#cultural worldbuilding (see the endnotes for an actual recording of me singing an imperial victory song)

[monocytogenes]

The Kindness You Give - read on ao3

Feeling guilty for going along with Ardun Kothe's plan to preemptively force his new colleague's compliance, Chance seeks out a hesitant friendship with Cipher Nine-turned-Legate. As he brushes up against the limits of his own courage and Legate's increasingly unstable behavior threatens their newfound trust, in a moment of crisis, he makes a terrible choice.

(A relationship study, and a tragedy in retrospect.)

Excerpt:

Legate massages his forehead. Chance watches him askance, thinking again of that back office, of Legate’s vacant eyes and stringed-puppet gestures; wonders, abruptly, if the keyword hurts, like the searing pinch of a migraine. “I can’t believe they did that,” Legate says, soft and halting. “To me.” They. As the shadows ravel and shift with the turn of Chance’s head, the word hangs leaden with layers of blame: Hunter, Wheel, Saber. Kothe. Imperial Intelligence. Not Chance. Chance exhales, the guilt a nagging ache; his words come wobbly, like a confession. “...I-it was cruel.” Legate nods. “You—” he says, floundering. “I’m sorry; I don’t know what I can do to—to—” “Don’t leave me alone with them,” pleads Legate, voice thin, face glistening with moisture. “Please.”