[ Now, Susie can count the times sheās been called āprettyā or has had her appearance complimented by someone who isnāt Legion all on one hand. Steve, of all people, doing it not once, but twice in the span of the same fifteen minutes is like experiencing whiplash; itās enough to snap her head back on her neck with shock. She reads the message over a few times just to let it sink in.
And even then, she still thinks heās setting her up for a huge humiliation. ]
[ Actually Steve's always thought she was cute. There's not too many normal teens around in these parts, but even if there were Susie with her loud, pink hair and her huge braces laced grin actually still stands out compared to most other girls around here.
I mean she can still be annoying as fuck, and it's not like he's fantasizing about making out with her against a locker when she's jabbing her ruler in his guts. But when she's chill, she's not that bad.]
Since when, what? Have I found you pretty?
I guess... Since I first got here. Cute hair, nice smile, is biologically human? Check, check, and check. Hell if you were nicer to me, I'd probably be crushing.
[ Not ten minutes later is Steve sliding up through the fog into Susie's DMs Ormond resorts borders. And then he walks up to the building, face completely calm and meets Susie inside, the door was unlocked.]
I thought this might be better in person.
listen, you canāt just use the same lines that you use on billy, gosh
[ Well, it also helps that thereās a giant hole in one wall, so Susie isnāt too fussed when Steve shows up. Sheās sitting on the first landing of the stairs with her legs dangling off the edge between the balusters, phone in hand, mask off. When she sees Steve just waltz right in like he owns the place, she cocks a brow at him. ]
ā¦That was fast. Did you run here or were you already skulking around in our territory?
[ Steve considering knocking on the one piece of wood sticking out from that hole in the wall, but decided against it. ]
Sometimes I get bored. And I go around to other realms when Killers are gone, beats the hell out of being in the forest all the time. Speaking of, the rest of Legion here, or do we have the place all to ourselves, Pink?
[ He saunters in while talking, looking slightly up at her while she's on the stair landing. She's unmasked, which is rare, but it means he can admire the fact that she just looks like a regular teenage girl. A cute one. He's in his casual wear, and it's actually clean for once, so he looks better than 90% of time she sees him in trials too, despite his hair being just a little more shaggy without the hairspray. ]
[ At that answer, Susie presses her lips together tightly and puts her phone back into her pocket. Then she stands up and crosses her arms over her chest as she looks down at Steve. ]
Kind of dangerous to go wandering around in territory thatās not yours all by yourself. Nobody is that boredā¦
[ Okay, she hasnāt decided if sheās gonna allow his new nickname for her, but there isnāt much to do about it right now. Sheāll save that decision for a trial when he slams her out of her frenzy with a pallet because she didnāt respect wood again. She vaults over the handrailing of the stairs to come down to the first level with Steve, stepping out of the shadows and into the light. ]
Frank and Julie have been around more often lately, but, no, theyāre not here right now. Wheeler and Byers waiting out in the snow for you, Stevie?
[ Steve looks down at his phone, feeling it's vibration in his pants aside from the other vibration in his pants. He smirks and continues speaking out to the dark corner he knows she's in. ]
I'm that bored, besides Joey is cool whenever I come here. Only kills during trials, I think.
[ Really hoping that she's like that too, because he kind of came here because he thinks she's cute, and definitely wants to explore it. ]
Alone too, just the two of us. Which is good, cuz I kinda came here to prove something.
[ Even he's not sure where he's going with this. ]
[ Susie is, of course, the type to only kill during trials and she knows Joey is too, but she doesnāt say that to Steve. She walks over to him, but her eyes are behind him, on the giant hole in the wall where he came from, as if looking for any sign of others. She doesnāt see any though. It seems Steve is telling the truth.
Which sheās about to say when he mentions that heās here to prove something. She swallows thickly at that, knowing exactly what he means. Most of her still truly believes this isnāt Steve being serious, butā¦ Robin has kind of told her otherwise. Susie doesnāt know what to do with that. ]
Proving youād go to ridiculous lengths to add another notch on your belt? Itās not gonna work. Robin already told me this is your thing. A bad habit. Iām not interested in being friends either.
[ He's being completely genuine coming here, wanting to actually get to know Susie and maybe even befriend, maybe more. Maybe he's just coping with losing Cheryl but his belief that Susie is actually pretty cute and pretty nice behind the mask is real.
