[ he was heard very well. don't tell him anything you want him to forget, okay.
to his credit, wash doesn't noticeably lock up, mostly because his guard had been on when he came in here and it's not been let up, and he doesn't stop giving the kitten all the pets it wants and deserves. but there is a bit of tension, there, a subtle shift in the look in his eyes. ]
Which one did you hear about it from?
[ and how much did you hear about it. most likely felix, he's assuming, who's done extensive research into the freelancers as a whole and had access to their evaluations and profiles. sharkface might've had access to them too, but he doesn't know if he's the type to have really gone through them. ]
[ They haven't specifically - he thinks - talked about names and the very precise varied ways the implants can go wrong.
It's just that he's heard things about how frequently those things go fucking wrong in general, and in various ways. He's also taken, and seen, some pretty damn advanced medical scans of Ephemera (with a tricorder) and had the guy having seizures at his feet. ]
[ interesting. ephemera likely wouldn't have as much detail as felix might, depending. he doesn't know him well enough to guess at why it might've been brought up, and there's a part of wash that kind of hates that it was, not even just on a personal level, but implants at all. ingrained paranoia from their time in the war. technology and knowledge about it could make all the difference, sometimes.
he nods, taking another bite of the apple, he's mostly done with it by now. ]
Then it's probably unsurprising to you that I'm not exactly keen to talk about it.
I'm always at least mildly surprised when anyone doesn't want to talk about anything.
[ He hadn't exactly been asked, but he's certainly going to act like he was. It's the truth, too. He is now firmly engaged in a conversation rather than talking at Washington, as he'd been earlier.]
It doesn't make logistical sense to me. It does make emotional sense.
[ both contribute to how decisions are made. a human thing, maybe, except crais has already spoken about how his decisions and morality are driven by emotion more than logic, so he doubts that needs explaining. ]
Doesn't change anything about it, either way. Ephemera [ still a little weird using the name, he really doesn't know him that way ] doesn't know about it because I told him about it. Still don't particularly want to talk about it.
[ look you've told him a Lot about yourself today but wash has never indicated that this would be a mutual exchange, and you have in fact seemed incredibly insistent that you can and will just tell him anything without any consideration to privacy or otherwise. he's not like that. he doesn't really talk about it with people he knows, let alone with someone he just met who's thrown him into a bizarre series if situations. he might talk about it sometime when he gets to know you a bit better, but right now he's quite content to be completely unsubtle about preferring to stonewall you about it. ]
I don't particularly care what you do and don't talk to me about.
[ Just tossing that out there. Is he interested? Yes. Will he ask questions? Yes. Will he get offended or dig in when he doesn't get information? No. Not unless it's something that's going to bite him directly. There isnt' enough investment there for that.
It's taken him how many months (more than 12 of them) to learn some things about Cyram? And his investment there is much, much higher. ]
The cat's name is Slyvester and he will take your apple core and half your hand with him when he thinks you've finished eating.
[ the directness is easy enough, something that wash genuinely appreciates as much as he is kind of bewildered by it. he knows how to navigate more delicately if and when he has to, but there is a refreshing ease in being this. he doesn't want to talk about it, and that's that.
cat, though. he will absolutely talk to you about cat. he makes a quiet sound, amused, glancing down at the kitten again. ]
He can have it. [ not the hand, though. he will look back at crais just to make sure that giving the kitten the apple core is actually fine by his measure, and if it is he's more than happy to just directly give it to the cute little thing. ] Cat thing works well, by the way.
[ He nods in response to the look to give permission, after which point Sylvester will grab the core to gnaw on. Hey, kitten is teething and it's a pretty valid option for things to chew on.
Then he cracks a faint, quick, grin.]
It does. It wasn't my intention when I took him in, but he's been helpful in disarming people and even the more violently inclined tend to be more careful when they're holding a cat.
The duplex is warded by the guy next door, by the way. Anyone with intent to harm won't make it through. Or so the person behind the wards insists. [ Not a threat or warning, just information that is relevant.]
[ wash had still kept up his guard even with a kitten dropped on him but it definitely had a disarming quality and he can't ignore the kitty. maybe a different person would've managed to, but wash really, really likes cats, and kind of stood basically no chance. he watches the kitten gnaw at its new reward with noticeable fondness. he's happy to let sylvester jump off and take it somewhere else to chew on if he wants, but right now is clearly happy to have him here. what a good kitty. ]
Warded. Like what, with magic? [ a slight raise of an eyebrow. it's not disbelieving, he's just -- new here, and he's not used to these things yet. he's seen enough to understand that there are plenty of people around who can just do that, but it's still strange to him. crais besides sounds like he comes from a world at least tangentially similar to his own, but maybe there was magic there, too. ] None of that where I'm from, and I'm still kind of new here.
