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[lordoftheozarks]

When the ringing stops, all you'll hear is a cold voice that says one simple word, "Speak."

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Re: cw: violence, cannibalism

[lordoftheozarks]

He nods at her warning. Most of these situations are complicated. Oh, but his sympathy does swell for her, as she lays out this terrible tale of betrayal. Could this cougar-man be the very same one he dealt with in his brief visit to that ship? The one who looked more than eager to rip into Erik on Max's account. Oh, Max, what company you keep. That's a problem for later. 

"I'm so very sorry. This is no small thing, to have your trust violated so thoroughly by more than one friend from the sounds of it. I get the sense that contracts in your culture are similar to how my word and oath functions in mine. If someone gave me their word as a vampire or in the same spirit as one, I would consider it an unforgivable sin to transgress against it. That is what happened to you. You were transgressed against, brutally, and you were hurt deeply not just in body but in mind. Such wounds take much longer to heal, I'm afraid." But there is hope. Healing isn't impossible. He wants to help her realize that.

"It would be extremely trite of me to try and tell you I would never hurt you in such a way. I have no desire to hurt you, but after what you have been through I can hardly expect you to take my word for it. What I can offer you instead is the key to defending yourself against me. For all my supernatural strengths, I do have a weakness you could exploit to protect yourself. Understand that I do not give such information lightly."

[astrogator]

She's not sure what to expect from him. In fact, it wouldn't have surprised her too much if he'd taken the other side, said she deserved it all, because while she tries to think the best of people, that's not as easy for her as it used to be. Yet instead, he understands. He understands it exactly, what was done to her and why it wounded her so deeply.

She nods. 'Contracts are that way in my culture - in my entire sector. Breaking one is a crime. Destroys reputations, careers... a contract-breaker is in the wrong just as clearly as an aggressor is. That was the worst of the damage, but it didn't start there. My captor was a sadist who profited from other people's suffering, but he never had to hurt me himself. The other prisoners did that. Physically, or by trying to tear me down, convince me there was no escape and I should stop trying. People used to come back from the dead, as long as they were useful, and then when they weren't, whatever remained of them was sent to... to some horrific sensory deprivation torture chamber. Indefinitely. I never understood how anyone, knowing that, could do anything other than loathe their captor and fight for their freedom. However pretty they thought the prison was.'

It did far more damage to Tayrey, feeling so isolated, so alone in what to her was simple truth. One evil tyrant holding people captive wouldn't be enough to shake her faith in humanity. The behavior of most of her fellow prisoners had done that.

Then she looks up at Erik again, blinks away her tears and meets his eye, and there's something of that Tradeline spirit still in her when she tells him, 'I value that you aren't taking my hesitation personally. If you give me this information, I won't share it. On my honor as a Tradeliner, word by contract.' She trusts him far enough for that, knows he won't dismiss her word as worthless.

[lordoftheozarks]

"When one lives and dies on the strength of reputation and keeping one's word, nothing is worse than proving your promises to be unreliable." Vampires can and are run out of society for breaking their oaths. They must be, or the social contracts would mean nothing.

"I am aware of that ship you were on. I never met 'The Captain'," he says that name with the utmost disdain, "but I suffered there for a month's time. It was truly despicable how he turned people against one another so he wouldn't have to get his own hands dirty. The coward. But it is a tactic that is not unfamiliar to me. I've seen it done before. I'm sorry you fell victim to it."

He can tell how much it's shaken her, even before she lifts her gaze to him with wet eyes. He can't undo what's been done, but he can give her one less person to fear--he hopes.

"I don't take it personally, at all. You have the right to decide for yourself if you want to do business with me. And, even if you ultimately decide against it, I will treat you no differently out of spite. And I accept your word as contract on this. But I will say, in the event I am somehow driven to madness or violence and am harming others, you are free to use this information to stop me in whatever way you see fit. I do not want to harm others. If ever I am compelled to do so by evil means, I want to be stopped." He can't bear to let what happened to Chris be repeated if he can help it.

"The key is my eyes. You cannot kill me until you have destroyed my eyes."

[astrogator]

He understands contract and what it means to her. In theory, at the very least. As he continues talking, Tayrey's all too willing to believe it's more than only that. That she can trust him.

'That djinn was no captain at all,' she says, because she has to. 'He was a coward, it's true. But every person on that ship remains responsible for their own actions. For the way they treated others.' One's character is tested in adversity, and if Tayrey's hadn't held up all the way, if she'd been too weak and emotional, at least she hadn't ever lost sight of herself and her values.

Then Erik reveals the means to stop him. She nods, very solemn. There was a time when Nobunaga had advised her that the eyes were a good point to attack, and Tayrey had reacted with the squeamishness of a Tradeliner for whom combat involved nothing more close and personal than squeezing a trigger. How long ago that seems! Now she knows she could put out his eyes with her bare hands if she had to, no hesitation, not when the alternative was being attacked.

'Thank you,' she tells him, earnest and genuine. 'I will keep it very much to myself, and I will not act on it unless you are a direct threat to me or to someone under my protection. And I do still want to do business with you. I do. You've proven that I can trust you. That you understand, and you truly don't want me to come to harm.'

good place to fade on?

[lordoftheozarks]

In general, he agrees with her. People are responsible for their actions, of course. But he knows how quickly harsh treatment can turn a person against their own nature. No one ever wants to admit how easily it can happen. Then again, there are the edge cases. Like Max. After everything, he appears to be the same kind-hearted soul he always was. For that, Erik is very grateful.

"I wouldn't have put the secret to my life in your hands if I thought you would break that promise. You have proven I can trust you, as well. Shall we continue with the contract, in that case?"

sounds good <3

[astrogator]

Tayrey's an exception. It did her a lot of damage. She'd say more than it did to those who just lay down and accepted their fate. Yut it didn't fundamentally change her. She never betrayed what mattered to her - and so she assumes that's the default, the behavior everyone should be capable of.

She's more than willing to move on to more pleasant topics now, though. 'Yes, let's,' she agrees, turning back to the paper before her. There's a lot else to discuss.