[ Cisco doesn't answer the text for a while because he is resisting the urge to break everything in sight. Throwing things off shelves is really more Harry's style, and Cisco is starting to see why. Eddie's only been gone for about nine hours and he's already seriously considering it. ]
yes, that's him. how did you guess? was it his fondness for kidnapping people. the guy on the floor is eddie. he said you guys met?
[ He only hesitates a minute or so before sending this text; it's something he hasn't exactly lied to Arya about, but he has conspicuously not brought it up ]
he's... someone i care about. i've been looking for him for hours but i can't find the right room. and he's hurt.
[ Gentle, comforting words aren't Arya's style, but she'll do her best. ]
It was the glee he seems to take in hurting people.
We did meet. Eddie was kind, and smiled a lot. He is not smiling now, and he may not smile for a little while, but he will not be hurting for long.
If you care about him, I will do everything I can to make sure he is safe, and that it does not happen to him again. If we split up, we may be able to find them. I've lived with people such as the ill-fitting coat man. I know what they like and how they behave. I can track him.
I know it is hard to do, but you must keep calm for Eddie's sake and yours. Otherwise your anger and fear will eat you up and render you useless and that cannot happen.
If you need to stay in touch while we search, if that would help you, I am more than able to find him and talk to you through these words at once.
[ He isn't sure he should be telling her this, but he is stressed and it's not really a secret or anything ]
it's happened to him before. someone a lot worse than snart... someone evil took him and kept him tied up alone for almost two weeks. once was bad enough. you don't need to do that i'm already texting him to make sure he knows he isn't alone this time. maybe you could text him instead? keeping him talking.
obviously i don't have any right to tell you what to do but i can only ask: please please don't go after snart until we have found eddie, he's the only one who knows where he is and if we have to bargain with him thats i'll do it.
I am talking to him now. Distracting him with dragons. It will hold him over, for a while, but he will never feel alone. Any man who can keep smiling despite his situation, whatever it may be, has a special kind of strength. Eddie has it, I think. Snart can imprison him. He cannot break Eddie.
Eddie's safety is more important than any revenge. Of course I will leave Snart alone until Eddie is no longer captive.
But then, I think a great many people will want to make Snart pay.
thank you. thank you for helping. i know that maybe it seems like a small thing but it means a lot.
the stupid thing is i thought eddie was gonna be safe because snart doesn't know about the two of us.
[ He knows what Arya might mean by making Snart pay, and even in his rage and distraction and terror, he doesn't want that for her. ]
the most important thing is gonna be stealing his cold gun. if i can get just my hands on it, i can destroy it, and he's nothing without it. it's the most dangerous thing about him, the only thing that really makes him a threat.
I am glad it is helping. Well. Not glad, perhaps, but I do very much want to help.
The two of you?
[ Arya ordinarily wouldn't pry here, but "the two of us" could refer to a number of different kinds of relationships, and Arya is still worried for Jon and Sansa. ]
i was too self-centered before. the only reason snart took my brother and hurt him was to make ME do something, to protect him. so when he showed up here, i told eddie to make sure snart didn't know he was someone i cared about, so snart wouldn't pull the same stunt. i thought that the only way he would be in danger was if it had to do with me. but i was stupid, and wrong.
[ ...Not the most honest or most courageous of answers, but he doesn't think he could really stand explaining how his relationship with Eddie has changed recently. Not right now, when he's so upset. ]
i'll draw you a sketch of it. after this is over. after we find him.
No, you were not too self-centered. If anything, I think you were too hopeful that Snart may not be as evil as he truly is. And there is something to be said for having hope instead of fear.
[ Arya debates on whether or not she should send the rest of the message, if it would help anything at all. But it's probably better to say something than to stay silent, so she writes: ]
Snart is evil. Evil people do not need a reason to hurt others -- that is what makes them evil. You will go crazy, trying to figure out their motives, their patterns. It is impossible.
I have tried.
I still do not know why the Lannisters executed my father. I know he was no traitor. He was the Hand of the king, and the king's close friend as well. I thought he was not in danger, and I was also wrong. I've thought about it for years and years, and I am no closer to understanding than I was on the day it happened.
I know I am probably in no position to tell you these things. I do not know Eddie like you do, and most days I cannot even follow my own advice. But I do not want to see blame eating you up. You have enough enemies, you need not be enemies with yourself.
