doc_holi | Musebox #1 [CLOSED]

Entry tags:

musebox

Musebox #1 [CLOSED]

Who: Holiday and Six
What: being awkward/horrible/flirty/omg
When: Right after "Six Minus Six"
Where: Providence HQ
Warnings: Spoilers for "Six Minus Six" and MAYBE "Lions And Lambs"

Holiday walked back into the tower after the LONGEST couple of days she ever had. Okay, not the longest, but it was far too close for comfort.

She set the chart she had carried in with her down on the desk, already turning her attention to the computer screen. So, Caesar's invention hadn't worked... twice. It was good that her sister was cured, because Six had just become her new project. She had to get the other Six back. This one was driving her nuts... even if he could be sweet... when he wanted to be.

She sighed, staring at the computer, but not sitting down. At least, he wasn't physically hurt... That was a good plus.

Didn't mean that she couldn't worry...

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ACK.

"Oh, no! Now's fine." She almost reached for him, but pulled back last second. This Six probably wouldn't mind given all of his pickup lines earlier, but the other Six, her Six, did.

She moved to the side of the door, waving her hand for him. "Come on in. I'll try not to keep you too long."

"I really don't have anywhere I'd rather be," he said glibly then immediately mentally smacking himself. "I mean, I don't really have much else to do between missions."

His other self though...he'd been constantly busy. That much he'd figured out from everything he'd had to sign off on.

...Now he was really confused.

He was... so different now. The same Six was there, she practically see it, but just... younger... less disciplined. It was so strange.

Either way, she walks back into the lab, motioning for him to follow her. He was almost acting... nervous around her. Almost awkward.

Like he was trying to be someone he wasn't, but wanted to be. Ergh, this was their fault.

He followed after her, heading towards the chair she'd had him in that first time. "The electrodes again?" he asked.

At least those were better than a full-on MRI or CT scan.

To be honest, he was a little disconcerted with the whole routine. He wanted to be their Six. The more he found out about the man, the more he wanted to give that man back to them. Still, there was those little whispers of paranoia that wouldn't leave him be. Like one of these days, she was going to send a shock through his head and fry him for good. Silly, really.

Salazar, however, he wasn't going to let come within blade's length of him.

"It's the simplest test," she said, starting to get things ready again. Hopefully, this would go a little better than... last time.

As she got everything situated, she eyed him for a second, before deciding... why not?

"So... what all has Rex told you so far?"

Six sighed and leaned his head back against the padding. "That apparently the other me was his father figure. And, of course, that he once adopted a cat for me." He paused, frowning at the ceiling. "What happened to that cat, anyway? Always wanted one."

He shook his head at the irrelevant thought, refocusing his attention. He settled back and relaxed, crossing his legs at the ankles as he leaned back.

"Good chair for a nap."

Yeah. He was different, all right.

"Not sure what happened to that cat, actually," she thought aloud in answer to his first statement.

So, to sum it up, he and Rex had yet to have an actual sit-down conversation... She didn't know how much help she would be, then.

Still, she started attaching the nodes to his forehead. She knows there's no physical damage, but that doesn't mean something can't be compared. Maybe find out WHERE the problem lies.

"Well, if you still have questions, which I'm sure you do, you could always ask me. I don't mind answering anything."

"For starters, what were we?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at her with a faint smirk on his lips. "And be honest."

He then paused, running over what he'd just said.

He leaned forward and put his face in his hands. "Dammit. That was...damn."

She was about to say the whole 'excuse me' act, but he just finished it off himself there.

After a sigh, she patted him on the shoulder before going back to fixing things up. "At least, you're trying."

And then, she ran over what she just said. Looking back to him, she decided to add a disclaimer. "I know... you're trying and... I am grateful, but... I don't want to make you more uncomfortable than you already are. I mean... I feel like we're trying to change you into something you aren't... anymore and I'm not sure if I'm okay with that."

She knew that HER Six was still in there, but... what if he didn't come back? This one would be trying his whole life trying to be the guy he isn't and, no matter which Six he is, she still cares a lot for him. She doesn't want him to go through all that just to make them happy. It's not right.

Even if the other was smarter and more sophisticated.

He slumped, face still in his hands. "I want to be him. I want to be the smooth, sophisticated if a bit taciturn man that you knew. He's the me I'm supposed to be but once I think I've got it, he just slips away from me."

Yes, Holiday. He used "taciturn" correctly in a sentence.

He felt the leads on his head and he ripped them off in irritation. He knew he was supposed to be sitting still and answering her questions but he was so frustrated he could scream.

Edited 2011-10-17 03:33 (UTC)

Well, she's lost all interest in everything she was doing. For now, she's just looking back at him, even more worried than before.

At least this isn't her first rodeo with an amnesiac...

"He's still in there," she eventually told him, "Trying to force him out likely won't help you much... Maybe... understanding him would."

