Scene #9247: Quick! Hide Roland's Body!

Owner	Pose
Angela	So there's a Library now. And no Warpgate. Going to the Library typically involves traveling through The City but Yuuki Kuran can, of course, appear wherever she wants. But unexpectedly, before the interview... Canard I go out to the streets, my hand in my pockets. A man in a suit, white dress shirt, and tie and similarly black slacks with an average haircut and a less than average face from which a life of scowling and grimacing can be seen plainly by looking at him. In one moment, he is there in the lobby, mumbling about having to trust 'her', only for him to come face to face with... "I despise verbose and roundabout speech that doesn't get straight to the point. Don't get wordy, and don't question me either." The pale blue haired woman with the golden eyes, garbed like one might expect a Librarian to be, but with black feathers slowly spreading across her body as any defense mechanism might. "Where did you come from, how did you enter this place, and for what purpose?" This man has infiltrated her EGO somehow, something that ought to be impossible. The Library IS her and here is an intruder like an invasive cell. "Well--who are you to--...AUGGGH! My leg!" Angela lowered the Funeral of Dead Butterflies EGO she was borrowing as the man's leg burst into blood and butterflies. "...I warned you and you crossed a line. This is my home and you are an invader. Please try to respect that. Let me ask you one more time...Where did you come from, how did you enter my home, and for what purpose?" The man cluches the remains of his leg in agony. "I was just walking around, and I ended up here before I realized it. I have no idea how I got here. Fuccckkk my leg... I swear I wasn't trying to trespass, I don't even know where 'here' is. I woke up around 1 PM and started walking around the streets of District 13 and I thought I'd go to the local HamHamPangPang. Anyway I had bills to pay and I have to make a living as a one man office some--" The pale woman's eyes grow dull. The man's right arm explodes into gore shortly after. "You dragged on too long. I warned you, are you perhaps a bit stupid? next up will be your left arm and leg." She crossed her arms. "So you are telling me you have no purpose, and you don't even know how you got here." She is naturlaly skeptical of such a story. "Who are you, then?" The man as now lying on the floor, trying to save his strength. "Just an ordinary Fixer who hit rock bottom. What the hell is this place, who are you?" Well there went the last of the man's limbs. "...Again, I am the one asking questions. Your name. Now." "....Roland." And then he faints away.
Angela	NOW Angela is panicking. She has stashed Roland in General Works where Fox is stabilizing him and has had Parker clean up the mess in the lobby to an exceptional degree, but she KNOWS Yuuki is a blood--a vampire, and she KNOWS how vampires feel about wasted blood like that. She was just so startled by an interloper than she acted extremely and now she has to hope it doesn't interfere with the interview. She has changed into a spare uniform and is now waiting for Yuuki in the library which is about as far from General Works as she can get. This is the best she can do on such short notice. She's going to keep this man alive, she decided, because Lilian would want her to she's sure and also because Yuuki seems to... like doing good things? And she's sure that murdering someone just for taking too long to speak is a ''bad angle'. In addition, thanks to advice from Petra, she had--after getting Fox to stop the bleeding--wrapped Roland up in carpet, doused it in some vinegar,and shoved him in one of the unused guest rooms. After a second thought, she slid him into a closet too in case someone accidentally walked into this one. In addition she had just enough time to go into Chesed's old pantry and has sprinkled coffee grounds near the main vents in the area to try and circulate the coffee smell. But now all she can do is wait in the Lobby for Yuuki to show up and hopefully not notice. She'll worry about the de-limbed Fixer once the Interview is over, she's decided.
