Scene #9685: We Who Gather By This Fire

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Flamel Parsons	Vertin's suitcase is maybe the least stressful a disaster-bunker has ever been. As the rain ascends outside, Flamel is taking the first hours he's had to spare in the last forty-eight to just... rest. He ate, sure, that dinner's done. God, god is that dinner ever done. He's washing the dishes, dead-eyed and blank-faced. It's the thing that the camp counselor does after an eventful meal. He spent enough of two hours on weeping that the food got crusty on the plates, the last remains of last remains caking onto the surface of timeless ceramic in the humid, rainy air, just enough to be tough on a scrubber and not enough to scrape cleanly. But there's dozens, hundreds, thousands of plates to get through. It's something to do, something to move the body, something to keep one's mind on. And something to talk during. He could use telekinesis for it. He does, in fact, a pair of hands scrubbing out a pan in the air next to him. But he uses his bare hands as well. He needs to move his body and he needs to solve a problem, and he needs to spend some time without ever having to make a decision more substantial than which plate to pick up next. It's a good time to naturally bump into him socially, if one were so inclined. Just noisy enough that what he's doing is easy to bump into, not noisy enough to be an obstruction.
Holly Asturias	A few hours in the rainy wilderness wasn't healing, per se, but it was better than lingering by that table, or anywhere near it. Holly is tired, of course, and still just hungry enough from the Storm Syndrome that it's on that mind. But she can't stay out there forever. She knows she's a social animal, and besides, now she's left with a dozen questions that only Flamel of those present can answer. Questions she's certain it isn't the time to be asking, and so she won't be asking. Despite that, the goldless Revenant ends up back inside. Soaked, but unbothered by that much. The clattering plates attract her attention. ... it's a lot of plates. "Would you like another pair of hands?"
Riku Asakura	Riku's eyes were still wet from the tears he shed because of the massive loss of life. Not just that, but even losing those who had made it possible for them even to be here, Schneider chief among those. He didn't have to put on a brave face anymore because the time for those people had come and gone. He was also so tired, but right now, he couldn't even possibly think of sleeping. They'd survive another storm, but the 'victory' felt so hollow. As if they didn't do anything but run around and almost die. All they did was watch a bunch of people die. It was about at this point that he ran into Flamel, having wandered into the Kitchen with his plate, and walked to the stack of dirty plates to put his on. He looked towards the secret agent. Then, at Holly, who just offered to help. "I uh... I can bring in the rest of the plates from out there.." he says with so little energy.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons regards Holly, first with total blankness. Then, one can sort of see certain pathways booting up from cold. Part of him was somewhere else, and then, it's like Holly knocked on the door and it took a minute for that part to arrive again. A sort of mournful, but positive, smile behind the sunglasses and a brief pause in the scrubbing. "Yeah." Back to it. "It'll help feel better. Not good, but better."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons nods at Riku. Thankfully, whatever part of his is emotional response is still "at the front door", so to speak. "Appreciate it." He says. The two have so much lingering complexity that you could cut it with a knife. Luckily, all of those are too dirty right now, so it can just be set aside harmlessly. "I appreciate what you did." When? Ah-- probably back during the fight with Forget-Me-Not, when his giant-mode activities helped give Flamel time to recover shattered emotions.
Regulus	Regulus has spent most of that time crying in her room. Even though, strangely enough, she probably had fewer time with Schneider than anyone in the Concord she was bawling like there was no tomorrow--even if there being no tomorrow is technically what's most normal about her world right now. Then she had a long conversation with Lilian. Then she went back to her room and finally changed into her pajamas which are maybe the simplest outfit Regulus ever wears--a light blue set patterned with yellow star outlines. She tried to fall asleep, but then her stomach grumbled because of her failing to sleep in the first place, so she made her way back down to the kitchen, her eyes still red and face still splotchy from excessive amounts of tears and sobbing. Hoarsely as she approaches she rubs her groggy eyes and says, "Sonetto are you cleaning up I can handle it..." And then as she steps in she blinks her eyes as she sees Flamel doing some Sorceror's apprentice type shit. She stares at him thinking if she can just get mad at him somehow for everything going wrong, and really racks her brain, but she can't actually find a way to blame him which makes her a little angrier at him before she finally sighs. "Lingering complexity? What do you have against lingering complexity anyway?" She says, finding that to latch onto.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons stops for a moment, scratching his cheek. He waits for just a second, giving Riku polite space. "I make some mistakes. Riku has been... Keeping me accountable, sometimes." He tries to put it tactfully, before he resumes his scrubbing at a particularly stubborn bit of grime. "Nothing against it. It's just a bit too complicated for either of us right now. Need... Simple."
