[ The feed clicks on to the dark button of Lady's nose snuffling at the camera. A quiet shushing noise has the direwolf's head pull away, drawing back only to drop itself down into Alayne's waiting lap. One hand curls over wolf's ears as she speaks, the others lifts a man's sweater into view. Charcoal grey and quite fashionable, given the times. There are other clothes as well in a modest pile beside her. Socks, pants, undershirt. No shoes however. ]
Engineer Clarke is not as— wide as you, I'm afraid.
[ the clothes come into view, and the truth of the matter is that even before he sees them, he has no legitimate opinion. he needs a proper alternative to the drivesuit. fashion and style fall far lower than functionality and more often than not, barely make the list. given his appearance to those who know him- this is no surprise.
[ Alayne does her best to not smile at that, but she fails in the attempt. The corners of her mouth pinch with the effort but her teeth show and her eyes crinkle. In the end, she has to bite down on her bottom lip to keep from simply grinning.
It's the most normal he's ever seen her behave up until this point, much more an average (perhaps mischievous) girl than a proper princess.
She schools her expression back to innocence, making her eyes guileless and wide. ] You are a bit broad,, you must admit. Lest that suit of yours hides a slip of man within.
[ and then she starts smiling about it. chuck doesn't groan or gnash his teeth, but it's a near thing. there's a beat where he looks away, an alternative to rolling his eyes. ]
Says the wafer. [ he doesn't buy that expression in the slightest, and busies himself with reaching for his pair of boots off screen. ]
[ Alayne clicks her tongue, still too pleased with herself to be irate over her newly-anointed nickname. She was by no means a waif — tall but shapely for a girl of her years, having grown some in the year since her first arrival aboard the Tranquility. Compared to him, however, she was as knobby as a willow switch. A strong wind would not bowl her over, but a sudden downpour might. ]
Are there very many Rangers where you're from? [ She tries to adopt his tone when she says it. It obviously means something to him but Alayne has yet to fully divine what. ]
No. [ it isn't sharp, but there's a tightening to the vowel that threatens to grind them to a halt. the collective weight of history. ] Not anymore.
[ chuck isn't often devoid of emotion. he runs over- a fountain with a bottomless reservoir, he's equally unchecked in how freely he doles it out. collateral damage only means something on the battle field. he stands the moment he's finished with his boots, and expanse of plating flashed to the camera before he takes it in hand. he meets her gaze easily, but the current of numbness (distance, something that needs to be closure but isn't) chases his words. ]
[ That no, the shape of it, makes Alayne think of wolves.
The Spartans are wolves, or so Master Chief tells her, and the Starks are all wolves (—had been all wolves, until the war had changed it all and the wolves died—) There should be finality to a statement like not anymore but she knows first-hand that not all cuts are clean. Some linger, some fester and others never heal.
She wonders if Ranger Hansen is the last one left of his line. Alayne has a habit of collecting those too and wouldn't it be convenient if he was. For a moment it looks as though she's about to ask a question but instead rises, the direwolf shooed off camera as she stands. ]
There are common rooms that connect the wings to one another. What floor keeps your quarters?
[ he isn't a need-to-know personality because chuck has always had far too much interest in pushing buttons and shooting his mouth off for that. but he's an essentialist at his core. it means there's always a clear line of sight to default to. ]
I'll be but a moment, [ she says and the feed flicks off. Good on her word both Alayne and Lady emerge from one of the stairwells a few minutes later. The direwolf pads ahead, making her usual circuit around Chuck as she stares at him, her golden eyes blinking slowly (knowingly) as her tail goes thwap thwap thwap. Rounding him she then trots off to join Alayne again, keeping to her side.
In Alayne's arms are a modest bundle of clothing, all of it scavenged or "indefinitely borrowed" from Isaac Clarke. She gives the tiny curtsey. ]
[ it's one thing to get used to the wolf. chuck knows how to be circled, sized up, examined. he knows how to keep still when something rounds him- something with teeth- trying to get a feel for his who and what and why. it's at the curtsey that he gets lost. chuck keeps his distance with some granule of unspoken hesitancy, but offers a nod in her direction in the place of a greeting. it's maybe the most polite he's been since arrival. ]
[ Men like Ranger Hansen do not do well with courtesy. Quite often they know not what to do with it, nor how to handle it (nor Alayne, by proxy). This generally works to her advantage, throwing them off long enough for her to observe the seams in their armor, though some men bristle at it openly and bark at her rudely for making her uncomfortable.
