[Papers, papers, papers... All part of the protocol to sort out even if she didn't like the Order right now they were agreed in crippling Krusnik's operations. It just so happened on this day she was nearing the end of the pile (yeah it took her almost a week, she paces herself dammit) when she took a short break to send an innocent text to her favorite scruffy Demon Hunter.]
hey how're things goi
o4iutr
[Then dropped her phone on the floor, inadvertently switching the voice function on. For a while there was just silence, sheer shock on her face at one of the names that appeared on their list of funding and subject sources.
--zen Corporation. Location: England, United Kingdom Name: Kinsley's Kids Home
No. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck...
Frantically as if she would find something to prove that was bullshit, she shuffled underneath the papers only to see the name come up. Again and again and again.
Among the subjects, that name. The Surname she used because she didn't have anything else. She found other kids, teens. She found unrelated people, she found Dante's name.
Whatever progress she made was spilled all over the floor in a mess of ashy papers and dust as she kicked away from her desk suddenly unable to breathe or stop shaking. She was muffled but still clearly horrified.]
You're... you're fuckin' pullin' one over on me... r-right? It can't...
[There was nothing else in her mind except for that, the proof was right the fuck there, she didn't even know she'd turned the voice on she just sat there, paralyzed.
Then she just got up and ran. Ran far the fuck away from it. Run from the truth she could not handle right now.
The fact that the people who took her in willingly gave money and children to those Monsters.
Whoever finds her be damned, she wasn't thinking she was running, potentially stopping somewhere just to catch what breath she could and sinking down against a wall.]
[ the message was concerning, confusing even, setting off a series of alarm bells that rang loud and persistent enough to stir him into action. something was wrong, and there are traces of tension from the whole situation still stubbornly clinging to the back of his mind that refuses to let him rest completely. what if she's in danger? eunie can talk care of herself sure, but dante knows better than most that there is always the chance of something stronger than you ever expected to land on your doorstep. ]
eunie? you okay?
[ he doesn't get a response, the voice function flicking on to the sounds of panicked breathing and shuffling through papers setting even more alarm bells ringing. he listens for something, anything, to get a better idea of the situation as she speaks, muffled and horrified but loud enough for dante to hear clear as day.
she'd been looking through the papers, hadn't she? all those reports and receipts and whatever else was buried away. she found something then, something big enough to ruffle her feathers big time. ]
Eunie!
[ he hears heavy footfalls, the sound of a door being all but thrown open, and he swears to himself. shit. dante moves without thinking, leaving the auguries and all but sprinting in the direction of her place. if she's running she could end up anywhere, he has to find her just in case.
call it dumb luck, but finding her is the easy part. maybe because she didn't really go that far, or because he caught a flash of white feathers poking up from a head of brown hair. the how really isn't important, because he's here now and he's lowering himself down in front of her, his much larger frame a veritable shield from the rest of the world. ]
Hey, you really freaked me out there. [ she isn't injured at least, from the looks of things. ] You okay?
[It's because she wasn't thinking. She didn't have an idea of a where to go, a where to run she just ran before eventually her anxiety caught up with her legs and she just fell. She didn't even consider someone would find her.
Probably a good thing it ended up being someone she knew, but him being straight in her view, albeit with a long delay of just her looking down at her weak and trembling hands, he'd see her normally sharp look gone and instead eyes full of horror and tears.]
Dante...
[She couldn't stop shaking, her eyes, her voice, her hands... each breath she took that made her forget what composure she could have had to specify anything.]
They were funding them... They've been funding Krusnik this whole time...
[Her voice caught in her throat.]
The people who took me in... the Kinsley family's been fucking giving kids and money to Krusnik...
[ he's taken aback for a second, eyes wide and surprise plastered right across his face, it lasts barely a second before his brow furrows and he reaches out to take hold of her trembling hands. he's never seen her like this, she's always been strong through the few shitty situations they've been put through in the last few months. to see her crumble? shit. ]
Hey, hey...
[ dante takes both of her hands into one of his, the other reaching out to cup the side of her face, to make sure she's looking at him rather than anywhere else right now. he can, at the very least, give her something solid and stable to latch onto. ]
So the people who took you in turned out to be a bunch of assholes? [ no wonder she's reacting this way, a revelation like that can't be anything short of a disaster. ] Shit, Eunie, I'm sorry. But it's over now, they've got no one to send money or kids to anymore. We've cut the head off the snake, the body is going to wither away and die.
