[And he will be. In sweatpants the size of a tent. Oh well. She'll understand. The cat will completely enjoy the attention in the meantime, trying to pounce on Kasumi's feet and beg for food the whole while.]
[ That actually makes her pretty sad. It seems to her like it's been shitstorm after shitstorm for these guys, and that's something she didn't think she'd bear witness to considering she was on a crew for a damn suicide mission. ]
Good point.
[ What she'd come to tell Bull probably won't really help on that front, unfortunately, so she decides to put it off for something that's, in her mind, more important. ]
Hey, Bull? [ A beat. ] Are you... okay? And I don't mean in the "I'm breathing and in one piece, if not a little dinged up still from that time I stopped a motorcycle with my bare hands, but yes I'm okay," sense.
[ Everyone's been running around making sure the kids were fine, that not many have bothered to check in on the grown-ups, too. ]
[He doesn't answer her for a while. He honestly expected this to be about the information. One more colossal pile of shit to clean up. Because of some uppity little asshole who got a pass to everything because life was so cruel to him. Because life wasn't fair to poor fucking Tetsuo.]
[Yeah, life was a piece of shit to guys like Krem and Dorian and Charlie, too. Guys who just wanted to be left the hell alone and be themselves. To half his fucking Chargers, and none of them got a free pass to do whatever they wanted. They all had to toughen up. Accept things, unless they wanted to get their heads lopped off or sold into slavery, or worse. While an idiot teenager with an anger problem got to play kind of the world.]
[Talk about fucking unfair.]
[He opens the fridge a little harder than strictly necessary, cracking the beer bottle open with his bare hand, instead of a convenient opener. That helps, somewhat, to take the edge off. Nevertheless, he shrugs at her, keeping his face purposefully neutral.]
That's the most important kind of 'okay', though, right? Sort of hard to handle anything else if you're not breathing.
[Avoiding? Him? Never. But he's the Iron fucking Bull. He's expected to be fine, to be okay with all this crap, and...]
[ She watches him with unveiled concern, and it shows through even with her hood shrouding half of her face. Bull doesn't need to verbally admit that he's frustrated; the roughness with which he moves and handles the things around him, the stiff silence before he finally responds are proof enough of that, for her. She doesn't know what's going on in his mind in that span, but it couldn't have been nice, and when he evades, she has half a mind to let it go. The information will come soon enough, but she wants to make sure he's okay. ]
Well, duh, smartass. [ said fondly, of course. ]
I'm just saying--you guys have a lot on your plate. And I can't imagine that you're not at least a little peeved about what's going on. You're the Iron Bull, sure, but even iron can crack.
[That... concern is part of the reason he keeps the poker face. And keeps his eye down. On the beer in his hand. He doesn't want to see it. Shouldn't, really. Like she says...]
[He's the Iron Bull.]
["Why go with iron?" Varric is asking. It's supposed to be a joke, but the next words stick. "Iron is brittle."]
[Another shrug.]
I'm pissed. But how's that unusual? I'm always pissed at some asshole or other.
[ Ah, this must be how everyone feels when Kasumi dances around every question ever. ]
Let me just make an offer, then: you don't have to pretend you're okay around me. If, somehow, you ever feel like you aren't. You ever feel like you need to just vent, I'm here. I don't even have to respond if you don't want me to.
You guys have been there for me--I want to be here for you, too.
No shit? Didn't have him pinned that way. Not with all of you around him.
[The guy seemed more like the Inquisitor, that way. Though... maybe it does make sense. Now that he thinks about it. Guy in a position where he can't let things slip...]
[The corner of his mouth twitches a little.]
I'll keep it in mind.
[But probably going to keep things buried deep, regardless. Talking about the Chargers was hard enough without actually admitting they could be dead and it could be all his fucking fault and how he's letting his people down again damn it and--]
That's because he was always too busy solving the entire galaxy's problems that he's never stopped to think about his own. And hey, don't mention it, big guy.
[ And she hopes it doesn't come to that for Bull. Not the galaxy bit, since that's not really a thing here, but we get the idea. ]
Just thought you could stand to be reminded that you're a person, too. [ A beat. ] Now, about Tetsuo...
