‡6th Treasure‡ video;

[totallytrustworthy]

Hello again, Esilium. Long time no talk-- [Chloe's looking under the weather in terms of wear and tear only; her bright eyes actually bright today for a change. For the first time in months, as a matter of fact.] good god does it feel good to be free again. Never thought I'd be saying those words, but there you have it.

And don't worry, no more lectures on this end. No more daily mutineering announcements: I can catch up on what I missed in lock up by scrolling though the network on my own and I've got a more important issue that needs addressing first. [There's a brief pause before she adds, gently as possible:] Obviously anyone that wants to talk shop about what went down is welcome to, of course. Just-- you know. We're on the fast track to recovery around here from what it looks like, so I'm not about to force anything else down anyone's throats as long as that remains the case.

Thanks, by the way, for not unanimously voting for throwing us all out the airlock. [Nice to know not everyone wants them done in or worse.]


Right, though, to the point. I need someone willing and capable of doing tattoo work. Good tattoo work.

In this case I'm even willing to consider the magical sort so long as nothing additional goes along with it. Not really a fan of curses and poisoned apple nonsense.


Additional text addressed to Vanozza:

not sure if I should be thanking you for this or asking why you of all people are signing up to look after someone like me right now

Comments

[vaccination]

[There's the slightest intake of breath. People needed to stop springing Tess on her like this.]

So? If you're going to tell me she cared, shove it.

[totallytrustworthy]

Well it's not as if she chose to leave. [One of these days the other transports can just throw a Tess-themed surprise party and get it all out of their system.]

[vaccination]

Maybe she deserved it. This place is a lot better than what she had waiting for her at home.

[It twists the knife in her gut to say it, and maybe Ellie doesn't believe Tess deserved it, but she's not going to let herself be sad in front of these people. Being angry is easier.]

[totallytrustworthy]

No one's buying into that - not even you. [And it's said as carefully as the situation warrants.]

She was trying to help set things right, darling.

[vaccination]

Ellie.

And she sure did a good job of it. A real role model.

[totallytrustworthy]

Ellie. [The repetition's a courtesy.]

And I should hope so, considering she was the one keeping us safe through the worst of it.

[vaccination]

Real fucking respectable. Meanwhile, she abandons her friends and worries the shit out of them.

[totallytrustworthy]

You think she chose us over you?

[vaccination]

I know because that's exactly what she did.

[totallytrustworthy]

[Chloe pauses, thins her lips.]

No, Ellie. What she did out there she did for you, more than anything else. [Laying it on thick is putting it lightly; she's a con artist, after all. That's what she does. Doesn't change the fact that the bottom line is still the same: Tess didn't abandon them. And she likely wouldn't want them to feel as if that was the case.]

[vaccination]

Is that the story she told you?

[totallytrustworthy]

I don't need a story. From her or anyone else. She signed on with us to change things around here for the better-- you don't do something like that unless you're invested.

[She stops long enough to let those words sink in.] Can't think of anything here she'd have been more invested in than her partners.

[vaccination]

If she was, then she made the wrong choice.

[Except this is what she's been told more than once.

Doesn't mean it's true, right?]

[totallytrustworthy]

They would've sent her back anyway. [Thin ice. Chloe knows she's treading on it.] Can't think of any way I'd rather go out than trying to help the company that matters most.

Can you?

[vaccination]

Maybe not making them feel like shit before joining in on something that was obviously going to fail? I don't know.

[totallytrustworthy]

Ah. But did we really fail, though?

[vaccination]

Getting locked up sounds like failing to me.

[totallytrustworthy]

That depends on what your main goal was in the first place. We never expected to get away with it, love.

[vaccination]

And what was your goal? Fuck up the month? Because you totally did that.

[totallytrustworthy]

Nah. [It's not the first time their end goals have failed to catch an open ear, after all.] Nothing so grand as all that.

Unity's marvelous, Ellie. Keeps us from getting done in every five bloody seconds in a place like this. The problem is that it also...well, it promotes a certain sort of blindness: the Initiative might have the same goals as we do, but when I first arrived here? They damn well didn't have the morals.

And that's coming from a thief, mind you.

[vaccination]

I was about to say, someone who tried to kill someone doesn't really have room to talk about morals.

[It's why Ellie doesn't often bring up the topic, either. If things are right or wrong or stupid, it's not because of a moral standpoint.]

Whatever. You failed. Have fun with your babysitter.

[totallytrustworthy]

Oi, hold up. [Her voice is hard when she says it; it's not a request.] I wasn't trying to kill the bastard.

I'm a thief, not a murderer.

[vaccination]

Yeah, sure. You just wanted to talk.

[totallytrustworthy]

No, I wanted to hit him in the jaw enough times to knock a bit of sense into his egomaniacal head.

[vaccination]

Oh, yeah. He was totally the egomaniacal one. Forgot about that. Yep.