Morning Coffee And Sweet Surprises (Closed to Poprockz)

Sayori had expected for Quint and Cora to simply continue their conversation, sharing their tears of joy and sorrow as they held one another for the first time since this all started. For that reason, she hadn't expected the little tug on her skirt, her expression just a bit surprised as she turned her attention toward him and listened to his little request. While she still had just a sliver of doubt in her, it seemed like his expression was genuine, the man truly wanting her near him despite their history.

The fact that he still seemed to find her presence comforting made her heart ache with relief and shame. He was such a kind man, still trying to reach out to her despite what she had coerced him into. She couldn't fathom why he still wanted her touch, that he didn't seem to be reluctant. Was he struggling with reconciling it on the inside, or did he just want to force it down into the back of his memory and pretend everything was alright?

"Mm," was her little noise of acknowledgement. Moving a little closer to him, she knelt down before sitting on the tile and tucking her legs slightly to the side so she could gently lean against him. After a moment of hesitation, she rested her head against his shoulder, her body relaxing as she felt that familiar coolness of his skin.

"It hasn't been very long but did you... still look forward to seeing me?" Her voice was soft, a bit of vulnerability in it. He had once said that he would always look forward to seeing her and hearing her laugh, but she just wasn't sure if that was still true anymore. At the time, she had felt broken, clinging to Quint as the only thing that might keep her afloat. He had been so adamant in his promise, in telling her that he would always be looking forward to when they would meet again. In her heart, she needed to hear that he still wanted her to stay, even though he didn't need her anymore. She hadn't noticed, but her eyes had misted just a bit, those beautiful brown eyes becoming glossy as they avoided the man's eyes.

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Jesse nodded and sighed once more, simply watching as they took Vin's shirt off and applied the goop to him. He looked pretty bad, but if what Jameson said was true, then he would probably be better in no time. The mention of this miracle goop doing wonders sparked a little bit of hope in her heart, but she dared not fan it into flame. She probably wouldn't need to though, the possibility of him being healed being something that she simply couldn't resist latching on to. Jesse needed him to be okay, and she couldn't think of anything else to do.

Popping his head into the curtain, Robert interjected, "didn't he tell you to drink some of that stuff too? Maybe it could help some of Tommy's internal injuries. It couldn't hurt to try at least. Based on how well Vin's doing, the medicine seems to be non-toxic when ingested." For a moment he looked at each of them before he sheepishly added, "sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you, I just couldn't help but overhear."
 
Now that Cora had had a few moments to recover a small bit, she realized that she might be hurting Quint by laying in his lap with how badly he was injured. She would be absolutely damned if she was going to leave his side though, so instead of getting completely up, she carefully scoots herself over to his opposite side. Once there, she waited for him to lift his arm up, and then she leaned against his side, feeling that comforting weight of his limb laying over her shoulders. She was still sniffling and crying, trying to get a hold of herself a bit when she heard Sayori say something. It was so quiet though, that she didn't quite catch it.

"...did you... still look forward to seeing me?"

As soon as she relaxed her head against his shoulder, he let his arm come down over her as well, and together, he sat with the two of them and hugged them close, the darkness and despair in his soul being momentarily pushed aside as their warmth surrounded him. When Sayori asked her question so softly, Quint's chest pinched with emotion and he had to fight back a sob as he turned to give her little head the same tender kiss.

"Of course I did" he murmured, his arm squeezing her to him just a bit more before he lost his strength and had to let go.

So she didn't hate him. At least, that's what he hoped she meant by her words.

"Quinton..." Cora said, after a moment of silence had settled between them.

"Before I left for Washington...before I even knew what was going on...I had a really weird dream..."

"What was it about?" he asked quietly, reaching forward a bit to take her hand, which she gratefully clung onto.

"I dreamed that we were sitting at my table. Or I think it was my table... And you were sitting in front of me, and you said you...'found it', and that you would be waiting... Quint, it felt so real. It didn't feel like a dream at all, or at least not like any one I ever had before."

For a long moment, he was very quiet, and when Cora turned to look up at his face, she was a bit shocked to see how bothered he looked.

"Quinton?"

"I uh..." his eyes looked away nervously before coming back to her.

"I did technically die. Ray found me a few hours after I started changing, and I guess...during the second or third day, the stress on my body made my heart give out-"

"What?!"

Her eyes went as wide as saucers and she sat up a bit to look at him full on.

"...yea... I mean, I was only out for like...three or four minutes I think before he brought me back, but I... had like a really weird LSD trip or something. Well, I mean, it didn't feel like any drug I had ever tried" he chuckled, just a touch of his humor coming back before he swallowed hard and looked away again.

"I saw everything. Like...my body, the room. Ray. And then I was just, somewhere else for a few minutes and it was really warm. I remember...really wanting to stay there, but like, I also didn't want to just go there without telling you that I was going... I don't know, it was all so weird, and the last thing I remember befor getting a kick to the chest was seeing your face."

His eyes roamed back over to Cora's, and the two just stared at each other in silence. It was a silence that was soon interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and when she turned to look, Cora saw Niles standing there with glare on his face.

"Times up."

Fucking bastard, she thought. It could not have been more than ten minutes.
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Jameson looked up when Robert poked his head in. He was doing a bit more than just applying the medicine, as Dave had already done a pretty good job of that, but mostly he feeling around for other injuries. He wished he had better equipment, but, they had what they had.

At the suggestion of drinking the stuff, he stood up and looked over at the bottle. Honestly, if the man before him had done it and wasn't feeling any ill effects, than it was likely safe and certainly couldn't make anything worse. It wasn't as if he thought Tommy had anywhere to go but up, anyway.

Taking the bottle, he walks it over to Tommie's bed and then spends a few moments getting the young man's cushions situated so that he was sitting up enough that he could try to carefully slide some down his throat. He wasn't going to just risk him choking on it, though, so he grabs an empty dropper syringe that he had been using to get some liquid food in his stomach. Filling it up about halfway with the medicine, he then carefully and patiently feeds it into the young man.

"Robert?" Vin said, looking over at the man.

"Sabastian said that there were other people that he was keeping as prisoners. Maybe I'm just really sleep deprived, but I thought I recognized one of the names he rattled off. Did he say anything to you?"
 
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When his lips pressed against her forehead, she closed her eyes and focused on the feeling. Those lips had been all over her body, and yet he consistently had the same amount of tenderness for her.

"Of course I did."

A little smile came to her face and a few tears spilled, the woman reaching up and wiping them away quickly. She had really needed to hear that; to hear that while forgiveness might be something they had to explore together, he was willing to give it a shot. That was more than she had hoped for, and she felt a special kind of comfort settle in her chest. It didn't mean that her guilt would be assuaged, but it meant that being friends like they were was now a possibility for the future.