Yuuki Kuran	The meeting wasn't a very normal one, but it had not been one premised by Yuuki at all. Normally, Partners found the process of application some first step that they'd rather forget - an awkwardness before their real understanding before the world. Others engaged with the interviews as a necessary trial. Angela asked for a second - or, rather, for 'hers'. At one point, Ayin had been interviewed through the normal course of application - won the coinflip or applied until acceptance, and inserted his 'representative' the secretary Angela into the radios to serve as... What must he have imagined awaited his daughter, his accomplice, his sacrificial doll? Yuuki barely remembered the voice of Ayin. Maybe once, if she confabulated. Zero right remember, but Yuuki didn't hold that memory tightly to her own chest. Angela asked for the meeting, set the time, and even made ready to receive Yuuki. The ceremony was never just for her, but also for the members she oversaw, and so. . . At the appointed time, there's a flutterbeat of soft wings, as several colorful butterflies appear in the Library and meander about the air. Some settle on shelves, and other land on tables, but none land in such a way to dirty or defile. Most gather about open seating, until the gathering across the chair gains in volume and fills in with pales and clothfalls for the lifts of gossamer wings. Yuuki Kuran, a short fair-skinned woman in a sable-black dress of askew-seeming straps and bends of drape would cause deep stress to be captured by pencil or pen and challenge a designer to fasten to her successfully, appears already at a light recline. Her eyes, faintly-glowing red, take in the surrounds as if for the first time, and a faint sniff-sniff of her soft nose makes her eyes glow just a bit more intensely in awareness. And then a sigh escapes the Director, and she settles bare ankle up in seat to take greater comfort in a more cozy half-cross. "Angela," Coffee grounds. Vinegar. A bit of air freshener. Blood, lacquered in and polymerized to the bare metal - and again, fresher? The scent of tea, and the crumbs of cake. "You've made this place from a trap into a home. It's very pleasant." The vampire queen blinks her eyes closed and smiles out. "Is something the matter? It'd be terrible if I've caused you distress because you felt the need to do things for me. Are you busy today? Seeing someone else? If you are, I can postpone-" She laughs, chime-bright and lazy-breeze slow. "You're the one asking, so it's no problem. You've had several long weeks, haven't you? Extremely, for you."
Angela	The awkwardness is part of the point, Angela felt. How can she say she had a real job interview until she had one? And more to the point, she doesn't want to feel like she's only here because of luck. Luck can be part of it! Winning the coinflip, she's heard about it, but it wasn't even her luck. It was her creator's luck. And right now she wants to get as far from him, metaphysically speaking, as possible. What had he imagined? She doesn't want to know. Maybe he just thought the Concord would see her like he saw her, like it was obvious... ...Butterflies! It must be her. Angela straightens out her uniform, even adjusts the raven feathers--part of the EGO armor--and smooths out her skirt. Her eyes brighten at what Yuuki says first. ''You've made this place from a trap into a home. It's very pleasant.'' Angela actually smiles, a bit smugly. "It took a lot of effort but ... If I still am stuck in this building, I might as well make it a pleasant location. I thought you would appreciate that, but--if I am being honest--I just need it to be pleasant myself. Do you mind walking as we talk or would you prefer to stay down here...?" Audrey could only see the first couple floors because she got exhausted but Yuuki has vampire power! She's particularly fond of Central even if it's a bit gaudy--it's important to maintain a familiarity of theme, she figured. ''Are you busy today? Seeing someone else? If you are, I can postpone-'' Angela hesitates. Did she sniff out Roland ... Or is she referring to Audrey. Angela elects to go with, "Audrey paid a visit and was exhausted after an incident in The City so she's resting in one of the rooms. And there are the Librarians, of course, thoughi I am still working on the Sephirah... A man paid a visit unexpectedly but he can wait. You are more important--particularly since, as you have said, I asked for this meeting." ''Youi've had several long weeks, haven't you?'' "...Yes. Longer than normal. I can't entirely afford to take it easy now just because of that but I have been trying to let people rest while I figure out my next move. And rest myself. It was a difficult time for everyone, and it being a difficult time for everyone was ... difficult."
