in_theworks | inbox_a bastard son and a rebel

( Her eyebrows arch somewhat high, and her mouth twitches a bit, as if threatening an amused smile. The joke would've left Emilia flustered prior to going back home. Pre-beacon Emilia hadn't met Gluttony and hadn't attended his NC-17 parties. But once you're familiar with his tryst gardens...

She eyes him with exaggerated skepticism. How is it that he would say...? )

You're pulling at my legs again, aren't you?

[gently, he corrects:] Leg, singular.

And eh? [he shrugs] I'd say my anaconda prefers buns, but not necessarily that it doesn't want none unless you got buns, hon.

[a pause follows, largely for effect, that said. it's just shy of going on too long before, finally, he admits:] Nah, I'm just fucking with you. It's from a song, where I'm from.

( In many ways, Wrench and Emilia are still learning each other's languages, with or without translators. But she doesn't particularly need a translator this time, even before Wrench acknowledges he's fucking with her.

Emilia huffs out a soft snort. )

Songs about buns and anacondas sung by spin doctors. California sounds like an interesting place, Wrench.

Yeah, something like that.

[does she realize what he's actually talking about, when he says buns and anacondas? does he really want to know, either way? probably not, in both cases, and so he's more than willing to shrug it off with a bright (^_^) before he lets himself sober a little]

Seriously, though. What do you want me to talk about? Because I always kinda failed this part, in school. [or at least got as flippant as he did, just now, to avoid saying anything of consequence. he doesn't necessarily feel like he needs to push her away, right now, though. maybe it's because she's starting to feel like someone he can trust]

( that is the question, isn't it?

when they met, Wrench wielded a similar flippancy to conceal what Emilia now understands was apprehension. she couldn't possibly blame him for that, considering how eager many are to exploit a weakness. she herself has learned to better hide her soft spots, or to sharpen them where needed.

the alternative was to be consumed by the underworld, or defeated by its princes.

she wouldn't want to broach a topic Wrench may be uncomfortable with, but she'd also like to know him better. neither of them have an issue with telling someone to fuck off if they must, so she trusts in that, as well. that he'll tell her if she crosses a line, as she's more than capable of handling that. )

Did you? Were you close to anyone? ( anyone that might've made it less difficult to share. )

In school? Pfft, nah. No one wanted to be friends with the kid voted Most Likely to Call in a Bomb Threat.

[no one wanted to be friends with him because of the way he looked. he got weird and loud as a response to that. he was small and quiet and shy, once. he still is, underneath it all, he's just very reluctant to show it, because yeah, like she said -- or didn't]

I've got some people I'm close to now, though.

[a beat]

I'm kind of -- I'm part of this collective of hackers? People like me who can manipulate the internet. [people who do his brand of magic, if they're still going with that metaphor] And we're all kind of tight.

( Vittoria would have liked him, is what Emilia thinks with a small and aching pang. She spent her own days playing pranks on people, the irreverent twin to Emilia's dutiful one. She liked being outrageous. Maybe that's part of why she has found a fondness for it in Wrench.

... Also, thanks to him, she knows what the internet and hacking is, so she's keeping up! )

Would they, too, be voted Most Likely to Call in a Bomb Threat?

( It feels like a kinder question to ask from the get go than do you miss them? )

Noooooooot exactly? [a beat] I mean, like, they're all for doing some questionable shit, or they wouldn't be hackers in the first place. [even if DedSec mostly uses its powers for good] But ... Marcus is usually the one talking me out of the explosions.

He's a cinnamon roll.

[too good for this world, too pure. he misses him deeply]

Cinnamon roll.

( That's not a concept that Wrench has introduced her to, for all that he is her go-to for tutelage on all things modern. The context is illuminating enough. She thinks he would've found her a cinnamon roll at the beginning, too. Soft and naive. All she'd wanted was to cook and read books and weave flowers into her hair. That person died alongside Vittoria. Emilia is still, in some ways, learning the unforgiving and savage person that emerged from those ashes. )

Unlike us.

( Everyone at the tower that day revealed pieces of their souls, in some way or another. Something too heavy for that. )

Yeah.

Marcus was still a good guy, despite all the shit he'd been through, you know? [Marcus is a black man -- a black man who was abused by the system and blamed for a crime he didn't commit just because he happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong skin color. and somehow, while it absolutely gave him a taste for getting back at the man and doing right by the little guy, Marcus has managed to do it without developing the same sort of deep seated anger that he has. Marcus is, in fact, too good] Sometimes, I wonder why he put up with my shit.

[with that anger. with that heaviness]

Perhaps he saw something in you that you've yet to see in yourself.

( That in itself is telling, as the man Wrench describes is an admirable man indeed. Someone that remains kind in the face of the world's cruelty — Emilia cannot say she's done the same. Her kindness has not been snuffed out, but she turned to vengeance the night she stumbled on her sister's desecrated corpse.

She hasn't really stopped turning to it. )

I'm really not sure what there is to see, but ...

[but Marcus has always seen him, even before the shit with the FBI, so it stands to reason. Wrench isn't sure what he sees, what's so great about him, mind, but -- but he's not going to say any of that, because it would ruin the persona he's worked so hard on maintaining. they're getting there, but they're not quite there yet]

[he turns the question back at her, that in mind] You have any Cinnamon Rolls at home?

[Wrath sure isn't one]

Those that care for us catch sight of us from a different vantage point, for better and worse.