But she's been talking to Robin? That throws him off, he's not a huge fan of that happening, wanting to protect Robin from all of the fog's dangers. But susie isn't the worst choice. ]
Look I'm not sure what she's said, but I'm sure you can tell Robin is a good person. Like deeply good. So if she trusted you enough to tell her, I'm fine with that. But she's wrong about one thing, it's not about adding notches to my belt. Especially me... thinking... you're cute. [ he definitely takes a breath to say that, it's a lot more real in person than over text but he's here so fuck it. ]
You actually just seem genuinely nice, if not a little hurt sometimes and down on your self. When you're not stabbing me, I think you can be good too. Like Robin. And I ain't friends with Robin to add her to my belt, if you knew our friendship at all, you'd know that. Maybe it'd be the same for us?
[ Well not exactly the same, because if Steve were to pursue something romantic here, he'd want it to be not with a lesbian. ]
[ Susie again presses her lips together in a tight line when Steve reasserts that he thinks sheās cute. But this time, her cheeks flush a hot pink and she regrets having her mask off for this initial encounter. Her embarrassment over being complimented by Steve shows. Her features make her feelings easy to read. Itās too obvious that sheās skeptical because sheās afraid and she doesnāt like feeling vulnerable.
Itās true that Steve has beenā¦ fairly nice to her. At least not immediately antagonistic or spiteful towards her. She justā¦ canāt really seeing a guy like him genuinely interested in her. Heās not like Quentinā humble and modest, kind to a fault. Not like Joey or Billy or Eddie eitherā with a soul naturally attracted to darkness. So whatās he doing here? Why? Why her, when thereās plenty of girls in his league around, including Nancy? ]
I know that. I asked Robin to pull you back because I knew you were justā¦ trying your luck. She said itās your habitā you flirt, you get shot down, and then you just become friends. Thatās what happened with her, because sheās not into guys.
[ Whichā¦ now that heās all but confirmed it, is another point in Steveās favor, honestly. In 1986, his best friend is a lesbian and he apparently knows it. She canāt even call him a bigot. She sighs and pulls her hood down, pink hair loose and flowing out of her hoodie as she does so. Sheās not able to look at Steve in the face anymore. Doing so makes her nervous suddenly and sheās still blushing. ]
If youāre just looking for more friends, you can make them on your own side. Itās less problematic.
[ Her cheeks flush at his words, but all he can do is smile warmly and a bit sheepishly back, it's sweet that she still reacts like that, like a normal teenage girl, which Steve is seeing more and more.
Which is so unlike everyone else in Legion, Frank and Julie can be dicks, especially to him, but it usually feels so...antagonistic, and Susie... well it feels more defensive, like she's protecting herself. Which she might be, according to a recent conversation with Julie. But it just has him feeling empathy for her. ]
I'm not just trying my luck, I swear. Look, we have our differences, we're on the opposite side of...well, whatever the hell's going on, you know? We're supposed to be enemies. But we don't have to be, Julie told me you guys are...forced to do this. Sometimes against your will. Or else.
[ Julie didn't go into much detail, mostly just implying that Trapper and the Hag used to be normal, until the Entity got it's hooks in them. Literally. ]
I just want to get to know you, give you a chance. I mean, hell, you haven't killed me yet and I'm standing here like a juicy steak looking all like appetizing and stuff. I think there's good in you. And Joey. I'd be telling him the same thing if he were around. Probably not that he's like... you know.
[ How many times can he imply that he thinks Susie is cute before it gets weird? ]
[ Well, this is uncharted territory for Susie. She's never had someone tell her she's cute this many times in one sitting before, so it's probably getting more and more obvious that she doesn't really know how to navigate the situation. Rejection is difficult, but acceptance is too, because Steve's readings on her rude remarks are spot-on: it is defensive. Susie feels like she can't trust this, like Steve is only going to end up hurting her, so in an attempt to save herself the trouble, she's just going to keep trying to push him away. ]
Give me a chance for what? I don't need any favors from you, Steve.
[ Who knew he was this persistent though? She would have guessed he would have given up by now. She gives another sigh, exasperated, her act of not being the least bit interested in Steve back starting to take its toll on her. She's getting fatigue now, but her voice is still stern when she talks. ]
No, the Entity didn't give us a choice about being here or doing this. We wandered into this place. Some killers made a deal with the Entity after suffering their more painful, horrible, worst days. I don't care about killing outside of trials. I do it when I have to, but it's not fun for me.
[ She doesn't go on to elaborate on the "or else" part of whatever Julie told him. Frankly, she likes to pretend that part doesn't happen unless it's Julie or Joey she's talking to. She's told Quentin about it, briefly, but no gory details for him either and she'd rather suffer more torture sessions with the Entity before telling him anything else about them. ]
Killing is... exhausting. In so many ways. You can't understand what it's like.
