Lost Tempers and Names

Elijah

[If this is taking place on the same day as the scene with Patience, he already failed it today]

Sid

[we can go with today, or say it's tomorrow if you'd like a chance to roll again!]

Elijah

[Chance it!]

Dice: 4 d10 TN7 (4, 5, 6, 10) ( success x 1 )

Elijah

Elijah slept like shit, that much was true. There was, however, a benefit to this. He came in to work, ready to work his shift like a good worker bee… only to find that his boss sent him right back home on account of seeming like a zombie. So, with little ado, Elijah Poirot was walking home. Well, walking to his motorcycle, having picked up a couple apples already and shoving them into his messenger bag like this was a completely normal thing to do (tote around apples, that is). He continued about his business, head up and eyes alert-

Perhaps too alert. Perhaps hoping and wishing he would see someone who, frankly, didn't feel much like talking to him on account of the fight they'd had on the phone and now he's been a jerk and-

Breathe.

Exhale.

Elijah was walking.

Sid

It was a hot and sunny day until the latest in a series of afternoon storms cut a swath across central Denver. The campus is not entirely empty, but what few people remain on the grounds disappeared for cover from the brief rain. Now, pavement still patched with dark spots of wetness and the sky still heavy with thick, low grey clouds, they're starting to come outside again.

People like Elijah, who are on their way to their rides.

People like Sid who didn't hide from the elements. She is dressed in a yellow t-shirt with a red stenciled Lannister lion, a pair of slightly-too-long dark grey yoga pants, and sneakers. Her long red hair is pulled to the nape of her neck. There are spatters of raindrops still drying on her clothes and on the lenses of her glasses.

She is jogging.

[awareness!]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 4, 9, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )

Elijah

[awareness?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 5, 5, 5, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )

Elijah

There was a feeling in the air. A feeling that didn't quite trip on his senses but more like it tingled on the back of his tongue. Something that aught his attention and made him look up. People were coming out into the world, and Sid- darling Sid- was not one of those people. He felt something familiar at first that made him pause. That pause made him open, like some prairie dawn out when there were hawks around.

He almost didn't notice her until he stepped into her path.

Sid

Sid is almost painfully aware of the localized maelstrom that is Elijah Poirot. Long before she reaches him she is aware that he's there, and so she watches him for him, dark eyes narrowing on the path ahead and scanning the area around until-

-there. Just off her path and moving closer. She slows her pace to a walk - and she is so pleased to have that measure of control over her muscles again. The last time they saw each other had ended badly, but while Elijah is presumptuous, she doesn't think he's a threat. At least, he's not a threat she couldn't contain if the need arose. She does not shy away from him, but stops a few paces away.

"Elijah," she greets quietly with the barest lift of her chin.

Elijah

Elijah being presumptuous is precisely what got him into this mess in the first place. That was exactly what got him lined up to have all sorts of problems and the worst of it is that Elijah doesn't even realize that he's started a problem, a big problem. Still, his smile is easy. Still, his posture is relaxed, though the young man seems spacey and strangely sober.

Ha. Who knew?

"Hey Sid, what's up?" he looked around for a second, towards the library in hopes of seeing- but no. Couldn't be that lucky now, could he?

Sid

Eyes still on him, she tilts her head in the direction that Elijah looks. Follows that look briefly before shifting her gaze back to the young mage.

"Are you looking for someone?" Eleanor, maybe.

Elijah

"Kind of?" he said with a shrug, before he looked back at Sid, "you know Alicia, right? She's short, dark hair? Indeterminate ethnic origin but looks like she could probably tan pretty well?"

Sid

Sid's gaze lowers with a slow blink before returning to Elijah. "I've met her," she says. "I wouldn't say I know her."