[ you've been here over a year, huh. wash still isn't sure what to make of that. ]
[ He has yet to meet anyone who is not at least confused into better behavior for having a cat thrust into their arms. He may meet that person some day, but like the absolute fondness Wash clearly has for the kitten -- they'll be on the outside of the curve.
Just in the other direction. ]
There's none of it where I come from, either. I've been here long enough that it's stopped making me twitch. When did you arrive?
About a week before [ he makes a bit of a face ] that Heritage Week thing.
[ so only a couple of weeks as of felix's death, and he would've taken quite some time just in his own mental torment before eventually reaching out to ephemera. ]
Not exactly much time to get used to -- any of it.
[ and no being thrust into a series of alternate memories did not at all help. ]
[ He wonders if Washington was dead before he turned up here. Felix and Ephemera sure were, but he's actually not going to ask. ]
Their idea of what dominants and submissives should be pisses me off more and more as time goes on. Otherwise it is... not terrible once you do get a chance to adjust to it.
[ He's actually happy here. Of course when your dead and came from where he is, the bar's pretty low ]
[ wash wasn't dead and also is basically why the two of them were dead! it's. a whole thing.
crais has clearly gotten used to things and made a life for himself here, and it doesn't take too much to guess that he might dislike what the city pushes as dominant and submissive, he isn't entirely against the idea in general. the collar isn't exactly subtle. wash has nothing against consenting power exchanges, enjoys it a lot, actually, but the way this city has done it, the way it divides people almost arbitrarily, the way it turns into something that's about class all of sudden. it sure does leave a bad taste in his mouth. ]
You seem to have adjusted just fine, in your fourteen to fifteen months. [ and apparently, no way out -- or maybe nothing to go back to, since crais has talked straightforwardly about being dead. ] The dominant and submissive thing seems hard to ignore around here if you don't like how they do it, though.
[ He has no idea about the details of Felix's death. Ephemera? He has... had that dream and Ephemera identified Washington as the guy in yellow and gray armor.
Not sure of the timelines, though and doesn't mean Washington didn't die later. Not important right now.
He snorts a little.]
The biggest difference between this place and where I came from is I have more freedom here - and it's actually really easy to ignore the city's take on dominance and submission, once you're established and if you write your contract well. [ Write your contract well. ] The far bigger problem is that half the people here don't know what the frell they're doing or don't have any business being designated as they were and dominants having 'relations' with other dominants is... dealt with harshly.
[ wash wrote his contract while he wasn't himself, he doesn't really want to talk about it. but even that different version of himself -- was not too dissimilar to his real self, cautious, overprepared. the contract was thorough, mostly permissive. he nods, what crais' saying makes sense. if you're personally established enough and the terms of your own contract are agreeable, then everything probably won't affect you too badly.
wash does just kind of hate the idea of it in general though. ]
The city really wanting people to fuck but also being incredibly prescriptive about relationships isn't exactly great, especially when the logic behind the designations doesn't really seem to exist. [ from what he understands it almost feels like they flip a coin. wash obviously doesn't think. ] And if people don't know what they're doing . . . I can see how that'd go wrong.
[ while not given to talk about himself, wash is at least clearly happy to talk about why he thinks the city sucks. he is apparently comfortable with his own designation, as much as he can be given his distaste for the system itself. ]
[ Crais is just as comfortable talking about the city and abstract theories as he is dumping personal information or digging for it. In fact, given that he's now getting some feedback instead of simply a... reflection back of what he said, he is more comfortable.