Holly Asturias	"If you could," Holly nods to Riku, before approaching the immense pile of work that Flamel has made for himself. "Better is... a start." There are Formae to clean. Sterilize. They'd be fine for this. But grabbing the plates and scrubbing does feel 'right'. "... I...." Deep breath. Reset. Just for a bit. "I guess if Vertin ever has to house another party, she'll know she has the dishes for it at least. This place is ready for anyth--" No. Not anything. "Almost anything, isn't it?"
Holly Asturias	"Were you asleep? I'm sorry if the noise woke you," Holly greets Regulus, disregarding that until moments ago she was not the source of the noise at all. "You look like you still need rest. You can leave it to us."
Riku Asakura	Riku can't even manage a smile; he nods once to Flamel about gathering the dishes. This is very odd for the young man, because smiling is about all he does, besides growing big. He nods to Holly as he's about to leave to pick up more plates, when Regulus comes in. 'Lingering Complexity' "I don't feel like I've been doing a great job at that..." he says, honestly. He tries to give Regulus a soft smile, but comes up short. "You look like you've been trying to sleep. Is something keeping you up?"
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons scrubs alongside Holly. Back and forth. Rhythmic motion is something good. "Mirroring a rate of motion eases pieces of the brainstem that are associated with social connection." He says, without a clear explanation. "She's got good luggage. I wanted to study its astral properties, before." But not now? "Would be ungrateful, demanding more, I suppose." He blunts any mental process that would make him angry at his own salvation.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons diverts his eyes from Riku a bit. "You've done a better job than most." He says, not stopping his rinsing for one of the plates. "I don't really talk, about how what you said is still something I keep in mind. But it was good that you said it, after that night in the City."
Regulus	Regulus says, "I don't know, maybe I fell asleep for a little bit." to Riku and since her brain is already trying to Go Simple and find a way to blame the Concord for all of this, she clenches her fist at Holly offering rest but she is also too much of a sweetiepie to actually just blame them if she can't think of an actual excuse that is at least somewhat decently plausible. Sure, she could say something like 'you should've known Schneider was--' but Regulus is already unwilling to concede that Schneider isn't an arcanist after all. If she wanted to be seen as one so much that she put her life on the line, what exactly is she going to say? So instead she says, to Holly, "Shutup I can help, it's my job to help Vertin." And with a bit of lingering heat to Flamel. "..I hate that you're always trying to be maximally 'mentally healthy'. You should let things affect you more.,"
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons offers a particularly tough case of a pot to Regulus, still sort of blank-faced. He lets the heat wash over him. "Maybe." He says. "I used to think, if I'm not a 'good person', then I have to be 'healthy', or else my mistakes will just multiply and I'll be... awful. If you're bad, and unhealthy, at the same time..." He trails off.
Holly Asturias	"Mhm. Many such cases," Holly smiles weakly, recalling some of the psychology textbooks and things she's picked up on. "That's why routine is such a stabilizing force for a lot of people, isn't it?" Her knowledge is dwarfed a thousandfold by Flamel's, but she's got some bases. To Riku, she mumbles a bit. "We never feel good enough. That's why we surround ourselves with people who'll point it out for us." Her staff sure has to all the time, with her. "But--" Is Regulus angry? Holly gives her a nod, hesitant. "Okay. We can chain, then. I'll hand you clean plates and you dry them, alright?"
Riku Asakura	Riku almost feels jealous of Regulus, being able to sleep right now. "Good, you need the rest," he says hollowly. To Flamel, he shrugs, "What I said?" he asks; he likely hasn't forgotten, but it's all lost in the haze of the grief he feels right now. He's also sort of still mad about the attempt to get inside his head during the incident at the Walden. Riku moves out into the dining area to fetch some dishes before carrying a stack as large as he is. Holly's words aren't ignored. "Yeah?" he asks, "Like who?"