Yuuki Kuran	Butterflies, bats, and wolves are all known familiars and shapes of the Director, and when unseasonal butterflies start appearing places that they have no business being the culprits are very limited indeed. In the whole process, nobody had ever asked Yuuki for a second whole apple to try their hand and teeth on. Certainly, there had been those that sought a second bite at the same apple - many people got second tries during interview because the process was about learning about the person behind the application. And still, the interview was just a vibe-check, a last step for those almost but not quite there already. All cozy in her seat, almost dozingly asleep, Yuuki finds the atmosphere restive. Books and personal presence - being nestled against the inside of Angela's chest, there's a romance to resting her ear on bicep as momentary pillow in chair and imagine the heartbeat she hears isn't her own, but that of the whole structure all around her. A breath - in and out - paces Yuuki as she intuits the question out of Angela's direction before she's even bidden out of the chair. If she just had to perch and settle on a chair, she could do that with even less of herself - but this was her Partner, and she should be present. Rising to her humble height, Yuuki lifts her eyes to look at the taller and feather-adorned Librarian and smiles in time with the owner of this domain's smug acceptance of her light praise. "I can tell that you're taking this a lot more seriously than most. People join the Concord for all sorts of reasons, but most of them intend to use our partnership to help propel them to where they wish to go. The effortless perfection of 'nothing that much occurring' prior means that they almost come unformed or untouched to us and my job is to evaluate them as raw and unshaped pieces. It's a different kind of eye." Yuuki extends a hand up, out, as if she expects Angela to take it and kiss her palm or lead her along. Mostly the latter, but it's a prompt! "It's most important for it to be pleasant for you, and then after than important for it to be pleasant for others, isn't that right? I don't mind walking as we talk - there's something you'd like to show me? I can tell you've cleaned up." The hesitation urges a kind smile from Yuuki's lips. "I'm not surprised to smell blood among your ribs and inside your chest, Angela. I have a very keen sense of smell - and I can tell you cleaned up for me. Right?" A faint look of concern touches Yuuki's face. "You didn't scour your bones, did you? You've got lovely feathers now, and I think a little fashion is due those who've had to struggle as much as you have. And, of course, it'd be difficult to expect existing partners to scour out their chests before a visit!" The matter of guests don't alert Yuuki, and 'Roland' doesn't mean anything to her. Audrey, however. . . "Audrey? Oh, I'm glad you're already taking a mentorship role for her, then. And I'm glad you've put me forward in your priorities! It's quite pleasing. So, while I've got your attention, may we begin?" Yuuki steps closer to Angela, leaning in, eyes still aglow. The periphery of her thrums with the sound of countless soft wingbeats again. "A 'difficult time' can be necessary to share. Can you tell me what it was for? Can you tell me what it will be for?"
Angela	Angela is very seriousfaced and seriousminded. Angela is stiff as all heck. No blood within Angela just yet. Maybe that's something that comes later. It's a different kind of eye, Yuuki mentions, which gets Angela to frown in thought. THis means that she won't be getting exactly the same treatment as new prospectives but she supposes it would reach the point of goofiness to just ask The Director to pretend that they haven't interacted with one another before. But she DOES want to show Yuuki around. "Yes. In a sense, showing you the Library is showing you a part of me. Certainly, some of the facility remains a part of it--but I suppose even I cannot completely disassociate from my past just yet." She's a little more unsure if she wants to be now, though, because if she tears her own memories away wouldn't that mean Petra has suffered alone? It's a bridge she can cross when she gets to it but it's easier to focus on smaller plans and achievements right now than any of her big goals. She's just ... exhausted of all that right now. And also there's a Roland somewhere in here that she is worried about waking up screaming or something. Just a little bit, though, she's sure she can EXPLAIN if it happens but it WOULD be embarrassing. Angela does not kiss Yuuki's palm, but she does take Yuuki's hand. She's a little less hesitant about touching these days, even if she is still, well, mechanical about it. Angela is surprised to hear that she has blood inside of her actually--she actually has no idea herself if she does since she can't cut herself open and also she is not interested in cutting herslef open. Or maybe it's because of Roland? She didn't sprinkle coffee on herself after all--but no, it's specifically in the ribs? She checks for a pulse. Nothing yet. Too soon either way. Then she collects Yuuki's hand again and heads up the stairs with her. "...I did do my best to clean up .. I am hoping that there will be less of ... I'm hoping that it will be less constantly prevalent. I get to smell ''fresh'' air now, which is an improvement." ...Has she taken a mentorship role for her? It seems like Petra is too. Audrey might receive a surfeit of mentorship. "She is a peer of Lilian's, I should do my best to make her feel welcome. ... She also seems to be kind-hearted. I owe her for the support she's giving Petra--" She hesitates as if she is thinking of mentioning something else but ultimately she sets it aside because it feels too 'new' and 'vague' to comment on. She heads into the Floor of History with Yuuki. There's conference-style tables and golden light streaming from unknown sources, but it's otherwise a cozy area. Glass cases hold newspapers, magazines, and other off-world books--and the shelves are absolutely stacked with volumes, though right now most of them are the nonsense books she told Lilian about. Through a window, Yuuki can see a decidedly impossible space of long wooden lanes interspersed with more glass cases with books inside them, and boxes stacked up like towers. There are some ginormous gears chained up to some of these towers. A difficult time... "My goal was to escape the facility and 'be born' as Lilian puts it. To live, outside of the confines of the City. It was just for that--that I made a difficult time happen for everyone. And in the end, we won--but it didn't matter, because I still cannot leave. ... No, it is not that it didn't matter--the situation has improved, and I am closer. But it is difficult to not be discouraged."
