[Kittens are great. Especially his. Saul pauses in the entrance to the kitchen after he's poured Steph a glass of water to just watch the two of them and smile about it.
It's cute. It's nice. He wishes this could be a daily thing, but...
But a lot.
Eventually, he joins Steph on the couch with two glasses in hand, one of which he offers to her.]
[She takes the glass, having a sip before dipping her fingers in the water and flicking it at Mike, earning an indignant meow as the kitten tries to fix up her fur.
And then she's quiet for a long moment, just watching Mike, until she finally looks over at Saul.]
Do you wanna talk about it? The compound, I mean.
[Because she doesn't... know if he has anyone else to talk to about it, if he'd be worried about upsetting Jesse. She's gleaned a little information about it from Ellie, but still, it might have been different for Saul, and it might have affected him differently.
So she's just offering, to listen, in case he needs to get anythiing off his chest.]
[Actually, Saul thinks that's bullshit, but whatever. Her question makes him turn his attention down to his glass. No, he doesn't want to talk about it. What's there to say?]
I spent a lot of time alone. It was boring, there were tests, then it was boring again. Even the tests got boring. But —
[What he doesn't want to talk about most is Ellie. He chews his lip for a second, then presses onward anyway. Steph needs to know.]
I kept an eye on Ellie. I couldn't help you find her like I said I would, so... next best thing. We spent some time sneaking around together.
[She doesn't bother making a smart comment in response to that eight glasses a day, just sips her water and keeps Mike entertained as she waits for him to speak.
Her expression softens when he mentions Ellie.]
Thank you.
[There's so much gratitude in her voice, not just for the fact that he was willing to keep an eye on Ellie, but that he did it regardless of how he feels about her. She knows things like that aren't easy, so it means so much more.]
[She watches his hand, but not warily, she's curious what he's doing and turns her attention back to him once she realizes what he's doing.]
Yeah.
[And then she's just not sure what else to say, so she lapses into silence, idly watching Saul play with Mike. Maybe there are things they should talk about, but she really just wants to avoid that, for a little while.]
[That's fine with him. He's comfortable enough around Steph that he doesn't feel like he has to run his mouth constantly, so this is nice. And after spending so much time alone in silence, having someone by his side — someone he loves — makes this kind of quiet much more tolerable.
But then there's also the fact that Mike is purring like a motorboat, so it's not really that quiet.]
[After a little while, she moves to curl up against Saul's side, still careful of her leg, but she just wants that physical reassurance of his presence, the same way she barely let go of Ellie for the entire train ride.
Maybe she should feel guilty, being here with Saul, but she's sick of feeling guilty, and she just wants to relax for a few minutes, after the stress of the last few months. Saul's warm and comfortable and she just shuts her brain off, keeping her attention focused on Mike to keep any unpleasant thoughts from sneaking in.]
[Effie should be the one curled up against him, not Steph. He knows that, he accepts it, and he's going to have to deal with it when he sees her later. Whenever that is.
He shifts around a bit so that he can slip an arm around Steph's shoulders, at which point Mike apparently decides it'll be easier to get attention from her — so there she goes again, rolling around in Steph's lap.]
I think she missed you more than she missed me. For future reference, it won't count as catnapping if she goes willingly.
[He'll ignore that if she ignores the way he holds her there after she's done the thing he's ignoring...!]
Good. Because that sucked. It's not like I thought they were gonna kill me, but — [And here his voice drops, a little, and he sounds tired.] I don't know what they're planning. Or what they were trying to do with us. They must've known you and the others would come, right? They must have noticed something was wrong with their systems before everyone broke in...
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controlledvariable) wrote2014-02-02 07:59 pm
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It's cute. It's nice. He wishes this could be a daily thing, but...
But a lot.
Eventually, he joins Steph on the couch with two glasses in hand, one of which he offers to her.]
Here. Best I could do.
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[She takes the glass, having a sip before dipping her fingers in the water and flicking it at Mike, earning an indignant meow as the kitten tries to fix up her fur.
And then she's quiet for a long moment, just watching Mike, until she finally looks over at Saul.]
Do you wanna talk about it? The compound, I mean.
