[OPEN] We’ll make a new plan.

[preferscuffs]

Who: Caitlyn & Others
What: Catch-All for arrival, TDM continuations, and probably Horizon things at some point?
Where:  Cadens/The Free Cities & Others to be Added via headers
When: Late November and December
Warnings: N/A, will update if needed but not expecting anything.

Comments

[preferscuffs]

Yes. I was quite fortunate that Jayce found me so quickly. I might have ended up joining the military here, when honestly I'm not sure that's the right path for me.

[It's not really luck, given that she's six feet tall and has dark blue hair. Caitlyn stands out quite a bit, so is notoriously easy to spot even in a crowd. Which works, especially since Jayce is even taller than she is. Which means if he hadn't seen her, she'd have spotted him just as easily.]

When I'm on a case, my own supplies tend to be just as bad if not worse. [There's slightly less bashfulness when he actually laughs, because apparently he can appreciate a joke even if it's a bit poor.] No, it's true. I've been told my sense of humor can be, peculiar.

[An acquired taste even, but she's not quite sure it's that bad.]

I will keep that in mind. Sometimes a bit of levity is exactly what you need to be able to see the entire situation clearer.

[And honestly, she's been known to enjoy terrible puns on occasion.]

[godshattering]

[ There's an eyebrow raised first at Jayce and then joining up with the military. Briefly, he wonders if it's because she has a background in it herself as well - something they'd have in common - but. Probably best to not get into his opinions of this particularly military and its leaders while sitting in the middle of a tavern, so he nods in response. ]

That's definitely fortunate in that case. Both for avoiding enlisting and for Jayce finding you since we're lucky to have both him and Viktor here.

[ A bit of fishing there to see if Viktor is someone else she knows, purely out of curiosity in being able to connect the invisible dots on relationships or the lack thereof. Nosiness without anything else behind it currently, and more so relief that there's two more than capable people to guide her around. Claude takes a pause for a sip of his own tea and as he sets the cup down he flashes another grin Caitlyn's direction. ]

Nothing wrong with a peculiar sense of humor at all, if you ask me. That means you've got one, and that's far better than having none whatsoever. Life's too short to not appreciate all jokes since it's good to have opportunities to laugh. As you said, any levity always helps.

[ And it's incredibly important for seeing things clearer just as she's said, or when those things get bleak. A thought he'd be inclined to voice out there if not for the tension all around Cadens now that'll make its importance apparent enough in time, and also because something else she's said has distracted Claude from that line of thought. ]

You mentioned something about being on a case. Are you a researcher as well, or in the same line of work as Jayce and Viktor?

[preferscuffs]

Yes, quite. [Caitlyn takes another sip of her tea before continuing.] I wasn't overly surprised to find out they're both here. It's been years now, but it's not unusual to find one if you've found the other.

[Said with fond amusement, though it's reminding her that she really shouldn't have been surprised about their relationship.]

Wise words. I take it you've seen your share of colourful experiences as well then.

[Fortunately (or not) Caitlyn is new enough to Cadens and unfamiliar enough to blunder her way through things with a certain amount of naivety and hopefully, good will.]

Oh no! Nothing of the sort actually. My family have been Jayce's patrons since I was young. While I used to assist him in the early days, I don't really have the aptitude for it that they do.

[Giving out all this nice information and for free even.]

I am- [A pause before she corrects herself with the slightest of winces.] I mean, I was an Enforcer. The cases would have been related to various crime rings and problems that Piltover's been struggling with. I'd hoped to be Sheriff one day, but now...

[Being on the council hasn't done Jayce any favors, so maybe going for a higher position isn't really for her either. Still, maybe a light getting to know you conversation isn't the place for such concerns. Apologetically, she offers him a small smile before taking a bite from her lunch.]

Sorry, things have been complicated back home recently. [Putting it lightly. So she starts over.] Enforcers are Piltover's Law Enforcement. Sworn to protect the heart of any city, it's people.

[And yet somehow things had gone so terribly wrong.]

[godshattering]

[ Caitlyn mentioning her family has been Jayce's patrons catches Claude's interest, if only because it sounds familiar to what patronage he knows of in terms of nobility in Fodlan. He hasn't yet - or at least not knowingly - met anyone from the same sort of system. Or rather, ostensibly on the same side of it, given that in another lifetime it would've been Claude's own house continuing to be patrons of this or that.

Something to ask about another time since as her explanation continues he takes a sip of tea here and there while nodding at the appropriate times, but the end brings a sympathetic smile. Or it's more like empathy, truthfully, since: ]

'Things have been complicated' has been the story of my life for the past few years, so no need to explain more there than you'd like to. Same goes for if you'd rather not explain it at all. But for some context: where I'm from recently had a long war end so things have been decisively up in the air for some time. They're starting to settle but there's more work to be done there yet.

Also, I say all of that not to interject my own history in there but more to say that those complications you have, whatever they are... there's always a way out of them. Things might be more resilient than they seem.

[ Which - is purely Claude speaking from his own experiences and there's been plenty of people he's met in Abraxas to suggest that optimism isn't always universal, or even true. Maybe better to focus on something else even if it's potentially also related. ]

The position you held of enforcer certainly sounds like an important one. A good way to be involved with people, too, if it's anything resembling what I know and that's also critical in times of upheaval.

[preferscuffs]

[There's a small feeling of relief then, because clearly he understands. Which is always nice. Also a new feeling, because understanding isn't exactly something she'd found among her supposed peers back in Piltover. Caitlyn's always been more of the eccentric, odd one out type. Not that she minds, because she's had Jayce, but it's still nice, if novel.]

