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Timothy...

[Yes, Lust is deliberately using video here.]

I do hate to bother you, but I was just speaking with that very loud and enthusiastic young woman from your world and it turned out to be quite the conversation.

It included the clear implication that you, how was it phrased? Ah yes, that you have ' killed like a shit-ton of people'. Which doesn't bother me in and of itself, but...

Is that true?

[...You know, on a list of questions he expected Lust to ask him, this was...

...

Well, it says a lot about his life that it wasn't not on the list? But it still wasn't very high. Boy, this is... a little awkward.

Though Lust cursing, even in a quote, is almost more baffling.]

Uhhh.

[Being caught off guard also means that... well. He doesn't really have any options other than just... admitting the truth.]

...Kinda?

I'm not sure if this is the sort of question where that works as an answer, Timothy.

[She lifts her eyebrow. How does one 'kind of' kill a great many people?]

I'm not upset with you. Just...confused as to why you've never mentioned it in the more than year we've known each other.

I-I dunno, it's not really something I hide or anything, it just... didn't exactly come up. It's not something I like to spend too much time thinking about, you know?

It's not really... as big of a deal as it sounds like.

[Which probably sounds weird to anyone not from his universe, but he kind of forgets that sometimes.]

No, I suppose not. I feel a bit silly for assuring my family that it's not as though you've killed dozens of people or anything like that...

But apparently I only fall in love with men carrying a past full of killing.

[For god's sake, is this really her type? Is she just only emotionally interested in broken men with facial scars and bloodstained hands and enough issues to make a yearly subscription?]

I'm glad to hear you say that, actually...

Sorry. I mean, I would've brought it up, it's just... It's such a normal thing on Pandora, I keep forgetting that it's not really normal.

But that's... a thing with you? Guess I should be lucky I shot that many p-- shit, okay, that's dark, ignore that.

[Let's not. Go there.]

Uh, wait, you are? Why?

No, it's not normal. I knew you'd been in violent situations, but I didn't assume you'd been doing any shooting yourself.

...It seems to be. Scar...had a violent past. But a justified one.

[And even still, a small laugh escapes her.]

Just how many did you shoot?

[And then she clears her throat and threads her fingers together.]

As you said. This hasn't come up before. I know I told you about some of the things I did for my master, the men. I just never told you what happened to them afterwards. I believe you can infer?

You don't get to be on Pandora, or Elpis, or... fuck, anywhere nearby without shooting people. A lot of people.

It usually starts with being shot at and at that point you don't exactly have a lot of options left.

[Dying was, technically, an option, sure. But like, come on.]

I... literally don't know. And I don't mean that in a "I try not to think about it" way, I mean, honestly, that I lost count, because it's... just that many.

[HE WASN'T EVEN ON ELPIS FOR THAT LONG]

Ah. Yeah, I can, uh... I can put two and two together on that.

Might've bothered me if I'd met you several years ago, back when I'd only ever been on Eden. Now it's just... a thing. Not like you're going to be killing me, anyway.

Which is more than I can say about the last person I was interested in, so hey, doing good.

That's...a great many people. [It's not said with any judgement, if anything, there's a tone of awe to Lust's voice. She never would have imagined that sweet, sincere Timothy had killed more people than...well, anyone she knew.] And you survived all of that...

[She has to laugh again, then.]

If we'd met several years back, this would be a much different story. You're the first man I've had feelings for and haven't attempted to kill.

As hard as it is to believe, I've made a great deal of progress in expressing myself emotionally.

Think it's probably about what a Vault Hunter goes through in like a month. I don't even know how many people actually experienced ones must've killed.

[Because that number must be stupidly high...]

Ha, no, I believe it. But hey, I'm... uh, honored, I guess?

Definitely glad at least. Not just about that, but all the lack of attempted murder here.

I don't think I can truly fathom the place you come from, my mysterious moon man. Though you're far less mysterious these days.

You should be. Even my husband couldn't say I never stabbed him.

[And she can finally joke about that sort of thing.]

