9/5 Instance: Like Reading Algebra

[Ferguson]

Current Timeline


<@Fabian> Fabian stepped out of the rec room for the patio, lighting up his cigarette and slumping against the railing along the side. His free hand went to the rail as well, fingers druming against it with nerves.

<Eddie> With a sudden thud, a black clad male landed beside Fabian with no warning and laughed. "You are the ONLY person here! Why is it I can NEVER find anyone in this place!?", with a grin, Eddie Brock ran a hand through his hair and sighed; "Mansions are a bitch, huh?"

<@Fabian> "I always thought that was sort of the upside to them, myself." Fabian glanced up towards Eddie, eyebrow arched. "Who are you looking for then? I imagine most everyone's probably holed up for classes at the moment."

<Eddie> "I don't know, just other human contact I guess.", Eddie sighed, approaching a deck chair and slumping into it. "I was gonna make a huge deal about my new career path, and maybe just talk to someone other than my girlfriend - bless her heart.", he smirked again.

<Eddie> "N-not that she's 'boring', just.....you know, after staying with her for like a million years....", Eddie added post-haste.

<@Fabian> Reminding himself that, since it appeared Eddie hadn't actually been out to get him last they talked, Fabian made himself relax some. "Well, what is it then?"

<Eddie> "Depends - are you the bad guy everyone thought you were?", Eddie joked, leaning back and giving Fabian a raised eyebrow.

<@Fabian> Unless you were looking for it, the wince that went over Fabian's face would be too slight to notice. "Well, I imagine that'd still depend on who you asked. I like to think I've won a few people over."

<Eddie> Eddie nodded, "I have the distinct impression that if you were biding your time to commit an atrocity, you've waited a little too long for your 'window' - moreover, after some of the shit our own people pulled, how could they judge?", he conceded.

<Eddie> Truth was, given Fabian's past, most wouldn't trust him even now. As far as Eddie figured, at least. That said, it seemed somehow unfair that people still treated him like he was a criminal, even given that it was the X-Force - X-ers who he knew and trusted, who'd really let them down.

<@Fabian> "I don't think windows for atrocities ever really close." he chuckled, not sure if what he just said was a joke or not. "But I'd say it's good that it's closed. I seem to be getting away with it for the time being, yes?"

<Eddie> Eddie laughed dryly, half expecting to choke up some sand with it - jokes like that were why people probably couldn't get an angle on Fabian. Of course, he'd say the same kind of thing for his nerves, too.

<Eddie> "...", Eddie smirked, his studying was turning him into a Tricorder; always reading people like he was expecting something. "Anyway - you wanted to know about my career path, right? Or, you were interested to hear?"

<@Fabian> "Sure, why not?" He shrugged, sliding up to take a seat on the railing, holding out his pack of cigarettes to offer Eddie one. "I could do with the distraction. I take it you're doing something from studying here still?"

<Eddie> "Well, I'm still involved to an extent with Xavier Institute, yeah...", Eddie answered, shaking his head at the offered cigarette and breathing a low 'thank-you' for the offer. For a moment longer than he'd thought reasonable, he considered whether telling Fabian was a good idea, but he disregarded it;

<Eddie> "I'm considering joining the police force.", he tapped his nose, sounding proud of his idea.

<@Fabian> "Well...that's probably a pretty stable job market." Fabian gave a chuckle and shrugged, glancing Eddie over. "And you've got some experience with interrogations, hmm? It has to help, unique perspective as well. So when do you start training?"

<Eddie> Eddie couldn't help but crack a smile, "Wait, 'interrogations'?"

<@Fabian> "What else do you want to call our first main chat?" Fabian smirked back. "I mean, I was a bit too cagey for you to get any answers from since I thought you were possibly going to kill me but still."

<Eddie> "Well gee, now that you mention it I'd call it a chat.", Eddie shrugged, "I was curious about you - you said it yourself, you 'understood' my quizzical reaction to you. By rights, I was acting completely naturally, wasn't I?", he leaned forward.

<Eddie> "If I was going to kill you...", he went on, "...I'd need a reason."

