The Binding of Isaac

[gamemakers]

Who| All those who signed up for the plot!
What| Capitol rebels attempt a break in and dismantling of dangerous weaponry.
Where| In a warehouse just beyond the very end of the cityline
When| Some time following Arena 13
WARNINGS| Please specify warnings in tag headers.
NOTES | Remember that if you did not sign up, it will be assumed you are not participating in the plot. Plotting can be found here! IC plotting is here!

Comments

[carnagecarnival]

He had seen Nill around, but so busy had she seemed (and him as well), he'd not been certain he'd be able to find the time to speak to her like he so dearly wanted. More than that, he needed to. He feared the moment simply passing by but had focused instead upon prayer.

The Messiahs have never let him down. Even the prayers he did not know to be asked, hold answer. Although he misses her Amen, he doesn't miss her, when the swell of faith in him settles to a duller hum, a breath exhaled.

Just like the one he lets free when he can finally approach her, speaking her name softly to greet her in turn. "Nill." It is name rife with relief. His smile is as well.

"ARE YOU WELL AND READY? Had got on motherfucking hope to be beholding a seraphim she," He says. He'll not drop his task upon her immediately.

[reassures]

Very little about her outward appearance has changed from her norm, and that's entirely the point. Flats, a delicate skirt, an oversized shoulder bag for groceries or books or whatever else is ever needed; today prepared to get supplies to anyone and everyone that needs it. She is the picture of kindness, small and delicate, and that's precisely what she wants.

She is not one of the people that is going to be fighting today unless something goes horribly wrong, and Nill suspects that were that the case, her involvement prior to it wouldn't matter. That would be war right there, easy and bloody, and the kind that no one makes it home from.

In answer she pats the bag again, her smile growing slightly wider for a fraction of a second before taking on a slightly sharper edge - not directed at him, never at him, but what they're fighting for, and what they may very well die for. When she moves to sign it's slow and careful, but not quite in the same way it was when she first began to teach him.

I'm ready. Tell me if you need an angel.

She hopes to god he won't because it would endanger Karkat and probably get Linden killed, but she could never turn away from the Initiate. She couldn't be the kind of angel she'd seen in his mind, the nightmarish creatures with the same wings as her that rained hellfire all around, but damn if she wouldn't try.

The sharpness doesn't last, never does if the cause of it isn't there in front of her; her smile fades back into something soft and fond once more, but still just as worried.

Are you?

[carnagecarnival]

Small, kind, delicate. He knows now what angels are to humans. It's like their little secret in knowing otherwise, and yet still he sees that true also. She done well as far as hiding in plain sight goes. Her muteness makes her meeker, whether she truly is so or not.

He doesn't fault the few not going into the fight. It's better, in some ways. Not just for her safety--he knows she can care for herself, but one more of his safe is one more bit of his mind at ease-- but for all the gatherers and healers and the like have supplied for them. They wouldn't have been able to do this without them.

And he couldn't do this without her. Not if the whole of his plan is to go through. There are many whom he trusts, but only she can do this for him. He merely hopes she's up to it. Just as was up to another to save their lot if he fell in the mission.

He smiles in return, teasing lightly as he says, "AIN'T THIS BROTHER MOTHERFUCKING ALWAYS NEED ON THE FEATHERBOUND CELESTIAL?" He breathes deep, smile going serious to match her there too. "I will be. SOON ALL ENOUGH WITH THIS MOTHERFUCKER GET ON BEING OF READINESS LEGIT."

His hands lift then. Even though he doubts others being able to read his words, he wants to be certain he's not seen and angles himself just so.

There is something I must ask of you, sister. The final piece to the puzzle. But first, will you speak this private with me? Swear it to be us and us alone who know of this here?

He stares intently into her eyes, hoping she will see the gravity of what he signs to her. Of what he is soon to say, if she agrees.

[reassures]

Nill watches his hands carefully, shifting a little herself, raising her wings and spreading them out in a way that's just slightly wider than what would be considered at rest for her. She doesn't know what the Initiate means to say, but if he's using his hands and not his voice then it must be important. No one else knows sign language lately she's sure, save perhaps for Linden, but these words are clearly not meant for him.

Or anyone, it would seem. The words do nothing to ease her worries, but nothing this important could ever do that, even if she doesn't know what he needs of her. She lifts her hands to sign back to him, and if anyone could properly watch them they would see the loyalty in Nill's expression, the conviction that goes with her smile.

I swear. Wherever I go, it goes with me.

She doesn't know the sign for a grave, and she doubts he would know it even if she did. None of her friends had one, Nill would not have one, but she would take his secret into the dirt with her anyway. It dies with her.

For a moment Nill reaches across to touch the side of his hand with her fingertips if he'll let her before going to sign again.

What do you need?

[carnagecarnival]

He'd always let her, at least so long as he's like this. It's the a similar sort of mutual affection as comes with Sam, meaning more and not all at the same time. His fingertips brush hers back before she pulls away.

He sighs first in relief. Then he looks at her in utmost seriousness.

It has to do with Sigma Klim.

The name is spelled out slow, for both purpose of seeing that she catches it and for impounding the importance of it all.

