[Eventually, he does let go of his death-grip on her, instead opting to sit back on the couch, leaning lightly against her. This is fine, this is nice. He even deigns to eat one of his own cookies. ]
Yeah. I'm sure he'll get there when he's ready. And I wanna be there for him when he does. Maybe not the way he wants, but there all the same.
[She's generally the overly affectionate one out of the two of them. She's also the trained warrior, she can take and will gladly accept whatever death grip he can offer.
She gently ruffles his hair once he's settled down and eaten his first cookie.]
You'll both get there, eventually. At least I have a feeling that you will.
[She just lets her head rest against his shoulder.]
Yeah. I don't want to just throw the label on her.
Her names Maria and she's been teaching about how my eyes work and how to actually use them. She used to be a super awesome Huntress known as the Grimm Reaper, super famous when my uncle was in school apparently!
[Don't mind her as she gives him a playful little elbow.]
Well I'll have to take your word for it then. She appreciated people who were willing to use their heads. I bet you both would have gotten along.
Oh! So she's the other person in your world with silver eyes?
[Other than Ruby's mother, who they are decidedly not talking about, no sir. ]
That's really cool. I'm glad you've got someone with some real clout behind them showing you how to do the eye thing.
[Which he still only vaguely understands- but it's not like he can study that ability with the lack of Grimm and all. He chuckles a little at the elbow attack, flashing a lopsided grin her way.]
Guess you'll have to. Sounds that way! You fight smart, you live longer is all I'm saying.
She is-or well. Was. It's complicated. She has some really neat prosthetics that you'd get a kick out of.
[Silver eyes are suffering. Sorry.
The amount of people with mechanical bits is also kind of telling.]
She's awesome. We met her after we crashed the back half of a train fighting some Grimm and she's been travelling with us ever since.
I don't think I would have caught onto it nearly as quickly if I didn't have her talking me through it.
Since I've been here I feel like I've gotten a better handle on it too.
[She pauses on those words briefly. The whole desire to preserve life thing meant just held a lot more weight to her when she had someone she cared about like Varian around. Not that it was something she could even test out here.
Still the thought gets her to return that smile of his with a bright one of her own.]
Pffffft. Great advice. I'll take it to heart. I don't plan on going down anytime soon either way.
Wait. She has... eye prosthetics? I'm guessing this is more advanced than just glass eyes?
[Ruby's world is dangerous and awful, but by god he wishes he could tinker with the stuff there. He could do so much with the tech on offer in a place like that. ]
...You know, I don't even feel the need to question that story. That sounds exactly like the sort of shenanigans you'd get yourself into. But hey, it's good she's there. It's gotta be nice even having someone who understands what it's like to be different, huh?
[He manages to keep the smile there, but the ever-present threat of Neo doesn't fill him with much confidence on that factor.]
Good. I find you sticking around and alive very much preferable.
[She takes a second to wonder just how to describe them.]
Kind of imagine your goggles, but like super advanced and with garage doors for eyelids! She can't see colour but I mean that fact she can see at all is pretty awesome.
[Nailed it. She smiled fondly thinking of Maria and her adventures back at home.]
We do get up to a lot of shenanigans. That's true.
Yeah. The most I had to go off before I ran into her was what my Uncle told me. And that's basically that I was some sort of legendary warrior destined to live a life of battle. I mean that sounds awesome but it's nice to know there's a bit more to it.
[Thanks to that unfaltering smile she misses any sign that he's not all that confident in her answer.]
[Give him a second to imagine that, Ruby. His brain is firing on so many synapses right now- he's got that faraway look he gets when he's SCIENCING in his head. ]
So the glass would react like an optic lens. Amazing. Yeah, with enough wires and assuming she still had the nerves to attach them to, I bet you could make fully functioning eyes. Shame about the colour, though. I wonder if you could tweak it enough to bring it through? Or at least a veneer of it-
[He pauses, blinks and clears his throat- a touch embarrassed.]
