[He cocks his head at the last part. He remembers now that Brigade's over a hundred years old, he remembers what France was like before the veil came down... Curiosity piqued, he looks at the older man.]
[ Brigade lights up a cigarette. The War's always something that hurts to remember. Even more than the years in Russia. ]
The French fought the hardest in WWII. They took the worst hits from Germany. Lesser men would've folded, but France and its people wouldn't stay down. Against all odds, the French fought with tooth, nail, blood, sweat and tears. [ Yes, Kaz, he's comparing you to the French in the War. ]
Even before the War, the French were always giving; they would give their all. They were good people, no matter the low points they faced as a Nation in history. [ He takes another long drag. He's looking far into where the city meets the horizon. ] They gave the Statue of Liberty to the Americans as a gift. La Liberté éclairant le monde. [ He says the previous words in a practiced French accent only for those words ] Liberty Enlightening the World.
[ He looks to Kaz ] France and it's people, and you, are a lot alike. Well, at least from where I'm looking.
Fighting hard? Maybe... I just... I feel like there's so much I have to prove sometimes. Well, okay, lately a lot less.
[He thinks back to the night he succumbed to the tempation of the Wings.]
I really messed up that night and ever since then, all I've wanted to do is make sure I never make those mistakes ever again. I don't ever want to let anyone down again.
[He doesn't voice the other things.
I don't want any of you to have to bury me before I'm old. I don't want any of the people I love getting hurt because of my stupidity.
He shakes his head, because he's going to that place again, where his confidence is shaken and his resolve destroyed.]
So yeah, maybe I needed this. Thanks, Brig.
[He narrows his eyes at Brigade for a scant minute.]
Something else on your mind, though? We didn't climb up this high just for me, did we?
Sarreh.^.^ also, segue into Brig opening up! Huzzah!
"We are better than the worst mistakes we've ever made". Something my "dad" once told me. [ Brig smiles at Kaz ] Don't sweat it. We grow from our mistakes. Like you have.
[ Brig takes a drag and moves the conversation to his question ] Well, there wasn't any other plan really. But [ A pause ] I have been trying to be more open about myself with you all; something I haven't really been [ I'm sorry about that. ].
[ He thinks of his conversations with Kasumi and how the nights at Seigi were a culmination of the many other conversations he'd had with so many other people ] I felt that, maybe, this would be a good chance. That maybe a good run, fresh air and a good view would crack some of my walls a bit.
[Have a concerned puppy look, Brigade. Kaz is good at that sort of thing. He's genuinely worried, and he has every reason to. Much had changed since the day they met, the then-complete and then-unnamed Blade guarding a mysterious package, and Brigade sent there to retrieve it for Grendal. He scoots in closer to Brigade now.]
Nothing's happened really, and that's exactly it. [ Brig looks at Kaz with a slightly sad look on his face ] I've only been open enough with you all. As of the time you've met me, I've been an open book; big brother Brig watching over you all, gladly offering to help with every problem you all have.
But as to really reaching out to you guys [ A pause ], I admit I've been very reclusive and secretive. [ It's painful for him to admit. Because it's true ] I guess I've just been so used to my privacy, and dealing with my own problems alone.
[He's the same way, having been previously unable to trust them in his desperation to not be just the deadwalker. Unable to completely trust that they had his back.]
Are you... Are you okay though? Seriously. You have been taking care of us a lot. I figure it's our turn... Well, my turn.
Yeah, I'm okay. Working on it.[ He smiles ] We'll all cover each other's backs. [ He takes a drag from his cigarette. Then adds ] Can I get your opinion on something?
[The shock on Kaz's face is apparent. While he respects and admires Kasumi, he's content to do so from afar. If anything, Alistair and Paolo taught him to speak frankly.]
[ I'd have to agree with you there. He doesn't say it yet. He wants to know what Kaz thinks. He just nods, still just with his head lowered. ] Stupid thing to do, huh?
[ Well, that bites. The painful reminder that even his blademate still acknowledges that he isn't human. Brigade's fault of course, he's lulled himself to the belief that some people see him as human ] You know, I've never really thought about that much. [ A pause ] She made me think about it. In our talks at Seigi.
[He notices the tone of Brig’s voice drop. He winces, because yeah, he forgets that Brigade isn’t exactly like he is. He’s never thought of Brigade as inhuman, never thought of the older man as any less human than Hikaru or Aidan or Alistair or Rethe.]
That’s not what I mean, and you know it, Roland.
[Leave it to Kaz’s ability to gauge your mood. He’s learned at the heels of Alistair Mordechai, after all.]
Riddle me this: Is the attraction to Kasumi because of everything she is, or is it because you want to consider the idea of being attracted to someone?
