versusnurture | nineteen ♢ video

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nineteen ♢ video

[When the feed comes on, the first thing there is is a wall and half of a desk. Those people on board who've been inside will know it as Abigail's room. There's a small blood smear on the edge of the desk, another dark spot on the corner of the lens.]

[She doesn't turn it towards herself, but the camera does move towards the desk, is set down at the edge of it. Two hands appear in the frame, blood-caked, palm-up. There's blood under her nails, too, drier blood that's oxidized to a deep, almost black color.]

[She doesn't say anything. But after a moment, there's a strangled noise, and she knocks the camera off the desk. The briefest flash of dark hair and a pale face; then it hits the floor and shuts off.]

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maybe

yes

who are you?

what else?

[What else does he know, she means.]

["God, no." She wonders why he's so upset about it.]

I used to be a hunter.

Stephanie Brown

I'm harmless, I promise

Room 2-18

Edited 2014-08-03 02:55 (UTC)

[ He doesn't like structure. He doesn't like playing by the rules. Soldiers are fine, as far as they go. They can be good, and honorable. Stephen will never be one of them. ]

Used to be?

I don't have weapons anymore.

[Which in this case means many things. She doesn't have - hasn't had - the weapons she was used to for quite a while, the literal ones. She doesn't feel sharp anymore, either; dulled by darkness and too much quiet. She's been tamed, no longer a predator. Barely remembers what it was like to be one.]

Neither are you.

[ Which seems an obvious observation, when they two of them are both standing in front of each other. Is he meant to be dead? Because she had certainly disappeared.

But she is back here, if not - worse for wear. He wants to ask about the blood, he wants to ask her what happened, whose blood, who did this, why did this occur?

He feels so far away from her right now, distanced from this conversation as though it's a dream first and lucidity as a second guess. He finds his hands moving upward, one of them trying to seek out her neck and that long, sleek cut into it, fresher than her old scar, new and red.

This is not how things were at all. He's unsure how to approach it. ]

ha ha ha

[She does end up going, though. Part of it's because she doesn't know what else to do; there's a heavy weight in her chest that keeps getting heavier the longer she sits. She doesn't think she can stand waiting for Ben any longer, so she leaves him a note and pushes her door open, walking up and down stairs until she finds the second level and knocks on door 18.]

a lot. you met me on my first day, and we ended up friends

i gave you a mask

and I can read people

sort of magically well

i know most of what was done to you and most of what you've done

i know what kind of books you like and how many marshmellows you want in your hot chocolate

i know you're kinder and stronger than you think you are

[A mask. She remembers, the same way she remembered about Ben: all in bits and pieces mushed up into one great big memory. It hurts, like a wave you think you can fight against but it drags you down into the surf, dragging sand across your face. In the solitude of her room, she winces against the weight of it.]

oh.

there's more now

[ Expecting company as she is, Steph isn't more than four feet from the door when Abigail knocks. She opens the door, and true to her word is not armed. Although there are at least two knives within arm's reach at any given moment.

She waves the girl in and towards the bathroom. The place is set up like a studio apartment, so it isn't difficult to find. ]

Hey, come on in. Can I get you coffee, or water, or something?

[ There is always coffee in Steph's kitchen. ]

[She flinches away from him.]

[She doesn't mean to, and she realizes after she's done it that it's as bad as plunging a knife into his gut, too. As bad as or worse than what she did to Ben. Now she is hard-wired to hurt people. Now she is designed to damage.]

[Not a hunter. A knife.]

[But she can't find it in herself to be wholly sorry, either. She saw what he did to Hannibal--how he betrayed him. How he betrayed her, too. The both of them.]

Don't--don't touch it.

[He already touched it. He already failed to save her once. She doesn't want him to try again.]

i'm glad you're back.

do you need anything? has Ben seen you?

do you remember?

you know ben?

[Which answers the second and third questions, anyway.]

I do. He was very unhappy you were gone.

I'm sorry

shh, no need. wasn't your fault.

sometimes they don't come back and we were pretty worried.

idk if you remember me yet? we're not friends but I like you.

if not, I'm Iris. welcome back <3 <3

Is the blood yours?

not mine.

I think I remember you. but I don't remember why you like me.

you're sharp and clever and interesting, what's not to like?

Good. What happened?

Where -

[ - did that come from?

She may as well have slapped his hand away for how quickly his fingers recoil, his hand withdraws and he respects those wishes. Much as he wants to clasp her head within her two hands like he once did when he first arrived here, it's not his decision to make.

Apparently.

His hands go abruptly by his sides, fidgeting, so he can't even be tempted. ]

Where did you go?

oh

[After some delay, a second message.]

I do need something

do you know Ben

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