[She studied Jane's face, seeing her eyes narrow before Caster's headache flared up and forced her to break eye contact.
As if this morning couldn't get any worse.]]
...I'd avoid the Dusklight Woods if I were you. The spirits there are unpleasant.
[Strangely, it didn't even sound like a threat- it was both a bitter remark about what she'd run into, and a warning. Caster had no wish to tell her exactly what those spirits had done, but her almost despondent expression certainly indicated there was more to this than she was letting on.]
[It's a faint jab, but she doesn't really follow through with any bitterness in her own tone. If anything she sounds a little bit concerned - something she simply can't help, because that's the way she is even if she doesn't particularly like someone.
Jane frowns and then places her bag down, stepping over and lightly rubbing her hands together. It's a subconscious gesture now, one that she does to mentally warm herself up for using healing magic.]
I hadn't, until now...I assume it's a recent development. I wouldn't test it.
[A faint little jab back, not that she had the energy for much else.
And she found herself watching Jane's hands. Come to think of it, she wasn't even sure what magic she actually had, was she? Part of her wondered if Jane would try and 'repay' the favour from their meeting prior- unleashing a curse, burning her maybe if it were elemental- and then that small part continued to spiral.
Would Hypnos care, if Jane did harm her?
...Caster didn't want to dwell on that. More likely, Jane was just going to take some enjoyment out of the fact that she was hurt and be done with it.]
...if you're intending to laugh at me, I suggest you get it over with. You know very well I can't harm you.
['Can't'. Because she didn't dare invoke the wrath of the Gods again.]
I know very well that you can, but also that you won't because my boyfriend is your cousin, and you don't want to make him angry.
[Jane hasn't seen Hypnos as angry as he was that day since, though she doesn't regret for a single moment having told him what had happened between herself and Caster. She isn't the kind of woman who likes the idea of living in fear and certainly would have dealt with it one way or another.
And perhaps Caster had learned a lesson about not threatening people when they're dating a god.]
And if I was going to laugh at you I would have done it, but I'm not so crass as that. Now hold still. [The brush of her fingertips to the orbit of Caster's eye is light and brief, and will come with a faint glow in the other woman's peripheral as she applies a touch of healing magic to the bruising.]
My cousin and a God...I've long since learned what becomes of those mortals who anger the Gods.
[There was a little more to it than that. She didn't want to make her family angry with her, she didn't want them to forsake her- but yes, she'd certainly learned to give the situation a wide berth. Caster had been trying to avoid Jane for exactly that reason.
Perhaps not quite the best interpretation of the lesson, but at least she wasn't likely to go stalking Thanatos' boyfriend when she found out about that.]
What are-
[Caster tensed as the hand went near, focusing on Jane as best she could with her eye in the state it was- but that warm light wasn't what she was expecting. Neither was for the throbbing pain in her eye to ease.]
...yes, that- that does...?
[Reaching up one gloved hand to tenderly poke at the side of her face, just to make sure she hadn't imagined it. After all, Jane had no reason to help someone who threatened her at their last meeting, right?]
[The little zap of healing magic had been all it needed to rid Caster of that painful-looking bruise. Jane has given far more attention to the light side of her magic than the dark, and has become quite proficient with its use in the time she has been in Avalon.
With that work done, she steps back a little and loosely folds her arms against her stomach.]
I don't want to hurt Hypnos. And I don't want to hurt you either.
[Nor does she want Caster to hurt her, but that likely goes without saying.] We don't have to be friends, but we don't have to be enemies. Don't you think it's just a little too exhausting?
Part of her thought she could hear 'unlike you' buried into that statement- but no, Jane had never actually implied such a thing, had she? And what she said next only served to reinforce that. So she wanted to start things off on a neutral ground.
With the bruising gone, the pain had subsided, and her vision had thankfully cleared.]
...You can't have had many enemies if you think one is tiring. Haha...when the world calls you the cause of all it's evils, you learn one person's hatred makes little difference.
And besides, if I truly hated you, I would have made certain you burned. It wouldn't be a first for me.
[Whilst the words were bolder, her voice was tired, tentative for fear of any of this going back to her cousin. But there was another implication there- that Jane wasn't someone she actually hated, or even particularly disliked. She grated on her, sure, but the rest was mostly misplaced anger and fear.]
[True enough, Jane hasn't had many enemies. She isn't the type of person to make them, and even with their disagreement she hasn't counted Caster as an 'enemy' so much as just... someone she was butting heads against.
Butting heads is something that she is used to, at least.
