[Oh hey, Rey is feeding the fish. At least that's something good, but he can't help but wonder why she'd call him home about something important, only to make chit-chat. At least that chit-chat is about a topic that does give him concern.]
I'm just keeping an eye on him, trying to figure out what it is that's happened back in the Commonwealth, and more importantly, what it is he has against me... other than the obvious.
[But the way Danse had spoken, looked at him, attacked him -- it was personal. But why? What is it he doesn't know?]
Don't spy. If anything comes up that I think you should know, I'll tell you -- but I don't want you to have anyone tailing after him anymore. Least of all Shadow.
[Yeah, that was a post even Nick couldn't ignore, especially given the way Shadow had been arguing with Maketh. Shadow might not be with the Guard in an official capacity anymore, but Nick isn't about to let him talk to one of their leaders like that, certainly not after all she does for the city.
He sighs, his tone more resigned.]
I told him to keep his distance, but he can be a bit of a loose cannon. I get the feeling Danse is never going to be okay with me, no matter what I do.
[The situation is more similar than she realizes, but right now she understands that things are different from her own situation, not knowing what Danse is himself right now. Sigh.]
And if it's one thing I know from personal experience, it's that it isn't always a good idea to keep poking a hornet's nest. [Sans has learned that the hard way from Rey.] These things take time.
[She certainly did come around. She's no Danse though, even if neither of them realizes just how similar they all are.]
It might make a difference that that hornet's nest hated me before I ever even learned his name. He's got some personal beef with me -- not just synths, but me, Nick Valentine -- and I just don't know what it is.
And if that's the case, then you're less likely to find out why from someone like Shadow. Not only is he unstable, he's hard to be likely one to get any answers out of someone like Danse.
[And Rey doubts that that is information that Danse would leave just lying around. She isn't trying to gain his trust for Nick's answers, though -- she's doing what she can for both of them.]
Like I said, I just wanted Shadow to keep an eye on him. Make sure he didn't go ballistic on someone else.
[Like Shadow would be one to talk about that. Nick's brow furrows as he steps further inside, sliding out of his coat to hang it on the rack.]
I get it that Danse is an acquaintance of yours, given the guy called me, of all people, to find out if you were all right after that bout with Rosie, but what is it that really brought this on? Is it just Danse? Or is it something more with Shadow?
And relying on someone who's just as prone to going ballistic isn't a much better alternative.
[She folds her arms over her chest, her expression screwing into an uncomfortable one.]
Sorry, but I'm not going to trust the judgment of someone who got pissed that I didn't incapacitate you over "letting" you go on with a bum leg for a while.
[A fact that she wasn't all too happy with herself, but that was Nick's choice. Nick, who specifically told her not to go to the gods for his sake. Even if she didn't agree with it, it was what he wanted. That meant more to her than anything else.]
[Which is why Nick has no doubt Shadow actually did just that. He knows Shadow has a good heart under all that, but damn if he doesn't know how to put it to use sometimes. It shines when he does, but any other time...
He stifles another sigh, his brow wrinkling further as he looks Rey up and down, the gears in his head turning.]
All right. I'll tell him to back off Danse. I can find some other way to keep him busy, but I get the distinct feeling he's going to get in over his head with the wrong people one of these days.
[When even Rey thinks you're being too much, it's a problem. Nick's well-being is important to her, but his right to choose how he lives it is another matter. It isn't something she's okay with just taking away from someone, let alone someone she cares about.]
If he does, he does. But at least that'll be on him.
[And not Nick, no matter how much he likes to blame himself for things.]
[For just a moment, Nick's eyes flick away from Rey in a way that says he'll absolutely be blaming himself should anything happen to Shadow. It's in his nature to care, and he's the one who put him up to this, after all.]
Honestly, I think I'm trying to keep an eye on him as much as I am on other people. He might not be a part of the Guard anymore, and hell, he didn't really have the temperament for it to begin with, but he's got a lot of potential for good if he'd just see it.
[Of course Nick would blame himself; that inevitable result doesn't surprise Rey. But if it's between Nick and anyone else, she has to consider Nick's well-being at any cost. He's worth more to her than most. Like him, that's just how she is.]
Even so, he's got to want to make use of that potential, not just let it sit there while he goes around starting shit and harassing people. I can't trust someone whose screwed up judgment means more to them than someone's right to choose. I would never try to take that away from anyone.
[For instance, she might not have agreed with Nick's decision not to go to the gods for spare synth parts, but that was his call. The situations vary, but Rey would rather make someone see eye to eye with her than to force them, kicking and screaming against their will.]
[That Rey didn't go back to the gods for parts and respected Nick's decision in that is something he appreciates, even if Shadow wouldn't do the same. He knows that there are just some lines you don't cross, though.
His voice is low as he responds.]
I know you wouldn't. Not after all you've been through.
[His hand lingers on the coat on the rack, his eyes going to the metal fingers that compose it. Does he want to keep Shadow safe because he sees potential for good, or because he's worried that if no one steps in, he'll cave to whatever it is that makes him so prone to violence? Is he suspicious of Danse because the Paladin is from his world? Because of what he said about the future of the Commonwealth? Is it just that former-cop nature coming into play, wanting to protect and wanting answers, or is it something else he can't remember?
