as above, so alone

SUNJATA

she bought the last line, i'm just the worst kind
of guy to argue with what you might find

She doesn’t prod, and for that Sunjata releases a soft sigh of relief – hidden by the mask worn. And he’s attentive when she offers her own opinion, lingering on the way she says she doesn’t entirely know which way it could go. It could be both, for all they know, and Sunjata despite being the Arbiter’s son, knows very little in the goings on for what occurred at the construction. So he nods in his understanding, the lockdown itself being its own unhelpful nightmare.

“The Platers aren’t happy either from what I can tell.” He offers, shrugging and turning to mimic Ira in a sense, arms folding across his chest as he casts a glance back toward the construction before focusing on her and turning his back toward the gathering there at the base of the supports for the new Plate. “Think it was in the hope the culprit wouldn’t leave, whether it’s here or up top. Of course, the enforcement really only applies down here, which is its own special type of stupid.” Beneath the fabric of the mask, there’s the slight outline of a frown, and Sunjata shakes his head, before reaching up to scratch at his shoulder where it connects to his neck idly. “I think it’s a whole lot of ‘we don’t have anyone yet, but we gotta look strong’ bullshit.” He’s talking too much, he thinks, but he can’t help but to explain his own thoughts on it, especially to those of a similar mindset.

It's a rare occurrence for the Bratena youth.

and for the last night i lie
could i lie with you?

ira

The comment about the Platers not being happy about it either has her huff and roll her eyes, even if she can see the use of the habitants of the Plates eventually being fed up as well and starting to put pressure on their leaders. But still, she refuse to believe they are struggling anywhere near the way the Drenchers are. "From what I saw visiting up there, they still seem to be doing fine in comparison." She mutters and doesn't hold back the spite dripping from her words.

She looks away from the gathering once more when Sunjata turns his back to them and she watches him as he speaks. Another dry laugh leaves her and she shakes her head. "Not having anyone after all this time just makes them look fucking incompetent, even if I don't mind them not having imprisoned any Drenchers for it yet." She leans her head back against the wall with another short huff through her nose. "Just makes it seem more like they did it. That they haven't found anyone because there's no one to find, you know?" It still just brings the question back to why they would have done it to their own construction.

Though perhaps she could gain answers to some questions that pops up in her mind. "You mentioned wanting to take a look, learn what's going on. How are you even planning on doing that? Can't really see anything of interest from over here and you'd probably run into trigger happy Enforcers if you go too close." She nods towards the site, then looks back to him with an eyebrow raised, still not really expecting him to share much even if he had a master plan in mind.

SUNJATA

she bought the last line, i'm just the worst kind
of guy to argue with what you might find

“Oh they are.” Sunjata’s quick to say. They didn’t suffer like the Drencher’s did. Their displeasure came from their lives being impacted from not getting the imports they wanted and having to deal with what they had and the fruits of whatever this swampy, saints forsaken land gifted them. Which, wasn’t a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, and Sunjata wonders briefly if his father knew that when deciding that a lockdown was to be put in place.

He listens to her reasoning and can’t help the snort that slips from his lips as he nods. “Yeah, agreed.” The Platers have certainly fucked it up without realizing it, and if only he could get his fingers a little deeper into the Drench situation, he might be able to actually spark the thing the Platers feared the most. Maybe he could actually make a difference in it.

But these are all thoughts he keeps close to his chest, shaking his head as Ira asks him if he wants to see closer. “This is as close as I’m getting. Really don’t want to go near the Enforcers.” He casts a glance over his shoulder back toward it. “Just wanted to see what they were doing, don’t need to see any further in.”

and for the last night i lie
could i lie with you?

ira

He makes it sound like a clear fact that the Platers are doing just fine, and in a way, one could treat it as true fact even without being up there to have a look around. The Platers always did better than the Drenchers in any situation it seems, unless when they come down into the dark.

She had just hoped they would be suffering a bit more than what they are currently doing. Not that she is one to really wish harm on others, but when it comes to this, she can easily turn bitter and more spiteful.

With a quiet hum, she nods in agreement to his decision to not wanting to get any closer. "Smart choice." She mumbles and looks over towards a couple of Enforcers walking along the borders of the closed off site. "Well, from what I can see... Some people are moving about, otherwise nothing seems to be going on really. Which seems to be the whole theme of this damn mess. Nothing's happening."

It's not like she wants another attack to happen anywhere. What she does want is for the lockdown to be lifted, the flow of things to return so work could get busy and interesting again and people finding something new to drunkenly complain about. "Maybe this is just the new normal for a while. Things apparently got fucked up for us after the last riots and now things are more fucked after this attempt." She makes an annoyed gesture at the construction site. "Until someone decides something again. Hey, maybe third time's the charm and all that."

SUNJATA

she bought the last line, i'm just the worst kind
of guy to argue with what you might find

It is a smart choice, for any of the Drenchers of course, but for Sunjata especially. He doesn’t delve into any reasoning, however, knowing that the bounty for his disappearance and any clues to it did hold a heavy bounty, even if they hadn’t been put up yet. Sunjata realizes that Shaju would likely do his best to try and get any information to wherever he’s gone, as soon as he doesn’t show up like he’s supposed to in Garanenz.

