[IC] [Mask or Menace] Contact Post

[dendarii]

"This is Miles. Leave a message and I'll respond to you at my earliest convenience."

The line has gone silent; any messages sent to this name only return an error.

Comments

[failureisntachoice]

I prefer you alive to dead.

[ She glances down at his upturned collar. ] You couldn't have been that mad. What bullshit did he tell you?

[dendarii]

That's very sweet of you, Tex.

[ He shakes his head a bit. ]

That he was doing it to protect me, that it was the best possible option ... Didn't stop to think how I felt about it.

[failureisntachoice]

[ She'll just pretend he didn't call her 'sweet.' It's easier for both of them that way. ] So I had him pegged right then.

[ She sighs and finally moves to sit down on the other end of the couch. Plenty of space between them. ]

He doesn't seem like the thinking sort. He didn't sneak a third stun in during the rest of that op, right? I promised he'd find a few things of his missing if he tried.

[dendarii]

[ He knows her well enough to know it's a compliment, okay. A soft sigh himself. ]

If he did, I've no knowledge of it. But - really, Tex. He's a touch telepath. I would have known if he were brainwashed.

[failureisntachoice]

[ She shakes her head. ]

That's part of what saved him. But what the hell was I supposed to think with you in a heap on the floor and him shoving you somewhere as fast as he could?

[dendarii]

... That he was doing something stupid but was unlikely to harm me?

[failureisntachoice]

I didn't shoot him, did I?

[dendarii]

No, you didn't. Thank you for not doing that.

... and thank you for looking out for me.

[failureisntachoice]

It's what you pay me for. Next time he wants to protect you, tell him to tie you up instead. At least then you aren't getting electrical shocks going through your system.

[dendarii]

I would like to be conscious to direct at bare minimum, yes.

[ Plus he's reasonably certain he could shrink or teleport out of a rope with enough finesse. ]

But - I don't think he was shocking me. It didn't feel like one.

[failureisntachoice]

[ She'll get back to how stupid it is that he was even in the line of fire trying to command everyone. But first... ]

Then how the hell was he stunning you?

[dendarii]

To be honest, I'm not sure. But I've been stunned enough by conventional means to recognize a shock, at least. This was much smoother.

[failureisntachoice]

At least there's that.

[ A small sigh. Kirk isn't really a topic she wants to stay on all night. Not when she has a more touchy subject to broach. ]

But between him getting distracted with you and you breaking your arm shortly in to the op, how much time do you think you set us back?

[dendarii]

[ Oh boy, here it comes. Some of his good mood evaporates, replaced by a clenched jaw. ]

The arm was minor. And the stun was hardly my idea.

[failureisntachoice]

Someone you claim to trust thought the stun was necessary. [ Whether she likes Jim or not, that fact remains. Which means how many more times will that happen in the future? ]

Your arm breaking didn't need to happen, it was a solitary guard and I was there.

[dendarii]

I do trust him. We're going to have to hash that out ...

[ Alas, their intimate session had settled nothing other than the question of Miles' sexuality. ]

I don't lead from the back, Tex.

[failureisntachoice]

Yeah, I got that. But that doesn't mean you need to lead stupidly from the front just because you have a healer stowed away somewhere.

You know what a waste it is to have to run back every time you break something because you did something foolish? Hell, I can give you the exact time we wasted walking back.

[dendarii]

Don't. Please. I have a decent estimate.

[ His tone has gone abruptly brittle. ]

[failureisntachoice]

[ She remains on the offensive, keeping her eyes on him. ]

Then are you going to trust the people you bring with you and stop jumping into trouble for the sake of it?

[dendarii]

This isn't about trust, Tex. Of course I trust you. And my people. But I have to be involved, and not just safe in the back.

[failureisntachoice]

So being involved means completely bypassing me to leap onto a guard and break your arm? A guard I could have taken out easily? Because from my angle, it looked like you either had a death wish or thought I couldn't handle it myself.

[dendarii]

[ He snaps a bit at that. ]

Of course you could handle it. I had utter faith in your ability to do so.

[failureisntachoice]

[ She rolls her eyes, undeterred. ]

Then why did you play leap frog?

[dendarii]

Because I was helping.

[failureisntachoice]

You could have helped by watching my back while I knocked him out. IT would have had the same result without your arm breaking.