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]

That's a good start. [ He pauses, actually, because wait... ] Or—a good goal? Actually pay attention?

[smokedout]

Not a habit I picked up with my old bosses, so yeah. A goal.

[Half of his self-sacrificing lack of inhibition is caused by the fact that he relies solely on his bosses to set him straight when he fucks up. The only habit he's really learned since coming here is too not touch Reaper's mask.]

I guess to just... not wait until he's trying to kill me to stop pissing him off. That's. Probably a decent start.

[Wow, when they say it like that it actually sounds pretty bad.]

[aeturnus]

We'll call it the first steps.

[ Pretty bad, pathetic, just a poor starting foot. Better than ignoring there's a problem at all, though, and Cain isn't one to look down on small accomplishments that took the same amount of effort. ]

You about ready?

[smokedout]

[He nods quietly, but.. a thought occurs to him, and he figures it's better to ask than just let it sit.]

So are you just being supportive, or you got some sorta stake in how this goes? You're... a lot more decent about this than I expected outta you.

[aeturnus]

[ It's a fair enough question, so he merely shrugs. ]

I'd like to see what happens, but it's not going to get me anything. You asked for my opinion and help, so I gave it. You lucked out on who you asked, since it's like I said. I've got similar stuff in my past.

[smokedout]

On uh.. which end of it?

[Dodger does Cain look like someone who would control people.]

[aeturnus]

[ No, he looks like a college dropout who should be in a Starbucks with a tablet watching The Office while he tweets about social climate. ... okay maybe not that bad. ]

I was raised as a slave.

[smokedout]

[Alright. Cain is getting no sass from Dodger, he has his full attention. And he's just sort of giving him a somewhat impatient "go on" look.]

[aeturnus]

[ That slight impatience gets a slightly sharp look in return. Cain isn't so fond of talking about these times for a vast litany of reasons. ]

By now, I don't even know what it was like before that, so all my—foundation, if you want to call it something, was of serving a master and his family. Eventually it got to the point where it was stick around and die, or leave and at least have a chance, so...

[ There's no need to mention Remus, even if his brother was the one who eventually convinced him that it had to be done. He'll be the first to acknowledge it was easier with someone at his side... then the ultimate hardship when that support, that lifeline, was gone. ]

[smokedout]

[Well, he notices the sharp look and trains his face back to mild curiosity.]

So you left.. and you didn't get dragged into something else?

[aeturnus]

[ He tilts his head, takes a deceptively easy breath. ]

Not like that, but it's probably more to do with having a mental breakdown leading into a sort of fugue state for the next decade or two while trying to follow through on a promise I made.

[ His tone is fairly blithe because generally speaking? He's over that, the part of his life where things were confusing and muddled and weirdly good and he'll look back at it fondly for the escape that it was but it doesn't make the pain or struggles any less. ]

[smokedout]

[Well, he... knows better than to pry at that. They did make a deal, and he's not about to miss out on his weekly meal for the sake of being a curious asshole.]

I... kinda had the same thing happen to me.

[Which he really doesn't want to elaborate on, but.. he guesses if they're friends sharing uncomfortable stories, it's only fair that he'll answer if he's asked.]

[aeturnus]

Which end?

[ That's all Cain intends to ask. Again, an eye for an eye. ]

[smokedout]

[Dodger's face turns.. completely red, redder than it had been when discussing his crush. This is past teenager-y Boy Feelings and more into actual, childlike shame.]

I- spent four years away from the man who raised me. My first boss. At the end of it I had a- I guess a mental breakdown. Set the flat on fire. Tried to kill my girlfriend. Afterward I just sort of... spent the next three years... uh.

[Uh.

It turns out he really wasn't ready to talk about that. Because the moment he starts thinking about it in concrete enough terms to speak, the memories start flashing in front of him, and he just... can't. Do that. The cigarette in his mouth drops to the ground, set on fire, and he starts scratching shakily at the wraps on his wrists. Scratching hard enough that he'd likely be tearing up flesh if there wasn't gauze protecting him. And he's just... staring at some point on the ground, shaking subtly and scratching and trying to get his thoughts out of those years.]

[aeturnus]

[ Cain doesn't grimace, doesn't do much more than step forward to grind the cigarette out on his way to take Dodger's hands and try to catch his gaze. He speaks firmly, almost commanding. Strong. ]

Dodger. Come back here. We're not talking about that anymore.

[smokedout]

[He's startled, almost as if he'd forgotten Cain was there in that split second of horrible, horrible memories. When Cain grabs him his skin turns glowing hot, for only a moment, but then he's back in the present and blinking away the thoughts. Okay. Yeah. He's here, he's not at the temple. He can handle himself.]

I... need a drink.

[That's all he's got to say, but... Cain is getting a grateful look. Looks like he lucked out in the friend department.]

[aeturnus]

[ The brief moment of heat doesn't shake him off. He's had worse (he's always had worse by now, and he looks forward to and dreads the day he'll find a new worst) and when it peters off immediately, Cain gives a breath of relief. His tension loosens and he nods. ]

With or without company?

[smokedout]

With. [He grimaces slightly.] Otherwise I might... not... hold back on myself.

[He may not consider himself a worthwhile person, but... he does know a few people who would be pretty upset if he wound out dead. Better to make sure someone's keeping an eye on him than cause Shigeru or Christian any grief.]

[aeturnus]

Yeah... All right. Come on.

[ There's a sigh but he shifts his hands to Dodger's shoulders to squeeze lightly before he lets them drop. ]

Got any place in mind? I don't know a lot of bars around here.

[smokedout]

Uhh... yeah. I know a pretty quiet place.

[And then they go there.]