my heart is a furnace

[wantsnudes]

Who: Fox and Caedra (edit: plus whoever's here for the fallout!)
What: For all Caedra's done to make the residents of Hadriel suffer, Fox takes revenge.
Where: The north island
When: Post-monster event, nighttime
Warnings: Violence, body horror, mentions of character death, allusions to childhood abuse.


It's a dangerous plan. Fox knows it is, but he knows he's all out of other options. So with the ring given to him by Rage hanging around his neck, and his katana in hand, the masked teenager has to face the confrontation that's been eating away at him for months. He hasn't even sent a calling card-- he's not stealing a heart this time, and while this may be about justice, he's acting alone, not on the behest of the Phantom Thieves.

It takes time to track down Caedra: her movements are unpredictable, and it's made all the more difficult by the city being split into islands, and by his preference to move under the cover of darkness. After a few nights of unsuccessful searching, he manages to track her down to one of the rocky beaches where they're surrounded by sea -- where there's nowhere for her to run except to the water, or through him.

He steels himself, and emerges from the shadows, eyes bright with anger behind his kitsune mask.

"Caedra! Your cruelty ends here."

Comments

[bespectacledsnake]

[The question gives him pause, uncertain at first if she is joking. Caedra, in his experience, has always been blunt about herself. About what she is, her proclivities...]

Yes. I knew.

[He holds out his flask to her if she would like a sip of some alcohol akin to vodka]

...Did she tell you something different?

[myrealname]

[she's not joking. she honestly had no idea and has been blindsided by everything that's happened]

Oh.

[she accepts the flask and takes a long drink from it]

Yeah. She said she was an alien.

[bespectacledsnake]

[Unlike Caedra, Semiyon is not without compassion and his expression softens in sympathy]

Does this upset you?

[myrealname]

[which she appreciates. she feels like she's been made a fool of and usually, she's the one who does the lying. it doesn't feel good to be on the other side of it]

A little bit. I mean, if I'd known, that would be one thing. I could've, y'know, gotten used to it. Instead it's been thrown in my face and I can't even talk to her about it for a month.

[bespectacledsnake]

What is it you would have said to her? If she could hear you right now?

[Semiyon is doubtful that Caedra has much more driving her than her own whims on any given day, and while he enjoys it he's always enjoyed it with the knowledge that that same unpredictable penchant for destruction and chaos could land on him just as easily at any time. He's also fairly certain that if Caedra had led Alice astray, it was out of nothing more personal than the fact that she had simply 'felt like it'.

But for the moment he'll keep that to himself]

[myrealname]

...I don't even know. Just that I wish she'd told me herself. And that it's not a deal-breaker or anything, but I need some time to get used to the idea.

[she's the one who's supposed to be doing the lying, not the one who's lied to]

[bespectacledsnake]

Would it be alright if I ask about the nature of your relationship with Caedra?

[Caedra had made her attraction to Alice quite clear to him at the Speakeasy a good while ago, but he'd never pushed for further information]

Only...you seem to have formed an attachment....

[myrealname]

We're friends. Who sleep together sometimes. [a pause] My first time with another woman, actually, so it's kind of, y'know. Complicated.

[maybe she threw herself into things too quickly, still too sore from having lost Dan, but she can't turn back time, can she?]

...I'm not in love with her or anything. But, she's my best friend here. I don't make friends easy.

[bespectacledsnake]

Then in many ways you and I are in a similar position.

[Though of course there are, well, variations in their circumstances. Also he is not certain that 'best friend' is how he would have phrased it in regards to his own relationship to Caedra, but for the moment the point is not worth making.]

I believe you will find it most helpful when dealing with Caedra to not allow yourself to have...well... high expectations for what you will get in return for your friendship.