A curt greeting is better than none at all and it is as close as wheedling the desired effect from him as she's managed thus far. Careful now, she tells herself. Tread too far from this careful line and he will find his teeth again, no doubt.
Walking forward, she offers them to him, the pile held between her hands and extended out between the both of them. ]
My guardian. A man whose name is Isaac Clarke. He wears a suit similar to yours, though— [ Tilting her head to one side she tries to glance over his shoulder. Given how tall Alayne is (just a few scant inches shorter than the ranger) this is easier for her to do than it is for most girls her age. ] —you bare no RIG.
[ he reaches for the clothes automatically, the kind of reflex that comes from practice- learned comfort with adopting, adapting, getting the hell on with things. they fit easily enough beneath his arm and he's momentarily distracted by the thought of satisfying the itch on the left on his ribcage that's been grating on his patience for the better part of an hour. he'll still need to contact romanoff again, get her hands to work the bolts loose a second time. he's not out of the woods yet, but chuck's always been that way- checking ahead, looking for that next ledge to grab hold of.
chuck's gaze cuts to his shoulder all the same, the defense corp's wings staring back out at him. ] RIG?
[ Alayne is still peering when Chuck asks, her eyes darting sideways in his direction as her chin remains craned. She wears an expression that says perhaps she should not have spoken, if only because RIGs were a thing of science and Alayne's understanding of such matters was poor, bordering on simple. The last thing she wanted was to look stupid in front of Ranger Hansen.
No doubt Isaac would explain it better. ]
There's a light that glows from Isaac's back. Its color changes as his health waxes and wanes. [ She recites the words as they were taught to her; tenets that bare the simplicity of a child's nursery rhyme. ] Blue is best, green is go. Yellow is caution. Red, you must take slow. [ Alayne's lips press together at the mention of red. She'd seen it only just the once and never wished to see it again. ]
Engineer Clarke is a very clever man. He could assist you with your suit, if it please you.
[ it isn't that he thinks her stupid, despite the myriad ways his expression could be interpreted. it's not a concept he's ever heard of before, not for field work. loccent had always been there- tracking his vitals, counting out damage. everything else- everything else had been shared with his copilot.
the thought cuts his gaze away from the girl and her pursed lips, drawn brows. the beat is all he needs, space enough for chuck to draw a breath- push everything else out and down and away. he filters through more than half of what the girl says because it's full of niceties no one really needs, maybe chuck himself least of all. if it please you, yeah, like there's been much time for any of that. there's a frown tucked into the corner of his mouth, directed at nothing. ]
[ He looks away and Alayne draws back, taking the opportunity to survey his suit a little more clearly. It resembles Isaac's less and less the longer she studies it, reminding her instead of the Master Chief's. (Isaac was an engineer, he built things, while Master Chief was a soldier; did the difference in suits lie therein?)
Maintaining a respectable distance, Alayne extends a hand to her side, only for the space under it to be soon occupied by the broad shoulders of her direwolf. Plunking down on her haunches Lady licks her jaws and blinks at the ranger, as polite and demure as her mistress though much less subtle with her curiosity. ]
He keeps me from harm. Surely a man who wears such armor would be familiar with the concept, [ she says, her voice prickling slightly. ] You must protect something.
[ Alayne lifts her eyebrows. ] Or do you care for only yourself?
[ chuck doesn't have anything to prove. not to some slip of a girl, not to anyone. there's a certain brand of finality that comes in finishing up a suicide mission and waking up on the other side of christ knows where. she's giving it a good run, needling at whatever she wants to pry out of him. but chuck isn't a goddamn hero and never has been. if she's looking for some declaration of nobility, if she's looking for a good man buried beneath the armor, she'll have to look somewhere else.
you are your father's son sometimes, he's not so sure. ]
[ In the end, he needn't be a good man. If Littlefinger had taught Alayne anything it was that the very worst men often proved the most useful. Bad men were often driven by changeable things, things like appetite and ambition. Learn how to move these desires and then men followed (whether eagerly or angrily didn't matter, so long as they went the direction they were needed).
