(no subject)

[souffle_girlek]

Oswin... hasn't been out and about much.

At all.

One of those.

But tonight she's come downstairs, with one of her bots to play tinker with, and a croissant to nibble on as she sits cross-legged on the couch.

Comments

[herr_bookman]

Autor approaches her casually. Pretending nothing's wrong always works, right? He leans on the back of her couch with his hands in his pockets, glancing over his shoulder at her. "Hey."

[souffle_girlek]

Pretending nothing is wrong is her modus operandi. She looks up, pausing in her re-wiring work.

"Hey there." Everything's normal, everything's fine.

Just fine.

[herr_bookman]

"So," Autor says, as if he actually has something to say. "How are you?"

[souffle_girlek]

"Still kicking." She tears off a piece of croissant, mostly to give her hands something to do that doesn't involve live wires. "And you?"

As if she hasn't had her bots keeping an eye out for him.

[herr_bookman]

Autor inclines his head. "Still around," he says, folding his arms. "My cat's doing well. How's yours?"

[souffle_girlek]

"Crazy. So, you know. Par for the course." The piece of dough mushes into an unrecognizable blob. "So... there's that."

[herr_bookman]

"There's that," Autor says, brushing imaginary lint off of his sleeve. He hates imaginary lint. "Are you actually going to eat that croissant or are you just going to shred it?"

[souffle_girlek]

"I was thinking 'mush', but I suppose 'shred' could be an option." Eating is not exactly her favorite thing later, ranking somewhere around 'going out', but the waitrats do scold so when they have to deliver food for no reason.

[herr_bookman]

"I see," Autor says, looking away. His eyes roam the room, checking for possible sources of ambush and hiding places for snipers, avoiding his door. "You should just eat it. It's a waste of a good croissant otherwise."

[souffle_girlek]

She tears off another piece, since the one she had is pretty much oily blobbiness at this point.

"Eh, there's more like it, probably. I mean, its a magic bar."

[herr_bookman]

"True," Autor says, shifting on his feet. "But you shouldn't waste food. You never know who's starving in their world."

[souffle_girlek]

"Well. I can't help them. What with being stuck here, and all." She mutters, rolling her eyes at him. "It's not like I can donate my croissant."

[herr_bookman]

"No," Autor says, biting his bottom lip. "But you can at least make sure it doesn't go to waste."

He sighs through his nose, pinching the bridge of it. "I would have killed for a croissant a couple of months ago."

[souffle_girlek]

She eyes him for a long moment, and then shifts the plate so it's closer to him. Since he's so interested in it.

"Don't have to do that here."

[herr_bookman]

Autor turns slightly away from her, lifting one shoulder in a half-shrug. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry now. You should eat it."

[souffle_girlek]

"Well, I'm not going to, so if you're so concerned about it..." She huffs, abandoning both of the blobs as well to grab her wire strippers.

[herr_bookman]

"Fine," Autor says. He blows air out through his nose, picking up the croissant. He crams it into his mouth, chews, and swallows. "You're so stubborn. I don't remember you being that way."

[souffle_girlek]

"Of course I'm stubborn." Oswin rolls her eyes - it's the only reason she's alive, after all. "Can't help if you're forgetful."

[herr_bookman]

"Maybe I had this romantic view of you as being more reasonable," Autor says, raising a brow. "Honestly, all this about a croissant."

[souffle_girlek]

"So, did you come over here to insult me, or did you want something?" Oswin gripes - she hasn't seen him in ages, and he wants to make commentary now?

[herr_bookman]

Autor turns his head away and furrows his brow. "I... wanted to see if we could be friends again," he says quietly. "I suspect I'm screwing that up pretty badly. I'm sorry."

[souffle_girlek]

"I... can't." She pays attention to her hands, the torn cuticles, the ragged edges, the weird calluses. "Do anger. Can't. I.. It will not... I cannot survive. Anger."



"You left."



"And I'm furious."

[herr_bookman]

"I'm sorry," Autor says again, hanging his head. His long hair shields his closed eyes from her. "I didn't mean to leave. How can I make it up to you?"

[souffle_girlek]

She shrugs, stripping wires idly, mechanically.

"I don't have a way out."

[herr_bookman]

Autor looks to her, eyes pleading. "There must be something I can do. Even if it's just waiting for your anger to die down," he says. "I'm willing to wait for you because I trust you, but I need to know if that will help."