[ Arya has one point: Cisco hasn't ever succeeded at predicting those patterns, no matter how hard he tries. But he's not sure he knows how to stop trying.
Even amidst his unhappiness and worry, he is touched by her concern for him, her kindness. Maybe he would be able to believe what she says is true, if that were the only reason he has to blame himself. But there are many others. Still, her advice jostles him into focusing on the enemies at hand. He can hate himself for the part he played in all this later. For now, he needs to keep his mind on finding Eddie, helping Eddie. ]
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no subject
Is the man who took the selfie the man you mentioned on the first day of training?
1/2
yes, that's him.
how did you guess? was it his fondness for kidnapping people.
the guy on the floor is eddie. he said you guys met?
2/2
he's... someone i care about.
i've been looking for him for hours but i can't find the right room. and he's hurt.
no subject
It was the glee he seems to take in hurting people.
We did meet. Eddie was kind, and smiled a lot. He is not smiling now, and he may not smile for a little while, but he will not be hurting for long.
If you care about him, I will do everything I can to make sure he is safe, and that it does not happen to him again. If we split up, we may be able to find them. I've lived with people such as the ill-fitting coat man. I know what they like and how they behave. I can track him.
I know it is hard to do, but you must keep calm for Eddie's sake and yours. Otherwise your anger and fear will eat you up and render you useless and that cannot happen.
If you need to stay in touch while we search, if that would help you, I am more than able to find him and talk to you through these words at once.
no subject
it's happened to him before.
someone a lot worse than snart... someone evil took him and kept him tied up alone for almost two weeks.
once was bad enough.
you don't need to do that i'm already texting him to make sure he knows he isn't alone this time.
maybe you could text him instead? keeping him talking.
obviously i don't have any right to tell you what to do but i can only ask: please please don't go after snart until we have found eddie, he's the only one who knows where he is and if we have to bargain with him thats i'll do it.
no subject
Eddie's safety is more important than any revenge. Of course I will leave Snart alone until Eddie is no longer captive.
But then, I think a great many people will want to make Snart pay.
no subject
the stupid thing is i thought eddie was gonna be safe because snart doesn't know about the two of us.
[ He knows what Arya might mean by making Snart pay, and even in his rage and distraction and terror, he doesn't want that for her. ]
the most important thing is gonna be stealing his cold gun. if i can get just my hands on it, i can destroy it, and he's nothing without it. it's the most dangerous thing about him, the only thing that really makes him a threat.
no subject
The two of you?
[ Arya ordinarily wouldn't pry here, but "the two of us" could refer to a number of different kinds of relationships, and Arya is still worried for Jon and Sansa. ]
What does the cold gun look like?
no subject
i was too self-centered before. the only reason snart took my brother and hurt him was to make ME do something, to protect him. so when he showed up here, i told eddie to make sure snart didn't know he was someone i cared about, so snart wouldn't pull the same stunt. i thought that the only way he would be in danger was if it had to do with me. but i was stupid, and wrong.
[ ...Not the most honest or most courageous of answers, but he doesn't think he could really stand explaining how his relationship with Eddie has changed recently. Not right now, when he's so upset. ]
i'll draw you a sketch of it. after this is over. after we find him.
no subject
[ Arya debates on whether or not she should send the rest of the message, if it would help anything at all. But it's probably better to say something than to stay silent, so she writes: ]
Snart is evil. Evil people do not need a reason to hurt others -- that is what makes them evil. You will go crazy, trying to figure out their motives, their patterns. It is impossible.
I have tried.
I still do not know why the Lannisters executed my father. I know he was no traitor. He was the Hand of the king, and the king's close friend as well. I thought he was not in danger, and I was also wrong. I've thought about it for years and years, and I am no closer to understanding than I was on the day it happened.
I know I am probably in no position to tell you these things. I do not know Eddie like you do, and most days I cannot even follow my own advice. But I do not want to see blame eating you up. You have enough enemies, you need not be enemies with yourself.
no subject
Even amidst his unhappiness and worry, he is touched by her concern for him, her kindness. Maybe he would be able to believe what she says is true, if that were the only reason he has to blame himself. But there are many others. Still, her advice jostles him into focusing on the enemies at hand. He can hate himself for the part he played in all this later. For now, he needs to keep his mind on finding Eddie, helping Eddie. ]
i'll do my best.
........thank you.