Still, Alayne always wishes to find good men. Sometimes they make her feel as though Sansa hadn't been half as stupid as she thought she was; sometimes they fill her with something resembling hope. Good men didn't require wheedling, so good men didn't need as many lies.
But, she reasons, there will always be lies. Always better to arm yourself than be caught unawares again.
He tells her to lead the way. Alayne tilts her head to one side, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as she declares: ]
[ it leaves his brows arching, that's for damn sure. chuck has no talent for navigating the subtleties of polite conversation. for learning the ins and outs in ones interactions with others- the ones that can't be dealt in fists and traded in blows. it isn't a skill he's had much use for and one he hadn't entertained the idea of cultivating- but growing up in the shadows he had, he knows it when he sees it. it feels like politics. pieces lining up just so.
chuck remembers his old man coming back that night, telling him to expect the decommission. there's always been a difference between the men who make the calls and the men who hold the line, and maybe that distinction lies in longevity, but the way chuck had seen in- there weren't a hell of a lot of them that were ever going to make it out of the war alive.
no, she says. and he knows that the right answer is caving in. he knows what he needs to say to move on with the damn thing. but chuck isn't in the habit of jumping at just anybody's say so. ]
Fine.
[ it's punctuated by the tuck of fabric against his side and a shift in his posture.
fine. fine.
chuck turns his back on her and heads back into the hall. he'll manage well enough on his own. always has. ]
[ If there is something Alayne wants to say, she keeps it tucked underneath her tongue as she bites down on the tip, teeth sinking into willful, sympathetic meat that would readily apologize rather than see his back turned to her. Was that what he wanted — for her to be contrite or weepy? For her to fold her hands and no longer be willful or did he want her to fight? Alayne had assumed the later but perhaps she'd been wrong and now she'd never know the answer. Part of her prickles at that fact, niggles with frustrated irritation at both him and her, but another part feels simply sad. (She had prayed for the Hound even though he'd been cruel to her, even though he seemed to take joy in telling her the most horrible things. If given the choice, would she pray for Ranger Hansen?
Alayne doesn't know.)
Fine, he says, and she watches him go, her hands curled in the fabric of her skirt as her pride roots her to the spot and stills her into silence. Lady, however, does not prove as obedient and instead pads forward to his side, looking up at him with her large golden eyes, wounded where her mistress refuses to be as the both of them continue down the hall away from Alayne.
She whimpers once, questioningly at him. (Lady would always express what Alayne would not; the direwolf was more part of her than anyone knew.) ]
[ being followed isn't a sensation like any other. it can't be confused for anything in the world, and while it doesn't raise the hair on the back of his neck, it does prickle at his awareness all the same. to chuck's credit, he carries on a good way down the hall with only the vaguest destination in mind, before he glances back. where he'd half expected to find the girl skipping through her skirts at his back- he finds only the wolf. staring up at him. offering up a whine.
chuck isn't angry, there's nothing to be angry about. but he's not a man who speaks easily about personal heroism. it was one thing to be a damn good pilot, to jockey with the best jaeger the world had ever seen. but where the words go after that, he isn't sure. dying to save the world or blowing himself up for a girl he grew up with and a guy that isn't his friend- they aren't things he has a space for in his head. it's a vast and incomprehensible tangle locked up around who am i and what do i do now.
his gaze lands on the wolf's face, gait slows, and he nods in alayne's direction. the words are low. ]
[ Even from her distant vantage down the hall, Alayne can hear the low whisper of Ranger Hansen's shushing as Lady continues to follow after him, her ears pinned back now in a look of canine contrition. Rather than obey (she can be as willful as her mistress sometimes) Lady resumes a tiny circuit around Chuck, padding not one but two tight circles around him before turning to the spot immediately by his side, the ripple of her back threatening to brush against this elbow.
