inbox.

[shawt]

SAMEEN@TORNA.ORG

Comments

[flawing]

You sound almost homesick.

[shawt]

Why? I've got eyes on me for a major part of the day. They sic me at people, they try to kill me.

Feels just like home.

[flawing]

At home, [ it's the lightest stressor - ] we knew the worst of what people could do.

[shawt]

I thought you were getting used to the separation.

[ and then, because it would only hurt to clarify: ]

Your girlfriend doesn't have a signal around here, does she?

[flawing]

She knows I'm here.

[ with bare, awful simplicity. ]

[shawt]

And that's it.

[flawing]

For now. Luckily, we've had a little practice in working. . . outside of her guidance.

[shawt]

On the bright side, I don't see any Good Samaritans around either.

[flawing]

[ the soft, caught hum of a smothered laugh. ]

And I thought you'd miss the easier targets.

[shawt]

. . . I thought they'd be less messy about it.

[flawing]

Which ones?

[shawt]

The ones who kept me alive.

[flawing]

You might have to be a little more specific.

[ look at her track record. ]

[shawt]

Look.

[ because honestly, it's not doing them any good, to talk about it. better to deal with something relevant. ]

Are you on the other side, or not.

[flawing]

[ silence answers as well as a name. ]

. . . For their intents and purposes.

[shawt]

As tech support?

[flawing]

And completely outside of the line of fire. . . for the most part.

[ the silence that follows is transparently expectant: unlike you. ]

[shawt]

Sounds kinda boring.

[ with a speed that implies: i like it like that. ]

[flawing]

I know what I'm doing with them.

Do you?

[shawt]

[ wow. ]

[flawing]

I'll take that description now. If you don't mind.

[shawt]

What are you going to do with it?

[flawing]

Nothing that should attract too much attention.

[shawt]

You don't need to attract too much, if it's the wrong kind of attention.

[flawing]

[ a beat --

and her laugh spills through the connection like a murmur. ]

It's sweet of you to worry about me.