ph_logs | [Semi-Open] Eating Crow

[Semi-Open] Eating Crow

Who: Cerrit Agrupnin and People that Should Know
What: Little Talks about a Big Deal
When: Backdated late August up until Dahlia's Gala
Where: Wherever Talks Happen
Warning(s): None yet

Cerrit's secret has been eating at him, and now it's time to let it out. If you work closely with him as an Enforcer or a member of the militia, or if you're good friends with Cerrit and you don't know about his deal with Aster yet, sometime in late August (post-Blight) or early September he's going to invite you for a private conversation.

The means may vary, the context may vary, but he has some things he needs to say.

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"You're not in trouble. I might be." Cerrit looks tense, and not because of CT's actions. He lands in her yard, finds a place to perch and begins to adjust his feathers with his beak, like the oversized cockatoo he is.

CT deliberately chooses not to sit on the rather rickety bench against the wall, instead leaning against the tree that still has her target for knife practice nailed into it. She watches him with the kind of keen gaze that may never quite match up to Cerrit's, but still tries to see through people like glass.

"...in general, or am I not going to like what you're about to say?"

"The latter. This is where I lay out that I've been concealing certain information from you, and why. And I know that it's not going to be comfortable, and you might end up despising me."

Well. At least he's not flinching from the matter up front.

He'll see the subtle shift in CT's expression, the way her eyes widen just a touch before they settle into something much cooler and her features flatten out. Attentive, listening, unhappy.

"Well, then. It sounds like you have some explaining to do."

"Before you arrived on this island, the demon prince Aster held a dinner party. Those who attended were influenced mentally and emotionally, the nature of the meal we were served was obscured, and the prince sought me out personally to offer me a deal. He wanted me to keep information on a particular topic close to my chest."

Remember that early briefing where Cerrit mentioned deals with demons as a complication in the line of an Enforcer's work? Yeah, that was hinting at something.

CT's nails start tugging at the scar tissue across her palm the second the name 'Aster' passes Cerrit's beak. Aster, dining rooms and secrets. Where's she seen this pattern before, recently.

"...this is what you were talking about, before." Her head tilts a touch. She's looking back on their conversations in her head, filtering through the mental files she keeps. "Could you really not remember that name, that one time? Or was that something you were supposed to keep close to your chest."

"It was information I was unable to share." His crest lifts--does she know enough to know what topic he's been mum on? That would be a good thing, actually. Probably, at least.

"Of course it was. I should've..." She digs her nails into the palm of her hand and curses under her breath. She knew he wasn't the type to forget so easily. It was complacent not to prod further when she saw it.

She doesn't play her own hand right away. Asks, instead, "So when you made the deal, you were prevented from speaking about this particular topic. With everyone? For what in return? Surely you didn't make this deal with no benefit for anyone but the demon."

"You're right. I didn't. What he offered me was the sending stones. This was early on, before Cecil and Tarantulas got the radios working. All we had, even in emergencies, were the telephones."

Is it enough? Probably not. But it is explicitly not selfish, not something Cerrit did to benefit himself.

That much is true, enough so that CT worries at her bottom lip for a while, unable to find an argument even if the part of her that's lashing out wants to. The lack of instant communications is a serious risk in a place so dangerous—coming from a world with high tech comms devices, she's noticed the lack even with the stones.

"...does anyone else benefit from your silence?" Not from the reward for it, but the silence itself. "Besides Aster, obviously."

"If they did, I wouldn't be able to discuss it." Cerrit stops nattering at his wing, turning his head to look directly at CT. "The matter as a whole seemed simpler, at the time I made the deal. The information I have, it's significant. Leon, I was able to point in a vague right direction."

Leon, however, is not on the island right now.

Hm. CT picks at her palm again, looking Cerrit in the face as directly as she can stomach. "But he's not here."

Alright. Shit. Think this through. How does she play this without immediately showing her hand or going against Neil's instructions not to poke the bear. "I've been hearing a lot about Aster these days, you know. First it was around things people had heard at the cult gathering. Things no one could confirm, not at the time."

"Not at the time?" He parrots those words, tilting his head and doing the curious bird look.

CT shrugs one shoulder. "Turns out you can find out a lot more if you know where to look."

Cerrit nods. "Good. I'm glad you are looking. And CT? I am sorry for what I haven't been able to tell you. I want you to discover everything you can. Even if you can't trust me, the other Enforcers weren't responsible for this. They didn't know. If you're going to hate anyone, hate me. Distrust me. But don't burn the other bridges you have."

CT laughs a little emptily. "That assumes I've really trusted any of them in the first place. I'm not very good at that. Which you know, because you read me like a book from the get go."

It's the sting talking, more than sense. There is trust there in her for at least Crichton and Valdis, on the enforcers. But in the moment it feels true.

"What would your response been if I'd told you all of this from the start?"

He shrugs with his wings, not his shoulders.

"I honestly don't know," she says, and certainly seems to believe herself. "Maybe I'd have walked away and took matters into my own hands. Maybe I'd have appreciated the forthrightness and tried my best to work around it. But we don't know, do we? The time's passed."

Life marched on and so did Agent Connecticut. Maybe she would have made different choices. Maybe she wouldn't.

"Suppose you're right." He shuffles his feet. "Should I go?"

CT worries the inside of her cheek. "...someone I assume you're protecting will have some interesting things to say about me, I think. The broad strokes of them will probably be true."

She wonders if he'll still approve of her investigations, then. She wonders if she'll be able to keep this job for long if he doesn't. She wonders if the answer will change anything about the old, freshly salted wound regardless.

"...did you at least tell someone before going to do stupid shit this time?"

He's going to be more mad if she didn't.

"Yes, I did." Technically Valdis came to her with the plan, but... well, same difference. She didn't go it alone.

"Good." Cerrit nods slightly. "Very good. I'm not going to pry at what you learned, I don't have the right to, right now."

She has a feeling he knows a lot of it anyway, but she doesn't say so. They'll both know one way or another soon enough, she thinks.

"You're right." He doesn't. She takes a breath, digs her fingers into her palm, and says, "If you need to pass anything on to me, tell Crichton. If it's dire or personal enough, I'll come to you after."

She needs some time, at minimum.

He bobs a polite bow, and then spreads his wings.

"Just...do keep telling people when you're doing shit. Be safe, CT."

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liesdontfindyou - 2024-09-09 22:19 (UTC) - Expand

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