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[guiding]

Need to talk to Lilith over the phone or in person? Give her a ring here, or visit apartment #5.005!

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[expiatrice]

Tea is hardly 'everything', though, and I simply thought back to what we discussed in passing some time ago. [What there is nothing wrong with following up on social calls made during 4-days-long plagues in a dystopian horror town!] I would call it even, if you're providing the tables!

[...Lilith has experience. She can feel it...]

[guiding]

If you feel that strongly, you may do as you wish. I should hate to spoil your morning by refusing something so obviously important to you.

[expiatrice]

[That's a strong word... u_u NEVERTHELESS!]

I would. I rarely get to do this, after all, so please forgive the indulgence, aha. Fifth floor, is that right? Which room?

[guiding]

The fifth room, I am lucky it is so easy to remember. I shall see you there soon, I hope.

[She chuckles, and hangs up to finish getting ready for her guest.]

[expiatrice]

Of course, until then.

[she brought a lot more extra junk the time there was tea with Break, okay. This is small time!! There'll be a soft knock on the door a few minutes later. She just brought a kettle already filled with water, the leaves, and two mugs. Bare minimum, okay!! ...Mostly because she wasn't sure if their apartment was already stocked, things did vary from room to room depending on current inhabitants.]

[guiding]

[Lilith isn't sure exactly why Ciel had been so insistent on making sure she provided the tea, but it was a harmless thing to grant. So she had thoughtfully hidden the battered kettle and mugs in one of the cupboards to allow her guest to feel more helpful.

The door is open when Ciel arrives and Lilith is already sat at the kitchen table, though she rises with a smile when the nun walks in.]

Good morning, Sister, it's so nice to see you again.

[expiatrice]

[Honestly she's probably more just

nosy and insistent than plain helpful at this point...

BUT EACH TO THEIR OWN QUIRKS, RIGHT...

She'll quietly close the door behind her and offer a small and polite bow at the sight of the taller woman.]

Likewise, it's good to be able to take things at our own pace again. [Juuust gonna slide in and step towards the stove.] How have you been?

[guiding]

[She will allow Ciel to go to the stove and make tea without comment, and she has already dished up the baked beans into two bowls yum yum.]

I have been well, you're very kind to ask. It has been good to see the health of everyone here improving day by day, I can only hope the infection doesn't return.

[expiatrice]

[Sounds fair! She'll be rejoining her at the table, that much done.

The smile there is a bit sheepish, however.]

That's good to hear. It has, true, and I don't think the illness will. [though she can't say whether it'd be really for the better or worse, knowing what sort of disturbances Haven can cook up to 'replace' it, but... would probably be superfluous to voice that out loud, yeah.] It was a 'breach' in the system, right? So repeats are unlikely. [Even if that raises a myriad of other unpleasant questions, like much tended to in Haven.] If anything, I'm a bit worried about what may come up next, but in the meanwhile, the quiet days now are nice to have back.

[guiding]

[She has been learning all she can about these things from Abel and her roommates, though she would be the first to admit that she was still far too ignorant about this world. But she doesn't need to know intimate details to know that it won't be pleasant, and whatever it may be it won't change her views on things.]

That is a wise view, we should all enjoy every day of peace we are blessed with. Whatever may come in the future, we will face it and days of peace will return again.

[expiatrice]

Haha, I'd say it's more common sense. [With elbows propped up against the table, she bridges her fingers to rest her chin atop of it and quietly exhales.] In this sort of town however, it's also definitely easier said than done. That kind of mentality in itself is hard to keep at times, but even beyond extraordinary abilities some people may possess here, I think it's among the most precious and essential things to have. Have you heard about some of the other things that've happened here, in the past?

[For a more thorough idea of the sort of stunt this town may pull, mostly. She's replayed the synopses in her mind and verbally delivered it countless times already. Mostly to newcomers, yes, and she highly doubts that this woman would be in the dark, but might as well offer just in case?]

[guiding]

I am fortunate to have met many helpful people, and made friends who have been sure to inform me on everything they found important.

[She would have made it her business to find out anyway, even if she hadn't had people like Abel to give her the run down on everything. One of the basics of tactics was to make sure to know your enemy inside and out.]

Now, you mustn't keep me in suspense any longer. [She smiles, voice a little teasing.] What did you wish to see me about?

[expiatrice]

Hehe, you seem like the type.

[She smiles at that. Figures, hm?]

Aah please, that's giving me too much credit. I won't deny my curiosity though, which hopefully won't be too bothersome? To my experience, someone who can be so calm and kind usually have seen their fair share of the world before coming here. Would that perhaps be close to the truth?

