faderift | [OPEN]

You know, Abby isn't an expert in... 'medieval' decor, or whatever, but she'll try.

"They're just working with what they have, right? Stone and brick and... more stone." She's doing as good a job explaining as she is attempting to hide her smile.

Lia smiles brightly at this new face.

"But, people make sculptures out of those materials! Designs! Arches!" She sighs to herself.

"It simply must be purposeful, they want it to be ugly."

"Maybe they heard you were coming," Abby suggests, joking. "And knew it would really piss you off."

Does that fully demonstrate how pointless it is to complain about stone walls? Well, it should.

"Well, that would be a mistake on their part, I'm incorrigible when I'm angry."

Lia leans in and lightly touches Abby on the shoulder.

"Truly, it doesn't bother you at all? Wouldn't it be pleasanter to look at something beautiful?"

She sighs.

"If I must be in a prison, at least make it beautiful. What did you say your name was?"

"There are beautiful things," Abby says, glancing down at the hand that briefly alights on her shoulder, "Over there." Where the gardens are. "And if you go up to the top of the towers, the view is pretty good." Purportedly, anyway.

"I didn't. It's Abby. You're new here?"

"I am new. My name is Lia."

She doesn't look towards the gardens or the towers, but instead at Abby. She removes her hand, smiling gently.

"So, no great architects here, the only beauty is natural. I suppose I will have to get used to it."

Lia stands dusting herself off.

"Shall I be going up the towers alone or will you be coming with me?"

Abby looks at her, one eyebrow raised, goes, "Wow," under her breath. Smooth. Is there something in the air?

"Yeah. I can take you up there." If the idea of walking up a flight of stairs together is that appealing to her. "I'm guessing you're still in the... probation period." Considering she just called the Gallows a prison.

"Excellent!" She beams, taking Abby's arm, allowing herself to be led.

"I haven't heard anyone mention probation."

Lia holds her left hand out and wiggles her fingers displaying her green anchor shard.

"Does probation mean if I fail it, they might take this out? I generally do not fail at things, but I'm willing to make an exception."

"No."

What did she do for those two irritatingly long weeks again...? Probably ran the circumference of the Gallows, like a hamster in a wheel. That was back when she still had a routine. She is taking Lia to the tower via the gardens so she has something nice to see on the way.

"You can get that taken out if you also get the hand taken out, if you catch my drift."

Lia sighs and makes a face at that.

"I think I need both of my hands." She wraps her left hand around her right to encircle Abby's arm as if proving why both are generally better.

"I suppose I don't care to stay in one place and I don't care other people to tell me where I go. Unless--" She speaks delicately. "I want them to tell me where I go."

She looks at an orange flower and supposes it is lovely.

"What is it they tell you to do here, Abby?" She smiles at her with a little mischief.

... Okay, it's cheesy, but Abby kinda likes the attention. She flexes her arm idly under Lia's hands; two can play at this game.

"I'm in Forces," she supplies, "So they usually tell me to fight." Which she does. She doesn't like the way that Lia said that though, like standing around and taking orders in the middle of a war is a bad thing. "We have to keep each other safe."

Lia's eyes lock with Abby's. She too likes the attention and is happy to find an easy provider of such.

"You want to keep us safe?" She says smiling. "I suppose we're lucky to have you."

She leans on Abby's arm a little because they are making their way up the stairs.

"So, you believe in all this?" She says lightly. "the--cause?"

She supposes she is interested to hear what Abby thinks of it, it just seems like corn in a different husk to her.

"Yeah." Why wouldn't she want that? These are her people and this is what she does. In a way, it's a relief to stay here and asked to protect people with her body in exchange for hospitality, which is what she's been doing for her entire life anyway. All that changed was the people.

Lia is getting another sideways look. "The cause of... not letting Corypheus destroy the entire world?"

Girl,

"Yeah. You could say I do."

Ah. Abby thinks her simple. Well, she wouldn't be the first.

