Lithaladhwen: Be right with you.
Lithaladhwen: Dishes.
PapatymisonN: Very well. PapatymisonN: Did you dance? Lithaladhwen: I am right now.
Lithaladhwen: To Isaac's playlist.
PapatymisonN: Niftery. Lithaladhwen: Back.
PapatymisonN: I love Wikipedia. It gives me KNOWLEDGE. Lithaladhwen: Heh.
PapatymisonN: Like, did you know Tim Allen's full name is Timothy Allen Dick? Lithaladhwen: I did not.
Lithaladhwen: Anyway.
Lithaladhwen: Sanjaya.
PapatymisonN: Yes. Lithaladhwen: We'd likely end up eating a CIRP with discussion of Shakti, is the thing.
PapatymisonN: True. Right here, then? Lithaladhwen: Sure.
Lithaladhwen: Shall I start us off?
PapatymisonN: Go right ahead. Lithaladhwen: (Slight font change.)
PapatymisonN: (Big one.) Lithaladhwen: *A dark-skinned elderly man is making his way down a sidewalk in central Doma. He's dressed in white linen,
appropriate for the late summer heat. He's humming to himself and sweeping back and forth in front of him is the
universal symbol for "blind man walking," a long white cane.*
PapatymisonN: *a happy looking blue haired fellow, in a nice blue longcoat, black pants, and a white dress shirt, is coming up behind
him, oblivious of the old man's presence* Lithaladhwen: *turns and the cane halts in front of him*
PapatymisonN: *skrrrrrch!* Lithaladhwen: *faces ahead and tilts his head*
PapatymisonN: S-Sanjaya! o.o PapatymisonN: What are you doing here? Is there a problem at HQ? Lithaladhwen: Cardinal! I am blessed by God to be finding you. How have you been?
PapatymisonN: Uh... well... PapatymisonN: I have been doing... not too badly. PapatymisonN: A-and yourself? o.o Lithaladhwen: Ah. Excellent as always. How is the young one?
PapatymisonN: At current, better than usual. Lithaladhwen: Excellent. You look to be sleeping more than I had thought. *gestures with his cane as he folds it up* A good
sign.
PapatymisonN: Uh... would you like something to eat? I think there must be curry in this city somewhere... Lithaladhwen: Ah, it is nothing to worry about. I had come to speak with my student, but I'm surprised I was not looking for
you as well.
PapatymisonN: (You're going to have to draw him, cuz I can't get Blind Gandhi out of my head.) PapatymisonN: You are? Lithaladhwen: (I can show you an image sometime. He's my Chidambaram. ^_^ )
Lithaladhwen: (If you'll hold on a moment...)
PapatymisonN: (*holds*) Lithaladhwen: (It's still on my camera.)
Lithaladhwen wants to send file C:\Documents and Settings\Brian Ford\My Documents\My Pictures\2006-09-11\Picture 015.jpg. Lithaladhwen: (This is my Indian uncle-ji. We called him Guru-ji for a reason. He knew things.)
PapatymisonN received C:\Documents and Settings\Brian Ford\My Documents\My Pictures\2006-09-11\Picture 015.jpg. Lithaladhwen: (Lots of them. Good ones.)
Lithaladhwen: (And yes. That's me.)
PapatymisonN: (Oh, I know what you look like by now, silly.) PapatymisonN: (And I said the last thing.) Lithaladhwen: Of course I am.
Lithaladhwen: (But there. Does that help? An older Indian man who isn't Gandhi.)
PapatymisonN: (It does, very much.) Lithaladhwen: Why wouldn't I? I wish to see what she has been up to. Using the term loosely, of course. *chuckles*
PapatymisonN: ^_^ Lithaladhwen: I would also like very much to hear her explanation. I think you can understand what I mean, yes?
PapatymisonN: ... probably, yes. PapatymisonN: I think I can guess where she is... shall I take you to her? Lithaladhwen: *waves his hand dismissively* There's time.
Lithaladhwen: She's still at home. I will bother her later.
PapatymisonN: Very well. PapatymisonN: ... my legs are getting tired. Lithaladhwen: And I'm ancient. Shall we two old men have a seat? There's a bench thirty paces from here.
PapatymisonN: Of course. PapatymisonN: And that sense of space of yours never ceases to amaze me. Lithaladhwen: You would have the same thing if you had changed as I did. As it is, I believe you and your sister suffered a
minor difference in hair color.
