[008]

[bloodsugar]

A): phone - mid-morning.

[OPEN;]

[one hazard of spending a good deal of your time lurking on the phone lines is that one might become prone to forgetting that people can HEAR you while you listen. so, it's entirely innocent, of course, when the half-absent and somewhat petulant mumble comes across the phone lines sometime this morning.]

...all this talk of Valentines Day... honestly! As if they're rubbing it in some of us are destined to be forever alone. 'Vow of celibacy'? More like vow of perpetual and ongoing boredom.

[...a pause.]

It's not like I wanted to find out what a romantic holiday with another human being is like, regardless... eh? I'm sure edible underwear isn't all it's cracked up to be, anywa--

[...]

Eh? [wait for it.]

AH--

[...there's a rather flustered squawk, and a hasty CLICK of the phone into the cradle.]

[filter to Charles Fei-Ong]

Alright, so maybe I'm a little late in checking in. You'll forgive me, right? After all, I'm sure you've been busy collecting recipes and taste testing! [no really are you okay... :| last time he saw you, after all, was... uh, colorful, to say the least.]

...I don't suppose you'd be up for a cup of tea, Charles? [he has a feeling you'll just bs him even if you weren't alright over the phone, anyway. CLEARLY HE MUST BE NOSY IN PERSON.]

[filter to Esther Blanchett]

Esther-- do you have a minute? There's... ah, something I wanted to ask you. [AND IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH EDIBLE UNDERWEAR HE SWEARS DEAR GOD.]

[filter to Django]

How are you holding up, partner? I hope the radio silence is because you've been gloriously enjoying the sunshine, hm? Making up for lost time and all that...! [are you okay partner? :(]

B): action; 1648 Albright Lane - lunchtime.

[there's the smell of something burning, late in the morning approaching lunchtime -- and if Rachel or Cain follows their nose, they might find the source in the form of one (1) Abel Nightroad with his drone wife's FRILLY PINK APRON several sizes too small draped around his neck and haphazardly tied back in the process of butchering... grilled cheese. yes, he is a total failure.

...somehow, he's gotten butter all over the counter and is trying to catch an overturned bottle of orange juice that is apparently spilling its contents over and onto the floor. the pan is burning and he's jostling cups and plates, trying not to drop EVERYTHING EVER as he fumbles to cease the spill of juice fruitlessly.

NO ONE SAID YOUR DAD WAS GOOD AT BEING DOMESTIC. this is why.]

C): action; around town - afternoon.

[the tall, lanky, and often times clumsy priest is among your streets today, Mayfield! anyone similarly prone to hitting up the bakery quite often might recognize his face, or simply wish to gape at the way he's leaving cheerily with a bag under his arm and so engrossed in the effort of inhaling the vanilla frosted doughnut in his hand he is clearly not paying attention to anything else. ...like the sidewalk. which, he may or may not inevitably trip over at an uneven crack and WOEFULLY lose his doubtlessly precious bounty as the bag tumbles to spill the fruits of his labor everywhere...

...and maybe his doughnut might happen to ah. misplace... itself from his hand and end up on your face. WHAT DO?]

D): action; church - evening.

[Abel's day eventually brings him to someplace to seek solace, to rest a weary soul... or something of that effect. one who enters might be hard pressed to FIND said priest who should be more or less easy to spot on the regular, right? how many 6'4 lanky bastards in cassock ARE there in here?

...but if one is apt enough, they might notice that the Father's side of the confessional is occupied. do you care to confess? ...or notice that said Father might just be lightly snoring if you listen hard enough...]

Comments

[birthmarked]

[A split second of surprise before,]

That's because he did. Twice actually. I didn't want to bring it up to Cain directly before since I didn't want him to think I've been acting out of gratitude. I truly like him as he is now.

[A beat.] I thought I mentioned this before to you. Maybe I dreamed it. [Her memory of their conversation is fuzzy at best.]

[bloodsugar]

[oops that conversation was part of the price he paid to get 02 back from the post office... he has no idea what she's talking about...

but the rest of it has him looking rather startled.]

...

[that's... this shouldn't be-- possible. this can't be possible.]

[birthmarked]

[That expression is throwing her off. She continues on gently.]

Father... I don't mean to pry but, is there some reason you never told me about him before? Why Cain didn't mention your association from the start?

[bloodsugar]

[he seems lost in thought for a beat or two -- those thoughts running away from him in a wild tangent; this is just... crazy. it's absolutely crazy and it isn't at all possible. it's not possible, do you understand??

he is dead.

...but he realizes belatedly she's addressing him, snapping out of it long enough to piece together what she's said and trying to pull his head out of the obsessed jumble.]

A... ah. Esther...

[he doesn't know what to say.]

[birthmarked]

You don't have to answer. [She shakes her head.] I was just curious. You're both so difficult to understand sometimes.

[bloodsugar]

[...this is why he loves you partner ;;]

Can you... tell me what happened? I don't... [remember this at all. how had he missed -Cain- being in proximity to Esther...?

--no. how had he missed 01 alive at all...]

[birthmarked]

He rescued that document I gave to the Professor. He almost got beaten up in the process! He gave me a ride back to the palace later after that.