While Cora and Quint talked about their link and the experience they had with Quint's death, she simply listened and relaxed, not minding the coldness of the tile underneath her. It sounded like he had died and visited Cora in her dream. Honestly, Sayori didn't disbelieve it; she was of the belief that many unexplainable things happened in the world, and sometimes the best policy was to be open-minded to them.

"Times up."

Sayori had been lost in thought when she heard his cruel voice, the woman's expression becoming a bit nervous once more. That being said, she did take the time to lean over and give Quint his own soft little kiss on the cheek like she had done once or twice before. She hoped it wasn't too much or didn't make him feel uncomfortable, but she had wanted to at least express her affection for the kind man. She then moved her lips near his ear and whispered in a voice too soft for anyone but him to hear, “what is Niles’s favorite anime?” A very brief pause was given before she followed up with “it’s Bleach.”

With that, she got up and brushed her skirt off, hesitantly approaching Niles and glancing back at Cora to see if she was coming along as well.

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Robert thought for a moment. "As a matter of fact, yes he did mention two other people. He said that one of them is Quinton, Cora's twin brother, and the other is a woman named Sayori. Quinton is a half-zombie, and Sayori... I think he said that the General had taken an interest in her. More than a platonic interest, unfortunately." The man shifted uncomfortably, not really wanting to go into much further detail. Of course he knew what was going on due to the smell of her clothes and the semen on them, but he didn't want to say it.

Over on the other side of the curtain, Damien had frozen under his covers, turned in the opposite direction. He had heard all of it, every little piece of it shocking him. Quint was alive? Her brother? If that was the case, then Cora would probably be overjoyed at that fact even if it was bittersweet from him having been captured. It made him feel a bit relieved that he hadn't prevented Cora from seeing him again, knowing how much he meant to her.

Still, the realization of what was happening to Sayori hit him and his relief dissipated like a puff of smoke. Kuznet had taken her because she was connected to him, and now he was doing awful things to her. Over the recording, it was obvious that she was being fucked, but it also sounded like she was miserable and in pain. It hurt him to think that because of his own selfishness that she was suffering at the General's hands. There was nothing he could do to help her right now though and that made his heart wrench. He had never meant to hurt her... But now she was hurt anyway and it was his own fault.
 
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While he didn't really feel like he deserved her tender affection, the kiss to his cheek was still appreciated and did more to help him than either of them might have realized. Though he felt guilty about it, he wanted to linger in that moment with the both of them, to just sit there and feel their warmth for even just a few seconds longer, but the look that Niles shot Sayori as she kissed his cheek sent a shiver up his spine.

"what is Niles’s favorite anime?...it's Bleach."

Quint wanted to answer, even smile at her little joke, but the longer she lingered there with him, the more seething rage he could see building behind Niles eyes. The bastard was definitely jealous of their friendship, but it seemed like something else was boiling under the surface of his cold skin today, and with the shape Quint was in, he knew there was little he could do to protect Sayori. The best he could do was simply meet her gaze and give her a small nod to her joke, letting her know that he had heard her but not giving Niles any indication of what she might have said.

When she got up and brushed her skirt off, Niles simply stared down at her coldly, his face barely giving anything away more than that disgusted look. Though when she turned away from him to face Quint again, (at least that's what Niles thought she was doing), it made his livid anger finally boil over. He stepped forward quickly and with a bit of a growl, grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her towards the door.

Cora, who had been giving her brother a lingering hug, looked up in shock at the sudden movement from her peripheral. While she was still deeply afraid of consequences of being under Niles watch, she knew that her threat still had some weight to it, otherwise he wouldn't have even bothered to tell them their 'time was up'. Standing up quickly, she shot Robo Cop a nasty look as she came over to them and said with some venom, "you better not leave any bruises on her Niles."
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Vin stared at Robert with a bit of shock, that understandable turned to disgust for a moment as he mentioned the women that was also under the monsters claws. Still, to hear that Cora's brother was actually still alive was a bit of a shock, and while it was good news, he couldn't help but wonder just what had happened exactly. He had thought Cora said that her brother was killed by his wife, so was this another game of the General's? And if so, and if he had the both of them, then what the hell was he doing to them?

Jameson finished what he was doing and then carefully laid Tommy back down on the bed. Once he was adjusted to a comfortable position, Jameson lidded the bottle and started checking his vitals as he talked.

"Now don't go losing your heads everyone. What's happening is serious, and we are working on infiltration to take Kuznet down, but will tell you all right now," he said, turning around slowly and looking them each in the eye so they understood.

"His reach goes beyond what you might imagine. I had no idea what I was getting into until we started digging more, and now that I know..."

He cleared his throat and crossed his arms as he made his way around Kyle carefully, trying not to wake the young soldier up. Between his duties, he had spent every moment by Tommie's side and had barely gotten any sleep.

"There is a reason he is one of the top General's in this country, and if we are not careful, everything could be ruined. We will strike when we are able, but not a moment sooner, so no one better be getting any ideas to rush into this."
 
Quint's reaction to her joke was a bit lackluster, but she supposed that he wasn't feeling very good so that was probably why. Maybe later when Kuznet allowed him to heal himself and he was in better spirits he would enjoy another of her jokes. With each joke and smile, perhaps she could very slowly make up what she had done to him, or at least get them to a point where she could honestly ask what she needed to do to earn his forgiveness.

She hadn't been expecting anything to happen, so when she suddenly felt Officer Niles's harsh grip in her hair, she made a pained noise of surprise. The ferocity with which he yanked her left her eyes watering, the woman reaching up to gently hold his wrist in an effort to keep his future yanks from hurting too much. Her expression was beseeching, hoping that he would let her go or at least not be so rough with her. Niles now had her full attention, her eyes going to his face as she said, "Officer, please!"

There were honestly so many reasons he could be in a foul mood, so she didn't even try to guess which specific reason was prompting him to lash out. He was still salty over Cora having forced him to accept her request to see Quint, he had a lingering anger regarding her little show of defiance on her birthday, and he just generally seemed to hate everyone, enjoying inflicting as much misery and pain as possible.

"you better not leave any bruises on her Niles."

Though she knew Cora couldn't physically step in to get him to let go, she appreciated her trying to verbally protect her. That being said, she doubted he would really stop yanking her hair as it probably wouldn't leave any physical trace as long as he was careful not to rip any of her hair out.

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"There is a reason he is one of the top General's in this country, and if we are not careful, everything could be ruined. We will strike when we are able, but not a moment sooner, so no one better be getting any ideas to rush into this."

