(no subject)

[infamousdelsin]

Delsin has been trying not to hover. Liz had been through one hell of a thing, getting those pictures and that weird, creepy dude on the weird, creepy record player. He doesn't want to hover and freak her out, and he doesn't want to stay too distant and make her think that what he saw or heard actually scared him off. Because it hasn't. It really hasn't.

He and Liz share an apartment building. They're floors apart, and it's not like it's any hardship to go see her, but . . . He doesn't need to stay glued to her side, right? He can just . . . be available for her. That's what he keeps telling himself. With Spark to take care of, it's easier. Having something else to focus on takes his mind off of how worried Delsin is about her, but it may be telling that he's having an issue taking care if the dog after all. 

So, finally, he tells himself to man up and go check on her. If she doesn't want his company, he'll politely back off. But he just needs to make sure she's okay and maybe help her take her mind off things. He doesn't know. He just needs to do something.

Before he goes, he takes Spark down to the patch of grass just outside the building to encourage him to empty his bladder (and maybe more). It's not an easy visit, like normal, but he has treats, now, per Coraline's suggestion, so Spark is learning that when he does certain things, he's rewarded for them. Peeing on the grass is one of those things.

After he finally goes, Delsin brings him back into the building and tucks him into the bathroom. He's lined the floor with fresh newspaper and tossed in a few toys to keep Spark occupied and away from Delsin's things. Then, finally, he heads up the stairs to Liz's apartment. 

(He hopes Booker isn't home.)

Comments

[wipeawaythedebt]

Today's bounty was a fighter and all Booker wants is a tumbler of whiskey. Maybe the whole bottle. He's got a bruise on his jaw, scraped skin on his knuckles, and for the first time since arriving in this crazy place, someone actually shot at him. Hell, if it wasn't for that shield thing the Lutece's put on him, they might have hit him. All in all, this hasn't been the best of days and he's actually looking forward to letting Elizabeth fuss over his bruises and scrapes. He has to admit, having her study to be a nurse has been useful more than once.

What he doesn't want is to walk into his apartment and see sweet little Elizabeth in the arms of some man, which is what actually happens. He's too tired to corral his shock and anger and before he even has time to think the action through, he's grabbing for the guy to pull him off.

"Get away from her!"

[infamousdelsin]

Delsin yelps in a supremely manly fashion when suddenly hands are yanking him roughly away from Liz. He doesn't squeak. Really.

He lets go so he doesn't accidentally yank Liz along with him — he doesn't want to hurt her, and this guy isn't exactly gentle. A thousand different scenarios rush through his head in the first few seconds: burglar, murderer, rapist, thief (which is a burglar, but it bears repeating), roommate, possible abduction, maybe a roommate. All the same, Delsin reacts instinctively.

He bursts into smoke to escape the grasp, and reforms a few feet away. He has one hand up, but it's not innocently: he's keeping aim on the dude in case he makes a move for Liz.

"What the hell?" he demands as the smoke settles back against his skin and disappears.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth realized far too late. Booker was already shoving him away. There was a moment she just stared in horror before she realized she had to step in before it escalated.

"No, no, no! Booker, stop!" she exclaimed, immediately getting between the two of them the moment she saw Delsin's reaction, standing in front of Delsin. She had no idea if Booker had any stores left to use Vigors, but all she could see was him reacting to what Delsin could do, and she didn't want either of them hurt because they were both protective of her. "I know him, it's okay. It's okay, alright?"

She hoped that was enough to cool tempers down at least long enough to talk. She was going to introduce him to Booker eventually, but this was the worst possible way it could have happened.

[wipeawaythedebt]

He doesn't have much by way of vigors left, his last bottle of salts is almost completely gone, but he's got enough to make his hand spark with electricity. He's maybe got a blast or two, but right now, he's running a bluff. And then there's that gun tucked away in his shoulder holster under his jacket, that can come in pretty handy, too, if he needs it. In fact, he's all set to pull it when Elizabeth jumps between them and he has to take a step back to avoid knocking her over.

"Alright? Who the hell does he think he is, taking advantage of you like that?!" On some level that Booker's ignoring, he knows that he's overreacting. That things are different here and maybe he shouldn't be treating Elizabeth like she's a kid. But the anger and over-protectiveness that's held him together from Columbia to here won't go away and all he wants to do is haul off an punch the kid in the face for daring to kiss her without a proper courting.

[infamousdelsin]

"Taking advantage?" Delsin echoes incredulously. "It was a kiss! I didn't even use tongue!" It's probably not his best response ever, but Delsin's on edge: it looks like he's not the only person in the room with powers, so he's trying to figure out the best place to duck if this guy starts shooting.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth felt the blush rise up on her cheeks at his protest.