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons chatters with Holly at deeply low energy. "That's part of it." He's focused on chipping down his own pile. A little nod of gratitude to Riku for bringing that in. "Tomorrow always comes. But we can't think about what tomorrow is if the terrain is all malleable. We are what we do, and so we need something solid." A short adjustment of his rolled-up sleeves. "And this is what Whispering Rock is like for me. This is normal. This is 'another day, tomorrow'. Routine."
Regulus	Regulus knows that Flamel is just trying to make her feel better by giving her a hard job by using his evil understanding of psychology to help her, but Regulus can't deny that's exactly what she wants right now. Grumpily she takes the Particularly Tough Case Of A Pot from him and makes her way to the sink, grabbing a sponge, wetting it, and going at the pot like there's no tomorrow. "Sure." She says to Holly. "Once I'm done with this." "People don't usually get to scrub themselves clean like that." Regulus gestures with the sponge at the pot. "It takes time and sometimes there's scars that linger forever but ..." She looks to Flamel. "Schneider said you were a good person, didn't she? One of the last things she said." She can't keep the heat on after hearing herself say that. "...So you can be unhealthy for a little while. You're always saying it can't continue or something like that right?"
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons closes his eyes for a moment, pausing mid-scrub, thinking over Riku. "You made sure I felt the type of bad I needed to feel, after the lie I told during the White Nights." He says. "Back when we were escaping the Walden, for a moment, I have to admit, I almost did the exact same thing again. Druvis was such a threat, I got scared and started to whip up a lie about how we could be safe with a full split-up from Vertin, just to get us through."
Holly Asturias	"I suppose for me it's... my nurses, and Nicole. I'd have probably worked myself into an early grave without them." By all metrics she still does, but it doesn't entirely lessen what she responds to Riku. "But on days like this... even being told 'you did all you could' is..." She doesn't want to finish the sentence, so she just finishes scrubbing a plate instead, rinses it, and passes it towards Regulus once the Great Pot ordeal is over and done with. She side-eyes Flamel, giving a weak 'mhm' that both agrees and yet bemoans agreeing. "Tomorrow's patients can't wait for you to get over today's. You either keep up or..." Well, he'll know what she means.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons mutters oddly in response to Regulus, "Maybe. Feels like I probably used up my quota of unhealthy, though, during that Storm Syndrome business." His thoughts go back to that rant about how nobody connects with anyone or belongs anywhere. Doesn't bring that up though.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons takes a short break, pressing both hands to either side of the sink he's at, slumping over it a bit. "I envy the medical professions sometimes, you know." To Holly. "The reason we have all this organization, sometimes it feels like it's because this mental stuff is all... 'playing pretend'." He continues, in a longer, idle ramble...
Riku Asakura	"It's not about making you feel bad..." Riku says, getting a bit of his voice back. "It's about not wanting to live through something like the dark days again." He takes a breath, "Lying is wrong." "It would have been a lie to say that, too. ...We should have fought harder then," he gets down on himself, but he really had no energy to face down Druvis. He was barely kept up by Tamamo then. To Holly, he nods. "The people around us, right?" Though he doesn't end her quote either, because he doesn't feel right about it either. Though.. "It's not right to be forced to keep up on days like today. We should remember who's passed and keep them in our hearts even if it slows us down for a day."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons says, "Like it doesn't matter. There's people alive now who wouldn't have been without you. Tomorrow's got a tangible change for you. My work back then, it's all washed away now. I know that's not how it is, but it does make me feel envious, sometimes."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons nods a little at Riku. "I should have helped Lilian more." He agrees. "She handled herself. But the way I approached that whole situation was wrong. And, I'm glad I didn't tell those lies again. So, I know it's not about making me feel bad. But still, thank you."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons resumes his washing. Break over, all of one minute of it. He can't get by without something to keep his mind occupied, it seems.
