( Hey, Delight. How you been? Look, she'll get to the small talk later, what Kate's really interested in is the restoration of her unnatural hair colour. )
[She's as bubbly as ever, and excited to see one of her favorites (let's be real, you're all her favorites) gracing her temple. Delight bounces forward from the shadows, arms outstretched, as if for a hug.
( This is why Delight is everyone's favourite god. That simple greeting is enough to remind Kate of Faith and her endless positivity, putting her at ease. )
Great. ( It really has been too long for Hadriel without her, hasn't it? ) Just name your price.
[See? Kate is happy to see her, Delight likes it when Kate is happy, and all is well again.]
Why don't you... um. [She purses her lips.] Why don't you paint some happy things on my temple? It's been done before, but the paint is starting to peel.
( That was a pretty fun project, and Kate did try - for a time, before there was a city torn in two and she was pulled back home - to keep it together. But it hasn't been done for many months and that does show. )
Sure. ( She'll get a few people together for it, like last time. And with that said- )
And the clinic's low on condoms. We get some more?
( With Delight being gone for so long and no one having asked Love, and the Bar... She's still annoyed about that, honestly. Totally unnecessary. )
[There's a pause. Her eyes flicker downward for a moment as another sort of look crosses over her face entirely. This isn't her usual flippant cheer- it's conflicted, troubled.]
Quiet, mostly. We couldn't be seen, so we didn't do anything too exciting. [She smiles, a little strained.] Sorry to disappoint!
( It sucks to do this to Delight, but trying to learn something about their hunters is important. Even the little things might help. She bites the inside of her cheek at the response and the expression -
Some things just have to be done. )
Can't imagine there's much excitin' to do there. ( It's as much honest as it is a quip, because everything she's heard and seen of The Null doesn't exactly scream party robots. ) ... Really want you lot one way or the other, don't they?
( First calling for their deaths, now this... cage business. )
[Delight moves back to sit on her alter, hefting herself up and kicking her heels against it. It's not a pleasant topic of conversation, and the longer they talk about it, the more melancholy she gets.]
I don't know what the others think they're doing, really. Sorrow wants to outthink them, Fear wants to outrun them, Hope just wants to survive... nobody seems to have any real answers. Someone has to do something, but... I don't know.
[She tips her head, her expression unreadable.]
I don't want to die again. I don't want you guys to die either.
( Kate doesn't want to die again. She doesn't want to be responsible for a successful genocide, either. Even the thought of destroying The Null doesn't appeal to her, not really. It's just made easier by the fact that she's protecting something she's come to care for. )
... What'd you do? If it were your decision and none of the others?
( She's had fleeting thoughts, ones that are probably too hopeful, that they could outlogic the Null, find some way to convince them that this vendetta is worse than the chance of the gods affecting them again. )
[It's an interesting question, and one that she's thought of before. Delight hesitates though, as if trying to find the right words to say it.]
I think... I would save you. All of you.
[The Null are only after the gods, not the others in the city. They're just innocents caught in the crossfire, and Delight knows this all too well. She bites her lip, staring toward the ground.]
And I would hope that the Null's prisons won't be as bad as death.
( Oh, Delight... This is why you're everyone's favourite.
But that option doesn't sit right with Kate. )
Spent way too much energy making sure you're all fed. ( It's a weak quip, one that masks the fact that somehow, somehow she's actually quite invested in making sure they're alright. )
Got people from all sorts of places here. Has to be a solution in all of that.
( God, is she really trying to Faith encouraging speech? This is not her forte at all. )
Don't get to be happy if you're in charge. Too busy cleaning up messes.
( General you. She knows Faith's relief at not being placed in charge after everything was said and done, knows how constantly her own mind has to think think think about the state of the clinic back home. Leadership is tiring. In a way, she's almost glad for the loose structure of Hadriel's, even if it means she doesn't always know what her purpose is there. If uselessness prickles at the back of her neck occasionally. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
action.