<@Fabian> He gave him a bit of an incredulous look. "You must have some very strange chats. Though, considering this conversation I suppose I couldn't really argue against that being the case, can I?" Fabian shook his head, taking another draw off of his cigarette. "In any case, I'm glad you weren't out to kill me then."

<Eddie> "You're still afraid, aren't you?"

<@Fabian> "No," He shook his head. "Nobody here's going to be killing me, after all. I just have been a bit preoccupied with the trial going on."

<Eddie> 'Damned liar.' Eddie thought, contemplating the use of words. 'Preoccupied'? "Something bothers you about it?"

<@Fabian> "...my sister's going to some kind of new Guantanamo once it's over? I should be there? I should be on trial as well?"

<Eddie> Eddie considered the question for a moment; he'd wondered if there was some kind of special prison the criminals were being sent to, but there were no official details he was aware of. He took a breath before answering; "Is she? Should you? Do you think you deserve to stand trial?"

<@Fabian> "More than likely," He answered the first question. The second he skipped, just sighing at it. Where else was he supposed to be when she was going through that? "Well, I sure as hell am not going to volunteer for it, that much is for certain. But if any of them do I certainly do."

<Eddie> "So....lemme get this straight, you're confessing to having done something wrong?", Eddie cocked his head to one side, "It sounded there like you're sure you've done something wrong - and coming from a guy who swore blind it 'wasn't like that'...."

<Eddie> "I'm not calling you a liar.", Eddie added a second later, "But if there's anything you'd like to get off your chest, I'm safer than most."

<@Fabian> He gave Eddie a bit of a funny look. "I hope when you train for actual police work they keep you from missing the point so badly. I've all ready confessed to everything I've done. Everyone in the school knows what I've done."

<@Fabian> "And I didn't lie, either." He gave a laugh and finished his cigarette. "That didn't mean I wasn't guilty of what I did, however. Though, lets remember, I did think you were going to kill me when we had our last talk."

<Eddie> "No, you omitted the truth - bad way to go when you fear for your life, you know, making people not trust you.", Eddie shook his head, sighing. He supposed Fabian had no way to know whether he could, indeed, trust anyone, but even so...

<Eddie> "Then, since I don't know, what did you omit telling me the first time we met? Obviously it's important...", Eddie asked, snickering in his mind. News to die for, he was sure.

<@Fabian> "...what I've done is all ready common knowledge. Why are you asking me about it now?" Fabian was just honestly confused. This was something he had all ready been over so many times.

<Eddie> "You...really are unaware that I don't know the details.", Eddie frowned, had he not made it obvious? "You know, I don't talk to people here as much as most tend to think - gossip, etcetera, doesn't usually get to me. I know you were taken from one of Nur's facilities, and that you weren't alone. But whether you have powers, what you allegedly did...", he shook his head.

<Eddie> "Besides, if you don't want to answer, I could always ask someone else - like you said, 'everyone' knows, don't they? I'm sure they'd love the chance to tell me.", Eddie finished, leaning back. Fabian was difficult for him to talk to - like he was treading eggshells on a unicycle.

<@Fabian> "...so you go out for vigilante justice and you don't keep up on the basic information going around at your base?" He asked teasingly, shaking his head. "And what do you mean taken from one of his facilities? I was captured here."

<Eddie> "You're making the mistake of assuming I have a 'base'. It's in the name; 'vigilante' - I work alongside the X-ers, but I'm pretty much solo.", Eddie replied. "I also don't keep up to date with information on every single person in and out of this place - my concerns were more with the X-Force than anything..."

<@Fabian> "How did this turn into another interrogation?" Fabian asked, frowning.

<Eddie> "Curiosity, your reluctance to answer, my concern for your worries....", Eddie shrugged again, "Look, I'm not about to probe you, alright? You obviously don't want to talk so I'll not waste your time.", he stood up.

<@Fabian> "You've just got to work on your technique, that's all." Fabian laughed, motioning for him to sit back down. "However, if you haul me into the police as some lone vigilante I will be most put out with you, yes? I was captured trying to get Malice back from you lot. I trust you know that much?"

<Eddie> Eddie decided to remain standing, folding his arms and leaning back on the wall. He nodded in reply, it sounded familiar - the involvement with Malice, that was.

