toyska | catchall; gideon

One of the other necro-cav pairs at Canaan House. Like me and Harrowhark.

[she rubs at her chest.] Issac and Jeannemary.

Ah.

["DEATH TO THE FOURTH HOUSE," the message had read--he can only guess at the politics of the whole situation, but he doesn't need to know the details to suspect that those words were relevant to what happened next.]

...What was that creature? The one that attacked you.

[What happened? is the true question there, but--again, it's for her to share if she wants to. He wonders if, perhaps, they were her charges in some way--not dissimilar to the way he's trained new recruits--but he won't push for details she doesn't want to give.]

A bone construct. [she chews absently at her lip.] It lived in the labs. Dulcinea... [a beat. she corrects herself:] Cytherea either made it or took control of it. It picked people off, pair by pair.

I was looking after those two. And did a shit job, obviously.

[See, here's the thing--Childe knows what's proper to say here. Unlike most of his colleagues, Childe lives life in the open as much as he can, balancing out the work he does in the shadows. He's not Scaramouche, who has only known bitterness and hatred; he's not Signora, who iced over her heart in grief. The friendly demeanor he's worn here may be just one facet of his personality, but it is not a facade.

He's well aware that the proper thing to do would be to reassure her. To promise her that it wasn't her fault, that she didn't do a bad job, that she protected them as best she could. It would even be the truth--from where he's standing, it seemed obvious that they were caught by surprise. And it only takes one conversation with Gideon to know that she's the sort who would give no less than the entirety of her life to fulfill a promise. (Or maybe he's just projecting.)

"It's not your fault" is what she deserves to hear--but at the same time, what good will it do? They're dead, and nothing he says will bring them back. Even if she accepted his words, even if he made her feel better instead of putting her on the defensive, he suspects it would only be temporary. He has no idea how long she's carried this guilt, but he doubts that an outsider, someone she's only known for a month, could truly lift it off her shoulders. Especially not someone like him, who, while more in touch with his humanity than most of his colleagues, is far from the most comforting person around.

Besides, it may serve her better to hold onto it. If a soldier broke over every single death, they would never survive. That's likely something they both understand.

So instead, he nods--not in agreement, just as an acknowledgment. An, "I hear you," with no strings attached.]

Did you end up killing it? The construct.

[she doesn't seem to be upset or even surprised that he asks her that - because he's right. they both do understand that. for gideon, it's a reminder. she's not broken by it, but she does think about it, every time she fucks up.

i didn't mean to let them die she'd said to harrowhark, furious and wild. this is all she's good for, is buying time.]

Yeah. Well, no. Harrowhark did. I'm just the battery.

Really? [He looks a little surprised.] She doesn't seem the type.

[He obviously doesn't really know that much about how their bone powers work, but Harrow doesn't seem the type to be out on the battlefield in the first place.]

That's the point of cavaliers. We do the blocking, and necromancers beat the shit out of each other with bones and spontaneous heart attacks.

catchall; gideon

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