I get another deal on hair dye with you?
action.
[She's as bubbly as ever, and excited to see one of her favorites (let's be real, you're all her favorites) gracing her temple. Delight bounces forward from the shadows, arms outstretched, as if for a hug.
Right. A deal.]
Of course! I missed you.
action.
Great. ( It really has been too long for Hadriel without her, hasn't it? ) Just name your price.
action.
[See? Kate is happy to see her, Delight likes it when Kate is happy, and all is well again.]
Why don't you... um. [She purses her lips.] Why don't you paint some happy things on my temple? It's been done before, but the paint is starting to peel.
action.
Sure. ( She'll get a few people together for it, like last time. And with that said- )
And the clinic's low on condoms. We get some more?
( With Delight being gone for so long and no one having asked Love, and the Bar... She's still annoyed about that, honestly. Totally unnecessary. )
action.
[She laughs softly, before nodding.]
Sure. Sorry I left for so long.
action.
( Kate pauses, shifting her weight from one foot to another. She remembers Rage's report, but still- ) What were it like?
action.
[There's a pause. Her eyes flicker downward for a moment as another sort of look crosses over her face entirely. This isn't her usual flippant cheer- it's conflicted, troubled.]
Quiet, mostly. We couldn't be seen, so we didn't do anything too exciting. [She smiles, a little strained.] Sorry to disappoint!
action.
Some things just have to be done. )
Can't imagine there's much excitin' to do there. ( It's as much honest as it is a quip, because everything she's heard and seen of The Null doesn't exactly scream party robots. ) ... Really want you lot one way or the other, don't they?
( First calling for their deaths, now this... cage business. )
action.
[Delight moves back to sit on her alter, hefting herself up and kicking her heels against it. It's not a pleasant topic of conversation, and the longer they talk about it, the more melancholy she gets.]
I don't know what the others think they're doing, really. Sorrow wants to outthink them, Fear wants to outrun them, Hope just wants to survive... nobody seems to have any real answers. Someone has to do something, but... I don't know.
[She tips her head, her expression unreadable.]
I don't want to die again. I don't want you guys to die either.
action.
... What'd you do? If it were your decision and none of the others?
( She's had fleeting thoughts, ones that are probably too hopeful, that they could outlogic the Null, find some way to convince them that this vendetta is worse than the chance of the gods affecting them again. )
action.
I think... I would save you. All of you.
[The Null are only after the gods, not the others in the city. They're just innocents caught in the crossfire, and Delight knows this all too well. She bites her lip, staring toward the ground.]
And I would hope that the Null's prisons won't be as bad as death.
action.
But that option doesn't sit right with Kate. )
Spent way too much energy making sure you're all fed. ( It's a weak quip, one that masks the fact that somehow, somehow she's actually quite invested in making sure they're alright. )
Got people from all sorts of places here. Has to be a solution in all of that.
( God, is she really trying to Faith encouraging speech? This is not her forte at all. )
action.
[She hums softly, tipping her head to the side.]
But I'm not in charge. [A pause, then Delight flashes Kate a more lighthearted smile.]
That's probably for the best, huh?
action.
Don't get to be happy if you're in charge. Too busy cleaning up messes.
( General you. She knows Faith's relief at not being placed in charge after everything was said and done, knows how constantly her own mind has to think think think about the state of the clinic back home. Leadership is tiring. In a way, she's almost glad for the loose structure of Hadriel's, even if it means she doesn't always know what her purpose is there. If uselessness prickles at the back of her neck occasionally. )
action.
[She sticks her tongue out, cheery again.]
action.
Aren't wrong there.
( But. Well. Delight seems to be cheered up and Kate can't think of anything else. )
Have this done soon enough.
( She gestures to the temple's fading paint job. She can find artistically inclined people again, she's sure.
Of course, the game has other plans. But she doesn't know that right now. )