𝑌𝑂𝑈 𝐻𝐴𝑉𝐸 𝑇𝑂 𝐹𝐸𝐸𝐿 𝐴𝐿𝐼𝑉𝐸. ||

... [aw, man. she's turning bright red, and fast.]
i -

[uuuuu]

i mean - i meant -

[ sigh. just handing her the measure.]

what, are you measuring on a regular basis?

... how do you - nevermind. [fetching it...]

... what, you wanna measure it or something-? [clueless.]

[sigh. back to what she was up to.]

[ ... GIRL SHE HAS SO MANY THINGS, WORRY ABOUT YOUR HEALTH FIRST ]

can't be. that'd be cruel to you, at that point.

[ ... creaking the door open.]

[is a reduction surgery in order or something-]

has to be the prior. there's no way.

‎
ㅤ 𝖯𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾.

... 𝖲𝗂𝗀𝗁. "𝖨𝗌 𝗂𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀?" 𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗎𝖼𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗋𝖽 𝗈𝗇𝖾...
‎

... what's that mean.

[letting it fall back to her side after.] do you normally go poking people when you're bored?

What does she do with it..?

Well... Yes, obviously, I have the Lightning.
[Raising a hand. It fades from her shoulders and opposite knuckles, before consolidating around the raised palm. Quick, snappy zaps in beige between the fingertips and extended digits.]

... Someone else having this is-... Horrifying to think about.
➕

[confirmation that Cass wasn't keenly aware of who Alastor was and where she'd been brought relief to the wall of her anxiety like a sledgehammer. The hoarse breath turns into a wind of releasing pressure.] Okay. Okay. Oh, fuck, I felt like I was gonna cry.

[Deep breath. Collect yourself, now.]
➕

family? No, they hadn't tried to contact her at all ever since...]

just came up and fucking grabbed me...

[she turns to face Cass a bit more forwardly now. her guard's not down, but it seems to be lowering, judging by how she isn't pointed straight at an escape route.] Who is she to you..? [How much did this 'other' Alastor tell Cass? Is this a trick from her
➕

[ ... ]

[there's a beat, as Templar appears, that it's like she froze solid. silent, still, staring. it doesn't take forever, though, for a hoarse breath to crack out of her chest. a little bit of pressure's taken out of her core now...]
... that's two people i know who said that. the other one
➕

‎
ㅤ 𝖶𝗈𝗋𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗐𝖺𝗒 𝗈𝗇 𝖺 𝗇𝖾𝗐 𝗍𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗄. 𝖬𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝖻𝖾 𝗎𝗇𝖺𝗏𝖺𝗂𝗅𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺 𝖿𝖾𝗐 𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌, 𝗎𝗇𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗐 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗉𝗁𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗎𝗉.
‎

[why is everyone reacting so weirdly to her name lately..?]
[offering a hand.] pleasure. I hope.

most evident in her hands and shoulders, seemingly indicative of a defensive response.
... the Alastor Cass knew went straight to a violent, offensive one the time she'd scuffled with Templar, with the Scarlet energy encasing her forearm. interesting.]

... that's my name. [it's a good thing Cass only knows her by that - had her real name been said, she might have gone from trying to restrain her fight-or-flight response straight to obeying it in an electric deluge.] and who... are you? how - how do you know me? [spark, spark - the voltage is
➕

i didn't-... who told-...
[thin voltage is zipping up from the nails to the knuckles. it's... colored beige - not the same red Cass is familiar with at all.]

[she looks like she's bristling. there's a token difference in her and the Alastor Cass knows, though - when this one puts on an angry look, it's still plenty obvious that she's afraid more than she is aggravated. the way her brow twitches, the way her pupils dilate, the way her fingers jitter.]
➕

a brave face.]

[Alastor expected herself to be here as little as Ashley did. A couple nights before, they'd talked about it, but Alastor was difficult to convince...]

[She's trembling in the steps as she's coming out, clutching the towel tight. Poor girl looks like she could blow away if she weren't putting on
➕

'Kay. Well, I'm Alastor.

‎
ㅤ "𝖠𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋. 𝖡𝖺𝗋𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖺 𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝖿𝖾 𝖽𝗈𝗐𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝗅𝗈𝖼𝗄."

... 𝖧𝗎𝗁. 𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗍'𝗌 𝗐𝖾𝗂𝗋𝖽. 𝖲𝗎𝗋𝖾𝗅𝗒 𝗇𝗈𝗍, 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍? 𝖡𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝖺𝗆𝖾 𝗉𝗎𝗉𝗂𝗅𝗌.
‎

If you stop poking me, maybe.