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Back when I arrived (the first time), someone posted this. It was a lot of fun, so I thought I'd do it tonight. It's better than staring at this data and willing it to change.

Word association. Reply with the first word that comes to mind. No cheating.

To start us off: help.

[ ooc: threadjacking is not only allowed, but fully encouraged! go nuts, people. ]

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[The change to video takes her off guard, Kate momentarily startled by the appearance of Klaus on her screen.

She manages to find composure in the form of a small smile; a sincerity, and softness in her eyes that might suggest, the apology is born from regret at how things went, and not because she's trying to do damage control.

She's also, not going to be able to keep up the single word replies.]

Yes, it is. You were nothing but kind to me and... [Kate hesitates, struggling to find the right words.] I helped to create that situation, and I'm sorry.

[ oddly enough, klaus does not doubt the integrity of her motives; already he's decided she is much too sweet to consider anything less dignified. (she is sweet, perhaps, but he'll guess not entirely innocent. no one willingly in the company of monsters stays so, or was so.)

neither would he fault her for attempts at damage control; in its own way, he knows what this is regardless. klaus' lips pull down in an equivalent of a shrug; he leans forward and weaves his fingers together. ] It seems as if Richie created that situation and you did nothing but suffer for it, but... I am glad to see you are safe.

[A faint grimace touches her lips, Kate it appears uneasy with anything being said against Richie and yet she knows that given what had happened? Klaus had every reason to lay the blame, solely at his feet.

Her mouth falls open at the implication of his words, though, Kate's uneasiness lost in her haste to make one thing clear.]

Richie would never hurt me. [She believes that too, despite all the reasons she has to think otherwise.] That's... why he was so, abrasive.

[There was more to it, a suspicion that to Kate's mind, bordered on paranoia but she now suspected his reaction had more to do with their disagreement days before than anything Klaus had said or done.]

We'd only just arrived in Wonderland and, he has good reasons for not trusting people easily. He's not a bad person, he's just... protective.

[ perhaps that's true, that richie would never maliciously hurt her. perhaps it's true he has reason to fret and play the protective suitor, but klaus is much too perceptive and experienced on both sides of this equation to not recognize earnest defenses, no matter what truth they may hold, when he hears them.

klaus winces just so and looks away. detached though he is from any true concern for kate and more interested in richie himself, he doesn't temper it. ] Protective enough to become a monster?

[Despite bracing for this subject to come up, there is a perceptible flinch at the word monster, Kate's gaze dipping to mask a hurt that appears to be rooted in guilt, rather than anger.

She cannot judge Klaus for his words. She'd said similar herself, to her own brother.]

He is not, a monster. [Her voice gentle as she looks to her device once more, as if she can pass some kind of meaning through to him by doing so.] But he is different, yes.

[There was no point trying to lie about it. She'd seen exactly what Klaus had seen and any attempt at misdirection would only make Richie look worse.]

[ it doesn't particularly matter to klaus whether richie is seen as a monster or not, nor would he go to such lengths to truly believe his accusation: after all, he has no place to talk against monsters, in more ways than one. (though it won't stop him, if he so decides it necessary.)

but that guilt she shows is a notable thing; perhaps even interesting (affecting—did she think it once? does she truly feel so responsible? is this what he's done to those he loves?) besides that which he truly wants to know. klaus says nothing, merely lifts his chin. he sees little point to do or say else, his lips parting and the look in his eyes questioning, waiting. if it's guilt she feels, then why wouldn't she want to confess? ]

[His silence is easily perceived as disbelief and she feels an ache spread from the tightness in her chest, Kate leaning closer to her device. As if she might have reached for his hand and pled with him to believe her, if not for the physical distance between them.]

He's not. [But gentle insistences that bordered on desperation, had never won an argument and her gaze drops, Kate staring at her hands in the hopes that they carry the words she needs.]

Haven't you ever - [Gaze lifting once more.] - crossed a line for all the right reasons, even though your actions proved to be... misguided at best?

[Another flicker of guilt, as Kate could have just as easily been talking about herself, as she was Richie.]

[ he cannot say he hasn't, that he doesn't, that he won't. that's exactly what strains him with agitation inside to answer, apart from how this is not the road he'd like to follow. (he wants to have this conversation to find out about richie, not to acknowledge and reflect on his own misdeeds. not to remember them, not to be vulnerable to that which he has barred himself.)

she's right, but others (she) does still suffer for it, no matter how that flicker of guilt may imply that she could share the mantle. (no one's hands are fully clean.)

klaus bows his head for a moment, avoids her eyes. ] I suppose we all have, in our own ways.

[ it's a risk, to be so straight forward. kate is no doubt loyal to a fault, but she is also giving; understanding. perhaps she believes she could owe him this. perhaps the affected look in his eyes can work to his favor; it's not a lie.

if there is an enemy or a potential one here, he is afraid. he does need to know. ] What is he?

[She can't deny that much, that she suffered for Richie's behavior, but like she did for so many of the people in her life, Kate found a way to excuse it, justify it, or the softer explanation that she preferred to think of it as; to understand it. This was not the first time she'd been put in this position, nor would it likely be the last.

Something close to relief touches her features, Kate exhaling the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Klaus acknowledging that much at least gave her hope that she could sway him with her assurances, that Richie hadn't done too much damage in the space of five minutes. Why his opinion should matter all that much, was perhaps a mystery and yet? He'd been kind to her, which while not much to most, meant more to Kate than she could put into words.

There was, however, a line that even she's unwilling to cross and Klaus would see the blood drain from her cheeks, her lips press together as those three words give her pause.]

That's... [Beyond merely uncomfortable, the question appears to cause her some measure of pain. She didn't like to lie, not even to a perfect stranger and for her, concealing the truth was doing just that and yet Richie would likely see it as a betrayal, especially considering he'd made his distrust of Klaus perfectly clear.]

What he is, it shouldn't matter more than who he is.

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