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

[theonlyresponse]

I don't drink. [Beat.] I wouldn't be surprised if the Admiral came up with karaoke night in an attempt to rehabilitate us.

[deadliestviper]

That doesn't change where the jukebox is. [Snorting, she glances up with a little smirk.] Don't say it so loud, you'll give him ideas.

[theonlyresponse]

It's more constructive than the other ones he's had.

[deadliestviper]

You aren't kidding.

[theonlyresponse]

How long have you been here?

[deadliestviper]

About six months now. Feels like longer.

[theonlyresponse]

[He's not sure what to say, so he shoots her a sympathetic look. He suspects he'll be feeling the same in a few months.]

[deadliestviper]

[Catching it, Beatrix just shrugs, leaning against the edge of the table.] I've made it so far. [She is, as has been eloquently stated before, a crazy juggernaut bitch.]

[theonlyresponse]

I'm guessing you've faced worse. [He watches the table, mildly interested in how well she's been doing so far.]

[deadliestviper]

By the time we get here, I think we all have. [It's just so much easier if you keep your phrasing neutral, isn't it? Again, she shoots – instead of sinking the pocket ricochets off the side and knocks the cue ball off its position.] I've had better days too.

[theonlyresponse]

[Bruce appreciates neutral phrasing, Beatrix. So much. He takes up position and shoots two balls in before he looks up at her again.] What's was your world like?

[deadliestviper]

Oh... Gritty, volatile, violent, fucking beautiful in places. From what I can tell it was pretty much a generic 21st century Earth, though history's different for me than some other people here.

[theonlyresponse]

How different? [Genuine curiosity, no ulterior motive here nope.]

[deadliestviper]

How did Hitler die in your world?

i wanted to answer with the crack silver age continuity of kidnapped by aliens omg

[theonlyresponse]

He was assassinated, it was made to look like a suicide.

he has alien kidnappings, she has inglourious basterds. they ought to get along

[deadliestviper]

Where I'm from he was executed by a Jewish-American commando squad in Paris. So far, that's the biggest difference I've identified.

oh they definitely will

[theonlyresponse]

There's people here from a world where the Cuban Missile Crisis involved metahumans. I'm surprised the differences aren't more divergent.

[deadliestviper]

Right, those guys. They seem very proud.

[theonlyresponse]

[This shot of his bounces off a corner instead of going in, so he steps back for Beatrix to take her turn.] You've all been here longer than I have, you'd know better than me. [But his tone suggests he agrees with her completely.]

[deadliestviper]

[When she takes her place she gives him a skeptical look, eyebrows raised.] I don't know about that. You're obviously interested enough to read back over the network. [Lining up this particular shot is careful work; she keeps her eyes on the game as she continues, hoping to prod for a little information of her own in turn.] But I guess you can't really blame them. Play a part in a major global event and just about anyone's bound to get a swelled head, right?

[theonlyresponse]

Keeping one's ear to the ground is always useful. [He hadn't when he'd first arrived. Rookie mistake; he'd become complacent with having nobody on his level to fight back home.] Most people would. [In a tone that suggests no, he's not most people.]

[deadliestviper]

Does wonders to keep you out of trouble. [Christ, the idea that she's an old hand at this place already scares the hell out of her. It seemed like just the other week she was getting lost between levels and wondering aloud whether a death toll involved bells. When Bruce adds on that little quip she glances up with a quick half-smile, gone almost immediately.] Too bad we'll never find out, hm?

[theonlyresponse]

[He smiles back, thinly. Selina's right, he does like Beatrix. Enough to use we instead of a neutral pronoun.] We're usually not in it for the same purpose as they are.

[deadliestviper]

Not at all. [Since he's in for vigilante justice his reasons might be a bit different than hers though, something born out of a code of honor and desperate circumstances. For her it was simpler: her employer paid her and she pointed the gun (or stuck in the knife, or pulled the rope) in the direction they ordered. Her actions may have had far-reaching consequences, but the job was easier when she didn't pause to consider them.]

[theonlyresponse]

[As long as she killed people who deserved it. Otherwise, they share a strict adherence to an honour code and the desire for vengeance justice which the system can't give them, so they have to do it themselves.

He offers a hand- the first time he's done this for anyone. He already knows her name; he's just being polite.] Bruce Wayne.