Cade's Inbox

[onlyhymns]

[For personal threads, memos, things left in his quarters for him to stumble on, confessions of love, injunctions, jars of bees, and so forth.]

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[onlyhymns]

[Cade does start walking, but decides to take the long way around, since he's recently moved back into the Gallows but doesn't want most people to know exactly where.]

Um... [How uncomfortable.] ...yes. They're killed. [Without exception, as far as he knows.]

[exequy]

[ Kostos can't say obviously in the tone he would use to say it, because it's the same tone Alan Rickman's Severus Snape uses in Order of the Phoenix when Dolores Umbridge is asking him questions and I can't get that out of my head, ever. But he does give Cade a look that about covers it. ]

Was it difficult? Have you dealt with any that were not just waking up?

[onlyhymns]

[Cade tries to ignore the look. He doesn't have to take that, not from a mage, not when he's just leaving work--

the next question gives him pause.]

I-... [he begins, one in particular coming to mind and abruptly overtaking his thoughts. He actually stops walking, seeming to grind to a halt like a golem coming to rest.]

...yes, [a stammer, barely conclusive. Suddenly everything smells like flesh and viscera and ozone.]

[exequy]

[ Kostos walks several paces before stopping and turning to look at him, impatient. ]

Do you need a moment?

[ —with a tone like saying yes will be admitting some kind of fault. ]

[onlyhymns]

[Fault or not, Cade barely hears him. But he does recognize when The Thing is happening by this point, and presses the flat of one hand on the stone wall, squeezing his eyes closed. It's not here. Is it? They're in the tower, but it's different, there's no fighting. They're just talking.

He wants to vomit.]

I-... [he murmurs uselessly, takes a breath, and looks at Kostos with unfocused eyes. He nods. That's fine, good, it's a start.]

[exequy]

[ Ugh.

But he doesn't say anything. He crosses his arms. Waits. ]

[onlyhymns]

[Eventually, it passes. They're still in the hallway, and the mage is standing there with that judgmental face is his, and Cade's anxiety spikes in a completely different way. He's doing it again, he's being Weird at someone.]

Sorry, [he says before he can stop himself.] I'm....
[An agonizing five seconds passes.]

...what was the question?

[exequy]

[ Andraste help him. ]

Whether you had dealt with any abominations other than those formed from sleeping children.

[onlyhymns]

Uhh-
[don't panic, stare at the wall, stare at the guy, don't stare at the guy. stare at the floor.]

--um. Yes.

[exequy]

[ Yes, stare at the floor. That means he wins. ]

And?

[onlyhymns]

[This is beginning to feel like torture, in that every moment he has to dwell on these experiences is torturous.]

--and I killed them, [he says, his voice breaking impatiently.] Or helped kill them. [what do you waaant]

[exequy]

How? [ Two people can play at that game, where the game is sounding increasingly impatient while communicating poorly. ] What did it require? What could they do?

[onlyhymns]

They-- [he's making him think about it, and Cade doesn't want to think about it. The gore, the smell of ozone, the awful roaring--]

--have to be silenced. M..magically. [He rests back against the wall, not trusting himself to walk and speak at the same time, but he looks past Kostos with brows furrowed, expression intense.]
And struck down. Like you'd kill anything else. But they'll do anything-- anything.
[He winces.]
... have to be silenced over, and over again. So they can't get a hold on you. [You, a mage. A free mage. Who's probably loving this.]

[exequy]

[ He does love hearing about his people turning into murderous monsters who have to be stopped. Personal hobby. ]

What is anything?

[onlyhymns]

[Cade shudders, his eyes squeezing closed for a moment. Please stop.]

Use--... corpses around them... you-- their own friends-- [His hand gives a little twitch.] ...for more power. Ta...take them apart. Take themselves apart.

[exequy]

Right.

[ This isn't helpful. Or not helpful enough, at least, to be worth dragging information out of the Templar like a dead giant through a small tunnel. ]

Thank you for your time.

[ —that would probably be more convincing if his tone didn't sound like it needed an eye roll accompaniment. ]