(Untitled)

[agentmoreau]

Who: Elena, Zero
Where: The Starbucks
When: Thursday night (4/16)
Warnings: will be added as needed, but probably none
What: Zero wants to talk. Elena isn't sure she should be here.

Comments

[red_maverick]

Zero was silent for quite a few moments. He still hadn't gone over the details of what happened after his father bailed him out, not even with his older brother. No one had asked for the specifics, and he wasn't prone to talking about his personal stuff.

But he almost felt like he owed it to Elena to tell her.

After finally taking a gulp of coffee, he sighed, lifting his head. "Well, the good news is, he didn't disown me. But he might as well." His body shifted forward, arms folding over each other on the table. "I'm now the Wily Black Sheep. Probably never going back to his estate ever again, not that I'm really bothered by that. I'm not written out of the will, but at this point, it doesn't matter if I inherit anything."

"I knew he'd find out someday, that the guy helping to bust up his factories and expose his less-than-ecological business practices. Hell, I'd probably told him myself, after graduation." His face looked downtrodden. "I don't know why I still feel like a failure here. I'm doing what I want to be doing for once... shouldn't that be a good thing?"

[agentmoreau]

Elena swirled her coffee contemplatively. "I'm probably not the best person to come to for advice on how to deal with your family," she said with a small grin. "You know I'd sooner throw them out the window than have anything to do with them."

She took a short drag on her cigarette. "If you think that what you're doing is the right thing, I won't say a word against you. Well, as long as you stay away from the bossman's property - I ripped him a new one the last time, but there's only so much I can say to him."

[red_maverick]

Zero actually laughed. "If I wanted advice with my family, I'd know better than to ask for it. Nah, they're my problem to deal with, if I want it to be a problem."

"No, it's just... I guess all that shit I've felt about my father finally decided it was more trouble than it was worth. So for all intents and purposes, he's not my father any more. I'm... I'm just Zero. The last name's a formality." He still sighed, but waved a hand dismissively. "And for the record, I make no promises about Britannia operations, but mostly I'll be sticking to dealing with my old man. There's enough going on that I don't have to branch out from there." He smiled again. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't think I hated you, Elena. You're one of my best friends here, regardless of what you gotta do for money."

[agentmoreau]

Elena echoed his short little laugh, although it was clear that her heart wasn't in it. She stared contemplatively at the table.

"You're a better person than I could hope to be," she said quietly. "I don't know how you can forgive me after... just, after."