And is he more worried about all this because what Sorrow said?]
[Exactly. Rey doesn't feel that it's necessary to hammer the point home for Nick, because he already gets it.
[She sighs in silent agreement.]
I'm not saying you shouldn't put him to use. I just think it's a bad idea to involve him with someone like Danse. Considering how Shadow sees you, and what Danse did, back home you could have called something like that a conflict of interest.
[Not to mention Shadow doesn't seem like the type who needs a sound reason to go after someone. If not for Rey's personal experience with synthetics, she'd have probably been right on the same boat as far as Danse is concerned. But he has his reasons; she knows he does.]
The other folks I have him watching should be enough to keep him busy.
[Though given Shadow's temperament, he's bound to get too close to any one of them at some point. Nick has a hunch he already has. While he generally trusts the hedgehog can take care of himself in most situations, his cockiness is a problem. Nick just hopes he can learn to tone that down before it's too late.
If only he knew what was coming.]
You and Danse get a long pretty well these days, huh? He still hang out at that bar of yours?
[Rey can't say she's all that surprised to hear Nick has other persons​ of interest in the city to keep an eye on, and while she would rather he not use Shadow for any of it -- period -- that's Nick's call to make. He saw what Shadow did, so he knows just as well what he's capable of.
[Then he flips the subject back to Danse, and she gives a reluctant nod.]
Guess so. And he's been helping out a bit there, yes. Figured it's better to give him something to do, since odds are he's going to stay clear of the Guard.
[Which is expected, if not a little sad, considering how he was when she first told him of the place. Then he met Nick, and things just went downhill from there...]
Yeah. It's a shame, given the kind of help he could give us.
[And while he knows he can't change Danse's mind, it's hard to ignore the fact that Danse is avoiding the Guard on account of him. They could use all the help they can get, especially in times when they're pitted against each other rather than the gods.]
[With someone like Danse, you don't change their minds with words alone. Rey knows it's going to take a lot more than that to get him to even sneeze in Nick's general direction without looking like he's about to dismantle the synthetic down to the last screw.
[She scoffs, having a feeling that she knows what's going on in that metal head of his.]
If it makes you feel any better, he's been a good help at the bar.
[Nick glances back Rey's way, a rueful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.]
You know what? It does make me feel a little better. A man like him seems like he'd be lost in a place like this without the Brotherhood at his back... though if what he's said holds water, he might be lost back home, too.
[Still, it's better a man like him have a hobby, something to keep him productive. That's the Brotherhood mentality, and when you're in deep enough to be a Paladin, it's a hard line of thinking to break.]
[Something Danse had told her back when they first met comes to her then.]
Don't... think he's with them anymore. Unless you've got more soldier boys wherever you're from, he said that he was no longer one of them.
[Nick never told Rey that the Brotherhood were military, precisely. But that's the vibe she got and definitely what she felt from Danse himself. The disciplined mannerisms, the combat readiness, down to the way he talks.
[In other words, Nick is probably right about Danse being lost.]
[Nick recalls easily the rage in Danse's eyes as the man charged him, the vehemence pouring from his mouth the moment he brought up the Brotherhood. Nick knows well enough what someone struggling with loss, what a man ready to take the world down with him because he has nothing left, looks like.]
He said the Institute took out organizations like the Railroad, and was practically foaming at the mouth when I mentioned the Brotherhood. If I had to wager, I'd say he's no longer a part of anything anymore.
[But Nick doesn't realize just how not a part of the Brotherhood Danse really is -- not yet, anyway.]
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no subject
Date: 2017-05-11 04:33 am (UTC)I'm just keeping an eye on him, trying to figure out what it is that's happened back in the Commonwealth, and more importantly, what it is he has against me... other than the obvious.
[But the way Danse had spoken, looked at him, attacked him -- it was personal. But why? What is it he doesn't know?]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-11 01:31 pm (UTC)And I think there are better ways of going about keeping an eye on him than what you're currently doing.
[That is, getting a personal spy to do it for him. One that isn't very well-balanced, at that.]
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Date: 2017-05-13 01:18 am (UTC)Yeah? You got any suggestions?
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Date: 2017-05-13 03:53 am (UTC)[She doesn't even miss a beat.]
Don't spy. If anything comes up that I think you should know, I'll tell you -- but I don't want you to have anyone tailing after him anymore. Least of all Shadow.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-13 04:12 am (UTC)[Because if she had objections, she could have voiced them before now. That means there's a reason.]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-13 04:17 am (UTC)[Huff. There's more to it than that, though.]
He's got problems; so does Danse. If their shit ever collides, Danse would see you liable.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-13 04:34 am (UTC)He sighs, his tone more resigned.]
I told him to keep his distance, but he can be a bit of a loose cannon. I get the feeling Danse is never going to be okay with me, no matter what I do.