Hence, she'll answer any question he has and then some. She wants to help him. She wants Six back, too, but... didn't mean she didn't care for this one, too.

He had a million questions about who he'd been. Most of them he couldn't even be sure he wanted the answer to.

Best to start slow.

"I'm a bit of a spicy food fiend. I'd be the one egging Trey on to add extra hot peppers on the po'boys he'd make when it was his turn to cook while the others begged for mercy," he said quietly after a moment. "Did that change?"

How different was he from his other self? Did his other self grow to prefer sweets over spices? Did he still tap the toes of his shoes against the floor after putting them on to make sure they wouldn't come off? Or was it just his general attitude that changed?

She offers him a small smile. "No, that's pretty much the same. At least, on the rare occasions we do get to see you eat, anyway."

It wasn't too often, but it never really bothered her.

"Most food is too bland for you and you always like the spicy things," her smile sort of... cringes, "Not really sure how you can stand it, to be honest." She doesn't mind spicy, but Six goes BEYOND spicy.

He actually smirked at that. "Nice to see he didn't completely lose his sense of taste."

The smirk disappeared from his face as he stared down at the ground, toying with his fingertips.

"Do you know why he...I decided to join Providence? Rex didn't. He just said that something made me change, but he didn't seem to know what."

Her face falters a little with this one.

"I'm not sure. We've only known each other for about two years now... After the Event, everything changed. There's so many reasons that could've convinced you to join."

When she says everything, she means, literally, everything.

Six sighed again. "Wonderful. The one habit I'd hoped he didn't keep, and of course he did."

His other self hadn't left anything behind even remotely resembling a journal. He'd always had an impeccable memory...at least up until a few days ago.

"Nobody seems to know. Not Rex, not you, not even Knight seems to know." He looked up at her. "How can I understand someone who--despite working with him for over five years--nobody seems to know?"

The best he could hope for was imitation, and he wasn't even sure he was doing it right.

... Okay... That did kind of hurt, but she didn't show it.

"It's not that we don't know you," she said, looking away from him, "It's just that... you don't really talk about the past much... at all. You-..."

Ugh. How to put it?

"You don't like to get too close to people, so it's not that strange that we... don't know a lot of things. Like some of the important things."

Six stood up. "I'm sorry. I'm taking it out on you when it's really his...my fault."

He started to pace the floor, all nervous energy. He knew he should probably sit down and let her run her tests but he couldn't sit still.

He stopped by the window overlooking the Petting Zoo, watching the EVOs go about their business. He envied them. A simple life without all the messy attachments of being human. Six years didn't matter either way to any of them.

She was about to say something, when he walks to the glass. Instead, she gives a sigh and follows him at a distance, stopping a good bit away in case he did just want to be alone.

"It's not your fault. He-... You had your reasons for being that way."

Or, that's what his excuse was once. Other than that, she just tries to believe that.

"Probably not good ones," Six snapped. "Kept a bombshell like yourself dangling without trying to when you've got a whole base full of guys who'd kill for a night in bed with you. Sophisticated, disciplined, and the king of morons."

Six glared at his reflection, reaching up to take off the tie. As if just the suit is better. He then glared at the piece of fabric as if it's the root of all his problems.

She was a little taken aback by the 'bombshell' comment... Still trying to get used to that. To think there was a day when she wondered if Six even realized she realized she was a woman.

For now, she just rubs her arm... "You told Rex before that... it's best to keep people at a distance, so that they don't get caught in the crossfire. So that they aren't hurt or killed... because of you."

Yeah. She feels she said way too much...

"But he never said 'no', did he?" Six accused. "I know I wouldn't have."

He wasn't being fair to the better man and he knew it. However, he figured he had a right to be. The better man was simply another shade of him, so--in the end--he was just being harsh on himself.

...Or was he? He and that other self were like two entirely different people.

He wondered if Rex ever had trouble with that. The kid had lost five years, but he'd been given a completely fresh start with people who didn't know him, people who'd known what an amazing person he was by his current merits not on what they'd remembered about him.

No, he wasn't being fair to the old Six and Holiday knew it.

"He never said 'yes', either."

... Did that really just come out of her mouth. She breathes out through her nose, closing her eyes. Why did this had to happen? And why to him, of ALL the people out there?

Now, she's just going to rub her temple. Another long day.

"So he left you dangling."

Six sighed and looked out at the Zoo again. On impulse he punched his reflection in the face, hoping to unleash some of his frustration.

It helped. A little. But it didn't solve the problem any.

He slumped again and turned back to her.

"Might as well get these tests over with."

It's not just about HER! She wanted to SCREAM at him, but... he had his own problems right now. It still hurt, though. Even if she didn't like it, she felt that she had a right to take up for the man that used to be Six. Even if he didn't care for her like that or refused to.

Instead, she stayed silent, quietly walking back to where they were in the first place. Right. Tests.

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