❝Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes,
but when you look back
everything is different.❞
—C.S. LEWIS
[X AMBASSADORS ¤ RENEGADES]
DIALOGUE
#853c41
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Someone's cheery. Zero managed an easier smile, it wasn't difficult to let go just a little bit. She peered out the window again, talked about snowmen... Right, he'd forgotten about that. But was it alright for them to just go outside like that? Wouldn't it be safer if they stayed inside a while longer? Just to be certain that no, they weren't being followed by anyone. He still wanted to talk to Doc about this, they couldn't possibly expect him to stay put in this fancy little prison. He didn't want to see it as that, but it was beginning to feel like an over-sized cage.
Zero squeezed his eyes shut and pushed that thought far away, no this isn't a cage, don't go there. Don't go there. He opened his eyes, damn it was hard to look anywhere, she had to close the curtail a little. He turned so that he was half-way in his room were the darkness beckoned. She spoke again, this time considering him—she knew somehow he wasn't fine which meant he failed at hiding it from her, they could work on her scrap booking.
"The folder is under the seat."
Zero glanced at the door, he sensed Grell. A familiar knock followed by the meals-on-wheels cart, mostly for Loretta. A message for her, since Zero wouldn't even bother touching human food.
"I have a request, where the hell is Doc? Tell him I want a word." That came out harsher than he'd meant, but Grell would figure out why he was like this. Who could get used to this set-up and keep their sanity? Zero wasn't gonna put up with it and he wasn't about to stay quiet either. They needed a plan, they couldn't sit around, he couldn't sit around waiting for answers, waiting for Doc to make up his mind. If anything he wanted to know exactly what's what. Who were they dealing with? What did they want? Something told him it wasn't just Loretta. Crap like this is never as clear-cut there was more.
Zero glanced at at her, this meant she had to know too. This bubble she built around herself had to burst and it crushed him how much it might hurt her. Another broken promise. But her time of sitting in the darkness grasping straws was over. They had to be prepared for the worst, she had every damn right to know and be aware of the threat hanging over her head. It wasn't fair but it was right.
"Bring your stuff over, we can work in my room." He turned into his room and switched on the lamp. Its amber glow blanketed the dark room in soft light. He picked up the folder he'd left on the writing desk, he couldn't show her this, not yet right? wouldn't it shock her? Or perhaps he wasn't giving her enough credit. She'd seen monsters and witnessed blood-spill and could put on a game face, she was strong and terribly brave.
He slipped the file into the drawer. Closed it. If she were to see this, would she get it? Could she read the graphs, charts, and reports and findings and realize that no, she wasn't just normal but something the scientists were baffled by? What would she get out of this little slice of knowledge? Would she think she was some kind of messed up freak? Or maybe she'd reject the idea entirely?
When she walked into the room, he stared at the empty wooden surface, then sighed, "Miss Loretta, do you know why we're here?" Did she think they were on a vacation? Taking a break from the manor maybe. No, she wasn't stupid, she had to know something's up.