hadriel | two ✤ video

[Hope still hasn't quite grasped human niceties, so he appears on the network suddenly, with no leadup and no greeting. As usual, he looks vaguely stressed and displeased.]

It has become obvious to me that I don't quite know how you creatures work. I need your hope, and unlike Fear I don't intend to bombard you with imagery just in case something sticks. Whether you like me or not, we're working together, in a way - without me, you'd all starve, without you, my power is lessened. I know you all so desperately want to go home, and without more power there's really no chance of that. So I have a proposal.

[He leans in, just a little.]

Bring me things that inspire hope in you. Place them on the altar in my temple over the next week or so, give me some idea of what it will take to draw hope out of you humans. If you can imbue them with more power - inspire hope in others with your ideas, work together, form bonds - that's even better.

As you all seem to enjoy being disagreeable, I do have more incentive then simply helping me out. Whoever brings me the thing that gives me the most power will receive my blessing. It's quite rare and valuable, it will impart to you the the ability to heal others for a certain amount of time. Since you all seem quite squishy and easily injured, I've no doubt that would be useful.

In addition, if I receive enough power, I'll waste some of it on a treat for all of you. So there's plenty of reason to help me out. Get to work.

[And that seems to be that. No farewell here, just Hope shutting the feed off. Feel free to ask him questions, if you'd like. He might even answer.]

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[ So this is the guy who brought them here. Natasha's eyes are narrowed, and she's not very impressed. She considers, for a moment, even not responding at all, but...

She clicks the feed on, expression neutral, arms crossed, like she's interviewing him. ] What happens if we don't?

[He counts off on his fingers, as if he's being careful not to miss anything.]

You don't have a chance at a blessing, I continue having to try to figure you creatures out on my own, and I have less power for all the things you like demanding from me.

[ She mimics his pose, ticking her answers off on her fingers. ] I don't care about your blessing, that's something you should have thought of before you brought us here, and I haven't seen anyone demanding anything except for you.

Then you've missed all the humans demanding I send you all home, despite not having the power for it. And again - [He sighs, because he really has explained this again and again] - I didn't bring you here.

[ She's still not impressed. ] Then who did?

[He sighs.]

Are you one of the new ones? I suppose you missed everything last time, then. How frustrating.

An artifact Fear activated, entirely against my wishes, brought you here. No, we don't know how it works. No, I can't send you back. No, I don't have enough power to even make an attempt at it. Tell all your friends so I don't have to repeat it for the hundredth time.

[ She snorts. ] Maybe you should be making announcements about that instead of telling us to do your dirty work for you.

I'm not squishy. That's rude.

[When you mash buttons long enough, something's bound to happen. This something happens to be a video call, which makes Hawkeye recoil for point-four seconds when he sees his own face pop up on a square of the phone screen. And while the guy on the other end of the wire looks like he's had it up to here with some nonsense or other

well... he's not the first fella to look like that in the vast history of Ever, and he can't bust Hawkeye down a rank or four or five, and he certainly can't invite him to afternoon tea in a cell in Leavenworth. Which really just made this easy.

Show him the cookie before you whistle for him to sit pretty, you son of a bitch.] You know, if you were a little more intelligent you'd be an idiot. What the hell do you think you're doing? Calling us creatures? Giving us treats? If you want to help us so badly then you should have given us that grand prize days ago. Do you want to know what's going to help the squishy, easily injured people sport some hope around here? It won't be something temporary- I mean, it'll help, and you sure as hell better make good on that promise- but we need something concrete too. Get us a damn hospital. Even pets get vets. Give us one of those and I'll roll over, show you my belly and wag my tail off any time I catch a whiff of ya. It's really not that complicated of an idea. Show people there's less of a chance of them dying- getting sick, losing an arm, whatever- and suddenly they feel better. Trust me, it works. It works very well.

I did, a month ago. Unfortunately, it seems there's an entirely new batch of you who didn't see it and whose friends didn't bother to tell them.

Are you sure? I don't see any exoskeleton at all.

[ fine, use logic then. ]

Ok that's not what - [ she shakes her head. whatever. ] Soft, yes, squishy? Not really.

[A fair amount of that zooms right past Hope, but he zeroes in on one thing, at least, and furrows his brow, genuinely confused.]

A hospital? But I'm offering healing, which is quite a bit more convenient. In any case, I'll just bring you back if you die. No need to get worked up over it.

[ as cullen is still very unfamiliar with this whole 'technology' thing, there's a close-up of him squinting at the phone before he realizes, oh. it's working. ]

Or you could not waste power and instead send us home.

[ he is so unimpressed. ]

[ Natasha sighs, closing her eyes and briefly counting to ten, first in English and then in Russian. ] You're not exactly showing me that you're worth helping, you know. There are those among us who don't have people from home who can explain these things. And if I'm being perfectly honest, it's not their responsibility even if they are. Regardless of who did what— [ And that's said with more than a little disdain, because you're pointing fingers?? Really?? ] —you two are the ones in charge here. Take responsibility for it. As it is, I see no reason why any of us should help you save to get out of here, and you're not really giving me any indication it's something you can do, anyway.

Edited (words) 2015-11-19 02:06 (UTC)

You humans seem to get cut up and bruised pretty easily. Doesn't that seem rather squishy?

Maybe you should stop putting us in situations where we get injured.

Oh, not another one.

[He's so frustrated.]

Very well, I'll explain again. I didn't bring you here, I don't know how to send you home, I don't have enough power to even try to find out. Are we clear?

None at all? Are all of you humans so terrible at listening? Without power, there's no chance anyone will ever be able to go home. By helping me, you give me power to attempt to solve that and many other problems. If you don't want to, that's very well. You may stay here, I've made it quite comfortable.

I've done no such thing. Fear and I are not the same entity, you humans do understand that, right?

Then perhaps you shouldn't imply that you can when asking us to give you more power. Or did you mean something else when you said that our return is impossible without that?

[ the frustration goes both ways, hope. ]

Sometimes my little human brain gets so confused. [ sarcasm. ]

You could do more to stop him.

Did you miss the part where I need power to even begin to try? I'm starting to wonder if your human ears even work at all.

You're perfectly willing to, in your own words, waste that power on things you deem trivial to you once you get it. So you can understand why I don't believe you when you tell me you want me to get home.

And I'm saying you should have said that in the first place instead of just saying that you need power to get us home. There was no "try" involved in your first mention of the idea.

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