Ruka stands, turning toward him. “You should take care of your wound first. Do you know any, um.” She makes a vague gesture toward his arm. “Healing magic?” It’s quicker than typical bandages and she’s sure there’s people with healing magic around the ship, somewhere.
“I’ll help clean up. He’s my inmate, so this is my responsibility too.” It isn’t, not really, but it’d make her feel better. “I’m sorry he attacked you. I’ll… do something about this.” She has no idea what, but something, surely.
"I do, but really, it isn't that deep," Hakkai assures her. "I heal quickly. As for what you do...."
He trails off, his mouth setting into a thin line.
"I think you may want to discover why, exactly, he attacked me. He asked me about my sister's death during the last flood, and I told him." Because: flood. He wishes he hadn't, now, but there's no undoing it. "He's asked me about it a few times since. It seemed as if he was trying to... push me to express guilt, and that he then attacked me--"
There's something about Kanan's death that clearly triggered Avalon's interest in him. He shakes his head slowly.
"I don't understand his motivation, and, not understanding his motivation, I don't know how likely he is to try again."
"Oh." Ruka goes still suddenly, looking surprised. "Oh!" And she turns to her things she'd set aside to grab her notebook, flipping through it.
"They don't attack people who aren't suffering, because there's no point." They'd said that themselves, right? She couldn't remember everything in perfect clarity, but that's where her Handy-Dandy Notebook came into play.
"Avalon's attracted to people who are suffering. People who are suicidal and the like, they prey on that. They're drawn to despair. They coerce their victims into killing themselves. I've asked, but I don't think even they knows why... I think that they think it helps them, somehow, trying to understand."
She stares down at her notes with a little frown. "When we first met, I was playing the piano... They wanted me to play the Lunar Melody for them a couple of times...I guess because of the way it can make you remember things. I never asked what it made them remember..."
He pauses briefly. It's truly not relevant, but-- "...They?"
Conversations that Hakkai has had with Avalon: the traumatic death by suicide of his twin sister. Conversations that Hakkai has not had with Avalon: their gender identity.
Ruka looks up, expression blank. "...They?" She echoes, not seeming to understand what's wrong. After another beat she adds, "well, Avalon doesn't seem to have a real form... So I don't know if they're actually a guy or a girl? But their inmate ledger says 'they' too, so..."
She trails off, not sure if either of them are right or wrong. "I never really thought to ask."
He clears his throat, glancing away. "I, ah. Hadn't checked the inmate ledger for them." He should have, especially given the odd behavior, but he'd thought it was more reasonable to go speak to them in person. The ledger does tend to be -- less than helpful. But he shouldn't be ignoring available information, even if it isn't as helpful as he'd like.
"In any case." He looks down, his expression smoothing out. "I wouldn't say I'm suffering particularly from despair. But I will admit I found her death quite difficult. I assume they -- thought it was a weakness that they could exploit, then."
All's well that ends well, she supposes, focusing briefly on her communicator to get her message to the Admiral about reviving Avalon.
"Maybe..." She sighs, shaking her head. "I should've learned more... I'm sorry I couldn't prevent this." She stands and brushes herself off, wandering a bit to find another towel to start cleaning up the blood.
"I can talk to the Admiral about you, too, if you want. Tell him that it wasn't your fault."
"There's no need." Hakkai carefully peels the bloody handkerchief away from his wrist, checks the bleeding -- slowed enough not to worry about -- and knots the handkerchief awkwardly one-handed over the wound before he straightens up.
"If he asks, you can tell him anything you like, but I... would assume I'd be an inmate already if I were going to be demoted for this." And it had been self-defense. Although he should have been able to defend himself more effectively without killing.
That's a matter to discuss with Xie Lian, though, later. He glances at the blanket-covered corpse.
"You don't have to if you'd rather not..." He's crouching beside Avalon, ready to scoop their body into his arms blanket and all to avoid making Ruka interact with the corpse.
"I want to," Ruka quickly assures him, going opposite Hakkai to help get Avalon to the bed.
Once there she fusses again a little bit, smoothing the comforter. "I'll let you know once he's up and feeling better. Do you... Do you want to try and talk to him again, or...?"
"Not without at least one other person present," Hakkai sighs, taking a polite step back from the bed. "Although please let me know if you need someone to bring food while he's recovering from the death toll? I'm certainly -- responsible for this."
If for no other reason than he certainly should have known better.
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chaos_drifter) wrote2023-03-27 07:32 am
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“I’ll help clean up. He’s my inmate, so this is my responsibility too.” It isn’t, not really, but it’d make her feel better. “I’m sorry he attacked you. I’ll… do something about this.” She has no idea what, but something, surely.
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He trails off, his mouth setting into a thin line.
"I think you may want to discover why, exactly, he attacked me. He asked me about my sister's death during the last flood, and I told him." Because: flood. He wishes he hadn't, now, but there's no undoing it. "He's asked me about it a few times since. It seemed as if he was trying to... push me to express guilt, and that he then attacked me--"
There's something about Kanan's death that clearly triggered Avalon's interest in him. He shakes his head slowly.
"I don't understand his motivation, and, not understanding his motivation, I don't know how likely he is to try again."
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"They don't attack people who aren't suffering, because there's no point." They'd said that themselves, right? She couldn't remember everything in perfect clarity, but that's where her Handy-Dandy Notebook came into play.
"Avalon's attracted to people who are suffering. People who are suicidal and the like, they prey on that. They're drawn to despair. They coerce their victims into killing themselves. I've asked, but I don't think even they knows why... I think that they think it helps them, somehow, trying to understand."
She stares down at her notes with a little frown. "When we first met, I was playing the piano... They wanted me to play the Lunar Melody for them a couple of times...I guess because of the way it can make you remember things. I never asked what it made them remember..."
no subject
Conversations that Hakkai has had with Avalon: the traumatic death by suicide of his twin sister. Conversations that Hakkai has not had with Avalon: their gender identity.no subject
She trails off, not sure if either of them are right or wrong. "I never really thought to ask."
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He clears his throat, glancing away. "I, ah. Hadn't checked the inmate ledger for them." He should have, especially given the odd behavior, but he'd thought it was more reasonable to go speak to them in person. The ledger does tend to be -- less than helpful. But he shouldn't be ignoring available information, even if it isn't as helpful as he'd like.
"In any case." He looks down, his expression smoothing out. "I wouldn't say I'm suffering particularly from despair. But I will admit I found her death quite difficult. I assume they -- thought it was a weakness that they could exploit, then."
i had a dream i responded to this already.......
"Maybe..." She sighs, shaking her head. "I should've learned more... I'm sorry I couldn't prevent this." She stands and brushes herself off, wandering a bit to find another towel to start cleaning up the blood.
"I can talk to the Admiral about you, too, if you want. Tell him that it wasn't your fault."
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"If he asks, you can tell him anything you like, but I... would assume I'd be an inmate already if I were going to be demoted for this." And it had been self-defense. Although he should have been able to defend himself more effectively without killing.
That's a matter to discuss with Xie Lian, though, later. He glances at the blanket-covered corpse.
"Shall I move them to the bed?"
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"Oh, yes. I can help--" SHe automatically moves to try and help Hakkai move him.
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Once there she fusses again a little bit, smoothing the comforter. "I'll let you know once he's up and feeling better. Do you... Do you want to try and talk to him again, or...?"
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If for no other reason than he certainly should have known better.