Elijah

"If I asked very, very nicely, would you mind getting to know her? Or at least, y'know, finding out what her dad's name is... I'd ask her myself, but... uh.. " he looks up, and maybe she didn't want him telling everyone her business. Maybe she didn't want this to be a big deal, but it was too late now, because Elijah dropped his voice and spoke in a tone that was very clearly only meant for Sid. (see, he is learning something) "Look, her dad got kidnapped by technocrats, and we kind of had a fight about it and now she won't talk to me and I need to know her dad's name so we can try and get people together to go help him."

Sid

Sid frowns.

These days, it's rare to see the quiet, pale redhead without a frown, but this one is different. This is not merely the weight of all that she's been through, all that she's suffered etching its way toward permanence on her features. This is skeptical. This is suspicious.

When he's finished she says, "No." She could leave it there. Sid is well within her rights to simply walk away now, but she doesn't.

"First of all, it's not up to me. She has my number. If she wanted me to know her. Or wants me to know her. She needs to be the one to reach for me.

"Second." She takes in a deep breath, lets it out slowly. "Second, someone like you should not be organizing anyone to go after them. I've seen what they can do," she adds, voice so quiet as her memory fills with the image of an empty warehouse full of ash.

Elijah

"And who exactly is somebody like me, Sid?"

Sid

Her expression unchanging, she says, "Young and inexperienced."

Elijah

"She's not going to reach out to you. When people are hurt like that? Really hurt? They don't. You have to go get them, you have to be the strong one because when someone's hurt the way Alicia is she can't be. Her father is probably being tortured right, and she has to live with that. Right now? People who aren't young and inexperienced have said that they'll help and then haven't done anything."

And he leaves out the part of who, and he leaves out the part of and then they fell into a coma because any number of people could have known about Alicia's dad and nobody was doing anything. And that storm picked up and his stomach tensed and he ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm not asking for you to become her BFF, Sid, I just want you to ask what her dad's name is. We're not supposed to be separate and isolated and I am trying."

Sid

"Then find someone willing to push her," she replies as she starts to turn back toward her path. "Because it's not going to be me."

Elijah

[willpower]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 5) ( fail )

Elijah

(sonofabitch)

Elijah

[per+awareness, being less-than-nice, where's a weak point?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 5, 5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 3 )

Sid

[i have no weak points, emotions, what are those?: manip+subt (hidden emotions)]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 3 ) Re-rolls: 2

Elijah

"Jesus Christ, you really don't feel a damn thing about her, do you?" he glowered, he stared, his mind reeled and he looked at her and saw... nothing. She might not have been angry, but rest assured the young man?

Is angry.

Sid

Whatever Sid feels, she keeps it buried beneath the veneer of sorrow.

It's sorrow that he sees when Sid looks at him, her gaze steady (ancient, wild). There is something else within her, shifting just beneath her skin. Elijah feels it less strongly today than last they met, but it's still there.

"Do you know what it's like?" she asks. "To be afraid. To be desperate for compassion but too scared of being hurt. Or of it being taken away. Or of it being used against you to reach out.

"Do you know what that's like, Elijah?"

Elijah

"Yes," he snapped, "what's your favorite part? The one where you think if I weren't a coward I'd end it or the part where you start to think they're right about you?"

He rolled his eyes, and took a step away from Sid, widening the gap and inhaling sharply. He laughed a beautiful, bitter laugh.

"Wow, we've both had shitty things happen to us, we should make tee shirts and see if voting her the fucking President would make Alicia forget about her dad. You don't give a fuck if I know what it's like to hurt like that, so why don't we both quit pretending like you do."

Sid

Elijah doesn't get to complete his rant. He snaps at Sid, losing his temper completely. There was a time when she would shrunk away from him and fled. There was a time when, even older and faster and with her knowledge of the Life skill she would have feared his outburst.

She doesn't slink or flee, though. Sid has been through much these past few months. She has lost love and friends like water slips through cupped fingers. She is alone, and what's more, well. What's more isn't important right now.