“Yeah, it’s… Pretty stupid.” He agrees, exhaling a sigh through the mask that covers his face but he remains with his back to the gathering at the Plate bombing, as if the two of them are in conversation that are wholly unrelated to the event there. But he listens as she speaks of the previous attempts at relieving the Drench of the worst of the worst, and Sunjata hums a quiet note. “I think in order for it to work it’d need more people and more… Security, I suppose.” Keeping things quiet until it was for sure that nothing could go wrong.

Something Sunjata has spent months trying to do.

and for the last night i lie
could i lie with you?

ira

"I suppose so..." She mumbles in a more hesitant, absent manner. The topic starts to drift towards what seems to be talk about what can be done next time, and she wants to get tangled up in that as little as possible. "Just wish it could be solved somehow without needing yet another attack, you know... Maybe that's impossible. Just don't wanna be anywhere near if a war breaks out in the streets." She continues in a quieter voice and stares ahead.

She wants a change for the better. She doesn't want to keep living under the boot of the Plates and the noble houses, but the thought of a big proper rebellion being needed scares her as well. She just wants herself and people dear to her safe. Wants to live her life in piece and get by from one day to the next and she has managed that fairly well so far despite the conditions of the Drench.

A quiet sigh leaves her and she closes her eyes for a few seconds, rubbing a hand over her face. "Wouldn't surprise me though if some people soon get fed up for real over the lockdown and tried something again without thinking... And we'll wake up to be served bullets for breakfast as a response." She works her jaws slowly and opens her eyes again.

"Tension's already risen some with people thinking the Plates flushed this new plague down here to keep us in check." The conspiracy theories just seem to replace one another on a daily basis whenever she had been outside lately.

SUNJATA

she bought the last line, i'm just the worst kind
of guy to argue with what you might find

A low rumble leaves Sunjata in his agreement with Ira. He hopes it could be solved with as little damage to the Drench as could be — but he’s from the Plates. He knows what they’re capable of. He knows that there’s the possibility of the Plates coming down even harder than previously. And that’s precisely why he’s been keeping the locations of important spots up there that harbor the weaponry they’d use.

The Drench outnumber the Plates. It’s only their technology and weapons that keep them locked into their place like cattle. A fact that Sunjata loathes.

His brows pinch and he looks back at Ira in confusion over that particular conspiracy. “I think if that were the case then the Plates wouldn’t be affected.” But last he’s heard, given he hasn’t been back since before, is that even their doctors were running rampant trying to solve the crux of the issue. “I think the plague is just an awful coincidence.”

and for the last night i lie
could i lie with you?

ira

She doesn't know fully what force the Plates can put against the Drench should push come to shove, but she feels she can safely suspect it is a lot. Numbers might not even matter much in most scenarios. However, she tries to push all those thoughts away from her mind, not even wanting to think about the how of it. She could keep hoping for a peaceful solution and expect something to blow again sooner or later.

Glancing back towards Sunjata, she gives him a small shrug in response. "Oh, probably not, but it doesn't stop people from pointing fingers. We just love to blame each other for anything that goes wrong either up there or down here."

It's not as if she is innocent when it comes to that, having done plenty of blaming the Plates for one thing or the other. And in her mind, they are of course the right ones to be blamed for a lot of things. "I'd like to say that maybe it'll make us work together on something, but eh... Can't say I'm very interested in working with Platers on anything. Just want to be left alone by them, really."

She lets out a sigh and shrugs again, making a pause to take a few breaths and clear her throat, as she is doing way more talking at the moment than what she's used to. "But, whatever makes it a bit easier for us, I guess."

SUNJATA

she bought the last line, i'm just the worst kind
of guy to argue with what you might find

“It does end up being a stand-off, huh?” Sunjata murmurs, shaking his head again before he slips his hands into his pockets. He listens as she tells him she isn’t interested in working with the Plates on anything and he can’t blame her. Even if he were a Plater hidden amongst the wolves of the Drench.

So far he’s been doing alright with keeping his head down. “I guess it depends on whether it’s a temporary or permanent fix everyone wants here.” He pauses trying to figure out his next words. A bandaid for the problem wouldn’t help out in the long run and they’d be stuck just like this. It wouldn’t fix anything of note. In order to do more, though, there’d have to be a more difficult means of getting through for permanent change.

He thinks that despite the long road it might be, it would be worth it.

and for the last night i lie
could i lie with you?

ira

With a quiet hum in agreement, she leans her head back against the wall again with her eyes closed, and she's starting to feel the weariness of being up and about with the illness still in her weighing down on her. And she still has to somehow manage to make it back through the Drench, because there's no way she's making a stop at her own apartment.

It's probably good that she doesn't know he is from the Plates. Even more so not knowing who he actually is. Even after this more or less friendly mannered conversation, it's more or less a given that she will be quick to bristle should she learn the truth. She does have a hard time keeping an open mind when it comes to certain things.

Without opening her eyes, she gives him yet another shrug before responding in a bit of a tired voice. "Guess permanent would be nice, but I'd take a temporary solution if it meant just getting a break." A small huff leaves her before a heavy sigh. "Or just lift the lockdown so we can at least go back to living our lives like a year ago. One can at least dream."