one way or another

[computation]

Who: Closed event threads for Liv's characters -- Root and Toph.
Where: Various.
What: Root has a doppelganger and kills her repeatedly. Toph has a doppelganger and has to face some emotions. One of them is having a much better time than the other. Contact me if you're interested in a thread!
Warnings: All of the Root and Shaw threads will have direct discussion and sometimes depiction of suicide.

Comments

[computation]

Good enough.

[ She'd understood the code phrase and responded, that was really all she was looking for. Root holsters her guns and rushes forward, putting her hands on Shaw's shoulders, meeting her eyes insistently. ]

Are you all right? What was I like? You were-- creepy.

[cactusy]

Ditto. Big Samaritan fangirl.

[Slowly, she lifts a hand inch by inch, bringing it to rest on Root's clavicle.]

That's their new game these days. They don't just want me to lead them to the Machine, they want me on their side, Root.

[computation]

It's not a new game, [ Root says gently, holding her in the quiet hush of the library, not moving. She'll deal with her double being a Samaritan groupie in a second. She probably should've guessed it would go in that direction... ]

That's the old game, Sameen. There's something else going on now. And it probably has something to do with us being criminals that need rehabilitating. That's the party line, after all.

[cactusy]

Right.

[She says, not argumentatively or sarcastically, but like she's parroting a line she's learned by rote.]

What was my, uh-- what was she like? What did she do to your face?

[computation]

[ Again: good enough for now. Root isn't going to try to initiate a whole heart-to-heart in the middle of a crisis. Well, not in this particular crisis, when she doesn't think there's a real danger of them permanently expiring in the middle of it. She knows how Shaw feels about it, so she won't say it out loud, but being in a simulation is sort of comforting to her. ]

She punched me. You have an impressive punch, not that that's a surprise. [ Can't help complimenting her even now. ] She was in sweats and wanted to keep apologizing to me, so I caught on pretty fast it wasn't really you.

[ Root smirks at her, also unable to resist teasing. ]

[cactusy]

[Shaw's eyes narrow skeptically. It's not that she can't imagine ever apologizing to Root, but given the circumstances, it feels suspicious.]

Apologizing? What the hell for, not bruising you enough?

[computation]

[ Root thinks over that interaction, tilting her head, considering it. It's been a rush since then so she hasn't really taken a moment to let it sink in. ]

I think you were having a few regrets about following orders without asking too many questions.

[ She shrugs. ]

It wasn't anything big. I just couldn't imagine you'd come up to me in the middle of the street in slippers and start talking about your bad kills. So I tazed her and called you to check.

[cactusy]

She told me to kill you. Are you sure it wasn't bragging?

[Shaw moves her hand up from Root's shoulder, tracing the shape of the bruise: checking for blood or misshapen bits, and prodding for tender spots.]

[computation]

Oh, maybe.

[ Root's willing to be wrong on her interpretation. Especially if Shaw is playing doctor again. She winces a little at the touch -- it's tender -- but it doesn't seem like it's going to slow her down any. ]

I'd love to lick each other's wounds with you, but we should probably go get the real weaponry. I have another Samaritan agent to shoot.

[ And if it happens to look just like her, oh well! ]