elsa–copland:
Neon Stitching - Elsa & Ajay - Closed
[She responds to his praise with a little shrug and a smile, playing off of his energy. She notes the hint of genuine curiosity that slips through with his question and wonders if it is something she should bring up later.]
More than I’d like to some times. [She offers with only a slightly less spirited tone.
She picks up on a lot she probably shouldn’t. With her friends, she tries not to look too deeply into their emotions, but with others, she has a tendency of paying a bit too much attention. Elsa might feel guilty if it didn’t make navigating through the colony so much easier. Besides she enjoys being open to the emotions around her.
Ajay continues and explains his situation with the guards. As he speaks, she focuses back on the emotional state of the guard hovering in the distance and watches the twisting mess of light and colour.
The guard’s mood makes a lot more sense when she considers the possible trouble Ajay’s got into around here. Elsa frowns. Although it makes sense and it may even be good for him to have some supervision, it still doesn’t sit well with her having another friend monitored by the guards so closely.]
What kind of evidence? [The question slips out unintentionally but she continues.] Any chance of burning it, because, your right, this guy’s really not a fan.
It’s good you don’t let it bother you too much though. [Elsa tilts her head with a mischievous grin. ] I’d probably show up and wander around every day just to piss them off. But that’s just me…I wouldn’t recommend it, I’m full of bad ideas.
[He scoffs a little.] Yeah, no kidding. I can imagine, actually. Knowing exactly when someone is thinking you’re an idiot or hoping you fall down the stairs or when someone is very inconveniently horny? Like, God, socializing is exhausting enough without knowing all the stupid shit that goes on in people’s heads. Not that you read minds, but you know, reading emotions is almost worse, isn’t it? Because there’s no context or reason, and we’re…. generally just slaves to our hormones and feelings as a species, anyway. Animals probably think we’re total disasters.
[She questions what he means by evidence, and it serves as a decent reminder that not everyone knows his reputation, actually. Which is probably a good thing, to be honest, and also probably not that surprising—it’s the Elite and the guards and most definitely the NWRF who likely have been warned about him. And being a class 3 gets you that kind of attention from the ‘higher up’s anyway. If they didn’t know, they’d probably make sure to look it up, as soon as they saw the three silver stripes on his PDD.
But civilians, he’s noticed, really don’t give a shit. Maybe because everyone here’s done something they aren’t proud of. Or maybe, because it’s the end of the fucking world, and people have more important things to worry about than whether or not he paid for those Raybans, that one time. (Okay, several dozen times, but still. Petty theft, schmetty theft. None of that matters anymore. And so he stole a few cars—they’re a thing of a past now, anyway so… water under the bridge, right? Right. ]
Kind of hard to burn down the entire Echo database, so no, not really. Let’s just say, my reputation proceeded me here. Because when they kicked me out of Col4, I’m sure they sent a formal warning in advance. And maybe an apology. One of those, ‘sorry not sorry’ situations. ‘Here’s a kid who makes our lives a constant migraine, tag, you’re it, no backsies!’
It’s okay, I can pull off the sneaky, bad-news criminal thing, anyway. It’s hot. Girls dig it, guys dig it. As a chaotic bisexual, I’m basically set for life. [He’s really good at being sarcastic, especially when it comes to his own confidence. If it weren’t for the fact that he was so consistently both self-deprecating and and egotist, he’d say he didn’t think it was even possible. But here you have it. He is.
Though, arguably, the egotist thing is probably about as real as his prosthetic dick.
Does the trick though, don’t it? So… real is what you make of it. Whatever.]
[Elsa shakes her head waiting for an opportunity to say her piece. ] Mind reading would be so much worse! I mean yeah, emotions can be complicated, hell sometimes it feels like I’m trapped in a four-foot box with a bunch of feral cats. But with mind-reading, you’d be stuck listening mundane ramblings all day, and well, a lot of shit you never wanted to know about people... [Elsa gives an exaggerated shudder.] Less context is better.
[Surely, mind-reading could be interesting. But it would probably be more trouble than it’s worth. If there were mind readers in the colony it’s unlikely people would want to go anywhere near them. Elsa already struggles when people keep their distance after learning she’s an empath. It doesn’t happen often but when it does she takes it rather personally.]
[Tag, you’re it, no backsies could be the slogan of her childhood living situations. So colony 4 gave up on him because he was difficult to deal with and caused trouble. The thought makes her mad for a moment but she realizes she’s pulling too much from her own experiences. More than anything she understands what it’s like having a reputation that follows you around.
She forces a smile, which quickly softens with genuine amusement as his words continue with a level of sarcasm she admires. She’s glad he doesn’t seem weighed down by talking about these things with her.]
All you’ve got to do is pull back a bit of that sarcasm add a bit more brooding and you’ll have the whole sexy criminal thing down to an art form. [Elsa chuckles for a few moments then with a teasing grin and a shrug she adds,] Just don’t get into too much trouble you’re kind of alright to have around.
