trans_9 | Habit Turned to Landscape [Open]

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Habit Turned to Landscape [Open]

It's so easy to feel weightless in water.

Eva docks her boat, secures it with all the knots she remembers from her home, and jumps into the ocean. The waves are small and the sand at the bottom is just within reach of her feet. In a normal climate, this would be a horrible place to try and keep a boat, but tides and reefs and high shores don't much matter in the Sensoriums, where everything can be fixed and changed the instant it becomes a problem. So she's conjured up a beach and a sea and a perfect replica of her favorite boat from home, and a sunny, breezy day to illuminate the whole thing.

Too often lately she's been scared and angry and melancholy. None of this is going to be fixed with a quick imaginary trip to the beach. But as she floats on her back, breathing in salty air, it's easy to forget that, even if just for the moment.

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"Why would you do that?" Despite the joviality, there's a trace of concern in her voice, since she hasn't seen the people who push humor aside fare well in the aftermaths of anything. And crime-fighting sounds like a pretty big anything.

Tim frowns a small bit at Eva's concern, and shifts. "It's nothing to worry about," he says dismissively. Personal details weren't something he wanted to drag into this. Instead, he asks, "Have you been faring okay here? Overall, I mean." There were obviously problems though.

"I see you over there diverting the conversation from yourself, o Masked Avenger," she says, but drops it. She knows all about not wanting to talk about things.

"Overall? We have a magic box that can conjure up the Taj Mahal and a resort beach. Not much room for the complaint department," she says blandly.

"Strictly speaking?" he replied, a hint of his humour sneaking back into his voice despite the conversation at hand. "It's a cowl, not a mask. Not that 'Cowled Avenger' would sound very good." He of course won't comment on having changed the subject. It's not like he'd been subtle about it.

"Fair point," he replied, with a nod. The sensoriums were useful enough, clearly. "I guess that's a pretty obvious perk in the situation. Not many of those, generally."

"The Cowled Avenger sounds like you're going to go wreak vengeance on people who keep livestock in inhumane conditions," she says.

She shrugs. "No need for money, free food even if it's disgusting, anonymity, a sense of purpose, if you're into that sort of thing...honestly, it could be a lot worse. I could do do with less humidity, though. I always feel like I'm being smothered by a sponge."

It doesn't quite make up for being onboard with Yeerks holding hosts, or being away from Peter, or the frustrating sense of loss over the world they lost, but it's something. And finding her son alive mostly makes up for the rest.

"Good point," he replied with a hum. "Though you never know-- that's a pretty important issue too." Not in comparison to their worlds literally ending, but still.

Tim watched Eva quietly, turning over what she said, in his mind. He could agree with some of that, at least. "And you are into that sort of thing?" he asked, tone frank. "And not everyone's big on anonymity. And yes, I realise the irony in my saying that."

"Is it now? If there's a secret supply of beef on the ship that you haven't told me about, I may have to put your hand-to-hand combat skills to the test, PETA Boy." A few people, mostly Yeerk Peace Movement members and their sympathizers, have tried to draw analogies between human and livestock to her in the past. Clearly it hasn't taken. She'd chew off someone's leg for a real hamburger instead of the gloop.

"A sense of purpose? Aren't you?" She cracks her neck, dipping her toes in the water and kicking up little ripples. "I'm famous, you know. Notorious, even, infamous, hailed throughout the land, renowned, exalted, ill-reputed and highly conspicuous, all depending on who you talk to. Not that anyone would know it here, and I like it that way."

"PETA Boy does not make a great 'hero' name, for the record," Tim commented back with a bit of an amused hum. "And I'd take just about anything else over another day of this 'food', for the record. At least I was trained for harsh conditions." It was sufficient and he wouldn't actually make a fuss about it (beyond joking like this-- or perhaps to Kon), but a little bit of variety would definitely be nice, to say the least.

"Guess I can't say much about that either," he said, a slight movement of his cape coming with the statement. He did kind of take on a big (and never ending) mission, himself. "That can certainly have its advantages though-- that's a pretty wide variety of recognition."

"Sure it does. Better than 'Cowled Avenger'," she says, sliding back into the water and flicking some water at him. "You know, if you bring the food in here, you can imagine it tastes better. I've had my share of gloop a la mode in here. It's not bad."

"Certainly, but it's stifling and you can't turn it off." She shrugs. At least she doesn't have to worry about that here. "Are you saying the Cowled Avenger doesn't walk in infamy? That PETA Boy isn't a feared name in the criminal underworld?"

