A barked laugh escaped. "You." She echoed. "I love you, Skid, but ... " The sentence trailed off as she shook her head. "I'm not threatening her death, or using brute force. I just want Psly and I to be left alone. If you can do that..." Brows lifted again, this time in skepticism. "... if anything can do that, I'll destroy the weapon." She paused, then finally admitted. "I don't want it anywhere near Psly; it's too dangerous. But." And her tone took on the fierce protectiveness. "... I'll do what I have to do to keep me and mine safe."

"I can do it. But you have to give it to me when the time comes. I don't care if it came from you. I don't about any extenuating circumstances. You have all but destroyed my faith in you by creating this monstrosity, and you will only regain it by letting me dispose of it myself." He looked at her, even. "Do we have an agreement?"

"Aye, we do." There wasn't even a moment's hesitation in her answer. She looked up to him, toward that singular eye of his. "We have an agreement." She put all her faith in those words, in him. For once there were no contingencies, no stipulations as to how it would be determined that he would have 'suceeded.' For once, though, she interestingly didn't seem deflated by his condemnation of her. In fact, she seemed stronger in the face of it, truly convicted in her belief she what she'd done was necessary and right.

"What is your plan to kill her, then." Immediately.

"I don't plan to kill her, Skid," she replied evenly. "At most we planned to trap her, to trade her life for the daggers. But because of you, we would not kill her. Out of respect for your feelings for her. Because of my feelings for you." She felt compelled to add to her answer almost immediately after stating her first intention; full disclosure was demanded and then given.

"Your plan will fail." He responded, plainly. "She is smarter than you. She is smarter than me, in most ways." He sat down next to her. "You will be lulled into a false sense of empowerment, and then you will be torn down to your very foundations. She will win." He turned then, to look at her. "You will allow this to happen."

Brows furrowed at his admission. "I doubt that, hon. That she's smarter than yo -- what?" Creased lines increased on the forehead as he further confused her. "Let her ... kill us? Or do you mean if we don't do anything we'll let it happen?"

He ignored her assertion. Even if it were true, and in all likeliness it was, he needed Jaycy to think that Dawn was smarter than him. To impress upon her how important it was that she do exactly as he said. "She will not kill you. Not right away. She is as theatrical as Anubis."

"Let her trap us, then," she amended.

"She needs you to watch her, to acknowledge her victory and your defeat. Otherwise it's meaningless. She will kill Pslyder first. You will ask her not to but that's what she's hoping you will do-" His head jerked to the side, and he stared off into space with a disconcerted look for a few moments.

The frown returned but she nodded slowly, mutely, allowing him time to collect whatever thoughts he needed to manage before continuing with his plan.

"I.. What did... Oh, of course. She wants you to beg for him before she takes him away from you. This will be how you buy the time I need to get to you."
"Alright..." she agreed slowly. "And, erm, how should we let her trap us? When? What should we do while I'm begging for her not to kill him?" She paused. "More importantly," her voice gentled when she continued. "How would you saving us cause her to feel victory?"

"You will attempt to trap her. You will carry on as though we never had this conversation. You will take every precaution to make sure she is alone and helpless and you will trap her." An eyeridge rose. "It will not work, and you will be trapped."

She gave another slow nod, watching him closely, fingers white from digging into that damnable hilt.

"She will crucify you. Or something like that. You'll probably be facing each other. Or he'll be hanging over you. I don't know. She's moody when she thinks out loud about it." He waved it aside. "I will not be saving you." He put a finger up. "I will be punishing her. The distinction is important."

The sour look on her face indicated her displeasure at this plan, but her silence indicated acquiescence to his designs. "The distinction is important," she agreed. "We don't like it, but... aye." She purposely denoted the dual pronoun to let him know she had already silently conferred with Psly - there could be no plan without agreement from him - and had found it disgusting but necessary.

"If she thinks I'm saving you specifically, her victory will be denied." Blinking hard, coming back from some kind of daze. "That cannot be allowed. That is the point at which I will begin to distort things. And retrieve those abominations from her."

"And we will leave her alone as she does us." She finished. That tiny terrified quiver remained in her voice with those few words.

"Yes." Skid said easily. "Or your bull-headedness will undoubtedly strike a feud that will end with everyone either of you ever knew killing one another." Judging by the tone, he was talking about both of the women.

She suddenly fell back into the fountain, cascading water all about. What she meant to do was leap up to her feet, but she .... well. She tripped over herself. A dark, unbidden growl rumbled from deep within. "Skid, I need to go." Kids? Psly decided he needed to tell her he wanted kids now?

"We'd planned to trap her the night I dueled challenge next." Her words came quickly, perfunctorily. She suddenly had something else on her mind.

"Very well. I will see you when you need me most. Remember, we did not discuss this, and you will undoubtedly die if you deviate from this plan." He stood up, and stretched. "I wish I could say it was nice seeing you, Jaycy, but it wasn't." The ground at the side of the fountain to the left of Skid exploded, the debris and shrapnel of the piping beneath the ground moving out past him, then stopping and pulling him back into the ground where it had come from. When it settled, everything was as it should've been, but for the scent of burnt ash and oak, as well as an absence of Skid.

(( Adapted from live play! ))