Was a Gamemaker, once, he. Receptions were of some time passed as his new position up out of arenas, doing what righteous work be by the Capitol. Confessed so public. And damn had it ever made him an unpopular motherfucker. Which is why he anticipates protest when he spells out what he needs done.

Teach him. Bestow the sign upon him as so has been motherfucking done by me. Gain his trust. A good soul stirs within. Difficulty lay only within believing it to be there. He stares her straight in the eye. His heart races in his chest. Everything hitches on this. If this falls through, then he's lost half his hope.

No matter if the wicked shit goes down something unholy in times due, this is being something I need more all than anything. If you believe in me, then you must believe in him.

He says aloud, but still quiet, "No matter what happens, do you understand, sister?"

[reassures]

It's quite obvious after the name has been spelled out, and translated from sign to letter to sound in Nill's mind, that the name of Sigma Klim is one that she knows. The way her eyes narrow slightly is equal evidence, because of course she saw his public confession. Like most tributes, having known nothing of the man prior to that confession, the only thing it had stirred within her was animosity and distaste, as well as the special kind of betrayal that comes from an offworlder seemingly siding with the Capitol. Replying to the post would have just made her seem suspicious in he eyes of the Capitol, but the lack of that acknowledgment didn't mean it had not been seen.

Nill is easy to trust in the good intentions of others, but not when it comes to the kind of man she assumed Sigma Klim to be. Chances were she would never even want to extend him that kind of courtesy, let alone actually thinking of doing it.

Chance is very rarely on her side when it comes to the requests of others. Were it not the Initiate she might not agree to what he asks of her, but because it is him, because he was the first she trusted in this world and the only in years to speak with her like this, there are close to none in Panem that she trusts more.

Behind Nill her wings flutter a little, resettling, before flaring out just a little bit more, both a small gesture at attempting more privacy and an unconscious gesture to make herself bigger, to look more like the kind of angel that Panem should need, whichever of the two is more fitting. The sharpness leaks into her expression again, and for a moment she closes her eyes to let out a soft breath; when she opens them again they are no longer narrowed, but not a great deal less wary despite it.

I trust you. I understand. I will do whatever I need to do, I swear it.

She signs these things, but then holds up a finger, a gesture that there's more. Her agreement has no caveat, never would have one, but if he wants the trust and aid of Sigma Klim then she feels he should know.

If we lose this war and all from outside this world die, he dies with us.

There is more chance than not that this plan tonight will fail in some way, that they will lose people, and though Nill is terrified of this fact she knows very well that it's the most likely outcome. She doesn't mean tonight, or even their next night if that night means they lose even more. If part of their ultimate downfall, the thing that does them in completely and entirely is Sigma Klim then he is going to fall with them, whether he likes it or not.

[carnagecarnival]

He watches her wings flare, that sign of unhappiness. It's better though, he supposes, that she knows some of the worst instead of being blindsided by it. Then it's over with and he can move onto the better. He even expected that last bit of her signing. He nods solemn.

He is aware. But we haven't any world but this one left. If we lose this war, then he will have nothing anyway. He's had too many losses already. You ain't understand for what all things make to seem, but he is a better motherfucker than you know, far better than I. Wouldn't ask this of you if I didn't have at no certainty.

Sigma means a lot to him. He owes much to Sigma. There is much he promised and those promises are ones he intends to keep. The man had been one of his greatest guides from the harsh of his old self. Sigma had healed some of the wounds left by things so long past, and for what he couldn't, Sigma had always been with him in solidarity. Sigma wasn't just his Father. Sigma was his hope for the future, that even someone marked in such a way could be good. He believes that completely.

And he believes that Sigma will do what needs to be done to keep the others safe. He's frightened of it, terribly so, but he knows it's the best of all their options. That part he can't share with Nill. He's not even certain how it will happen, only that unless they can pull this off perfectly without single disturbance, it will. He's never had full hope in rebellion.

It ain't enough to make him trust you. You must learn to trust him as well. Even despite all motherfucking things unfolding.

And hopefully, she would be able to. Not only for an alliance, but because he worries for his old man. He decides it best not to tell her of this relation, however. It could make him seem as though he is blinded in some way, when in fact, he's never seen clearer.

If you can do this, indebted will I motherfucking be.

[reassures]

There is a moment where Nill lifts her hands again, and it's the only time that she interrupts the Initiate, even if she doesn't necessarily mean it as such.

I do not care about that.

Better than him, better than her-- She has spent enough of her time contemplating better that she's not sure how much it means outside of conversation. The Initiate has been terrible, and so has she when pushed far enough. Most people are, even if she doesn't like it. In her eyes there are very few that could be better than him as he is now. He knows exactly what she has done, how clearly disgusting it was and has been, and why it means that she is far closer to awful than better.

I believe in you. I always will.

Even days from now, listening to Karkat trying to piece together the fractured bits of his mind, she'd still believe in Kurloz, no matter how awful it might make her feel. She has no idea of what Sigma means to the Initiate, but maybe eventually she will see in him what he does.

You owe me nothing. When I look at him I will think of you.

