longwillows | ✨ somnia inbox

[There's a faint trickle of amusement, at that.]

Apologies. My associate. I expect you'd call Greed something else.

[Silco does know that not everyone is so careful about keeping people at arms' length as he is.]

He gave me your name. Has he told you about what he's planning?

Greed? [Her amusement, meanwhile, is unrestrained, a bubble of mirth and a snort of good-natured laughter across the Murmur.] There are a lot of things I could call him. I suppose "associate" is among them.

He hasn't told me much, no, but I've felt him scheming. [Curiosity, in the sound of soft bells.] Why?

[Down to business, then.]

He's hatched a plan to strike back at Sleep. I believe he knows what he's doing [not entirely true, but what's a lie between strangers], but there's always the chance of a backlash - of angering her somehow. I want to be certain you're prepared, in case that happens.

...

[...]

[just the absolute worst cackle ever heard by mortal ears. after a moment, this thread of the Murmur goes quiet. like maybe somebody took their mask off to compose themself or something.]

[She's of a more tolerable volume and demeanor when she returns to the conversation, but the connection still shakes with her mirth.] And he didn't invite me? I guess we are just associates!

As far as I know, I'm one of the privileged few who have already been punished by Sleep personally.

[Oh, his poor ears(?).]

A high honor, I imagine. What did you do to deserve it?

[His poor brain, truly.

Though her appearance over the Murmur remains vague, there is the distinct visual of a sharp, nasty grin, little but a crescent of candy-coated venom.] I tried to treat her favorite toy like a person.

Ah. Not the sort who likes other people playing with her toys, I see. What did that involve, exactly?

[He needs to determine how similar it might be to what Greed's doing. It's not really possible to evaluate the risk here, but every little bit helps.]

Well, during the banquet—were you here for that? Those dreams we all have, one of them was a banquet. And One was there, up on a pedestal, away from everyone.

[That's probably enough context in the event that he didn't experience that dream. And not wasting too much time if he did.] So I asked him to dance and he accepted, but he went running back when Sleep started to get angry about it.

I refused to kneel and beg for forgiveness as he did, so she cut all my tethers. I had about ten at the time.

I arrived after that, though I've been told of it.

[And clearly the whole thing made quite an impression on people - though Silco can see why.]

Volatile, jealous, inclined to lash out when she feels insulted. What a lovely creature we find ourselves forced to serve. [Hard to say what that means for Greed's plan, but at least it's a little more information to work with.] Sharon mentioned that cutting tethers might be a possibility. I suppose there's no real way to prepare for that.

You could relocate physically to be close to your Tethers to recover, but yeah, I don't know how you'd preempt something like that. Not to be dramatic—but it was pretty easily the worst thing I've ever felt, and I don't even know if that's the worst she can do.

[Especially now that she has so much of One. But...] I'm not certain what her limitations are in the waking world, either. She can clearly target us [ask her how she knows] but to what extent currently, I don't really know. In the dream she was able to just hold me down and do the dirty work herself.

Suppose Greed might end up giving us another data point in that regard.

I would be perfectly comfortable without learning any of that. But I suppose that if we can't prevent it, we may as well learn from it. Her powers in the waking world may be more limited, but not by much, it seems.

[A sigh, tinged with annoyance.]

If we're lucky, none of this preparation will be necessary. But it's better to over-prepare than to be caught without defenses. You seem capable of taking care of yourself, but if things go bad, come to the Nest. We'll manage.

Good to warn his tethers of potential danger, regardless. My strongest ones took the worst of the splash damage.

[She still feels bad about that, just a drop of extra weight upon the Murmur.

But anyway.] I seem capable, hm? Considerable praise, coming from someone so organized!

You survived Sleep's personal torment, so if you're actually completely useless in every other way, don't tell me. I'd rather think well of you.

[A faint trace of amusement, in that.]

And I appreciate the information. Hopefully it won't end up being necessary.

[And it echoes back in a chime of laughter much softer than her raucous mirth prior.] Mm, there goes my shot at the "being underestimated" play.

[While she holds much back over the Murmur, there is no veil or obfuscation this time; it's clearly a joke.]

I don't typically demand a price for my services, but I would appreciate an exchange of information, if you're willing to hear out a few questions about this whole thing.

I can't promise I'll be able to answer them, [or that he'll necessarily be willing to, even if he can] but go ahead and ask.

[Oh, he is not going to answer her questions.

Joyfully, she asks anyway.] Mm, I wouldn't call our associate open, but he's certainly direct, isn't he?

Any ideas as to why he sent a messenger instead of telling me this himself?

Needless to say, he's juggling quite a few things right now. I offered to take on the task of warning you all so that he had one less thing to focus on.

[Which is somewhat true, at least, though it leaves out the actual reason Silco volunteered: he has no weird moral code against lying.]

It seemed the neighborly thing to do.

[Her mind drifts to Greed hanging batlike to the plants outside her window. The slow purpose in his body language as he looked at her paintings. Painfully genuine in his investment, despite all his attempts to the contrary.]

Very thoughtful of you, Mister Ambition. I guess you don't mind as much, being the bearer of bad news.

[Canny, knowing, but not angry. She doesn't know Greed's plan, doesn't know all the ways it could go wrong (or right,) but she's no fool. Rebels rarely come back in one piece, if they come back at all.]

I've got quite a knack for it.

[In that Silco doesn't especially care what anyone thinks about him. If Greed's friends get angry at him, it won't hurt his feelings. What few he has.]

But he'll be fine. He's the sort who survives. He'll be bothering you again before long, I'm sure.

Ha! Takes a lot more than that to bother me. It's all kind of cute, honestly.

[She says this, of course, knowing full well that Greed would be bothered if he heard it. Because she is going to be so, so annoying if he survives whatever ridiculous thing he's going to do.]

I won't ask for an exact timeframe here, lest our jealous overlord comes to check in on her favorite little fox, but I assume I can expect trouble fairly soon?

‘Cute’ is one word for it, I suppose.

[Maybe not the one Silco would use.]

Before the end of the month, certainly. And for all we know, there could be no repercussions at all.

[Who knows how Sleep makes these decisions? Or maybe what Greed’s trying won’t go anywhere, and they’ll have all gotten worked up over nothing.]

Better to plan as if there will be, though.

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