PapatymisonN: Mine is blue, her is... purple-ish. Lithaladhwen: Ah. Good to know.
Lithaladhwen: So. Tell me. *makes his way to the bench and sits, using his "holy shit I'm blind get out of my way" powers to
clear a path*
PapatymisonN: *follows in his wake* Lithaladhwen: *drops the cutesy adorable-old-Indian manner* What new mess had she created here recently?
PapatymisonN: Got involved in a murder, sir. It's... fixed now, though. Lithaladhwen: I am aware. I know what happened.
Lithaladhwen: It would be hard not to, but rather than involve my colleagues, I thought I would come myself to investigate.
Lithaladhwen: Did you sister tell you what I do?
PapatymisonN: Not... no, not exactly. Lithaladhwen: Many people are given the power to bend the fabric of reality in minor ways when they join the Guild. You
know this. You also know that it often changes you in some minor way, but always related to your unique gift.
Lithaladhwen: You and your sister specialized in stellar magic. The color of your hair reflects this. Evening colors on the both
of you, if I recall my spectrum correctly.
Lithaladhwen: My gain was very great when the change was made. The sacrifice was proportional, but I made it willingly.
Lithaladhwen: Tell me. What powers of sight must I possess to have lost the use of my eyes?
PapatymisonN: ... the power to... see beyond appearances? Lithaladhwen: To see beyond everything.
Lithaladhwen: I cannot see the color of your eyes, but I know where you have been today and where you may likely go after
we part.
Lithaladhwen: I know what she has been doing.
Lithaladhwen: What I do not know is the words you and Shakti will use to explain it to me.
Lithaladhwen: And that is what I came to learn.
PapatymisonN: ... PapatymisonN: Alright. PapatymisonN: Let's see... PapatymisonN: Shakti now works as... protector to a brothel. Lithaladhwen: IM: Calling her by her guildname now. A change. Possibly a welcome one.
PapatymisonN: A girl that was ... unassociated with them got into some trouble with a ... customer. Lithaladhwen: *nods*
PapatymisonN: The girl killed the customer, not wanting him to take her still-growing child from her, or somesuch. PapatymisonN: Shakti decided she wanted to protect this girl, and made it look as though she had killed the man. PapatymisonN: She was subsequently arrested. PapatymisonN: ... by me. PapatymisonN: I TRIED to keep her at my home, under house arrest, but she... didn't find that sufficient, so she turned herself in. Lithaladhwen: *chuckles*
PapatymisonN: Apparently she's not very fond of my wife. OR a degree of freedom... PapatymisonN: Anyways... I did some investigating, and some... fighting... PapatymisonN: I got Shakti off the hook, for the most part, and disabled the gang that wanted to shut the girl up. Lithaladhwen: *nod*
PapatymisonN: That's about all. Lithaladhwen: Well. On her behalf I apologize that you were not initially better-informed. It is something she and I have
discussed.
PapatymisonN: She... wanted to do things on her own. Lithaladhwen: *shakes his head* This is a problem she will need to work on. Silence will not work forever.
Lithaladhwen: I was assigned as her mentor because even then we knew there was much she does not discuss.
Lithaladhwen: You know this as well, I assume.
PapatymisonN: Mm. Lithaladhwen: I am still not certain what to do about it.
PapatymisonN: ... lobotomy? Lithaladhwen: *laugh*
Lithaladhwen: Possibly.
Lithaladhwen: Though I certainly won't be the one to do it. Perhaps I can hold her down and you'll get the saw.
PapatymisonN: ... we may have to hire some people for that. I don't think she'd go quietly. Lithaladhwen: She never does.
Lithaladhwen: *sighs heavily* She is a very angry young woman, your sister.
PapatymisonN: That she is... and I do not know how to help her, most days... Lithaladhwen: I have managed to persuade her to say very little on the subject, but from what I see... on the surface it's anger,
beneath that is anger, and after that it's just turtles all the way down.
PapatymisonN: ... PapatymisonN: ... PapatymisonN: You forgot the squirrels. Lithaladhwen: It is an old Indian tale. The world sits on the back of a turtle. An Englishman came and asked what was beneath
that turtle.
Lithaladhwen: Another turtle. Any Hindu could tell you that. Beneath that turtle is another turtle.
