[He says it lightly, like, ha ha, inside jokes--but really, there's a lot of connections to be made, if you're in the right frame of mind. Cows at a slaughter, unwitting, heading for danger--a cow that was sent home and hey, did you hear, Aidan's in a space coma, what's that about--et cetera, et cetera.
In the end, Mitchell just shrugs.]
Just wondering. I heard your name come up with his.
[ Space coma was the connection she made but imagining some sort of embarrassing cow-related inside joke is much more fun. Less fun: questions.
She plays it super casual, just the slightest furrowing of brows like that's a little surprising but not concerning because what could it be it couldn't be anything because there's nothing. It's not even really a secret, precisely, but the reflexive urge to slide away and cover it up is there anyway. Some combination maybe of ingrained WASPiness, a subtle sort of reserve you could easily miss given how much she talks, and knowledge that it is probably a dumb risk that someone at some point is going to call her dumb for taking. ]
[Well, they'll call it a dumb risk because it is, actually a dumb risk. And also there's some alternate universe type things going on but that's not his part to tell. (You're welcome, Sally.)
But all that said, his tone stays pretty light (which is more of an impressive feat than she'll probably ever know, considering he's thinking about dumb vampire related risks and about how much Aidan sucks).]
Supposedly there's some sort of mutual fancying going on. Gossip gets everywhere on this ship.
[ Shush with that logic if she wanted to hear it she'd have listened to herself earlier.
She would be impressed if she knew and in some fashion grateful; but as it is she's too busy debating her own response to mark any effort that tone might require. She kind of wants to lie but can't really come up with any reasonable justification for the impulse, so she just shrugs. ] Yeah, maybe some. But he didn't wake up this month, so. [ Another shrug. So, you know. None now. Probably at least an even chance of none in the future. ]
[Aidan not waking up is what actually connected the missing-and-possibly dead cow in his head, by the way--and maybe he ought not to lead her on down the path of any hope if he's just going to turn around and tell her she's an idiot for hooking up with a vampire--which he's going to do, by the way--but first things first--]
Yeah, I heard that, too. There's always next month.
Yeah. But there's also like a 50/50 chance he won't remember me if he does. [ Kate shrugs, like she's neither going to get her hopes way up nor angst around about it for the month. ] We'll see. So how do you know him? You guys never seemed friendly on the network.
[ Kate watches him for a moment with a vaguely expectant air, and then chuckles. It's a quick little exhale of humor, one corner of her mouth hitching up as she gestures. Go ooooon. ] And so you brought him up becaaaaause...?
Oh, come on. You don't really want t' stand here and listen to me complain about him--and I wouldn't ask you to, either. That's not why I had you come down here.
[Or it was, but, whatever. He gestures toward the space DVD that she's got.]
Space Rocky. That's why. Aidan is just, y'know. A thing.
[an unfortunate, dangerous thing, and the flat way that he says thing sort of gets at that.]
[ Kate is more than tempted to just take him at his word, or pretend that she does. Take the DVD, say 'okay then' and swan out with a shrug. She's never had much patience for dancing around things, especially when it comes to gossip, especially when it comes to other people's opinions on her life choices. But the way he says thing gets a hook in her, just that little itching pull she can't quite ignore.
He gets another arched brow, a tilt of her head. Not quite long-suffering, more serious than that, but without infinite patience. ]
Look, if there's something you think that I should know about him, you should just tell me.
And it's unfortunate, because he really actually does like Kate. But that's why he's doing this, right? In part to get at Aidan, to ruin a little bit of his life. And in part for Sally--not that he wants her with Aidan. And in part because Kate shouldn't get involved, because--
Well, he stops there, because because ends in ways that Mitchell knows how even casual sex could lead to death, and he's not going to go there, even in his own head. Bad enough that his glance goes, once, quickly, to Kate's throat. He looks at her face instead, meeting her gaze.]
Look, I don't want to get involved. But I don't want you to get involved, either. Not in something you can't get yourself out of.
Not that you can't handle yourself. I'm sure you can, and I mean that. I'm not trying to offend you. I'm just telling you, know what you're getting yourself into before it's too late.
[ Her kneejerk reactions are offense and defensiveness, and there's a stubborn clenching at the hinge of her jaw that doesn't bode well. But he's trying, she can see that. And it's not like this is some generic warning-off situation. She suspects he knows, and probably doesn't know she knows. But on the off chance he's concerned about something else entirely, she's not about to offer the secret she hasn't even technically been told.
She swallows down an urge to snap at him and lets her response come a moment later, even, sincerely friendly. ]
I appreciate the concern, really. I promise I've got my eyes open here. [ Sort of. ]
[You don't live over half a long life as something very predatory without learning a few tricks here and there. The clench of her jaw is something he notices, the turn of thoughts through her head. And then she smiles.