[guiding]

There is no shame or bother in admitting curiosity, especially given the varied worlds that are represented here. I am sure that a healthy interest in our fellows here is something that we all share.

[She doesn't seem to mind the questions, not at all put out by Ciel's observations.]

Sometimes the kindest people are the most innocent among us. But you are right, I have seen many places.

[expiatrice]

Aha, do you think so? That's a nice way of looking at it. Dimensional travel isn't a completely alien topic in my world, but it wasn't until I got taken to a place like this that I've garnered active interest. People from elsewhere do have fascinating stories about different places and types of being, even if it's an alternate version of the same Earth. Comparing the differences in our power structure is interesting to think about too, at least in my opinion. The role of the Church is a good example!

[And closer to the point, but she really doesn't mind some philosophy meshed in there too.]

They can also be the most knowledgeable and wisest. May I ask where you're from, miss Sahl? I can't quite place an origin to that family name, and while I could make a few guesses on your manner of dress, I don't want to assume?

[guiding]

[She is interested to hear that dimensional travel is commonplace in other worlds, that in itself proves the truth in Ciel's words that there were interesting stories to hear from everyone here. She doesn't mind the questions at all, not at all awkward with the topic as the rest of her small 'family' had been.]

I was born in Bodh Gaya, India. Though I haven't called it home for many years, I have been living in Rome most recently.

[expiatrice]

--Goodness. [she seems to perk up at that!] That's one of the four holy Buddhism sites, the most important one where it's said Buddha has achieved Enlightenment, right? I've had the chance to briefly pass by, when I took my first trip to India. It's an inspiring site! [nodding at that.] May I ask why you had to move, miss Sahl?

[guiding]

[She is proud of where she came from and certainly has fonder memories of her past than the other clones, but she had been the prototype and so her regime hadn't been quite as strict as for the 'proper' clones.]

My work and family have both taken me to many new places, leaving India was only the first step on the journey.

[expiatrice]

[no wonder, the list of issues speak for themselves...]

Aha, figures it's something like that. Well, I know the feeling quite well too, so it's quite easy to relate. Have you been through many other places, before settling in Rome as you recently had?

[She's genuine about that bit, at least. Traveling is a pretty good perk, all things considered!]

[guiding]

I have been lucky enough to see so many places that it would take years to relate them all, and all have been beautiful in different ways.

[Though, sadly, most of them she had seen only under the fires of war. Broken and bleeding, full of the dead and dying, as monsters rained fire from above.]

[expiatrice]

A personal favorite, then? I wouldn't mind sharing too, if that's okay with you?

[There's some strange sort of blessing and luck for her case, where the monsters make enough effort to be subtle and stay in hiding in order to avoid detection. Enough so that even inside the target location of a busy city, one could almost pretend nothing is amiss sometimes.

...Then there are the occasional unlucky wayward villages, but some things can't be helped. --Eh, there are way better things to reminisce on, anyway!]

[guiding]

[She has the sense that Ciel is digging for something, though she has no idea what exactly. Her life is no secret, anyone from her own world would have been able to read in the church scriptures what she had done and where she had been.]

I have always been fond of Rome, the Vatican is beautiful and the people are even more so.

[expiatrice]

[Honestly, she's not sure either. A "better overall idea", okay, but even there, what does that mean?

...Hmm, maybe starting with the politic of things?]

The city is gorgeous! ...I admit to find the grandiosity and formality a little stifling at times, personally. [She chuckles sheepishly, waving a hand idly.] It's a bit surprising to meet someone born in India deeply involved with the capital of Christianity, I confess. The two cultures are so uniquely different! I'm born in France myself, which is already a Catholic country, so I was referred by a priest. [it's closer and makes more sense! ...also she should ramble on a bit about herself, it'd be rude to just keep asking.] What year was it for you, if you use the A.D. system?

[guiding]

[It's a sadly common misconception that Christianity and India don't go together, when in truth it's the third most popular religion and many Christians can be found all over the country. She chooses not to correct Ciel, there's no need to potentially embarrass her, and things may have been very different in her world and at her time.]

The year is 2220 A.D. where I am from, may I ask if it's much different where you call home?

[It seemed their worlds were relatively similar, so it's possible they're from different points of time in the same world.]

[expiatrice]

[no you should point it out BSing is a terrible habit of hers... REALLY.

But that does get her to blink, and sit up a little straighter in surprise!]

--Ah, yes, quite, actually! It's 2000 A.D. for me, so your Earth is two centuries into my future. ...Goodness, that's a big leap. Hard to imagine too, with all the doomsday theories people are fond of coming up with in my time. Civilization is still thriving, then?