Again a curious sound, one that refuses being waved off. Alayne, for her part, doesn't call Lady back straight away, instead watching the interaction play out between man and wolf. ]
She's fond of you, [ she calls from a distance, her hands still curled in the fabric of her skirt. ] Though I haven't the slightest idea why. [ The irony of the situation — that when she speaks for Lady, she speaks for them both — isn't lost on her. If anything, Alayne is hyperaware of it and it makes her cautious, wary of him. (To be fond is a strength when it is reciprocated but on its own, it is nothing but folly.) ]
[ the thought rolls over in his mouth, as much as chuck is prone to consideration at all- much less consideration that comes before opening his mouth. having max around was easy. dogs look for leadership and direction, not good people. chuck doesn't need to be kinder or gentler or anything but exactly what he is for max to come padding after him. that the wolf follows his paces, moves in her circles around his legs, keeps their proximity tight- is equal parts familiar and unexpected.
his reply is largely for the animal herself, and not the mistress who speaks on her behalf. chuck's gaze doesn't lift. he watches the fold of her ears and the steady line of her body. ]
Give it a week.
[ it isn't wholly self-deprecation so much as it is wry observation. knowledge gleaned from experience. chuck doesn't keep company and equally- company doesn't keep him. ]
[ Lady makes a noise in response, almost as if she's understood what Chuck has just said and she means to offer protest. But rather than open her mouth to speak she blinks, then blinks again. Then narrows her eyes as she opens her mouth to give a wide and gaping yawn, her tongue curling as she shows her teeth only to have them snap shut a moment later.
Bumping her head against his hand she makes one more vie for his attention. Alayne, still at a distance, remains quiet. So much could happen here in a week (they could die, find themselves somewhere else, be set against one another as enemies or end up huddling together out of necessity against a blistering cold) but that's commentary she keeps to herself. Ranger Hansen was new here; he would learn in time.
Unappeased, Lady snuffles at the ranger and then flicks her tail at him before tracing one last circle around him. But instead of coming back round to his side she breaks off again, towards Alayne. Rather than call her by name, she whistles once to the direwolf — a few notes like the refrain of a lullaby. ]
[ his eyes roll, and it's as much token protest as it is a dry resignation. the unuttered christ why am i even that comes in the moment before he does exactly what he'd intended to avoid. chuck doesn't look back at alayne, as if that somehow makes the entire situation more bearable- but he follows after lady all the same. gait steady and unhurried as his boots hit the ground.
if there's some greater unraveling in his mind about the act, about what it means, or even that he acknowledges that in it's own way- this too is a decision- chuck's expression betrays nothing. ]
[ She doesn't expect him to follow but when he does Alayne has to quell the tiny rush of giddiness that follows. It has nothing to do with her, she suspects (his attention is with Lady, though that may remain pretense) but there will always be something ineffably satisfying in seeing someone move in the direction she desires.
For most people this would be about power, about influence and control and manipulation; but for Alayne it's more about safety than anything else. A man she can move is a man she understands, and a man she understands becomes less of a threat. As young as she is, she's grown tired of living every day balanced on the knife's edge of uncertainty and the more she knew of the people around her, the more she could predict the tides of their moods and the foundations of their desires.
Ranger Hansen still remains grossly unknown to her, a fact that she thinks will be a long time coming to change, but there is something, — some pull — to be found in Lady.
Perhaps he is a wolf, she finds herself thinking. Then: but what of his pack?
Lady returns to Alayne's side and plops herself down, watching the ranger with eyes (more adoring now; she likes him). Alayne looks down at the wolf and only at length acknowledges Ranger Hansen's presence yet again. She resumes their previous conversation almost as if the last few minutes hadn't even happened. ]
Isaac keeps the odd tool, if they are needed. And he is very resourceful besides.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
» video.
Engineer Clarke is not as— wide as you, I'm afraid.
» video.
chuck watches, impassive, until- ]
Wide?
» video.
It's the most normal he's ever seen her behave up until this point, much more an average (perhaps mischievous) girl than a proper princess.
She schools her expression back to innocence, making her eyes guileless and wide. ] You are a bit broad,, you must admit. Lest that suit of yours hides a slip of man within.
[ A pause. ] Though I doubt it.
» video.
Says the wafer. [ he doesn't buy that expression in the slightest, and busies himself with reaching for his pair of boots off screen. ]
I'm a Ranger. I'd better be.
» video.