But really, I'm glad we talked about this. I can be cruel and cold, sometimes. Not intentionally, I simply am what I am. And I've worried that my worse parts might change what's between us. And my past.

And knowing me, I would have likely never said a word until years after we're married.

[She knows she isn't the best at communicating or sharing important information. And it's hardly the first time she's lied or omitted in hopes of making things easier. It likely won't be the last.]

Is that bad? Should I try to get some more mystery in here, because I'd... probably suck at that, actually.

...Make that very honored.

[He dodged a lot of bullets, meeting her here and when he did.]

I happen to like you as you are. And you're, well... all of you, not just the best parts.

And, I dunno, I guess I haven't even really thought about pasts changing anything anymore, ever since... well, the past few years of my life, I guess.

Though now that I'm thinking about it, I should probably be careful who here I tell about how many people I've killed, I uh... think maybe a lot of people might not really get it.

No, unraveling the mystery has been half the fun. There's something very intimate about growing to know a person so well and sharing so much that's rarely shared.

I know that you do. And that means a great deal to me. My last year with you...I've been happier than I can remember being, for any consistent length of time. And that's because of you.

Likely a wise idea. Most people I've met tend to be understanding, but... one never knows.

I mean, hey, there's still stuff from before I went to Elpis, but my time at college and living in debt is probably not nearly as interesting.

[There was much less gunfire. Ah. Those were the days,]

Ha, geez... I mean, that's very much mutual. Meeting you has definitely made, uh... a lot of things very worth it.

Yeaaaah. I mean, it sounds bad. Not when you know what things are like where I came from, but if you don't... Well, there's no good way to say "I've killed so many people I legitimately lost count, but it's well in the triple digits at least".

[AT LEAST]

That is true. Though...how long did you attend college?

[Because it hadn't sounded like he'd been working for that bastard of a man for very long...]

It's hard to believe it's been nearly a year already.

No, it requires a great deal of context, otherwise you simply sound like the universe's most prolific serial killer.

Not that long, just a couple of years ago. Well, plus one now. Kinda had to, ah, rush into the first opportunity for a lot of money that came along.

[And that worked out so great for him.]

God, it sounds so bad. Saying it was mainly self defense sounds like a really shitty excuse.

...Timothy, how old are you? I had assumed...well, not the age one's usually just a year or two out of college...

It's fine. I've known plenty of nice people who were labeled 'serial killers' just because of their body count. Sometimes people have reasons.

Wait, how... old did you assume I-- [He stops. And thinks about it. Oh. He looks like... yeah.] Oh. Right.

[It might be one of the biggest things in his life, but still, sometimes he just... forgets.]

Ha... yeah. I mean, one of my best friends is an ex-assassin. It just... happens.

Oh, I don't know. Thirty something, I suppose. Let me take a guess, as history tells me I can figure this out...you're only in your mid to late twenties, aren't you?

[Because of course he is. Just like Scar, who's hard life and damaged face had added a decade to his appearance.]

My first husband was deemed a serial killer by the state. He was a vigilante, taking out members of a corrupt military. Specifically those responsible for slaughtering our people.

Technically I think one would qualify this as early to mid, rather than mid to late. I keep forgetting I don't... really look my age.

[Ha ha... ha......]

Geez. That's... It's easy to just put a label on it, huh? Not care about the reasons or context...

...Are we the same age?

It is. He was a brown desert man killing state soldiers, of course he was just a serial killer....not a victim of near-genocide trying to take whatever justice was left.

You sound more surprised about that than the fact that I've killed a shitload of people. I'm just... I'm just gonna point that out.

[What is their relationship.]

That's... fucked up. Really fucked up.

It's more surprising. I'm used to finding out people have violent pasts.

My world wasn't a very nice one, either.

I mean... I cant say anything when it's the same for me.

[Nevermind what is their relationship.

What are their lives.]

Starting to seem like most of them aren't...

It's...somewhat nice, actually. Knowing we're the same age, more or less. We started down the same path at the same time.

No, I don't think they are. Some are just worse.

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secondhandsome - 2017-10-14 14:48 (UTC) - Expand

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