#/ she's rich as hell since she's enfurious night's widow so it's whatever

[astarab1aze]

hmmm.

in modern verse, sorti runs the escorting service faith works for. would explain why the mysterious man who approached and hired him doesn't really matter (he's an undead thrall anyway), and also why faith is so strong in his belief that exactly zero harm will come to him while he works for her, and even if he was, he would see some semblance of justice in the end. sorti's a complex woman - willing to commit unspeakable acts of violence and cruelty to get her way, but she's not an idiot. there's a time and a place for everything, and it's elementary: they'll perform better if they're not afraid, hooked on any substances, homeless, starving, or otherwise aggrieved. what's good for the goose is good for the gander anyway. a second chance in return for any inklings, whispers, implications, hints, rumors, references, anything that could possibly point her in the right direction. they were free to keep 100% of the money they earned, too, just as long as they did what she asked. such was the agreement with faith as well, in the end.

he doesn't care about all that though. he gives her every scrap of pertinent information he manages to squeeze out of certain clients, about the sanguine star or otherwise, though this is a treatment he reserves for clients he particularly dislikes (imagine what you'd have to do in order to find yourself in this category). he can keep a secret; the question is whether he will. self-preservation is arguably his strongest instinct and, if brought to tangible harm, he will divulge every secret he's gleaned, every single one - may hargraven and the fates have mercy on the stability of their life. one way or another, they won't be seeing him again. this is code for 'he isn't afraid to ruin anyone who abuses him, because sorti will do one of two things: kill them, or legally destroy them, no in between.' faith is also complex, happy to wash his hands of disliked clients the very minute he starts talking, but it isn't something he resorts to frequently. i'd say he's only done it once, and it's strictly, specifically because he was drugged and raped on two separate occasions, and he wasn't the only one. he's lucky he has excellent memory, damn near eidetic. otherwise, he's not so sure he nor any of the other victims would've seen any justice at all.

so there's a lot of give and take here. it's simple but complicated, and all very circumstancial. faith is a good person, but he's also incredibly flawed, willing to bear the shame so long as something is done about the people who victimize others. insodoing, the distance he's created between himself and the consequences of unpersoning someone else (regardless of context) deeply disturbs him. anyone could understand why a victim would kill their rapist, but taking someone's life, conceptually and in practice, is an entirely different matter, deserved or not. it isn't a righteous, triumphant feeling. it just makes him feel so sick, but something is better than nothing, and his morals are loose enough to accept what that means for him. vigilante justice, whatever form it takes, will always be faster than any sorcier or cop. he accepts everything about this even though it disgusts and even hurts him to. the logic is circularly punishing for him, so, for the most part, he simply ignores it. buries it a thousand miles under his cute, playful, freckly facade, makeup and shots of tequila (i lied, he drinks more than you think), and sex. expertly pretending everything is fine, getting up and going to work the next day as if nothing happened in the first place, he has never been touched by a violent man in his life or been spoiled in any way, no sir.

really helps that he gets to keep all of his earnings and maybe sometimes help others with just the right tidbits of information used at just the right times - and that he has very good friends in very high and low places.