ukan | spam; the last journal post

spam; the last journal post

[Getting on board was a moment of chaos. He remembers turning a corner, expecting to find fur and blood in his mouth, expecting maybe to get torn up in return, expecting maybe a bullet from above to take him down, too-

But instead he's somewhere metal, somewhere that smells of strangers and strangeness, and he's bleeding a trail but he runs for safety anyway. If there is any. If there are doors, anywhere, that he can open without changing back, because this has to be the FBI's work and so long as they think he's just a wolf, maybe they won't slit him open and poke around inside.]

[ooc: Lark is a wolf, for now. He'll have to change back sooner or later even if he doesn't want to, so feel free to tag him as human or wolf, just lemme know which.]

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[Steve nods. Oh, he definitely knows there are no promises, but she might respond to Lark, and that's why he mentioned it in the first place. He's really not in the habit of giving up personal information about his inmate unless he thinks it's important.]

Not... really. I think any progress we make is going to have to be slow, though. I've got to prove to her that yes, the humans who did what they did to her and her people are bad, and I'm not arguing that. I don't think she's wrong for fighting against them.

But not all humans are bad. We're capable of more than just horrors. I'd like her to believe that, someday. But I don't know how to show her that, other than - well, showing her. Which just takes time.

[The ironic thing is, time is why Steve came here in the first place.]

I want to ask what the humans are doing in her world, but...I think I need to hear it from her first. You know?

[But don't believe for a second that he isn't dying to know more about her, about the friction, about what she wants.]

How long have you been paired?

[It doesn't matter if he's dying to know - the fact that he wants to hear it from T'Pol means a lot. A hell of a lot, and Steve's face shows it.] I thin that's the best way to hear it, straight and honest. [T'Pol is many things, but a liar is not one of them.]

About six months - since the very end of December. But I'd met her the first day she arrived.

That was a doozy of a first impression.

[And since Lark is asking, Steve figures he'll offer up a little more information, at least about himself.] She's not my first permanent inmate, but Mindy, uh, was sent home before she could graduate. [A pause, then,] A little like you, then huh?

I think I remember Mindy. She knew Chris somehow... [That bit's fuzzy, he and Mindy hadn't had much to do with each other since by then Lark had his pack set up and had no use for more members (and couldn't have taken on another girl anyway).]

What was that first impression with T'Pol?

Yeah, she did. Not exactly the best of pals, those two. [Chris's family had pretty much ruined Mindy's. But it doesn't much matter now.]

Right, well. She showed up with a pair of heavy metal manacles, and I offered to help her out of them. Turns out, she was not thrilled with a human who planned to just bend the metal with his bare hands, and clocked me upside the head before getting the hell out of Dodge.

[He smiles, actually, a little lopsidedly.] Not the first dame to book it out of my presence, but I really hadn't meant to scare her. It was my own fault, I should've explained.

[He chuckles, but winces. If he'd met Steve at full size when he was still trying to figure out if he'd been taken by the government for dissection, he probably would have done just what T'Pol did.] How long was it before she spoke to you again?

Actually, only a couple of hours. So I guess that was a good sign.

It depends on how the conversation went, I think.

About as well as any conversations go with her.

She told me a little about her world, though. It didn't give me much respect for the way most humans have handled things, although I realize I don't have the whole story. Who ever does, though?

True. But maybe it doesn't matter. The story as she sees it, as she's lived it, is as real as it can possible get. Trying to tell her their side or using them as a way to seek middle ground won't change what she's gone through and would only make her angry.

Sometimes people just need to burn through the rage and sometimes they can't do that alone.

[Steve nods - and his face, while it doesn't go hard, does get decidedly serious.] Oh, there's no middle ground. What they're doing is wrong, and it needs to stop.

[And, quite frankly, he has been entertaining what's probably a crazy notion for a while, now, but... look, Captain America exists to put a stop to that kind of thing.

But it's not an option, just at the moment. Nor would it help T'Pol, here and now.]Her people don't deal with emotions, like humans do. They suppress them, intentionally. They believe in acting based on logic, not based on rage.

[But he can't blame her for feeling rage.]

[That's a complicated problem, not just for the human involvement but now for Steve's personal investment.] Then...is the ethical thing to do to encourage her to suppress, to learn to be more like her people?

It's not my first reaction, but it's not about me. I'm here to help her, so if that's what will help her, then yes.

[There's a lot he won't say, because it's not Lark's business, but that's what it boils down to.

Although he considers Lark for a minute.] You don't have to answer. But you said you think like a wolf, even when you don't look like one.

Do you hate that you have to act less like a wolf if you want to fit in with the rest of us schmucks?

[There are always going to be things he can't, or won't, say to Steve. His affection is genuine, but Lark does view people based on what they can or can't be convinced to do for him, and everything he does works toward that.

But he decides to answer this, even with the small risk an honest answer carries.]

Yes. Sometimes. With some people, they just know what I am on a subconscious level. They view me as a threat without ever consciously realizing it, and it makes it hard to hold a conversation with them. If I didn't have to hide what I am, everything would be a lot more straight forward. Easier.