[The twenty-one year old Vaizard brat is looking at you now, Mr. one hundred and twenty-two year old Promethean, and he is not kidding.]
[ Brig smiles ] Nah, it's something I've been talking to a lot of people about already actually. [ The name he'd been given by HECATON years ago feels so foreign now. It's still a happy memory though. ] Brig's fine, Kaz. It really had been the name I've opted to use more.
[ He thinks on what Kaz asks ] I'm not really sure, you know? It's just, she was genuinely intriguing. And the conversations were [ pleasant, for awhile. ] enlightening.
[ Lots of things. There's an urge to just spout out a lot of words. But his mind filters on instinct ]
I find her attractive. [ He's still very human in that regard. He gives that honest, sheepish look people do when they admit that. ]
She's intimidating but seems kind underneath the tough exterior. [ A pause ] She reminds me of Alison - Hawke's woman, back in the War - and how even as calculating and stern as she was, she loved every single one of us. [ Another pause ] Even me.
[ He takes a long drag of his cigarette and lets out a long puff ] She's a soldier. [ And the next words are said half-jokingly to try to lighten the mood. Although it's still true. ] And she's a lot closer to my age than every other woman I've met. [ He tilts his head slightly to the right with a look on his face that says "I still am 122." ]
[ Brig laughs at that. The mood suddenly so much lighter. And he can't help but take a jab at that, all in good fun really ] You do know that in one major future, Steve and Natasha ended up married with a kid. [ He taps the ash from his cigarette into a portable ashtray he'd brought with him ]
But yeah, it was a different Captain America who ended up with Natasha main timeline. [ He lets out a sigh. Have the geekier side of Brig, Kaz. He's glad to be able to share geekery with you too. ]
[ And this is when the filter turns off. ] It's... [ He looks down on his hands, his cigarette tapering out. His next words come out in a whisper. Audible, but low. ]
I'm scared that those conversations weren't anything but Whisperer work. [ He's remembering how nice and entertaining she'd been. And how on the last night, nothing. Was it all an act? ] Or that I might have done something wrong.
Well, if they were... Maybe you should just leave them at that. You know part of being human means getting your heart broken once or twice. What should matter is the experience.
[He shrugs, because his own situation with Nico is rather different.]
What should matter is that you had that time, those talks. Whether you did something wrong is irrelevant. Because I think Kasumi-san would be upfront about that sort of thing.
[ Brig gives a nod, with a look on his face that he is absorbing the advice whole-heartedly ] I wouldn't go as far as heartbroken. [ He chuckles softly ]
It's just that it felt a bit so abrupt how she suddenly seemed so distant. [ He sighs ] Cause those talks did matter.
They [ a beat ] got me thinking about a lot of things. I just don't want to have offended her or anything.
I think you'd know if you offended her. And if the conversations you had mattered to you, then isn't that what counts? People. Conversations.
[He stands and balances himself, needing to stretch out.]
While it's not the same, Nico and I had to go through a lot before things settled. You'll go through that too when the right time and the right person comes along. [Pause, backtrack.] Not that I think Kasumi-san would be bad at all... It's just... [Shrug.]
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ktotheatothez) wrote2014-01-03 11:19 pm
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Oh? Tell me more about it...
[They've got time, after all.]
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The French fought the hardest in WWII. They took the worst hits from Germany. Lesser men would've folded, but France and its people wouldn't stay down. Against all odds, the French fought with tooth, nail, blood, sweat and tears. [ Yes, Kaz, he's comparing you to the French in the War. ]
Even before the War, the French were always giving; they would give their all. They were good people, no matter the low points they faced as a Nation in history. [ He takes another long drag. He's looking far into where the city meets the horizon. ] They gave the Statue of Liberty to the Americans as a gift. La Liberté éclairant le monde. [ He says the previous words in a practiced French accent only for those words ] Liberty Enlightening the World.
[ He looks to Kaz ] France and it's people, and you, are a lot alike. Well, at least from where I'm looking.
s t a l l
[He thinks back to the night he succumbed to the tempation of the Wings.]
I really messed up that night and ever since then, all I've wanted to do is make sure I never make those mistakes ever again. I don't ever want to let anyone down again.
[He doesn't voice the other things.
I don't want any of you to have to bury me before I'm old. I don't want any of the people I love getting hurt because of my stupidity.
He shakes his head, because he's going to that place again, where his confidence is shaken and his resolve destroyed.]
So yeah, maybe I needed this. Thanks, Brig.
[He narrows his eyes at Brigade for a scant minute.]
Something else on your mind, though? We didn't climb up this high just for me, did we?
