thephix | (exsilium) ic contact

Of course, for both of us?

[Is he not coming back to the apartment for some reason?]

And no, he's curled up in my lap.

Is something wrong?

Yes, please.

My nose is just a little sore so I was worried about him jumping on me when I sit down.

( she won't ask questions right it's so fine )

Alright.

Have you been to the clinic?

[She knows him.]

Atlas has been getting patched up too much lately, it'll be bad to go in. And I couldn't be Adonis yet.

( Which is to say, no. )

It's a clean break, it just needs ice.

There are clinics other than the Transport one.

They'll insist about the painkillers. I'll be back soon.

( they might not "insist" but it makes Donny very unhappy )

Adonis.

[THAT'S IT THAT'S THE TEXT]

Thank you

( well that went well, he's pretty sure

don't mind him as he tries to just quietly come in the door and hope beyond hope that maybe for some reason she is having a nap, or isn't going to elaborate on the text judgment)

[She's going to elaborate on the text judgement.

Not at first, of course, but she's rising from her spot on the couch - where she's drafing up a business plan for Jules' little endeavour - as soon as she hears the door open. Maurice trots over to the door first, greeting Donny with a happy bark, but Max made sure he's calm enough that there won't be any jumping.

Max waits until Donny is properly inside to fix him with a look that says more than any actual words could, especially with the way her gaze goes to his broken nose.]

( The door clips shut, and he pulls the bag of ice away from his face. At least he's been able to keep the ice more ice-y than slushy. )

Hi.

( At least there isn't still the mess of blood from before. Donny lets his bag of training stuff slide to the ground, before he raises his hand in an awkward wave. )

H-how are you?

Fine.

[It doesn't really matter, not when she's more concerned with walking over to Donny, gently holding his jaw between her thumb and forefinger so that she can tilt his head to inspect the break.]

Is it a clean break?

[It looks it, but she wants to be sure.]

( The bruising around his eyes was hidden by his mask, but after leaving the safe house without it, he'd gotten a couple of comments from passers by that he'd tried not to listen to. )

Y-yup. There w-wasn't any um, c-clear fluid, and with the ice it d-didn't bleed too long. M-my n-neck feels fine, there's n-no um, numbness or changes in vision.

( Going through the mental checklist of things Marissa taught him to look out for. He's not sure if she made him go over this stuff entirely for other patients or for emergency self-diagnosis. )

I'll still b-be um, p-pretty.

( So much self-mockery. )

[Satisfied with her own inspection and his diagnosis of the break, she releases him and takes a step back, resting her hand on Maurice's head and giving Donny room to move about the apartment.

At the joke, she rolls her eyes.]

I suppose there's nothing wrong with a little roguish charm. [Which is the sort of look that comes from having a rehealed nose.] Can I get you anything?

[He's the medic, but she can help if he needs it.]

I d-don't think the b-bone is um, w-wonky.

( And that's a professional medical opinion right there. )

Is there any ice-cream?

( he sounds like he has a cold, with how his nose is swollen up, forcing him to breathe through his mouth. )

You should still have it looked at.

[Occasionally she has to fuss over him, because he won' take care of himself properly.

But there's ice cream, at least.]

Do you want some right now?

[Just checking, as she starts towards the kitchen.]

( Shaking his head to that and the ice cream, just plodding to the sofa and flopping down on it, head elevated on the arm.

Later.

( His dignity is so wounded. )

[Maurice looks like he's about to consider clambering up on Donny, so Max guides him to the bed instead, sitting cross legged on top of the covers with Maurice's head in her lap. Fortunately ("fortuantely") the apartment is small enough that she can still easily carry on a conversation with Donny.]

What happened?

[It seems to be just the broken nose, so it likely wasn't a proper fight, but she's also not sure who'd hit him hard enough to break his nose in a simple spar.]

( Long story short: )

I'm n-not focused enough.

( A little muffled by his hand, holding the ice in place. He pulls it away so he can talk, for a few moments. )

C-caught a sword b-between m-my hands and I g-got-- I was stupid.

( Full scale frustration with himself, right there. He was so stupid. )

I'm m-messing up Atlas.

( That was what happened, and he's incredibly angry with himself )

[It must have been a spar, then, because otherwise he would have just detroyed a sword rather than wasting time catching it. She also hasn't seen many Exiles running around with swords, and there aren't too many serious fights amongst the Transports.