Mitchell gives her a patient smile in return.]
Yeah. The thing is-- I know how this-- [This; he points to her. The inclusion of Aidan is implied.] --ends. And I'm sorry, but I don't want to see that happen to you.
[ Kate's reckless, not suicidal, but finding the line between brave and stupid is a work in progress. This conversation is doomed to be a losing battle for Mitchell, but she's not wholly uninterested in what he's selling. (She'd be the first to find fault with Twilight, but she'd also say this isn't like that.) ]
Has he hurt anyone since he's been here? Or tried to? [ It could be a line of argument (will be if he says no like she expects), but it's an honest question. ]
He meets her question steadily, doesn't let that deter his gaze at all--doesn't answer straight away, either, but just studies her, both tense and thoughtful all at once. The questions themselves imply she might know more than he'd originally thought.]
Check around and find out what happened. I mean no offense, I'm not saying you'd lie to me, but I don't want to be judging just on rumor. And then... [ She lifts both hands and drops them again to thwap against the outside of her thighs.] I mean look if the idea here is that he's playing me and he's hurting people that's very different from him having the potential to do something accidentally.
[He turns away so he can push his fingers through his hair, with a sigh. It's not an impatient sigh, or frustrated--more tired than anything else. But he lets her get through with what she's saying.]
Look. I get it. I really do, and I'm not-- trying to tell you what to do, or how to think of him.
But you have t' know that it's more than potential. No matter what you think, or how he's explained himself-- [And he lets that be broad--even if she knows, and she has to know, from what she's said--but even if she does, he's not going to be the one that outs Aidan. There's levels to being an arsehole.] --it really is more than potential. And you deserve to know that.
[ Kate is silent for a long moment, and though it's clear that she's taking that notion seriously, turning it over in her head, it's less clear what she's making of it. It could be taken as a good sign or a bad one when she asks, ]
Are there things I could be looking out for? Tip-offs, warning signs?
[ Well now they're at an impasse. Kate levels a look right back, the jut of her jaw as much uncertain as stubborn. What now? She speaks a little more slowly, considering. ] I'd like to know the answer to this, if you have one.
But I'm the one hooking up with him here and you don't even like him to begin with. So if one of us is going be spilling specifics it's not going to be me.
[He doesn't even bother with how do you know I don't like him, or other protests in that vein. That's all bullshit, and not exactly secret bullshit.
And he's not, by the way, an animal. He doesn't give her a once-over, doesn't so much as look at her throat--the words 'hooking up' are pretty direct, and that's not exactly high on his list of Things To Picture--and in there, too, is some pity for Sally.]
The reason I'm askin' isn't to put off answering your question. I don't like him. I don't trust him. But if there's shit he's not told you, about himself, about what he is--and what all of that means--you shouldn't be hearing it from me at all. You should hear it from him.
[ Kate has suspicions about Mitchell, but at this point vampire hunter seems equally likely. With Aidan, she's sure, she's had more than enough chance to confirm his lack of heartbeat, while doing all those things Mitchell's trying not to picture.
But he hasn't told her, and as much as this conversation grates on her principles, Mitchell's right. Asking him is just somehow easier than asking Aidan, which is stupid and a bad sign for whatever their thing is but fine. Fine! Sigh.
She shrugs, and it looks like a concession. ]
Yeah. That's... fair.
Edited (YEAH WE ALL KNOW HE WANTS ON THAT ) 2014-07-11 23:56 (UTC)
But whatever. He can't press more on this without outright saying what Aidan is, which still feels a little like somehow betrayal to him, no matter how much he dislikes Aidan. And it's better not to think too hard about it, or he risks thinking too much of himself in the process.
I will. [ She smiles, and lifts the video, flaps it once to remind them both it exists and was the ostensible purpose of this visit, or whatever. And that now she has it, she'll be leaving. ] Thanks, Mitchell. See you.
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alsohawkeye) wrote2024-01-11 07:28 pm
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[He says it lightly, like, ha ha, inside jokes--but really, there's a lot of connections to be made, if you're in the right frame of mind. Cows at a slaughter, unwitting, heading for danger--a cow that was sent home and hey, did you hear, Aidan's in a space coma, what's that about--et cetera, et cetera.
In the end, Mitchell just shrugs.]
Just wondering. I heard your name come up with his.
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She plays it super casual, just the slightest furrowing of brows like that's a little surprising but not concerning because what could it be it couldn't be anything because there's nothing. It's not even really a secret, precisely, but the reflexive urge to slide away and cover it up is there anyway. Some combination maybe of ingrained WASPiness, a subtle sort of reserve you could easily miss given how much she talks, and knowledge that it is probably a dumb risk that someone at some point is going to call her dumb for taking. ]
Yeah? Come up how?
