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[ Yeah... okay, sounds like Taako wasn't wrong. He wonders after what happened but that can wait. ]

Sounds like you could use one. And, hm... Yeah, do you know the place by [ address ]?

Probably.

(She hasn't touched the food Taako brought her as an appeal, and she's pretty hungry.)

Uh huh. Um, give me ten minutes? (She still has to get dressed, oops.)

If you need longer, I can wait. Otherwise yeah, I'll see you in ten.

It's okay, I won't take long. I'll see you soon.

(She gets ready in a bit of a haze but at least makes it out of the apartment without seeing either of the twins. After this she'll probably go back to her office and sleep there for the night.

Cain is waiting for her outside the cafe as she walks up; she pulls her phone distractedly out of her pocket, checking the time. It's nice to see him, but she doesn't think she can pretend to be in a good mood, even though she gives him a quick, tight smile as she approaches.)

Hey. Sorry, am I late?

[ Considering the purpose of the visit, he's pretty sure it will get worse before it gets better but Cain isn't put off by her appearance at all. Just smiles back and shakes his head. ]

Nope, just on time. It's pretty quiet right now so I think we can head right in.

That's good.

(She wouldn't be able to handle loud right now. She pinches the bridge of her nose, and sighs. She should probably say something about this, just in case.)

Cain, I'm– I'm not in a very good mood today. So, I'm sorry if I seem... uninterested, or angry. It's not your fault.

No, that's fine. [ He lets his smile drop to something barely there. ] So today is a good day for melancholy and downer topics is what you're saying?

Absolutely it is.

(Practice will be good, later. She can go let off a volley of fireballs or something, try and get rid of the rest of her nervous energy.

She picks a table in the cafe that sits in the corner, away from everybody else. She's in that kind of mood.)

[ Cain sits down with her, across the table so they can talk without having to press together like they're hiding something. This isn't that kind of meeting. ]

Well, in that case, we should probably talk. There's a couple topics I can think of, too.

Like what?

(Her tone is light, casual, but she's got that sinking feeling again. She's pretty sure she knows what he's talking about. Under the table, her hands clench over her knees.

She's a bit stressed, but hopefully she doesn't look it.)

[ Yeah, this will definitely get worse before it gets better. ]

I think I owe you an explanation, for one thing. You confided in me and I didn't react well, and that wasn't fair to you at all.

(This sucks she's already had one panic attack today. Bring on round two.)

Yes, I noticed. It happened when I was talking about... about Taako, and Lup.

Right. I don't know if you recall what I said when we were both effected by the Chalice, but... I've got a twin myself. Remus. [ He frowns, thoughtfully. ] Abel, now. He passed away a few years after that — I was twenty then, twenty-four when it happened.

Thing is, he doesn't remember me. Or anything about being alive. [ He's explained Enforcers and ghosts and things, right? ] And by this point, I'm positive it isn't just the trauma that has him blocking things out.

[ He's meeting her gaze now, but his hands are carefully curled up together on the table. Very measured, but at least Cain's rather calm when explaining this. ]

(Oh.

For a moment, her expression crumples and her shoulders droop. She must have caused him quite a lot of pain by telling him that. And so casually, too! Knowing that she hurt him doesn't sit well with her at all, and though she tries to pull herself together, she still looks upset when she finally meets his gaze again.)

You know, it seems all I'm capable of lately is causing trouble for my friends, (she offers, hollowly.)

I'm sorry– I didn't... ('I didn't know' feels like a ridiculous excuse.)

[ He watches her, then exhales soft, slowly. ]

No, that's what I'm getting at. You couldn't have known, and... the people Abel works for. Those Reapers. They're not really people, I guess, they'd probably be insulted if I called them that.

[ He's rambling a little, and he consciously pulls himself back from it. ]

They just wanted to keep us apart, they don't care at all. They hurt us for thousands of years just because they're scared or whatever the case may be. [ They're still hurting them. Hurting Cain. ] But I know you, Lucretia, and you wouldn't do that. You're not the Reapers, you're their family, and I meant what I said. There had to be something else going on.

