[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]true... he did ask what she wanted.

it was the wrong girl, however, and she brushed it aside.

now, the other girl is merely at a crossroads: simply ask or pry. it's difficult to decide which one to choose but... perhaps the choice has already been made for her.

a soft sigh escapes beneath her breath and she's turning away from his walls before she can think otherwise. the cat's already out of the bag, right?

"busy is endlessly typing away at a computer?" her nose wrinkles at the thought.

and when she drifts closer, whatever frustration she has is shoved down. it's snuffed out, left to die in simmering ashes beneath her skin. indifference rises instead, clamoring onto pale skin with sharp nails.

"information," she murmurs. her stare is a mixture between expectant and bored, as if he should know this. why else would she be here?

"a little birdie told me your parents are gone," a pause, a consideration, and then the slight narrowing of honey. "so unfortunately for both of us, you're my only hope."

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]"i will."

a lie meets a lie. it's of no consequence to her regardless.

he has been useful and now, he's nothing.

"thank you," her head dips in what little gratitude she wants to offer a silph. and then, she's a flourish of blonde, black, and gold as she turns to abandon him in his kitchen.

the door shuts quietly behind her retreating frame.

MATIAS SILPH

[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]so much for any possible plans she had.

he effectively scraps all of them with a single keystroke. irritating, really. and while she doesn't want to let it get to her, she's still bitter and angry and being ignored is something that burrows beneath her skin.

"he already was," she retorts.

matias had given her insight, sure, but there's things he couldn't provide. and now, she's knocking on the golden child's door like a beggar searching for spare change.

her parents would kill her on the spot.

"unfortunately, there was only so much he could answer and i was sent here." and maybe it would have been easier to just say she's stormy's sister.

or maybe he'd scoff and turn her away at the door. either way, she's here and one second away from breaking that keyboard.

control, lydia, control.

"now will you answer my questions or should i try a different method?"

with matias, she didn't need to get her hands dirty. with fernando? she just might.

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]ah, so that gets his attention.

the name is foreign to what she knows. and briefly, she wonders if that's stormy's given name. back before she was a silph, back when she was still lydia's and there wasn't this void instead.

she jots it down on a sticky note and sticks it to the board in her mind, red strings connecting things left unsolved. unfortunately, the whole board is bloody.

and while she wants to demand that he look up, she doesn't stoop to that level quite yet.

no, she doesn't need to. her encounter with another silph has given her enough insight to dig claws in, to pry into tense relationships that she has no business in.

"MATIAS SILPH was more helpful than you're being," she backs off, then, and wanders away from the desk to inspect the walls.

and without much thought behind it, she's calling to him over her shoulder.

"and it's lydia."

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]the incessant click of keys echoes in her ears like a heartbeat. steady until it's frantic and she's swallowing down irritation.

the inner child wants to scream, beg, fight. look at me. notice me. please.

she swallows that, too.

settling on a new tactic, she approaches with the sharp click of heels until all that's between them is his desk. golden skulls shimmer against black fabric, bright beneath florescent lights. and without much hesitation, she's tapping a manicured nail against wood.

"very welcoming."

it's frigid, flat, with toes dipped into cold waters and left shivering. and yet, something about it drifts into a territory she doesn't typically enjoy. desperate, perhaps. and behind her desperation lies a hungry wolf, left out in the cold to feed off scraps while his kind eat with golden cutlery.

"that's no way to greet family."

a lie, really, but maybe it's enough.

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]when the secretary returns to usher her in, she takes her time.

the approach is slow, deliberate, with steps that wish to command more than just the room.

and only when she's satisfied, does she stop. there's a distance between them, kept purposely with every intention of keeping a guarded front. she wears cold indifference as war paint because he's a titan and she's not walking into his lair unprepared. he's different than MATIAS SILPH. colder, untouchable.

she won't be able to lower his guard. not here, not like this.

"councilman," she murmurs with a dip of her head. "thank you for seeing me."

the guise of this meeting relates to "rocket intel", something she supposed could tickle his fancy enough to actually see her.

and now that she's here, she has no intentions of giving information of her own.

no, she'll take his until he's bled dry. and all that will remain is a husk abandoned on the floor.

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]the halls of league headquarters are crisp, white, pristine. and maybe the setting is supposed to feel hallowed ground but there's nothing holy about this place.

it makes her skin crawl, even as she turns a corner, as she makes her way to the offices of the council. cameras watch her, electric eyes swiveling at activity. and while she has an actual reason for being here, it makes her feel less like a person and more like a wanted poster.

his secretary greets her when she arrives. the woman's smile is warm despite the way her eyes bulge slightly out of their sockets. it's expected, really, but it never fails to make her insides squirm. she wants to smirk and scream all at once. an irritating sensation, surely.

"i have a meeting with the councilman," she murmurs. the woman nods once and excuses herself with the premise that she'll be brought in when he's ready.

and without much else to do but wait, lydia raises her chin a little higher to prepare for the interrogation.

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]regardless of if she's actually a killer or not, he had let his guard down. invited her in, welcomed her as his own sister. and while she isn't one to get her hands dirty, the concept that she could is one she holds close to her chest.

it makes her feel powerful, threatening, deadly.

"let's keep it that way," she murmurs.

if word gets out, her cover is essentially blown. her connections, her agenda, her leverage... all out the window to become the shadow of a woman who doesn't even know she exists.

and she has no intentions of staying in the role carved out by circumstance and fate.

her arms cross over her chest, then, and she's struggling to maintain indifference. her war paint chips off slightly in red flakes.

"whether she takes it well or not makes no difference." her tone is kept level, detached, almost frigid. the consideration she has for stormy's feelings is, surprisingly, small. and she knows that deep down, she'd like there to be more concern, more care, but there's no room when every bone in her body is filled with resentment.

the little girl that hides in the hollowness of her chest weeps at his words anyway, as if her feelings are small and insignificant and god, it fills her with a self loathing she can't bear to face.

MATIAS SILPH

[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]maybe... somehow, she doesn't quite buy much of what he says but it's a start.

information becomes leverage, anyway. she collects it all with greedy fingers and sits on it like a dragon would treasure.

"will it?" her head tilts and while her expression is blank, there's an underlying tone of suspicion laced between syllables. "i thought silphs were never caught off guard."

they're the golden family, after all. the chosen ones.

it makes her want to vomit on his pristine floors.

MATIAS SILPH

[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]"bad blood?" she can't help herself. the urgent need to know more about him, about her sister's family drives her into prying.

a soft scoff escapes, as if lydia can't fathom revealing that information so willingly. certainly not to a secretary. no, she wants to watch his reaction. she wants to drink it all in.

"i'll set up a meeting," she murmurs. her chin rises a little, almost proud. "without playing the twin card."

MATIAS SILPH

[attr="class","lydia"]

[attr="class","lydia b"]

[attr="class","lydia i"]ah, there's some information. laced in a soft scoff and laid out for her to pick apart with greedy hands.

"barred from his office?" her head tilts at the thought. something about the silph family not being as close as she believed feels like atonement. a mental note is made of this insight and tucked away for later use.

"does he not have security?" that'd be something...

MATIAS SILPH