controlledvariable | exsilium; ic inbox

[his turn to huff a laugh, shaking his head.]

Harsh. Obviously he missed out.

He was never interested in that sorta thing.

["sex". the word you're looking for is "sex"]

[peter doesn't understand. he doesn't understand at alllllll. what is wrong with you, tim drake, that you did not hit that with the fist of a thousand suns.]

...did he happen to be a eunuch?

[Now she laughs for real.]

Jesse asked me if he was gay. But he's neither, as far as I know.

[good. that's good, even if he is genuinely baffled by the foolishness of this ex-boyfriend. he shakes his head, clucking his tongue.]

Seriously skewed priorities, man.

He was kind of a dork, I think girls scared him a little.

[just a little.]

And yet he landed himself the Girl Wonder? Miracles never cease.

I went after him, actually. He had a girlfriend when we met.

[And then he didn't C:

Steph you homewrecker.]

Ooh, that explains it.

[it's okay, steph, peter's girlfriend more or less decided that she was going to get with him come hell or high water or logic too.

he's just smart enough to bang her. a lot. even though she's pregnant with someone else's kid.]

Hey, Steph? You got a second?

[It takes her a second to answer, but she figures Jaime wouldn't be calling her for something that wasn't important, so she forces a few calm breaths and takes the call.]

Hey, yeah. What's up?

[It's a little rushed, trying to get the words out around a shaking voice.]

Well, it's just that...

[He trails off, hearing that tell-tale shake in her voice. His voice before, though tired, had the crisper, more professional quality he usually takes on as Blue Beetle. The next time he speaks, it's all Jaime, softer, gentler.]

...are you okay?

Peachy.

[There's no hiding it, so she hopes acknowledging it and dismissing it with a simple word might help.]

Did something happen?

No, no. Nothing big. I just wanted to let you know that if we had any doubts about Luke being involved, two outta the three people he talks about trusting are Chloe and Charlie, so... there we go.

How about on your end? [He sounds worried - it's really just him rephrasing the question of whether or not she's okay.]

[She knows where this must be happening.]

One sec.

[just long enough to look it over, and there's the sound of typing and a rustle of movement.

(Thanks for the hug, Saul.)

When she speaks again, she's managed to get her voice steady, if a little flat.]

And Tempest, she was involed too. I'll report it to Rosyln, thank you for letting me know.

[Look at her, avoiding that question.]

Yeah, of course. [He had no intentions of actually reporting it to Roslyn, but as long as they're not pushing an arrest, he has no problem with her knowing. He's watched the way she's handled everything, and he hasn't had a problem with a thing.]

Steph. [A little coaxing, now.] Whatever's going on, you know I got your back, right?

[That helps and it doesn't, because it's so nice to hear someone say that, but it just makes her feel kind of overwhelmed in the other direction.]

There's a lot going on, Jaime.

[The mutiny and all the damn fallout, now this shit with Collette.

All she wanted to do was sleep for a few days, but she can't even have that.]

But I appreciate that, thank you.

Sort of the theme of this place, isn't it?

[He pauses reflectively, weighing whether or not to press her anymore. Eventually, he just says:]

Just, my phone's always on if you need anything. Seriously.

[She manages a laugh, it's tired, but real enough.]

Just when you start to think things might calm down...

[Everything goes to shit again.

Anyway:]

Thanks, really. I'm talking with the AI about heading on a mission to do some recon, see what I can find out about the cloning practices in the world. I'll keep you in the loop.

Yeah? That sounds great. I'm gonna get the ball rolling on that real soon, but I'll put a hold on it til you're back.

[He manages to say that without sounding petrified, which is a point in his favour! Because he is totally terrified of how it's going to work out. Or, more specifically, how it's not.]

[There we go; it's good to have something to focus on, even if she still sounds a bit exhausted.]

Yeah, it's not quite the same line you're going with, I'm thinking more of the regular Masked than the powered ones, but I figure we can pool our resources on it. You've done good work so far.

[Just...

She wants to reassure him, because he has done good work, and she doesn't know if people have told him that.]

Thanks. Let's hope it pays off. [It's soft, but genuine. People have told him that he's doing good work, but it helps every time. He never knew how much it mattered to go home to people who loved him and talked things through with him and supported him at the end of the day until they were gone.]

The Masked are connected to the powered ones anyway. Everything's connected, one way or another.

hey

i thought i'd check and see how you're doing after the last time we talked

if you don't want to answer this that's fine

We'll make sure it does.

[It's not cocky, there's just a quiet sort of confidence.

Saul is probably looking at her a bit funny right now, but...

People not trusting her isn't new; it hurts that it was Collette, but she can deal with this the same way she always deals with people doubting her.

She can prove them wrong.]

You're right. If we can get rid of the Masked, it'll mean we don't need to worry about the powered ones.

[So... that's her plan.]

[There isn't an answer for a little while; it's not like she isn't planning too, it's just been A Day, between seeing Max and Collette's post and talking to Ellie.

So much for getting some rest.

And then she just has to take some time mulling over her reply. She keeps trying to keep up the "everything's okay" act around Ahiru, despite how often she fails it, and she knows that part of it is some misguided sense that she needs to protect the girl.

Which isn't fair. Ahiru is sweet, but she's not naive, and she's definitely not stupid.

She goes for honesty:]

i'm not really doing okay right now, a lot happened in the past few days that wasn't all that great.

but i'll be okay again soon, thank you for checking up on me. you've been here for me a lot lately and i really appreciate that.

how are you?

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