behavioural | saltburnmods

( what an absolute ally you are turning out to be, alina, even though he still doesn't know who tf you are. )

the doctors can only save one life each
we currently know of three
strategically speaking, they may choose to save both of us
or they will only pick one of us and ensure each others' safety instead
or in a truly fuckin stupid move, they might be swayed by their own emotions and save someone who has no known role
i don't intend to die, but i wouldn't hedge my bets on the rationale of some of the people here

( because there are some real fuckin' peas for brains residing in this manor. )

I've lost faith in them to do anything but protect their own. I'd like to think I'm above it, but I'm not so sure anymore. I'm as selfish as the rest of them.

( but pierce isn't here to be the receptacle of her guilt or her shame, and trying it feels ill-advised, with pierce's everything — like tickling a snake's fangs, and expecting it to have sympathy for your soft skin, instead of biting down. )

You'll understand if a person's words doesn't mean much to me, lately. I can't promise I'll believe you, even if you swear it to me. But perhaps we might be able to agree to help each other, if the other dies while one still lives.

( she is speaking to someone who is inherently selfish to his core. he won't sympathize with her, but he won't judge her for it either. )

i won't make you any promises since i have my own plans

( after all, he has already struck a deal and a strickland never goes back on his word. )

but i'm sure you aren't only coming to me with a proposition
do you know any of the doctors well?

( unrepentant honesty. imagine that. )

Your honesty is a refreshing change.

( +1 approval points. it keeps her hope tame, restricted to bare embers, rather than uselessly fed. thus, for the sake of the same point-blank honesty, with all of the grim curtness of firing a bullet: )

Yes. The fourth one you've forgotten to count.
The dead one.
I doubt any of the others want to deal with a girl whose been targeted twice, unless they don't value their lives much.

( no reason to lie when there is nothing for him to gain from it. )

i didn't forget him
he's just no longer part of the equation

( atreides' death has made him obsolete this round. )

their lives are at risk, no matter what they do now
if i were you, i would aim for bella
sweet girl
easy to manipulate

( out of the equation, like a tally on a board wiped clean. alina's teeth clench together so strongly she fears snapping a tooth. )

For now.

( as though there were any doubt of alina's choice, which only leaves the question of pierce's own. but for the moment: )

You don't want to have her protection for yourself?

i have my own plans ( like he said. )

A skeleton would be less cryptic, Pierce Strickland.

( bone-dry sarcasm, rather than any actual chiding, for a man she assumes to mind his own neck enough not to interfere in alina's affairs. his business is her own, much as alina's is her own. )

I've made my choice on who to return.
I've suggestions on who you might consider, yourself, if you would do me the respect of hearing them.

sure, i'm listening ( cryptic and succinct, too. )

Baela has a role that might aid us in finding the other wolves.
Though her father is eager to get himself killed, from what I hear.
I'm not sure you want to get yourself entangled in that mess, as just as Baela's character has proven to be.

( rest in peace, daemon. she couldn't tell you from pierce if she tried. )

If not her, Erik Lehnsherr is the strongest of the dead.
He's openly powerful, and I know firsthand he protects his own. Gifted people, like you. Like me.
I trust him. He's someone you would want on your side, as an ally.

There's also the matter of his killer. Any information he has could prove helpful to finding another of the wolves.

From what I can tell, no one has come close to any clues of who might've done this to him, other than the obvious. Too weak to have taken him out personally, I'd wager. It was clever, and cowardly, to use poison.

( he already resurrected a targaryen and all he got for it was this t-shirt, so even if baela was a viable choice, he wouldn't pick her. he only aims to revive those from the green team now, which leaves erik lehnsherr, grace le domas and parisa kamali as his only options.

so, he isn't opposed to bringing lehnsherr back. out of the three, his death remains the one with the most holes to fill. it's a strategic choice. even if starkov hadn't suggested him, pierce most likely would have chosen him over the other two. )

i'll bring back lehnsherr ( it has been decided. )

( a breath loosens, rattling in her lungs. not quite relief, constricted as her chest is with guilt — for ignoring the selfish desire to return parisa, the compassionate mercy to heal grace's brutalized body — but a distant cousin. )

I never thought I would have to thank someone for having sense.
But thank you. I'll remember it.

first time i'm being thank for having sense
but i'll accept it

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