It will make it easier, she hopes, to give this man all the benefit of doubt that she would Kurloz, and Nill is certain that he must know what he is in her eyes by now. He has seen it first-hand in the Arena even if that was never his intention. For her the words are a reminder, and if she should fail the only person at fault would be herself. Hopefully he would remember how important he was if she did. (Surely, she thinks, Terezi would not know all these things he asks of her. Surely it is the same for Karkat, who loved Nill and Terezi both, and all those that love Kurloz alone. Nill only hopes the people that love him could forgive her later for keeping his secrets and helping him into his grave if it came to that.)

However detached and tough she might try to look though a lot of that demeanor sheds off her in flakes when she lifts her hands again, her wariness ultimately overpowered by concern in both gesture and expression. She thankfully does a better job than most of hiding the fear.

Can you do one thing for me?

[carnagecarnival]

How can he not falter when he sees that? She doesn't usually interrupt. People didn't tend to interrupt him mostly for how much he got on flow up until his finishing speech.

Her belief... it's always a little hard to take. Especially with how so very recently he'd gone off course again-- even for that short of a time he's not sure he can forgive himself the sin. But it means something from her. Whether it's right or not, he must take it.

He hopes she can forgive him. He hopes they all can. But he's not banking on hope.

Thank you, he signs to her.

All he knows is that he would sooner die protecting Sigma and Nill than let them take the fall for his deceptions. He has told them many times who and what he is. He does not tell lies, but he was never honest. He was never good. He does this all for the same reason he's done everything; because he is selfish and cannot bear to lose. He will accept the ire of all in payment for that.

She does do a good job of hiding fear. But he's spent all his life finding it in the hardest hearts. He'll allow her the dignity of pretending he can't though.

What is it you wish, my sister?

[reassures]

Though she doesn't mean for it to happen, when Nill lifts her hands to sign again her wings droop a little, folding in closer to her back. Her fire and wariness are not gone, but the fear dampens them severely, and her request is not something so odd or secret that she feels the need to provide the extra protection. If anything, it's the most normal thing a person might want in the awful situation they've found themselves in.

Knowing that does not make her hesitate any less, her fingers faltering in the air, her uncertainty obvious. Though she does not necessarily believe in jinxes she has seen enough to be worried her words will make it so anyway.

Try to come back.

It's a horribly selfish request at the heart of it; Kurloz is probably one of the people most in danger tonight, and asking him to come back could mean him abandoning others to do so. She does not believe he would allow it, but like most things even if he does not act on it he will remember it. He will know people are waiting for him to come back. Maybe that's the cruelest part. Just as selfishly, she hopes it's cruel enough to bring him home in one piece.

[carnagecarnival]

He watches her falter and he holds his breath for it. It's a sign of possible futures to come.

He had a feeling this might be asked. He hoped she wouldn't ask this of him for every time it stirs guilt and fear up in him, but thankfully, it is something he can still promise.

He signs to her, You will see my face again. I promise.

But just as he's done with everyone making him promise thus far, he doesn't clarify how or when. He wants it to be sooner, right after the mission is done even. He doesn't count on it.

I will try.

And he will, whether he succeeds or not.

He steps forward then, leaning down to wrap his arms around her. He's careful of her wings and quick to step away, but he hopes she'll allow it to him, this one last thing. He hopes she doesn't pay mind to the soft shudder in his breath.

[reassures]

The lack of clarification is something that Nill has seen in others, and something that she has frequently used to her own advantage. The smile that makes its way onto her face is genuine but there is nothing happy in it, and it's just short of heart broken, even while looking grateful for the words.

Had he not been the one to hug her, she would have done it to him, and there is no hesitation when Nill lifts her own arms to hug him as well, because though she may see his face again there was significantly less chance she would be able to hug him like this ever again. She doesn't try to hold him in it, and though he may not hear her sniffle when he draws away it would be difficult to miss when she lifts a hand to quickly wipe at her eye.

It's probably the only time she hasn't believed his words.

If she could she would have little issue with trying to keep him here for hours, but neither of them has that kind of option. She pats her bag and signs, a little more plastic going into her expression entirely for the sake of making sure she doesn't start crying.

I should go. I'll see you again soon.

[carnagecarnival]

It aches to let her go, even despite the fact that when she touches him, he gets the irrational worry she will feel the extent of his fear right now, how very much he doesn't want to go. How much he knows this is going to cost him even on the best of terms.

He looks saddened to see her cry for him. That's not something that even would have happened before, but he's not sure he likes it now. He doesn't comment though. There's a pain in his chest and his throat where he swallows hard.

Her signing lets him look away from her face without it seeming so obvious. It's more official now, in some way, exactly what he's signed himself up for.

He nods, soon, and starts to turn away. He spares one glance back before starting onward.

He closes his eyes not like a troll walking to execution, but to etch her face in his memory among all the others. If not for what he's doing, they'd all be damned, the war lost. He's offering hope. He thinks of his destiny back on his world, all the cruelty to be dug through, and latches on to that one little thing; he was made to bring a chance. To destroy rage and bring hope. That was his duty. His destiny. That is what he must do.

And he will do it for her. For his family.