013 TEXT LIST TWO/SPAM

[deadliestviper]

Backdated to three days after the Overlook port.

[Locked to Friends (if she's ever told you anything personal, you're on here)]

That port was fucked up for everyone and it hit all of us hard. After going through that I know most of you aren't feeling up to par yet, but when I get anxious, I get antsy. I've laid low to lick my wounds long enough. For the next few hours I'll be playing pool and pretending everything's normal if you've got the energy or inclination to join me.

[Spam, Level 6]

[Rack the balls in the pyramid, set the cue-ball, chalk the cue evenly, line up the shot, break it; Beatrix repeats the pattern over and over again, sinking balls into the table's pockets before starting anew. It's not for practice or any particular love of the game, it's not even for fun. It's just that playing strikes that perfect balance of skilled focus and monotony that allows her to zone out, and the last thing she wanted to do right now was let her mind wander. It was already hard enough to push the images of Sarah and that thing in room 217's bathroom from the forefront of her mind – what she needed, wanted, was someone to talk to, distract her.

But no matter how deeply you repress it, you can't squelch a thought. So by all means, join her, but take care if you point out that she's humming "Love Me Tender."]

Comments

[spam]

[deadliestviper]

[It would probably be tough to offend the girl who waltzed in the Barge disguised as a human mud pie but B appreciates Seth's clean-up effort anyway. She looks up when she hears his foosteps approaching, and gives him a smile that's a little too broad and bright for people who just went through a mindfuck of a haunting.

If you're going to tell a lie, commit to it.]

Hey. Be my guest, but no gloating when you kick my ass.

[ Spam ] write, or write not; there is no late

[deadliestviper]

[Silly Ben – Beatrix doesn't accidentally include people in her correspondence. She would have sent him a private message except there's a very high likelihood that he'd interpret it as a command rather than an invitation. Outside of a battle situation, that's the last thing she wants to do.

It's late when he shows up and she's getting bored and tuckered out, tired enough to not notice him right away as she idly spins the cue ball around as the game were table bowling instead of pool. A few seconds pass before she notices the feeling of being watched and looks up to lock eyes with him.]

Hi, Ben.

[deadliestviper]

Huh.

[A variety of professional questions spring to mind – what organs did he puncture? What instrument was used? How long did you survive before bleeding out? – but she has the decency to ask none of them. Instead she gives him another sympathetic look and an apologetic half-smile.] That's... basic. When I hear about heavenly smiting, I imagine something a little more metaphysical.

[theonlyresponse]

[The detective in him would be able to answer those questions with precision, even if it was his own body.

He shrugs.] He says he's an angel. I kept with the theme.

[deadliestviper]

How so? Dying with a prayer on your lips?

[theonlyresponse]

... In a way. [It was more of a promise. I will kill you. He won't follow through on it; he's not sure if he wants to.]

[deadliestviper]

Ah. Curses, the other kind of prayer.

[theonlyresponse]

They're more useful.

[ Spam ] my apology stands

[warisart]

[He waits her out, and when she does look up, his gaze is there to meet hers immediately. The ease and confidence he'd been operating under at the hotel is gone, leaving behind the constant wariness and the pronounced military bearing that had at least faded at the time.]

Ma'am. [He moves into the room, glancing around just to be sure even though he's been in here dozens of times before, he knows there aren't any exits or windows or vents large enough to admit a person. He draws closer to the table, noting her lack of a pool cue.] I don't mean to interrupt.

[deadliestviper]

More sensible.

[theonlyresponse]

[She gets a thin smile. He watches her take her shot.]

[ Spam ] sit down, apology! put your feet up, stay for a while!

[deadliestviper]

[As unkind as it might sound, the change is comforting to her. Ben may not be as placid and serene as he was at the hotel, but in Beatrix's opinion that's a good thing – it's better to face your fear than hide from it in a delusion. Still, within this practical attitude there's sympathy. She knows what it's like to build up a comforting reality and have it suddenly torn down.

So they're back to the formal titles. She shakes her head.] I'm not your superior. [Keeping her body language nonthreatening, she leans back against the pool table, hands braced against the sides, and watches him, wondering what he's worried about escaping from.] You're not. I'm avoiding turning in for the night, so believe me, I'm glad you came by.

[deadliestviper]

[With a forward stab of the cue, she sends the ball careening into a cluster and scattering them across the table. None of them sink, but it opens up a variety of new shots.]

[theonlyresponse]

[He takes position, aims for an easy one.]

[ Spam ] oh it's going to

[warisart]

[Nothing good ever came of facing his fear, either; he's learned to brick it up behind his eyes and carry it with him, but she can't know that, of course. Mostly he's just angry. Angry because She lied to him, angry because he believed Her, angry because he's angry.

And still so goddamn afraid. She shakes her head, he glances down without acknowledging; titles, respect, they're safer. He doesn't know who to trust. Instead he studies the pattern of the billiard balls on the table, decides she's no longer actually playing.]

Why avoid it?

[deadliestviper]

[Dutifully quiet as he shoots, she doesn't speak until he's set the ball in motion.] So why'd he do it?

[theonlyresponse]

[In it goes. He straightens up and looks at her.] The hotel affected him.

[ Spam ] i'll put on some tea

[deadliestviper]

[Nothing good came of it until you conquered it - but given that, if you asked, Beatrix would be hard-pressed to tell you exactly what Ben is afraid of, perhaps she shouldn't make any assumptions. Now she assumes, after all, that he feels safer back on board, like she does. That he's just relieved to be out of there, away from whatever was playing on their minds.

That he can trust her as easily as he did back there.]

No one has nightmares if they don't sleep. Besides, I feel as if I've spent long enough in bed.

[deadliestviper]

That much I figured. But why you? Were you a premeditated target or just a convenient one?

[theonlyresponse]

[Oh-kay he doesn't know Castiel well enough to disprove the 'premeditated' thing, so:] Wrong place, wrong time.

[deadliestviper]

Fair enough. [Because if it's premeditated... B doesn't know Castiel personally, but this is the first time she's heard of him smiting people, and if Bruce deserved it he must've done something astonishing.]

In a similar vein, don't go up against the T-X if you can avoid it.

[theonlyresponse]

Android?

[deadliestviper]

Something like that. She's a Terminator, if you know the term. Has some very impressive offensive capabilities. [Not to mention the strength to crush a throat with one hand.]

[theonlyresponse]

Everything has a weakness.

[deadliestviper]

Yes. But I wouldn't recommend facing her unless you know exactly what that is.