The Closest Thing I've Got

Sarrain

Sarrain

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"I imagine I go to the hospital like a normal person," she said with no small amount of annoyance. "See? This is the shit I mean. When you have powers people rely on them too hard. What if anything happened? What if I lost them tomorrow? What if someone else nulled my powers?

"Fuck, officer Genovese, this place isn't a damn war zone, how likely am I really to run into trouble where I'd need instantaneous regeneration?"

And Rory pulled from something that she'd pushed deep, deep below the surface since she'd gotten to talk to her mother. Since her childhood when she'd gotten looks for talking to the classroom mouse.

"I want to feel normal. I want to be able to handle things without a bunch of life cheats and I'm sick of people acting like just because I have these powers I couldn't possibly know what it's like to be powerless.

"If I'm old enough to screw around with immortals and adults, I'm old enough to sign some waiver saying I don't want to be forced to retain my powers. What kind of bullshit is that, that people can buy permits to let themselves be murdered, but I can't sign a fucking waiver to feel normal? That's some backward fucking logic."

She was getting worked up. Rory looked away and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying not to sound so angry. "Sorry."
 
Romi

Romi

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If Rory was going to try and do that lecture, she was doing it at the exact wrong time.

"Rory," Angelo said, his tone firm--not quite at frustration, but in the general vicinity. "Decently likely. This place is safe, but bad things still happen here. Jude almost died. He isn't talking about it, and he's not talking about the odds, but if Broen hadn't said one thing to me in front of him, Jude would have gone to work without his suit on. He could have died. Even if things had played out the exact same way, he likely would have broken his ribs and lost his other hand."

He stopped walking, turning to face her properly, and then for a brief, brief second, Angelo didn't move at all. It was only a second--maybe a brief skip--and barely noticeable.

"Things happen. Bad things happen to good people. To innocent people. And for almost every single person in the narrow reality, if they had the option to live through a bullet in the chest, they'd take it. You're still thinking of things like you're at home. I wish you were. I wish you kids got to be home with your families and your lives and everything was like normal. But you aren't. Here on Manta Carlos, having no powers is weird. Signing a waiver isn't going to make you feel normal, Rory. It's going to make you weird."

He seemed distinctly in control. Not as frustrated as he might have been another time.

"I didn't say you couldn't have it. I said it would be hard."
 
Sarrain

Sarrain

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"No," she told him toward the end of his response. "I don't think this is like home. Manta Carlos is one small part of a world where this isn't common. But it's not just about feeling weird, or not feeling weird. It's about a choice. It's my choice to make, whether you think it's a smart one or not, it's the choice I feel is best for me and it inconveniences no one but myself."

She watched him, face set in determination. "I'm fine with hard, just tell me what I have to do."
 
Romi

Romi

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No two ways about it, Angelo thought she was being stupid. He let out a sigh, pinching at the bridge of his nose in a manner very reminiscent of Jude for a moment.

"You'd have to get one. I might have to sign the slip, because you're underage and I'm your guardian. Probably a waiver from both of us. Are you going to tell everyone else?"
 
Sarrain

Sarrain

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"You mean all of the Defiant?" She shrugged. "I have no reason to lie."

Rory ignored the look he gave her. She was used to that look, used enough to it that ignoring it was an easy feat. She'd grown up realizing more and more that she did not think like other people did, that she was willing to make self-sacrifices that people deemed crazy and reckless — and she'd come to be fine with that. Doing anything else meant hiding who she was at her core.
 
Romi

Romi

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"Fine," Angelo said. "We'll go tomorrow. I'm back to work before long, and that means I won't be as available as I am right now. You can get your bracelet, and I'll sign the form."

It wasn't his job to talk her out of it, no matter how he thought about it.

"Was that all you wanted?"
 
Sarrain

Sarrain

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Rory wished she had pockets to shove her hands into. She looked away from Angelo. Jude had wanted her to talk to him about... something. All of that missing home stuff.. but it didn't seem good here. To Rory, it never seemed like it'd be a good time.

"Yeah, I think that's all."

And she promised herself that when this was all over, maybe she'd talk to Angelo about all those sore points like Jude had suggested. Maybe, but not right now.
 
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