Dreams of Fire

[Thalia]

Not under arrest. Check. That was a good thing - what the hell would Aylin have said if she had been? Let alone her parents. She chewed on the gingerbread while she listened, expression attentive, though within her thoughts wandered. It seemed they wanted to know a lot, and though Thalia was happy to answer, she wasn't sure how much she had of worth to say. Particularly the last one.

"Okay." There was uncertainty in her tone, a hint of curiosity in the tilt of her head. She helped herself to another piece of Tula gingerbread, poured some water into a plastic cup, and settled in her seat to accept the interrogation to come.

Of Katya she was effusive; she had liked the girl, who she explained had come over to ask if she was okay (she rather brushed over the why). She'd had a laptop with her - she was on her way to work, though Thalia had not pursued that line of questioning and did not share her suspicions that Kat had landed her job by dishonest means. "Sometimes you just like someone," she said, like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. It downturned the corners of her lips when the immediate affinity she had felt was finally confronted with Kat's death. She forced a smile, but it fluttered away sadly. "We were going to stop for a cup of tea, before she had to be at work."

They'd spoken of art, since that was what Thalia did for a living. Her brow wrinkled as the scene broadened, and she tried to answer in a way that made consecutive sense. "No. She didn't say anything unusual, or weird. After the train stopped, Dane and... and Jon, they both got up to check the other passengers. I didn't notice either of them until then. Dane came and sat with us. He offered us sweets. Wait, no, Kat didn't take one. I did. It was lemon." She still had the wrapper.

"It's all confusing after that. Dane and I were talking. I remember Kat got up, she was trying to get a signal on her Wallet. People were screaming and looking out the windows, but I stayed in my seat. I don't know what they were looking at. I never saw anything. I never looked." The lightness of Thalia's answers darkened after that; the strain left a permanent frown between her eyes. She paused for sip of water. Something had emanated from Katya the moment before she'd dropped her Wallet, something Thalia could barely comprehend let alone explain. The longer she thought about it, the hazier the memory got. Nothing had happened.

"She just. She just fell. I went to help her up. She was afraid to go the hospital. She was clammy, unresponsive." Her voice trailed off. She was just picking at the gingerbread now, and her eyes had dipped. The Chief Inspector was encouraging, of course; coaxed her with patient understanding. Would he wonder why she'd been unafraid to sit so close so someone so obviously Sick? Practically the whole train had panicked, but not her. "I held her hand. I held it until she died."

"Jon." The careful way she said his name each time, it was as if she expected it to rear up and bite her. "He never came over until after Kat had fallen and I helped her back into her seat. He attacked Dane, I think. I'm not really sure. He shouted. And he ran at him, I think. He must've pushed him over. And he called me someone else's name - I don't know him, we've never met. Maybe he thought Dane had hurt Katya? I don't know why though." Her words were running together, knitting a frantic and distorted picture, so she was glad when the questioning eased to another subject.

"Dane told us he was a lord. I don't know why he lied. He was a bit... snobbish, you know? But nice enough." She shrugged. "He didn't do anything antagonistic, that I saw. Do they know each other maybe? Jon? I don't know. He seemed... ordinary enough. He tried to calm every one down. People were just screaming and screaming and trying to rush off. He said it wasn't contagious. Then he fell too. Dane went to him. I don't know if he... I don't know if he died too. I didn't want to go near the body."