Jesse sniffed and narrowed her eyes at Jameson, "Still, I'm going to be so happy when we do finally put him six feet under. The sooner the better. I still don't understand why we can't just fucking snipe him or poison him or something. It's not like he's on guard 24/7." The woman rubbed Tommy's hand without thinking about it, her thumb moving back and forth across the white bandages. Jameson had occasionally repeated his sentiment of waiting to several people who were tempted to run off and try to take the big guy out, but she didn't quite understand just how evil Kuznet really was.

Shaking his head, Robert stepped into the confines of the curtain and put his hands behind his back. "No. He's probably already increased his security on the off-chance that we'll come back for the other prisoners, and it would be too difficult to poison him without putting other people at risk. That being said I..." He shifted, an uncomfortable look on his face. "Do we really need to kill him? I understand that he has been doing some terrible, soul-scarring things, but is there really no chance that he might be saved?"

Near the bed, Jesse simply starred at him for a moment, her eye twitching ever-so-slightly while contemplating whether she wanted to jump over the bed and punch the guy in the face for saying something so stupid and wrong.

From on the other side of the room, Damien's voice could then be heard saying clearly and loud enough for everyone in the room, "no, Robert. He deserves to die. He made choices that were his to make and he chose to ruin people's lives and do unforgiveable things that can't be reconciled. Anyone like that deserves to be put down. His soul is already long gone and he has no intention of changing his ways- the merciful thing to do would be to make sure he can't hurt anyone else ever again." His tone was serious as the grave, his expression to match (though he was currently hidden by the curtain).

While that might not have been the expected response, at least for Vin, it was honestly how he felt. If someone had walked in on him in his cabin and shot him, he wouldn't have begrudged them a thing. At the time he hadn't been living; rather, he had simply been waiting to die with nothing to live for. Deep down, he held the belief that he was on borrowed time, the guilt of being alive weighing heavily on him. Why was it that so many people had died in cruel, grisly ways this past month due to recent events, and yet people like himself and the General were still alive? He supposed that life itself wasn't fair, but he still took issue with it.

Cora wanted him, and that was the reason he stuck around. It was selfish, holding her and falling so deep into those hazel eyes, but she had said that she wanted him by her side. She looked at him with an acceptance that he frankly didn't deserve, an acceptance that made him want to be better for her because she thought in her heart that he could be better. That sweet woman deserved a good man, and while he didn't think he was a good man, he was determined to become good enough. That is, if he ever saw her again and she still wanted him.
 
With opened mouth shock, the half zombie watched and listened as Cora not only mouthed off to one of their worst childhood tormentors, but quickly went to Sayori's side and took her hand as she stared up at Niles with a mixture of fear and defiance. Never in his life, literally, had he ever seen her do something so brave and completely in control despite the circumstances and what was at stake. It was by no means a movie star show of rebellion, but in their book, it might as well have been. Something had definitely changed in his sister, and Quint found himself almost awestruck.

As far as Niles went, he didn't catch the look on Quint's face, and it was for the better. Sayori's assumption was right-he did not let go of her hair, but instead used it to guide her towards the door as he barked at Cora to get moving. She did as she was told, though she didn't dare to let go of Sayori's hand. She knew this game, as it would have been all too easy for Sayori to have 'accidentally' broken her arm falling down the stairs over her own 'clumsy' feet. So, Cora stayed close to the little women until they were at the top of the stairs, and finally, Niles let her go.

"Get back inside the house" he ordered, turning around to close up the hidden door. Cora only glanced down at Sayori briefly, her hand shaking as she started to loosen her grip, and then she turned towards the house and started to scurry back.

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Jameson simply stared right back at Jesse, her look of frustration not lost on him. As a father, he was quite used to that look, and sometimes even missed it.

"Do we really need to kill him?...is there really no chance that he might be saved?"

"Robert..." Vin said, his voice softening a bit for the man. He was really too kind for his own good, and Vin was about to say something along those lines when he heard Damien speak up. Until that point, Delvin had almost been able to put him out of his mind, though the sound of his voice made him scowl and try to cross his arms. Of course, that hurt like a bitch, so he ended up just sitting back and sighing, taking in what Damien had to say. While he agreed with it wholeheartedly, he didn't like the mouth it was coming from, so he looked away towards the other side of the room, his expression a bit somber.

"He's got a point," Jameson said, looking away from Jesse for a moment to meet Roberts gaze.

"I don't usually like to get into ethical discussions, but personally, if I could, I would just lock him up and throw away the key Robert. But you should know that, even before society crashed, we still didn't have a reliable way of really helping people like this. He's the type of man that would have been running whatever prison or mental institute you put him in within three months, and likely gotten himself released within six. He's simply too dangerous to leave alive, Robert. I'm sorry."

With a little sigh, Jameson brought his prosthetic hand up and ran it along his face, and then through his hair.

"Alright. You, Delvin was it? Come over to this bed and lay down. You need rest. Robert, I'll meet you in an hour with lunch and we'll go over our next steps."

He waited for Vin to shuffle his way over to the bed, and for Robert to leave, and then he looked over at Jesse once more. For a few seconds, he was just quiet, and then he cleared his throat.

"If I explain to you why we can't just take Kuznet out, do you think that will help you understand a bit better? Or are you going to try and sneak off to do your own thing? Like Tommy did."

He almost didn't want to add the last part, but seeing as how much fire the little women had in her, he wanted to douse her flame a bit before he tried to make his point. Otherwise, what he had to say would likely just go in one ear and out the other.
 
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What with Niles's hand in hair, dragging her along, she really almost did trip on the stairs. It was difficult to maintain a balanced way of walking while being yanked and dragged along while holding the hand of someone behind her. She was grateful for that tight grip of Cora's though, feeling comforted by how determined she seemed to keep Niles from getting too carried away.

Once they were finally outside and her hair was free, Sayori gave Cora a relieved little smile and squeezed her hand, saying in that moment with her body language that she was thankful they had gotten out without anything happening. She then scampered along with Cora, only briefly glancing behind her shoulder at Niles before continuing through the front door. It was only when they were inside that she let go of Cora's hand, looking around and idling for a moment.

"Do you think we should go back up to the room, or... well, I don't know. When I was at the base, he gave me origami paper and had me paint for a while, but after that I was just... in my room with nothing to do. I'm not sure how we're supposed to spend our free time." While she didn't want to put pressure on Cora, she knew that her companion was much more familiar with how things worked around here. If she had simply been expected to sit and stare blankly at the wall when an officer or the General wasn't there, then she thought to herself that that in of itself was a cruelty.

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With the curtain there, Damien couldn't see any of their reactions but he imagined that most of them had simply nodded. He knew Vin probably agreed with him, the man most likely wishing that he could apply that same logic to Damien. The only reason he hadn't, he suspected, was because he wanted to use Damien in some way as a tool for getting back at the General and getting Cora saved. That was fine by him, the man willing to do what it took to get her safe again.

