
Mentions/Interactions: Ezekiel @helo
He spoke. A denial wrapped in measured tones. A reasoned refusal, not unkind, but absolute. She listened and said nothing for a moment. But eventually, it was time to speak.
“Ah,” she said simply.
There was a moment of pause in between her words as Liana’s bourbon eyes looked over him as though she were seeing him for the first time.
“I misjudged you.”
Her tone wasn’t disappointed in the emotional sense. It was diagnostic. A recalculation.
“You helped the boy. Without asking who he belonged to. Without worrying about whether the bitch who broke his arm would be punished. There were rules broken then too. But you didn’t stop to report it. You just… acted.”
She tilted her head ever so slightly, studying him anew.
“I assumed that meant you cared more about people than procedure.”
She stepped in, slowly, deliberately, and placed a gloved hand against his chest. Not pushing. Just resting there, like the weight of a single truth.
“But I see now. That wasn’t principle. That was convenience. The child was a victim, so you acted. Here? It’s harder. Riskier. So you choose safety, not kindness.” Her gaze was cool and direct.
“You call it wisdom. I call it cowardice dressed as righteous policy.” Then, she pulled her hand away.
“I’ll find someone else. Someone willing to help the dying without getting so lost in their own minutia.
She started to turn away, but paused...just long enough to glance back over her shoulder.
“I really didn’t think you were going to be the disappointment you’ve turned out to be. But for what its worth… They aren’t contagious. They were cursed. There isn’t a threat to the other passengers… Only to the lives of two people who deserved better. Neither of them even know that they are stowaways. That sin is entirely on me, but it was the only way. Yet, you condemn them anyways with your conveniently placed sense of virtue. I hope your god is proud.”