[ but there is that threat, isn't there? the possibility that someone just as crazy and cruel as wiessman might step up and become the head. dante's frown grows as he breathes out, trying to smooth out his expression into something a little more calming. ]
[The hands taken did well to ground her, at least somewhat. Where she was seconds away from being unable to form a sentence or let any words out at all, any screams, even any sounds of sobbing, she could at least steady her shaking a little knowing where she was and who she was talking to instead of spiraling.
At least not completely. She of all people knew that one of the heads being cut off didn't account for every region.]
They've been in Europe for longer... I-I dunno how long or how much they got going... or if they're still bringin' kids they adopt in...
[The fear and despair intersected with her sheer anger.]
We didn't 'ave fuck all for money, I was sendin' parts of my pay to 'em... How fuckin' much of those kids did they just hand over... How...
[How close was she to ending up like Ash or Zero... maybe not even being that lucky... was she really just as screwed to be with some bastard organization no matter what she did?
Knowing the Queen Melia she admired was a lie was one thing... it was her past life, she didn't have to think about that... but this was her current life.
[ there isn't much he can do but be here, but be that solid foundation that she can use to steady herself. he tugs her in a little closer, resting a hand on the back of her head. it doesn't take much to get an idea of the thoughts whirling about her head, how close she had been to becoming like zero or jun or any of the others those assholes had grabbed over the years.
he can feel his blood boil as he thinks about it. ]
[No, there wasn't. But her not being alone mattered more than anything. Some place to let all of this out, lash out and just have her panic attack at this. She was scared, angry, crushed, spiraling in a pit of despair.
But at least she wasn't alone. She stood alone so many times, her life between families was never met with any siblings. She had no sense of what an actual family was and apparently less than she thought she did.
That thought just made her fall further. Or would if she didn't have someone to catch her, someone she was currently latched onto like she'd fucking drop into an endless void if she let go of him. All throughout this she just kept asking no one in particular:]
What the fuck am I supposed to do... [She knew the answer was nothing. She asked it anyway while she just kept shrinking into herself.
Her crying would settle after not too long, her grip on Dante released while she tried to remind herself to breathe.]
[ he does his best to ease her back from it, gently stroking her hair as she shakes and sobs and lets all of it out. all throughout dante does his best to soothe her, lets himself take that step in close enough to pull her into his orbit. it reminds him of lady, of the first few months after temen-ni-gru; they had leaned on each other heavily, especially during the nights, curled up in dante's bed as grief threatened to swallow them both up. he always had a feeling lady got over hers pretty quickly and chose to stay by his side, fingers running through his hair as the loss of vergil tore through him.
dante never thanked her with words but with little things over the course of their twenty year strong friendship.
he can't replace her, or trish, but he can't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, he's found people to fill the void. ]
If you ask me, [ dante leans back, tilting his head to shade his face with messy silver hair. ] Stop sending them money, cut all ties. Report it to whoever the hell you have to in order to make sure they pay for what they did.
I'm not giving them another pound or quid... only pounding they deserve is a fucking beatdown.
[Her tone was extremely weak much like her emotional state, but the fact the anger seeped in much more clear spoke volumes to how much better she could manage for now.]
Order's got me stuck... [Now she really had no where else to go. She truly was stuck with the Black Order.]
They're arseholes... but if they're gonna put a stop to this crap I don't mind relying on them for it. If not them... maybe Jusis.
[She wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, swearing under her breath. Fucking hell...]
[ anger is good─ well, sort of. anger means, at the very lest, that she's got some of her footing back, anger means she can breathe a little easier without the pressure of the revelation trying to wrap itself around her throat. he laughs a little, the sound somewhat strained, brushing back some of her ruffled hair as she mutters. ]
Yeah, they don't sound like the most upstanding guys from what I've been told. [ but what is that saying? better the devil that you know? ] If Jusis has proved himself a decent enough guy then lean on him, if not... well hate to break it to you, Eunie, but you've got me.
[ there is something almost painfully sincere in the way he talks, how he almost intentionally tries to hide the majority of his expression with the strategic tilt of his head. ]
Might not be from the Order, but when push comes to shove I'm a good guy to have in your corner.
There's a reason everyone's sus of us... [She'll admit that outright. If she didn't know her team, she'd be suspicious of them as well. Hell, she still was suspicious of some of them like Ayato or that Nacht prick.
She trusted Jusis. He was reliable. And knowing she had someone else to rely on... someone outside of the Order and their bullshit.
