handleyourshit | TLV Inbox

This is Rosita. I'll hit you back when I can.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

"So I'll send a gift basket to Taylor. She didn't put you in Zero?" He assumes he would have heard of it by then, but Taylor might not have known to call him the way Shaw does.

"No. I didn't start it."

She just didn't want to stop once someone else had.

"That doesn't always matter." Plenty of wardens would have thrown both in Zero to investigate further.

"I don't think she'll escalate."

"I know."

She knows life isn't fair. She wouldn't have really blamed the girl if she had thrown Rosita somewhere, the way she was acting.

It just wouldn't have mattered, which is why she changes the subject: "You were a cute kid."

He laughs, but it's almost a sigh. "Do we have to talk about me as a kid? I was...I just... I was a different person then. I'm sorry if I stole from you."

"You think I wasn't?" she asks, raising her eyebrows, but she's smiling at least.

"We're trying, remember?"

"We're trying," he agrees, with a soft huff of agreement, of resignation. It's hard for him. "I've just tried for years to put distance between who I was then and who I am now. But... I got a tattoo. From a boy I liked. That's who I used to be."

He rolls up his sleeve to show her a beautiful but obviously hand pecked drawing of a Tree of Life. "I like it a lot. But I did it to impress a cute boy."

She stretches her neck to see, nods her approval.

"You still like him?"

"Yeah. He's kind and he's strong and he's smart." He smiles faintly. "And he's in love with someone else, which is a bonus."

She doesn't actually flinch, but it's close.

"That's a bonus?" she asks.

He looks away, down at his hands. "It means he won't get too attached. Makes it easier when we have to part ways. He won't really miss me when it's over."

She sits with that for a moment, ice shifting against ice as she moves it against her face.

"Well," she answers finally, well aware that it's pathetic. "As long as he's kind to you."

"His name's Godric. You should get to know him." He gives her a hesitant glance. "He's a pacifist. And a vampire."

"I'll watch for him," she agrees, but then, she was going to figure it out anyway. Jesus is an adult, he's more experienced here than she is, but that doesn't mean she isn't going to pay attention to the people he's close to here.

"Vampires aren't what the movies promised, are they?"

"He's not. I'm not sure about Astarion--he's a different kind of vampire. Godric's a leader. He wants peace." Which, well, is catnip to Jesus Rovia.

And indeed: "Of course."

Which means it's a dice throw if Rosita will get along with him, but they can cross that bridge when their feet get wet.

"I talked to Astarion. He's pretty much the only person besides you that's talked to me, and not at me."

"He seems okay. I haven't talked to him much yet." But the fact he gets on with Rosita is a huge plus in his favor.

"I saw him during the... flood? Too. He was starving, I think, but he didn't even try to bite me," she adds, shrugging.

"He told me he's not allowed to drink from humans. I told him if he tried I'd stab him in the head, and he said I should aim for his heart."

So. That happened.

Huh. "I'm impressed. And now you know," if the head doesn't work there's always another place to stab.

"Humans work that way too," she reminds him, dry. It would have been her second choice regardless, if she was lucky enough to get a second chance.

"Malcolm tried to apologize to me but it was bullshit, and Shaw doesn't think she should have to talk to me directly, but other than that people have mostly left me alone."

Which is what she wants.

"Malcolm is... Still learning about apologies I think," he says, diplomatically.

"And Shaw's usually pretty direct? What did she do?"

"She asked you about me after - all this," she points out, gesturing vaguely.

"You two tried to handle it between yourselves. And I get keeping me and Root apart, but I can answer are you okay."

He frowns. "I wasn't trying to handle you or handle things for you. She was concerned you were hurt. But yeah next time I'm pretty sure she'll go straight to you."

"She said she went to you because I'm more aggressive than you are and she 'didn't want to deal with defensive posturing,'" she answers, her tone... unimpressed.

"And she didn't come to me. I contacted her. If you were having a problem with someone, would you want people to only come to me about it, to not even try to talk to you because they think you're difficult?"

"Of course not. And I don't expect you to like it either. But I don't mind helping while you figure things out. I know this place is...a lot. And the people are- difficult." Rosita isn't the only one with that label.