Lithaladhwen: The Englishman asked what was beneath that, and the Indian said, "After that, sahib, it is turtles all the way
down."
Lithaladhwen: That is how it is with your sister.
Lithaladhwen: There is always more anger.
PapatymisonN: ... *puts his face in his hands* Aaaand it's all my fault. Lithaladhwen: It is not your fault that she doesn't speak of it, r that she chooses to be angry. It is her own choice.
PapatymisonN: ... you know our history, right? Lithaladhwen: I do. I've heard more of it from her than you might think.
PapatymisonN: Well, then you know what the source of her rage is. PapatymisonN: ... the "first turtle", that is... Lithaladhwen: I do. But the ...other turtles, to keep with the metaphor... they are things she has not discussed with you I think.
PapatymisonN: ... oh? Lithaladhwen: I think it would be easier if you were the only target of her anger. But you aren't. You would like to think you
are sometimes.
Lithaladhwen: But that is not the case.
PapatymisonN: ... I wouldn't like to think I am. But, now that you mention it, it would ... be easier. PapatymisonN: It would... keep things simple. Lithaladhwen: It would. For you and for her. But... hm.
Lithaladhwen: I will not tell you what she has told me, but my own observations are mine to share.
Lithaladhwen: How much did they tell you, your colleagues at the time?
Lithaladhwen: What did they say about her?
PapatymisonN: ... not much. Lithaladhwen: Hm.
Lithaladhwen: And Juan?
Lithaladhwen: The same?
PapatymisonN: ... v_v Mm. Lithaladhwen: *nods and Hm's again*
Lithaladhwen: I believe that, in the initial period of her confinement.... they may have told her more than they told you. After
all, they had no reason to spare her certain details, did they?
Lithaladhwen: They certainly had no reason to shelter her and keep her loyalty the way they did with you in those early days.
Lithaladhwen: It is her belief... that Juan did not confess.
PapatymisonN: ... PapatymisonN: I ... ... I see... Lithaladhwen: *head shake*
Lithaladhwen: I think it is... difficult for her to handle how deeply she resents him for that.
PapatymisonN: ... *sigh* Lithaladhwen: In her mind, he was strong and he died with integrity. She hates him for it, and hates herself. Because, you
understand... she cannot claim the same.
Lithaladhwen: She recanted, as I recall. But confessing at all... it took a great deal from her. She has... still not recovered it,
whatever she left behind there.
Lithaladhwen: *sigh*
Lithaladhwen: So do not feel that you are the only one she's angry with, or the only target of occasional hatred and resentment.
Lithaladhwen: Turtles all the way down, my friend.
PapatymisonN: ... I don't know if that's supposed to be a comfort. Lithaladhwen: Neither do I. But it's the truth, and that is always a start.
Lithaladhwen: The reason for her silence...
Lithaladhwen: I can only imagine it's because some part of her understands that her anger is... unreasonable and beyond her
control. She is an honest woman. You know this.
Lithaladhwen: That she is willing to keep silent and spare you and your family that... says much.
Lithaladhwen: In her mind, it is all she can do for you.
Lithaladhwen: *shrug*
Lithaladhwen: Whether she is correct or not is hardly for me to judge.
PapatymisonN: ... I just... I just wish somedays she could properly hate me. PapatymisonN: Then MAYBE she could get some peace. PapatymisonN: I don't WANT her to love me if it's at the cost of her sanity... Lithaladhwen: Don't doubt the worth of her love for her family. It's a small miracle that the two of you can share that at all,
whatever form it may take now.
Lithaladhwen: It is a gift from God, and not to be turned aside lightly.
PapatymisonN: ... you may be right. Lithaladhwen: Where do you think she would be without it? Answer me honestly. Do you think she would be happier if she
didn't still love her older brother?
PapatymisonN: That is my problem. I do not know. PapatymisonN: I have this scenario in my head where she utterly rejects me, is freed of her anger, and goes on to live some
semblance of a normal life... PapatymisonN: Is it true? I don't know. I'd almost love for it to be... PapatymisonN: Right now, she's... like a ball, covered in patches. PapatymisonN: She's whole, she holds air, she functions... PapatymisonN: But one wrong kick, and she'll ... deflate. Lithaladhwen: And do you think that's what this last fiasco was? The "wrong kick" you described?
PapatymisonN: No, no... she's alright. PapatymisonN: I still fear the wrong kick is coming. Lithaladhwen: That must be some kick.
