034 VOICE LIST TWELVE + SPAM

[deadliestviper]

[Art room spam]
[Bea's almost made it to a thousand paper cranes. When worry or anger overtook her in the days since port she parked herself in the art room and began working on the origami; several sessions later, she's hit nine hundred and is still working hard. She's surrounded by her handiwork, cranes of different sizes and colors littering the table around her as she folds another piece of paper sideways.

The look on her face, however, is not one of determination or concentration. She's frowning, eyes downcast, brow furrowed as she works. The task is obviously not what's on her mind.]

[Filtered to friends]
I've got something for you. Can I come see you?

Comments

[halftheman]

Holy --

[ Harv hasn't been here, in a day or two, so finding it filled with paper cranes? A bit surprising. ]

See you stayed busy.

[deadliestviper]

[Beatrix gives a sidelong glance but doesn't lift her head, never pausing in her work.]

Idle hands are the devil's workshop, isn't that what they say?

[Filtered what]

[wemaketheworld]

Depends what it is.

[What are you up to Bea.]

[halftheman]

Guess that's why they like to insist on work details.

[ He picked one up, turning it in his fingertips. Careful, he doesn't want to damage it. ]

Why birds?

[Filtered what]

[deadliestviper]

[Many wicked things, of course!]

It's a piece of paper.

[deadliestviper]

Yeah, well. You can only do so much for the Admiral.

[Her voice is wry as she bends the paper, twisting an edge to make the crane's neck.]

It's meant to be a zen thing. [Not so much, really, but she's not telling him about the wish she's making.]

[halftheman]

Zen thing. [ He has no idea what that means, but okay. ] Seen stranger things. What are you going to do with them?

[deadliestviper]

Probably throw most of them away.

[halftheman]

Seems like a waste, to go to so much effort to fill a dumpster. But everybody has their rituals.

[ He can't really judge Bea's. ]

[deadliestviper]

True. For this it's the task that's meant to be the important part, not the result.

[halftheman]

Like meditation.

I'll leave you too it then.

[ He sets the crane he had examined back among the others, and went over to the table he favored for his own art work. He could see her just over the edge of it; perhaps he won't do landscapes today. ]

[Filtered what]

[wemaketheworld]

[CLEARLY.]

What's on it.

[Filtered what]

[deadliestviper]

Ink.

It won't bite and neither will I.

[deadliestviper]

Yeah, something like that.

[She nods as he steps off, setting her finished crane aside before reaching for another sheet of paper.]

[halftheman]

[ He wouldn't bother her; there was just the rustle of paper, the scrape of charcoal. A companionable quiet, at least. ]

Spam;

[insolubleriddle]

[Wow. Okay. That's a ton of paper cranes. Edward's careful not to disturb too many of them as he sits himself across from Bea with a paint set.

He's still ill, but he's past the worst of the toll.]

I don't think the Admiral covers ancient Japanese legends.

Spam;

[deadliestviper]

[A select few of the cranes are the only ones she cares about. She looks up at Eddie and shrugs.]

There are more beings out there than the Admiral. Maybe somebody does.

[Spam]

[unknownsoldier]

[Zack's watching. He knows there's nothing to worry about and she doesn't need coddling, but he figures she could use the company of someone who won't ask unnecessary questions.]

[At first he was tempted to make cranes with her, but just like Ben and his stories, this is something personally important and instead, he sits in his own corner, attempting to learn a few origami of his own.]

[When she stops to meet his gaze, he'll look at her questioningly. Do you want to talk about it?]

[Spam]

[deadliestviper]

[When Zack sits down she does look up, mildly confused. She doesn't object to the company, is just rather surprised to see it here. Still, she half-smiles and sets a little crane aside for Zack -- this one's dark blue, with tiny white stars printed on the paper.]

Hey.

[It's practically a "yes."]

[Spam]

[unknownsoldier]

[He takes it, and studies it carefully, before he folds a yellow and red one for her, and hands it to her with equal care. He's not used to being a comfort. He protects, he watches, he's distant. But he can be here. Maybe that's what she needs.]

Rough port?

[It was for him. Admitting it costs, but maybe the risk will pay off.]

[Spam]

[deadliestviper]

[She smiles and takes the little crane, setting it aside from the others so she'll remember to take it with her when she's finished. The smile unexpectedly turns into a laugh at the question.]

No shit. [Now her expression is rueful and a little embarrassed.] It's this or a fight. [The fight would be more satisfying.]

[Spam]

[unknownsoldier]

I'd be fighting.

[It's an idle remark, but charged with ice. Iris was hurt, and she had to talk Zack out of doing something stupid. She'd had to pull out the deal.]

Damn.

[Spam]

[deadliestviper]

[Beatrix looks sharply up at him, recognizing the coldness in his tone. She'd been struggling with exactly the same thing -- each crane's been folded not with a zen-like mental blankness but imagined visions of blood and blades.]

...Yeah.

It's not fair.

[Spam]

[unknownsoldier]

Fighting'd do more harm.

[He repeats it like he doesn't quite believe it for himself - he's always fought back. Not being able to makes him feel angry, and helpless.]

Hey. What do these mean?

[he points to one of the cranes.]

[Spam]

[deadliestviper]

That's what they'll say.

[There's skepticism in her voice as well, followed with a sigh. Holding back onto the anger is a solemn, unsatisfying necessity.]

They're part of an old legend. The story goes that if you make a wish and fold a thousand cranes, your wish will come true.

[It's helpless frustration all around; if she can't hunt Iris' bastard inmate down herself she'll pray someone else will.]