maskormenace | 2. (ANTICIPATORY COPING) (VOICE --> VIDEO)

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2. (ANTICIPATORY COPING) (VOICE --> VIDEO)

While I am not usually one to wax the philosophical so publicly, I must admit there’s a sort of poetry inherent to existentialism. Disorientation in the face of absurd, incongruent, maybe even violent sequences -- well, we have other names for that, too, don’t we? The experience, the circumstance.

[Chilton flips the communicator to video, showcasing only his clean-shaven face. His expression is mostly neutral, accented only with a wry halfway smile and an arched eyebrow. The scene glimpsed behind him is the Porter Lab in Cape Canaveral. This angle hides the cane that Chilton now relies on.]

The consequence -- traumatic. And if we consider the responsibility of the individual to create meaning for himself, well, then perhaps our reactions can be as predictable as clockwork.

[The camera zooms in, focusing on Abel’s face, which is fairly pale and lacking his usual facial hair in favor of stubble.

There’s the faint shadow of a shoe print on his left cheek.]

Don't you agree, Abel?

[Gideon's eyes drift upward, expression irritated but preoccupied, as he props himself up on his arms; his lower body isn't in the camera's view. There's a fork in his hand that is dangerously close to Chilton's leg.]

Can be, provided nothing interferes to change those natural consequences in the first place. An individual may create meaning for themselves in an ideal world… in the real world, fate waits behind unmarked doors.

Put that away, Frederick.

[Chilton, instead, slides the camera focal point over to Gideon's missing leg. In a few minutes, Gideon will be equipped with a Government-standard wheelchair. But until then:]

Someone help the fatalist here, please. He's on his last leg.

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[Oh, there's Chilton. Gabriel might have been a little concerned after the last post. Not enough to go look, but still.]

I don't think I understood much of that. The last bit was a good one, though.

[It takes Kenzi a few moments to find any kind of composure to even start up a response. She even starts the video a little too early so there's just Kenzi staring silently at her comm before she realizes she hit the button. She mutters a soft curse then sucks in a breath. Right now she'd love to punch Chilton in the face but she's in the pub so she can't.

There's so much she could say but she's going with:] Jerk.

[Kate knows they left. She knows because she saw it. She saw Chilton vanish, life flickering away, and she knows that he probably should have died. Probably, but did not. In this instance, "should" is only a word that is appropriate because the injury that Dr. Abel Gideon left him with should have spelled out that demise, not because he deserved it. As infuriating as he happens to be, she doesn't think he deserves the fate he underwent.

But then, there's Gideon. The missing leg. He was not like that before. She knows as much. But she also knows he went to.

Her eyes study Chilton on the video. Is this some kind of revenge? Kate doesn't discount it.]

What. [There's no peak to her tone. There's no emphasis.] Happened. [It's obvious, despite the video function, that she's not exactly looking to have a conversation where she readily looks at Chilton or even Gideon.

She does, however, require answers. Especially now.]

What happened to him?!

[him, obviously, being Gideon. Hans couldn't care less about Chilton, but Gideon? Gideon was interesting. And this was worrying.]

I'm glad to find you value wordplay over a man's discomfort.

[Well, so does Chilton, Gabe. In this case especially.]

[Chilton frowns at the screen -- and glances to Abel, still on the floor. And back to the screen.]

You're not talking to him, are you?

[That long staring preemptive of her word rather gave it away.]

Don't get me wrong, doc. That guy doesn't look like he'll be cartwheeling down the street anytime soon. You did ask for medical assistance though, so you've got him covered.

Why, is he important? Going to tell what went on or you going to write a book and make us wait for the release?

No. I mean you! Vanishing like that and making me worry! Do you know who found the mess? Do you? Spoiler; it was me.

[Looks like she's angry.]

Kate. I remember you. Loquacious as ever, I see.

[The time lapse is jarring. Two sets of memories, one spanning months -- the other, the Heropa-born experiences, they seemed freshly gutted just days before.

He had been gone for some time, but only to his own perspective.]

I was stolen away back to Baltimore. I was -- [No. Not here. This was his fresher slate, the life he could cultivate more strictly to his whims.] -- oh. Do you mean him?

[A glance towards Gideon.]

He seems to be missing a limb. I don't really know how that happened, and he won't make smalltalk on it. I would guess the Ripper was responsible.