I'm not trying to do you a favor. Unless that helps my case at all? I just came here to prove a point that you're flat our refusing to see.
[ But he's stubborn so he stays put. She'll see. ]
That sucks, Suze, and I'm sorry. I really am. We're both stuck in this shit, together. Not that I wasn't constantly running and fighting shit back home...
[ He can empathize more than she thinks he can for sure. He hears the sadness in her voice, maybe the want for something more here? Than just the senseless violence they're forced to live and relive here, ]
You know. I might know more about it than you think, Susie. Being here in this other dimension or whatever the hell it is? Not even new for me. Neither is the killing or being killed. Watching friends bleed or get hurt. Losing loved ones. The only thing that's nice here is... is that it's not permanent. Everything else about this goddamn place, it sucks. Hard. I'm sure we can both empathize with each other. No one here is having a good time. Killer or Survivor. Stupid labels anyway, you don't look like a killer right now. You just look like a normal girl. A girl I'd be friends with, one I'd want to know better. With nice hair.
[ Susie's pink lips frown deeply and her brows stitch together the more Steve talks. She stares at the floor, not at him, what he's saying resonating with her. She's heard just enough about their world from Robin and Billy both by now that she knows none of them have really had it easy there. They've had to deal with things Susie couldn't even imagine before ending up in the Fog and the very real consequences of making the wrong choice there is, ultimately, what led to Billy suffering like he did. If that happened to him, then she knows what Steve says about having witnessed a lot of suffering and horrific things is true. He doesn't need to elaborate. She believes him.
But that just really reinforces her idea that this is just more bad news. It saddens her to think that he'd seen a lot of death already before waking up in the Fog and she doesn't want to subject him to more by getting close to her. If he wakes up and realizes the kind of person she really is, there's no way he'd forgive that or stick around. The whole thing is enough to make Susie want to just cry and how upset and scared the situation makes her is enough to make her chin tremble once before she clenches her jaw to make it stop, enough to make hot tears sting at her eyes before she furiously blinks them back. ]
[ It's after that banger of a speech that he looks up again at Suze, trying not to cry and failing, still blushing, but now Steve's not sure if the redness is leftover from his compliments or the harsh reality he just laid out for her.
He's not even sure what exactly is going through her head right now, but he walks towards the stairs, towards her, letting confidence take over and his brain have the backseat. Not exactly new territory for him, but it's worked in the past so it'll work now. He hopes.
He reaches her quickly, his pace kind of brisk to get to her. He shows his hands the whole way up, no surprises, just him. His eyes concerned, but predominantly caring. And he's looking at her, like really looking at her. And he just slowly reaches his hand out to hers, if she'll let him and pulls her into him, for a hug. ]
It's ok. Susie. I mean it. I want to be here. Now will you please believe me?
[ She could really do with less of his speeches. They're annoying. This one just happened to also hit its mark, which kind of makes it more annoying. When Steve rushes to her, she does flinch backwards a little, surprised by the movement, as though he's the more dangerous one of the two of them. It all happens so fast-- his hand taking hers, the space between them closing, his arms wrapping around her... Susie honestly just freezes up, not resisting less because she initially accepts his comforting, and more because she simply doesn't know how to respond. It's not really even until he actually speaks to her, murmuring soothingly into her ear while he holds her tight, that the tension in her smaller frame begins to melt away.
She still doesn't answer Steve, but she does press her face into his chest, her breathing harsh as she squeezes her eyes shut fiercely and her fingers clinging to his clothes. A sort of acceptance, even if Susie can't say the words herself. Maybe she's just tired of fighting. She doesn't know why she lets him in like this. Steve's directness with his feelings and in how he goes about getting what he wants is a whole new problem she's never faced before, far more used to much blurrier communication. Maybe he just blindsided her with his blunt honesty. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
no subject
no subject
sauve Steve engaged.
If it's stupid you can tell me to fuck off but I don't really have much in the way of bartering to make it up, especially without my hairspray.
You are actually really pretty, and you have nice hair. That's why I thought you took it.
broā¦
And even then, she still thinks heās setting her up for a huge humiliation. ]
Since when?
and you thought i was a coward ;)
I mean she can still be annoying as fuck, and it's not like he's fantasizing about making out with her against a locker when she's jabbing her ruler in his guts. But when she's chill, she's not that bad.]
Since when, what? Have I found you pretty?
I guess... Since I first got here. Cute hair, nice smile, is biologically human? Check, check, and check. Hell if you were nicer to me, I'd probably be crushing.
i underestimated the steeb.
Yeah, no, itās definitely a setup. ]
Riiightā¦ Well, prove it then.