Sorry. I'm back. And yeah, if you're gonna get a destiny foisted on you, you kinda want to read the small print.
[Destiny is not his favourite word. Destiny is why a treasured friend has gone off the rails and is a threat to all of them now. Destiny can go jump.]
Well, yeah. Hard agreement there. Much rather you stay alive, please.
[Look. She's smiling like a dope when the oven of his mind gets set to science. She might not understand it on the same level that he does. But him trying to figure it out worked a whole lot like she did when she was trying to figure out how different weapons worked or a new strategy for battle. She at the very least understands the passion behind it.]
From what she told me it sounded like it was specifically her eyes that got ruined when it happened. I've never looked into eye implants myself, but I know hers are super old. She might not have had them upgraded or replaced if there are newer models that do colour.
[She rubs at the back of her head. She wasn't completely lost this time around. Prosthetic limbs and such were common enough back in her world that she could follow along this time around.]
Glad to have you back, captain.
The small print kind of flies past you while you're doing all the crazy destiny stuff too. I'm just glad I have her in my corner, the things she's picked up on since I started travelling with her have completely blown my mind.
[She's not a huge fan of it either, but there isn't much she can do when other people aren't picking up the call.
She'll wrap an arm around his shoulder and pull him closer.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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You're welcome. I'm here to help however I can.
[She wants nothing more than for him to succeed but she wants for him to do it on his own terms.]
I have a feeling when he's ready to accept help you'll be there to offer your hand. He's just not there yet.
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Yeah. I'm sure he'll get there when he's ready. And I wanna be there for him when he does. Maybe not the way he wants, but there all the same.
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She gently ruffles his hair once he's settled down and eaten his first cookie.]
You'll both get there, eventually. At least I have a feeling that you will.
[She just lets her head rest against his shoulder.]
Phew. We certainly covered a lot of ground today.
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[At least his death grips are pretty puny. He's a scrawny guy. He huffs out a soft laugh at her comment.]
Wow, we really did. Go us, I guess we really did deserve the cookies.
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We did. And I'm not just saying that as someone who will gladly accept any excuse to stuff her face with cookies.
But I can't deny that it might have something to do with it too.
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Oh, I see how it is. The cookies really swayed you with the personal growth, here. I knew I picked the right desert.
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I work really well when cookies are involved.
They might have helped me pick out the right words to say.
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[It would be hard to miss!]
Well, they're better words than I could've come up with. Good words. Great words.
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[As if it's even a secret in the slightest.]
Maybe. You're better at letting your actions speak for you. You just come up with a different way to get the point across.
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[Don't joke about that in a place that tries to kill you all on a regular basis, Varian. Come on. He lets out a soft hum of thought at that. ]
I never thought about it like that before. I guess I do.
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[He's been hanging out with her for too long. It's that devil may care attitude.]
I can confirm it's a thing. I've been hanging out with you for awhile now and I've seen it demonstrated a few times.
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[Oh no, he doesn't want it. He's supposed to be the smart, cynical one. He leans back with a soft 'heh'.]
Thanks. That's uh- good to know?
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[Too bad. Soon enough he'll be the sunshine one. She starts stuffing cookies in her mouth with more gusto now.]
No problem. I pick up on things too, sometimes.
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[No, never. He cants his head, offering a little smile.]
You pick up on a lot of things, don't put yourself down.
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[That's just kind of how Deerington works.]
I'm just trying not to give myself too</i< much credit. Fine. I pick up on a normal amount of things? Is that better?
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[He casts her a pointed look, raising one eyebrow skywards.]
Only marginally. You're better than you give yourself credit for, is all I'm saying.
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You know. A kind of, sort of teacher of mine from back home said that to me once too.
Maybe you both are on to something.
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A kind of, sort of teacher?
Regardless, they're right. I mean, [he puts a hand to his chest] I know I'm right, so by extension, they're right too.
