home sweet home? (closed)

[bloodbathing]

Who: Leonard Church and Agents Washington, Texas, and Maine
What: Meetings, reunions, and definitely no awkwardness.
When: shortly after the April intro log
Where: Islet #4, Cottage #3
Warnings: canon typical language


[ What's better than a group of space marines with lots of interpersonal baggage? Plucking them all from different points in time, then shoving them in the same house and seeing what happens.

MINGLE POST. Make your own top-levels, tag around, go nuts. ]

Comments

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Okay! Okay. Tex is here. Tex is here, and she was in a different place after the EMP, annnnd she's got a squishy human body now he really wishes he could kiss (but hey, no reason they can't experiment with things later, just, maybe don't think about that right now, let's put that aside for the moment, thanks!), and things are more awkward than they should be but hey. That's pretty normal. Especially with Wash around being all...guilty and apologetic and...not a fucking prick except when he's terrible at explanations.

It's fine! This is all fine. He doesn't need to eat, doesn't really technically need to sleep but rests out of habit and help cut down on energy consumption, and even if he was out in the woods, sure, it'd be uncomfortable, but he's probably not gonna rot or anything. So he doesn't always stay at the cottage. Doesn't always feel like he's got much use here. Maybe he could learn to make some furniture? Thatch the roof? There's always letting out Ami to play and get sunshine.

But when he's not off exploring, meandering, he always ends up back here. It's slightly less lonely now. Makes him feel better. Especially with Tex. Who he's trying not to follow around like a creep. Give her some space. But god, it's hard.]

[a_shadow]

[ Tex notices. Doesn't say anything right away, but she notices. Church is always there. Well, not always. But he's watching and waiting often enough over the first little while she's on the island that she eventually starts casting looks at him when he's staring, thinking maybe he'll start to notice he's doing that. And when it happens often enough even then, she addresses it. ]

You can take pictures, you know.

[motherfucking_ghost]

I can't, actually.

...Sorry, was I--I was staring, wasn't I? Sorry. Are you okay?

[a_shadow]

I'm okay, geez.

[ She frowns at him briefly before making her expression more neutral, looking away and speaking more quietly. ]

I know you missed me. And Church, I missed you, too. Just don't... Just...

[ She doesn't know how to say what she means gently. She was holding a T-shirt; she puts it down and approaches him. But she doesn't look him in the face—in the visor. She keeps her gaze slightly off-center. ]

You can just be really intense, you know? And you're doing it a little bit and I don't want it to snowball. Because I'll get sick of it. And then...

[ She shrugs, still not looking at him. ]

I mean, you know. It's not pretty.

[motherfucking_ghost]

...Oh. And here I thought chicks dig intense guys.

Um, I can...I can back off. Just--I, I lost you, a couple times, and the last time was pretty...final.

[a_shadow]

I know, Church.

[ She seems to struggle with it for a moment before deciding to look him in the visor. ]

It was hard for me, you know. You not knowing who you were or what had happened to you.

[ She leaves it unsaid that she'd find this easier, too, if they could only be physical. It won't help. It's not like it's something that can be changed. But she's definitely having trouble being this open, too. She looks at his chest. ]

It's not going to be like it was in Blood Gulch. I'm not going to just run. I know it looked that way to you. But I really don't like being smothered, either.

[motherfucking_ghost]

[It's something he's only allowed himself to consider in the middle of the night, when there's almost no one else awake and Wash is still sound asleep. He doesn't like thinking about the ramifications of what he's found out, what he learned, what he knows to be true even though he doesn't want to admit to it. Because admitting to it would somehow make it more real.

That his memories before Blood Gulch aren't real, were never real. Maybe even Sidewinder wasn't real--he doesn't know. But Tex does. Tex knew. Tex knew all along and didn't say anything and he wants to hate her for that but he also doesn't want to think about how she knew because it means admitting his entire life is one giant lie.

So it takes a while to even formulate a response, mostly because he didn't expect her to just put that out in the open like that. He doesn't know how to approach that topic. So, for now, maybe try to avoid it. Focus on something else.]

Does not being smothered also mean not looking at me?

[a_shadow]

[ Touche, she might say. She doesn't, though. ]

Yeah, sometimes.

[ She looks up at him again, though—because of course he's taller than her and god she hates this stupid organic body—takes his hand, and just kind of...looks at him. For a good long moment. She's not normally this open, not during the time they had in Blood Gulch, not when they were reunited in the Meta, and certainly not the first time he was on the Moira. She tried a different tack when he was there the second time, but it was too much, too fast, and she's trying to be more measured this time around.

She's not sure how successful she's being at that.

