Open RP post

[callada]

Specific prompts:

Other-wordly
Six-word stories

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[callada]

[The idea is absurd enough to make him laugh. When's the last time he wore one of those?]

If you're serious about that, then you'll have to find one that fits me. That's the deal.

[morethan084]

[Daisy ponders on that for a moment,]

You think they make one for elephants?

[callada]

Dunno, bet someone's thought of that. Then again, can't elephants swim?

[Or, you know, walk on the ocean floor on their extremely long legs? ... His concept of what an elephant is is probably somewhat unlike hers.

Also it was a joke and he knows this, but the compulsion to answer is real.]

Look, never mind that. Those life rings are pretty good anyway, we'll be fine.

[morethan084]

[Daisy smiles at the fact that he really seems to want to take her on a boat,]

Just name the time and the place.

[She takes another sip of her coffee.]

My turn.

[callada]

Your turn. Truth or dare?

[He wasn't sure how many of these they'd actually do but hell, if she wants another one, she's welcome to it.]

[morethan084]

Truth.

[At least this way neither of them are at risk of hurting the other.]

[callada]

[He thinks a moment, then,]

If you could go back in time and tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?

[morethan084]

[Daisy leans back in her seat with a surprised expression on her face,]

Wasn’t expecting that. Uh—

That my foster parents didn’t hate me.

[She tries to make her tone light, as if it doesn’t bother her in hindsight. But it still does, even after learning the truth behind why she kept hopping between foster families.]

[callada]

Sorry. Seemed like a good question.

[Sure, he could've asked what her favorite flavor of jam was, but that's just not how his mind works, he supposes.

The answer, though, he feels that one.]

What were they like? If you want to answer that, anyway. Don't have to, you already did your truth.

[morethan084]

[Daisy shrugs dismissively, fingertip tracing a line on her small table.]

They were all nice, usually. But eventually I was given up, didn’t know why at the time.

[Just, you know, thought she was unlovable.]

Truth or dare?

[callada]

[Poor girl. If she was sitting close enough he'd reach for her. Instead he frowns and runs a hand through his hair. He's thought plenty of times about how absurdly fortunate he managed to be despite all the misfortune of his childhood.]

I feel like I owe you another truth for that one.

[morethan084]

What? No. You can pick whatever you want, or we can stop.

[It started out as a joke anyway.]

[callada]

No, really, it's fine. I know you're not forcing me to play or something. One more truth and then we're even. Almost out of coffee, anyway.

[He's decided she's allowed to ask questions, and that's that.]

[morethan084]

[Daisy stops tracing the line on the table and looks up at Rosi,]

Do you ever regret doing this line of work?

[callada]

Hm. Sure, sometimes. But never long enough to make me want to get out of it.

[He shrugs. Who doesn't regret their career choices sometimes? Who doesn't daydream about the other things they could have had?]

Ultimately, I think it's the right thing to do, and I'm good at it. Maybe when I'm older I'll give it all up, take a post on some warm sea and let the recruits do all the hard work. I hear reaction speeds start declining eventually.

[Hard maybe, though, and he shrugs. He's never any good at taking the easy route in life.]

[morethan084]

[Daisy isn’t expecting that last part, frowning without realizing it.]

You would give it up?

[Daisy can’t imagine ever giving this up for anything.]

[callada]

Why do you sound so surprised? Yes, I've thought about eventually switching to something that's less likely to get me killed.

[He raises an eyebrow, then has the last of his coffee.

It's not himself he worries about, really. It's the people around him, how they'd feel if he wound up dead in action because he would rather keep fighting this endless fight than take a desk job.

Coffee gone, he feels like he has to elaborate just a little.]

I'd still be working toward the same goals. Maybe... end up someone else's CO for a change. Take intel, put it all together, see what it means. Get guys like the ones who drugged me today behind bars without having to be the person facing them myself. I'm sure you've heard just as well as I have - field agents don't tend to live very long. You get out, or you get killed.

[But he's not dead yet, and he's not about to give up any time soon. It's all things to think about for the future, when he's forty and can't keep up as well as he used to. If he makes it that far.]

[morethan084]

[Daisy frowns, looking down at her coffee as he offers an explanation for his reason. She’s never thought about giving this up, it was her entire life. She doesn’t know what else she could or would do, despite knowing how dangerous it was. Just thinking of taking a backseat makes her feel anxious, and this entire time she thought they were both on the same page.

Then again, she never imagined they’d be anything more than friends. So these types of questions never came to her mind.]

I haven’t died yet.

[Daisy points out, as if it’s some sort of record. She tries to keep her tone teasing, even if she’s pretty upset by this revelation.]

[callada]

I know. And I worry about you all the time.

[Which is, predictably, very honest. He's had his share of close calls, and he knows she has too. How do either of them decide to stop before it's too late? He's in no real rush to quit, himself - and what if that's a mistake?]

[morethan084]

[Daisy isn’t sure if that’s the truth serum talking, or if he’d say something like this without it. Either way she tries to brush it off,]

I’m pretty sure if anyone should be doing the worrying, it’s me. You trip over air.

[callada]

Guess we're both allowed to worry, then.

[But he smiles. It's a good sign, anyway - he'd rather they both look after each other than be completely callous to each other's struggles. Neither one has it easy.]

I do wish I wasn't so clumsy, but there's nothing I can do about it. Everyone has flaws, right?

[morethan084]

Guess so.

[She could try to tell him again not to worry, but she knows he will anyway.]

I wouldn’t call it a flaw. Humbling is a better word for it.

[Because other than that, he’s an amazing fighter. So maybe he needs to be humbled sometimes.]

[callada]

I'd call it a flaw.

[He's grinning, just the dull throb of the headache keeping him from breaking out into actual laughter.]

But thanks, if you were trying to make me feel better.

[morethan084]

Trying? Did it not work?

[Daisy teases, lifting her mug to take another sip of her momentarily forgotten coffee.]

[callada]

No, can't say it did, but I appreciate the thought. It's just the unfortunate reality of having been clumsy since birth.

[No lying does make it kind of hard to carry a joke, that's for sure. He'd prefer to laugh it off and claim he feels so much better now, thank you very much, but oh well. He'll take what he can get, and right now that means staying content with the truths he's had to give. He'd certainly much rather be talking to Daisy right now than the people he'd been in that room with previously.]