Maybe she didn't have to be as scared of them. She swallowed her anxiety down, taking a long but still shaky breath.]
I know. I... [A sigh. She can't bring herself to talk around this with a quip.] I know I got you if it comes down to it. Thanks... Dante.
'Course there is, I've heard things on the grape vein. But I'd rather make my judgments on the people rather than the shitty organization they're stuck in.
[ it didn't take much digging to hear a few things, the usual sort of rumors about a secretive organization that seems intent on keeping its skeletons firmly in the closet. people fear what they don't understand, it's human nature, and they sure as shit can't understand something like the order.
he offers her a smile, a genuine smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth, tucking some of her hair behind an ear. ]
No need to thank me, I'm always ready to help a woman as beautiful as you. [ dante, are you hitting on her? what are you doing sir? ]
Most of our team ain't arseholes, at least. [Not all, but most. Thinking about them and Dante's straightforwardness with her at least helped her smile a little herself. She didn't pull away from the gesture, his words though, well.
[ her reaction only brings a grin to his face, almost as though he expected it and is incredibly pleased by that reaction. he reaches up and pokes the very center of her forehead, an affectionate little poke. ]
There she is, was wondering when the Eunie I know would show back up. [ dante shifts, pushing himself back up until he's standing and holds a hand out to her. ] Feeling better?
If it'll get you to stop barking up the wrong tree, she woulda shown up sooner. [The LGBTree, that is.
Granted, she was exaggerating. Even her sass was a little dull but compared to how it was, she was back on the road to herself and took his hand to stand with him.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
about a week after everyone's saved; text/voice/action?
hey how're things goi
o4iutr
[Then dropped her phone on the floor, inadvertently switching the voice function on. For a while there was just silence, sheer shock on her face at one of the names that appeared on their list of funding and subject sources.
--zen Corporation. Location: England, United Kingdom Name: Kinsley's Kids Home
No. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck...
Frantically as if she would find something to prove that was bullshit, she shuffled underneath the papers only to see the name come up. Again and again and again.
Among the subjects, that name. The Surname she used because she didn't have anything else. She found other kids, teens. She found unrelated people, she found Dante's name.
Whatever progress she made was spilled all over the floor in a mess of ashy papers and dust as she kicked away from her desk suddenly unable to breathe or stop shaking. She was muffled but still clearly horrified.]
You're... you're fuckin' pullin' one over on me... r-right? It can't...
[There was nothing else in her mind except for that, the proof was right the fuck there, she didn't even know she'd turned the voice on she just sat there, paralyzed.
Then she just got up and ran. Ran far the fuck away from it. Run from the truth she could not handle right now.
The fact that the people who took her in willingly gave money and children to those Monsters.
Whoever finds her be damned, she wasn't thinking she was running, potentially stopping somewhere just to catch what breath she could and sinking down against a wall.]
Fuck... fucking hell... why...
no subject
eunie? you okay?
[ he doesn't get a response, the voice function flicking on to the sounds of panicked breathing and shuffling through papers setting even more alarm bells ringing. he listens for something, anything, to get a better idea of the situation as she speaks, muffled and horrified but loud enough for dante to hear clear as day.
she'd been looking through the papers, hadn't she? all those reports and receipts and whatever else was buried away. she found something then, something big enough to ruffle her feathers big time. ]
Eunie!
[ he hears heavy footfalls, the sound of a door being all but thrown open, and he swears to himself. shit. dante moves without thinking, leaving the auguries and all but sprinting in the direction of her place. if she's running she could end up anywhere, he has to find her just in case.
call it dumb luck, but finding her is the easy part. maybe because she didn't really go that far, or because he caught a flash of white feathers poking up from a head of brown hair. the how really isn't important, because he's here now and he's lowering himself down in front of her, his much larger frame a veritable shield from the rest of the world. ]
Hey, you really freaked me out there. [ she isn't injured at least, from the looks of things. ] You okay?
no subject
Probably a good thing it ended up being someone she knew, but him being straight in her view, albeit with a long delay of just her looking down at her weak and trembling hands, he'd see her normally sharp look gone and instead eyes full of horror and tears.]
Dante...
[She couldn't stop shaking, her eyes, her voice, her hands... each breath she took that made her forget what composure she could have had to specify anything.]
They were funding them... They've been funding Krusnik this whole time...
[Her voice caught in her throat.]
The people who took me in... the Kinsley family's been fucking giving kids and money to Krusnik...
no subject
Hey, hey...