( the people that care for them are able to see things they might not see in themselves.

Wrench's question gives her pause, as she'd been ruminating on that very subject. )

No. Not anymore. Fauna, perhaps, but ( the corners of her mouth lift ) her sense of humor might be dirtier than yours.

[he gasps comically, one hand coming up to rest over his heart as the mask jumps from (!_!) to (<3_<3)]

Someone with a dirtier sense of humor than me? Be still my heart!

[he holds there just long enough, just for effect, then drops his hands into his lap]

Seriously, though. Tell me about her?

( A small laugh.

She is trying to picture Fauna and Wrench in the same room, and it does make her smile. She misses her friend. Emilia doesn't have too many of those. She never has, at first because she was a witch in hiding, and now... why ever would she invite someone to join her on the road she's going down? )

Fauna is what you would describe, I believe, as a little hard core. She fastens little animal skulls in her hair. She likes arboriculture but also being scandalous. There's not a weapon she wouldn't arm herself with, I don't think.

( She's also... not human. But they'll get to that. )

Okay, but seriously. [he puts both hands over his heart] I think I'm in love.

[a beat]

You think she'd be into monster trucks?

[it's hard to tell if he's honestly asking, or just giving her more of an opportunity to talk about her friend. it could go either way. it could go both ways]

( Her laughter subsides following that beat, and she tilts her head to the side. Tries to envision these monster trucks he has spoken about. They were very much not a Thing in her world and her time period, but Wrench does have a way of painting a vivid picture. )

You know, I think so.

( She lightly nudges his shoulder. Or tries to. These suits are murder. )

I think she'd like you and Marcus, too.

( Emilia doesn't want to forget to acknowledge this person, this person who is important to him, and that he trusted her with that, too. )

[he nudges back, best he can]

Pfft, like that's hard. Everyone loves Marcus.

[Marcus is just -- he's a good man. (^_^) he might have kind of crushed on him, if he didn't know Marcus wasn't entirely straight. best friend he can make dick jokes with works just as well, though. he wouldn't trade their relationship for the world]

But yeah, maybe one day, you can introduce us.

[because that'll totally happen. he wants to pretend it's plausible, right now, though]

( A genuine smile tugs on her face. )

Perhaps one day I can, Wrench.

( That it is not probable doesn't mean it isn't possible, especially with these beacons in play. She wouldn't want Fauna here any more than Wrench would Marcus, but it could happen. There's very little Emilia rules out, preferring instead to be ready for most anything.

Silence settles between them, for a bit, and she lets it. It's the comfortable sort.

She's aware she risks ruining that by what she says next. ) May I ask you something? It's about that day in the tower.

[she doesn't ruin it, per se, but there's a definite shift in his mood. he figures he knows what she's going to ask, and -- well, at least it's her. despite their rocky start, she's probably the person she trusts the most, here]

As long as I can, like, reserve the right not to answer or whatever.

[but he probably will answer. probably]

I would like to think that goes with anything we ask each other.

( In a strange turn of events, that they are both mistrusting allows them a measure of trust with each other in turn, if only for this unspoken understanding. She respects there are parts of himself he is not willing to give. Especially in worlds like this one, where they must be on guard. )

I suppose it's not a question, really. At least, not entirely. We just never spoke of it. There was never time. It felt odd to not acknowledge that I saw you. ( That she knows why he wears the mask that he does. )

Cool.

[and then she makes her statement, and sighs, deflating a little. he knew where this was going, he knew she was going to ask about that, but it will forever be a sore spot]

People -- [he starts, stops. no, that's not what he wants to say. he's not sure what he does want to say. it's a long time before he decides on something]

Marcus didn't even know what I looked like, under the mask, until pretty recently. [a beat] I got arrested and they took it from me, trying to torture me into giving him up. [and another] I didn't. [and yet another] When Marcus came to break me out ...

( Emilia does not rush him. Patience is a talent she has not fully mastered, but she is much better than she once was. Biding her time, and not just with her schemes. This is difficult for him to say, and she is not without consideration for it. He doesn't finish, but he doesn't need to.

She gets the picture. )

It wasn't your choice.

( Not with Marcus, and not with her. With them, at the tower. She sounds regretful, though she is aware she is not at fault. Not with this. )

It should have been.

[Wrench shrugs]

Story of my life.

Like, I've got these other friends, back home -- Sitara and Josh. [Sitara's kind of the group mom. Josh is very much a little brother to him] Me and Sitara were out drinking, and these guys who are kind of dicks -- kind of our rivals -- showed up, and started riding my ass. And there was this barfight, and they broke the mask, and ...

[and Sitara'd had to get it off him, because it was sparking. and she'd helped him home and he'd started trying to fix it, and Josh had been there, and he hadn't realized it, and]

[yeah, he's never actually willingly shown someone his face. he might have gotten there with Marcus, with Sitara and Josh, but the choice has always been taken from him]

( So there have been more incidents like the one in the Tower.

... Well. Not exactly like the one in the Tower, nothing has ever been like it, but. )

That would be infuriating. It is not the same, of course. The wounds I've wished to conceal are not the physical sort. But and I understand the importance of a secret. ( If she hadn't withheld the fact she was a witch in Palermo, she would have burned to death.

She doesn't think Wrench needs to hide his scars and would see him no differently, but it doesn't matter, because Wrench does. )

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in_theworks - 2022-04-03 19:32 (UTC) - Expand

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