Angela	She glances back to Yuuki. "My goal hasn't changed, though I hope I can be less cruel than the facility in reaching it. I still want to leave this place and explore the multiverse the rest of you get to experience." Perhaps then she can properly console and comfort those that got her here. And abandon the path of violence she never cared for but comes so naturally.
Yuuki Kuran	Yuuki smiles as she's led. "Then, please, show me as much as you'd like. You might remember the prior interview, or might not, but, I think Petra benefitted greatly from the inclusion of your memories in her during hers. She already knew about us, already about the truth from inside the doors, and knew almost all the things I'd expect of a new Partner. In fact, everything but the questions were a formality. I didn't even do half of the usual mind games, plucking out a secret and asking them about it, pushing on their weak points, asking the 'hard' questions. And with you, I don't have to do those either." Yuuki walks, led by her hands through the library. One of Angela's is clasped by two of Yuuki's, and she bounces with the steps enough to send cascade waves of brown hair behind her. Her hands aren't exceptionally warm, but Yuuki's not the kind of vampire that's unvital and cold. Her blood circulates! And so, even to the mechanically stiff, she might trend warm when holding with two hands. Even when she's mostly a hundred butterflies in a dress. "I brought the forests of my home with me my entire life. I've taken my family's mansion for my own, and changed the decor to suit me, since, it's my house. I don't think it's wrong to have some parts of you that are built like that. In fact, maybe, it's better to have parts of us grounded like that, laid down like roots." Yuuki's references involve heartbeats and bloods and liquids and the like because she's a vampire. Eventually everything started getting a little Dracula when everything she did was by appending 'blood' to things, and though she tried to control it... She became a bit loose with blood metaphors. An awareness of the physical through gory details that were monstrously normal and ungrisly to her, Yuuki dreamed of wandering the inside of Angela's ribs and followed at a cheerful pace. "While miss Basque has an apartment for her prepared in the Grand Dorado - as you do, Angela, though it is more a promise than an amenity - that you're providing her a place here close to your heart is something that I appreciate. You, and your Agents, have earned both individually and collectively an incredible amount of good-will. And yet, you keep investing in. You've given me the impression you're in it for 'forever', Angela. It's a very long time, but you seem uniquely suited to resist the wear upon you." The words, 'peer of Lilian', pause Yuuki, though she continues walking. A smile lingers on her. "You're a peer of Lilian, too. I hear about her a lot - a woman who I remember reacting with great stress at seeing me in the street, but also I went to her prideful recital and loved the whole performance of it. I invited her into our Concord - but it's Petra that accepted. And before that, it was you, wasn't it? Who made all those decisions?" Splitting off one hand to brush against the table as they pass them, and as her eyes track towards the vista, Yuuki lets out a patient breath. "Even if you needed to act out - sometimes, that's necessary. To become who we need to be, sometimes we break some mirrors and tubs, and say things we don't mean in the end." She speaks, from experience. "But it can take years for us to figure it out. That's why it's an interview for your goals, your dreams, your 'you'."
Yuuki Kuran	Meeting Angela's eyes, Yuuki's smile remains on the librarian. "I also wanted to be less cruel. I wanted to be perfect - doing no harm, using no abilities, prove that the whole Multiverse didn't have to be so cruelly violent. And I was taken advantage of, for that. Some of it was fine, because I could give a lot. And others of it wasn't fine, and I had to establish boundaries. But power isn't something to remove from yourself, I think. If you have no need for power, you have no dreams that might need some push, right?" Yuuki blinks a few times. "Why didn't winning matter?"