[ An impossible dare issued, but Susie knows itās an impossible dare and thatās exactly why she said it. ]
people always underestimate him, but things ALWAYS come up steeb
[ he is willing to prove it after all. ]
good luck from here on out then steeb
[ Sheās not saying he should kiss her or something. But sheās also not not saying it. ]
he dont need luck, but susie might need chapstick :*
oh boy oh boy
yeah it's him, don't cream your pants.
Susie's DMsOrmond resorts borders. And then he walks up to the building, face completely calm and meets Susie inside, the door was unlocked.]I thought this might be better in person.
listen, you canāt just use the same lines that you use on billy, gosh
ā¦That was fast. Did you run here or were you already skulking around in our territory?
but they worked on both, didn't they? ;)
Sometimes I get bored. And I go around to other realms when Killers are gone, beats the hell out of being in the forest all the time. Speaking of, the rest of Legion here, or do we have the place all to ourselves, Pink?
[ He saunters in while talking, looking slightly up at her while she's on the stair landing. She's unmasked, which is rare, but it means he can admire the fact that she just looks like a regular teenage girl. A cute one. He's in his casual wear, and it's actually clean for once, so he looks better than 90% of time she sees him in trials too, despite his hair being just a little more shaggy without the hairspray. ]
š¤ canāt speak for billy any but
Kind of dangerous to go wandering around in territory thatās not yours all by yourself. Nobody is that boredā¦
[ Okay, she hasnāt decided if sheās gonna allow his new nickname for her, but there isnāt much to do about it right now. Sheāll save that decision for a trial when he slams her out of her frenzy with a pallet because she didnāt respect wood again. She vaults over the handrailing of the stairs to come down to the first level with Steve, stepping out of the shadows and into the light. ]
Frank and Julie have been around more often lately, but, no, theyāre not here right now. Wheeler and Byers waiting out in the snow for you, Stevie?
that video LMAOOOOOO
aside from the other vibration in his pants. He smirks and continues speaking out to the dark corner he knows she's in. ]I'm that bored, besides Joey is cool whenever I come here. Only kills during trials, I think.
[ Really hoping that she's like that too, because he kind of came here because he thinks she's cute, and definitely wants to explore it. ]
Alone too, just the two of us. Which is good, cuz I kinda came here to prove something.
[ Even he's not sure where he's going with this. ]
no respecting pallets!!!
Which sheās about to say when he mentions that heās here to prove something. She swallows thickly at that, knowing exactly what he means. Most of her still truly believes this isnāt Steve being serious, butā¦ Robin has kind of told her otherwise. Susie doesnāt know what to do with that. ]
Proving youād go to ridiculous lengths to add another notch on your belt? Itās not gonna work. Robin already told me this is your thing. A bad habit. Iām not interested in being friends either.
Re: no respecting pallets!!!
But she's been talking to Robin? That throws him off, he's not a huge fan of that happening, wanting to protect Robin from all of the fog's dangers. But susie isn't the worst choice. ]
Look I'm not sure what she's said, but I'm sure you can tell Robin is a good person. Like deeply good. So if she trusted you enough to tell her, I'm fine with that. But she's wrong about one thing, it's not about adding notches to my belt. Especially me... thinking... you're cute. [ he definitely takes a breath to say that, it's a lot more real in person than over text but he's here so fuck it. ]
You actually just seem genuinely nice, if not a little hurt sometimes and down on your self. When you're not stabbing me, I think you can be good too. Like Robin. And I ain't friends with Robin to add her to my belt, if you knew our friendship at all, you'd know that. Maybe it'd be the same for us?
[ Well not exactly the same, because if Steve were to pursue something romantic here, he'd want it to be not with a lesbian. ]
no subject
Itās true that Steve has beenā¦ fairly nice to her. At least not immediately antagonistic or spiteful towards her. She justā¦ canāt really seeing a guy like him genuinely interested in her. Heās not like Quentinā humble and modest, kind to a fault. Not like Joey or Billy or Eddie eitherā with a soul naturally attracted to darkness. So whatās he doing here? Why? Why her, when thereās plenty of girls in his league around, including Nancy? ]
I know that. I asked Robin to pull you back because I knew you were justā¦ trying your luck. She said itās your habitā you flirt, you get shot down, and then you just become friends. Thatās what happened with her, because sheās not into guys.
