Time travel and lousy life choices

[una_persson]

Who: Una Persson and OPEN (with threads for Niko and Niles)
What: Life in Blackstaff
Where: Various places; see threadstarters, or feel free to start your own
When: In the week or so after the witch den expeditions and Una's punitive assignment
Warnings: TBD

Comments

[vengeance_driven]

"For me? And the damage I do? I think there is maybe shame in wanting anything. But maybe someone with bad histories also gets this."

Niko had shown some pretty poor choices about his friends, though. "So ah... did they make you take Belloq back?" He changed the subject, referring to the man's cowardly effort to turn himself in.

[una_persson]

She glanced sidelong at Niko, a small, cryptic smile on her face. She wouldn't say any more about Boone, but in the privacy of her own mind, she wished Niko well in whatever was to happen.

At the mention of Belloq, she sighed heavily and shook her head. "No. They let someone else take care of that. I'd already ... had words with him. And was somewhat in Jeffers's bad books as a result."

[vengeance_driven]

"The robot guy with the mustache screen?" Niko needed to double check, because he didn't seem like he'd be the type to be on Belloq's side.

[una_persson]

"That one. Yes. Technically, he's my boss—same goes for all the agents. And it turns out he's not too pleased when you ah, borrow the transporters without authorisation. Particularly not for the temporal equivalent of hanging a fellow off the edge of a building by his ankles by way of making a point."

[vengeance_driven]

That actually made him smile, though, authorization or not. "That is much better than what I wanted to him, and what I did and the results that I got." He had just yelled at him, after all, and Belloq hadn't cared.

[una_persson]

"I'm not proud of it, exactly," she admitted. "But it made the point I wanted to make. And anyway, he's out of our hair now and good riddance to bad rubbish." She made a gesture as if flicking something distasteful from her hand.

[vengeance_driven]

"I am glad you have enough tastes to keep the good rubbish around." He pointed a thumb at himself, beaming one of those biting grins.

"Hey, the last person that fucked me while lying the whole time? She got off easy. I just called her a bitch."

[una_persson]

She snorted, amused. "That's nothing new for me. Being lied to by someone I'm sleeping with or being called a bitch. It was the substance of the lie that particularly upset me. And having my good nature taken advantage of."

[vengeance_driven]

"I think that really is it, isn't it. You're good with words, but then again you're generally much better at English than I am."

The obvious. He could state it.

[una_persson]

"Oh, that's hardly fair—I've had a lifetime of practice." She smiled. "Give yourself some credit. Most people can barely speak one language beyond the one they're brought up with."

[vengeance_driven]

"I was always surprised why more people didn't after I learned. Maybe this is more European than elsewhere, because we talk so differently." He actually did appreciate her confidence.

"I should probably let you get back to what you were doing, but how about we get a beer sometime." He didn't particularly want to take her on a date-date. He didn't know why. Maybe he'd just shoved her into a part of his brain that said, "Way outclasses me so don't even bother." And there was some heteronormative cultural pit that called him a failure for it.

But he liked having friends to get bears with.

[una_persson]

"Anytime; I'd be glad to." She understood, at any rate, that this wasn't an overture—and she was fine with that, whatever his reasons might have been. A friend you could have a drink with was a good thing in her book. "But yes, I should be on my way. I'll see you around, Niko."