[He might have been annoying about it too. Esther doesn't really care since he did make such a difference.]

Later Cain and Mr. Butler showed up and stopped His Holiness and I from eating poisoned food. I lost track of them after we were attacked by the man trying to kill us. I hope they're alright.

[bloodsugar]

[document she gave to the Professor -- so this was all in Albion...? that's--

...]

--Butler?

[birthmarked]

Yes. [Her eyes lower as she takes a moment to be sure her voice will be steady. She hasn't gotten to mention this name since the person she gave it to died. Esther never really had a chance to mourn her best friend. She just condemned the monster like a good little saint. To say she's still raw from the loss would be the understatement of the century.]

Mr. Butler helped Shahra and I in Istvan... for what little good it did. He works for Cain.

[bloodsugar]

[Butler... works for Cain...

'Mein Herr;' 'Contra Mundi;' 'Igne Natura Renovatur Integra;' --]

...Magician. The Orden... all this time, it's been--

[the words are absent, quiet -- clear it's thinking aloud more than speaking to Esther.]

[birthmarked]

The Orden? [What does that have to do with Cain and Mr. Butler? her saviors?]

[bloodsugar]

[he finally looks at and... sees her again, but he's a bit shaken up, beyond the hope of placating smiles or dismissals, this time.]

...Butler. That man is... he's part of the Rosenkreutz Orden, Esther.

[birthmarked]

But he tried to help save Shahra's family! That can't be...

[Her stomach sinks. He's just like Dietrich. He deceived her.]

[bloodsugar]

[he has... no idea why the Orden had poked its nose into Esther's affairs. as far back as incidents with the Countess of Babylon...? he doesn't understand. this is all... one giant headache.]

...I wish that was the case. 'Butler' is one of The Magician's aliases... he's one of the highest ranking members of the Rosenkreutz Orden, and--

[hngh. he's sorry to do this to her -- she is being pulled along by them, isn't she? ...pulled along... by...]

--When was the last time you saw-- [Cain...? no. it's not Cain. he can't utter that name in reference to the -creature- she saw with his face. it isn't his brother. god, how had he survived--? he's really still...??]

[birthmarked]

Before we met up again. [Since she's far from stupid the implication isn't escaping her.]

Are you saying Cain is a member of the Orden too? Positively? [... Now the light bulb brightens.]

Or is he there... no. That's not possible! Cain would never!

[bloodsugar]

[his expression darkens, slowly dissolving into something much more grim than it had been before.

these are implications that he's making for 'the first time' himself -- memories of 01's involvement a price paid for what he had acquired from the town.]

It's not... Cain.

[birthmarked]

... Then who is it? [Her mind is spinning trying to find an explanation.]

[bloodsugar]

I can't... explain properly, Esther, but -- that isn't Cain. Not the Cain you and I know.

[can't be possible, but this... proves it. if Esther saw him, then...?

no. no; it had to have been some trick by the Orden, right? if Isaak was involved, then...

...how would they have known? how would they have known about any of the things they did, if... it wasn't...]

[birthmarked]

Then what? Someone is going around pretending to be him?

[She can't let this go easily. What if the real one was being held somewhere? Esther has to know. She has to remember this so she can rescue him.]

You can't just leave it at that! What if he needs help? Even if that man was a fake, the real Cain is still my friend! I can't let anything happen to him there! Not when I can save him as I am now...

[Abel wasn't the only one who felt ineffective and small at the sight of Cain's suffering.]

[bloodsugar]

[he hates that look on her face, and what she says coupled with it just... breaks his heart, his face falling a bit further as the intensity is beginning to dissolve into something softer. Esther... ;(]

...

[ahh. what... can he say? it can't be 01, it... can't, but that's... the only possible explanation, and one he certainly can't offer to her in any form of consolation. hearing that story would certainly be no comfort, would it?]

[birthmarked]

Father... [Say something. Tell her how to fix this.]

[bloodsugar]

[...Esther ;(((

the silence is stifling. he knows he should be filling it, somehow -- but with what, he... hasn't got a clue in the world, completely floundering.

in the end, all he can do is bite his lower lip, and shake his head. to tell her Cain is dead, or worse -- what happened afterwards was too cruel. her imagination can't be harder on her than that.]

[birthmarked]

[Esther's voice is tiny. She can come to that conclusion that's he dead all on her own by his refusal to say anymore. She isn't stupid.]

He's dead, isn't he? [Esther swallows thickly.] Please just tell me it isn't like the Baron of Luxor. Say he's a fake.

[bloodsugar]

[a... ah.

sadly, it isn't much different than that, is it? just as Dietrich was a monster pulling Radu's corpse on strings, it's... Crusnik, with his brother. just the thought makes him sick.

he's supposed to be gone.]

...

[birthmarked]

[Esther takes in a couple of breaths. She's going to cry. She can feel the tears coming. This has to be worse for Father. Cain was her friend. Abel was his twin brother. This had to be tearing him apart.

She doesn't have to think about it. Esther is moving in to wrap her arms around him. It probably looks ridiculous having this tiny woman trying to hug him in the middle of the sidewalk but, she doesn't care. He needs this and so does she.]