Holly Asturias	"... same," Holly says, on the matter of unhealthy and the Syndrome. "I hadn't expected it would be quite that bad, quite that quickly. I hope there aren't lingering effects." She frowns. What a selfish, thoughtless thing to say. Even if effects don't linger on them, the washed away aren't so lucky. She refuses to think or say 'dead'. "The taste hasn't left my throat. It's horrid." She turns to look at Flamel fully, shaking her head. "Health is health. Some people need injuries mended, others trauma. It's all valuable." An exhale, and on to the next plate. "It's no more not right than the fact we're there to have to keep up, while others who deserve to be aren't," she replies to Riku. She won't say passed, either.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons recites, agreeably, "Health is health." To Holly. "It's not a true thought. I've got Censors for stuff like that. Just, a little overworked in there, right now." He taps the side of his head. A slow, pondering thought manages to get through his burned-out brain. "Might ask for some folks to help out in there later."
Regulus	"You were at that City thing too? With the ... Three Four Days thing?" Regulus asks Flamel, misinterpreting White Nights as the Seven Days of rebellion that she's been hearing bits and pieces of. She can't get mad at the almost lie because she doesn't exactly know what he's referring to. Flamel's making it a bit hard for her. She finishes with the pot and she starts working on drying dishes. "I disagree. If you don't let yourself shatter once in a while, you're gonna be the one who needs a doctor eventually. Being perfect squeaky clean all the time is how you really lose it. You gotta DEAL, you gotta take TIME, you gotta PROCESS." Regulus, who lies all the time without thinking more than she lies with thinking, rolls her eyes a little at the idea of lying being wrong. r"What I mean is," She tells Flamel. "You gotta try different processing methods, if you stick to the same stuff over and over you're not gonna really understand people. We're messy. Experience the mess." She gestures with a plate. "We're not silverware. We collect stains."
Riku Asakura	Riku can't say anything to Flamel right away. All he can do is nod once, agreeing with him about Lilian. She shouldn't have had to face Arcana alone. "You're welcome," he finally gets out, though not really fully believing he deserved any thanks. "No, it's...not right. But we do have to eventually keep going on. If nothing else, but for them. We just need time to mourn, that's all I am saying." To Regulus, "Dark days and white nights.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons squints at Regulus, while he rinses something off. "What?" He asks. "Uh-- White Nights and Dark Days, there was a big industrial disaster there a couple years ago." He gives a big sigh, watching water run along ceramic. "I made a bad call." He finally explains. "I lied to people, to sacrifice one person and save a lot of people."
Holly Asturias	"I would be goldware, anyway," Holly manages a bad joke at Regulus, with a slight giggle to go with it. "But there's probably truth to it anyway. I just don't feel I've earned the right to slow down and 'process' right now." Then to Flamel, puzzled: "Censors? 'In there'?" And a simple nod to Riku. "To make things a bit less unfair, hopefully, next time. A bit more, each time, until it isn't unfair anymore."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons gets to the other side of what Regulus said as well. "The obligation to be unhealthy is... We've got a lot of debate. Institutionally, I mean." He says. "What do you think is a good way of separating that from taking an excuse, to be irresponsible or disinhibited?"
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons taps his head again, answering Holly. "Psychic construct. UPE-001, natural inhabitant of a healthy humanoid mind. The psychic process that purges hazardous thoughts. The psychic immune system."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons says, "Mine are... overworked right now. Falling down on the job, I guess, and not for lack of work ethic if you get what I mean."
Holly Asturias	"Oh," Holly responds, as if that made sense. "Your... thought processes, are individuals?" That's definitely a first. She'd read about, say, the ego, the superego, and the id, but Flamel's case seems entirely more literal.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons says, "Everyone's thought-processes are individuals. Well, at least when you view those processes astrally. I don't think you're familiar with Psychonautry, actually."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons scrubs, scrubs... He gestures with a sponge at Holly. "In my work, we astrally project directly into the 'mindscape'. 'Engage the enemy in his own mentality', you know? Chase their dreams, fight their demons, live their nightmares."