<@Fabian> "I was recruited by Nur, old family friend. I didn't know what I was getting into until it was too late but that doesn't mean I didn't do it still, right? I traied the horsemen for him, helped plan the attacks...had a pretty heavy hand in War's initial attack actually, lucky it failed."

<Eddie> "So, you only really had one option.", Eddie said, half amazed by his sentence, but re-thinking it, it was completely true - what other choice did he have? "So, you don't think having no choice justifies what you did, right?"

<@Fabian> "Is it going to get any of them off? No, I might not have realized how serious it was but that didn't stop me from doing what I did." He pointed out, shaking his head. "Plus it's not as if I went in thinking we were going to save the whales here."

<Eddie> "If you feel you're guilty, why not turn yourself in?", Eddie offered - not that he'd have seen appeal in the option himself, "Do you regret your decision? Or merely recognize it was a bad one?"

<@Fabian> Well, that was it. This person was clearly insane. "I have a bit more sense than to do the first option. I don't really believe in spending much time regretting things. I'll get over this fast enough."

<Eddie> "Then I don't see what your issue is.", Eddie confessed, "Truth is, I think your issue is what
other people think - you don't care, or...you won't soon enough - what's the problem? Worried you'll get hurt?"

<Eddie> Just when he thought he understood Fabian, or when it appeared he might have a soul underneath all the bravado, in came this kind of thing. "Honestly...", Eddie went on, "...if you don't care, stop whining.", maybe that'd get a response past the smugness?

<@Fabian> Insane and really rather confused. "Is it everyone you're bad at reading or is it just me? This has very little to do with other people. If I cared about what people thought why would I have bothered to come back here?"

<Eddie> "To be frank, you don't seem like someone who's genuinely worried abotu his sister.", Eddie answered, "You seem concerned you'll end up lynched, which is probably sensible, but you hide it behind the whole 'will I, won't I' joke that makes people think you might have something to hide."

<@Fabian> There was something oddly satisfying to know that, when questioned by what might be the next generation of crime-fighting, Fabian was apparently able to mislead someone so well even when he wasn't trying.

<@Fabian> "I'm pretty good at avoiding being lynched. I'm not too bothered about that. Even if it was looking likely I can get myself away pretty easily."

<Eddie> Nope - Eddie was honestly just bad at understanding Fabian, it seemed. It probably should have bothered him more than it did, but waving it aside, he simply shrugged. "Nobody predictable ever wants to chat nowadays...", he muttered, smirking to himself.

<@Fabian> "How about you, Mr. Copper, what's your family like? You didn't include them in your good news list, only your girlfriend."

<@Fabian> "And predictable is boring. You don't learn anything worthwhile talking to predictable people."

<Eddie> "My Dad eloped with what is, apparently, his other 'babymamma' a while back...", Eddie half laughed, glad to change the subject - he didn't have the patience to grate stones for blood, "Since then it's all 'Holidays and Romantic Pictures' - why I told him about Facebook is beyond me..."

<@Fabian> As far as Fabian was concerned the subject hadn't really changed. He had just forced the topic off of himself. "Not too terrible sounding, hmm?"

<Eddie> Eddie tilted his head, supposing not. He remained silent this time, not really knowing what to respond with - maybe asking about Fabian's family? "....I wonder....what is it your sister did that landed her at the trials?"

<Eddie> Yep - ladel back in the soup.

<@Fabian> "...you mean other than be captured with the rest of the Acolytes?" He looked confused. "Now being unaware of my details is something but now you're just failing to watch the news."

<Eddie> "I mean, did she, like you, get really into the mechanics? Or was she just a peon? A little soldier promised some glory?", Eddie re-phrased, realizing his first question was a little vague and pointless.

<@Fabian> "We had plenty of workers for peons. Acolytes had more of an advisory role in things. Outside of that and guarding Nur she worked recalibration on the Horsemen. She's got a pretty good powerset for such things."

<Eddie> "Nazi trials all over again...", Eddie mused. What, was he about to say 'gee, that's something - but I suppose nobody's perfect'?