Freezing suddenly, he felt something underneath the covers moving against his leg, his body tensing as he waited for whatever it was. It could have been a mouse, only having briefly brushed his leg, but he wasn't sure. He gulped and watched the covers to see... a little snoot poke out from them, Bowie's head following soon after while flicking that little tongue at him.

"Jesus Christ, Bowie. You scared me," he breathed just loud enough for the snake to ear, letting out a little sigh of relief. The snake paused for a moment before wiggling back under the covers and then popping out again. If the snake could speak, he imagined he would say something like, "oh you were scared? Boo Damien! It's a spooky snake!" It brought a smile to his lips, the man regarding the snake fondly.

"I don't usually like to get into ethical discussions, but ... He's simply too dangerous to leave alive, Robert. I'm sorry."

The zombie sighed as well, a slightly crestfallen look on his face. He honestly didn't know what the lord would advocate in this scenario. All things considered, it sounded like the evil was simply too great for them to leave alive, but he didn't like the idea that someone's soul was too far gone not to be given a chance. The lord preached forgiveness and mercy, preaching that those who needed it most were the ones who were the most lost.

He simply nodded at Jameson and left the room, thinking to himself that he really needed some guidance and would pray later that night to see if he might find it.

"If I explain to you why we can't just take Kuznet out, do you think that will help you understand a bit better? Or are you going to try and sneak off to do your own thing? Like Tommy did."

Jesse had opened her mouth for an indignant reply, but shut it when he added the part about Tommy. The woman frowned, looking away from Jameson at Tommy's broken body for a moment. She wanted to say that his words were uncalled for, but in reality they really weren't. All she wanted to do right now was to put each of her drumsticks right through the General's eyes, her impatience bubbling at the surface. Jesse hated waiting; she hated waiting for her own fighting skills to get better, for them to take down Kuznet, and for... Tommy to wake up. She hated every fucking minute of it because inaction made her feel useless.

Her shoulders slumped a bit and a big sigh was let out, the woman's face giving Jameson more of a resigned frown than an aggressive one when she looked back at him. "Okay, what makes him so "untouchable,"" she asked, using air quotes with her fingers to emphasize.
 
As soon as they were inside Cora shut the door and then leaned back against it, her eyes closing and her head dropping a bit as she let out a stressed breath. Her hands were still shaking pretty badly from the ordeal, and when she brought one up to brush the hair from her face, she found that she had tears running down her cheeks. Wiping them away, she took that brief pause to let everything settle in a bit.

Quint was alive. He was alive. She started to smile, but it only lasted a brief flicker of a second before she remembered what he was now-what he was capable of, and now...what Kuznet would likely use him for. If he wasn't taken out into battle like some dog on a short leash, then he would likely try to get eggs from him. Maybe that's what Sayori had meant when she had asked if he had cut it off again. She knew her brother well enough to know that he had likely done something to stop Ray from getting those eggs out of him, or making him...well. He would put up one hell of a fight, but how long could he keep it up now that they were together? Now that they were going to be used against each other in the most twisted ways?

"Do you think we should go back up to the room, or... well, I don't know."

Cora opened her eyes to look down at Sayori, her face having taken on a bit of an ashen tone again. She started to answer, then hesitated.

It's going to happen whether you want it to or not.

"We should clean ourselves," she said, her voice filled with broken resignation.

"He'll want to...he'll..."

She could barely get the words out of her mouth, and for a moment, it looks as if she is going to start crying again. Instead, she turns her face away, takes a deep breath, and then stands up straight and let's her expression go a bit blank. There was no use in trying to skate around what needed to be said, or trying to soften her words. It would only make it worse later.

"If we shave ourselves and get cleaned up properly, it will please him and he might not hurt us too badly. I will tell him that I disobeyed Francisco and went to my brother. Honesty is...best, and you won't be punished for my fu-decision."

Biting her lip, she felt a new wave of loathing roll through her. She couldn't even cuss. They had to be prim; proper. If she didn't start curbing that habit right now then she was going to get Sayori or her brother hurt.
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Though Vin had resigned himself to laying down in bed, as requested, he didn't think he would be able to sleep. Well, that wasn't completely true-he could have probably slept, but he really didn't feel safe doing so with no one else knowing what Damien had done, and he also wanted to know just how far Kuznet's reach went. What kind of enemy they were up against.

"He was the near the top of the list of Generals in the country before everything happened, and now I imagine he's cleared that bar. He not only has access to wealth, but he has access to so much military tech and weaponry that it might make your head spin."

Jameson walked over to the seat that Vin had been sitting in as he spoke, taking a seat and then leaning forward slightly as he continued.

"On top of that, he has his hands in so many black market schemes that I can't even count them all, which means he has access to those resources as well. And by resources, I don't just mean money and weapons Jesse-I mean people. I've been able to identify just a few of his spies, though I can only assume how many more he has of them, and how many may still be alive. And if his power, influence, and manipulation tactics weren't enough, then you need to also be aware that he has victims. Victims that he is holding, in multiple locations, who may still be alive and living in even worse conditions now that there is little to no law. I don't know where they all are, or if they are even all his, but if he were to just disappear over night...not only would one of his lackeys or competitors immediately jump up and steal the throne if we aren't ready to knock them back, but we might be putting those victims lives at risk."

His eyes roamed over to Tommy for a moment, his expression softening. His own boy would have been about his age by now.

"If we can't locate them before we're ready to fight him, they may be left to rot in some locked room, slowly starving or dying from dehydration if no one else comes to get them out. I know we've already lost a lot of people, but every life is important. If we can, we have to make an effort to save them, understand?" he asked, his eyes meeting hers again.

"And we just aren't ready for that yet. We don't have that kind of manpower and resources to do it yet."
 
"We should clean ourselves. He'll want to...he'll..."

Her voice made her turn around to look at her, noticing the fear in her tone. Cora didn't need to finish that sentence for Sayori to know what she meant. Either Kuznet would want to punish them, or play with them. Perhaps those things could be the same today. Not only had Sayori likely ruined a surprise Kuznet had been waiting to spring on Cora, but they had both also blatantly disobeyed. She wouldn't be surprised if he was going to paint his little dolls with bruises tonight.

Her own face became anxious from the way Cora was acting, reading her body language to mean that she could only imagine the depths of his depravity. She waited for what she was going to say next with baited breath, her arms going around to hug herself for comfort.

"If we shave ourselves and get cleaned up properly, it will please him and he might not hurt us too badly. I will tell him that I disobeyed Francisco and went to my brother. Honesty is...best, and you won't be punished for my fu-decision."

Sayori cringed for a moment, not wanting to think about Kuznet's rough hands sliding over their smooth, shaven skin. She could also not care less about pleasing that despicable man, though in the back of her mind she begrudgingly knew that it would probably be a big part of survival here. It was best to do what Cora suggested, as it was obvious that she knew what he could be like.

