closed.

[zealouspeter]

Who: Shiroe and Daedalus.
When: Monday morning.
Where: Ye olde Diner.
Summary: There are ... a lot of things they need to talk on. Especially after the cherry blossoms.
Warnings: Anger and general unhappiness.

Comments

[gaveherwings]

"I heard there's a way to get electronic copies of academic texts for free." Daedalus mentions with a deliberately offhanded, one-shouldered shrug, glancing down at the neatly piled creamer stack. It was his way of saying he certainly wouldn't mind quietly condoning textbook pirating. Not with what they were charging for them.

On the surface he seems at the worst a little uneasy, but for all his breezy, focused list of things to preoccupy breakfast which pointedly don't include the events of last week, the doctor carries a restlessness, an unsettled feeling deeper with him. His glances are cautious too

[gaveherwings]

"Gilbert." Daedalus echoed on a sigh, because he was still a little bit regretful that the unforgivable act Vincent had committed, meant by extension that he could not bring himself to tolerate any of the Nightrays anymore. He thought one day that he might reconcile himself with Gilbert- Gilbert, who understood what living your life for the sake of another person meant, and who did make very excellent pies and other assorted treats, but couldn't keep his brother from committing acts against his family doctor's heart and purpose, and so...

And so he'd cut ties with half of the Phantomhive Household, and it was very hard to keep an ear to the ground about Shiroe's well being, nowadays. There was that thoughtful butler, Claude, the one who slaved happily over Alois, who seemed to understand the real point behind his casual inquiries, but there was also something about The Help in that household Daedalus knew instinctively not to wholly trust

[zealouspeter]

Shiroe watched that sigh and vaguely regretful expression with a somewhat curious, somewhat (very little bit) amused expression of his own; blame his continued contact with demons. There was yet a bit of him that found it could be angry for Daedalus, for what Vincent had done (torn so many emotions apart), but Shor was still an observer. Those he cared for hand't been directly hurt, and so he could smile. For Daedalus's sake, here, he didn't, but

[gaveherwings]

It was almost a little bothersome this time, that the boy smiled, fixed him with a polite look of interest, removed... and then brought up Oz.

You really don't see the obvious parallels, do you?

Maybe he expects sympathy out of some defensive camaraderie with Gilbert's position. If Re-l ever- (No, no, something within him rebels immediately and refuses to entertain that notion) Instead he wonders what he'd ever do with his Monday mornings, if Shiroe disappeared, 'never showed up again

[zealouspeter]

Daedalus may have left it at a single scolding, but Shiroe had paid a mind's ear to the mental dialogue.

And, no, he didn't understand. Or, well, he did, in a way, but he didn't understand it -- couldn't intellectually figure it out, would only scoff and smile flippantly about it all, because why would anyone become so upset over another's leaving? They all should have accepted that it was a possibilty. An inevidtability, even. There was no reason to be upset with odds like that. Absolutely none. Except there was, wholly and fully, and Shiroe understood that in the way that he'd gone practically suicidal after Jomy's departure, had rushed into meeting Xehanort and taunting Re-l and diving unabashed into Claude's psyche, all things that could have or definitely had harmed him

[gaveherwings]

"Good." He sighed simply, resigned to let it go- Oz and Gilbert weren't really much of his business anymore anyway.

Which was regretful. But he didn't want to give Vincent any further reason to antagonize Re-l, threaten her life or her safety.

He chewed his toast and stared thoughtfully out the window for awhile, tired, letting the stress of the passing shift gradually ease off his shoulders, listening to the banter between waitresses and regulars and a harried cook in the background.

Daedalus liked this diner. The incongruity to everything else he'd ever known was not so uncomfortable, tucked into the booths, with Shiroe here and seated across from him. Habit.

The only problem cluttering the table now was that elephant. There was color in his cheeks, when he tried to push it off his mind. Push the subject around again, refocusing.

"Did Mr. Chaolan ever contact you about an internship at Violet Sytems?"

[zealouspeter]

"No."

And now that it was thought about, it was there again. Not that it ever left, but it had maybe faded. Became a slightly less striking shade of bright pink.

Mr. Chaolan was a good distraction, Shiroe supposed. So was Daedalus's lingering regret over Gilbert, but that made him a bit angry, too, so he didn't focus too hard on it. He did focus his gaze over, dropping a toast-laden fork back to his plate.

He thought about deviating from the chosen topic-- very briefly thought about it- and then discarded that. "Violet Systems? What sort of thing did he want?"

[gaveherwings]

"Well, it's less of what he wanted, and more that the company does a lot of cutting-edge work in electronics and robotics." Daedalus shrugs simply, sitting back, mopping some of his crumbs off the table with a napkin. "Since you're very talented with that, I recommended you."

To which it was slightly insulting, to the both of them maybe, that Mr. Chaolan hadn't followed up on the tip off- but sometimes not every person could take a gentle nudge in the right direction. He hadn't really ever asked if Shiroe would be interested, just assumed-

The same way he'd assumed about the SERO scholarship.

"But they're probably quite busy, I should remind him again."

[zealouspeter]

"Aren't I a bit young?"

Which wasn't to say that he'd personally reject the idea, but it was a question that he felt was at least somewhat real. The arcade was one thing - SERO was one thing - but a larger company...? Not even Hillsdale had been accepting of setting him up with something like that.

Then again --

"Should I say that I'm immortal?" And it was abruptly very, very funny in a very very off-beat way how true that could be, and he had to straighten up and grin about it because the other option was one that he wouldn't ever take, so there. Not that Daedalus knew about that little fact, probably, but - details. Maybe the doctor would find out.

Then again, maybe they'd actually talk about the elephant in the room. Everything was possible.

[gaveherwings]

"I'm the wrong person to make that argument with, Shiroe." Daedalus laughs, leaning back in his seat with a slow shake of his head. While others might have that sort of reservation, he was inclined to push past all of that- just as the interns at the hospital took their time in coming around to the idea of some Twenty-Year-Old newcomer hopping into last-stage residency as entry level (jealousy!) "I was finishing up my license for practice, around your age."

Aren't I a bit young?

He looked the boy up and down, wistful, remembering when he was in his early teens, pushed through all the regimens and training programs, called the brightest star that Romdeau had to offer, given access to classified files, placed for exceptional things, important projects, handed the keys to all life in the dome in passcodes and retinal scans that would someday identify him alone as 'Medical Chief Daedalus'. Told to preserve their secret hope. Daedalus fostered a future, thought he was inheriting a grand legacy-

How young, yes, and idealistic he'd been,