Heart to Heart (c)

[Sammie]

"Well, he saved mine too, so it's definitely worth helping him out in return," she said, recalling how he'd pushed her down once the bullets started flying at Eastman's.

[Wraith]

Wraith nodded, then blinked. It was only just hitting her that there was something about the way Sammie talked about Goblin... "Well, he's a good guy," she said simply as they approached Duane Street.

[Sammie]

"Does he always get in trouble?" asked Sammie curiously. If he was capable of bringing down Eastman, who knows what else he could do?

[Wraith]

She chuckled darkly. "It's a family curse, I think. And he's worse than I am. But I think he's gotten most of it out of his system now that the Refuge is going down." She turned the corner, her expression a bit doubtful. "Well...I hope so, anyway."

[Sammie]

"There something I should worry about?" asked Sammie, more out of caution than worry.

[Wraith]

She thought about how to answer that. "Have you ever met someone who's really smart? Like...frighteningly smart? Not the kind of smart that involves books and figures and that kind of thing, but...people-smart." She bit her lip, wondering if this was making any sense.

"I mean, when we were little, Sebastian didn't really play with other kids much. Instead, he'd stand around watching them and figuring out things about them. And then he'd make up his own games, like telling Jane Simmons that Bob Parker was sweet on Violet Evans. Which was a lie, but it made Jane give up on Bob and let Arthur Hawkins court her instead. That meant Arthur wasn't around to be all overprotective of his kid sister, Frances, which meant that Sebastian was free to make his move and ask Frances to the next dance." She raised an eyebrow at Sammie. "When someone's mind works that way, you don't know what he'll do next, even if he is your brother."

[Sammie]

"And he's always been that way?" said Sammie, finally getting some insight into how Sebastian worked. She knew that he definitely had people-smarts but not the way that Clara just described.

[Wraith]

"Pretty much," Wraith said. She had a pretty good idea of why her brother was the way he was, but it wasn't her business to delve into that with a third party. "You'll have to ask him if you want to know why." She climbed the steps of the lodging house.

[Sammie]

Sammie nodded, staying quiet. She wasn't about to pry -- then again, Sebastian was just so darn interesting.

"You think he's doing alright?"

[Wraith]

"I think so," she murmured, opening the door and pausing on the threshold. "I...I never knew Riddle except for what Goblin told me, which was mostly just the terrible things she did, so it's hard for me to comment on...on that." One thing was certain--Sebastian was feeling something about her death, and it wasn't relief.

[Sammie]

"Me neither," said Sammie truthfully. "I knew her for a short time, maybe not enough to get to know her..."

[Wraith]

"Well, I think he's better off without her," Wraith said rather coldly, heading inside and holding the door for Sammie. "But for him, I'm sure it's more complicated than that."

[Sammie]

"I'd rather not get into any of that drama," said Sammie dryly. The last thing she wanted was baggage following them around.

[Wraith]

Wraith gave her a half-smile. "If you don't want drama, maybe you shouldn't stick with Sebastian." Her suspicion was growing stronger, but she said nothing about it, just made her way toward the infirmary to check up on her brother.

[Sammie]

Sammie stayed quiet, suddenly doubting why she was sticking around him in the first place. Once they reached the infirmary, she quietly knocked on the door and peeked inside. "Hello?"