ic contact

[14thcommander]

It's Hange, Hange, Hange! Were you looking for me? I'll get back to you posthaste. Or when it's convenient.

[ communicator & actionspam it's all good ]

Comments

[angelofthenight]

[Something about that feels directed at Demona herself. If the gargoyle would allow for some self-reflection she might be able to see why.

But she won't.]

Oh? And what is it you see now?

[14thcommander]

More nuance!

[it's not really entirely intended to be directed towards Demona, although if Demona took something from it, Hange would be quietly pleased to have guessed correctly.]

I changed a lot after that. You didn't meet me at seventeen or twenty-five... it took lots of work... it's hard to do, reinventing yourself...

[angelofthenight]

[There's a long, pensive silence.]

You sound like Goliath...

But he is wrong and so are you.

[14thcommander]

Hmhmhm.

[a swallowed chuckle.]

What was Goliath after?

[angelofthenight]

Oh...

[She waves her hand in vague circles.]

Peace and prosperity between humans and gargoyle, probably.

[14thcommander]

Sounds like a gentleman after my own heart!

[angelofthenight]

[Oh, but that does cause a flash of red to shine in Demona's eyes.]

You and your heart can stay well away from him.

[14thcommander]

[It's perhaps not the best idea, but Hange can't help letting out a short chuckle.]

Have you not heard the phrase before? He's not even here, is he?

[angelofthenight]

I... Ugh. Yes, now that you mention it.

[Well, she's really embarrassed herself now.]

No. He is not. If I am lucky, he never will be. Forget I said anything about it.

[14thcommander]

Complicated situation, huh?

[Of course Hange is curious, but 1) she's not Demona's warden 2) there's time 3) she can easily picture the other woman storming off in a snit if pressed improperly.]

Anyway. That thirteen-year-old is still with me, I hope... and I accomplished what she wanted to do, if not in the way she pictured. She'd probably think I'd lost it if I described my approach, but it worked, Demona.

[angelofthenight]

You don't know the half of it.

[Hange rightly guesses Demona isn't in a sharing mood.]

But how did it work?

[14thcommander]

Well, I started observing titans really closely. They're what I spent most of my time studying... I tried to talk to them and be kind to them... so many people hated them over the years and it didn't lead them to any solutions. I thought, well, people will think I'm insane, but this is how I want to do it and how I prefer it! And when I softened, I could watch them more closely. I could still kill them, don't mistake me, but I moved towards designing weaponry and strategy to counter how they actually behaved, not how I thought they'd behave when I just looked at them and hated them and didn't think any deeper about it...

[angelofthenight]

[Talk to them? She balks at the idea, at first, but as Hange continues, she starts to see the wisdom behind it.]

Of course! Know thy enemy. I'm can't believe you were the first to have come up with that idea.

[14thcommander]

They never spoke back to me. As a rule they don't... speak. They are insentient. I'll show you sometime if you really want.

Most people never came close to them. Most people stayed as far away as possible. I think there was a population-wide effort not to think of it, and them, and how entrapped we were, how fragile our existence.

[angelofthenight]

Oh. I see.

[Typical weak humans, not willing to face the horrors before them. But then that makes Hange the exception to the rule...]

Show me how?

[14thcommander]

In the Enclosure. You can see them... out in the wild, as it were.

[Probably it would be a lot to show Demona her experimental grounds with captive titans.]

[angelofthenight]

It could be interesting. When might you be free?

[Demona wouldn't be particularly disturbed by that.]

[14thcommander]

[It's most of all that titans can't be treated kindly and restrained at the same time. They're bound in frames, or nailed to the ground, or both. Hange would not want Demona to see that; she'd rather prevent even the whisper of a thought from entering the woman's head, Hange would do this to me.]

Uh. I don't have a schedule. We can pick a day and time!

[Since this is before the Admiral demands everyone take a job, lol.]

[angelofthenight]

I'll call you then when I have an evening free from library duties.

[14thcommander]

Can you give me twenty-four hours advanced notice? I'll need some prep time.

[angelofthenight]

What is there to prep? It's the Enclosure, isn't it?

[14thcommander]

Myself.

[angelofthenight]

Is it truly that traumatic for you?

[14thcommander]

Not really? I check my gear, I get ready... I do have a certain state of mind I prefer to be in, I guess. You know.

[angelofthenight]

Oh. In that case, I will be sure to give you forewarning.

[This is what she gets for assuming.]

You will have to show me this gear you use.