voice, @widowmaker

[distort]

[ Good evening, Quarantine! Widowmaker's voice sounds calm and smoothly dispassionate as usual, and as French as ever, as she makes apparently a brief announcement: ]

If anyone plans to be in the area, there was a small breach of the outer fence near the zoo of the abandoned city. They are little things, nothing a few well placed headshots will not take care of — but quick. A few may have escaped my attentions.

[ She doesn't sound very pleased about that. Her night is definitely gonna be tracking down whatever monster she's referring that slipped in over the fence.

After a brief pause, she continues. ]

There is also the matter of Kane — Jacob Kane. A man with incredibly poor timing, it seems. He —

—is fine. Jacob’s… fine.

[ Don’t believe it. He sounds pained. There's another pause, longer this time, before Widowmaker's voice continues. ]

...Medical attention would be appreciated. I can send coordinates.

Really… really, I’ll be—

[ Whatever it is he'll be gets cut off as the broadcast ends. ]

Comments

[aeturnus]

[ By the time Cain's made it into the city, he's looking a lot better. His shirt has a hole in it and there's still some openness to the wound but at least there's no blood and he seems to be standing just fine under his own power.

Seeing Dodger and how quickly he got there, his expression softens into exasperated, but kind of fond. ]

Hey. Thanks.

[smokedout]

Don't mention it.

[Like really. Don't. He doesn't want to be reminded about how worried he is.]

Jesus, though, you scared me. Might've lost out on those free meals.

[aeturnus]

[ He gets that, but he will keep it in mind. ]

Sorry about that. I didn't realize she'd make a call or... what happened, actually.

[smokedout]

Well, be more careful next time.

[He pauses, and glances around. He doesn't expect Widowmaker to be around, but it's sort of an instinctive thing to see who might be listening.]

What were you doing outside the inner city, anyway?

[aeturnus]

I know someone who's decided to live out there.

[ He shakes his head, moving off to somewhere more concealed to change his shirt. Better here than walking around the inner city like he is. ]

Think I'll take a raincheck on seeing him if there's monsters romping around so close, though.

[smokedout]

Fuck is wrong with some people...

[Says Dodger. Who is Dodger.]

...You need anything else from me?

[aeturnus]

[ That gets a laugh. He tilts his head at Dodger consideringly. ]

Can you teleport other people?

[smokedout]

[He nods.]

You're gonna need to give me a second if you want me pulling you all the way back to the communal hall, though.

[He needs a smoke break and... to catch his breath, which he hasn't really done because he's too busy pretending to not be out of breath.]

[aeturnus]

Take your time. It'll still be quicker than walking.

[ His wound is basically healed up by now, though. All shiny new like nothing happened. ]

[smokedout]

Well, that much is right.

[He shrugs, smoking in quick puffs that slowly work into long breaths.]

Hey, can I ask you a ah... loaded question?

[aeturnus]

You can ask, we'll see if I answer.

[ He probably will, though. ]

[smokedout]

Do you know... how to convince someone to take advantage of you?

[Apparently this question is completely serious, because his face is turning red when he asks it. And with how pale his skin is, the blush makes him glow.]

[aeturnus]

[ His head slowly tilts to the side as he considers that. Coming from Dodger, he's... well, he first needs to ascertain a few things. ]

Take advantage of you... or just have sex with you? Or are we going for a third meaning here?

[smokedout]

All of the above. At varying levels of urgency.

[He offers... an awkward shrug? If anything, he sort of looks like a teenager asking for dating advice.]

I was.. a dog, for my boss back home. Just- available, for whatever he wanted. There's someone I want to ah... be my new... master. And... he's not interested. [God this is fucking awful.] And I guess I want... your thoughts. On that.

[aeturnus]

[ Oh hell. Cain rubs a hand over his face and then back up into his hair, biting his bottom lip and pulling it out slowly. This is uncomfortably familiar to the issue he had just a few weeks ago, when he was himself but... younger. ]

I mean, not for nothing, but people really hate the idea of slaves or unequal behavior here. During all that stuff with the Chalice, well—I wasn't in the best position, either, and nobody wants to hear about it.

[ Except it's not as easy as just telling someone "that's bad" or "don't do that" when it's... their life. They can't just turn their lives off because of other peoples' discomfort. ]

What's your criteria for masters, and-or why this guy?

