GODLY AUDIENCES - ZOE MURPHY

[divus]

Comments

[divus]

It is when he threatened her first, Zoe. Bottom line. And you know what? She didn't put out a hit on him, so that should also say something.

[There's a low chuckle then.] Love is too soft, but she can be pretty petty, too. Don't think otherwise.

[requiemed]

Uh, no, if they both threatened each other than it just means they're both jerks at the very least. It doesn't mean she was right.

[She crosses her arms.]

I'd never even mentioned anything about defecting to her, and she told me she would understand if I did. So I'm going to stand by what I said, and she's not soft.

[divus]

I'm not spelling this out for you, but you need to open your eyes and realize there's a hell of a lot more going on here than what you're just seeing.

[requiemed]

Right. I’m so wrong, but you’re not going to bother to tell me any details about how or why. Really convincing.

[divus]

You're not asking the right questions first of all. Hasn't anybody explained to you that we can't just hand out free answers and details?

[requiemed]

Yeah, obviously they have, but not everyone is a purposefully cryptic jerk.

[A frustrated sigh.]

Here’s a question. Why do you dislike Love so much?

[divus]

...[Well.] What do you know about Love, Zoe? Not the concept, the god herself. Do you know how old she is? What she was like?

[requiemed]

I do, yeah.

[But she doesn’t elaborate on it.]

Why?

[divus]

Her ideals aren't the worst, but I don't think they're, you know, realistic. Not the way she wants it done. What would you do if a god promised you a world that they couldn't live up to?

[...] If she thought about it, maybe it could work. But right now she's in the lead for something she hasn't earned on her own yet.

[requiemed]

[She doesn’t look like she agrees with that much, but more importantly:]

Something she hasn’t earned on her own yet? What do you mean?

[divus]

She's not really a leader. She's always played support, and suddenly she's got a good chance of being head of pantheon. What do you think is going to happen? [This actually doesn't sound as cruel as it should. It's a serious question.]

[requiemed]

[It’d be a lie to see she doesn’t see the logic in that, but...]

And I guess you’re going to follow up with how you have so much more leadership experience than she does.

[divus]

I have more experience being a god than she does, at least.

[requiemed]

And you think just that makes you capable?

[divus]

Uh, no? But it helps. Take into account the part where I've been living on my own and training since I was a kid, I've run my own armies and alliances and the part where I was working on already restructuring a different world? I think that counts.

It's not about ideals, it's about what you're gonna do with those and the actions you take. What actions has she taken yet? Have you asked her?

[requiemed]

She’s been trying to convince people not to kill each other. What have you been doing?

[divus]

Making deals to make sure some people don't die. [SO THERE.]

[requiemed]

[She gives a small pause of surprise, but it’s genuine when she speaks.]

Good. [...] Do those deals endanger anyone else?

[divus]

...not if the people who made those deals act in the way I think they will.

[requiemed]

[The pause she gives is shorter this time.]

Okay. Then... Thank you.

[divus]

Sure. [...] Look, I get it. Death sucks. Just because I agreed to allowing it as a clause doesn't mean I don't get that.

[requiemed]

Yeah, well... If you think of anything I could do to help the 'nobody dies' cause, you can count me in.

[divus]

Without getting into details, I made a deal with somebody that they could protect somebody else with a price attached. You can start by making sure that person that's being protected doesn't die.

[requiemed]

Okay... Can you tell me who that person is?

[divus]

Nope. But it should be pretty obvious...some people are more fiercely protective of what's theirs than others.