[ Whichā¦ now that heās all but confirmed it, is another point in Steveās favor, honestly. In 1986, his best friend is a lesbian and he apparently knows it. She canāt even call him a bigot. She sighs and pulls her hood down, pink hair loose and flowing out of her hoodie as she does so. Sheās not able to look at Steve in the face anymore. Doing so makes her nervous suddenly and sheās still blushing. ]
If youāre just looking for more friends, you can make them on your own side. Itās less problematic.
no subject
Which is so unlike everyone else in Legion, Frank and Julie can be dicks, especially to him, but it usually feels so...antagonistic, and Susie... well it feels more defensive, like she's protecting herself. Which she might be, according to a recent conversation with Julie. But it just has him feeling empathy for her. ]
I'm not just trying my luck, I swear. Look, we have our differences, we're on the opposite side of...well, whatever the hell's going on, you know? We're supposed to be enemies. But we don't have to be, Julie told me you guys are...forced to do this. Sometimes against your will. Or else.
[ Julie didn't go into much detail, mostly just implying that Trapper and the Hag used to be normal, until the Entity got it's hooks in them. Literally. ]
I just want to get to know you, give you a chance. I mean, hell, you haven't killed me yet and I'm standing here like a juicy steak looking all like appetizing and stuff. I think there's good in you. And Joey. I'd be telling him the same thing if he were around. Probably not that he's like... you know.
[ How many times can he imply that he thinks Susie is cute before it gets weird? ]
no subject
Give me a chance for what? I don't need any favors from you, Steve.
[ Who knew he was this persistent though? She would have guessed he would have given up by now. She gives another sigh, exasperated, her act of not being the least bit interested in Steve back starting to take its toll on her. She's getting fatigue now, but her voice is still stern when she talks. ]
No, the Entity didn't give us a choice about being here or doing this. We wandered into this place. Some killers made a deal with the Entity after suffering their more painful, horrible, worst days. I don't care about killing outside of trials. I do it when I have to, but it's not fun for me.
[ She doesn't go on to elaborate on the "or else" part of whatever Julie told him. Frankly, she likes to pretend that part doesn't happen unless it's Julie or Joey she's talking to. She's told Quentin about it, briefly, but no gory details for him either and she'd rather suffer more torture sessions with the Entity before telling him anything else about them. ]
Killing is... exhausting. In so many ways. You can't understand what it's like.
no subject
[ But he's stubborn so he stays put. She'll see. ]
That sucks, Suze, and I'm sorry. I really am. We're both stuck in this shit, together. Not that I wasn't constantly running and fighting shit back home...
[ He can empathize more than she thinks he can for sure. He hears the sadness in her voice, maybe the want for something more here? Than just the senseless violence they're forced to live and relive here, ]
You know. I might know more about it than you think, Susie. Being here in this other dimension or whatever the hell it is? Not even new for me. Neither is the killing or being killed. Watching friends bleed or get hurt. Losing loved ones. The only thing that's nice here is... is that it's not permanent. Everything else about this goddamn place, it sucks. Hard. I'm sure we can both empathize with each other. No one here is having a good time. Killer or Survivor. Stupid labels anyway, you don't look like a killer right now. You just look like a normal girl. A girl I'd be friends with, one I'd want to know better. With nice hair.
[ He means every word. ]
no subject
But that just really reinforces her idea that this is just more bad news. It saddens her to think that he'd seen a lot of death already before waking up in the Fog and she doesn't want to subject him to more by getting close to her. If he wakes up and realizes the kind of person she really is, there's no way he'd forgive that or stick around. The whole thing is enough to make Susie want to just cry and how upset and scared the situation makes her is enough to make her chin tremble once before she clenches her jaw to make it stop, enough to make hot tears sting at her eyes before she furiously blinks them back. ]
no subject
He's not even sure what exactly is going through her head right now, but he walks towards the stairs, towards her, letting confidence take over and his brain have the backseat. Not exactly new territory for him, but it's worked in the past so it'll work now. He hopes.
He reaches her quickly, his pace kind of brisk to get to her. He shows his hands the whole way up, no surprises, just him. His eyes concerned, but predominantly caring. And he's looking at her, like really looking at her. And he just slowly reaches his hand out to hers, if she'll let him and pulls her into him, for a hug. ]
It's ok. Susie. I mean it. I want to be here. Now will you please believe me?
no subject
She still doesn't answer Steve, but she does press her face into his chest, her breathing harsh as she squeezes her eyes shut fiercely and her fingers clinging to his clothes. A sort of acceptance, even if Susie can't say the words herself. Maybe she's just tired of fighting. She doesn't know why she lets him in like this. Steve's directness with his feelings and in how he goes about getting what he wants is a whole new problem she's never faced before, far more used to much blurrier communication. Maybe he just blindsided her with his blunt honesty. ]
(no subject)