[ luckily, her trust is well-placed. He's not interested in picking fights, and least of all with Gray. In fact, hearing her voice elicits a small wave of relief from him. At least she's still kicking. ]
I can't complain. [ he's got all his limbs and he's still breathing. Still thinking his own thoughts, too, which is something he can no longer take for granted. Perhaps most pertinent, however: ] I didn't go to Achamoth with the others.
[ he's been safe, relatively; he doesn't elaborate on the reasons why. After that, there's a moment of hesitation, Johnny trying to figure out what he actually wants to say. When he thinks about the Kenoma, he thinks about people like her and Misa before he thinks about the Regent - ordinary people that got sucked up into this stupid conflict, not some unknowable forces of darkness. After Godsblood, he wasn't sure if he should try reaching out again. After this raid, though, he feels like he has to. ]
How are you holding up over there? [ a beat. ] ... I know it's stupid for me to ask something like this, so don't get on my case about it. Just indulge me.
[ She exudes a small swell of relief when she hears that he didn't go to Achamoth. It makes logistical sense that he didn't, but logistics didn't stop him from being at Venera or Godsblood.
She doesn't respond immediately to his question as she wonders if this is really the only reason why he contacted her. It's a bit absurd, as he's apparently already realized himself. Sitting on the precipice of some great shift, starkly isolated, she finds his very normal and sweet-minded question hard to digest. But it touches her directly, a simple and sincere question to cut through the tangle of the last couple days. ]
I'm not in Achamoth anymore, so I don't know what the situation is there. I have Mr. Eustace's shard with me.
[ She doesn't know if Johnny knows that Eustace turned Pleroma. Maybe it doesn't matter. ]
[ that is not what he was expecting to hear. She hadn't seemed like a Regent loyalist or anything, but she'd been quite clear about her position the last time they spoke. Maybe he's reading into it too much, and she's just gone to Godsblood - or maybe, since Eustace died, she's visiting the shrine to revive him. Multiple explanations flash through his head, and his confusion and uncertainty is plain to feel. ]
What do you mean...? You're just living somewhere else, or... [ well. May as well be direct. ] Did you ditch the Regent? Is that how Eustace got taken out?
[ All fair questions. She doesn't even fully know the answers to some of them herself. ]
Mr. Eustace... He turned Pleroma recently. He came back to Achamoth for the attack, but he lost in a fight with Mr. Barnaby. Minegishi was able to get his shard, so we took it and left.
[ No secrets here... Johnny doesn't seem like the type to exploit this kind of information, if there's anything here to be exploited. ]
We're going to wait here until Mr. Eustace... comes back. If the Regent took his shard, I don't think they would leave him intact.
[ this is a lot of information at once. It would be easy for Gray to lie to him, but for whatever godforsaken reason, he feels like he can trust her. So Eustace turned and proceeded to immediately get killed by his own - Johnny's fears about the Kenoma's attitude towards defectors were well-founded. ]
Was he in contact with anyone on our side? [ a beat. ] What about you and the mina-whatsit guy?
[ He really didn't tell her anything. She hardly even knew he'd defected when she found out he'd been dissipated. ]
Minegishi... He isn't with me at the moment, but you're the only Pleroma I've spoken to. After what happened in Achamoth, I'm not sure how open anyone is to talking with the other side.
[ just him -- considering her general personality, he can't be too surprised. She probably didn't want to burden anybody by reaching out. If they're lucky, Eustace and Minegishi already had some plans in motion. Considering one is dead, though, Johnny's not holding out hope. ]
Then I guess it's a good thing I called you.
[ there's a bitterness to his words, because he feels sorry the only person that's apparently tried to help is him, and he has no idea what he can even do. That doesn't change the fact that he's going to try and do something. ]
You got food and water? I don't know what the other Pleroma think, and I can't bring you to our headquarters or anything like that, but I'm not leaving you high and dry like that.
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no subject
I can't complain. [ he's got all his limbs and he's still breathing. Still thinking his own thoughts, too, which is something he can no longer take for granted. Perhaps most pertinent, however: ] I didn't go to Achamoth with the others.
[ he's been safe, relatively; he doesn't elaborate on the reasons why. After that, there's a moment of hesitation, Johnny trying to figure out what he actually wants to say. When he thinks about the Kenoma, he thinks about people like her and Misa before he thinks about the Regent - ordinary people that got sucked up into this stupid conflict, not some unknowable forces of darkness. After Godsblood, he wasn't sure if he should try reaching out again. After this raid, though, he feels like he has to. ]
How are you holding up over there? [ a beat. ] ... I know it's stupid for me to ask something like this, so don't get on my case about it. Just indulge me.
no subject
She doesn't respond immediately to his question as she wonders if this is really the only reason why he contacted her. It's a bit absurd, as he's apparently already realized himself. Sitting on the precipice of some great shift, starkly isolated, she finds his very normal and sweet-minded question hard to digest. But it touches her directly, a simple and sincere question to cut through the tangle of the last couple days. ]
I'm not in Achamoth anymore, so I don't know what the situation is there. I have Mr. Eustace's shard with me.
[ She doesn't know if Johnny knows that Eustace turned Pleroma. Maybe it doesn't matter. ]
no subject
[ that is not what he was expecting to hear. She hadn't seemed like a Regent loyalist or anything, but she'd been quite clear about her position the last time they spoke. Maybe he's reading into it too much, and she's just gone to Godsblood - or maybe, since Eustace died, she's visiting the shrine to revive him. Multiple explanations flash through his head, and his confusion and uncertainty is plain to feel. ]
What do you mean...? You're just living somewhere else, or... [ well. May as well be direct. ] Did you ditch the Regent? Is that how Eustace got taken out?
no subject
Mr. Eustace... He turned Pleroma recently. He came back to Achamoth for the attack, but he lost in a fight with Mr. Barnaby. Minegishi was able to get his shard, so we took it and left.
[ No secrets here... Johnny doesn't seem like the type to exploit this kind of information, if there's anything here to be exploited. ]
We're going to wait here until Mr. Eustace... comes back. If the Regent took his shard, I don't think they would leave him intact.
no subject
[ this is a lot of information at once. It would be easy for Gray to lie to him, but for whatever godforsaken reason, he feels like he can trust her. So Eustace turned and proceeded to immediately get killed by his own - Johnny's fears about the Kenoma's attitude towards defectors were well-founded. ]
Was he in contact with anyone on our side? [ a beat. ] What about you and the mina-whatsit guy?
no subject
[ He really didn't tell her anything. She hardly even knew he'd defected when she found out he'd been dissipated. ]
Minegishi... He isn't with me at the moment, but you're the only Pleroma I've spoken to. After what happened in Achamoth, I'm not sure how open anyone is to talking with the other side.
no subject
Then I guess it's a good thing I called you.
[ there's a bitterness to his words, because he feels sorry the only person that's apparently tried to help is him, and he has no idea what he can even do. That doesn't change the fact that he's going to try and do something. ]
You got food and water? I don't know what the other Pleroma think, and I can't bring you to our headquarters or anything like that, but I'm not leaving you high and dry like that.