"No. That isn't what I mean. Of course, I don't want the world destroyed and certainly not by someone so distasteful. I meant believe in the idea that any one person or small group of people can do anything about it."

She sighs lightly.

"In my experience, people tend to what's best for them in the moment and it seems to me that those of you here have gathered here together to feel better about the situation we are in. I suppose since I'm stuck here I will join in, but I don't know that I believe that anything I will do would change the outcome in any measurable way."

She shrugs.

"It may sound bleak, but in the end, it's science. The odds are truly very bad and our time is very short. So, I intend to make the most of it."

She tosses her hair and gives Abby a dazzling grin.

Survivors come in all shapes and sizes and... beliefs. Once, Abby would have flat-out agreed with this sentiment. Of course everybody knows the odds are stacked, but there's no point lying around and feeling terrible about that. Of course you have to try fighting back, what else is there to do? The odds are bad and time is short: this has been true for Abby's entire life.

Now, she says, "You're right, but... I dunno, our Research team worked out how to go back in time and stop a good chunk of us from dying a couple months ago. We're not your average group of people."

It makes shit like 'defeat Corypheus' actually seem possible.

... Is she becoming some kind of sap? If Owen could hear her saying shit like this, hoping for something more, he'd have a field day with it. He'd probably be proud.

This stops Lia for a moment. Time travel?

"Forgive me for doubting you," She says still smiling. "But, I find it hard to believe in the existence of time travel given the circumstances."

And of course, the theories never quite work. There's always some fact you have to blatantly disregard in order for any of the theories to be sound. Not that she read multiple books on the subject that one time she lost her father's prize specimen when she was 13 or anything!!

Trying not to be rude, she leans in a little to Abby's ear lowering her voice to a whisper.

"I admire your faith. Objectively, there is value to faith even when it's nonsensical. Despair tends to make people ill." She scrunches her nose and giggles a little.

"So did I," she replies, "Until it saved my life."

Hard to dismiss it after something like that.

She angles her head toward Lia's when she leans in; the whisper gives her goosebumps. And makes her snort with laughter because she knows a lot of people would die laughing if they could hear somebody telling Abby they admire her faith. What a hoot.

"Thanks. I think." Backhanded compliment. "Look."

They're coming up the last couple of stairs now. There are windows set in the tower, and it's possible to see out of them, out across the Gallows and probably more importantly, across the river and to Kirkwall.

Lia blushes slightly at Abby's laughter and doesn't want to break eye contact to look. But, look she does seeing the view she was promised.

"It is beautiful." She says, her tone not hiding her extreme surprise. "You were right."

The implication of Abby being right suddenly hits her. Lia turns back to her, facing her and puts her hands on her shoulders.

"You really did time travel, didn't you?"

"I know." Re: the view being beautiful, and Abby being right. She wouldn't have dragged anybody all the way up the tower steps for there to be no pay off at all. There's so fucking many of them.

"I didn't time travel," she amends. Admittedly, it is nice that Lia is as tall as she is, and she can look her in the eye without craning her neck in either direction. "I was dead at the time."

She clears her throat.

"It's a long story."

Lia doesn't break the eye contact, but cocks her head a little with a half grin.

"You are much too attractive for someone once dead. How do you know for certain that it's true?"

Her eyes flick down to take Abby in a moment. She doesn't look at all like a corpse.

"It isn't faith again, is it?" Lia teases her with a tinkling laugh.

Abby grins before she can help it, glancing away, out the window and back again, to where Lia is still looking at her, head tilted to one side. She seems expectant. Her laugh is kinda nice.

"Um." Fuck, she is so out of practice. "No. Like I said, it's a long story."

Pause.

"If you buy me a drink some time, I'll tell you about it."

Lia sighs and lets the moment linger. One second. Two seconds. She turns to go down the stairs. At the point that Abby can see only the top of her head, she finally responds.

"Tell me the place and the drink!"

She grins to herself as she descends.

[OPEN]

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