She has to wince a little at the way the other woman talks, but despite the harshness of the words she is still not concerned that Caster is actually going to go through with any threat she might be seeming to give. But, eventually, the answer she gets is the one she was hoping for.]
A truce, then. [And she holds her hand out with no trace of timidity in the gesture.] I'd be delighted.
[A faint look of surprise crossed her face- despite the wince Jane had given just moments earlier, she didn't hesitate for a moment in holding out a hand to her, all the same. Then again, she remembered that Jane was similar in their confrontation. Despite her fear, she wouldn't stand down then, either.
Well...it would be easier if they weren't at odds, wouldn't it? That was why she'd spoken of a truce to start with. It was with that thought in mind she took Jane's hand to shake it. No hidden daggers, no curses, no particular malice.]
That settles it, then.
[She withdrew her hand relatively quickly, focusing on the woman in front of her. When she spoke again, it was calm- that tiredness never really leaving her.]
...For what my word is worth, I don't intend to involve myself in your relationship with my cousin anymore. That's- entirely between the pair of you- it is neither my place, nor my business.
But I won't forgive you if you betray him. I don't want to see my family suffer that way.
[Not the way I suffered.
...She knew she was letting a little too much of her own hand show, but perhaps that was her intention. Rather than a threat, she meant it as some misguided explanation as to why she'd confronted Jane to start with. A way of setting the slate clean, as a facet of their truce.]
[If Jane made a habit of standing down every time she was afraid of something she wouldn't be the person she was today, and she's been through a lot in the past few years to have brought her to this point. The wide-eyed young woman fresh out of the Congo might never have thought to stand up for herself against Caster the way she had.]
I don't see why I should see your word as any less than any other's. [She says that so easily but the truth is, even if she knew Caster's past, she would likely think the same thing.] But you're quite right. It isn't your business.
[Jane loosely folds her arms. If that had been understood from the beginning perhaps Hypnos would have never had to get involved. Ah, but what happened happened... no point in lingering on it.]
I won't betray him. I don't betray the people I care about.
[True, Jane could be lying, that was a very real possibility. But she was exhausted, and being constantly suspicious and guarded was tiring in its own way- a tiredness that worked its way deep into her bones and made everything ache.
But she'd warned her. Beyond that, it wasn't her business. They'd both already reiterated that. Perhaps she could afford to take Jane at her word. She didn't seem the type for such a bold-faced lie.
...And besides, it meant something that Jane was willing to give her word the same consideration and weight as anyone else. In turn, she settled for giving Jane's words the same respect.]
In that case, I shouldn't have anything to worry about.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cantgetanyworse) wrote2021-03-04 04:14 pm
no subject
As if this morning couldn't get any worse.]]
...I'd avoid the Dusklight Woods if I were you. The spirits there are unpleasant.
[Strangely, it didn't even sound like a threat- it was both a bitter remark about what she'd run into, and a warning. Caster had no wish to tell her exactly what those spirits had done, but her almost despondent expression certainly indicated there was more to this than she was letting on.]
no subject
[It's a faint jab, but she doesn't really follow through with any bitterness in her own tone. If anything she sounds a little bit concerned - something she simply can't help, because that's the way she is even if she doesn't particularly like someone.
Jane frowns and then places her bag down, stepping over and lightly rubbing her hands together. It's a subconscious gesture now, one that she does to mentally warm herself up for using healing magic.]
Let me take a look at that eye. It looks painful.
no subject
[A faint little jab back, not that she had the energy for much else.
And she found herself watching Jane's hands. Come to think of it, she wasn't even sure what magic she actually had, was she? Part of her wondered if Jane would try and 'repay' the favour from their meeting prior- unleashing a curse, burning her maybe if it were elemental- and then that small part continued to spiral.
Would Hypnos care, if Jane did harm her?
...Caster didn't want to dwell on that. More likely, Jane was just going to take some enjoyment out of the fact that she was hurt and be done with it.]
...if you're intending to laugh at me, I suggest you get it over with. You know very well I can't harm you.
['Can't'. Because she didn't dare invoke the wrath of the Gods again.]
no subject
I know very well that you can, but also that you won't because my boyfriend is your cousin, and you don't want to make him angry.
[Jane hasn't seen Hypnos as angry as he was that day since, though she doesn't regret for a single moment having told him what had happened between herself and Caster. She isn't the kind of woman who likes the idea of living in fear and certainly would have dealt with it one way or another.
And perhaps Caster had learned a lesson about not threatening people when they're dating a god.]