"Alright... I'll be sure to shave everything in that case." She shifted uncomfortably for a moment, trying to find the words for what she wanted to say.

"I said it to Quint, but I will say it to you too. I won't begrudge you if you are made to do something to me. I know that compliance is the best way to keep safe the ones we cherish and..." Sayori gave Cora a little sad smile, "I know you cherish Quint greatly. I do too, so I think I would be okay if something happened to me in order to keep him safe. I owe him that for all the kindness he's shown me."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Jesse simply listened, her expression shifting from her frown, to a look of horror, then finally a look of disgusted anger. As she glared at the bed, tears started forming at the corners of her eyes, a lump in her throat. So he had so many people under his thumbs, helpless people who didn't have a soul who knew about them but for the good grace of Jameson and those infuriating the General's forces. It made her feel so sick to her stomach to think about people being kept in the dark, only to be used when it suited him.

The silence was heavy after he finished speaking and she shook her head. "That sick fuck. That sick... fuck. I hate knowing that they're out there and that there's nothing we can fucking do right now to help." She reached up, wiping her tears with her forearm, still not meeting Jameson's gaze. Jesse thought that if she was to meet his eyes, she wouldn't be able to hold on to her strength, not wanting to break down in front of him.

Over in the other bed, Damien stroked Bowies head with his thumb, the serpent having slithered up onto his thigh. The rest of his body was under the blanket, but his head was still there for him to stroke in almost a self-soothing manner.

Cora had spoken before about being trapped by him, about everyone being fooled by the kindly General charade. Hearing about it again didn't make it any less infuriating though. He knew what it was like to be trapped in a cage with no bars. His family's influence and wealth ran so deep that it didn't matter whether he screeched their sins to the skies, no one would have ever believed him. There was a countermove to any move he could have thought of, his parents always the puppeteers, pulling the strings of those around them to get what they wanted. Kuznet was exactly like that, his greed only being equaled by his cunning.
 
Cora didn't know how to respond to that, her eyes brimming up with tears at Sayori's compassionate words. Again she felt guilt for dragging the little women into this. For dragging them all into this. If she could have, she thought she might have liked to go back and have known. If she had just known that Ray was still alive, she could have done something. None of them would be suffering right now.

Just as quickly as those feelings came though, she felt a pinch in her chest at the thought of having never met Damien. No, she couldn't sacrifice her time with him. She wouldn't. Maybe that made her a bad person, knowing that she could have stopped the suffering of those around her, but at the same time, if going to Hell was the price she had to pay to have met him and to have felt his warmth, then she would gladly pay it.

"Thank you Sayori" she says quietly, wiping away some of her tears.

"I hope you know that it's the same for us. No matter what he forces you to do, we won't ever hate you for it or look down on you for it, ok? Because he's...very good at what he does."
_____________________

"I know Jesse, I don't like it either and that's why I'm trying to be so careful. When we make our move, it has to be the first and last move, otherwise we may not have another chance."

Letting out a little sigh, he gave her knee a light pat and then stood up to go, glancing back once to make sure Vin was doing alright in his bed.

"You should try to sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Jameson couldn't help but smirk slightly, shaking his head a little as he opened the door and left.
 
"I hope you know that it's the same for us. No matter what he forces you to do, we won't ever hate you for it or look down on you for it, ok? Because he's...very good at what he does."

Sayori nodded, "Indeed. I am pretty sure that when he was made, he was given a wit sharper than most for the price of not being given a heart. Thank you too though. It's good to know that we are in on the same page. Though... things do not always go the way we want them to." A little sigh left her, the woman thinking to herself that Quint had promised he would never look at her differently, and yet she worried every day that those words would one day not mean anything. He already had such pain when he looked at her now, his eyes betraying some of what he felt inside.

"Ah well, anyway. I'm going to go get cleaned up if that's okay." She turned, moving to go up the stairs and into the bedroom. Once there, she went to the bathroom and started looking around for razors and shaving cream. She found both as well as some scented lotion. The sooner she got it done, the sooner she could take another nap, perhaps forgetting the world they were in for the moment. Fortunately, the nightmares only found her when the sun went down, her naps giving her a bit of reprieve with the comfort of the sun nearby.

As she shaved herself, she watched the razor glide over her skin. She wasn't very hairy to begin with, but she was soon free from hair on her arms, legs, armpits, and between her legs as well. Her shower was soon over, the woman wrapping a towel around herself before walking out of the bathroom and going to the closet. Again, all of the dresses were unappealing, but she chose one she thought he might like. It was a bit fancier than some of them, but perhaps that was appropriate considering they wanted him to be in a good mood. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c6/9b/6b/c69b6b704b821ef69441536957b6acd4.jpg

Once on, she used some lotion on herself, her skin soon soft and smelling slightly of sweat pea. She put on her soft white thigh-highs and waited for Cora to be done, letting her hair air-dry this time while sitting on the bed and gazing out the window.

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Jesse nodded at Jameson and wiped some of her tears again, understanding what was at stake now. When he left, she leaned forward and rested her forehead on Tommy's hand, wondering if their mission was going to be successful, if they would ever find all the prisoners. There was such a small margin for error that it almost seemed impossible.

Vin's words made Damien purse his lips, knowing that the man likely was either afraid that Damien would kill him in his sleep or that he would sneak out the window. It wasn't as though anything he said would ease his fear though, so he simply laid back into the pillows and tried to rest, Bowie's comforting presence helping to ease him into a light slumber.
 
"I am pretty sure that when he was made, he was given a wit sharper than most for the price of not being given a heart."

Just the tiniest creep of a smile touched her face before she looked away towards the kitchen window. She had her theories about that herself, though she rarely voiced them.

Cora had gotten into a bit of a lengthy conversation with him once, back when she was still ignorant enough to try and twist everything in on herself. She had thought that there had to have been some reason he turned out the way he did-a terrible childhood, abuse from someone he trusted. Maybe even just something very traumatic had happened that he had never quite been able to deal with. What she had found out, however, was almost sadder than all her hypothesizing and guessing.

He had never been abused or traumatized. Infact, he had told her, he had had a very 'loving' and healthy relationship with his parents until he was old enough to manipulate them into the situations that would ultimately lead to their deaths. And why had he done it? Because it entertained him. Because it was simply the only thing he found enjoyable-was playing his games.

It had taken Cora a very long time to accept that hard truth, and ultimately, to accept that he quite literally lacked something inside of himself that would have made him feel what they all felt. And to live a life lacking in love and joy truly sounded like torture to her, though she supposed that he did not truly understand what he was missing out on.

"Ah well, anyway. I'm going to go get cleaned up if that's okay."

She nodded and wiped a few more tears away with the back of her hand.

"I'll be up in a little while."