Are there very many Rangers where you're from? [ She tries to adopt his tone when she says it. It obviously means something to him but Alayne has yet to fully divine what. ]
» video.
[ chuck isn't often devoid of emotion. he runs over- a fountain with a bottomless reservoir, he's equally unchecked in how freely he doles it out. collateral damage only means something on the battle field. he stands the moment he's finished with his boots, and expanse of plating flashed to the camera before he takes it in hand. he meets her gaze easily, but the current of numbness (distance, something that needs to be closure but isn't) chases his words. ]
Where do I meet you.
» video.
The Spartans are wolves, or so Master Chief tells her, and the Starks are all wolves (—had been all wolves, until the war had changed it all and the wolves died—) There should be finality to a statement like not anymore but she knows first-hand that not all cuts are clean. Some linger, some fester and others never heal.
She wonders if Ranger Hansen is the last one left of his line. Alayne has a habit of collecting those too and wouldn't it be convenient if he was. For a moment it looks as though she's about to ask a question but instead rises, the direwolf shooed off camera as she stands. ]
There are common rooms that connect the wings to one another. What floor keeps your quarters?
» video.
[ he isn't a need-to-know personality because chuck has always had far too much interest in pushing buttons and shooting his mouth off for that. but he's an essentialist at his core. it means there's always a clear line of sight to default to. ]
I'll wait out front.
» video.
In Alayne's arms are a modest bundle of clothing, all of it scavenged or "indefinitely borrowed" from Isaac Clarke. She gives the tiny curtsey. ]
Ranger Hansen.
» video.
Who gave 'em up?
» video.
A curt greeting is better than none at all and it is as close as wheedling the desired effect from him as she's managed thus far. Careful now, she tells herself. Tread too far from this careful line and he will find his teeth again, no doubt.
Walking forward, she offers them to him, the pile held between her hands and extended out between the both of them. ]
My guardian. A man whose name is Isaac Clarke. He wears a suit similar to yours, though— [ Tilting her head to one side she tries to glance over his shoulder. Given how tall Alayne is (just a few scant inches shorter than the ranger) this is easier for her to do than it is for most girls her age. ] —you bare no RIG.
» video.
chuck's gaze cuts to his shoulder all the same, the defense corp's wings staring back out at him. ] RIG?
» action.
No doubt Isaac would explain it better. ]
There's a light that glows from Isaac's back. Its color changes as his health waxes and wanes. [ She recites the words as they were taught to her; tenets that bare the simplicity of a child's nursery rhyme. ] Blue is best, green is go. Yellow is caution. Red, you must take slow. [ Alayne's lips press together at the mention of red. She'd seen it only just the once and never wished to see it again. ]
Engineer Clarke is a very clever man. He could assist you with your suit, if it please you.
» action.
the thought cuts his gaze away from the girl and her pursed lips, drawn brows. the beat is all he needs, space enough for chuck to draw a breath- push everything else out and down and away. he filters through more than half of what the girl says because it's full of niceties no one really needs, maybe chuck himself least of all. if it please you, yeah, like there's been much time for any of that. there's a frown tucked into the corner of his mouth, directed at nothing. ]
Your guardian?
» action.
Maintaining a respectable distance, Alayne extends a hand to her side, only for the space under it to be soon occupied by the broad shoulders of her direwolf. Plunking down on her haunches Lady licks her jaws and blinks at the ranger, as polite and demure as her mistress though much less subtle with her curiosity. ]
He keeps me from harm. Surely a man who wears such armor would be familiar with the concept, [ she says, her voice prickling slightly. ] You must protect something.
[ Alayne lifts her eyebrows. ] Or do you care for only yourself?
» action.
you are your father's son
sometimes, he's not so sure. ]
Lead the way.
» action.
Still, Alayne always wishes to find good men. Sometimes they make her feel as though Sansa hadn't been half as stupid as she thought she was; sometimes they fill her with something resembling hope. Good men didn't require wheedling, so good men didn't need as many lies.
But, she reasons, there will always be lies. Always better to arm yourself than be caught unawares again.
He tells her to lead the way. Alayne tilts her head to one side, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as she declares: ]
No.