No, I understand. While it sounds like you've been through some unfortunate circumstances, it means you can understand the sort of things I'm going through. Thank you for sharing.

[She'll be happy to provide him with all the intelligence he could want, in return for how useful he's being as a sounding board. One good turn deserves another.]

I'm afraid we're looking at the start of a war too if we're not careful and I'm not sure how to stop it. [A pause, a small frown.] Or if it even can be stopped.

[She sighs taking another sip of tea and then continuing, because honestly? It's nice to talk about this with someone who isn't Jayce for a change. Someone outside of it all.]

I gave up my position because it's always felt like command has been stonewalling me. The Leader of the Enforcers, it turned out he's been on the payroll of the head drug lord of the undercity and probably has been for a long time now.

[Cait places the cup down with a decisive click, sighing quietly. There's a lot on her mind. This is honestly one of first times she's had the opportunity to really sit down and piece together the recent events she's lived through.]

Now I know it wasn't all in my head and why. Though how much it matters now, I'm not sure. He's dead.

[A shake of her head, her expression pensive.]

The city's never been so unstable and now we have a power vacuum in the closest thing we have to a military.

[Caitlyn meets his eyes with a rueful smile.]

Honestly, I'm grateful to be here considering.

[godshattering]

[ Staring down a war sounds rather familiar, even if his was partially due to it being a surprise rather than blatantly coming. As he sets his tea down to lean both elbows against the tabletop instead, there's more explanation forthcoming about the state of things in her world. At the end of it, Claude considers what he's been told with a furrow in his brow that's not concern or disapproval, just simple concentration while he turns this information over. It's not a puzzle meant to be solved, not really - and not without being in Caitlyn's city, most likely - but it is the sort of conversation he enjoys between that ever present comparison of Fodlan and elsewhere and to what others tell him about their homes. ]

I've found that power often corrupts those who have it. For any number of reasons, though often the easier answer to that is because they want more more power and will do what they need to in order to get it even if it means allying with those they shouldn't. [ Now there's a bit of a wry smile on his end, because Claude's well aware there are those who would say some parts of this apply to him as well. They wouldn't necessarily be wrong. ] There were plenty of lords I knew who would stop at nothing to elevate themselves no matter the cost and with nothing else in mind, then there were others motivated by ideals they chased to their ends. But they had in common that very rarely did they focus on what would be best for everyone, and even those few who did still paid a high price for their dreams. Many of them in the latter position died in the war in the name of it.

I don't know that it's much consolation, but there are times a power vacuum can be useful if it means someone else can step in and change the course for the better. Even if there's plenty of time for things to go wrong, it doesn't mean they will. But I can't say I blame you for being glad about being here regardless.

[ This generates a smile closer to something without commiseration within it, something ever so slightly lighter than before. ]

If it helps, despite everything that's going on here? Those in power are still very much in power, so it seems rather unlikely either of us will be reliving those power shifts any time soon.

[preferscuffs]

That sounds like it's the case here. That power corrupts. But life's never quite black and white I'm finding. [A sip of tea.] He'd been a good man. A good father. He just made some choices that weren't so good.

[Honestly, she's a little worried for his poor daughter. She'd wanted Marcus to pay for what he'd done but not like this.]

Those in power often will do anything to keep that power, but if they can gain more... [Honestly, she's lucky that her mother seems content with the current position of their House. Though the fact that she's going to expect Caitlyn to follow in her shoes is still a thorn in her side. Politics has never been her goal or dream.] I see, it sounds like politics don't change very much even if the worlds themselves do.

[Is that reassuring? She can't quite tell.]

The problem with a power vacuum is finding someone to fill that void. That's what I'm concerned about. I'm not sure who's going to fill that position. Let alone how they might make the situation better, or maker forbid, worse.

[Not her clearly, she's not even an Enforcer anymore. She'd quite when they'd tried to bench her.

At his smile, she returns it, agreeing to switching their conversation to things less heavy and far more pleasant.]

We take our victories where we can get them, right?

[Some more tea and then a bite of her half forgotten food.]

So, unrest aside, how do you find life here in the Free Cities?

[godshattering]

[ That power corrupts and life's never quite black and white: both sentiments Claude can readily agree with. The latter being one that of course factors into everything since even that agreement comes with caveats, but that's also life more often than not, isn't it? Nothing ever seems to be as simple as it might look at first glance or first pass-through.

The same could almost be said for politics not changing between worlds. There are universal truths, Claude's found, that stretch from what he knows to worlds he'd never heard of before coming here, and then again into Abraxas where fate had determined he'd end up. Some of it's more familiar than others - a frequent refrain, he's also found - but when she returns his smile he simply nods slightly in reference to everything said. A heavy burden, to say the absolute least, and something which can't be easier to carry by now being brought to somewhere else unstable.

He understands that too well, too. ]

We certainly do. Even the small victories are worth it, such as when I finally figured out the best way to keep sand from ending up in my boots every time I walked outside. [ He's half-kidding in an attempt to keep things slightly more cordial than war they can't avoid, but also: there's possibly a serious warning about the desert's sands in there. ] I'll consider that a win any day of the week.

As for the Free Cities? I've rather enjoyed it here, all things considered. Cadens is a very busy town - busier than the ones I've been used to as of late - and there's plenty to explore. There's shops, markets, museums, libraries... it seems like more or less whatever you might want, there's either a way to find it here or there'll be someone who knows how to. It could definitely be worse, as I've heard it can be elsewhere.