controlledvariable | exsilium; ic inbox

you need to come look after Fi

[Saul considered bringing this up a few weeks ago, but Steph wasn't around. He also wasn't sure how to contact her outside of showing up at the Hold and hoping she'd be there.

(Also, for the record, it's much harder to make a functional Bat-Signal than one would think.)

But now she's back and he can contact her without the aid of a flashlight and poorly-cut piece of cardboard, and since a certain network post made him uneasy to the point of nausea, he figures now is as good a time as any to talk about it.

So:]

I have a job for you.

So whenever you're done flirting with strangers on the network, I've got a few secondhand suits that need to be fixed up. I can pay you with actual money as opposed to bartering with baked goods. How's that sound?

Did you get your flowers?

Stephanie, can I ask you a favour?

( This is a message being left while Jim drags Ellie to the hospital, because she would rather it not get back to her second-hand; )

Steph? It's El.

( So necessarily to specify who it is. Obviously. Although, maybe it actually is, because she sounds unholy. ) I'm feeling a little rough, so uh-- I'm ducking into the hospital for a bit. Don't stress, but.

Good cover back there. Smart.

Thanks.

Stephanie?

( Sicily, today, not Gotham. Well, still Gotham. Just not Huntress. )

Steph, are you alright?

Bat?

( A brief pause, deliberate, but it's amused. There's room for that, with the bombings past. )

Nice work out there.

Steph? It's me. I know I promised I'd give you a call back in the catacombs, but —

Something came up.

[The world's best liar is suddenly the world's worst.

way 2 go steph

At least he sounds much better, health-wise.]

Stephanie?

We need to talk about Saul Goodman.

( god damn it he is going to check in )

How have you been?

any chance you'd be up to looking around for someone for me?

Hey. ( Usually these days when she calls Steph, she sounds dumb and fond. This is a bit blunter. ) Has Caesar checked in with you?

Hi Steph,
I'm going away for a few days on a mission. I hope everything is cool with you.
Have a good few days, I'll see you when I get back.
I hope you like the cookies.
Donny.

( SNICKERDOODLES he made her snickerdoodles )

[Steph will find, attached to this message, a short recorded clip of what looks a lot like Saul's kitten chasing a small Bat-Signal, lit by flashlight, around the carpet of 509's living room.]

I'm training your new nemesis. You better watch your back, Brown.

Thanks for taking over the cookie tent this month, Steph. I'll be with Jesse all day, so there's no knead to worry about him.

If anything goes wrong or you have a problem, please call me. But if you-know-who shows up — and I'm not talking about Voldemort, tho they could probably pass for cousins — TEXT me instead. I'll be keeping an eye on my tablet.

Good luck. Doughn't screw it up. :)

Edited 2013-08-31 18:39 (UTC)

Hey, Steph? I'm heading out into the Outlands for a few days to do some writing and hunting and stuff. You gonna be able to keep out of trouble that long?

It is Stephanie, isn't it? I wanted to thank you for the welcome when I first arrived. I have gotten much more settled in now, and that was partly thanks to the friendliness that everyone showed me, right from the start. Thank you again, and I look forward to working alongside you here.

steph?? are you ok?

[He heard her message.

And heard it and heard it again and finally decided, after the fifth replay (which happened to be the replay that finally caught Mike's attention and had her pawing curiously at the speaker), to take a shower and clean himself up, change his bandages, and have some decent coffee.

Then he listened to it one more time.

Saul knows what she was going to say. He doesn't know if she means it the same way he does, and in light of all the time he spent with Ellie back in the holding compound and how much he grew to like her, it really shouldn't matter how Steph means it.

But it does matter. And he has to know.]

If this wakes you up, ignore it.

If not, drop by? Or meet me somewhere. Your call.

[ he's struggled with what to say to her for a while now since they returned, even after she jabbed him with a needle (don't matter how small it was!), but this seems pretty clear cut.

she'll get it. ]

next time, no needles.

Steph —

[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.

Did I ever tell you I hate flying?

text;

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pre-pie & flirting: private, text, anon.