Vacationing

[sentryslinger]

[Continuing this thread, in which Spy has convinced Engineer to spend a vacation with him. Fishing, fine dining, and some enemy bonding ensue.


Engineer steps into the elevator, hitting the button for their floor, pulling at his collar to loosen that next button.]

Hey, thanks again for the dinner and the suit. I'll have to put it to use some other time to justify your spendin' money on all this.

Comments

[sentryslinger]

[He sighs.]

I know.

[not_onyourside]

What was your nightmare about?

[sentryslinger]

[He rubs at his arm.]

You ever read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?

[not_onyourside]

Non.

You were dreaming about wizards?

[sentryslinger]

Nah, but there's a fella in the books called the Tin Woodsman. He used to be a man like any of us until his axe got enchanted and he started cuttin' off his limbs. Eventually, he's got nothin' left of himself- not even his heart. And it's then that he realizes he can't feel anything, not even love for the girl he likes.

[not_onyourside]

[Spy's vivid imagination can process many things, but it still takes him a while to connect the dots between a story about a guy made of tin and Engineer.]

I see.

Zhat sounds most unfortunate. What does he do?

[sentryslinger]

Well, he goes to this wizard to ask him for a new one. The point bein' is that he lost so much of himself that he didn't know if he was still a person at all, or where he'd lost himself along the way.

My dream was a little like that.

[not_onyourside]

Zhat sounds horrible. My sympazzies.

[ He hesitates, wondering if he should leave it at that. ]

Ees zhis about your arm?

[sentryslinger]

Yeah, except I had two of 'em. Then legs. Then a body of steel, and nothing left of who I am.

[He shakes his head.]

And after all of that, I just turned on my teammates, like I wasn't even human. Like I couldn't judge right from wrong, and that I'd sold my soul to the devil in the machine.

[not_onyourside]

I like you better like zhis zhan all made of metal. I should zhink you would be cold all zhe time.

[sentryslinger]

I like me better like this, too. A heart made of metal might run forever, but I don't know if I'd trust it with another man's life just yet.

[not_onyourside]

[ He frowns, not liking the "just yet" part. ]

I do not know zhat we were meant to last forever. I imagine zhat would be incredibly lonely.

[sentryslinger]

It would be, but imagine all you could do if ya didn't fear death. Not squabbling for decades, like those men running these companies, but real good, you know?

[not_onyourside]

I do not zhink I would want such power. I would not use eet wisely.

And what I zhink ees good may not be so for ozzers.

[sentryslinger]

Well, better someone like you than most of the Spies I've met. Or Soldier. Or hell, either of our bosses.

[He adjusts his Gunslinger, flexing his fingers again.]

Sorry for wakin' you up.

[not_onyourside]

Eets fine.

[ He crawls back into his own bed, snuggling down into the covers. ]

Eef eet was not zhis eet would be somezzing else. I do not sleep straight zhrough most nights.

[sentryslinger]

[His eyes follow Spy to his bed, stopping at the window and the pounding rain outside for only a second.]

You do sleep like a cat in a room full of rockin' chairs. Nightmares?

[not_onyourside]

Most nights. Ozzer times I wake up and have no idea where I am.

[sentryslinger]

Getcher mind stuck somewhere in the dream, and then you can't get out, huh? I'm guessin' wherever it takes you isn't a good place.

[not_onyourside]

Prison mostly.

Not somezzing I want to relive.

[sentryslinger]

I don't blame ya there, partner.

[He looks down to his hand, his mind turning again. He can't help but want to fix problems- it's just in his nature.]

You ever thought of gettin' yourself a pet?

[not_onyourside]

I have one. A rabbit. His name ees biscotti.

[sentryslinger]

Good. I ain't a doctor, but they say havin' a companion around can help keep ya grounded when you wake up from things like that.

[not_onyourside]

Eets helpful. But eet would be better to simply not have to wake up like zhat een zhe first place.

[sentryslinger]

If you ever find a cure, you can let us in on it.

Maybe you oughtta get somethin' more like a dog. Or a roommate.