[smokedout]

[Okay, he's got... he's got a lot of questions about that. But he guesses it's not really his business and for once, he's got better things to do than trot around in things that fall in that category.

It takes him a little while to reason it out. There are a lot of stark difference between Reaper and the men who have ruled his life before. But there are also a lot of reasons why he'd be the same, or... better.]

He's fucking beautiful, intelligent, he's worked as a criminal and... he's got the means to kill me, if he wanted to. [All traits he sees as not only positive, but all in the category.] Just- back home, every time I got away from one boss or another, someone would snatch me up. Got used to it, now I'm stuck without one... and if I can get another one, I want it to be him.

[And he's done... fantasizing for a moment, and clears his throat awkwardly.]

Just... he thinks I'm a dumb kid, and doesn't... trust me. And it turns out it's fuckin' hard to get someone to trust you when all you want at the end of the day is to follow their orders, most people figure there's a... underlying motive.

[aeturnus]

[ Wow. Very complicated. Much difficulty. He isn't about to go poor Dodger but he's definitely got a pang of sympathy for the difficulty, if not at all how it's going along. And all this because he fed the guy... ]

Like you might expect, that isn't going to be easy at all. And you'll probably have to make a compromise instead of just throwing your head at it constantly. It's what you do for things you want that badly.

And, uh... worked as a criminal? Past tense?

[smokedout]

Past tense. [A fact that he's mildly annoyed about.] We've both worked for terrorists... he regrets it a little more than I do.

[He's not commenting on the compromise bit yet... if he even listened to it in the first place.]

[aeturnus]

[ Don't think Cain isn't noticing the lack of comment on his other point. Asking for advice and then ignoring it is not going to be worth his time in the long run. ]

Then you should probably approach it from an angle he'd actually appreciate. No one likes it when their preferences go in one ear and out the other.

[smokedout]

[He shrugs sullenly; lighting a new cigarette as the old one had burned out too quickly.]

I figured being straight-forward would work better for me than the shit I usually pull. [Because apparently "approaching from an angle he'd appreciate" means "manipulating him into thinking it's a good idea", in Dodger's head.] How exactly do you put "I want you to take over my life and change who I am" in a way that someone who's not a fucked up son of a bitch will take you up on it?

[aeturnus]

By showing, not telling. Genuinely. [ He sighs, shaking his head and crossing his arms for lack of his usual jacket to dig his hands into. It's as close to a nervous fidget as he gets nowadays. ] You realize that this is the sort of thing you have to be patient about?

Also, the sort of thing that people not raised in that sort of environment might never get? Because there's that. Trust me.

[ It's not even something Cain necessarily wants to help Dodger go through with, so much as maybe help him along in realizing there's more to it than just giving yourself up and forfeiting control of your own life. Fighting so hard for the "easy" way out of living your own life would be sad if he didn't understand it so well. Only thing being Cain was on the other side, inside looking out and terrified of what would be on the other end; Dodger's stuck outside, too occupied with trying to get back in to look around at what else he's got going for him. ]

[smokedout]

[He'd had another teenager-y grumble lined up, but he paused when he hears "trust me". Trust him, huh... he has experience with this sort of thing. Dodger hadn't even considered anyone having real concrete experience to work with, so at the very least he's listening a little better.]

I don't think I've got long enough to be patient. [He huffs quietly.] What exactly do you mean by 'showing'?

[Can flashing count. And not actually doing anything vulnerable.]

[aeturnus]

[ There's a lot to Cain that most people don't get to see. This is something he's loathe to show, but on the other hand... it's already been bared to the population for him. And it's useful now, so he might as well draw on that experience while it's once again fresh in his mind. ]

You say you want him to change who you are, right? Show him that it's even possible. Being a stubborn mule just shows you're a lost cause. Make a change somewhere.

[smokedout]

[Yeah... just like he expected, it'll take some hits to his pride.]

Sounds a bit like what he told me.

[Except what Reaper told him was more along the lines of "I don't have time to figure out what the hell is going on in your head". Which really just spurred Dodger to be more open about his obsession.]

...I've uh. Never changed without someone else forcing it on me. How do you- uh. Keep yourself on track with that sort of shit?

[aeturnus]

Friends. Journal-keeping. Having a goal or reason for doing it helps a lot.

[ He dips his head in understanding of its difficulty, however. ]

Don't try to do it all at once. You have to take small steps to get started.