2018-08-23 - We Tried
| Title: We Tried | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Homura reports a failure. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Just out of sight of Azuma-bashi Bridge in Asakusa | |
| OOC - IC Date: Thurs Aug 23, 2018 - Thurs May 7, 2015 | |
Wind speaks first, whispering its song of cold and elevation into the phone mic. Homura speaks second; she is less cool and distant than the wind by millimeters, replying to a hiss of nothing from the receiving end of the call.
"We tried."
A pause.
"They got help." A shorter pause, more to consider than to allow time for implications to convey. "Tenjou and Fujino. And Fujino implied a counterattack on you. Maybe a feint, but..."
For the first time the girl on the other end really contributes to the conversation, and Homura listens.
"Okay. Send word if anything changes." After the acknowledgement her voice grows taut -- or perhaps it was always taut, and Homura no longer modulates her tone. It stretches above the voice of the night wind like a tightrope. "One way or another this thing can't go on much longer."
The problem with vague warnings of doom is that no matter how well they protect one's secrets, they generally fail to impart a proper sense of urgency to their audience. On the other hand, 'Sayaka Miki is going to die, kill you, or become a Witch and do both if we don't intervene again and maybe if we do, and she might already be past the point of no return' and its variants have historically not gone over well.
Homura Akemi continues to value her secrets over her allies, over friends and those who could be friends otherwise. She adds, "We forced them to overextend themselves, maybe badly. I'll share the details later." Tactics. She curls closer to the exposed rebar rib of a half-completed skyscraper. The arm not holding a phone to her ear curls, too, tucked against her side like it's longing for a sling.
For a while neither girl says anything, and the captive still of unmoving air converses with the sinuous static of thirty-story winds.
After a quiet throat-clearing the violet magi says, "But you handle Minagi from here on out. If anyone is qualified to herd cats..." It's as layered as anything she says gets, including among other things surface irritation, wry self-commentary, and the suggestion that Eri Shimanouchi is needed.
The conversation ends as it began, sans salutation. The silence just isn't shared any more after Homura presses the end call circle on the glass.
