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[alsohawkeye]

OPR » 027 » 193
KATE BISHOP

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[axeyou]

A present? Please.

[Through her teeth:]

I don't need it. Look around you, Katie--

[She stabs her finger toward the floor. The boards are rough-hewn in general, some more so than others. The early ones look roughest of all and are easy to pick out--rougher, more warped.]

I've been doing fine. So get rid of it, and go. You can switch the order if you want. I don't care. Just make it happen.

[alsohawkeye]

What? Come on, I'm not insulting your treehouse-building skills. Yes, you're awesome and impressively resourceful and you don't need anything or anyone, ever. I get it, already.

[ She does not leave, and does not make the axe disappear. She lets the head drop against the floor, hand remaining on the grip. ]

You're not scared. How is this different than a pulley? Or using stuff out of the lockers?

[axeyou]

[She doesn't flinch at the thud of the axe. The sound is deeply familiar, a pitch she's tuned to hear. It sounds like her axe.

Hers. Yeah right. Her mouth winches into a scowl.]

Think about it. How is it different. Would you like it if I made you a stupid bow? A stupid little present? But then I could take it away again, if I wanted to. I'm such a bitch. Probably I'd do that. And probably I'd wait till you really needed it. Then I'd just take it, right out of your hand, and you'd be fucked. Would you still be happy about your present?

[alsohawkeye]

You might do that. But we both know I'm not that kind of bitch.

[ Still with the look, brows low and only shallowly angled. Annoyed, but no more. That it'll disappear in less than an hour anyway is a detail not worth mentioning at this stage, Kate decides. It's not a fail safe, it's just a handy bonus, but that's not the sort of distinction Johanna's likely to make. ]

Plus my whole point was that you should learn to do it yourself, so you can make your own when you want it. Make an axe or a pulley or whatever if you need one for a minute.

[axeyou]

And what makes you think I want that kind of help at all?

[Want, not need. She obviously doesn't need help. Nor does she want help. And all of her reasons are tied up, convoluted, complicated. Accept what tools you're given and work with them and you'll end up screwed. Reject the tools and work without them and you end up screwing yourself. It doesn't matter either way.]

I can survive without help. I'm doing just fine. I got an axe, I went into the ship and got it out myself. I'm done taking help.