This might actually be the first actual conversation they've had. ]
Dominants have a harder time when the designation doesn't fit the person. [ Still eating the orange, only more methodically now instead of as a thing to do with his hands. ] Most of the issues submissives have with it are with ego and that goes away fair quickly. The City doesn't give a frell what we do or with who, barring active rebellion or failing quota - in which case our Dominant is going down with us. The problems for the Dominants who really don't want to be - or don't want to be all the time - build because there are very few outlets for them. [ That 'no other dominants sex' thing - what he said is definitely related. ]
[ Crais is aware Washington is pretty comfortable - or seems to be. He's certainly comfortable, himself, but he's got a lot of reason for that. ]
[ it is an actual conversation. he will talk to you about things, just not personal things. even more general information about his world he might be willing to converse about. wash is a very guarded man and that hasn't exactly changed, but crais' forthrightness has skipped him past a few things. the kitten also helped.
wash is chafing against the system in general because who wouldn't, especially as a new arrival. there are obvious benefits to being a dominant, access to resources, certain freedoms -- but not others. the restrictiveness on a dominant had also been apparent from the start. in some ways wash might've preferred living in the down, but he's too resourceful to not make use of what he has, is aware that with most of his friends stuck down there, having someone on the other side of things is probably more valuable. other reasons too, more related to his understanding of himself as a person -- ultimately, if he had a choice, he would have chosen to be designated dominant. ]
Fitting, I guess. More power, more freedom, but more responsibilities. [ a sigh. he reaches for sylvester again for more pets and scritches. ] I've not exactly ended up with the best of contracts, either.
There's only so much you can do to protect yourself with a contract. [ He isn't going to directly talk about Felix, because Crais will talk about himself forever, but he won't expose people he cares about. ] The way the city is set up won't allow you to use the contract to divorce yourself from responsibility for the actions of your submissive. Meaning all that has to exist to turn the entire city into a weapon against you is for them to be willing to take damage themselves.
[ Meaning, yeah, you are in a world of hurt there, buddy, if you aren't damn careful. He's met Felix. ]
Fortunately unless you made the contract permanent it will expire and allow a... smarter choice.
I'm aware. [ carolina might not see it his way and thinks felix is the yapping little dog to ephemera's more credible threat, but to wash felix is without question the bigger danger. and now he's got him on a leash. kind of. he's very, very cognizant of the situation it puts him in. ] It's not permanent, and I'll handle it.
[ wash will not talk about himself and will prefer not to talk about others if possible, and he reaaaally doesn't want to talk about how the contract with him and felix had happened. felix won't remember it at all when he returns, and when even when he does start to remember it'll be vague and unclear, almost dreamlike, judging by how everyone else has been. wash, on the other hand, has the wonderful privilege of remembering everything absolutely perfectly. he'd taken so long to reach out to anyone after felix's death because he'd just been struggling to process, and he's -- still not entirely there. probably won't be for a while. but he still does have a very, very well-practiced poker face. ]
[ the poker face is great. It also makes Crais frustrated as fuck. Unlike previous points, where he was remarkably apathetic about it. This time it's a little bit personal. ]
I wasn't speaking specifically to your situation, in spite of the word you. I was still discussing the problem with the designations within the city and for dominants as a whole. If I was trying to discuss your contract in particular, you wouldn't have been who I was concerned for.
[ a pause, and he seems to deflate just a little. he's been incredibly on guard this whole time, but he's just been very, very, very on edge about felix and the contract -- that they'd really only spoken about it over text had been an advantage. ]
Fair. It's just kind of what's on my mind.
[ he's gonna try and give sylvester some nice scritches because while the kitty is here he might as well distract himself a little, too. ]
When I get the chance to actually negotiate a contract, I'll keep all that in mind.
You really barely know me. But I take that that doesn't matter that much for you -- or for Sylvester.
[ the cat doesn't seem to care either as long as there's nice pets involves. he continues gently scritching sylvester behind one ear, gentle and fond. ]
Do most people need to know someone well to like them?
[ Maybe they do. What the frell does he know. Humans continually confuse him. Liking people is a novelty for him though, and he's been wallowing in it for a year with no intention of stopping. ]
So would I. You could take me out without breaking a sweat.
[ which is not entirely accurate, but look, wash is an incredibly paranoid man. more cautious than most around anyone he doesn't know, and still careful around those he does. he makes a low sound, slightly amused. ]
Not much of a fighter?
[ people who don't look like fighters could still totally kick his ass, okay. ]
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to his credit, wash doesn't noticeably lock up, mostly because his guard had been on when he came in here and it's not been let up, and he doesn't stop giving the kitten all the pets it wants and deserves. but there is a bit of tension, there, a subtle shift in the look in his eyes. ]
Which one did you hear about it from?
[ and how much did you hear about it. most likely felix, he's assuming, who's done extensive research into the freelancers as a whole and had access to their evaluations and profiles. sharkface might've had access to them too, but he doesn't know if he's the type to have really gone through them. ]
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[ They haven't specifically - he thinks - talked about names and the very precise varied ways the implants can go wrong.