After she watched Sayori go up the stairs, she turned her attention to the hallway and approached a certain photo. Picking it up, her hazel eyes simply stared down at the picture of her father and Francisco, the both of their faces slightly flushed from the beer they held in each hand. They looked so happy, as if nothing in the world could ever bring them down.

...

Cora entered the room just a few moments after Sayori got out of the shower. It was obvious that she had been crying again, her eyes puffy and bloodshot once more. She seems to have exhausted herself though, as her footsteps were a bit slow to take her in the bathroom, and begin the process of getting herself cleaned up as well.

Once she was done, she stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around herself, and then she too chose an outfit from the wardrobe.

She hated pink with her skin tone, thinking that the contrast was not flattering at all, but she knew it was one of his favorite colors on her. After the tattoo's, and her little show of defiance with their talk over Damien, she knew she was skating on thin ice. It would be obvious what she was trying to do, but she hoped that at least putting in some effort would show him that she was trying to be the good little Cora that he remembered.

Usually she was a bit shy about being nude in front of people, but seeing as Sayori was another women, and they were going to be forced to become very familiar with each other later, Cora went ahead and just dropped her towel on the floor once she got the dress off the hanger. Her hair was brushed over her other shoulder, making her tattoo visible for Sayori to see if she were looking.

In very elegant penmanship, it read:

Dear Journal,

What does it mean to be alone? I mean truly alone?...Is it enough when I fall asleep to my shivers, and wake up to my tears?


It was a quote, and a tribute, to one of her favorite stories. A story that, while told from the perspective of a silly little pony, was no less heartbreaking for the world that it played out in.
 
Being that she had used to enjoy going to saunas with her mother and sister, Sayori wasn't embarrassed nor did she avert her eyes per se when Cora disrobed. She didn't gawk, but her eyes were just a bit curious as the tattoo caught her gaze. Turning her head away, she contemplated its meaning while lifting the ribbon she had been holding in her hands. It was gently but snugly tied around her neck in a bow, just like the pink ribbon before it.

It was a sad quote to be sure, one that insinuated a deep loneliness within Cora. She was almost reluctant to ask, but as the silence between them stretched, she thought to herself that maybe Cora might like talking about something-anyting.

"That tattoo of yours... the quote. What is its significance to you?" Sayori's curious voice carried over to Cora, the woman angling her body in her direction as she waited for a reply.
 
"That tattoo of yours... the quote. What is its significance to you?"

She was just getting the dress pulled down around her hips, adjusting it and wishing she had been allowed some underwear and a bra but ultimately resigning herself to the fact that she would just have to deal with the draft and cover her chest a bit more when they went outside for lunch. Well, if they got to go outside for lunch. She hadn't seen Francisco in twelve years, and while she still hoped that he was as he had been back then, things could have changed.

Turning her gaze to Sayori, she pulled her hair out of the back of her dress and bent down to pull open one of the small boxes in the bottom of the closet as she spoke.

"It's from a story that I really like. The main character of the story has a curse placed upon her, where everyone forgets who she is and that she was ever a part of their life."

Taking the lid off the box, Cora pulled out a pair of thin, ankle high white socks and sat down on the ground to put them on.

"And whenever she tries to talk to someone, they can only seem to speak with her for a few minutes, sometimes a bit longer, before they suddenly forget who she is again. No matter how hard she tries, or what she does, no one ever remembers her. The words that she writes down cannot be read, and even when she leaves a physical impact on the world around her, no one ever understands that it was her who did it."

Pushing the little box of socks back in the closet, she then reaches in a bit further and pulls out a pair of white shoes.

"Throughout the story, she keeps trying to connect with people, even though it's pointless and she'll end up alone again by the end of the day, with no one to remember her or hold her. The quote is from a beginning of one of the chapters, as she is writing in her journal that only she can read..."

It wasn't the same, of course. Cora had her brother, and people who did remember her. However, the beautiful symphony of that little lost soul still touched her being in such a profound way, and when she had first read that chapter, she had spent quite a few days simply alone in her room crying and trying to come to terms with everything that had happened in her life. It was the beginning of the journey to her trying to heal herself, and though it was just fiction, Cora liked to think that that character had reached someone. That her music had touched her own soul, and through it, she was heard.
 
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Sayori listened and watched Cora getting ready, reminding herself that she too needed a pair of shoes. Her feet were smaller than Cora’s but she would probably be able to make one of them work for her. Drifting to the closet, she looked around through the various drawers until she saw a pair of white Mary Janes that looked pretty small. It turned out they were pretty close to her size, maybe a pair from when Cora was younger.

The story that Cora told was certainly a melancholy one, the idea of always being forgotten one that Sayori wouldn’t wish on almost anyone. It sounded like such a cruel life, a life of constantly trying to change things, to find a bit of love and support but being denied each time. Her own life was nothing like that, but she couldn’t help but recognize her own loneliness in the life she now lived. Quint had been the only one she had, and perhaps Cora would become precious also, but no matter how close they got, there would always be the feeling that she had been tossed into an unfamiliar place, separated forever from her family and friends.

Her dainty fingers put the Shoes on after sitting on the bed, looking thoughtful for a moment. “That sounds like a story of loneliness and helplessness. No matter how many people we have in our lives, we’re still the only ones in our own heads. So I suppose in a way, we’re always alone.” Her expression turned somber and she sighed, “as for helplessness and futility... I can certainly understand that.”
 
Cora bent her knees and moved her feet to the side a bit, simply sitting and watching as Sayori got her own pair of shoes. She didn't know if it was an old pair, or more likely, that Ray had put a pair there specifically for Sayori. It didn't matter really.

"as for helplessness and futility... I can certainly understand that."

She pulled some of her hair over her shoulder and fiddled with it for a moment before glancing up at the camera in the corner. Always watching. With a little sigh, she looked back down and gave Sayori a weak smile.

"I don't know if she was completely helpless" she says in a quiet voice. For a moment, it seems as if she wants to say more, but instead she closes her lips and looks away out the window.

She wouldn't say it out loud, but she was thinking of Damien again. Was he out there, somewhere? Was he safe? Did he think that she simply left him? Her bottom lip starts to tremble a bit and she has to bite it to make it stop.
 
"I don't know if she was completely helpless."

As Sayori looked at her, she noticed Cora spacing out a bit, seemingly worried about something. She wondered to herself whether Cora merely said that to try to empower herself or chase her own helplessness away; perhaps Cora truly believed that no one was ever truly powerless. While it was true that everyone had the freedom to chose what they did in any given situation, Sayori knew that there were always consequences, and that those consequences were shackles that chained one to a certain destiny sometimes.

