dissonance

[isthisart]

Dr. Cheung's at a funeral all day, so Linya decides to go up to London and see if Miles is out of his Mood.

Security has decided to be deeply unhelpful today. She is currently showing them various forms of ID and repeating in a slow, patient voice that she has been here before, there is not more than one of her, and she promises she is not there to assassinate her husband or whatever fool thing has them skittish today. Perhaps she shouldn't drop in while the captain's missing; it seems to make them worse. But she got in before while he was missing...

Comments

[thisvorlunatic]

"I don't suppose I could convince you to, say, untie me and give me a weapon," says Miles hopefully.

[unmarred]

His smile disappears. He shakes his head.

"I can't. I - I can't. I'm not... ready yet. Do you understand? I wonder if you can. You don't seem to be afraid of anything. You fear things... nerve disruptors, failure, loss. But I don't think you've ever been afraid the way I am afraid."

[thisvorlunatic]

"What the hell are you?" says Miles helplessly. "Talking to you is like - like a funhouse mirror for the soul. I can never tell where you're going to jump next. What do you mean by afraid...?"

[unmarred]

"I don't think you can know. I think you're too - Miles. Too Naismith. You don't know how to not win."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I'm unsettled by your accuracy. Again. That seems to be a theme."

[unmarred]

"In retrospect, it's so obvious that Naismith had to exist, I wonder how I missed it. There had to be somewhere for all that to go, somewhere besides whatever you did to gain a haut-wife."

[thisvorlunatic]

"My turn to non sequitur," says Miles. "Lay my mind to rest about something - do your bones break like mine?"

[unmarred]

"No," he says, and instead of merely leaving it at that, he makes a fist and punches his other palm, bringing his hands together with sharp and sudden force.

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles winces - he can almost hear the crack that would result if he tried such a thing. "Point proven. Um... thank you. I think."

[unmarred]

Mark shrugs. "If I just told you, you wouldn't know."

[thisvorlunatic]

"What a... fascinating philosophy," says Miles.

[unmarred]

"People believe you when you tell them things. Frequently."

[thisvorlunatic]

"...yes..." says Miles.

[unmarred]

"I've done that now and I still don't know how it works."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I'm really not sure I can explain."

[unmarred]

"Probably not," Mark agrees. "It's like breathing, to you. The atmosphere of trust. I have lived my life in a vacuum."

[thisvorlunatic]

Ow. Again.

"I wish I could rescue you," says Miles. "I wish I had rescued you. Won't you let me—?"

[unmarred]

Mark hesitates, teetering at some internal precipice, then shakes his head.

"I can't. I can't."

[thisvorlunatic]

"You could have a life," Miles says desperately. "I don't know what you've got now, but life isn't it. Don't - don't just crawl into my skin and walk away. It's damned uncomfortable to wear sometimes, and I'm afraid you'd find it stifling."

[unmarred]

"It's not that I don't know what I stand to gain; it's that I do know what I stand to lose. I told you, you don't understand how I'm afraid."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Maybe not. But isn't this," he does his best to make a gesture encompassing the room, given that he can only move his head, "an unauthorized venture anyway? Is it that much more of a risk?"

[unmarred]

"Yes. This, I can pass off as obedience. The other thing - " He shudders; shakes his head.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Fine," sighs Miles. "Fine... Look - whatever else happens - listen to Mother. She can teach you to breathe if anyone can."

[unmarred]

"Maybe so," he says, half doubt, half hope.

[thisvorlunatic]

"What... what do you have planned for our father?"