[ How does one say... I ran into Tetsuo in a shitty dangerous place and I didn't want to piss him off by trying to talk him out of it because I like staying alive so I inadvertently let him boss me around for a couple minutes? ]
I found him wandering around in Maurtia Falls sometime ago. He seemed like he was looking for something--like a scavenger hunt? He had a map with him.
He seemed to be having trouble, and I didn't want him to run about by himself in that place, [ more out of concern for anyone who might've made the mistake of trying to mug or kidnap him, honestly, and Kasumi really didn't want to bear witness to a psychic massacre ] so I sort of... helped him. I'm not sure what it was he ended up finding--I had to promise I wouldn't get in the way.
A map. Huh. You happen to see anything on it we could use?
[That's weird. Really weird. Something he should pass along to Kaneda as soon as possible. He has no idea why the weirdo would want anything to do with a map. Unless he's looking for a route to his missing hairline or something.]
[He looks her over as she trails off, though, nodding. Then leans more heavily onto his elbows -- to be more on the level of her eyes.]
But he's Tetsuo. And he's fucking insane on a good day.
[ She gives a rueful scoff at Bull's completion of her sentence--that was much more tactfully put than "a boy at least ten years my junior is freaking terrifying." ]
Yeah. That.
But I didn't find anything--not on the map itself, at least. It did lead us to an abandoned research facility... I could take a look into it, see what I can find. He went in by himself and told me to scram, but I stuck around and hid just in case. He came out with something after a while. I don't know what it was.
The whole thing was pretty shady, and--I don't know, but Tetsuo doesn't strike me as the type to be snooping around for things on his own like that. Someone sent him to retrieve this thing.
[He purses his lips, turning that over in his head. It sounds a hell of a lot like the research digs the Inquisition kept running across. And none of them ever really ended up well.]
[... except for that dragon guy. That was awesome.]
Yeah. We'd appreciate anything. Long as you keep yourself in one piece. But... I'll pass it on to Kaneda. Maybe he can put a few things together. Because I think you're onto something.
[He pauses. Then puts a huge hand on one of her shoulders.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
voice;
Oh, yeah.
You want to have this chat in person or...?
voice;
[ There's a quiet laugh on her end, because-- ]
I'm right outside the house. I was going to let myself in, as usual, but it didn't occur to me that you might not be home.
voice;
[She might not care, though. He'll just put that out there as a warning.]
voice;
Whenever you're good. I'll be in the kitchen.
[ Raiding your fridge and playing with Dalish. So, you know, the usual. ]
voice // action
[And he will be. In sweatpants the size of a tent. Oh well. She'll understand. The cat will completely enjoy the attention in the meantime, trying to pounce on Kasumi's feet and beg for food the whole while.]
Hey.
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Hey yourself. Everything been okay around here?
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... Eh. No one's dead or in one of those hospitals, yet. Guess you could say we're all right.
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[ Complete with air quotes! ]
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Otherwise we'd never be 'all right'.
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Good point.
[ What she'd come to tell Bull probably won't really help on that front, unfortunately, so she decides to put it off for something that's, in her mind, more important. ]
Hey, Bull? [ A beat. ] Are you... okay? And I don't mean in the "I'm breathing and in one piece, if not a little dinged up still from that time I stopped a motorcycle with my bare hands, but yes I'm okay," sense.
[ Everyone's been running around making sure the kids were fine, that not many have bothered to check in on the grown-ups, too. ]
this got feels-y im sorry
[He doesn't answer her for a while. He honestly expected this to be about the information. One more colossal pile of shit to clean up. Because of some uppity little asshole who got a pass to everything because life was so cruel to him. Because life wasn't fair to poor fucking Tetsuo.]
[Yeah, life was a piece of shit to guys like Krem and Dorian and Charlie, too. Guys who just wanted to be left the hell alone and be themselves. To half his fucking Chargers, and none of them got a free pass to do whatever they wanted. They all had to toughen up. Accept things, unless they wanted to get their heads lopped off or sold into slavery, or worse. While an idiot teenager with an anger problem got to play kind of the world.]
[Talk about fucking unfair.]
[He opens the fridge a little harder than strictly necessary, cracking the beer bottle open with his bare hand, instead of a convenient opener. That helps, somewhat, to take the edge off. Nevertheless, he shrugs at her, keeping his face purposefully neutral.]
