[Halted where he stands browsing the shelves of the nearby convenience store, Cain focuses on the words as they spill across his field of vision. It feels as though his throat has closed around a swallowed stone. There's conviction in the message that he's not sure how to respond to, because he's never had this turned on himself -- always Abel toward a battle, toward his next move or strategy.
And because, still, he wonders whether he deserves it. Going back home was his goal from the beginning, it was why he did everything for Project Thebes at all.]
not saying youd abandon me [Truly isn't, although he'd never deny Abel wanting to leave.] just that youre safer on earth than anywhere. i just dont want them to kill you.
[The rest doesn't matter in the face of that fact.]
does your father really have that much power and hed listen to you? his reputation matters that much?
Then I guess we'll have to make sure they don't kill me. Or you.
We've suffered enough at the hands of these people, I'm not going to let either of us disappear into the ether like we did something wrong. We didn't. We're not paying the price so they can sit comfortably and plan to extort more Fighters and Navigators. I refuse.
[Abel takes a deep breath and lets it out. He needs a shower, he needs to lay down, he hasn't felt this angry in a long time and he's staring off into space while doing it.]
He's influential and he's been looking for a reason to denounce the Alliance. That's enough to get something started. He never wanted to listen to me before, but I hardly think it's because he was worried about me. He was always worried about himself, how I would reflect on him. This would be his worst nightmare.
[And if unleashing that on him would ensure Cain would be free to go home and never have the Alliance darken his doors again? It would be worth the years Abel had spent under his father's thumb, biding his time until he could be free.]
[The stream of messages are more reassuring than he expected them to be. Something brittle in him begins to settle, carefully, until he finds himself leaning against a near wall with eyes pinched shut. Eyelashes flicker open again to answer as words come to him.]
if thats what you want to do we can do it. but maybe we wont have to. maybe the alliance will take them down from inside. who knows
[Another thought occurs to him.]
does that mean im gonna have to uh meet your father?
Maybe. Maybe after losing track of us, the Alliance will get nervous and cancel the project, put them on permanent desk duty, discharge them quietly, I don't care. But this heinous project must end.
Not if you don't want to. I don't need you to be some kind of prop to prove I'm actually seriously gay, he absolutely knows. If I was going to introduce you to either of my parents, my mom would be less of a disaster. She would just look disappointed and not say anything to you.
[This is so depressing. He wishes he could bring Cain into his life in a full and welcoming way, but there's really nothing to show him. Just an empty space that he spent his days in.]
dont have to meet either of them. doesnt matter that much to me who your parents are
[Why would he want to meet a man who would snarl and spit, or a mother who would look coolly down her nose, for the sake of who he is? For the belief that he is colonist scum? It doesn't make him eager. And he's never attached Abel's family to Abel himself -- that was always tertiary to the realm of being both military and intimate partners.]
guess well see what happens cant do much about it here right now
[In the process of a transaction, Cain taps out of the conversation for a moment. Long enough to purchase the fish and vegetables and bundle them away into his backpack.]
maybe you could show me what our earth looks like they got this tech here we can use VR, virtual reality dunno much about how it actually works
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And because, still, he wonders whether he deserves it. Going back home was his goal from the beginning, it was why he did everything for Project Thebes at all.]
not saying youd abandon me [Truly isn't, although he'd never deny Abel wanting to leave.] just that youre safer on earth than anywhere.
i just
dont want them to kill you.
[The rest doesn't matter in the face of that fact.]
does your father really have that much power
and hed listen to you? his reputation matters that much?
no subject
We've suffered enough at the hands of these people, I'm not going to let either of us disappear into the ether like we did something wrong. We didn't. We're not paying the price so they can sit comfortably and plan to extort more Fighters and Navigators.
I refuse.
[Abel takes a deep breath and lets it out. He needs a shower, he needs to lay down, he hasn't felt this angry in a long time and he's staring off into space while doing it.]
He's influential and he's been looking for a reason to denounce the Alliance. That's enough to get something started.
He never wanted to listen to me before, but I hardly think it's because he was worried about me. He was always worried about himself, how I would reflect on him. This would be his worst nightmare.
[And if unleashing that on him would ensure Cain would be free to go home and never have the Alliance darken his doors again? It would be worth the years Abel had spent under his father's thumb, biding his time until he could be free.]
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if thats what you want to do
we can do it.
but maybe we wont have to. maybe the alliance will take them down from inside. who knows
[Another thought occurs to him.]
does that mean im gonna have to
uh
meet your father?
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Not if you don't want to. I don't need you to be some kind of prop to prove I'm actually seriously gay, he absolutely knows.
If I was going to introduce you to either of my parents, my mom would be less of a disaster. She would just look disappointed and not say anything to you.
[This is so depressing. He wishes he could bring Cain into his life in a full and welcoming way, but there's really nothing to show him. Just an empty space that he spent his days in.]
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doesnt matter that much to me who your parents are
[Why would he want to meet a man who would snarl and spit, or a mother who would look coolly down her nose, for the sake of who he is? For the belief that he is colonist scum? It doesn't make him eager. And he's never attached Abel's family to Abel himself -- that was always tertiary to the realm of being both military and intimate partners.]
guess well see what happens
cant do much about it here right now
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I just wish I could do something that was normal. Show you what my life was like before, but it was barely anything worth talking about.
Are you coming back with the fish?
[He wants to move away from both of these topics, onto something nicer. The future, not the baggage they're dragging around.]
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[In the process of a transaction, Cain taps out of the conversation for a moment. Long enough to purchase the fish and vegetables and bundle them away into his backpack.]
maybe you could show me what our earth looks like
they got this tech here we can use
VR, virtual reality
dunno much about how it actually works
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I wonder how easy it is to write a program, I could definitely build something to show you!
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i wanna see it
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