"Delsin, please," she winced. She knew it was the exact opposite of what Booker would ever want to hear, even if she knew he wasn't taking advantage of her no matter what he may or may not have done. Her attention solely on Booker afterwards, she gave him a look. "Booker, I am not a child. He wasn't taking advantage of me, I - I've wanted this to happen. For some time now."

It was likely the worst way of admitting as such, and she was a little happy she wasn't actually looking at him.

"Not that I should have to explain any of this to you. I can care for whoever I like without your permission and certainly without these outbursts out of you," she continued, her hard tone indicating her sharp flare of anger. It was rare she got this way, but this was absolutely out of line. He had honestly ruined what had been a nice moment. "So stop. Right now. We can talk like adults or Delsin and I are leaving."

It was no empty threat. As much as she wanted Booker to like him and cared about his opinion, she wouldn't have him speaking down to her in such a manner and certainly would not let him hurt Delsin. Even if he could protect himself, she didn't want a brawl to take place in the middle of the apartment.

[wipeawaythedebt]

Gritting his teeth with a growl, Booker stays where he is, glaring at the boy and breathing heavy as he tries to pull himself back from the brink. This whole situation is the last thing he ever wanted, and he's equal parts fury and embarrassment and he needs a drink. This whole thing is wrong, this whole world is wrong. Every time he thinks he's getting a hold on things, something like this happens to make him wish he's back home, where kids like Elizabeth, at least the good ones, just don't do things like this. She might be an adult in years, but she's just a kid in experience. Doesn't know what people do, what they're capable of and this... this...

"Who the hell is he? Why haven't I seen him around? When did you meet him, where?"

[infamousdelsin]

"Hey, relax," Delsin says, trying not to snap. "And ease up with the Spanish Inquisition, will you? I'm happy to tell you everything you want to know, but just fucking chill, Dude!" He doesn't want to get into a fight anymore than Elizabeth wants them to, but dammit, he's not going to stand here and be brow-beaten by some asshole, either.

[cagedlamb]

They were both angry. Elizabeth tried not to look as exasperated as she was about the whole thing. She understood why Delsin was angry, but she also knew that the situation needed to be diffused before anyone could actually talk.

"Delsin, this is the person who is the only reason I ever got away from the people who locked me away," she said, glancing behind her at him pointedly. She hoped it would explain why he was so protective, as much as she was angry at him for reacting in such an overblown manner. Looking back to Booker, because she knew what was coming from being open about that, she continued, "Yes, he knows about that. He's the one who helped me when those things from home showed up I told you about. I've known him for a few months when he showed up in the city, just like us. And with this reaction, do you really blame me for not introducing you immediately? This is exactly why I didn't know how to talk to you about this."

[wipeawaythedebt]

Booker knows exactly what she's talking about, he's seen it all and more. She's heard Comstock's plans, but she doesn't know exactly how far the bastard went, finding some kind somewhere to pass off as his own. No, she hasn't heard that part yet and he's still not sure he should be telling her about it. He hasn't. And he doesn't want to. Who does that to a kid?

"You open your mouth and talk about it, Elizabeth." Delsin might as well not be there anymore for all the attention Booker plays him. "Hey, I met someone today, Booker, maybe you ought to meet him. That easy. Hell, you've never been shy about telling me things before, why the hell start now?"

[infamousdelsin]

"Maybe because she thought you'd try to kill me," Delsin offers sarcastically. "Oh wait, you did!" He hadn't gotten far with it, granted: Liz had broken it up before either of them could shoot, so to speak. But the dude had definitely whipped up a fancy lightning attack that Delsin is pretty sure would have knocked him down for a minute, anyway.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth knew exactly why she had not spoken of him. Things had been different from very early on when she had been around him, and she hadn't truly known what to make of it all. She certainly hadn't been ready to talk to Booker about it, and it was a confession she did not want to make because she had to. Though the thought brought back the visible blush to her cheeks, her expression remained stern. Delsin voiced exactly what her problem was with all of this, why Booker would have never been the first one she was going to turn to to figure all of this out.

"You're acting as though you think I'm required to tell you who I spend my days with. I assure you I'm not. If I don't want to talk to you or if I'm waiting to speak to you, that's something you're going to have to accept," she responded, practically bristling at the fact he was acting as though she was at fault for not telling him something she was figuring out herself. She would not stand for it. "You know I am grateful for everything you've done for me, but if that's some sort of issue to you, if all this is what I am to expect any time you don't approve of something, then we are going to need to have a serious conversation about our living arrangement."