Now that her shoes were on and they were both dressed, she didn't really know what else to do but talk, the woman wracking her brain for something they might chat about. She really didn't want to think about what would happen later when the General came back. If she had to guess, she imagined that he would take each of them in turn while making the other watch. The idea made her want to run, to try to get through the forest berries and wild animals be damned. Her feet wouldn't let her though, the fear of what would happen too great to allow her.

God, she really didn't want him to touch her again. The last time he had, he had left her in a puddle of their fluids after having drugged her. She had said such shameful things, even begging for him to cum inside her. Sayori hugged her arms again and looked down into her lap as her face became worried. Speaking of which, she had been pregnant when he had taken her both times, Quint having had sex with her the day of. Now that her body was back to normal, it was possible for her to get pregnant again.

He didn't seem to be the type to like condoms, especially with how big he was, and it was extremely unlikely that he would be able to provide her an implant. The only alternatives were birth control or plan B if he had those things.

"Cora?" Sayori started, her hands starting to fiddle with her fingers anxiously a little. "This may be an uncomfortable question, but has he used any kind of contraceptive with you in the past? He seems meticulous, so he would probably have a stock of birth control wouldn't he?"
 
She looked back at her name being called, but the question that followed made her go white once more. She really didn't want to answer that, or to think of all the possibilities of what their future now held together. What was he going to do to her now that she had fallen in love with someone else? Would he force Sayori to become pregnant, just to show her the life that she could have had? Perhaps using it as a bargaining chip, another way to keep her under control?

"I-I.."

Her eyes become wet, and she has to swallow a few times before she shakes her head.

"I don't know Sayori, I..."

With her face screwing up a bit, she looks down at the ground and scowls as the tears spill over and run down her cheeks.

"I never needed it before. I think... maybe at first he did, but not after he took me to the doctor."

Even though the room was large, Cora suddenly felt like those walls were closing in on her. She needed to get out of that room, even if it was only to go sit in the living room. Standing up, she straightens her dress a bit before speaking again.

"I'll take it for you. I can handle it."
 
"I-I... I don't know Sayori, I... I never needed it before. I think... maybe at first he did, but not after he took me to the doctor."

Cora's tearful reaction to her question made her heart sink a little bit. So the General had taken her to the doctor so that he didn't have to use contraceptives? That could only mean that he had ordered an operation to make her unable to conceive. If that was the case, then it was unlikely that he had a supply of birth control, though she wondered if he even thought he was going to need anything for very long. Perhaps he planned on using her until she became pregnant then at the first sign of pregnancy he would release her into the woods to die in the wilderness. He had his Quint and Cora after all, he didn't need to waste resources on Sayori.

It made her heart flutter in fear, the woman's own face screwing up a bit, her hands squeezing herself slightly. Even if she wasn't afraid of being abandoned or having something horrible happen to her because of it, she simply hated the idea of bearing his child. Bearing his child for the 4 days she had his dna in the eggs was almost too much for her. It would be awful to have something of his growing inside her for nine months- it would be like he was inside her day and night, always reminding her that he had put that child inside her.

"I'll take it for you. I can handle it."

Somehow she doubted that Cora could do much to keep him from cumming inside her if he wanted to do so. Still, the thought was sweet so she simply nodded and took a hint from Cora, getting up and walking to the door before looking back at her with a resigned smile. "I wonder if they have hot chocolate or tea in the kitchen. Perhaps we could make some?"
 
Cora nodded, her hand reaching out to pull the door open towards them. Once it was open and they had stepped out, she cleared her throat a bit.

"There's usually some tea in the kitchen. I'll make us some."

Once they were down the stairs and in the kitchen, Cora made her way over to the cupboards, her arms crossing over her chest in a self conscious manner. She wished she could go over and shut the window blinds, knowing that Niles would likely walk by at least once to have a look in. That was against the rules, though, so she didn't even bother to look at them.

Pulling out two white mugs, she looked over her shoulder at Sayori.

"Do you like chamomile? Or mint?"

She bent down and pulled a drawer out, looking over the neatly organized boxes. None of them were pre-packaged, as he like to grow his own herbs in the greenhouse, though they were labeled by common name. Other than a new addition of ginseng, nothing had changed. Still alphabetized, and likely not a dust speck between the boxes.
 
While Cora went into the kitchen, Sayori hovered for a moment before going to the dining room table again. She smoothed out her skirt so that she wouldn't be sitting with her bare pussy against the chair, the idea of it being a bit uncomfortable for her. With that, she simply sat there and watched as Cora dug through one of the drawers.

"Do you like chamomile? Or mint?"

"Hm... I could go for some chamomile, please." Sayori thought to herself that perhaps next time she would be the one to make tea. It was nice being served a beverage, but she didn't want it to become a habit as though it was Cora's responsibility to play host. She imagined that soon this place would become very familiar, as unfortunate as that was.

"So um... your brother is nice. You know, one of the first things he did was accidentally throw a toilet paper roll in a way that made it bonk me in the face. It was so absurd that I couldn't help but laugh." A bit of Sayori's smile was restored from the memory, the woman's gaze drifting so she could look out the window at the sunny front yard.
 
She was pulling a small teapot out of one of the cupboards when Sayori started telling her about the toilet paper roll, and though she didn't stop what she was doing, she did at least smile a little.

"That definitely sounds like something he would do, the goof."

Filling the pot with water, she then turned and put it on the stove while she rummaged around for some coffee filters, to strain the tea through. When she found them, she simply sat them on the counter and watched the kettle for a moment before speaking again.

"I still can't believe he's alive."

Her misty eyes turned to Sayori then, and she gave her a shaky smile.

"I feel like any minute now, life's just going to throw me the middle finger and laugh in my face, saying it was all just a joke or a dream."

Turning back to the filters, she started to set them in the mugs, getting the tea ready in each one.

"Maybe a hallucination."

She went a little quiet, simply waiting until the kettle began to whistle, and then she turned the fire off and began to pour the hot water into their cups. She wasn't as good in the kitchen as her brother was, but at least she could make a decent cup of tea, and with practiced ease, she soon had two steaming mugs sat upon the table for them. After she had disposed of the filters, she had added just a few drops of rose water for smell, and a few teaspoons of honey to sweeten them. After she sat down, she was very quiet again for a moment, simply holding the tea under her nose and letting the warmth and smell wash over her. Suddenly, she clears her throat.

"I'm sorry, I'm not a very good conversationalist. Quint's usually the one that does all the talking, heh.."
 
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“I can assure you that it’s definitely not a dream nor a hallucination. Sometimes I wish it was, but I think even through the tough times there have been moments that I’m glad I had at least.” A soft smile was given to Cora in response to the other woman’s misty eyes. She could imagine how much joy and relief she must feel at seeing Quint-Sayori knew she would feel the same about her own sister. Although she couldn’t help but wonder if part of the fear in Cora’s eyes was from the fact that she now had so much more to lose.