And if I was going to laugh at you I would have done it, but I'm not so crass as that. Now hold still. [The brush of her fingertips to the orbit of Caster's eye is light and brief, and will come with a faint glow in the other woman's peripheral as she applies a touch of healing magic to the bruising.]
There, does that feel better?
no subject
[There was a little more to it than that. She didn't want to make her family angry with her, she didn't want them to forsake her- but yes, she'd certainly learned to give the situation a wide berth. Caster had been trying to avoid Jane for exactly that reason.
Perhaps not quite the best interpretation of the lesson, but at least she wasn't likely to go stalking Thanatos' boyfriend when she found out about that.]
What are-
[Caster tensed as the hand went near, focusing on Jane as best she could with her eye in the state it was- but that warm light wasn't what she was expecting. Neither was for the throbbing pain in her eye to ease.]
...yes, that- that does...?
[Reaching up one gloved hand to tenderly poke at the side of her face, just to make sure she hadn't imagined it. After all, Jane had no reason to help someone who threatened her at their last meeting, right?]
no subject
[The little zap of healing magic had been all it needed to rid Caster of that painful-looking bruise. Jane has given far more attention to the light side of her magic than the dark, and has become quite proficient with its use in the time she has been in Avalon.
With that work done, she steps back a little and loosely folds her arms against her stomach.]
I don't want to hurt Hypnos. And I don't want to hurt you either.
[Nor does she want Caster to hurt her, but that likely goes without saying.] We don't have to be friends, but we don't have to be enemies. Don't you think it's just a little too exhausting?
tw arson mention
Part of her thought she could hear 'unlike you' buried into that statement- but no, Jane had never actually implied such a thing, had she? And what she said next only served to reinforce that. So she wanted to start things off on a neutral ground.
With the bruising gone, the pain had subsided, and her vision had thankfully cleared.]
...You can't have had many enemies if you think one is tiring. Haha...when the world calls you the cause of all it's evils, you learn one person's hatred makes little difference.
And besides, if I truly hated you, I would have made certain you burned. It wouldn't be a first for me.
[Whilst the words were bolder, her voice was tired, tentative for fear of any of this going back to her cousin. But there was another implication there- that Jane wasn't someone she actually hated, or even particularly disliked. She grated on her, sure, but the rest was mostly misplaced anger and fear.]
...I'm not adverse to a truce.
no subject
Butting heads is something that she is used to, at least.
She has to wince a little at the way the other woman talks, but despite the harshness of the words she is still not concerned that Caster is actually going to go through with any threat she might be seeming to give. But, eventually, the answer she gets is the one she was hoping for.]
A truce, then. [And she holds her hand out with no trace of timidity in the gesture.] I'd be delighted.
no subject
Well...it would be easier if they weren't at odds, wouldn't it? That was why she'd spoken of a truce to start with. It was with that thought in mind she took Jane's hand to shake it. No hidden daggers, no curses, no particular malice.]
That settles it, then.
[She withdrew her hand relatively quickly, focusing on the woman in front of her. When she spoke again, it was calm- that tiredness never really leaving her.]
...For what my word is worth, I don't intend to involve myself in your relationship with my cousin anymore. That's- entirely between the pair of you- it is neither my place, nor my business.
But I won't forgive you if you betray him. I don't want to see my family suffer that way.
[Not the way I suffered.
...She knew she was letting a little too much of her own hand show, but perhaps that was her intention. Rather than a threat, she meant it as some misguided explanation as to why she'd confronted Jane to start with. A way of setting the slate clean, as a facet of their truce.]
no subject
I don't see why I should see your word as any less than any other's. [She says that so easily but the truth is, even if she knew Caster's past, she would likely think the same thing.] But you're quite right. It isn't your business.
[Jane loosely folds her arms. If that had been understood from the beginning perhaps Hypnos would have never had to get involved. Ah, but what happened happened... no point in lingering on it.]
I won't betray him. I don't betray the people I care about.
no subject
[True, Jane could be lying, that was a very real possibility. But she was exhausted, and being constantly suspicious and guarded was tiring in its own way- a tiredness that worked its way deep into her bones and made everything ache.
But she'd warned her. Beyond that, it wasn't her business. They'd both already reiterated that. Perhaps she could afford to take Jane at her word. She didn't seem the type for such a bold-faced lie.
...And besides, it meant something that Jane was willing to give her word the same consideration and weight as anyone else. In turn, she settled for giving Jane's words the same respect.]
In that case, I shouldn't have anything to worry about.