Lithaladhwen: What do you think is going to happen?
PapatymisonN: I ... I don't know. She... loses it? Kills me? Kills someone? Retreats into herself? PapatymisonN: I don't know. It's part of the fear. Lithaladhwen: And the silence does not help.
PapatymisonN: And the silence does not help. Lithaladhwen: I believe, and this is just an old man speaking of his student, and not a promise of any kind... that it is best for
her to continue her life near yours, as she has been doing.
Lithaladhwen: As you may have realized, it was at my request that the two of you trained together.
Lithaladhwen: It has done her good, to see that you have changed. To see that she herself has changed.
Lithaladhwen: Neither of you is the naive child you were then. She is beginning to know this, I think.
PapatymisonN: I still have days of naivete.... Lithaladhwen: Do you? When you hold yourself up to who you were then, the man next to the boy... do they really seem so
similar to you?
PapatymisonN: ... now that you mention it... that person I was, standing idly by... the moment I decided to act.. PapatymisonN: He died. Lithaladhwen: As did the sister he betrayed.
Lithaladhwen: You are both adults now. With your own judgement and will.
Lithaladhwen: It's as important for you to know her as she is now as it is for her to know you.
Lithaladhwen: Otherwise, you are left as strangers.
Lithaladhwen: I... do not believe that either of you wants that to happen.
PapatymisonN: ... there you are right. Lithaladhwen: Not all changes in her have been to her detriment, and not all that resulted from those days has been tragic.
Lithaladhwen: Think of the good you two have done since then. Think of the people you have become.
Lithaladhwen: Your sister grew into a strong and uncompromising woman, with an ironclad sense of integrity.
Lithaladhwen: If she herself had never been betrayed, would she be so unwavering in her obligations to others?
Lithaladhwen: And where would her friends be if she had not become what she has?
Lithaladhwen: Cassandra. Cassandra's child.
Lithaladhwen: The consequences of your actions stretch further than you seem to think.
Lithaladhwen: Take some comfort in that if nothing else.
PapatymisonN: ... I have something to confess. Lithaladhwen: *spreads his hands wide* I am listening. A blind man can do little else.
PapatymisonN: ... Despite the "far stretches" of my actions... PapatymisonN: I ... didn't care about them at all, at the time. PapatymisonN: I just wanted to help my sister. Lithaladhwen: I understand. But no ill can come of following what your soul commands you to do. You wanted to help your
sister. You did it. But without intending to, you have done a great deal of good for everyone whose lives she has touched.
Lithaladhwen: Whether you anticipated or intended it or not... it was done.
Lithaladhwen: Do you see?
PapatymisonN: Not nearly as well as you. Lithaladhwen: *laugh* That is what they tell me.
PapatymisonN: But I do understand. Thank you, Sanjaya. PapatymisonN: ... how long are you staying? Just the day? Lithaladhwen: I do not know. Seems an awfully long distance for one day of visiting. There are many people to meet.
PapatymisonN: ... so where are you planning on staying? Lithaladhwen: If it is my fate to stay in a hotel like other Domans, I will do so. If it is my fate to be visiting with your sister for
too long, they may make room for me in her new home.
Lithaladhwen: God knows.
PapatymisonN: o.o Uh... Sanjaya... you are free to stay in my home as well. Lithaladhwen: I do not wish to wake you should I arrive late.
Lithaladhwen: I intend to grill your sister at least as thoroughly as I have you.
PapatymisonN: I would hope so. Lithaladhwen: After all, she is more my responsibility than her poor brother is.
Lithaladhwen: *smile*
PapatymisonN: That is true. And I'm not as woebegotten as I seem. Lithaladhwen: You seem fairly well-adjusted. You have a home here, wife who loves you and a new baby boy.
Lithaladhwen: We're all quite proud of you, and of your sister.
Lithaladhwen: *stands* So. If you do not object to my late hours, I may pay you a visit later this evening.
PapatymisonN: We'll be fine. Lithaladhwen: *nods and unfolds his cane again*
Lithaladhwen: Well, Cardinal. It has been a pleasure.
PapatymisonN: Indeed. It is good to see you again. Lithaladhwen: *With a little bow, Sanjaya uses his crazy blind-man powers to clear his way through the crowd and
presumably toward the Villa Pascha.*
Lithaladhwen: </Sanjaya>
