heavyhitter | IC CONTACT (futuro & prisma)

[ His first question gets a faint nod. She can count on Koltira, she trusts that. The second one takes a little more thought, though. She leans into him, head tipped to lean against his chest as she considers it. Is she okay? ]

I could be worse, [ Is the eventual conclusion.

It was self defense, just like she'd told Koltira. The woman wouldn't have been here in her right mind, and wouldn't have wanted to hurt them — but this situation doesn't account for wouldn't haves anymore. Her arms thread slowly around Sigma, resting with fingers hooked around each other at the small of his back. ]

I keep wondering what Jolanda would do. [ And with a little breath of a laugh: ] She'd be a whole lot smoother about everything, I know that much.

[ That's barely an answer, but he'll take it for starters. When she leans in, he immediately envelops her in a hug, one hand rested at the base of her neck to hold her close. As she goes on, however, he can't help a weighty sigh, nor can he help slumping to prop his chin on her head. ]

Yeah, with her like... forty years of experience she's got on you.

[ He's heard plenty of praise sung for her grandmother, and he'd never doubted that she was an incredible woman for a second, but WWJD isn't a fix-all solution for everything in the here and now. ]

Ramir, I think I've lost track of how many times I've thought about my old ass and what he'd be doing right now, and every time I come up with that... he'd have this virus figured out in a month with his hands blown off, but that isn't me. Whatever he'd do, I don't... have the stuff to do it.

[ Tangent. He leans a little to better peek down at her propped against him. ]

She left you with all she could. You're not gonna get textbook answers if all you have are the cliffnotes, so all we can do now is just... wing it with all we've got, okay? We'll figure it out.

[ She can feel that peek down, but she doesn't look up. Not right away, anyway. She listens quietly, and eventually her huffed laugh makes a stronger return. ]

That's the nerdiest fucking analogy, Sigma...

[ But she gets it, and he's not wrong. The fact is that Jolanda isn't here; this is something for Ramir to handle. Well, Ramir, with Sigma's help. And Koltira's, inevitably. She turns her head to press her face directly into shirt for a moment, tightens her hold, and finally releases when she leans back to meet his eyes. Her smile is small and crooked, but in place. ]

No, I get it. Thanks. [ The smile fades out again. ] You know I had to though, right? And I'd do it again if the alternative was letting her chew on you.

Whatever, it worked didn't it?

[ He pulls a face, even if she doesn't look up to see it right away. But when she does, her brief little smile smooths it out like an iron, just as brief before draining into something morose. There's nothing more than a matter of personal investment separating his life from the woman's in terms of importance; had the roles been switched, if Ramir could ever be put in such casual danger, he would have undoubtedly done the same, but... dwelling on it twists his stomach into knots. ]

Yeah. [ It stays short. Not unappreciative by any means, just... when thoughts stick around long enough to turn into what ifs, what ifs are like hives when your brain is supposed to be on the same highway as a million other possibilities. ]

Maybe if I'd just seen it coming, y'know, you wouldn'tve had to at all...

[ This, she can sense, is definitely where their moralities differ. She'd made the conscious decision to lean away from the merciless route she's sure her grandmother could have taken, but that doesn't make her completely averse to doing what needs to be done. So she studies Sigma for a few serious seconds, searching for the words it would take to explain what she knows.

Finally: ] You know, the guy we put outside — he's just gonna attack someone else. We didn't do anyone any favors by not killing him, except maybe his hypothetical family.

[ Despite the realization dawning on his face, it only manages to get darker. She's totally right. In the heat of the moment, the other man's involvement had gone very out-of-sight-out-of-mind, but he wasn't taken care of, he was just... somewhere else. They've only helped themselves out here. And maybe ruined a couple other days down the street. ]

He's gonna run into a helpless house and kill everyone, or a house like ours and kill himself... So if we were real good people, we'd run back out and dust him too?

[ He sounds a little incredulous, probably because it actually sounds like the smartest hypothetical action to take. Smart thing and murder are two wires that just don't connect in his head. And the fact is starting to make it ache. ]

Where's that stop though? What if he was just... having a bad day like you almost did? And if someone goes on a mercy killing spree, we could find the cure tomorrow. If we sit on our hands while they keep attacking everyone, we might not find it for weeks.

[ Running his hands through his hair doesn't do much for the nonexistent cool he's about to lose. ]

We can't lock them all up, we can't let them all loose, we can't kill everyone, there's-- There's not a right answer for any of this...

[ There's a twinge of irritation in her gut that he just doesn't get it — but that's not her, and that's not his fault. That's just the virus eating at her patience. So she listens carefully (with a few deep breaths to soothe herself), and reaches to take those hands, pull them down to where she can better give them both a reassuring squeeze. ]

You're looking at it too big, Sigma. You couldn't lock them all up, let them all loose, or killed them all if you tried. All we can handle is us and ours, one thing at a time. Between you and me, that's all the resources we got right now.

[ And as Audentes, true, they have a wider range, and they might have to come together and make a decision like this... But Ramir's scope is significantly narrowed lately, and immediate friends are all she can manage while she's also managing herself. ]

[ He's run off with the conversation and he knows it, but that doesn't make helping it any easier. Hell, the entire deal back home was balancing big pictures and minutia, and he'd never been terribly good at it without someone to smack him back in line. This is all just the same. They're all fighting something, but until there's a breakthrough they're powerless against it. So all that's left to be done is to simply go through the motions and survive. And he trusts this one a thousand times more than anyone he'd been stuck with back then. Sighing, there's little resistance when she reaches for his hands as if to drag him back on course. ]

I know that. I know, I do, just... [ It sounds resigned, almost grating, but it's not for her. It's for himself, or more accurately this godforsaken universe they've been dumped into. After a deep breath of his own, he picks up her hands to press them to his own temples, block out his peripheral vision. ] Alright. Blinders on, okay?

[ Because that'll keep working for now, right. Dropping their hands, he turns his eyes back to the body slowly cooling in their hallway. ]

So is Kolts on his way now, or should we... move her out of the way for the time being..?

[ Blinders, yeah. That's a way to think of it. Probably the best way for the immediate future. ]

Yeah, he's on the way.

[ She casts a look as well over at the body, briefly considers lifting it to move her, and decides she's not quite done with Sigma after all. She steps between him and their unpleasant guest and lifts both hands, one going to either side of his face. ]

Hey, c'mere. [ She leans up to brush a quick kiss against his lips. ] I love you. Thanks for being here.

[ Whatever gets them through the day. ]

Cool.

[ Distinctly not cool, but that goes without saying. Honestly, he's grateful for her shuffle over to block his view and the kiss that follows. It's about the best blinder out there. He allows its briefness, if reluctantly, and lets out the smallest breath of laughter. ]

Think that's more on Audentes than me... But I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else, so I guess we can thank them too. [ He leans in to rest his chin on the top of her head, pull her into a better hug. ] I love you.

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