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Her names Maria and she's been teaching about how my eyes work and how to actually use them. She used to be a super awesome Huntress known as the Grimm Reaper, super famous when my uncle was in school apparently!
[Don't mind her as she gives him a playful little elbow.]
Well I'll have to take your word for it then. She appreciated people who were willing to use their heads. I bet you both would have gotten along.
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[Other than Ruby's mother, who they are decidedly not talking about, no sir. ]
That's really cool. I'm glad you've got someone with some real clout behind them showing you how to do the eye thing.
[Which he still only vaguely understands- but it's not like he can study that ability with the lack of Grimm and all. He chuckles a little at the elbow attack, flashing a lopsided grin her way.]
Guess you'll have to. Sounds that way! You fight smart, you live longer is all I'm saying.
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[Silver eyes are suffering. Sorry.
The amount of people with mechanical bits is also kind of telling.]
She's awesome. We met her after we crashed the back half of a train fighting some Grimm and she's been travelling with us ever since.
I don't think I would have caught onto it nearly as quickly if I didn't have her talking me through it.
Since I've been here I feel like I've gotten a better handle on it too.
[She pauses on those words briefly. The whole desire to preserve life thing meant just held a lot more weight to her when she had someone she cared about like Varian around. Not that it was something she could even test out here.
Still the thought gets her to return that smile of his with a bright one of her own.]
Pffffft. Great advice. I'll take it to heart. I don't plan on going down anytime soon either way.
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[Ruby's world is dangerous and awful, but by god he wishes he could tinker with the stuff there. He could do so much with the tech on offer in a place like that. ]
...You know, I don't even feel the need to question that story. That sounds exactly like the sort of shenanigans you'd get yourself into. But hey, it's good she's there. It's gotta be nice even having someone who understands what it's like to be different, huh?
[He manages to keep the smile there, but the ever-present threat of Neo doesn't fill him with much confidence on that factor.]
Good. I find you sticking around and alive very much preferable.
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[She takes a second to wonder just how to describe them.]
Kind of imagine your goggles, but like super advanced and with garage doors for eyelids! She can't see colour but I mean that fact she can see at all is pretty awesome.
[Nailed it. She smiled fondly thinking of Maria and her adventures back at home.]
We do get up to a lot of shenanigans. That's true.
Yeah. The most I had to go off before I ran into her was what my Uncle told me. And that's basically that I was some sort of legendary warrior destined to live a life of battle. I mean that sounds awesome but it's nice to know there's a bit more to it.
[Thanks to that unfaltering smile she misses any sign that he's not all that confident in her answer.]
Well I'm glad we agree on that.
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So the glass would react like an optic lens. Amazing. Yeah, with enough wires and assuming she still had the nerves to attach them to, I bet you could make fully functioning eyes. Shame about the colour, though. I wonder if you could tweak it enough to bring it through? Or at least a veneer of it-
[He pauses, blinks and clears his throat- a touch embarrassed.]
Sorry. I'm back. And yeah, if you're gonna get a destiny foisted on you, you kinda want to read the small print.
[Destiny is not his favourite word. Destiny is why a treasured friend has gone off the rails and is a threat to all of them now. Destiny can go jump.]
Well, yeah. Hard agreement there. Much rather you stay alive, please.
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From what she told me it sounded like it was specifically her eyes that got ruined when it happened. I've never looked into eye implants myself, but I know hers are super old. She might not have had them upgraded or replaced if there are newer models that do colour.
[She rubs at the back of her head. She wasn't completely lost this time around. Prosthetic limbs and such were common enough back in her world that she could follow along this time around.]
Glad to have you back, captain.
The small print kind of flies past you while you're doing all the crazy destiny stuff too. I'm just glad I have her in my corner, the things she's picked up on since I started travelling with her have completely blown my mind.
[She's not a huge fan of it either, but there isn't much she can do when other people aren't picking up the call.
She'll wrap an arm around his shoulder and pull him closer.]
I will, I promise.
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