It felt a little too much like he was attempting to control her and she would not tolerate that. Never again, not from anyone.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"What I'm not allowed to care? About your safety? About who you're spending your time with? Dammit, Elizabeth, you're... you're all I've got and I'll be damned if I don't look out for you somehow." There he's said it. Whatever that therapy's done for him, he can at least admit that much. She's all he's got that's decent in this world or any and despite how he met her, he'll die to protect her, this strange girl from the tower.

[infamousdelsin]

Delsin can't even be mad at that. Because it's not very different from how he feels, and shit. Now he feels bad, for being an accidental secret. (He doesn't blame Liz, seriously, but he does kinda feel bad.) He presses his lips into a thin line.

"Hey, Man, that's all I wanna do, too," he says sincerely. (Maybe it's not all he wants to do. Kissing Liz was pretty nice.) "Not that you can't take care of yourself," he adds to her, "but . . . I don't mind sticking around and helping." He winks at her, smiling small.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth understood he worried. She understood, but she couldn't have this. There needed to be some boundaries, or else she was going to always fear this any time she did something he didn't particularly like.

"I know. I know you worry. There's just are things I am going to need to work out myself before I voice it - it's my right to. What doesn't help is you coming in here attacking people without a moment's pause to ask what's going on. That's not how you show you care, Booker, nor does it make me feel like I can come to you without fear of an overreaction," she explained, though her words did have the sharpness they had before. She understood, on some level, that he didn't really didn't understand how to express things. She hoped he'd understand where she was coming from now.

And she hoped he actually listened to Delsin, too, because she did not doubt for a moment he spoke the truth, and the brief smile she shot him was shy. She knew he was trying, too, and she appreciated it.

[wipeawaythedebt]

Frustrated, Booker turns on his heel and heads to the kitchen, pulling a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard and a glass from another. As angry as he is, he still has the wits to know that drinking from the bottle right now isn't the impression he wants to go for. He's got nothing tangible to hold onto except the glass in his hand and he can't understand why he can hear the Luteces' in his head, laughing smugly at some joke he just doesn't understand.

So he speaks without thinking, "You don't trust me, Elizabeth, don't want to know what I think, that's fine. You're not the first. And maybe you should get your own place, you've been on about it enough and I won't have to wonder who you're letting into my home." He knows this isn't the way to deal with things, but everything in him wants to shut down and his head's about to split wide-open.

[infamousdelsin]

"Whoa, whoa," Delsin says, hands going up. "You're seriously going there? Is that what's happening right now?" Delsin liked this a lot better when they were about to shoot each other, he decides. This business of possibly kicking Liz out over him is a little overkill, and he's not going to stand for that.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth had hoped he'd understand. That he certainly never told her anything himself, so the fact that it had come to this - that he couldn't understand why there were things she needed time to figure out herself - felt like an end to her. She wasn't going to argue if he refused to listen.

"Delsin, stop," she said as soon as he began to try to plead her case, though her eyes were on Booker then. Though she felt hurt that he wouldn't listen, she'd never let him see it. No, her voice was remarkably even despite the turmoil bubbling underneath. "If that's absolutely all you got out of what I just said to you, if you really think what I said means I have no faith in you, then fine. I will find someplace else to live and be moved out of your apartment as soon as I can."

If he could not even bring himself to admit this was a shared space, perhaps he never really considered her an equal - a friend - even as he spoke of caring about her. It hurt to know he saw all she had done, all she'd accomplished despite everything, and still treated her as though she could not stand on her own two feet. Perhaps this was for the best.

"Delsin and I are leaving," she added, because she knew the longer she stayed, the less likely she was going to hold herself together. "I'll be back for Oliver once I find someone to stay with until I can acquire my own apartment again."

She would not ask Delsin. Even she knew it was inappropriate and that she'd be uncomfortable herself in such a situation. Sybil, perhaps, or one of her other friends. She would figure it out, even if she had to sleep a floor for a little while.

[wipeawaythedebt]

Booker tells himself he doesn't really care. She goes storming out with her... her beau and he downs his whiskey like a man drowning and he tells himself it doesn't matter. There's been nothing but trouble in his life since he took that job, people trying to kill him, falling into this strange world, and he wants nothing more than his old life back where he only had to worry about which game to play to cover his debts from the last one. She's the reason he's been trying to straight and narrow, with her gone, why fight his inner demons?

He's lost her, not that he ever thinks he really had her and he tells himself he doesn't care while his head splits and he can here that bastard Lutece, Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt.

"FUCK THE DEBT!"

And just before he passes out, his glass shatters on the wall where he throws it.