Sarreh.^.^ also, segue into Brig opening up! Huzzah!
[ Brig takes a drag and moves the conversation to his question ] Well, there wasn't any other plan really. But [ A pause ] I have been trying to be more open about myself with you all; something I haven't really been [ I'm sorry about that. ].
[ He thinks of his conversations with Kasumi and how the nights at Seigi were a culmination of the many other conversations he'd had with so many other people ] I felt that, maybe, this would be a good chance. That maybe a good run, fresh air and a good view would crack some of my walls a bit.
\o/ le's do this.
[Have a concerned puppy look, Brigade. Kaz is good at that sort of thing. He's genuinely worried, and he has every reason to. Much had changed since the day they met, the then-complete and then-unnamed Blade guarding a mysterious package, and Brigade sent there to retrieve it for Grendal. He scoots in closer to Brigade now.]
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But as to really reaching out to you guys [ A pause ], I admit I've been very reclusive and secretive. [ It's painful for him to admit. Because it's true ] I guess I've just been so used to my privacy, and dealing with my own problems alone.
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[He's the same way, having been previously unable to trust them in his desperation to not be just the deadwalker. Unable to completely trust that they had his back.]
Are you... Are you okay though? Seriously. You have been taking care of us a lot. I figure it's our turn... Well, my turn.
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[There's a non-chalant shrug, and a look on his face that clearly says 'Well lay it on me, man']
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I don't think that's a good idea, man.
I LOVE THE ICON! YO MAN!
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[There's a pause, and the way he says nice is in a way that kind of means she's on a whole 'nother level. That, and here's the 'but':]
But... She's not someone to pursue.
[He pauses, regarding Brig.]
Is this about being more human?
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That’s not what I mean, and you know it, Roland.
[Leave it to Kaz’s ability to gauge your mood. He’s learned at the heels of Alistair Mordechai, after all.]
Riddle me this: Is the attraction to Kasumi because of everything she is, or is it because you want to consider the idea of being attracted to someone?
[The twenty-one year old Vaizard brat is looking at you now, Mr. one hundred and twenty-two year old Promethean, and he is not kidding.]
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[ He thinks on what Kaz asks ] I'm not really sure, you know? It's just, she was genuinely intriguing. And the conversations were [ pleasant, for awhile. ] enlightening.
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So... Now that that's out in the open. [A beat.] Okay, you said intriguing... What about her is intriguing to you?
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I find her attractive. [ He's still very human in that regard. He gives that honest, sheepish look people do when they admit that. ]
She's intimidating but seems kind underneath the tough exterior. [ A pause ] She reminds me of Alison - Hawke's woman, back in the War - and how even as calculating and stern as she was, she loved every single one of us. [ Another pause ] Even me.
[ He takes a long drag of his cigarette and lets out a long puff ] She's a soldier. [ And the next words are said half-jokingly to try to lighten the mood. Although it's still true. ] And she's a lot closer to my age than every other woman I've met. [ He tilts his head slightly to the right with a look on his face that says "I still am 122." ]
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[Kaz is smirking.]
She seems more superspy than soldier to me. Lemme put it this way, Brig: If you're Cap, she's Black Widow, and we all know how that turned out.
[Have a shrug from the blade's baby boy, Brigade, as he takes another puff of his cigarette and let his gaze wander.]
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But yeah, it was a different Captain America who ended up with Natasha main timeline. [ He lets out a sigh. Have the geekier side of Brig, Kaz. He's glad to be able to share geekery with you too. ]
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He's opening up to you, Kaz. haha. Yes, you know more about romantic relationships than Brig does.
[ And this is when the filter turns off. ] It's... [ He looks down on his hands, his cigarette tapering out. His next words come out in a whisper. Audible, but low. ]
I'm scared that those conversations weren't anything but Whisperer work. [ He's remembering how nice and entertaining she'd been. And how on the last night, nothing. Was it all an act? ] Or that I might have done something wrong.
Aiyaaaaaaaa.
[He shrugs, because his own situation with Nico is rather different.]
What should matter is that you had that time, those talks. Whether you did something wrong is irrelevant. Because I think Kasumi-san would be upfront about that sort of thing.
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It's just that it felt a bit so abrupt how she suddenly seemed so distant. [ He sighs ] Cause those talks did matter.
They [ a beat ] got me thinking about a lot of things. I just don't want to have offended her or anything.
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[He stands and balances himself, needing to stretch out.]
While it's not the same, Nico and I had to go through a lot before things settled. You'll go through that too when the right time and the right person comes along. [Pause, backtrack.] Not that I think Kasumi-san would be bad at all... It's just... [Shrug.]
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