You'll have to tell me which ones are the assholes. I haven't met any yet.
[ two meetings in and she's already calling his bluff. a bold move on her part, and maybe she really ought to know better by now, but marta's operated too long on defaulting to giving others the benefit of the doubt that not even a sudden teleportation into space will stop her. if she started every encounter with suspicion, her trust wouldn't be the only collateral. at least this way, if she's wrong, the only one getting hurt is herself.
besides... who is she to judge? the very nature of the orbs and these deals means they've all got something they'd like to clean up, a mark on their ledger for which they've decided they'd rather risk it all to erase than let it remain. is anyone's hands truly clean? is anyone here really clear of conscious? ]
There — all done.
[ true to her word, she finishes in no time at all. stitches neat and orderly, made with the kind of care her professors would either praise her for, or chide her for sparing the time. it's only a few minutes more for her to further clean up the site and cover the area with a bandage and gauze. the rest get thrown into a medical waste bag she'd brought along, and all that gets tossed back into her bag, slung over her shoulder.
she shifts back, lets the feeling settle back into the leg she'd been leaning all her weight on. leveling his profile with a look, she ventures: ] Will it make any difference if I asked you to be careful?
no subject
[ two meetings in and she's already calling his bluff. a bold move on her part, and maybe she really ought to know better by now, but marta's operated too long on defaulting to giving others the benefit of the doubt that not even a sudden teleportation into space will stop her. if she started every encounter with suspicion, her trust wouldn't be the only collateral. at least this way, if she's wrong, the only one getting hurt is herself.
besides... who is she to judge? the very nature of the orbs and these deals means they've all got something they'd like to clean up, a mark on their ledger for which they've decided they'd rather risk it all to erase than let it remain. is anyone's hands truly clean? is anyone here really clear of conscious? ]
There — all done.
[ true to her word, she finishes in no time at all. stitches neat and orderly, made with the kind of care her professors would either praise her for, or chide her for sparing the time. it's only a few minutes more for her to further clean up the site and cover the area with a bandage and gauze. the rest get thrown into a medical waste bag she'd brought along, and all that gets tossed back into her bag, slung over her shoulder.
she shifts back, lets the feeling settle back into the leg she'd been leaning all her weight on. leveling his profile with a look, she ventures: ] Will it make any difference if I asked you to be careful?