[Chilton shifts the camera back to Gideon, zooming in real close to the uneven bloody smear leading up to the missing leg. The robe Gideon wore covered the brutal wound, but contextual clues made it quite clear.]

Are visual aids not sufficient for you, Hans?

[He remembers Hans, too. All those experiences flooded back, staggering his mind for those unrecorded seconds before he took back his communicator.]

It was a very broad question.

[She hesitates. Does she want to ask about the Ripper? That came up in their conversation, but ... it isn't appropriate here.]

You can go on about yourself. Though maybe here isn't the right place. I'd like to meet with you.

[As he sees the smear, Hans can't help but wince slightly.]

I can see that much, [Hans responds, frown on his face, condescension slowly mixing with abject horror in his tone.]

I guess what I meant to say is how did that happen to him?

He is important, yes. A former patient of mine. [His expression broke grimmer; the nonchalance he swayed with was moreso a device of coping than not.]

Abel Gideon had been transferred from my care for a bit.

[It isn't the expression that gives the state of mind away for Gabriel. Chilton loves the sound of his own voice, and that answer? Was extraordinarily short.]

My opinion says that it's unlucky to have others from your world here. It never ends well. Did he deserve it?

[There's a knitting of brow -- and then his eyes widen, his mouth catches its corner in a slip of horror. His office, where Gideon had mutilated him, where he had been so close to a deathly bleeding out.

He knew Gideon must have been angry, having been robbed of his design.]

None of that was my intent.

Congrats on not being dead anymore. We were all super worried. [that is sarcasm]

Your girlfriend almost had, like, seven fucking heart attacks over your stupid ass. [that is, surprisingly, not sarcasm. because she doesn't like Kenzi, but she doesn't like shitty men even more. jerk.]

Meet me? Right now? [He had already been informed of the date, upon arrival. He had already suffered the calmly delivered welcome backs from the Cape Canaveral staff.]

I've only just arrived. I need to -- I ought to get back to my office.

And how am I supposed to know that? Abel Gideon is no longer my responsibility. [There's something metallic in his tone, cold and steely.] Ask him yourself.

[Intense skepticism echoes off his facial expression.]

Girlfriend?

[He hasn't had time to look back, over the Network. That action just bumped up in line, however, concerning his priorities.]

[Edgeworth, by his voice, is clearly stressed, alarmed.]

Sir. Are you all right? Both of you.

Not right now.

[Kate sounds tired at that point. Hell, she even looks tired. But that's been a constant since Thursday evening. It feels like there's almost no catching up.]

Soon. Can you promise me something soon?

[She wonders how much he remembers. He looks different. They both do. But means it little to think that. A shave is a shave, after all.]

I assure you that this isn't a superficial interest.

Edited 2014-04-20 23:43 (UTC)

Considering that you are familiar with each other and apparently arrived at the same time, asking you wasn't that bad an idea.

And I'll wait until he's back on his-- ['back on his feet' oh no, he can't say that, that's offensive?] --until he's fully recovered.

I would consider that an incredibly sound opinion, Gabriel. [There's a hint of a smile now; the comfort of familiar perspective can warm Chilton, even briefly.]

And yes. He did deserve it -- though I'm unfortunately unaware of the context he involved himself in. I imagine such comes from making deals with the devi--

[He stops, only nearly finishing the word. Chilton had said he wondered what bargain Gideon offered Hannibal, to have been wheeled out of that medical hospital.

The parallel of his own bargain, with Lucifer, gleams again in his memory.]

What? Angering someone enough that they'd do what they did? I'm sure it wasn't but you should probably think about what you're fucking doing. [She's one to talk.

As she chastises him the sound of something, many somethings, breaking can be heard off camera. Her gaze flickers to it, her eyes brighter blue than normal if he's paying attention, with a scowl.]

Fuck. [She gets up, carrying the comm with her and moves outside where there's less expensive stuff to break on accident.]

What's her name, the one who looks like a vaguely-adultish scene kid? Showed us your trashed office, expected anyone to care, seemed sincerely disappointed that no one did.

Blood stains are super hard to get out after a few days. You might just want to reupholster the whole thing. It's kind of gross.

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2. (ANTICIPATORY COPING) (VOICE --> VIDEO)

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