IC Contact - Exsilium

[maddeninghatter]

[ Thirty seconds of tuneless humming--beeeeeeeeep! ]

Comments

[retraced]

[Hands free, he rolls up his sleeve over his elbow and close to his shoulder, then takes Break's hand and guides it to where the patch is stuck to his arm. He might also smell mint, as these are all flavored in the future. Why? No one is really certain except for Ish.]

As long as I wear this, then the urge to smoke isn't as bad.

1/2

[maddeninghatter]

[ ...linking these "patches" to the chocolate... ]

You brought these... back from your mission.

[ ...and putting two and two together... ]

In fact, they were the whole point of your mission. You went into the past and risked the future to get these. Do you know what that means?

2/2

[maddeninghatter]

It means Gilbert is still completely useless~! ♥

[retraced]

It wasn't the whole point!

[And there's the screaming again. Really, he's exhausting himself with all of this screaming and stressing. Briefly, he wonders if he can use more than one of these at a time if he wants accommodate for the additional stress that Xerxes Break is so keen at dealing him.]

But I couldn't handle not being able to smoke! This was the only other option!

[maddeninghatter]

But do you really think it's helping? I must say, I think you're every bit as excitable as you were before you put that... that patch on.

[ The above is said with perfect innocence, as if he's not aware that he's the person riling Gilbert up: ]

But okay, fine. What was the point?

[retraced]

[It is helping, this is just his default level of excitable! He grits his teeth and ignores that question, as he does realize that this is just Break riling him up and that's one constant that will never, ever change.]

We went on a mission to restock the medical clinic. The country we went to is famous for its chocolate, I think.

[maddeninghatter]

Sounds lovely.

[ He reaches for the box once more and scrabbles inside for another chocolate. He nibbles at it thoughtfully (this candy is too rare and precious to gulp down). ]

You should have stayed there, you and Oz.

[ He holds the box out. ]

Want one?

[retraced]

If we'd stayed, then there'd be no point in going in the first place.

[He looks at the box, but quickly declines. He has other things to eat, and those were a gift. Plus, he's never been too terribly keen on sweets, especially those given to him by Break.]

No, I don't need any. [Hesitation.] If you want to get some fresh air, I can request a mission for the two of us again.

[maddeninghatter]

....are you sure about that?

[ He lets the question hang in the air for a moment. Then, clarifying: ]

If you like coffee, then you ought to like chocolate, too. The flavors are somewhat similar; and dark chocolate is bittersweet.

[ He shakes the box, invitingly. There are definitely dark chocolates mixed in with the assorted other kinds. ]

As for a mission...

[ You needn't force yourself, is what he was going to say. But what had Gilbert confessed under the influence of the Truth Hat? Break had asked him, "Do you like me?" expecting an enthusiastic - and truthful - denial.

... ]

Yes, okay. We can bring Oz along, too, if you like.

[retraced]

I got them for you to eat, not me.

[The answer comes easily enough, but at the mention of Oz, his voice dips a bit lower. Resigned. Depressed. Pathetic.]

He's leaving soon for another mission with someone else.

[maddeninghatter]

[ Gilbert you are so embarrassing on so many different levels. He flips the box shut; direct action won't be successful, he'll have to resort to deviousness. ]

Oz is...

[ Over a century old and not even human. But despite all of that, he manages still to be... an existence that is growing. Changing. ]

One day, Oz won't need you as much. He'll grow up and leave you. Is that what you're thinking?

[retraced]

[He winces.]

He was fine on his own for months before I arrived here.

[Already, Oz doesn't need him as much.]

[maddeninghatter]

That's true enough.

[ Oz wasn't completely alone in those months, but he'll leave that alone, for the moment. He sets the box aside and folds his arms, leaning on them. ]

So if he doesn't need you, then the only logical reason he spends time with you at all is that he wants to.

[retraced]

W-well, that's...

[All well and good, but Gilbert needs to be needed, whether Oz wants him around or not is only part of what makes him happy when the boy calls out his name.]

[maddeninghatter]

[ Cutting in quickly, before Gilbert can finish: ]

You don't need me anymore. Why are you still here?

[retraced]

Eh?!

[He's mortified at how painfully his stomach aches at those words.]

What are you talking about?

[maddeninghatter]

I'm saying, you'd be able to look after yourself if I disappeared. You're competent in practical day-to-day matters. You're tall and you're strong. You can think and make your own decisions. Your greatest enemy is yourself; but I think pretty soon you'll get over that, too.

[ He hopes so, anyway. ]

So you don't need me, not really.

[retraced]

[His fists clench. Though he's not sure exactly what Break is getting at, or rather where these words are coming from, he still has an answer.]

If practical day-to-day matters were all we had to deal with here, that might be true. If you were to disappear here, I...

[Ugh, he's going to have to say something sappy here, isn't he?]

My 'priorities' here are the same as back home. I'd rather keep using you as you use me than try and get through all of this without you.

[maddeninghatter]

— except you don't "use" me. I'm not certain that you ever have.

[ This isn't "kindness chicken" anymore. It's the truth. He has always recoiled from saying things like this, but now that the words are on his lips...

He feels strangely free. He reaches for Gilbert, on purpose to pat his head, as if he were still that boy of fifteen. ]

[retraced]

[All he's ever done was use him. He used Break to enter Pandora, to learn the principles of the noble houses and the secrets of the organization that had always been nothing more than a fairytale. He'd used Break to teach him the structure that he needed to succeed, and used him as a springboard to learn to cook and bake and fire a pistol.

He'd used Break to learn how to watch death right in front of your eyes and not flinch or look away.]

Break. You -

[But then Break has to ruin the moment by patting his head and making him feel young and short again. He stutters and bats his hand away.]

S-stop treating me like a little kid!

[maddeninghatter]

[ Even now, Gilbert's sputtering is still endlessly entertaining. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, as they say in fantasy Japanese France. ]

Okay then~!

How shall I treat you? What would you like, hm?

[retraced]

[Ugh, now he has to muss his hair back into place...]

I want you to eat your chocolate and go to sleep! I have to finish reading - you're a terrible distraction!

[maddeninghatter]

[ He's about to remark on the mutual exclusivity of eating chocolate and going to sleep, however — ]

You?

You have to finish reading?

[ You're hardly the bookish sort, Gilbert. ]

[retraced]

[It's not what it sounds like!]

These documents that Kate compiled about the research that the UE was doing before...

[Well, before they blew up the city.]

It's a lot to sort through.

[maddeninghatter]

[ Thump! That is the sound of Xerxes Break jumping down from his bunk. His air of affectionate teasing is gone: he's all business. ]

What sort of research? What is it?