Angela	Angela thinks it would be nice to have a little Yuuki Kuran wandering around in her ribcage. Maybe that's what it would take to feel alive, even more than circulating bloow. Blood Fiends also have blood pumping through them because how else would they make gory messes when they are killed? But honestly Yuuki is pretty much the only real 'vampire' reference she really has. For all she knows, all Blood Fiends are like Yuuki for the most part. Well okay, maybe not all of them, but there's no reason it couldn't be the norm as far as she's concerned. But in a sense, maybe wandering through the Library is not actually so different from wandering through Angela's ribs. Well, they're probably still in the ankle or leg since they're only on the Second Floor. The Third Floor has ambient purple lighting, more books (going without saying) held behind glass. The area is very tidy, meticulously prepared. Angela is trying to suit the areas (except for Netzach who will make the mess himself) for each Sephirah. Once their new bodies are ready. She hopes it's soon. She's tired of their boxbot forms and that's all she's seen them as for too long so she has to see their humanoid states instead and fight back against the old perceptions. Somehow there's a crescet moon that overlooks the area here--it can't be real--though Yuuki's keen eyes might show that the moon outside is chained to numerous gears outside as if even the tides have been seized by machinery. There's a CITY out there, not exactly The City sized but... City sized. That should be impossible too but, well, it's not really a City. it's a backdrop. The city out there looks like it's some kind of 80s version of a hi-tech futurism. ''I think Petra benefitted greatly from the inclusion of your memories in her during hers.'' Angela's eyes widen, visible shock permuating through her skull as Yuuki says THAT. She works her mouth wordlessly and then looks down at her hands. "This...this is to be Yesod's floor, when he awakes." She continues up. Literature looks a lot like Malkuth's floor, though there's more hanging pendant lamps here and the bookshelves are embedded into the frame of the Library rather than standalone bookshelves.
Angela	"...Everyone says that about me, about us--Director. It was an intentional ploy on my part, to lend a hand to others so that our value can be observed--that my value can be observed--but to be honest, it does not feel as if I'd given much of anything in terms of what I received. Perhaps that is a sign of my desperation." Even though winning didn't matter, sort of, according to her--she still says that. Taking praise well is important and she doesn't like being in debt, since it makes her feel weak and useless. But she could never compromise on that dream of hers. "The Dame Commander said I should have some pride in beating her, even as razor thin it was. But I promised to only brag about it in ways that made her look good. After all, she helped me too, even in that war. And I would not have made it to that point, even, without her. And she helped me before I even did anything at all. I understand why you want her in the Concord. Everyone, now, knows how precious she is ... even if they may have difficulty showing it." Which is fine with her. Angela closes her free hand into a fist for a moment, thinking about it. The world doesn't deserve her. She fights for the world and is then miserable. ...Angela fights for herself and everyone becomes miserable. Petra says it's at her, but it's only at ''her'' because of her. She runs her hand down her face. "...That's true. Sometimes it's neccessary. And it was necessary for me. But does it harm everyone so elementally when everyone else does it? ... You... You say that you want to be less cruel, you wanted to do no harm and prove the Multiverse didn't need to be so cruel and violent. But when Petra saved me, she had to be cruel and violent. And cruelty and violence had to be done to her. If my memories gave her any sort of edge, I'm grateful for that, because it caused her pain I would've never wished on her." Why didn't it matter? "...Because if the only way to get my freedom is by making the rest of existence hell, then it will not be as if I escaped prison at all. I simply took it with me." She looks forward. Ugh. She is somehow being honest to Yuuki here when she should be making her best impression. "I never had power before. Not really. I have power now. And it's ''my'' power, whether I need it or not. ... Even if it is more difficult to measure directly than say Rita's or Lilian's--" She frowns because they actually have a ton of power to the point that it might actualy be difficult to measure. "...Or I do not know, some Elites that are strong and mighty but relatively straightforward." Like Hibiki maybe? Sure. "That world you want ... If The City can become like that--while it's one of the cruelest worlds imaginable--you can just say your theorum is proven, correct?"