It's just that he's heard things about how frequently those things go fucking wrong in general, and in various ways. He's also taken, and seen, some pretty damn advanced medical scans of Ephemera (with a tricorder) and had the guy having seizures at his feet. ]
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he nods, taking another bite of the apple, he's mostly done with it by now. ]
Then it's probably unsurprising to you that I'm not exactly keen to talk about it.
[ he gives the kitten a little chin scritch. ]
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[ He hadn't exactly been asked, but he's certainly going to act like he was. It's the truth, too. He is now firmly engaged in a conversation rather than talking at Washington, as he'd been earlier.]
It doesn't make logistical sense to me. It does make emotional sense.
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Those don't have to be separate things.
[ both contribute to how decisions are made. a human thing, maybe, except crais has already spoken about how his decisions and morality are driven by emotion more than logic, so he doubts that needs explaining. ]
Doesn't change anything about it, either way. Ephemera [ still a little weird using the name, he really doesn't know him that way ] doesn't know about it because I told him about it. Still don't particularly want to talk about it.
[ look you've told him a Lot about yourself today but wash has never indicated that this would be a mutual exchange, and you have in fact seemed incredibly insistent that you can and will just tell him anything without any consideration to privacy or otherwise. he's not like that. he doesn't really talk about it with people he knows, let alone with someone he just met who's thrown him into a bizarre series if situations. he might talk about it sometime when he gets to know you a bit better, but right now he's quite content to be completely unsubtle about preferring to stonewall you about it. ]
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[ Just tossing that out there. Is he interested? Yes. Will he ask questions? Yes. Will he get offended or dig in when he doesn't get information? No. Not unless it's something that's going to bite him directly. There isnt' enough investment there for that.
It's taken him how many months (more than 12 of them) to learn some things about Cyram? And his investment there is much, much higher. ]
The cat's name is Slyvester and he will take your apple core and half your hand with him when he thinks you've finished eating.
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cat, though. he will absolutely talk to you about cat. he makes a quiet sound, amused, glancing down at the kitten again. ]
He can have it. [ not the hand, though. he will look back at crais just to make sure that giving the kitten the apple core is actually fine by his measure, and if it is he's more than happy to just directly give it to the cute little thing. ] Cat thing works well, by the way.
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Then he cracks a faint, quick, grin.]
It does. It wasn't my intention when I took him in, but he's been helpful in disarming people and even the more violently inclined tend to be more careful when they're holding a cat.
The duplex is warded by the guy next door, by the way. Anyone with intent to harm won't make it through. Or so the person behind the wards insists. [ Not a threat or warning, just information that is relevant.]
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Warded. Like what, with magic? [ a slight raise of an eyebrow. it's not disbelieving, he's just -- new here, and he's not used to these things yet. he's seen enough to understand that there are plenty of people around who can just do that, but it's still strange to him. crais besides sounds like he comes from a world at least tangentially similar to his own, but maybe there was magic there, too. ] None of that where I'm from, and I'm still kind of new here.
[ you've been here over a year, huh. wash still isn't sure what to make of that. ]
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Just in the other direction. ]
There's none of it where I come from, either. I've been here long enough that it's stopped making me twitch. When did you arrive?
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[ so only a couple of weeks as of felix's death, and he would've taken quite some time just in his own mental torment before eventually reaching out to ephemera. ]
Not exactly much time to get used to -- any of it.
[ and no being thrust into a series of alternate memories did not at all help. ]
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Their idea of what dominants and submissives should be pisses me off more and more as time goes on. Otherwise it is... not terrible once you do get a chance to adjust to it.
[ He's actually happy here. Of course when your dead and came from where he is, the bar's pretty low ]
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crais has clearly gotten used to things and made a life for himself here, and it doesn't take too much to guess that he might dislike what the city pushes as dominant and submissive, he isn't entirely against the idea in general. the collar isn't exactly subtle. wash has nothing against consenting power exchanges, enjoys it a lot, actually, but the way this city has done it, the way it divides people almost arbitrarily, the way it turns into something that's about class all of sudden. it sure does leave a bad taste in his mouth. ]
You seem to have adjusted just fine, in your fourteen to fifteen months. [ and apparently, no way out -- or maybe nothing to go back to, since crais has talked straightforwardly about being dead. ] The dominant and submissive thing seems hard to ignore around here if you don't like how they do it, though.