In spite of all of that, when Elijah says, if I weren't a coward I'd end it Sid starts moving. He widens the gap and she closes it with a step, one hand reaching for his wrist. The hand that wraps around it is so warm, warmer maybe than any comfort she could possibly give.

Knowing full well he'll shove her away from him, Sid pulls the teen in tight against her, one arm wrapping snugly around his shoulders, the other sliding over his arm.

"Stop," she whispers, hugging him firmly. She smells like grass and rain and wild, untameable things.

Elijah

"Don't touch me," he snapped angrily, warily, with no small amount of frustration. Elijah tried to push her away, but didn't want to hurt her- he didn't want to hurt anyone, even if he was pretty damn mad- and he wasn't panicking yet. Her grasp wasn't restrictive, her body was warm, and it should have been comforting but he was so damned tense.

And so very, very tired.

Eventually, though, after the struggle he did give in. He did wrap his arms around her and close his eyes tightly. He whispered back, "she's my friend, Sid- she gets it. I just want to help her."

Damned if his voice wasn't heartbroken.

Sid

He snaps not to touch her and she stops, one hand still on his wrist but lightly. She will not force him if he resists. She will not force anyone to be near her when they clearly don't want to be. Truth is, the reaction to embrace him was an automatic one, but she knows. She knows she knows she knows she knows. Ultimately she is undeserving of the closeness. Sid Weston should not be comforting anyone.

"I can't force her to talk to me," she says, and frowns. "And you can't force me to try."

Releasing him, she turns and begins the lonely trudge back the way she came, rather than the way that she was going.

[hidden emotions: i am sad, but you can't see just how sad]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 3 ) Re-rolls: 1

Elijah

[If I kiss you, will you be mad at me?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 6, 9) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Sid

[WP]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )

Elijah

He doesn't have words.

He wants to have words, he desperately wants to have words but they aren't coming. They aren't coming and he isn't sure if they will ever come, but soon enough he moves, bridges the gap, throws his arms around her because now they are hugging on his terms and his hands aren't shaking and there isn't a lingering memory there. Eventually, he lets go. His hands are shaking and he wants to be angry.

God, he wants to be angry.

"See? Proves my point… when people hurt like that, they don't reach out. We both know that."

He took a step away.

"See you around, Sid."

Sid

She pulls away and she's half turned when he changes his mind. His arms wrap around her and pull her back and for a moment she tenses-

Sometimes it seems like that day is so long ago. And sometimes it seems she can feel her scars throb and ache with the memory. Sometimes someone surprises Sid, and she's thrown back to another time.

Today she is not. Instead, she puts her hand lightly over Elijah's arm. When he lets go she stares at him. When he steps away she continues to stare at him, shadow formed between her red brows.

"They don't reach out to strangers," she says. And she is the outcast, the outsider, the piece that doesn't fit in Denver's puzzle. No. Alicia may buy books on Sid's account sometimes, but she doesn't expect it'll ever be more than that. It shouldn't be more than that.

"Take care, Elijah."

Elijah

[How do I read you?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 2, 5, 6, 9) ( success x 2 )

Elijah

"Then don't-"

He stops himself, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'll see you around, Sid. We should do lunch at some point, come by the copy shop and we'll grab shitty campus food."

Sid

[just for kicks, you were saying something?: awarepathy! i think would be the thing? (this is just to see if Sid knows what I know about that cut-off sentence)]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 4 )

Elijah

[You got nothin', son]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )

Sid

"Maybe," she says, and while it doesn't sound like a no wrapped in a gentled tone, it doesn't sound much like a hidden okay, either.

"Take care." She starts to turn, but pauses, looks at him, her frown concerned. "And don't chase after the Techs. But if you do. Tell me first."

Because the last thing she needs to find out is that a headstrong young man was told no and rather than listening to the words of his elders decided to rebel and do it anyway. Goodness knows, when she was his age she wouldn't have listened unless doing something would affect her GPA.

Warning and request given, Sid turns and starts again for home.