Regulus	Regulus has to respect Holly for committing to a bit so she just sticks her tongue out at Holly, actually managing an almost smile that she can't really manage to suppress at her. "Take it from a normie who is the only survivor from her timeline." She can't really count Poltergeist. "Saving one person's huge. And you all saved at least two." Sure it's arguable how much they had a hand in Druvis and Sotheby but they also saved a bunch of hours for a lot of people and that adds up to something of a percent of a person. She remembers the giant ass Censor from what she is now calling the Psychic Days and Bloody Cold Nights and she shudders a little. "That why Petra's mad at you and being honest about you?" Regulus asks. "I mean, I don't know. Nobody is responsible all the time. It's not the end of the world if you take an excuse to be irresponsible or disinhibited every once in a while."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons blankly pulls back some of his expression. His tone goes monotoned and his motions are a bit stiffer. "I killed her girlfriend." He explains the entire thing, in that dull tone. "She was marked by a paracausal process as the only one who could stop a giant monster from killing everyone, by performing a self-sacrifice ritual. I told her, and everyone, that she would come back." He leaves unspoken that she did not.
Riku Asakura	Riku only gives Flamel a look after the comment he makes about telling a lie. It's a look that says everything he wants to say with that single stare. He probably still hasn't forgotten it. "I am pretty sure my thoughts are not individuals, Flamel.." he says, slightly concerned for Flamel, who is seemingly working overtime so that he doesn't break down. Riku looks at Regulus and sighs. "It was more personal for Petra... the person who was sacrificed and Petra were... close."
Holly Asturias	"Oh my..." Holly nods along Flamel's explanation, briefly fascinated. "So it's akin to Mesmer's Artificial Somnambulism process? Besides knowing of that, I'm not familiar with Psychonautry, no. It sounds very useful though." And fascinating in a dozen different ways she doesn't have energy to express right now. And so a plate passes to Regulus instead. "I'm sorry. That you've had to see this twice. I... don't particularly feel I've done much to save anyone, though. Marian, but even then... I truly must credit that ninety-nine percent to White." But it's something.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons revitalizes some of his expression enough to stare at Riku. "Huh?" He seems confused. "You've got another guy representing a different psychic process in there. That comes out physically too. Several, actually, don't you? 'Primitive', 'Acro'...?"
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons says, "I'd have thought you'd be the number one guy to see mental processes as distinct people. They have names for you, after all."
Riku Asakura	Riku raises an eyebrow at Holly. Talking about Mesmer at a time like this? He doesn't understand the details, but he knows enough that her psychic surgery bit hurts people. As for seeing the Storm twice, he's at least on par with Regulus on that. He pauses and stares at Flamel. "They're not psychic processes; they're the powers of Ultramen that I have inherited in my capsules. They're not people, but I guess it does carry a bit of their will in them.."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons goes, "Mhm, mhm." At Holly. "I'd love to collaborate with Mesmer, really." He says. "But that stuff with the Manus kept me out of the Foundation coalition's good books for a while. Her technology does with magnetism what we do with astral technology. And more, honestly. The one time I got to work with it was incredible."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons interrupts hosing one of the particularly dense pans down with dish soap to point it at Riku. "And they're cultural, or personal influences, right?" He asks. "Something that influenced you? Cultural archetypes? Something like that? They're mental constructs. If I astrally projected into your mind, I feel pretty confident I'd see your forms there."
Regulus	Regulus had forgotten Marian because she was trying not to think about Schneider! "Dang. Three people. That's an improvement of three hundred percent you know." Apparently she's thinking of it in the 1 times three sense or the 1 + 3 sense. It could be either really. "I knew I was gonna have to see the world end twice. I'm probably gonna have to see the world end five times. Maybe more. But Vertin will always have seen it more than me. So you should be saying stuff like that to her because even though she seems like shes just used to it ... It still crushes her every time." She takes plate, dries plate. She looks to Flamel. "Man, even the way you just said it made me want to punch you. No wonder she's pissed."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons bleakly, to Regulus, "Yeah, she's pissed at me because her emotions have functioning cause and effect." He gives a sheepish sigh. "I didn't even get to the part she hates me most for. I'd rather not talk about that."
Riku Asakura	"I really do not think you want to work with Mesmer," Riku says, concerned. This combination of people is a match made in super hell. When Flamel threatens to project into his mind, he holds his hands up, not wanting that at all. "I don't know about that, but they are... well, that." To Regulus, "He convinced us she would come back at the end of the situation..." he says, still holding that one in his heart.
