Fifty-Eighth Theory [Voice/Action]

[i_speak_softly]

Open Voice

The person who made the little wind-up dragon... can I have another?

Action for Nezumi

[The reason Don needs another dragon is because he took the first one apart to make a camerabot for someone he doesn't even know. He hopes this was a good idea.]

[He heads to building three, floor one, room five, as he was told, and knocks five times.]

Action for Isamu

[After making that delivery, Don circles southward to the home of one Isamu Nitta. Allegedly some other people live here too, but Don has never met them. Hopefully, if they exist, they won't mind too much that a giant turtle is climbing in their window. Isamu did say to surprise him.]

Action for Buffy

[Around sundown, Don makes his way to House 7. He knocks here too, though he doesn't count how many times. He has a question to ask...]

((Housemates of the people Don is looking for are welcome to tag in, and of course the Voice part is open to anyone pinged by clockwork draconids.))

Comments

[i_speak_softly]

Buffy, what do you see in him?

[He's immediately embarrassed for blurting it out, but, well... he has to know.]

[herotypical]

That's...not an easy question. [ she laughs; a little, genuinely embarrassed laugh. ] And I'm scared my answer might be a little on the convoluted side.

You still wanna hear it?

[i_speak_softly]

[He leans back against a tree, almost vanishing into the gathering shadows.]

If you don't mind.

[herotypical]

Sometimes? I think maybe I like fixer-uppers. [ she stays standing tall. ] Jack's not perfect, but...I wasn't looking for perfect. God, I wasn't even looking. And I spent so long not even bothering to give him the time of day. The -- the things he did? To me? To the people I love, here?

[ another low whistle. she allows it to fill in the gaps. badness. ] But, then? Jack changed. Or maybe I just managed to see him in a different light. A-and he...gave his life for someone very important to me. The man I thought capable of only ever running away turned out to be too honest and generous for his own good.

No wonder he tries to hide it.

[i_speak_softly]

[Don can't say he's seen much of that side of Jack, but if Buffy says it's there, he believes her.]

[He remains silent, turning this over in his mind.]

[herotypical]

And...[ she lifts her chin ] and he never makes me feel wrong for being what I am. Who I am. It's not a simple thing, loving a Slayer.

[i_speak_softly]

[This, Don can understand. He refocuses his attention on Buffy, waiting to see whether she'll say more.]

[herotypical]

I know that...a lot of the village doesn't get him. Can't really blame them. It took me a while to understand even a small slice of his charm. But that man is more special -- more remarkable -- than I think he even realizes. I'm not talking about all his crass bragging. I mean the good that he does, no matter how quietly.

[ she thinks about the things she knows, now. jack's past. his problems keeping the pearl. his death. his mutinous crew. his executed mother. his demanding father. his abusive grandmother. all those betrayals... ] Jack's best at adapting and I guess he could only ever be a product of the very same world he was raised in. Those values, y'know? But then he came here and he had to adapt all over again. And it's changed him just as much as it's changed any of us. He's just a better actor.

[ buffy turns her head; she catches don's eyes. ] I'm not apologizing for him. I hope you don't think that.

[i_speak_softly]

[Don shakes his head. He's sometimes embarrassed by his own partner's behavior, but he would never apologize for the man being what he is.]

Do you think he would apologize for himself, if one of us asked him to?

[herotypical]

If he understood that he hurt someone? Yes. He pretends like he can't feel guilt, but it's not true. Not any more; maybe not ever.

[i_speak_softly]

[Don drops the point. Jack probably doesn't understand, and since a lot of people in Luceti would agree with him, Don won't press the point.]

I'm... glad you're happy with him.

[herotypical]

That makes two of us right? The pair of us, happily paired off. Ever find your way into that puzzle box?

[i_speak_softly]

[In response, Don pulls a small flashlight from his belt, moves forward, and shows Buffy the silver chain around his wrist. Threaded onto it is an infinity charm, with an amethyst geode set in either loop.]

[herotypical]

[ her lips quirk into another smile; bold as ever, she reaches out and gently touches the silver. ]

It means forever, right?

[i_speak_softly]

[Don has read the note from the puzzle-box enough times by now to have memorized it. I hope we have infinity together.]

Yes. We hope.

[herotypical]

[ comfortingly, her touch stays to don's palm. sympathy abounds. ]

It's a tough hope to hold onto, here.

[i_speak_softly]

[He sighs, and takes away his gaze but not his hand.]

I'm used to it.

[herotypical]

I'm not ready to lose him. Not again. But -- there are no promises, here. Just inevitabilities. I'm guessing you know that feeling, too.

[i_speak_softly]

[He nods.]

As they say, hope for infinity but live for now.

[herotypical]

[ he glance is sly. ]

Carpe diem.

[i_speak_softly]

[A flash of a smile. Then he clicks off the light and the orchard is dark again.]

Carpe noctem too. Should we walk around?

[herotypical]

...Seize the night. It's a little embarrassing how you only learn the dark-sounding Latin when you work in my biz. [ but she's happy to pick a pace by his side and walk peacefully forward. ]

[i_speak_softly]

I only learn science-textbook Latin. I don't know what a lot of it really means.

[herotypical]

A lot of spells are in...some form of Latin. Not that I do the spells. I'm not a spell-doer. More of a spell-watcher. Spell-spectator.

[i_speak_softly]

Why Latin? [A moment's thought, then:] You speak English, right?