[closed] So no one told you life was gonna be this way

[a_shadow]

Who: Church (motherfucking_ghost), Agent Texas (a_shadow), Agent Maine (bloodbathing), and Agent Washington (counterblows)
What: Trying to make things less awkward than they are
When: Early May
Where: Islet #4, Cottage #3
Warnings: Canon typical language

[ After running into one another in various stages of their lives, everyone in the household is stuck dealing with the fallout. In other words it's time for another MINGLE POST, baby. Make it count. ]

Comments

maine + possible ami

[bloodbathing]

[ Know what Maine absolutely 100% does not want to fucking do? Talk about what happened. Or talk in general. Or do much of anything that doesn't involve strenuous physical activity. Because that, at least, is enjoyable. It gets his blood pumping and turns off any unpleasant thoughts. It feels good.

So Maine spends as much of his time outside the house as possible. Usually, he's on a different island entirely. But when he comes back in the evenings and at mealtimes, he almost always winds up pinned in by Ami.

Either the tigerlily has decided that Maine isn't giving her enough attention, or she can sense a lot more distress than he's letting show.

When he's not scarfing down food or trying to fend off Ami, Maine can be found tending to his equipment in the evenings. ]

[a_shadow]

She can be really persistent.

[ Yes, Tex has exited her room to witness Maine trying to dissuade the tigerlily from bothering him. She stands in her room's doorway, crossing her arms and leaning against the jamb. ]

I guess you just have to be more persistent.

[bloodbathing]

[ Maine glances up at those words, meeting Texas' eyes with a slight frown. He then turns the look to Ami and attempts (yet again) to gently nudge her away from him. The tigerlily is having none of it; she pushes up against him all the more.

Pressing his lips together, Maine exhales a long, annoyed breath through his nose. Short of bodily shoving the animal aside, he really doesn't know how to get away from her. ]

[a_shadow]

[ Tex clicks her tongue at Ami and starts toward the shelves at the side of the room. Ami, like any animal that thinks it's about to get a treat, leaves Maine's side and comes panting over to her.

Tex stops and bends to scratch Ami's scruff. ]

She thought I was about to get her some jerky. Washington said not to give her any more, though, so I guess I don't get to reward her for that.

[bloodbathing]

[ That seems less like persistence and more like a bribe to Maine. But hey, it worked.

The big Freelancer moves away from the corner Ami had pinned him in. He's not eager to get boxed in again if she decides to circle back. ]

Why?

[ Why the ban on jerky, he means. ]

[a_shadow]

She's part plant, she makes her own food.

[ She shrugs. ]

Between you and me, I still give her the occasional piece. But not enough to give her meat breath. That's how Washington caught me before.

[bloodbathing]

[ He tilts his head slightly, looking at the tigerlily and considering — perhaps for the first time — her dietary needs. ]

Healthy?

[counterblows]

[Wash has been purposefully steering clear of the house. But, eventually, things come to a head. Eventually, circumstances conspire to bring him and Maine in the vicinity of one another, and this time there's a tigerlily trapping them into an interaction that neither of them want to have.]

[Without a helmet on, the reluctance to engage is evident on Wash's face.]

...hey, buddy.

[bloodbathing]

[ The reluctance is mutual, though on Maine's face it shows in the absence of expression. All emotion wiped neatly away, presenting purposefully blank stoicism instead. Not something Maine usually shows Wash. Not something he usually feels he needs to.

Thing is, Maine doesn't know how to approach emotion-laden situations on a good day. Not unless the emotion is rage. And sure, he's pissed off — but he's not pissed at Wash. It's not Wash's fault that their pasts were put on display. Not Wash's fault that such private things were exposed.

Still, Maine doesn't know how the fuck to handle this. So he keeps his face blank, and he nods a greeting. ]

[counterblows]

[A blank wall. It's an unfamiliarity wrapped in sickening familiarity - like addressing the Meta. Did that come trickling out? What else came boiling to the surface that shouldn't have?]

[Think of making a tasteless joke. Think of trying the feel of unfamiliar names on his tongue. Think of offering information that the Project would have explicitly discouraged discussion of, as if in compensation. He tells Church too much and he tells Maine too little. Tex knows more than she should and does more with what she knows than he ever could.]

[He didn't have a plan for how this conversation could, or should go. Hates improvising. Was arguably better at it than he wanted to be.]

How've you been?

[An...auspicious start.]

[bloodbathing]

[ Fortunately, the Meta's mind isn't something that Maine had to encounter. He only had to deal with the body. His body. It's not something that he wants to ask about. Not something he wants to think about, either.