The rest of what he says is more important, and she's quiet for a moment, turning it over in her head and deciding on a response. She considers going to sit beside him on the sofa, but giving him space seems like the best option for the moment.]

Have you messed up Atlas before today?

[She finds that sometimes the best way to deal with these moods of his is to lay all the facts out neatly and get him to realize the way he's being irrational.

It doesn't always work, but she doesn't need him doubting himself more than he already does, so she's going to try everything until he stops this line of thought.]

( Expression twisting painfully, he nods. )

I've-- b-being around everyone here. And-- l-like he's a w-way t-to-- to m-make friends.

( Atlas: the new Facebook. ) Atlas is m-meant to p-protect people, and help. Not make friends.

( The reasons and opportunities for him to work with people outside Max's influence were small, at home. He might converse with people and be friendly, but rare were the times he saw the same people over and over. When he did see them, it was strictly business, professional. There were no cookies or impromptu visits involved. No getting too pleased with progress in training. )

[Oh, Adonis.

She leans forward a little, so that she can look at him better, hoping that he'll meet her gaze.]

They don't have to be mutually exclusive.

[For all her jealousy, mostly she's been glad to see that Donny has been making friends in Exsilium, as if it might soften the blow of them being so far away from home, as if it might soften the blow of her. He's so isolated, at home, and she knows that isn't good for a person.

She's noticed him becoming more relaxed in the city, and had figured the fact he was being more social in general, finding more people he was able to "talk" to, was partly responsible.

She doesn't want him to lose that.]

It's not your normal way of operating, but it just means you have to adapt to this. Find a balance between your friends and your focus, it's not impossible, you just haven't had to do it before now.

[He doesn't have to go back to isolating himself.]

Atlas--

( People like Atlas better. He has more friends than Donny; Donny has a collection of people he's intimidated by. ) And I c-can't t-talk to them.

( The people Atlas speaks to and that Donny likes, he can't speak to them because they only know Atlas. To know Adonis would compromise it. He's not sure what's worse; not having friends, or having friends who don't know who really exists behind the mask, who wouldn't have seen him, might not have wanted to fight alongside him. )

W-what's your n-new um, b-balance?

( If they are talking about changing their behaviour, adapting? What is it Max has to do? Some part of him is angry with her for saying "you have to adapt," because he feels like he's exhausted. )

You could.

[Gently, even if she knows he won't ever believe that, because he has so little faith that people might actually like Donny. As if the person behind Atlas is somehow so terrible that his friends would stop being his friends because of it.

She wonders what they might think of that train of thought, because there's something almost insulting in it, but she decides not to point that out.

Instead, she gives him a slightly arch look, as if to wonder what on Earth she has to do with his problems with Atlas, but it can't hurt to answer.]

I'm opening a store.

[With a nod to the papers all over the desk, the organization that's involved in that. It's a balance because it's legitimate, it's something honest instead of taking the often easier, criminal route.

Maybe it's not exactly what he means, but she doesn't know what else to say. She doesn't need to find a new balance, not really.]

( Donny shakes his head. ) P-people-- people have expectations.

( Of him, of Atlas. They cannot be reconciled. She deals in expectations, doesn't she?

That's not what he meant. He's not really sure what he meant, something about doing things differently for her, personally. And that almost makes him laugh, a little: hoping Max would be forthcoming about something private, personal. It made him foolish and it made him kind of a jerk, because who is he to demand something like that from her?

He sighs, shrugs a little, a kind of that's cool gesture. Presumably it's something smart, innovative and likely lucrative.

"I'm trying to be happy," or "I'm doing something for myself" was a bit of a stretch. He's not sure a store could cover that, but maybe it would take her a little of the way there. )

D-do you have-- h-have friends?

( More gentle, careful. His tone suggests she doesn't have to answer. )

That doesn't mean anything.

[There's nothing about Donny that would change whatever people expect of him. It never made a difference to her, the boy underneath the mask, and while she knows it might to some people, she assumes he's sensible enough to choose friends who wouldn't think that Donny underminds Atlas.

He gets himself too twisted up over this, and it's pointless.

At the question, she just looks a little incredulous, as if the question is something of a surprise.

Does she have friends?

Why would be bother to ask a question he already knows the answer to?]

I'm not looking for friends.

[Despite everything, her tone is gentler with that, to make sure he knows that it's not a judgement. Just because she personally isn't trying to make friends doesn't mean it's wrong of him to. They're just different.]

hello

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suddenly: ackshun

permackshun

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