's other catchphrase is "Snezhnaya does not believe in tears."]

[she tilts her head back.]

... I can find sense in that. [she says, finally.] I don't know. I'm ticked as hell that she lied to me. I don't like being played with.

Mm. Neither do I. [Though he figures he's probably far, far more used to it than Gideon is--but who knows? Maybe not. Wouldn't that be a shocker.]

Should've stolen her sword that first day, when she got nosy about you. [Childe. (That's probably not a serious comment.) He nudges her slightly, though.] Will you tell me about Eto? You don't have to.

[Sometimes it helps, he's found; other times, people prefer to nurse their losses quietly. He'll accept either.]

[boy, is she used to it, honestly. it never makes her any less angry.]

Hah. Maybe it's good she didn't learn more about me, or she'd be the dead one. [rip to eto but gideon is built different and would simply not have died

as for the nudge and the request, she nudges him back, lips twitching.]

... She was nice to me. [she says after a moment, looking down at her drink.] Bratty sense of humor. Honest. Smart. A horrible goblin.

I'm sure she will be, tomorrow.

[Like. Even if Four survives her execution instead of whoever she's pitted against, Childe doubts she'd survive much longer.

But he listens! And he laughs at her description--quietly, and not unkindly.]

I can see why you got along.

[a little smile, at that.]

... It's unfair. [she says, after minute, glancing at him. and then she takes another drink.] It's unfair that she's gone.

[He smiles back, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes.]

I know. [And perhaps it would be kinder to reassure her somehow--to tell her that it will be okay. But what right does he have to say that? They're dead, or something like it; they're in a place supposedly tailored for their suffering; and they're on the verge of an exhaustingly deadly pattern. No--platitudes, he feels, would be insincere. He'd much rather offer this: acknowledgment, honesty, and a warm shoulder, side by side.] Things like this must be even stranger for you, here. Harrowhark told me a little about the skeletons.

[she's kind of expecting him to - and she's relieved when he doesn't. she never knows what to do with it, because it's true - they're dead. this is the end, and there is a very, very good chance that the end will be permanent. she may not make it. and that doesn't really matter so much to her in particular, her own eventual outcome, but...]

The permanence is unusual. [a sigh.] What'd she tell you?

[Sometimes the shitty truth is the best form of solidarity, unfortunately.]

About the surface, a little--how it's too cold for life. That bone necromancy is a special power from your emperor, and that it's an honor for someone's remains to be reanimated after they die. [Which Childe personally has mixed feelings on, but mostly because he thinks he'd rather be sentient for it if he's going to be someone's tool.] And that she's been in charge since her parents stepped down. She mentioned you're from her--what is it? House? As well.

[she makes a face at that part.]

Yeah, maybe in her head it's an honor. [she grumbles. she feels very similarly, childe, don't worry.] I'm from her House. The Ninth. Only, I wasn't born there, as far as they know. The woman that was supposedly my mother crashed, braindead, and left me there.

[she takes another drink.] They tried pulling her ghost back to get answers, but all she did was scream Gideon! three times and abscond into the River. You can guess as to why that's relevant.

[I'm sorry I know this is like a serious conversation but the word "abscond" always paints the funniest mental image in my head

Luckily Childe doesn't have that problem; he just looks surprised to hear it.]

No wonder she made an odd face when I asked how you'd met. We were talking about the military at first, so I thought maybe you'd been stationed with her, but she said you'd been a member of the House since birth.

[Which is fair; it's Gideon's privacy, after all. Childe, in fact, should probably be more worried about what Scaramouche might be telling others about him, but. Eh. Different situation.]

[good that's on purpose if it doesn't evoke stupid homestuck imagery what is the point]

Oh - hah, is that what she said? I've belonged to the House since birth. Not a single person on that planet would consider me Ninth.

[LMFKSJGH it evoked aki imagery which is basically the same thing]

Yeah. Though, admittedly, I had a feeling they were more like her than you. [Partly from Harrow's demeanor and the way she described her home; partly because Childe knows, too well, how most people view rowdy kids who are a little too good at violence.

(He does not point out that Harrow certainly seemed to think she was. Even if he was the type to play matchmaker, today is not the day for it.)]

[aki is homestuck]

Understatement. [she mutters. she rubs at her neck absently.] Sounds just like her, to twist the story like that.

[but she's just bitching to bitch.] I grew up fighting her tooth and claw, you know. I can't remember a single day we were kids where we didn't try to kill each other.

[yeah he is

This is wholly unsurprising, though.]

Genuinely? [Or like, metaphorically.]

What, trying to kill each other? Yeah. Genuinely.

[He nods, taking that in. His thoughts are hard to read, from his expression, but he just idly taps his fingers on the bar.]

Was it just because you clashed, or were you pitted against each other?

[she pauses, here. hesitates, actually, like she's deciding on something. on how much to say.]

A little of both. [she says finally, finishing off her drink.] She never got punished, but I did. I suppose you could say that's pitted.

[He waits, patient; he doesn't rescind his question, but he doesn't give her a probing look, either, as if he'll accept it whether she decides to answer or not. When she does, he nods slowly--there's a distant look in his eyes, but eventually he responds, his voice quieter than before.]

I know it never lasts, but... kids should be allowed to be kids.

catchall; gideon

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