"I'm sorry, I'm not a very good conversationalist. Quint's usually the one that does all the talking, heh.."

“Well, I suppose we don’t really know each other all that well, so it’s to be expected at this point. If we were in another place and time I would make you a pina colada with one of those pineapple skewers and we would just relax and laugh. As it is, tea will have to do.” She lifted the cup and blew on the steamy concoction, her pouty, pink lips pursing as she cooled it down. A sip was taken before she sighed, comforted by the warmth, taste, and aroma of her beverage. Cora really did know how to make a good cup of tea.

Setting the cup down, she wrapped her hands around it to warm them, looking down to watch the steam rise. “For a formal introduction, I would introduce myself as Sayori Nakamura. I owned a karaoke bar called Notes of Citrus and was out of town when everything went down. The General and his men rescued me and a group of other people and brought them to the base. My ankle was in bad shape so the General examined it. During that, I recognized a picture of Damien on his desk and he was able to coax from me what had happened between us. He sent me to the medical bay which... wasn’t the medical bay.” She took another little sip of her tea and continued, keeping her voice even, though she wouldn’t look at Cora.

“They did some unpleasant things to me in order to send a message to Damien. I think it was a recording. If I’m not mistaken, the message was that Damien had broken a rule and that he shouldn’t do so again. They then put me in a cell next to Quint, and that’s how I met him. Niles took a bit of an interest in me which ultimately resulted in Quint almost killing him. I think... he was so worked up because he thought I was you for some reason.“ Her expression was somber for a moment, thinking to herself how she wished that he simply hadn’t looked. If he had only averted his eyes and went back to sleep, he wouldn’t have been punished and separated from her. A small part of her wondered what would have happened if it had really been Sayori his eyes had seen; maybe if that had been the case, he could have just waited and comforted her afterwards.

“But unfortunately Officer Niles healed rather quickly, courtesy of Quint’s healing gel.” A sigh left her lips as she once again brought the cup to her lips.
 
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Cora held the warm cup to her mouth, almost letting the hot tea touch her lips while she took in Sayori's words. When she talked of making a pina colada, she smiled and brought the cup down just a bit. How nice it would have been to have something so normal as a mixed drink, the last one she had having been good, but also having ended on such a terrible note that night that it kind of ruined the memory for her.

As Sayori began to introduce herself more properly, Cora simply held the teacup and listened. At first, it was pleasant to hear what she had to say. Notes of Citrus sounded like a lovely name for a bar, and Cora would have really liked to see it, but as Sayori went on, she found herself focusing more and more on her tea.

The information on Damien was hard to hear, and she doubted she would ever get used to that despite her stance. However, what was worse was the realization that Kuznet had not only been following them for so long, but that he had been playing his mind games on her lover. It terrified and hurt her to think that Damien had been hiding his own fear that whole time, likely to keep them all safe, but more than that, it made her angry. It made her blood boil in a way that she had never felt before, to think once again, Damien had been put into a situation where he was a victim. Where he needed to keep quiet and do what he was told otherwise someone would be hurt. Of course, she recognized the tragedy that was her own pain in the situation as well, but for the first time in her life, she felt the courage that came with the need to protect another person that wasn't her brother. Someone that so important to her that she could not imagine a life without him. Not anymore. And with that anger and courage came a sudden realization that she wanted, no, she was going to fight. She was going to fight for her freedom, or die trying because she had a reason to now.

"But unfortunately Officer Niles healed rather quickly, courtesy of Quint’s healing gel."

Her hazel eyes looked up from her tea, and she realized she had been scowling a bit, so she forces herself to relax and take a sip before commenting.

"Quint's eyes are different than Sabastian's, and another half zombie that we came across. I wonder why they all have like...something that they are really good at. You say healing gel,"

She sat her cup down and brought her arm up, her hand coming up to lay over her bite wound, which was now just a fresh scar.

"Is it the stuff that comes out of their limbs? Sabastian sealed this wound with something gooey, to stop the bleeding, but it's healing like a normal wound would I think."

Cora was avoiding talking about herself, hoping that Sayori would be okay with going into more detail about her curiosity with her brother. While she had no doubts that Kuznet likely knew exactly what Cora had been doing these past twelve years-what school she had graduated from, what bank she had gotten a job at, likely even down to her taste in underwear, there were some things that simply couldn't be seen through the lens of monitoring. Emotional things. Things that, if she slipped and went into too much detail, he would pick apart until he found the very fabric of what she enjoyed, and then...he would burn it. He would save it for just the right moment too. Like when he had taken her down to Mexico, after she had tried to kill herself.
 
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"Quint's eyes are different than Sabastian's... I wonder why they all have like...something that they are really good at. You say healing gel, is it the stuff that comes out of their limbs? Sabastian sealed this wound... but it's healing like a normal wound would I think."

The woman's eyes flicked to Cora's bite-mark curiously and she wondered how Cora had survived. She assumed that everyone who was bitten would be infected, succumbing to whatever it was that had infected them. Though the fact that it looked like a regular wound was proof that Quint was special.

"I have wondered that myself. I think maybe there is something about each person that the disease might take to, like a hidden aptitude in a sense." Her tone was thoughtful, her finger tapping on cup.

Sayori hesitated for a moment before scooting sideways in her chair so that Cora could better see her upper back, letting one of her shoulder straps slide down her shoulder to give her a better view. Cora would be able to see the long, pale scars on her back from the whip, as well as a splotch of white on her shoulder blade where Niles had burned her. Thanks to Quint's gel, they had all healed surprisingly well, the scars merely looking as though they were discoloration in her skin or tattoos perhaps what with how smooth they were to the touch. The General was probably pleased with that, the man liking softer, smoother textures. She almost wished they were raised and rough just to spite him.

She let Cora look for a moment or two before putting her shoulder strap back up and scooting back to her original placement, setting her cup down before extending her hand toward Cora, almost as one would when showing off an engagement ring. They had applied the gel enough to get results, but the very tip of her finger was still gone, the skin having now healed there.

"Yes it's something that comes out of their tentacles, but Quint's gel is different. You could see the skin having healed on my back as though I've had those wounds for years. My finger was severed at the first knuckle, but they were able to actually grow it back. I think it would have grown back completely if they hadn't decided that they had enough information. It also grows back muscle as well as bone, though I would rather not show you that wound since you can't really see anything anyway." Her other hand rubbed the smooth, warm cup as a self-soothing gesture, trying to avoid recalling how she had received all of her wounds.

"It's painful, as they need to remove the top layer of skin before each application, but I suspect it could regrow most anything. I clearly heard the Officer's leg snap, so I don't know if they injected it into his leg or had him drink it, but it healed him within days." There was a slight bitterness to her tone, the woman having hoped that Officer Niles would be bedridden for a long time.
 
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