[Because she doesn't... know if he has anyone else to talk to about it, if he'd be worried about upsetting Jesse. She's gleaned a little information about it from Ellie, but still, it might have been different for Saul, and it might have affected him differently.
So she's just offering, to listen, in case he needs to get anythiing off his chest.]
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[Actually, Saul thinks that's bullshit, but whatever. Her question makes him turn his attention down to his glass. No, he doesn't want to talk about it. What's there to say?]
I spent a lot of time alone. It was boring, there were tests, then it was boring again. Even the tests got boring. But —
[What he doesn't want to talk about most is Ellie. He chews his lip for a second, then presses onward anyway. Steph needs to know.]
I kept an eye on Ellie. I couldn't help you find her like I said I would, so... next best thing. We spent some time sneaking around together.
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Her expression softens when he mentions Ellie.]
Thank you.
[There's so much gratitude in her voice, not just for the fact that he was willing to keep an eye on Ellie, but that he did it regardless of how he feels about her. She knows things like that aren't easy, so it means so much more.]
Did you find anything interesting?
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Saul will be the first to admit that he can be a bastard, but he keeps his promises.]
Garbage.
[So intentionally vague!]
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[Why does he have to be vague about it? That makes it hard to fish for information.]
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Literally. But it's — um.
[There's a pause as he searches for the word. He's really tired, too, despite having spent a lot of his time "resting."]
Biodegradable. What they make, I mean. And we found some access points, too; Ellie probably remembers where they are better than I do.
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[She sounds just... bemused, because she isn't sure how else to react to that.
Access points might have been useful earlier, but she doubts they're ever going back to that facility.]
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I guess.
[He sets his glass down and reaches over Steph, so Mike can paw at his hand.]
The information might be useful to someone, maybe. I'll pass it on to the powers that be tomorrow.
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Yeah.
[And then she's just not sure what else to say, so she lapses into silence, idly watching Saul play with Mike. Maybe there are things they should talk about, but she really just wants to avoid that, for a little while.]
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But then there's also the fact that Mike is purring like a motorboat, so it's not really that quiet.]
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Maybe she should feel guilty, being here with Saul, but she's sick of feeling guilty, and she just wants to relax for a few minutes, after the stress of the last few months. Saul's warm and comfortable and she just shuts her brain off, keeping her attention focused on Mike to keep any unpleasant thoughts from sneaking in.]
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He shifts around a bit so that he can slip an arm around Steph's shoulders, at which point Mike apparently decides it'll be easier to get attention from her — so there she goes again, rolling around in Steph's lap.]
I think she missed you more than she missed me. For future reference, it won't count as catnapping if she goes willingly.
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I was gonna come take her while you were gone, but Lee seemed to have a handle on things.
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[He'll have to thank Lee later. And maybe warn him to never let Steph take Mike anywhere, lest they never see her again.
It's a legitimate concern, okay.]
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[She's more than willing to cheat or fight dirty, including taking Mike while Saul isn't around to protect her.]
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So much for trying to teach Mike to be Steph's nemesis. Look at how well that worked!
He sighs and drops his head back against the couch cushion.]
Note to self: Never get kidnapped again.
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I won't let it happen.
[She already let him down once.]
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Good. Because that sucked. It's not like I thought they were gonna kill me, but — [And here his voice drops, a little, and he sounds tired.] I don't know what they're planning. Or what they were trying to do with us. They must've known you and the others would come, right? They must have noticed something was wrong with their systems before everyone broke in...
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[It hadn't been too hard to figure it out, not when she heard talk of people coming up against those strange versions of the Masked.]
And I think they might be too arrogant to even consider something like us coming for you.
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[It feels weird, being able to say "us" and include himself in that.]
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[So there's... that]
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[Well, then.
Saul doesn't know what to say to that or how to process any of this at all. He needs sleep. He needs to go talk to Effie.
What he does instead is lift his head and turn slightly, pressing a kiss to Steph's shoulder.]
You should go see Ashraf — he can heal your leg.
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It's not that bad, and I'm sure he's pretty tired after everything. He doesn't need me bothering him for a quick fix.
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[He's insisting.]
Please.
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