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But all that said, his tone stays pretty light (which is more of an impressive feat than she'll probably ever know, considering he's thinking about dumb vampire related risks and about how much Aidan sucks).]
Supposedly there's some sort of mutual fancying going on. Gossip gets everywhere on this ship.
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She would be impressed if she knew and in some fashion grateful; but as it is she's too busy debating her own response to mark any effort that tone might require. She kind of wants to lie but can't really come up with any reasonable justification for the impulse, so she just shrugs. ] Yeah, maybe some. But he didn't wake up this month, so. [ Another shrug. So, you know. None now. Probably at least an even chance of none in the future. ]
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Yeah, I heard that, too. There's always next month.
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Yeah. Well, we're not, really, but for good reasons.
[He shrugs, like there's a history there, and those reasons are very, very good reasons... but he's not just going to say them.]
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[Or it was, but, whatever. He gestures toward the space DVD that she's got.]
Space Rocky. That's why. Aidan is just, y'know. A thing.
[an unfortunate, dangerous thing, and the flat way that he says thing sort of gets at that.]
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He gets another arched brow, a tilt of her head. Not quite long-suffering, more serious than that, but without infinite patience. ]
Look, if there's something you think that I should know about him, you should just tell me.
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And it's unfortunate, because he really actually does like Kate. But that's why he's doing this, right? In part to get at Aidan, to ruin a little bit of his life. And in part for Sally--not that he wants her with Aidan. And in part because Kate shouldn't get involved, because--
Well, he stops there, because because ends in ways that Mitchell knows how even casual sex could lead to death, and he's not going to go there, even in his own head. Bad enough that his glance goes, once, quickly, to Kate's throat. He looks at her face instead, meeting her gaze.]
Look, I don't want to get involved. But I don't want you to get involved, either. Not in something you can't get yourself out of.
Not that you can't handle yourself. I'm sure you can, and I mean that. I'm not trying to offend you. I'm just telling you, know what you're getting yourself into before it's too late.
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She swallows down an urge to snap at him and lets her response come a moment later, even, sincerely friendly. ]
I appreciate the concern, really. I promise I've got my eyes open here. [ Sort of. ]
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Mitchell gives her a patient smile in return.]
Yeah. The thing is-- I know how this-- [This; he points to her. The inclusion of Aidan is implied.] --ends. And I'm sorry, but I don't want to see that happen to you.
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Has he hurt anyone since he's been here? Or tried to? [ It could be a line of argument (will be if he says no like she expects), but it's an honest question. ]
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He meets her question steadily, doesn't let that deter his gaze at all--doesn't answer straight away, either, but just studies her, both tense and thoughtful all at once. The questions themselves imply she might know more than he'd originally thought.]
And what d'you do next, if I say that he has.
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Look. I get it. I really do, and I'm not-- trying to tell you what to do, or how to think of him.
But you have t' know that it's more than potential. No matter what you think, or how he's explained himself-- [And he lets that be broad--even if she knows, and she has to know, from what she's said--but even if she does, he's not going to be the one that outs Aidan. There's levels to being an arsehole.] --it really is more than potential. And you deserve to know that.
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Are there things I could be looking out for? Tip-offs, warning signs?
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That depends on what you already know t' look for.
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But I'm the one hooking up with him here and you don't even like him to begin with. So if one of us is going be spilling specifics it's not going to be me.
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And he's not, by the way, an animal. He doesn't give her a once-over, doesn't so much as look at her throat--the words 'hooking up' are pretty direct, and that's not exactly high on his list of Things To Picture--and in there, too, is some pity for Sally.]
The reason I'm askin' isn't to put off answering your question. I don't like him. I don't trust him. But if there's shit he's not told you, about himself, about what he is--and what all of that means--you shouldn't be hearing it from me at all. You should hear it from him.
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But he hasn't told her, and as much as this conversation grates on her principles, Mitchell's right. Asking him is just somehow easier than asking Aidan, which is stupid and a bad sign for whatever their thing is but fine. Fine! Sigh.
She shrugs, and it looks like a concession. ]
Yeah. That's... fair.
crawls back to finish this SORRy
But whatever. He can't press more on this without outright saying what Aidan is, which still feels a little like somehow betrayal to him, no matter how much he dislikes Aidan. And it's better not to think too hard about it, or he risks thinking too much of himself in the process.
So. Fine. He shrugs in return, a little.]
Just be careful. That's all.
my turn to crawl back to finish this SORRy