She squeezes his hand, then lets it go. ]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[It's such a stark contrast to how they were. Bickering and annoying and brushing up against loving until the well-meaning insults took over. 'Asshole' was basically synonymous with 'babe', and now that she's here and it's not that, he has to wonder...why. Why it was that. Why did he think of her as someone that stole his money, and why did he think of them both sleeping around, and why did he think they were going to get married but that Freelancer took her and changed her and did she know? Did she know the whole time that it was wrong and she just...played along with it?

Why put up with that? Why did he do any of that, and why did she let it happen, and...is it really her that's different, or just circumstances leading her to act less like Badass Freelancer For Hire Tex and more like...just Tex. Texas. Beta?

He doesn't know where it leaves them. And he wants to get mad. Because that's always the default reaction. But not with this. This just leaves him disoriented, confused, elated, skittish.

He wishes she didn't let go, but he keeps himself for reaching back for her hand.]

Oh.

[And now he's being a creep and she just can't look at him sometimes. Okay. This is fine. He can deal with this. Just...stop being weird.]

Well--well, good thing there are different rooms, and plenty to do around here, and I'm not always gonna be around watering holes except to talk to people, obviously, so...I'll. I'll back off. You can give me a punch if I'm being too, uh, intense. Friendly punch! Arm punch, not, y'know, not punch-punch.

[Just having her around is good enough. It has to be.]

[a_shadow]

Ugh.

[ She reaches out and shoves his arm. ]

Don't do that either. I know it'll be better when we've both gotten a chance to get used to this, okay? Just don't act like I'm...I don't know, a museum piece.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Ha, see, like that! [Arm shoving. Like. Play punching. See?]

Man, you're not giving me a whole lot of options here, Tex. You don't really want me just hanging around, and I'm not--I'm not trying to treat you like anything else, I just know we need some, I dunno, time? To re-sort ourselves out.

[a_shadow]

Goddammit, Church.

[ She rolls her eyes, frowning. ]

I don't mind if you're hanging around. Just don't stare at me. It makes me feel like...like...

[ She knows how it makes her feel, but she doesn't know how to say it in a way that doesn't blame him for being in a robot. She looks fully off to the side. ]

Fuck.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Then you can just say 'hey dipshit, quit staring at me' instead of acting...weird!

[counterblows]

[Thank god it didn't take a dedicated search to hunt Church down, because Wash is already jittery enough without adding "robot retrieval" to his to-do list. His helmet is off, which lends a perfect insight into the state of his frayed nerves. He looks like he's just seen a ghost.]

[This isn't entirely off the mark.]

Church? [God, this is gonna suck.]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[...This is bad. This is bad. Whatever it is, it's bad, and he's not sure he wants any part of it.]

What happened?

[counterblows]

Nothing happened. [Oh my god Wash you liar.] Well. People have started showing up. I wasn't sure who you've seen...yet.

[IT'S NOT BAD. NOT YET.]

[motherfucking_ghost]

Oh, yeah, no I'm pretty well aware of Tex, dude.

[counterblows]

Not Tex. Though it's - good you know that she's here. Good. [He didn't wanna be the one to do that bombshell, thanks.] It's, uh.

[Just spit it out.]

[So he does, with a wince.]

It's Maine. He...you remember him. What he - what Freelancer turned him into.

[motherfucking_ghost]

...The Meta, who's a Freelancer, that you neglected to mention.

He's here?

I can't jump into his head, but if he decides to rip out my brain, I'm blaming you.

[counterblows]

He's not the Meta.

[The words are sharper than he intends.]

The Meta is what he was turned into. I didn't mention that Maine was a Freelancer because the Meta wasn't Maine anymore.

[motherfucking_ghost]

What the fuck does THAT mean?!

[It explodes out, but in an instant, it's like he tries to suck it back in. A hand to his faceplate like he's going to pinch his nose he doesn't have.] NO, no, wait, hold on, this is... [He'd been in there, after all.] I'd hope Freelancer didn't recruit all sociopaths. You mean this is...before. Before he became the fucking Meta. He used to be like a normal person? Or, I mean, normal as far as Freelancer baseline goes.

[counterblows]

No. It doesn't only recruit - what do you think?

[He's barely grinding that out through gritted teeth.]

Yes. Before he became the Meta. He wasn't always...look, yes, you're right. Before then, he was one of us. He was my friend.

[motherfucking_ghost]

I'm gonna assume that's a rhetorical question, because you really won't like my answer otherwise.

...So like should I still hide or...?

[counterblows]

No. No, you don't have to hide or anything. Just...don't freak out if you see him. He knows that...he knows part of your situation. Not all of it. I wasn't sure how to tell him all of it. Just enough so that you guys wouldn't think you were trying to kill each other if you met.

[This new "telling people things" shtick is hard man.]

[motherfucking_ghost]

How sure are you that he doesn't want to kill us and rip out the armor mods and electronic bits? Other than you being alive and not dead. Because I almost put a rocket through his skull and he definitely shot you.