Fyre and E, Part 2

Okay, so we’ve left E and Fyre in the midst of an argument. They just left a mission, and now they (and their players) can focus on fighting with each other, instead of the Thorns.

(The last comment from earlier, to make the next make sense: Obsydian Fyre: They just can't see past your rough exterior to the warm caring inside, I suppose.)

E.VAC: That would mean I had one. Which I apparently don't.
Obsydian Fyre: Apparently not.
E.VAC: I've worked with all kinds. So long as you're on the right side, I can work with you. Now that I know I'm not actually dealing with my friend... well, it's just better I know where I stand.
E.VAC: Just don't expect me to trust you until you're ready to own up.
Obsydian Fyre: Fine, then. And as long I know you're just like everyone else I've ever know, just wanting to use me for something, and--
Interrupted by an ambush.
E.VAC: Yeah, that's what I did. Use you. Her. Whatever.
Obsydian Fyre: Oh, no. I guess you wanted to, but you never got the chance.
E.VAC: Oh, I had the chance. You obviously don't know what I'm capable of.
Obsydian Fyre: I think I've got a pretty good idea of what you're capable of, actually.
E.VAC: If you think everything you're saying you think, then you haven't the slightest clue.
Obsydian Fyre: What you think I think--
Obsydian Fyre stops and rubs her forehead.
Obsydian Fyre: What?
E.VAC: Forget it. I don't know you. You don't know me. Serra, was it? Nice to meet you. I'll be your grumpy healer apparently.
E.VAC: If you don't mind, I'd rather you forgot most the personal stuff I brought up. It's obviously not important any more.
Obsydian Fyre shakes her head.
Obsydian Fyre: Serra's here, but she's ignoring most of this. I'm still Alexandra, but if you can't deal with that, you can just call me Fyre.
E.VAC: You can't be her. You... she wouldn't have... She would've... No. You're not her.
Obsydian Fyre: Wouldn't have what?
E.VAC: Forget it. It's not important.
Obsydian Fyre: Wouldn't have what? What? Chosen to live? Well, I did. I thought I had things to live for. People. Obviously, I was wrong.
E.VAC slumps more than sits
E.VAC: You said it yourself. You found the one person who cared for you since your dad. I guess... I guess you never believed in me after all.
Obsydian Fyre: I did. I thought I did. But obviously, I was wrong, and I probably would have figured that out eventually, even if I hadn't been on the losing side of a Malta fight.
E.VAC: Maybe you were. Maybe if I'd... if I'd let myself... Maybe I would've been strong enough...
E.VAC: No. Even so. You never... *she* never would've taken shots at me like *that*.
E.VAC: ((more to himself)) ...would she?
Obsydian Fyre: I was right? I mean, wrong?
Obsydian Fyre shakes her head after a minute.
Obsydian Fyre: Forget it.
Obsydian Fyre: But I totally would have. You know I would have. I probably would have been worse, before.
E.VAC: No. You wouldn't have needed to. Before.
Obsydian Fyre: Yeah, I would have. I did. We fight, E. We always fight.
E.VAC: ...it seems so long ago. Like something out of a dream. Or the beginning part of a nightmare. The part where everything is perfect until...
Obsydian Fyre laughs.
Obsydian Fyre: Perfect? Not hardly.
E.VAC: Hm? Oh. I wasn't sure I'd said that out loud.
E.VAC: Anyway. I guess... well, in a way it was a lifetime ago. Learn from it, bury it, and move on. Can't live with it hanging around.
Obsydian Fyre: Maybe.
E.VAC straightens up a bit
E.VAC: I'm sorry I failed you. Her. Alexandra.
Obsydian Fyre crosses her arms and looks away.
Obsydian Fyre: And I'm sorry that I lived and disappointed you so badly.
E.VAC: Don't be sorry that you lived. You were doing what you felt you had to do.
E.VAC: The disappointment is my own problem. I'll just have to deal.
Obsydian Fyre:... what I felt I had to do? You... you really never did care about me, did you? I thought.... I hoped I was wrong, but...
Obsydian Fyre: You never.... I mean, wow...
Obsydian Fyre forces a laugh.
E.VAC: I cared about you more than I've ever cared for any human being on earth. But you never let me in. I thought I was okay with that... until I found out that a stranger was allowed where I was not.
E.VAC: Apparently, I should not have allowed myself to grow so attached. I will not make that mistake again.
Obsydian Fyre: I never let you in? What the hell does that mean? I told you things-- Attached? You--
Obsydian Fyre turns her head away and wipes at her eyes.
Obsydian Fyre: You're rationalizing, or whatever that is.
E.VAC: I am trying to adjust to the new situation.
E.VAC: Thinking that it might have been better if I'd just died... well, it just seems like the wrong thing for me.
E.VAC: Please tell me it was over quickly. That she didn't suffer as she died. I never could stand to see her in pain.
Obsydian Fyre: Shut up, E. You wouldn't have cared. You don't care.
E.VAC: I would have. I did.
E.VAC: And I don't.
Obsydian Fyre: I'll tell you, since you don't, then.
Obsydian Fyre looks straight at E.
Obsydian Fyre: It hurt, a lot. It hurt, and I was scared, and angry, and mostly scared. And alone. And the hospital was just as bad. And they wouldn't let me leave, not that I would have been able to if they let me.
E.VAC makes a strangled sort of sound, but holds himself still.
E.VAC: I... see...
Obsydian Fyre: But I did get out of the hospital. And I tried to call you, but you never answered. I thought you were back, but not answering my calls. So I was afraid to see you again, for that and everything had happened.
Obsydian Fyre: And, hey, since you don't care so much, want to see scars? I've got this really nifty one on the back of my neck.
Obsydian Fyre starts to lift her hair and glances at E.
Obsydian Fyre: No?
E.VAC: God... Fyre... how could you think that about me? When have I... when would I...
E.VAC: I would've kicked down the gates of hell to save you...
Obsydian Fyre: You're lying.
Obsydian Fyre: To me, yourself, it doesn't matter.
E.VAC takes off his glove and rolls up his sleeve. His arm is covered in burns, needle-marks, and green scars.
E.VAC: The gates kicked back.
Obsydian Fyre flinches and turns her head away.
Obsydian Fyre: That's not what I meant.
E.VAC rolls back down the sleeve and buckles back on the glove.
Obsydian Fyre: I don't blame you for not being there. Hell, if I hadn't been so... whatever that was, stupid, mostly.... to go off on my own, I wouldn't have... been in that situation.
Obsydian Fyre: I blame you for the way you've been acting for the past two days. Now.
E.VAC: Freaked out? Angry? Scared? Rejected? Put upon? Which part?
E.VAC: I kept telling myself that any minute, the door would explode in with great gouts of fire. That you'd somehow find me, level an entire laboratory complex, and come striding in like Hell's Wrath.
Obsydian Fyre: The part where you said you didn't-- The first half hour--
Obsydian Fyre: Maybe I would have if I'd been able. Who knows, now.
E.VAC: You don't blame me for not being there? Maybe so.
E.VAC: But I blame *you*.
Obsydian Fyre flinches back.
E.VAC: I can forgive Alexandra. After all, she was killed. But to my way of thinking... *you* killed her.
Obsydian Fyre: What?
E.VAC: I will work with you, Kheldian. Out of respect for her and for Mason. But know this: I blame you for the death of the woman I loved.
Obsydian Fyre looks completely confused and stunned.
E.VAC: Good night, Fyre. I have a motel bed that's been paid for. And I'd hate to waste taxpayer money by not crying myself to sleep in it.

Next time, I’ll post the log of the next night, when E gets to meet Serra.