Yuuki Kuran	Being shown up Angela's ankle, up knee and across thigh, is quite heady for a vampire reference -- but Yuuki is more than willing to explore ribs or legs equally. She's interested - both because Angela asked, and because this place that she was invited into was new and different. A living EGO, a 'place to go' that was every part like pushing fingers into the librarian's chest and opening her wide to explore every bone jut and muscular gap spanned by page and wood and hanging light. Yuuki was there, walking alongside the beating heart of the place, the speaking voice of the woman, and doing 'this thing' plunging-fingered with the press of dozens more butterflies in her wake. From the first and second floors, little dark-bodied shapes with flapping wings linger, hang on bookspines and rest on the chairs of lanterns. Watching and tasting and waiting and simply being, scattered in the wake of the pair, Yuuki finds herself reminiscing. "The moon you've hung is pleasant, Angela. The sun is usually harsher than I'd like, but I don't feel harmed at all here. It's peaceful." Yuuki decides, gazing out at the gears, and beyond. "And there's a freshness to the air - I think there's a sweetness to living air that it can't gain circling around indoors. Have you found that yet, Angela? I hope you have." Angela reacts to Yuuki's praise of Petra. Yuuki is used to people thinking deeply about her praise. Often, she means it deeply. Often, she means it as a simple spurt of affection. She's not limited by needing years of love to appreciate. "I think that I've met people like you before, Angela. It didn't take a million years, or anywhere close to forever. Sometimes what's offered are the parts of us that we value less, or the things we can carve off and offer. Sometimes what's offered is this image of a better us, that we don't think we are." Yuuki steps away to look at the bookshelves, fingers now reaching to select one title as butterflies hang about her. "Have you ever heard stories about pirates? Islands of treasure and freedom, sailcloth and salt air? One Partner of ours was, I think, the most important pirate of his era. To the world he was Captain Flint, but to me, he. . ." Yuuki's fingers pull on the spine of the book to tilt it out, smiling down at the tops of pagepaper. ". . . was James. Ah, I think I have a thing for daring captains, Angela. He was a rugged man, with a strong jaw and these absolutely stunning eyes, hair swept back into a neat bun and this intelligent way he'd shift his brow - like even his thoughts were sea-steadied." The vampire queen sighs warmly. "He was a man with a particular prize in his head, and goal in his mind. Gold coins and glory, yes, but he pushed his crew like a devil was at his back. And for some - for their homes, or their loves - I'd understand it completely. But he sent his men on this advance for the First, and I saw the fervor with which he drove himself too. I reached out to tell him, James," Yuuki lifts her eyes from the bookshelves, over her shoulder to see Angela. "'James. It's not a death march.' And he looked at me like I had told him to open his eyes. I don't think I'll forget quite the feeling he showed to me that day." Shifting to continue, Yuuki follows Angela to the next floor, clasping hands behind her back as she walks with lightly bobbing step. "He offered us every part of himself but his dream. And if we took even that from him, he would have nothing for James. We don't want that. I don't want that. It's not a death march, Angela. I don't just want you to live. I'd rather you stay with me forever."
Yuuki Kuran	"James went on, with our help, to live as he chose - on the land he found home on. It was more than one step on a beach, or one battle, but James is a man who I'd give forever to if he'd just hold the world in his heart." It's then, Angela knows just from tone, that Yuuki had not handed out 'forever' to very many people at all. As they walk, a question comes to Yuuki, and there's a thoughtful look to the pan-across of her glowing reds. "Do you know why the Concord was created? Really? I didn't have the words for it, at first, but... I can explain it now. I'm sure there's a paper someone wrote about us, or, some clever conspiracy about our true goals. I'm sure that the Paladins all together are doing similar in a way that's ultimately doomed." "Do you want to know?" Yuuki Kuran asks, and then carries on with a faint laugh. "It's because what we're doing isn't a lie." The laughter continues, a little longer. Like a shared joke that now Angela is in on. "It's exactly what we say, whenever anyone asks. 'We play all the angles, so we always win'. It sounds so quaint, I think, because people don't understand what we're doing." Turning to take Angela's hands on their trip, Yuuki stands before the Librarian. "We collect dreams, and support them. New ways of being, new societies, those hopes for better. We support them, because we know that way we're a part of those dreams, those 'forever afters'. We're building that next way of being, that next layer of reality. If we can't bring you out of your cage, then our power and our dream has a limit. I believe we can - and I might even imagine the world where you're free. When you are - when you're more powerful than you are desperate, I think you'll remember." Yuuki's hands squeeze. "The field will narrow. Forever comes one tomorrow at a time. And in the end? Tomorrow will be a series of miracles, as 'the Concord' provides a paradise for every dream. I'm willing to even accept Grandmaster Eryl's vision, if 'normal people' are like you and me and my beloved captain James. But I think - I know, in the end, it'll be us. When we collapse on and support our best-of-all dream, 'forever' will be a paradise for us to enjoy." Yuuki's hold on Angela's hands fall. "So." Yuuki turns at the neck to find a window, a path outside, or merely the hanging illusion of a far-off crescent moon. "I haven't lived forever, or even a hundred years. But I've seen the dreams of the Multiverse, and the brightest ones outshine even the darkest worlds. The City isn't invincible, and it didn't hide you from everyone. You found us, Angela. Are you willing to ask our Concord, honestly, for help? Do you want to see if I'm right?"
