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Post by skybright on Oct 19, 2006 15:51:13 GMT -5
Daws smiled faintly and shrugged. "I guess time'll tell on that, Proteus. I hope you're right, but . . ." she let her voice trail off and shrugged again.
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 19, 2006 20:41:09 GMT -5
Joey regarded Proteus with hesitant inquisitiveness. "Has there ever... you know... been anyone for you?"
It was difficult to tell, but a ghost of sadness seemed to pass briefly through the shapeshifter's silver eyes. He gazed down into his lemonade and shook his head. "No."
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Post by skybright on Oct 19, 2006 21:32:18 GMT -5
Daws smiled sadly. "I guess in some ways it's just easier not to get involved. Lonelier, maybe . . . but easier." She shrugged and stirred aimlessly at her iced tea. "You don't get involved, you can't get hurt."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 19, 2006 21:52:28 GMT -5
"For me, there's more reason for it in that than anything," Proteus observed quietly. "The old saying about it being better to love and lose--it wasn't coined by a man who knew what it was like to stay, as everyone else grew old and died."
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Post by skybright on Oct 19, 2006 22:01:23 GMT -5
Daws winced and sighed. "I don't envy you at all in that. I've buried enough people I've cared for in my lifetime." She shrugged one shoulder. "Part of me wants to stop getting involved, so I won't have to bury any more. But the other part . . ."
Daws smiled faintly. "Somehow, the other part keeps right on getting involved anyway."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 19, 2006 22:28:31 GMT -5
Proteus nodded solemnly. "I guess we all have to choose how to best make that choice for ourselves. I'm not sorry for mine."
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Post by skybright on Oct 19, 2006 22:36:03 GMT -5
Daws glanced at Joey, and her smile widened. "No. Neither am I." She examined her claws thoughtfully. "I guess in the end we all get hurt. Even if you manage to avoid getting hurt in one way, you'll just get it some other way. It's just a matter of deciding which ways you want to try avoiding."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 19, 2006 22:40:45 GMT -5
"Well... maybe, in the end, I'm not so uninvolved at that." Proteus rested his chin on his hand. "I've thought about going back to sea sometimes--but I couldn't leave the Spooks. At least not now."
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Post by skybright on Oct 19, 2006 22:55:04 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Like I told Major Vance once -- in a war, there's no such thing as real neutrality. Maybe there's no such thing as real uninvolvment in life, either." She smiled. "Just the closest you can manage to get."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 20, 2006 19:55:31 GMT -5
The conversation was interrupted then as their food arrived, and Proteus smiled crookedly at the plates of greasy diner food. "This looks like an afternoon at Yankee Stadium."
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Post by skybright on Oct 21, 2006 21:37:51 GMT -5
Daws chuckled. "Only not near so expensive."
She reached for the ketchup with a nostalgic smile. "I haven't been to Yankee Stadium since before Jack died. Last time we were there . . ." Her grin broadened, "We sort of got into a fistfight with a couple of drunk Tigers fans and got . . . ahem . . . 'politely asked' to leave."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 21, 2006 23:07:50 GMT -5
Proteus chuckled wryly and shook his head. "This conflict problem of yours must be in your genes. You just can't stay out of it!"
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Post by skybright on Oct 22, 2006 2:58:07 GMT -5
Daws grinned and rolled her eyes. "That's fair enough, I guess. In my defense, they started the fight, and Jack had an awful short fuse."
She ducked her head. "Particularly when it came to guys making cracks about how he shouldn't let me out in public without a leash. Stuff like that used to make him madder than it ever did me."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 22, 2006 20:41:36 GMT -5
Proteus frowned thoughtfully. "Can't say I like that. Not that I'd have dealt with it the same way, but I can understand his being angry. Well, I can't make any other arguments than what I have--and like Joey says, we're never going to agree on these things." He shot a wry smile at Joey, who grinned and shook his head.
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Post by skybright on Oct 22, 2006 22:12:54 GMT -5
Daws smiled. "Nah, I don't guess we ever are." She gave a fatalistic shrug. "In this case I actually -- mostly -- agree with you. Too many idiots like that in the world to be taking a swing at all of 'em."
Then she grinned wickedly. "Especially when it's a lot more satisfying to just make some smart comment, and walk off while they're still trying to figure if they were insulted or not. That type's usually not too swift on the uptake."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 22, 2006 22:54:44 GMT -5
Proteus laughed lightly. "Now, that's more my way of handling things."
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Post by skybright on Oct 22, 2006 23:02:26 GMT -5
Daws smiled and spread her hands. "See? We do see eye-to-eye on some things, after all."
She shrugged and munched thoughtfully on a few french fries. "After all, guerilla warfare's one thing -- but a girl like me can't afford to get into too many old-fashioned fistfights. Not outside Mutietown, anyhow."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 22, 2006 23:40:38 GMT -5
"That's how the Spooks settle most of their disagreements on their own." Proteus shook his head. "Apparently I haven't been much help as a role model. Well, it's no difference to me if they want to knock each other around--I only step in if somebody's going to really get hurt."
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Post by skybright on Oct 23, 2006 15:03:26 GMT -5
"Can't win 'em all, huh?" Daws chuckled faintly. "I guess that doesn't surprise me much -- human nature being what it is. People seem to have an inborn tendency to wind up knocking each other around. All you can do is try to rise above it, right?"
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 23, 2006 19:46:43 GMT -5
Proteus smiled wryly. "That's exactly what I've been telling you all this time."
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