<@Fabian> The phrase earned a laugh and a nod so Fabian wasn't too fussed about what Eddie said. "In any case, I imagine that is essentially over and done with. It's just going through the motions."

<Eddie> "Do you not think you were wrong in what you did? In what she did?"

<@Fabian> "Nur took things too far with his designs. They weren't a good idea nor would they have been sustainable so no, it wasn't the right thing to have done." His head shook.

<Eddie> Eddie turned towards Fabian, "So...there was noble intent? I just, to be honest, I only saw the 'let's blow up everything ever'."

<@Fabian> "It's mutant supremacy. Sometimes we split hairs about how it should be." Fabian was really beginning to wonder what Eddie was actually fishing for now.

<Eddie> "There's a right and a wrong way to argue the toss in politics.", Eddie said, blunt as he'd ever been. "I....understand the motive, I suppose. But nothing justifies....well...everything that happened. On either side."

<@Fabian> "And you're preaching to the choir here." Fabian answered back, blunt in his own way.

<Eddie> Eddie gave Fabian a puzzled look; it wasn't that he disliked the other guy, just that he seemed to find it difficult to get a feed on how he felt about anything - if, indeed, he did at all. Confusion leads to confusing questions which get responded to with more confusion.

<Eddie> "For what it's worth...", Eddie piped up, "...I hope it goes alright for all of them. 'Course it's not really up to me...", a strange feeling welled up in Eddie - wasn't he the one who was ready to condemn the X-Force for everything just a couple of months ago?

<@Fabian> His brow furrowed at Eddie. "I would think you wouldn't. You might be preaching to the choir about it to me, to a degree with Lukas, but you certainly wouldn't be with any of them. They had their chance to save themselves and they didn't even do it for the sake of themselves. All of them are quite dedicated to the cause they've went in for."

<Eddie> Eddie looked away, not really having a reply for that. It was probably true, that was the real bitch - given a second chance, he knew he'd have felt the same anger and contempt for Adam, Bobby and the others, the Brotherhood en masse; why feel different for these? He sighed. He wasn't really over it all, and now was hardly the time to pretend he would be soon.

<@Fabian> "I mean, I might have mixed feelings about the whole thing and where I should be but I've no doubts whatsoever that she and the rest of them are guilty and will be found to be. Neither she or our father had the sense to take the help that was offered."

<Eddie> "I guess I understand.", Eddie nodded. Probably moreso than he wanted to admit, actually.

<@Fabian> Well, after all that toying with Eddie he needed another cigarette. "Good, does that mean no more questions?"

<Eddie> Eddie shook his head, "I guess not.", there wasn't really much else he could say, though he still felt like he didn't really 'know' Fabian any better for this talk.

<@Fabian> "I'm bored of cigarettes. Shall we go out for drinks to celebrate your potential policing?"

<Eddie> "I'm cutting down, would you believe?", Eddie answered apologetically, "Thought's nice, but I think I'll look and see if I can't find anyone else around..."

<@Fabian> He pulled his phone out, sending Lukas a message because he was damned if he was going to head off to the Hellfire Club alone. "Suit yourself then, missing an interesting time. Last time resulted in still being drunk the next day and being surprisingly open to random tattoos."

<Eddie> "I think Liza likes me without them.", Eddie replied, throwing Fabian a lazy salute. "I'll see you around, alright?"

<@Fabian> He returned the salute, "Of course. Maybe next time I won't enjoy confusing you so much."

<Eddie> "Depending on the truth behind your previous paranoia there may not be a 'next time'.", Eddie winked, still glad his wry sense of humor was intact. With that, he was gone through the kitchen and into the halls - a part of him glad to be away.

<@Fabian> Paranoid? Well, someone was off-base. In any case, a good night out would help a lot.

[Svartfreja]

<Eddie> Just when he thought he understood Fabian, or when it appeared he might have a soul underneath all the bravado, in came this kind of thing.

Silly Eddie. Fabian HAS no soul - he's a ginger!

[TechPrincess]

<Eddie> Just when he thought he understood Fabian, or when it appeared he might have a soul underneath all the bravado, in came this kind of thing.

Silly Eddie. Fabian HAS no soul - he's a ginger!

This.