Wash speaks, and it's … awkward. That wouldn't be unusual if it were the sort of verbal stumbling that Maine used to hear from the rookie, but that's not what this is. It's the situation. It's them. They're awkward.

Maine doesn't like it.

He raises his eyebrows in a silent, succinct answer: "Really?" and "Have to ask?" ]

[counterblows]

Yeah. Yeah, I know.

[A breathy sound, a rocking downward slope of his shoulders, and one hand goes to the back of his neck, tracing the lump of keloid there. It's an instinct he hasn't realized that he has, and has had ever since Epsilon.]

[Something that was so far in his past and yet hasn't even occurred in Maine's future. How the hell does he reconcile the two?]

I figured you probably don't really want to talk about it. So we don't have to do that. But if it's an issue - I mean, if someone found out something that you'd rather them not know - is there anyone we need to keep an eye on?

[bloodbathing]

[ The corner of Maine's mouth turns down slightly as he presses his lips together. As far as he's concerned, everyone his younger-self met knows something that he doesn't want them to know. He'd introduced himself each time: "PFC Agnarsson." Fortunately, Wash is the only one who got the first name — along with a hell of a lot more.

Short of finding a way to rip the memories out of people's heads, however, there's fuck all Maine can do about it. And it's not a security risk. Not here.

Instead, he considers the odd kid that approached him while he was unable to speak. ]

Maybe. Weird girl. Preteen, blonde. Said, 'A.I.s can't leave bodies. Don't try anything.'

[ Maine shrugs. He has no fucking idea who she was or what she was talking about. ]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Church tries to be out of the house often. But then, being off the islets isn't safe, entirely, and there's only so long he can hang around the mountain temple before he gets so utterly bored, but he's sure he can find other places to direct his nervous energy! Explorations or trying to find useful shit!

Not by talking about things, that's for sure. Like, talking about any other thing, sure, probably, but not about...Things.

Huh this all sounds pretty familiar...]

[a_shadow]

[ Tex is in the front room, petting Ami, when Church happens to wander back in from being out. She had sort-of kind-of been waiting for him, so she's not surprised. ]

Church.

[ She doesn't look at him, or call out in a loud tone. It's as if she's saying the word to the tigerlily. ]

[motherfucking_ghost]

...Tex. [This is all going to be fine, he's sure.]

[a_shadow]

[ She looks at him now, patting Ami to encourage her to jump down. She rises and gestures with her head to the bedroom. She's not going to say they need to talk—that's way too cliche—but it's obvious that's what she wants. That and privacy. ]

[motherfucking_ghost]

Uuuuuugh, do we have to? [He whines, but he follows anyway, shoulders slumped.]

[a_shadow]

[ Tex frowns at him, with a sharp-eyed look. It's something of a warning. ]

You want to put it off?

[motherfucking_ghost]

For forever, yeah.

[counterblows]

[The bad news is that the past few weeks have made the good news awkward, and the good news is that Wash has a xiphos for Church because he said he'd get him a sword and he had the stories to burn so he...got him a sword. All the cleaning equipment and whatnot included.]

[There's probably no elegant way to go ahead and broach the topic. So Wash doesn't bother with prefacing. He just...holds up the sword.]

So, uh. I got you this?

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Interacting with a younger, doofier Wash wasn't in itself bad. Just...everything before had been angry/awkward, and...well, that shit's sometimes hard to deal with.

So yeah, he forgot Wash literally said he'd give him a sword. Maybe normally Church would've taken this in stride! Swish swish stab, motherfuckers! But at the moment, he eyes the gifts warily. As...warily as a mirror-reflected helmet visor can.]

You sure that's a good idea?

[counterblows]

[Nothing like a consolation gift to smooth over the rough landing. Right? Right?]

I have no idea.

[He can be honest about that, at least. Yeah, give Church something sharp and pointy and capable of knocking things over. This won't go wrong at all.]

Maybe Tex can teach you how to use it. I'm not sure why I said I'd do this, but I did, so...it's yours, now.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Because you're a paranoid shithead who doesn't trust me with a gun. [Which is! Perfectly valid!!! But he doesn't want to give Wash that inch right now.

Tentatively, Church takes the sword. Hefts it a little to feel it out.] You know this almost feels like a blinking neon sign over your head. 'Please stab me if I start pissing you off' or something.

...Hard to imagine you were such a fuckin' dweeb when you were...slightly younger.

[counterblows]

Because you can't aim for shit with a gun, and ammo is limited anyway, asshole. Wouldn't be the first time I've been stabbed.

[It's without any bite whatsoever. He's fully ready to just let the conversation go toward the care and keeping of swords, but nope, Church actually went there. He went there first. Wash is going to remember that.]

You really wanna go there?