» action.
chuck remembers his old man coming back that night, telling him to expect the decommission. there's always been a difference between the men who make the calls and the men who hold the line, and maybe that distinction lies in longevity, but the way chuck had seen in- there weren't a hell of a lot of them that were ever going to make it out of the war alive.
no, she says. and he knows that the right answer is caving in. he knows what he needs to say to move on with the damn thing. but chuck isn't in the habit of jumping at just anybody's say so. ]
Fine.
[ it's punctuated by the tuck of fabric against his side and a shift in his posture.
fine.
fine.
chuck turns his back on her and heads back into the hall. he'll manage well enough on his own. always has. ]
» action.
Alayne doesn't know.)
Fine, he says, and she watches him go, her hands curled in the fabric of her skirt as her pride roots her to the spot and stills her into silence. Lady, however, does not prove as obedient and instead pads forward to his side, looking up at him with her large golden eyes, wounded where her mistress refuses to be as the both of them continue down the hall away from Alayne.
She whimpers once, questioningly at him. (Lady would always express what Alayne would not; the direwolf was more part of her than anyone knew.) ]
» action.
chuck isn't angry, there's nothing to be angry about. but he's not a man who speaks easily about personal heroism. it was one thing to be a damn good pilot, to jockey with the best jaeger the world had ever seen. but where the words go after that, he isn't sure. dying to save the world or blowing himself up for a girl he grew up with and a guy that isn't his friend- they aren't things he has a space for in his head. it's a vast and incomprehensible tangle locked up around who am i and what do i do now.
his gaze lands on the wolf's face, gait slows, and he nods in alayne's direction.
the words are low. ]
Shh. Go on.
» action.
Again a curious sound, one that refuses being waved off. Alayne, for her part, doesn't call Lady back straight away, instead watching the interaction play out between man and wolf. ]
She's fond of you, [ she calls from a distance, her hands still curled in the fabric of her skirt. ] Though I haven't the slightest idea why. [ The irony of the situation — that when she speaks for Lady, she speaks for them both — isn't lost on her. If anything, Alayne is hyperaware of it and it makes her cautious, wary of him. (To be fond is a strength when it is reciprocated but on its own, it is nothing but folly.) ]
» action.
his reply is largely for the animal herself, and not the mistress who speaks on her behalf. chuck's gaze doesn't lift. he watches the fold of her ears and the steady line of her body. ]
Give it a week.
[ it isn't wholly self-deprecation so much as it is wry observation. knowledge gleaned from experience. chuck doesn't keep company and equally- company doesn't keep him. ]
» action.
Bumping her head against his hand she makes one more vie for his attention. Alayne, still at a distance, remains quiet. So much could happen here in a week (they could die, find themselves somewhere else, be set against one another as enemies or end up huddling together out of necessity against a blistering cold) but that's commentary she keeps to herself. Ranger Hansen was new here; he would learn in time.
Unappeased, Lady snuffles at the ranger and then flicks her tail at him before tracing one last circle around him. But instead of coming back round to his side she breaks off again, towards Alayne. Rather than call her by name, she whistles once to the direwolf — a few notes like the refrain of a lullaby. ]
» action.
if there's some greater unraveling in his mind about the act, about what it means, or even that he acknowledges that in it's own way- this too is a decision- chuck's expression betrays nothing. ]
» action.
For most people this would be about power, about influence and control and manipulation; but for Alayne it's more about safety than anything else. A man she can move is a man she understands, and a man she understands becomes less of a threat. As young as she is, she's grown tired of living every day balanced on the knife's edge of uncertainty and the more she knew of the people around her, the more she could predict the tides of their moods and the foundations of their desires.
Ranger Hansen still remains grossly unknown to her, a fact that she thinks will be a long time coming to change, but there is something, — some pull — to be found in Lady.
Perhaps he is a wolf, she finds herself thinking. Then: but what of his pack?
Lady returns to Alayne's side and plops herself down, watching the ranger with eyes (more adoring now; she likes him). Alayne looks down at the wolf and only at length acknowledges Ranger Hansen's presence yet again. She resumes their previous conversation almost as if the last few minutes hadn't even happened. ]
Isaac keeps the odd tool, if they are needed. And he is very resourceful besides.
» action.
» action.
» action.
» action | isaac » chuck » alayne
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