Holly Asturias	"Mesmer will be assisting me with diagnosing Horrors to see if there's any 'person' left to pull back. If you'd like to assist..." Distraction. Business. It's healthy, right now. Probably. "The Manus though... I wonder what happens now." Holly shakes her head, dismissing that thought already. "No. No, no, that won't do. We can... talk about that later. Much later." Regulus' cheer doesn't miss its mark at least! "It's better than zero. Sure." She forces a full smile on. "How unfair that it happens... I remember the way she said it," she then replies, about Vertin. "It says a lot about her character that she took us in to shelter at all. She didn't have to." With a slight pause, she then tilts her head a bit at Riku. "I am... somewhat aware of the tension between Mesmer and, others, but... I wish to give her a chance, as with anyone else. And... her technology might save a lot of lives. I can't ignore that."
Riku Asakura	"Her technology has the chance of being used evilly against people who even remotely look different from people she doesn't like," Riku says, frowning. About the Manus... "What is there to discuss about the Manus? We need a way to beat them at their own game and stop them from bringing the storm to another time."
Holly Asturias	"A scalpel can be used to harm, too. Would you take mine away, hoping to save lives in the event I go mad?" Holly looks at Riku. She could have just used her gun as an example, too. "Stop her if she ever steps out of line, but until then, I can't really afford to be picky about it." "As for the Manus... do not worry about it. It is... clean up, at this point. Concord matters, that I... don't look forward to." She really doesn't know what happens next with them.
Riku Asakura	"That's a poor argument, and you know it," Riku objects. "Her 'tool' is dangerous in a way that a scalpel could never be. The worst thing is that we may never know if she 'steps out of line'." He says disgruntled. As for the Manus, he looks concerned at this. "You mean your former alliance with them?"
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons makes an almost relieved sound at Holly. "I'd love to help diagnose something like deeper inner personhood and things like that." He says. "Finding that sort of buried thing, definitely our wheelhouse."
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons mutters a little about the former alliance. "Let's keep the Manus stuff for later. I'm going to have to have the Ethics Review Board finally start returning my calls again, I think. This was way too complicated. But it's definitely former at this rate."
Regulus	"Okay." Regulus tells Flamel, wondering what could be worse than killing your girlfriend. She's not sure what to take of Flamel even being affected by it right now. Isn't he supposed to clean everything free after like a week? "Is that normal Concord business?" ''It says a lot about her character that she took us in to shelter at all.'' "I don't think it does." Regulus tells Holly. "Only a real heel would tell you to bugger off and die in the Storm when there's another option. Besides, we weren't 100 percent sure you would benefit from the shelter so ... Well, Laplace will be happy their tests came to the correct conclusion." She weirdly softens to holly when she says she wishes to give Mesmer a chance despite Mesmer and Regulus being destined to never get along. "I think it says more about Vertin that she took the job to have her in this position in the first place. She could've just left, the one person who doesn't have to rely on either the Manus or the Foundation." What is there to discuss about the Manus. "Far as we know the Manus is still allied to the Concord. I'd guess that they intend to break ties but who knows? Arcana's ... got a weird vibe." And may be acting less predictably than the Concord might expect.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel Parsons dips into his reserves of gentle, unconscious misogyny. "I think Mesmer is so afraid of her dad that any love for anything she imagines her dad hating gets killed by the mental image of her dad. I've been in tons of minds like that and one day it'll be Mesmer Jr. too. But those mind-dads will break all your bones. Some of the worst I've ever seen."
Holly Asturias	"But it can also be used to relieve trauma. It can be used to save people who've become Horrors." Holly has to believe that the pros outweigh the cons. Especially, especially, if the con is Mesmer herself, not the technology. "Don't worry. If it ever seems to go awry, I won't stand for it.," A nod to Flamel, for both matters. "Former alliance, agreed. Had I known more about them earlier..." Would it have helped? She'd rather talk about Vertin. "Mm. Then I'm glad it was a good test run, even if..." Holly shakes her head. "No, no. I'm just glad. Of her steadfastness, also."