[ dante takes both of her hands into one of his, the other reaching out to cup the side of her face, to make sure she's looking at him rather than anywhere else right now. he can, at the very least, give her something solid and stable to latch onto. ]
So the people who took you in turned out to be a bunch of assholes? [ no wonder she's reacting this way, a revelation like that can't be anything short of a disaster. ] Shit, Eunie, I'm sorry. But it's over now, they've got no one to send money or kids to anymore. We've cut the head off the snake, the body is going to wither away and die.
[ but there is that threat, isn't there? the possibility that someone just as crazy and cruel as wiessman might step up and become the head. dante's frown grows as he breathes out, trying to smooth out his expression into something a little more calming. ]
no subject
At least not completely. She of all people knew that one of the heads being cut off didn't account for every region.]
They've been in Europe for longer... I-I dunno how long or how much they got going... or if they're still bringin' kids they adopt in...
[The fear and despair intersected with her sheer anger.]
We didn't 'ave fuck all for money, I was sendin' parts of my pay to 'em... How fuckin' much of those kids did they just hand over... How...
[How close was she to ending up like Ash or Zero... maybe not even being that lucky... was she really just as screwed to be with some bastard organization no matter what she did?
Knowing the Queen Melia she admired was a lie was one thing... it was her past life, she didn't have to think about that... but this was her current life.
What the fuck was she supposed to do?]
Fuck...
no subject
he can feel his blood boil as he thinks about it. ]
You didn't know, you didn't know.
no subject
But at least she wasn't alone. She stood alone so many times, her life between families was never met with any siblings. She had no sense of what an actual family was and apparently less than she thought she did.
That thought just made her fall further. Or would if she didn't have someone to catch her, someone she was currently latched onto like she'd fucking drop into an endless void if she let go of him. All throughout this she just kept asking no one in particular:]
What the fuck am I supposed to do... [She knew the answer was nothing. She asked it anyway while she just kept shrinking into herself.
Her crying would settle after not too long, her grip on Dante released while she tried to remind herself to breathe.]
... Fuckin 'ell...
no subject
dante never thanked her with words but with little things over the course of their twenty year strong friendship.
he can't replace her, or trish, but he can't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, he's found people to fill the void. ]
If you ask me, [ dante leans back, tilting his head to shade his face with messy silver hair. ] Stop sending them money, cut all ties. Report it to whoever the hell you have to in order to make sure they pay for what they did.
no subject
[Her tone was extremely weak much like her emotional state, but the fact the anger seeped in much more clear spoke volumes to how much better she could manage for now.]
Order's got me stuck... [Now she really had no where else to go. She truly was stuck with the Black Order.]
They're arseholes... but if they're gonna put a stop to this crap I don't mind relying on them for it. If not them... maybe Jusis.
[She wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, swearing under her breath. Fucking hell...]
no subject
Yeah, they don't sound like the most upstanding guys from what I've been told. [ but what is that saying? better the devil that you know? ] If Jusis has proved himself a decent enough guy then lean on him, if not... well hate to break it to you, Eunie, but you've got me.
[ there is something almost painfully sincere in the way he talks, how he almost intentionally tries to hide the majority of his expression with the strategic tilt of his head. ]
Might not be from the Order, but when push comes to shove I'm a good guy to have in your corner.
no subject
She trusted Jusis. He was reliable. And knowing she had someone else to rely on... someone outside of the Order and their bullshit.
Maybe she didn't have to be as scared of them. She swallowed her anxiety down, taking a long but still shaky breath.]
I know. I... [A sigh. She can't bring herself to talk around this with a quip.] I know I got you if it comes down to it. Thanks... Dante.
no subject
[ it didn't take much digging to hear a few things, the usual sort of rumors about a secretive organization that seems intent on keeping its skeletons firmly in the closet. people fear what they don't understand, it's human nature, and they sure as shit can't understand something like the order.
he offers her a smile, a genuine smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth, tucking some of her hair behind an ear. ]
No need to thank me, I'm always ready to help a woman as beautiful as you. [ dante, are you hitting on her? what are you doing sir? ]
no subject
The tip of her feeling a little better was this.]
Pfft. Gross.
no subject
There she is, was wondering when the Eunie I know would show back up. [ dante shifts, pushing himself back up until he's standing and holds a hand out to her. ] Feeling better?
no subject
Granted, she was exaggerating. Even her sass was a little dull but compared to how it was, she was back on the road to herself and took his hand to stand with him.]
... I think so. Thanks again.