So, sure, I had a reaction when the similarities stood out more than the differences... but please don't assume that means it's too much to talk about, or that I don't want to, or that I'm angry or anything. You need a friend right now, and I'd like to think I'm not a terrible option.

(Lucretia leans back into her seat, hands leaving her knees to fold tightly, comfortingly across her chest like she's trying to tuck in and make herself smaller. She watches him carefully as he talks, and slowly, but surely, that tight coil of panic trapped in her chest starts to unwind.)

I... (oh, no. Her voice is a little hoarse, and for a horrible moment she thinks she might cry. She pauses, staring hard at the counter.)

Thank you, (she manages eventually,) for saying that. That... that something else might be going on, I mean. (Neither Taako nor Lup seem predisposed to believe that of her. They are, of course, far closer to the heart of her betrayal than Cain is, but they've also known her for longer, and she thought that might have meant a little more to them. It's the worst part of the whole thing, really, the endless questioning of her own character.)

You're not a terrible option, Cain. You're– you've been helpful, more than you know. You're a very good friend to me.

It's the only conclusion I can come to.

[ Even if that "something else" is Lucretia breaking under the pressure of the cycles, there's no way that the person in front of him now is the person who would do those things. Not when she's so torn up, heart and soul, about this betrayal that will eventually come to pass.

That said, he puts his hand out across the table for her to take should she feel like it. ]

You're not so bad a friend yourself.

(Oh no, that makes her tear up, when he holds out his hand to her. Why is he being so nice. She hesitates, then takes it, and it's a touch that it comforting.)

I don't know, (she says, managing a small chuckle even as she's hurriedly wiping her eyes with her free hand,) I wonder, sometimes.

Thank you for telling me about your brother, too. I'm so sorry that happened. (She gives his hand a squeeze.)

Being a friend doesn't mean you don't get into fights, it means you're still there at the end of the day. For me, anyway.

[ Cain's definitely the type who would rather have the time to cool off and talk things out and eventually come back to work on it together. Not everyone is like that but... well, it's his own style. ]

We're still working on it, Abel and I. But... thank you.

I know.

(She sniffs, and wipes her eyes again, mouth curling into a frown.) But I'm so mad at him. It's stupid.

(Lucretia's usually the type to try and talk it out right away, but she had been too angry, too shocked at the time to try.)

What happened?

[ Not necessarily what did he do because that isn't really fair. Their whole situation isn't, really, and he's got a bit of charitability toward Taako for pointing him in this direction right now anyway. ]

(No, what did he do feels pretty appropriate right now. Lucretia gives Cain's hand a grateful squeeze, then takes her hand back so she can fold her arms across her chest again. It's a comfort thing.)

He told Lup, about what happens in the future. With me. And, (she exhales sharply, and stares at the table as she continues,) I don't know, Cain. I get that he can't keep things from her. Neither can I, and I wasn't about to, but he didn't– he could have let me know he was going to do that before he went and threw me under the fucking bus.

(Then she blinks, and one hand pops up to cover her mouth. Language.)

Oh– sorry.

[ That's weirdly endearing, and his face screws up into a complicated smile. Her admission sucks but the backpedaling on cursing makes it unfortunately cute. ]

We're all adults here, it's fine.

Uh, on the subject of the fucking bus, though... that's rough. He definitely should have given you the heads' up.

(Lucretia nods slowly, chewing her lip.)

There's nothing I can do about it now, of course. But I wish he had let me be there. We... we don't have an explanation for any of this, Cain, and now my... my best friend knows that I do this, and how is she supposed to forgive me for it??

(She's got her arms folded tight across herself again, squeezing hard, shoulders hunched. When she speaks next, her voice is tight, distressed.) Taako said she nearly set him on fire.

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