If people knew how much I can smell, I wouldn't have to pretend someone's aftershave isn't too strong, or that someone's nail polish isn't burning my sinuses. They'd probably make sure they shower more thoroughly after sex.

But it's also hard to communicate as clearly with a human as I can with another wolf. There are all kinds of tiny muscle movements that people don't notice, but which change everything between wolves.

Why do you ask?

Edited 2015-07-17 06:53 (UTC)

[Steve nods, listening to the answer and considering it seriously. He's not surprised by it, honestly. Nor does he hold it against Lark in the least.

He does finally smile a little at the bit about smell, and it's this stragely understanding sort of look.] Hoo boy, let me tell you, if that bothers you? Don't join the Army. Buncha guys that don't get the opportunity to shower for weeks is not the way to live if you've got a sensitive nose.

[Okay, so the Army gave him that sensitive nose. And he doesn't regret it in the least. Nor is it as sensitive as Lark's - or T'Pol's, not by a long shot.

He debates for a minute, how much to say. He finally settles on,] T'Pol acts very human, if you ask me, for someone who hates everything humanity stands for. But when you're surrounded by the enemy and punished for what you are, you learn to act like the people you hate. Take those people away, and maybe it's hard to find yourself again.

[He shrugs.] I've never had to pretend I'm something I'm not - not really. [That stupid stint acting, that was different, and embarrassing and a lot of other things, but it was still acting, and he knew it, and so it was different.] I guess you could say I've had the luxury of always being who I thought I should be, even when it got me a broken nose and two black eyes. But I need to try to understand what it feels like, if I'm going to try to understand how to help someone fix it.

[He chuckles] Ah, the smell of patriotism. It's less like hotdogs and apple pie and more like mud, blood, tears, and unwashed fatigues. I wonder why they haven't bottled that to sell at department stores.

[Steve's answer makes him somehow even more curious about her. It's going to be a struggle not to come on too strong when he does meet her.]

It's...one of those things that I could talk about it, as eloquently as I could, for hours and still not really explain it. Without living it, it's going to be an abstract.

But- if you want...I could show you what it's like to have to adapt and hide.

Mostly the unwashed fatigues. It is a wonder.

[Steve's not sure she'll respond to Lark at all - he still looks awfully human, and T'Pol's not what anyone would call friendly - but if it gains her a friend, or even someone she hates less than the rest of the people here, he'll consider it a win, if they get along at all when they do meet.

He nods, though, because,] I imagine that's how it would go. Some things you just have to experience for yourself.

[But he's been an outsider his whole life, even if he doesn't understand what it's like to really be oppressed. He'd like to think it's at least a start, at least gives him some common ground, but he won't pretend to know what it's like, that's unfair. So when Lark offers to maybe show him a little, he does look interested.]

If you'd feel comfortable with that - I think it's something I need to see.

I think it could help. I think it could be important, if I pull it off right on my end. I just...need to know you won't take any part of it personally.

[He is hopeful that Steve won't but it's important Steve know that it might be difficult.]

I think it could, too. [He can try to understand, all he wants. But there's nothing like real experience. He's seen that, firsthand, with how people treat things they haven't gone through, and simply can't imagine. This is like that, for him.

He smiles, a little vaguely, but he's absolutely serious when he says,] The only part I'll take personally is the fact that you're doing me a favor, in that I appreciate it.

[So, no.] I won't take it personally. You have my word. As long as it's just me this affects. [He doesn't know how Lark plans to show him anything, but what does matter is that no one else gets dragged into it in a bad way.]

This is just for us. [He nods.] You're free to talk about it to anyone you like after, this is my permission to disclose anything I say or do.

We should meet in my cabin. The other one, not the one I live in with Nux.

[He shakes his head.] I don't plan on needing it, but thanks.

[The only person he thinks he's likely to tell is T'Pol, if he thinks it'll help. But it's nice to have that permission, just in case.]

Sure - you're running the show. Just tell me when.

[He can start now, or he can wait until Lark's ready, if he needs time.]

Give me an hour.

[He will need that long to figure out exactly what he's planning, and to get out of the amiable persona he wears on the Barge and back into the more savage wolf's mind.]

[He nods.] Just let me know if you need more time.

[But, barring anything to the contrary, he'll be there in an hour, knocking and waiting to be let in.]

[Lark answers almost before Steve has finished knocking. He steps back to invite him in and locks the door behind him.]

I'm going to do part of this as a wolf. I think that will show what it's like when you don't know how to read or return other customs and languages. The other part I'll be human, but again, the point is to show how difficult it is to understand and how bad it can be when you don't.

[Steve agreed to this and he's not backing out, whatever it means, so he's not fazed in the least.] Sounds fair. I have a little experience, but I know it's nothing like yours.

[After all, try waking up in a time when people speak mostly the same... but really don't, with strange slang and automation where you don't expect it. He's also at least gotten a taste of other cultures from his time in Europe, but it's like he says - it's not like what T'Pol or even Lark deal with every day, so he won't pretend it is.] Thanks again for your help.

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