nobody move, there's blood on the floor

[cashlin]

Who: Lilith and Maketh
What: Maketh has Bad Ideas, and for once, Lilith is a voice of reason. Or she tries to be one, anyway.
Where: Maketh's place.
When: A few days after this happens on Delight's poll.
Warnings: Bickering, profanity. Poor life choices. Bombs. Everybody involved leaving pretty upset.

In a cave full of gods who'd rather puppet them like so many dolls than treat them as human beings, Delight is still Lilith's favorite. She's the only god who's given her any real answers to anything in Hadriel, and the only one whose gifts haven't resulted in her (or anyone else she actually likes in this place) getting hurt somehow. And she'd been able to keep both Fear and Rage away from her subconscious, sleeping mind, if only for a little while.

Which is why Maketh's outburst on the network had vexed her so much. Sure, Delight could still be using them all, but she can't help but to like her. She tries. She's done things for her-- good things. She refuses to speak to Maketh, too cold, too unflinching, too cruel to see the logic of a cease-fire, symbiotic relationship with the one god who'd help them.

Lilith's a couple days into giving her the cold shoulder when she remembers Delight's dream. The armory. Her friends. Maketh.

...Oh, damn it.

When she's next around the city, scouting out areas she's explored less to kill some time, she swings by her spot in the housing spires. Since she's near Maketh's place she may as well try to... make amends. Or something. She had been a little rude, to cut her off on the network like that. Without a peace offering in tow, she's somewhat sheepish about coming around, but she alone'll have to do.

Deep breath. It's Maketh. It's fine.

Lilith knocks and sincerely hopes Maketh's home.

Comments

[mismanagement]

Maketh hasn't slept in two days. Normally that would be a cause for concern, but she's been too busy to slow down. Hux has proven himself useful - though she's declined to share her exact plans with him - and Maketh has managed to come up with a working prototype for the fire bombs. She'll test it later in the caves to make sure of the range and intensity of the fire. Everything must be perfect before deployment. She also has to configure and test a remote detonator so all the targets can be hit simultaneously, but that -- that's less important than the actual weapon.

Focus. Everything in its time.

She came back to the apartment for a shower, maybe some more coffee, and then intended to go back to the guard post. The work can't stop. She has no one to delegate to. And everything must be working perfectly before--

There's a knock on the door.

Maketh hesitates, halfway out of her coat. She shrugs it off and lays it over the back of her chair, not bothering to cover her notebooks up. The bomb designs are clear as day on the pages, as well as targets marked on a rough map. The temples. Hope's in particular.

It doesn't matter. If it's not important, she can send whoever it is away. And if it's one of her allies, then they can be convinced to help.

Maketh answers the door cautiously, unaware of the image she presents: dark circles under her eyes, and deep as bruises, a tremor on her left side. "Hello? Oh. Lilith. Hello."

And if she's talking a little too fast, that can just be blamed on all the coffee.

[cashlin]

"Maketh?" She blinks, startled at her appearance, and before Lilith can stop herself, she's blurting-- "You look awful."

It's not the way she speaks that she picks up on. Caffeine, Lilith could probably understand. Or maybe Maketh's just in a hurry to get rid of her. If she were her, Lilith would be, too-- she's about as stubborn as Maketh is on a good day and would never have taken the criticism she'd dished out well. The bags under the woman's eyes, however, are definitely not normal, nor is the fact that her left hand's shaking just a little.

Lilith frowns deeply and cranes her neck to look over Maketh's shoulder and into her apartment. Notebooks and papers everywhere, though she can't quite make them out from where she's standing in the doorway. Since she's such a stickler for organization, these must be new. In a startling volume for new.

She quickly puts everything together, and--

"What the hell have you been doing all this time? You've slept and stuff, right?"

[mismanagement]

"Of course! I've just been working."

Lies. Sleep is for the weak.

Maketh clasps her hands behind her back to hide the tremor. Quite honestly, she's not sure what's causing it. Sleep deprivation or some residual damage left over from Nick's attack, who knows. It doesn't matter. She can power through it. "Did--did you need something?"

[cashlin]

"No! N--no, not really."

She'd also dreamed of Maketh getting shot at. Lilith presses her lips together, glances away, and looks back at Maketh.

"Just. You know. Checkin' in on you." She pauses, awkwardly. "Um, working on what?"

[mismanagement]

Lilith might be worried. Maketh thins her mouth, trying to smile. Everything is just fine. Of course it's fine. She just needs to finish her work, get everything in place. "Oh. Okay."

It is nice to see Lilith. Of course.

Maketh clears her throat. "I think we have enough materials to make something. Something powerful enough to matter."

[cashlin]

Now that's got her attention. Power is important, so all of this work can only mean--

"Wait. A way to break us out of here?" Lilith brightens. "Okay. Keep talking."

[mismanagement]

"W--well, not exactly..."

It won't get them home, but it will certainly get the attention of the gods. Make them hurt for a change. They deserve to fucking hurt after everything they've done.

Maketh runs a hand through her hair, suddenly nervous. She doesn't know why. Too much coffee, probably. "General Hux helped me design it. Come see."

She gestures towards the table, and its mess of schematics.

[cashlin]

Lilith follows Maketh in, expression a little dubious.

"I'm... definitely seeing something."

The schematics don't mean a whole lot to Lilith without explanation. She looks up to Maketh, searching: "Isn't that guy supposed to be trouble? What's so important that you'd stoop to work on his level?"

[mismanagement]

"He's an engineer, of sorts, and I had need of that."

It's not the first time Maketh has worked with someone she hates and unlikely to be the last. Needs must. She has a task that must be completed and if that means collaborating with a son of whatever has risen from the Empire's fall, then she will do so.

Maketh slides one of the clearer schematics out, showing it to Lilith. "I'm not--I know how to place explosives and deploy them, but the construction was never something I was taught."

It was not the case with Hux. Together they've come up with a chemical compound not unlike napalm. When combined with shrapnel, it will burn and burn.