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Not sure of the timelines, though and doesn't mean Washington didn't die later. Not important right now.
He snorts a little.]
The biggest difference between this place and where I came from is I have more freedom here - and it's actually really easy to ignore the city's take on dominance and submission, once you're established and if you write your contract well. [ Write your contract well. ] The far bigger problem is that half the people here don't know what the frell they're doing or don't have any business being designated as they were and dominants having 'relations' with other dominants is... dealt with harshly.
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wash does just kind of hate the idea of it in general though. ]
The city really wanting people to fuck but also being incredibly prescriptive about relationships isn't exactly great, especially when the logic behind the designations doesn't really seem to exist. [ from what he understands it almost feels like they flip a coin. wash obviously doesn't think. ] And if people don't know what they're doing . . . I can see how that'd go wrong.
[ while not given to talk about himself, wash is at least clearly happy to talk about why he thinks the city sucks. he is apparently comfortable with his own designation, as much as he can be given his distaste for the system itself. ]
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This might actually be the first actual conversation they've had. ]
Dominants have a harder time when the designation doesn't fit the person. [ Still eating the orange, only more methodically now instead of as a thing to do with his hands. ] Most of the issues submissives have with it are with ego and that goes away fair quickly. The City doesn't give a frell what we do or with who, barring active rebellion or failing quota - in which case our Dominant is going down with us. The problems for the Dominants who really don't want to be - or don't want to be all the time - build because there are very few outlets for them. [ That 'no other dominants sex' thing - what he said is definitely related. ]
[ Crais is aware Washington is pretty comfortable - or seems to be. He's certainly comfortable, himself, but he's got a lot of reason for that. ]
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wash is chafing against the system in general because who wouldn't, especially as a new arrival. there are obvious benefits to being a dominant, access to resources, certain freedoms -- but not others. the restrictiveness on a dominant had also been apparent from the start. in some ways wash might've preferred living in the down, but he's too resourceful to not make use of what he has, is aware that with most of his friends stuck down there, having someone on the other side of things is probably more valuable. other reasons too, more related to his understanding of himself as a person -- ultimately, if he had a choice, he would have chosen to be designated dominant. ]
Fitting, I guess. More power, more freedom, but more responsibilities. [ a sigh. he reaches for sylvester again for more pets and scritches. ] I've not exactly ended up with the best of contracts, either.
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[ Meaning, yeah, you are in a world of hurt there, buddy, if you aren't damn careful. He's met Felix. ]
Fortunately unless you made the contract permanent it will expire and allow a... smarter choice.
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[ wash will not talk about himself and will prefer not to talk about others if possible, and he reaaaally doesn't want to talk about how the contract with him and felix had happened. felix won't remember it at all when he returns, and when even when he does start to remember it'll be vague and unclear, almost dreamlike, judging by how everyone else has been. wash, on the other hand, has the wonderful privilege of remembering everything absolutely perfectly. he'd taken so long to reach out to anyone after felix's death because he'd just been struggling to process, and he's -- still not entirely there. probably won't be for a while. but he still does have a very, very well-practiced poker face. ]
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I wasn't speaking specifically to your situation, in spite of the word you. I was still discussing the problem with the designations within the city and for dominants as a whole. If I was trying to discuss your contract in particular, you wouldn't have been who I was concerned for.
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Fair. It's just kind of what's on my mind.
[ he's gonna try and give sylvester some nice scritches because while the kitty is here he might as well distract himself a little, too. ]
When I get the chance to actually negotiate a contract, I'll keep all that in mind.
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I think he likes you. So do I, ironically. I'm not promising I won't punch you in the face at some point, but I like you.
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[ the cat doesn't seem to care either as long as there's nice pets involves. he continues gently scritching sylvester behind one ear, gentle and fond. ]
I would rather avoid the face punching, though.
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[ Maybe they do. What the frell does he know. Humans continually confuse him. Liking people is a novelty for him though, and he's been wallowing in it for a year with no intention of stopping. ]
So would I. You could take me out without breaking a sweat.
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[ which is not entirely accurate, but look, wash is an incredibly paranoid man. more cautious than most around anyone he doesn't know, and still careful around those he does. he makes a low sound, slightly amused. ]
Not much of a fighter?
[ people who don't look like fighters could still totally kick his ass, okay. ]
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