cancry | meet and greet

If you've been paying any attention to the screens around Invidia (and it's honestly harder NOT to pay attention to them than it is to actually do so) then you'll be familiar with Esme, the woman whose face graces every single screen. Some initial poking around has revealed that Esme is a sort of idol to the people of Invidia, whose enviously glamourous life has taken the city by storm but that's more or less all you've learned so far.

But it looks like you might have the opportunity to learn more sometime soon.

Just as the dark sky of Invidia gives way to what passes for daytime, all of the screens in Invidia light up with the same video – it's Esme, perched on what looks to be a fancy throne in the middle of a white void, nothing to distract from the glaringly insincere sincere smile on her face as she addresses the camera.

"Good morning, lovelies! ❤ I've been soooooo busy with work and filming lately, I haven't had even a single second to see any of you in person! And what's the point of all that hard work if I don't even get to see your smiling faces at the end of it? So today we're having a very special event! For this afternoon only, I'll be on the Starlight Stage on the roof of our mall, all ready to shake hands and sign things and see all of you lovelies face to face again! Make sure you hurry on down to see me, okay? Bye-bye-bye! ❤"

With a wave and a sickly sweet smile to the camera, Esme signs off.

Looks like you've been given an opportunity to do a little investigating...

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...Once we've spoken of the situation, on both of our sides, it will have to be her choice.

[He doesn't sound angry, but he is rather quiet.]

...What are you thinking?

[he would really like input from someone not a hotheaded teenager]

Ah...?

[Take a breath, settle.] Nothing important to the group, I assure you.

It is alarming that she isn't an Executor, that she hates them or fears them or both. It suggests she isn't one herself, so she may not be able to come with us. She may not be capable of it physically or emotionally.

...Thank you for stepping in as you did. Although I can't imagine what moved you to do so after Autumn was so thoroughly...[is there a polite way to say it] trounced.

The only way to find out is to ask outright, at this point. Hostilities won't get us anywhere.

[He frowned slightly, adjusting his visor as he processed what that meant. It only really hit him then that he was probably wildly outclassed one on one.]

[Strangely, the obvious danger didn't register as something he cared about.]

...I wasn't thinking about it, truthfully. I didn't want anyone else to be hurt, and I was hoping I could defuse things rather than half to draw a blade on her myself.

I...

[He lets the thought trail away and doesn't pick it back up again.]

In any event, more information is better than none. Even if the way she treated you was unacceptable. Autumn...I will not say she deserved what she did, because of course not, but she was the first to draw a blade and become the first aggressor.

But if this Esme ends up starting a fight, we will finish it.

I'm willing to overlook a rocky start, given that Esme clearly believes she has reason to fear us. Whether Autumn is of the same mind or not is up to her, but as you said--she did rather start it.

[He sighed, putting a light hand on Chiron's arm.]

Regardless--if things do turn irrevocably hostile, I won't hesitate. You've nothing to worry about on that front.

[Pat pat on his hand.]

I've no worries there, no. And I'll cleave her head clean off her shoulders.

Just try not to follow Autumn's lead. If things do turn violent, it should only be after we've exhausted all else.

[ mmmrhgh. she appreciates his calm tone and she's sticking close by him. she kind of wants to hold onto his sleeve but she hesitates to do so. ]

... Mh. I know. It's her choice, but I... I want... [ she's not sure why she's struggling so much with this. something about it is too big for her to contain; something about it hurts. ] ... I don't... want to take everything away from her...

[Come here, then. He hears the tone and the hesitation in her words, and he places and arm around her shoulders.] It seems this place bends to her will. It isn't entirely real, in a sense.

[ she curls into him, apparently more distressed than her expression shows. ]

... If it didn't... she'd be alone.

[ this is clearly important to her, even if she can't verbalise the reasoning. something about this is upsetting her in ways she doesn't understand. ]

...My dear. [He sees in some respects how that'd be worrying, but not the steep depth she seems to feel it.] She isn't even our ally yet. Why does this distress you so?

[ she shakes her head. she's not sure, but— ]

... Isn't it scary?

[ in much the same way as her strange reactions to touch, this seems to be intrinsic to her. ]

Being alone? ...It depends on the person, I'd imagine, but it's always better to have someone.

... I... I don't like it. [ definitely an understatement. ] When I think about her being all alone here... it hurts.

You're a very sympathetic soul. Empathetic, even. You're really coming into your own, Mona, with feelings and figuring out how you feel about the strange world around you and the people in it. [rub rub her back gently] Seeing the good in people, and feeling their pain, that's a strength you have.

Is it...? It doesn't seem like a strength...

[ there's a nervous glance at the others, lingering on some; Ariel, Autumn, Wolfsbane. he says it's a strength, but it kind of seems like it's making everyone angry with her. like she's objectively in the wrong here. ]

It doesn't, but it is. And your convictions are strong enough to stand up to such...mm, equally strong personalities, let's say.

meet and greet

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