That's the most important kind of 'okay', though, right? Sort of hard to handle anything else if you're not breathing.
[Avoiding? Him? Never. But he's the Iron fucking Bull. He's expected to be fine, to be okay with all this crap, and...]
[And someone should be.]
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Well, duh, smartass. [ said fondly, of course. ]
I'm just saying--you guys have a lot on your plate. And I can't imagine that you're not at least a little peeved about what's going on. You're the Iron Bull, sure, but even iron can crack.
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[He's the Iron Bull.]
["Why go with iron?" Varric is asking. It's supposed to be a joke, but the next words stick. "Iron is brittle."]
[Another shrug.]
I'm pissed. But how's that unusual? I'm always pissed at some asshole or other.
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[ Ah, this must be how everyone feels when Kasumi dances around every question ever. ]
Let me just make an offer, then: you don't have to pretend you're okay around me. If, somehow, you ever feel like you aren't. You ever feel like you need to just vent, I'm here. I don't even have to respond if you don't want me to.
You guys have been there for me--I want to be here for you, too.
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[Shaking his head slightly.]
Funny. I'm usually the guy offering to listen to someone else's shit.
Giving other people what they need. [A dry, humorless chuckle.] Don't think I'd know how to do it the other way.
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Shep's the same way. You fellas forget this kind of thing can be a two-way street, sometimes.
[ Which is something that Kasumi is admittedly learning herself, too--slowly but surely, and with the help of the people around her. ]
Offer's on the table. I won't make you talk about it, but if you ever need an outsider's ear... you can reach me.
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[The guy seemed more like the Inquisitor, that way. Though... maybe it does make sense. Now that he thinks about it. Guy in a position where he can't let things slip...]
[The corner of his mouth twitches a little.]
I'll keep it in mind.
[But probably going to keep things buried deep, regardless. Talking about the Chargers was hard enough without actually admitting they could be dead and it could be all his fucking fault and how he's letting his people down again damn it and--]
... Thanks.
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[ And she hopes it doesn't come to that for Bull. Not the galaxy bit, since that's not really a thing here, but we get the idea. ]
Just thought you could stand to be reminded that you're a person, too. [ A beat. ] Now, about Tetsuo...
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[Maybe some other time. Once... he gets some shit sorted out with said boss. Once he sucks up the balls to ask.]
[If he even can at all.]
Hey, that defeats the point of the name. I put the in front of it for a reason. [He pauses too, long enough to drain half that drink.] Right.
What's he done now?
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I found him wandering around in Maurtia Falls sometime ago. He seemed like he was looking for something--like a scavenger hunt? He had a map with him.
He seemed to be having trouble, and I didn't want him to run about by himself in that place, [ more out of concern for anyone who might've made the mistake of trying to mug or kidnap him, honestly, and Kasumi really didn't want to bear witness to a psychic massacre ] so I sort of... helped him. I'm not sure what it was he ended up finding--I had to promise I wouldn't get in the way.
I'm sorry, Bull. I should've stopped him, but--
[ He scares me. ]
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[That's weird. Really weird. Something he should pass along to Kaneda as soon as possible. He has no idea why the weirdo would want anything to do with a map. Unless he's looking for a route to his missing hairline or something.]
[He looks her over as she trails off, though, nodding. Then leans more heavily onto his elbows -- to be more on the level of her eyes.]
But he's Tetsuo. And he's fucking insane on a good day.
[I don't blame you.]
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Yeah. That.
But I didn't find anything--not on the map itself, at least. It did lead us to an abandoned research facility... I could take a look into it, see what I can find. He went in by himself and told me to scram, but I stuck around and hid just in case. He came out with something after a while. I don't know what it was.
The whole thing was pretty shady, and--I don't know, but Tetsuo doesn't strike me as the type to be snooping around for things on his own like that. Someone sent him to retrieve this thing.
no subject
[He purses his lips, turning that over in his head. It sounds a hell of a lot like the research digs the Inquisition kept running across. And none of them ever really ended up well.]
[... except for that dragon guy. That was awesome.]
Yeah. We'd appreciate anything. Long as you keep yourself in one piece. But... I'll pass it on to Kaneda. Maybe he can put a few things together. Because I think you're onto something.
[He pauses. Then puts a huge hand on one of her shoulders.]
Thanks, Kasumi. From all of us.