Angela	Angela has, in fact, heard stories of pirates before. Mostly from one pirate in particular though, admittedly, it was pirate (fairytale) rather than pirate (actual) which is a small but notable and real difference. Sometimes the most horrifying thing about Yuuki Kuran isn't her fangs or her abilities to turn into small woodland creatures (multiple) or her tendency to smell blood from a billion miles away. No, it's just that she has clearly lived through a great deal. She has an experience for every occassion and she didn't even need two centuries to go through them. Forever is a word that Angela has grown to despise. Forever is torture under the right conditions. Frankly, even in this Library, it would be torture, not because it isn't pleasant--she made it as pleasant as she could--and it's HERS so even in the ways it's not pleasant is decidedly her. But there's a difference between being stuck in one box and being stuck in one world and especially one infinity. She knows that 'forever' isn't meant for one library. The truth is, Angela suspects if she had ultimate freedom from the start she probably wouldn't appreciate it as much, she'd be comfortable lingering at home with a book in her lap. This hunger of hers was a gift from her creators, the only one she can treasure because she knows, she just knows that once she can sate it she'll be joyous beyond measure. She has tasted a small sample of it, now, and that just makes her hungrier for it even now as she despairs at how much just getting that little taste harmed everyone around her and, lets face it, probably the world. It's not a death march. "It's a crawl." Angela murmurs. "...I don't intend to die, Yuuki. I thought about it, I admit, but I decided not to. Because I decided I needed to live 'that human life' to understand its value. Audrey offered to help, Petra would in a heartbeat. I'm sure any number of people would, but what I learned from this is that the very Light that has spilled out across this City..." She shakes her head. "Attempting to leave is like me attempting to pull my own mind out from my nostrils and set it on a table somewhere and walk away without it. So I need to find a way to take it with me. All seven days. No compromise, because once you compromise on yourself you never leave at all. It would have been nice to be able to, just so that it wouldn't be such a bother. But I have to be the bother now." Maybe that's why she chose to take a break. Build up the kind of impetuous audacity that lets one muscle against the universe that is so arrayed against you and say 'don't like it? too bad'. Maybe she could've done it if it just hurt everyone else. But since it hurt Lilian and Petra... "Don't worry. I'm not giving up on my dream. This is just a pause, placing the soil so reaching for it will be, ideally, less cruel. I do not know if I can be cruelty-free but once I am free there will be no more need for sacrifice and suffering." She nods to Yuuki. Of course she wants to know. And it comes back to the angles again. Forever aftors, ever afters. Like fairy tales. Calling back to such things appeals to something primal in Angela. "I am willing to ask for help. ... Admittedly, I am not entirely sure what to ask for right this moment. But once I do know, I will ask for help, always, and I'll offer it in turn where I can. That is just ... being a proper good neighbor. There are people, I'm told, who are not my enemies even in this world. I suppose it is a bit like your plan to get vampires to play nice on your owrld. Audrey, you could say, was a test about how to let someone in from the cold and the dark. Next will have to be a gamble."
Angela	She nods to Yuuki. "I want to see." ... Actually, she had forgotten until this moment, but Audrey's a Partner so it doesn't really ocunt as a test but there is a guy whose arms and legs she ripped off that she probably should ... not leave bleeding out. ...Well, there's time enough for that, she reasons.