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[contract_star]

[Hei appears on the Plane not bleeding this time! looking a little indignant.]

Ms. Kirihara! You thought I was going to wear them??

[After a moment he sighs in a long-suffering sort of way.]

Mion, I'm not sure how much your vest cost...I brought some yen though, enough to cover it, I think.

Oh, and Mr. Tyler, if you've been...un-kidnapped yet--I have news.

Comments

[contract_star]

[Goes quiet for a moment at Cy's comment. Being compared to Satan kind of has that effect D:] No, I suppose it isn't. Sorry if I offended you.

[Looks at Sam again.] I know she can. But she can't change what she needs. It's not good or bad, it's just how it is. And it just means the rest of us need to be careful.

[Slow smile.] I was taught not to play with matches.

[cyfor.livejournal.com]

[Slides down Sam's leg and wedges herself in the space between his thigh and stomach.] You don't need matches, and we both know it, Bee-Kay.

[Starts purring.]

[didorothy]

[knows to listen to the cat by now] White fire without matches? How do you do that, Li?

[contract_star]

[And Hei does the thing where he shuts up and says nothing.]

[cyfor.livejournal.com]

[Goes on purring cheerfully. She has made her point. You do not displease the kitty.]

[didorothy]

[talking to kitty. Saner than Sam's usual conversation partners, yes] Well that, to me, looks like it's another of Li's secrets.

[contract_star]

[Dryly,] I suppose I should also know better than to upset the talking, psychic cat.

[Isn't looking at Sam.] Secrets are kept for a reason, Mr. Tyler.

[cyfor.livejournal.com]

[Smooshes herself further in.] That's the sideways approach to things, Bee-Kay. Nancylocks will find his way in, invited or not, see?

[didorothy]

That's a very flattering assessment, Cy. [going to have so much kitty-hair on his clothing] Or maybe it isn't.

What's "Bee-Kay" mean?

[contract_star]

[Hei gets to his feet, wanting to leave before this conversation can get any worse.]

[cyfor.livejournal.com]

Oi! [Stands up suddenly in her confined little nook, shoving against Sam's stomach and mimicking his voice.] Why don't you trust him, Bee-Kay?

[didorothy]

I'd like to know that, too.

[contract_star]

[Stops with his back to Sam and Cy.]

Trust can kill you.

[cyfor.livejournal.com]

Trust can save you, genius. [Irritated, and sounding perhaps more sane than she has since she got there.] The bright and shiny end is coming, and you need ones in the know.

[didorothy]

Cy's right. Sometimes, trust is all you've got.

[contract_star]

[Voice is quiet and cold.] Once bitten.

[cyfor.livejournal.com]

Twice stupid.

[didorothy]

[snorts] I agree with Cy.

[more seriously] I'm not going to betray you, Li.

[contract_star]

[And Hei snaps a little, because Sam and Cy have essentially just laughed at everything that happened between Hei, Bai and Amber.]

You think you understand? You're not even from my world, Mr. Tyler. You haven't seen it. You have your stars, your South America, and you don't even know what that means, how important that is. And you're so naive as to say that you would never betray me? Do you even know what betrayal is?

[His fists are shaking now.]

You don't even know who I am, Mr. Tyler, so don't ever think that you understand anything about me.

[cyfor.livejournal.com]

[There’s about a half second of quiet before she fluffs up, furious, and jumps down to stalk toward Hei.]

What, Lord Lightning, you think it’s all that and nothing more? You lose, I lose, we all lose. Living on the loss is like turning in place with a blindfold on, no way forward and no knowing where to go.

You lost it all in one dark spark—-you haven’t seen the bright lights, haven’t had the wires pushed up under the skin, shocked and pulled and driven to the walls by the voices they can’t use no more, ‘cause the metal’s in their throats. You don’t know the Alchemist, the pain of the dying Roads. Don’t talk down to me, boyo, and don’t tell me there’s no understanding it. You need Nancylocks, you need truth. It’s the only way through the blinding light-—knowing there’s something left to grip on the other side.

[She stands there trembling for a long moment, and then turns her back on him.]

And don’t go saying no sorries for me, ‘cause I didn’t ask for that.

[She strides a short distance away, tail lashing, and sits down, firmly ignoring the existence of both the Contractor and the cop.]

[didorothy]

[gets up and looks between Hei and Cy, then goes to the cat (because at least the cat didn't yell at him), holding his hand out to her, asking permission to pet her] Hey, hey, Cy, it's all right. Are you okay?

[looks up at Hei] On your own time, then. But it just seems that I won't get anything honest from you if I don't dig it out myself.

[contract_star]

[Cy's outburst startles him into momentary silence. But then the anger comes back, though it's less explosive this time.] I wasn't asking for sorries either. And I'm not going to compare losses with you, or anyone. I don't live on it--I learned from it. You might be able to see it all, but that doesn't mean you can understand it, anymore than I can understand what you've been through, anymore than Mr. Tyler can understand either of us.

[There's a pause, then, to Sam,] Why do you need honesty? I give you information, and the information at least is true. That should be enough.

[cyfor.livejournal.com]

[She ignores Sam's hand and goes to sit on his foot, muttering under her breath to him.] It's near the precipice, Nanylocks. There's a nation of candles lined up for snuffing, and he can stop the wind if he can bear to stand up through it. He needs to be ready.

[And suddenly she is a very small, tired stray cat. To Hei, she says,] It's not comparison, it's a point, it's sharp, not hooked, see? It's hard to play the stranger when you see the coming danger. I don't get it, Lord Lightning, but I know tiger tracks when I see them.

[didorothy]

[wryly, to the cat] It's not easy to help anyone when they don't want your help and you don't know what you're meant to be helping with.

[to Li] Information isn't want I'm after. I'm not interrogating you for a breakthrough on a case. This is something else.

[contract_star]

[Stares at Cy for awhile without speaking, remembering what Kirihara told him.] You've seen it? You know what's going to happen at the Gate?

[To Sam,] Then what are you after?