[She answers straight away, because it's Saul, because she doesn't think he'd know, but as soon as he says her name...
It's like someone's stolen the breath from her lungs, and there's nothing she can think to say in reply, nothing she wants to say. In the end, after that quiet apology, all Steph can do is hurriedly end the call without saying a word, as if that might make it all go away.
Fifteen minutes later, after crying for a bit, she calls back.]
[He's not surprised when the line goes dead. Worried, but not surprised. He almost calls back immediately, fingers hovering over his tablet, but decides against it.
She needs time. He has no idea how much of it — could be a few minutes, could be days. Whatever she needs, she can have it.
When she calls back, the line rings so many times it almost goes to voice mail, because Saul isn't sure whether he should pick up or not. But — he does. Of course he does.
[He sucks in a breath like he's gearing up to recite a very long list, but what he's really doing is trying not to crack up immediately.
She's either gonna laugh or kill him.]
Sonya. Sue — you know, the one with the force field powers? Max. The girl Max, I mean. Uh — oh. Don't tell Jesse, but Lisbeth's on the list. Pepper, whom I miss dearly. Helena, Barbara... Kagura's gone, too, but she was totally into me. Anne, future Queen of England...
[Yeah, he has no idea what to tell her, so he goes fishing in the air for something that might help. This is what he finds:]
I guess that depends on how many shoulders you need right now. Sure, things are chaotic, but I'm sure your friends would drop everything to... y'know, be there for you.
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controlledvariable) wrote2014-02-02 07:59 pm
audio;
[He almost asks where Ellie is, but stops himself.
And then he's not sure what to say, or if he should say anything at all, so there's a long pause before a very quiet:] I'm sorry.
audio;
It's like someone's stolen the breath from her lungs, and there's nothing she can think to say in reply, nothing she wants to say. In the end, after that quiet apology, all Steph can do is hurriedly end the call without saying a word, as if that might make it all go away.
Fifteen minutes later, after crying for a bit, she calls back.]
Sorry.
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She needs time. He has no idea how much of it — could be a few minutes, could be days. Whatever she needs, she can have it.
When she calls back, the line rings so many times it almost goes to voice mail, because Saul isn't sure whether he should pick up or not. But — he does. Of course he does.
Again, quietly:] It's okay. Hi.
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[If it sounds kind of muffled, it's because she's curled up on the couch with the tablet somewhere nearby.]
You saw on the network?
[It's the most likely explanation, she just doesn't know what to say.]
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[He's been watching the network like a paranoid hawk.]
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The Initiative let me double check. Guess they're willing to do you a favour if you say nice things about 'em.
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They're, uh. Amicable. Sometimes.
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[She tries for a light tone, but it doesn't really work.]
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[Maybe not the guy Saul lunged at in particular, but someone had it coming.
A little.
He ducks his head and mumbles.]
Heat of the moment, yadda yadda...
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It's not like I can judge anyone for losing their temper.
[Considering everything she chooses to be.]
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It's a little contagious.]
At least no one ran into my knife ten times.
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She laughs, just quietly, before putting on a serious tone.]
There anything you wanna tell me about you and the milkman?
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[Saul don't swing that way, Steph.]
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[It's probably way too fucking soon for jokes like that, but she's never had a great sense of humour.]
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[That gets a proper laugh, though there's still something shaky about it, making it clear she really only just stopped crying.]
Let's hear it, I wanna see how creative you can get.
[And it's a good distraction from thinking about Ellie being back in her war.]
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[He sucks in a breath like he's gearing up to recite a very long list, but what he's really doing is trying not to crack up immediately.
She's either gonna laugh or kill him.]
Sonya. Sue — you know, the one with the force field powers? Max. The girl Max, I mean. Uh — oh. Don't tell Jesse, but Lisbeth's on the list. Pepper, whom I miss dearly. Helena, Barbara... Kagura's gone, too, but she was totally into me. Anne, future Queen of England...
[Need he go on?]
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Please hold, she's going to need a good minute to stop laughing so hard.]
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[She's the absolute meanest.
Too bad Saul's laughter is giving his complete lack of real offense away.]
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[deal with it]
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You're probably right.
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[There's another moment of laughter, before she goes quiet again.]
I've only told Jim. I don't know how to bring it up when there's so much else going on.
[She'd thought about telling Collette, but it'd seemed wrong to just text her about it.]
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I guess that depends on how many shoulders you need right now. Sure, things are chaotic, but I'm sure your friends would drop everything to... y'know, be there for you.
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I don't think I'm ready to deal with it yet.
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