dragonwarder | (no subject)

[ Catra does come in at the invite, though she doesn't seem terribly sad at the news. ]

Huh. Sooooooo you have a vacancy, is what I'm hearing?

That--is not what I am saying at all.

[It is hard to avoid chuckling at her boldness -- but she is still bitter, so it doesn't quite form up. The smile does stick, though. How could she not smile after Catra both complimented her lack of dress and then tried to invite herself in as a potential roommate?

(Get it together, Daenerys Stormborn.)

She is, however, kind enough to start some water to boil, even as she turns around to give Catra an inquiring look.]

Are you without lodging?

Oh. No, I wasn't asking for myself. Can you imagine us as housemates? Please. [ She gives a cute little chuckle. ]

You royal types are all about manners and decorum and stuff. We'd be at each other's throats within a week.

[ As if to demonstrate, Catra throws herself down in whatever seating is available, lounging there as if she owns the place. ]

Most royals appreciate some manners and decorum, that is true.

[Daenerys glances over her shoulder to watch Catra flop and merely shakes her head in response.]

Not to worry. It was not an invitation -- not unless you had need, of course.

Yeah well.

[ It seems like Catra has more to say, but instead she just trails off, going quiet. Almost introspective. She studies her black nails for a few moments, frowning. Like she's not sure how to say what she wants to say, or like she's not sure if she wants to say it to Daenerys. Given how their last interaction went, it could easily be either.

Finally, after the silence has stretched on for a few more beats than is truly comfortable, she blurts out with-- ]

Adora's here.

[Ah. Things quickly click into place, and Daenerys' smile fades away. She had not so soon forgotten, what she had seen in Catra's dreams. The fact that she'd come here to tell her ... well, she could not exactly hide her surprise. She thought the memory had seemed personal, and that she was an intruder.

Perhaps there was no one else who might understand. She could sympathize with that feeling.

She turns back to the boiling water and drops the tea inside.]

The one you remember?

[She has to check -- after all, Jon Snow had been very different the second time she'd seen him, compared to the first.]

[ Catra shakes her head, looking off into the distance. ]

She doesn't remember defecting from the Horde. Leaving. She still thinks we're best friends. She's going to want to room with me.

[ And the thing is-- Catra wants it. It'd be so easy to say yes. To let Adora back in to her life, share a room with her, pretend everything is fine. Part of her wants to. Very badly. ]

[The dilemma is clear. It suddenly occurs to her how fortunate she had been that it was Jon Snow and Melisandre who had come to New Amsterdam and not...Viserys.

Or Drogo. Gods, what would she even —

But this isn’t about her. With knowledge of how Catra views Adora, she knows well that this is not an easy decision she needs to make. Daenerys does not reply until she returns to the table with the teapot and two cups.

After pouring herself a glass, she leans back and decides to try and prod some.]

Are you asking for my advice?

[Her tone suggests she has an opinion already.]

What? No. I can make my own decisions.

I'm asking if you if you want a new housemate.

[Daenerys raises an eyebrow in confusion. She cannot tell why she is asking her, or if it just happened to be a convenient way out of her situation. She believes it to be the latter.]

I prefer to keep to myself, and the occasional familiar company.

[Of which Adora was neither. Politely, she passes a cup of tea in Catra's direction for her to take or to leave.]

That means no.

[ Catra takes the tea held out to her, but almost as an afterthought, like she's not really thinking about it. ]

Yeah, I figured. Tch, it's not even why I came here, really. But Adora is kinda similar to your ex-housemate, so, y'know. Two birds with one stone, all that. It was worth a shot.

Rey and I are very different. But we have been through quite a lot together, here.

[Which is why they live together. She spreads her hands, as if expecting Catra to find her way to that conclusion herself, before taking a slow sip of her tea.]

Why did you come here, then?

[ Catra isn't stupid-- she can put two and two together. She takes a sip of her tea and looks away, digesting that, before looking back at Dany. Enough said. ]

... Last time we met. You said you were a queen or something, didn't you?

Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, yes.

[A curious topic, and one of much discussion as of late. She thinks of how Jon had pressed her, and frowns slightly.]

What of it?

How do you stand it? Doesn't it drive you crazy? Living like this?

[That was not the question she was expecting. For a few moments, she has to think about her answer.]

Some days. But not for the reasons you might imagine. My youth was fraught, and so I am used to moving around and less decorated areas. A roof and heat is what is most important -- not how lavish it is.

I'm not talking about the accommodation! I grew up in a Horde dormitory, I don't care about stuff!

I'm talking about the hiding. The cowering! The way we have to "lie low" and "not attract attention" and all that crap! Why should we have to hide who we are?!

Ah. You are talking about survival.

[Daenerys smiles then and leans on the table some.]

It isn't cowering if it benefits you. But it would certainly be foolish to lift your head in a den of wolves where they outnumber you ten to one.

We're stronger than they are!

No, we are not.

[Her voice is a little firmer here, and her smile fades away.]

The UNA has vast resources that we do not. They have access to funding, support, and information that we do not. And unless you get every Displaced on board with a riot, which you will not, then they win in a game of pure numbers.

[ Catra opens her mouth to object, and for a moment it looks like she's really going to argue. But then she closes her mouth again and goes quiet. Frowning. Thinking.

Finally, after a few beats, she smiles and speaks up again-- ]

So... what I'm hearing is-- we need someone inside the UNA.

—what? No.

[Daenerys has the grace to look startled. It isn’t as if she hadn’t considered it before, but — she had seen what they had done to Rey and those other Morningstar agents. Sending someone in there would be a death sentence.]

I mean — it would help, but others have already tried to break one of their soldiers and their programming. Sending someone to be recruited would not only be sending them to their death, but would likely endanger the rest of us.

Why? Think about it. We have people here who can shoot water from their hands, spikes from their skin. Why not someone with mental control? Maybe resist brainwashing, control what other people think of them?

It's just a matter of finding the right person for the job.

People have failed to convert their soldiers before.

[But she cannot deny that she hadn't thought of it herself. She certainly had no mind altering powers, but she did have something else: the power of fear. The power of being a large, flying, fire-breathing lizard.

The egotistical part of her believed she could frighten them into submission, if she really wanted to. But she doesn't want to. What of all the citizens who had no say in the matter?]

It is very risky. And they have done terrible things to our people before, when they have managed to subdue them. Would you imagine such risk to be worth what we might gain, if anything?

Who said anything about conversion?

The reason we're struggling is because we just don't have enough information. Of course our previous efforts have failed. We don't know anything about them. How they think. How they operate. How they brainwash. Their desires, their weak spots. We just have to get someone in there to spy. That's all. Nothing dangerous. Just intel. We can't even think about taking them down from the inside until we have that.

You have to play the long game.