unknownballad | Hybrid Kingdom PSL

Mhm. [He bobs his head in a single nod. Sorry, Dae-hyun, but Conor's so fiercely loyal to the people who sent Setekh away that all outsiders get the cover story and you counts as an outsider right now.] Asa and Ruth Kohiak, they - um -

[Hoo boy. Is it time? Maybe it's time.]

- it's a long story. But. Do you have time to visit right now?

(( There's still plenty of time before the hospital's visiting hours are over so, yeah, he has time to visit with Conor before heading out. Again, it's not like the mark is going to get up and find somewhere else to be. He pulls his hands out of his pockets and flops heavily into the chair beside him. ))

I have time.

[For a moment Conor thinks they should go somewhere else, somewhere more private - but if there's any place in the world where he can talk about this out in the open, it's the hotel. He's just hyper-aware of his own feelings of shame because it's Dae-hyun he's telling, and there's a fear starting to germinate in his heart that his favourite friend might not be as understanding as the other people in his life.]

There was... [His heart kicks into high gear just at the prospect of saying the c-word.] ... a big cult here in town. For a few years. Did you ever hear about it?

(( For someone as observant as Dae-hyun, it's easy to see the way the vein in Conor's neck starts to flutter. He doesn't have to have any sort of supernatural sense to know the kid's heart's pounding. Why wouldn't it? When they first met, he didn't talk about that at all. Probably for his own well-being as well as out of fear since that cult was still around. ))

Yeah, I heard a little. Just what I saw on the TV recently.

Well, um - Asa and Ruth bought this hotel to house people who were helping to take the cult down, and -

[Not quite true, but he doesn't know the finer financial details of their ownership and that's close enough. Besides, the really important and terrifying part to share is still coming up. With all his attention fixed on the thumbnail he's worrying away almost to the quick, he blurts out:]

- I was a member. For awhile. Two years. When I met you, I'd just done deprogramming.

(( Two years?!? But Conor's so young! The shock shows for just an instant on Dae-hyun's face in the way his jaw slacks enough for his lips to part and his eyes widen a minute fraction. ))

That's a long time. You doing okay out here?

(( 'Out here' as in 'away from the cult.' ))

I was 15 when he found me.

[Oh, Conor took the initiative to attend one of Set's raucous, energetic rallies, but he picked Conor out of a whole crowd waiting afterward to try and speak to the charismatic leader. He barely acknowledged anyone else and left the venue with Conor in tow. He took Conor to the large house that acted as their first compound so he could meet everyone that night.

Set found Conor, not the other way around.]

I... I think so? My brain is kind of - messed up, like I've got big holes in my memory and sometimes I think I'm back there, but I'm better than I was at the hospital.

Do you have a phone? I'll give you my number. You can call if you need anything. Any time, okay?

[Conor nods and pulls out his phone, but he wants to make very sure of one thing first - he doesn't want to go from Dae-hyun's friend to his responsibility, not when he's already got plenty of people looking out for him and Dae-hyun is meant to be special.]

That means just to talk or see each other too, right?

[His phone case is sturdy but plain. If Dae-hyun is close enough to watch him unlock it and pull up his contacts, he'll see two pictures: the lock screen has Conor and Daniel dressed for a court appearance, while his wallpaper shows a young man who looks strikingly similar to him and a well-dressed man with elegant features sitting together at a table with drinks in front of them.]

Hybrid Kingdom PSL

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