fourteen. spam. co co rico co co rico, in a flash of lightning.

[indispensible]

[She has been, if truth be told, a little lost since Stark left. Not because she was dependent on the schedule created by making sure he didn't do anything stupid, but simply because she misses him. His magic is still working, it seems; the things he enchanted for her function just as they always did, her golem-dog following behind her alongside Mike as she makes the rounds of the Barge.]

[Having his magic still at her back gives her a very specific sense of power - or maybe support. She knows she's powerful. It's nice that someone has her back anyway.]

[She spends most of her time on maintenance, at Anya's direction. But since she doesn't have an inmate to boss around anymore, she has more free time than she knows what to do with; since there are so many obviously dangerous people since the latest collision, she's experiencing a nice uptick in paranoia, too. She pays extra attention to the Mirror additions - not conspicuously, not drawing attention to herself, but she watches all the same.]

spam } psyke

[She has been watching this one - the one who was Jean - especially closely. Whenever she comes out of her room, Vin is there waiting. When she doesn't come out, Vin's there, too, listening with flared tin at the door for any sound that might filter through.]

spam } ben

[Vin is not as good as she might be at identifying the subtleties of emotion. If she was, she'd be able to put a proper label to this feeling. Right now the best she can do is betrayal, even though it isn't Ben's fault. And sadness. She is sad.]

[She sits outside his cell in silence, unblinking, waiting for him to speak. Wonders if he's going to spend the whole month in here. Probably he is.]

Comments

[annealed]

[Her eyes go wide, flaring with indignation, even as her mind catches up to her emotions. She's been told so many times that she's an aberration, a freak, a monster.

That's not what this is about.

She's not the right Jean, she knows that. Knows it right down to her bones, because that Jean is powerful, is in control. (Is noble, is loved.)

She takes a breath. She can't afford to lose her temper. Not here, not yet.]

And? [But her voice is sharper, now, harsher.]

[indispensible]

[Something she said is very wrong. That much is obvious immediately, from the look on Psyke's face and the way her body moves. She is so angry.]

[Vin goes over the words she said. Not right. It would have made Zane angry, once, to hear that from her. Why? Because she said 'not right', not 'incorrect'. There's an implied moral judgment. Vin tries not to make those, but it seems like she did by accident. She doesn't know anything about this woman's morals - except, now she knows that to question them is to insult her almost beyond bearing.]

And this isn't your home. So I want to help you, or help other people stay safe from you. Whichever's necessary.

[annealed]

[Help her? It's so absurd, so counter to everything she knows, either in her own world or the Barge. She can't help but laugh, low and harsh.]

Why would you want to help me?

[indispensible]

[This question, in turn, is fairly ridiculous to Vin. On the other hand, she remembers when it wouldn't have been.]

Why wouldn't I want to help you?

[annealed]

You don't know me. You're not - [Family.

But she doesn't have any family, not on the Barge, not any more.

She doesn't let herself deflate, she doesn't let herself seem smaller, but her shoulders do sink, just slightly.]

[indispensible]

I never said I knew you.

[She just watches. She's survived this long by reading people well, by acting on instinct - maybe she can manage a little longer.]

[annealed]

Then why do you care? [She would have understood, once. She would have trusted it.

That was a long time ago.]