she reads the minds of all the people

[endthem]

Who: Rin, Legato, and Riful
What: Legato discovers that they have a house guest
When: Between this and this
Where: Ice Crown Manor
Rating: R to be safe

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[payback]

Rin was quiet, by now. She'd withdrawn into staring at the floor, finding great things to contemplate in the fraying carpet and the grey floorboards, and the bite of metal against her wrists. It had been horrible to watch metal twist like it was dried grass.

She didn't have much to say to any of her captors. In fact, she wasn't sure why she wasn't dead yet - that was what she would have expected from Riful.

She certainly wasn't expecting to see Legato - or wanting to.

[nishimono]

The sudden voice in her head wasn't unexpected. After all one of the terms of Legato's initial loyalty to her so long ago had been not to harm the "one in charge of the outpost project." And that was obviously her current guest. But then she really hadn't harmed Rin very much at all had she? Sure she'd had to be a little rough when securing her but it really wouldn't have done to make her bindings so loose she was able to escape would it? She was simply being doing what ought to have been logical for any captor.

Still, she waited several moments as her lips curved in a pleased smile and let her gaze follow her glowering 'guest' before replying quite pleasantly.

Oh, there you are. Are you finished pacing around like a caged beast?

[endthem]

I minute or so later and Legato appeared in the doorway, empty features just a little bit dark. The critical edge in his gaze was shared between both Riful and Rin, eyes glancing over one before settling on the other.

At least all of the girl's limbs were still attached to her body, and there were no obvious holes put through her abdomen, which was more than what he expected to find.

"What is she doing here?"

[payback]

At the familiar voice Rin jerked to attention, moving stiffly as her gaze jumped up. Already she looked haggard, worn with worry and lack of sleep due to nerves.

"What are YOU doing here?"

Though the answer was obvious to at least some degree, wasn't it?

[nishimono]

"Oh my...is this what you'd call a 'heartfelt reunion'? I'll admit I've never seen one before. When you told me not to harm her I expected you at east knew of her but I never suspected you were so well-acquainted."

[endthem]

He replied to neither of them, simply pressing the question again, in the same sober tone.

"Why do you have her here?"

[payback]

Rin herself sank into silence. She wanted to her Riful's answer to that too - as much as it rankled to hear her meeting with Legato here referred to as "heartfelt".

[nishimono]

Riful blinked as though the answer should have been obvious, not at all put-off by the lack of an answer. "Well I had to do something to make that silly boy stop pacing... He's almost as bad as you are you know. Always so anxious to do something. I thought it might cheer him up if we had a guest."

[endthem]

Both of them--unfortunately--knew him well enough to know that the almost imperceptible narrowing of his eyes expressed quite a bit of displeasure. He'd been hoping that Rin had wandered here on her own accord, not been retrieved. And the whole thing involving Arthas nonetheless...

"A 'guest.' For him?"

No. Whatever she could have meant by that... no.

[nishimono]

"He was worried about activity at the castle," was all she said, expression amused.

[endthem]

That was obviously not enough for him. As if Rin wasn't there at all-- "What do you mean? What purpose does it serve to have her here?"

This was too valuable of a card to play, one that he had been holding, to not have a clear explanation. Hearing that it was somehow Arthas' doing and not strictly hers was only setting him more on edge.

[nishimono]

"He wants to know more about what's happening in that structure. And this girl seemed like she knew quite a bit...I figured she'd be useful to us. Do you disagree?"

[endthem]

His eyes slid quietly to Rin. Finally truly regarding her, considering, almost as though he was looking for her opinion on this matter... but not quite, of course. A little too critical to be seeing her as a person.

A simple information piece? He didn't like it. He remained quiet while he struggled to fit this jagged piece into the image of his plans.

[payback]

Rin for her part watched him with thinned lips and narrowed eyes.

Whatever Legato had wanted for her, the deed was done now, and she hardly had any faith he'd defy Riful and try to undo it at this juncture. She'd known, recently enough, that he was allied with the guts-eating bitch, but that things had come to this depth - and backlashed onto Rin - she was NOT happy.

She said nothing, though, for the moment. Just narrowed her eyes in his direction, and as an afterthought tacked on a very loud thought: FUCK. YOU. ALL. Whatever your motivations are, all of you, I don't even care what, this is fucking STUPID.

[endthem]

Well, that very pointed message succeeded in earning a little more of his attention. So far, Rin had remained little more than a prop-- a neutral entity that he had wanted to keep neutral. But, there remained an excess of negative energy that he couldn't allow himself to direct where it truly belonged. So... Rin began to pull a little of it toward herself.

He surfaced from his unsettled thought enough to pause and focus on her.

"...Is that really all you have to say?"

[payback]

"I don't know, does anything that I have to say actually matter? Will anything I say make a difference?" Her voice lilted upwards there, sarcasm adding a grating edge. She stopped without saying anything else. There really wasn't much to be said.