Instinctively, he almost starts to step back at having the water flicked at him, but he stops and relaxes a bit. He was being a bit too uptight maybe. "Still doesn't change what it is, unfortunately." And admittedly? Food was not a priority, as much as he didn't like what they had. Sustainability was enough for him, in this situation, in the long run.

He does smirk a bit at that. "Absolute terror," he drawls, "Sends criminals quaking in their boots. But I can't say I have so many different types of recognition, either way."

Eva notices the stiffening at the water flicking and stops, dropping her arms under the water. "But it changes the taste, at least. You can't have everything. You mustn't ask for too much."

She smirks. "An unsung hero?"

Tim feels a tiny bit of guilt at her stopping, but it wasn't that important a thing. Joking aside, at least he was learning about her-- if he wanted to be having 'fun,' per se, he wouldn't really be wandering around as Red Robin. "True enough," he replied. "We have to hold onto the little things, then."

Tim returns a small smirk, and explains, vaguely, "Well I'm not sure 'famous' is the right word for me, for one. And," he adds, the black cape drawing around him in part for effect. "'Conspicuous' isn't really what I was going for."

Edited 2011-04-04 00:34 (UTC)

"There are some very nice little things," she says, almost forlornly. It's easy to forget that when everything in the big picture seems out of control. Very easy to see them just as little things. She flexes her hand, runs it over a scar on her arm.

But the moment of melancholy is fleeting. "You're wearing a cowl and you don't think you're conspicuous? Honey, you take that thing off and Caucasian teenage boys are a dime a dozen. Nothing more unremarkable than that."

Tim nodded in respect for that answer-- at least she seemed to be finding some positivity-- and his eyes moved, conscious of her touching the scar on her arm. He was silent, though-- he knew better than to ask about that. At least right away.

"In my line of work? The shadowy cape and cowl look is a lot more inconspicuous than you'd think." Plus, he was a recognisable Caucasian teenager, back home, but that obviously wasn't appropriate to add.

Eva has scars all over her body - thankfully, between the plant suit and the water glistening all over her, most aren't as visible as they usually are.

"Yes, but for walking around the hallways? And for being on the beach?"

Tim eyes her somewhat again, but his response is calm, almost dismissive. "Still working, right now, though. Can't say I was planning on taking any time off." It was a reasonable enough explanation, for him-- wandering the halls was part of him working. If he'd been intending to unwind, he'd be appearing as Tim, not Red Robin.

"And I'm betting you don't even get overtime," she teases, dipping her head back under the water for a moment.

To that, Tim couldn't help but smirk as she dips back under the water. "Stacy's not that great about the pay, no," he says as she comes back up.

"So - and this not a criticism, just picking your brain," she says, then cringes at that turn of phrase. "Why is an upstanding young man like yourself engaging in lofty superheroics instead of getting ready for prom?"

Tim's smirk changes to a frown-- both at Eva's telling cringe, and at the direction of questioning. It was... a complicated issue, and he was far from willing to talk about himself too openly. "No girlfriend to take," he said, half jokingly. Which was a complicated issue on its own-- and really, he was a drop out anyway.

"I guess that's as good an excuse as any." She can tell he wants to drop it, so she does. She has no intention of upsetting him. "I feel like I'm missing all the date nights with my husband still in the pods."

Tim nodded. Of course, there was the huge moral issue behind what he did, which he was somewhat more willing to talk about-- but still not completely. His motivations were his own.

"Understandable," he said instead, paying careful attention to her wording. "But at least he's safe."

She frowns a little. "Presumably."

Well. Nothing like talking about traumatizing childhoods and potentially dead spouses to cheer up a conversation. "You know, if you wanted to do something that wouldn't end with you drowning in your cape, I could call up a different setting."

"He is," Tim says in response, voice serious. He had no idea what world they were even from... but he was tired of losing people. "We're finding a way to fix this."

He shook his head, though, in offer of the change. "Thank you for the offer. I'm all right though-- I should leave you to your relaxation."

((ooc: ... this icon is angrier looking than it needs to be. OH WELL??))

Edited 2011-04-06 00:41 (UTC)

"You keep telling yourself that, Cowled Avenger," she says cynically. "Maybe it'll even be true."

She waves a hand at him. "I'll see you around. Hard to miss the cape."

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battorch - 2011-04-06 03:11 (UTC) - Expand

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