[But this isn't about Danse.]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-13 04:52 am (UTC)[The situation is more similar than she realizes, but right now she understands that things are different from her own situation, not knowing what Danse is himself right now. Sigh.]
And if it's one thing I know from personal experience, it's that it isn't always a good idea to keep poking a hornet's nest. [Sans has learned that the hard way from Rey.] These things take time.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-13 05:28 am (UTC)It might make a difference that that hornet's nest hated me before I ever even learned his name. He's got some personal beef with me -- not just synths, but me, Nick Valentine -- and I just don't know what it is.
[Yet.]
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Date: 2017-05-13 05:51 am (UTC)[And Rey doubts that that is information that Danse would leave just lying around. She isn't trying to gain his trust for Nick's answers, though -- she's doing what she can for both of them.]
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Date: 2017-05-13 06:00 am (UTC)[Like Shadow would be one to talk about that. Nick's brow furrows as he steps further inside, sliding out of his coat to hang it on the rack.]
I get it that Danse is an acquaintance of yours, given the guy called me, of all people, to find out if you were all right after that bout with Rosie, but what is it that really brought this on? Is it just Danse? Or is it something more with Shadow?
no subject
Date: 2017-05-13 06:11 am (UTC)[She folds her arms over her chest, her expression screwing into an uncomfortable one.]
Sorry, but I'm not going to trust the judgment of someone who got pissed that I didn't incapacitate you over "letting" you go on with a bum leg for a while.
[A fact that she wasn't all too happy with herself, but that was Nick's choice. Nick, who specifically told her not to go to the gods for his sake. Even if she didn't agree with it, it was what he wanted. That meant more to her than anything else.]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-13 06:18 am (UTC)[Which is why Nick has no doubt Shadow actually did just that. He knows Shadow has a good heart under all that, but damn if he doesn't know how to put it to use sometimes. It shines when he does, but any other time...
He stifles another sigh, his brow wrinkling further as he looks Rey up and down, the gears in his head turning.]
All right. I'll tell him to back off Danse. I can find some other way to keep him busy, but I get the distinct feeling he's going to get in over his head with the wrong people one of these days.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-13 06:42 am (UTC)If he does, he does. But at least that'll be on him.
[And not Nick, no matter how much he likes to blame himself for things.]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-13 07:22 am (UTC)Honestly, I think I'm trying to keep an eye on him as much as I am on other people. He might not be a part of the Guard anymore, and hell, he didn't really have the temperament for it to begin with, but he's got a lot of potential for good if he'd just see it.
[You know, like someone else Nick knows.]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-14 01:40 am (UTC)Even so, he's got to want to make use of that potential, not just let it sit there while he goes around starting shit and harassing people. I can't trust someone whose screwed up judgment means more to them than someone's right to choose. I would never try to take that away from anyone.
[For instance, she might not have agreed with Nick's decision not to go to the gods for spare synth parts, but that was his call. The situations vary, but Rey would rather make someone see eye to eye with her than to force them, kicking and screaming against their will.]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-14 09:45 am (UTC)His voice is low as he responds.]
I know you wouldn't. Not after all you've been through.
[His hand lingers on the coat on the rack, his eyes going to the metal fingers that compose it. Does he want to keep Shadow safe because he sees potential for good, or because he's worried that if no one steps in, he'll cave to whatever it is that makes him so prone to violence? Is he suspicious of Danse because the Paladin is from his world? Because of what he said about the future of the Commonwealth? Is it just that former-cop nature coming into play, wanting to protect and wanting answers, or is it something else he can't remember?
And is he more worried about all this because what Sorrow said?]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-14 11:00 pm (UTC)[She sighs in silent agreement.]
I'm not saying you shouldn't put him to use. I just think it's a bad idea to involve him with someone like Danse. Considering how Shadow sees you, and what Danse did, back home you could have called something like that a conflict of interest.
[Not to mention Shadow doesn't seem like the type who needs a sound reason to go after someone. If not for Rey's personal experience with synthetics, she'd have probably been right on the same boat as far as Danse is concerned. But he has his reasons; she knows he does.]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-16 07:50 am (UTC)[Though given Shadow's temperament, he's bound to get too close to any one of them at some point. Nick has a hunch he already has. While he generally trusts the hedgehog can take care of himself in most situations, his cockiness is a problem. Nick just hopes he can learn to tone that down before it's too late.
If only he knew what was coming.]
You and Danse get a long pretty well these days, huh? He still hang out at that bar of yours?
no subject
Date: 2017-05-16 02:05 pm (UTC)[Rey can't say she's all that surprised to hear Nick has other persons​ of interest in the city to keep an eye on, and while she would rather he not use Shadow for any of it -- period -- that's Nick's call to make. He saw what Shadow did, so he knows just as well what he's capable of.
[Then he flips the subject back to Danse, and she gives a reluctant nod.]
Guess so. And he's been helping out a bit there, yes. Figured it's better to give him something to do, since odds are he's going to stay clear of the Guard.
[Which is expected, if not a little sad, considering how he was when she first told him of the place. Then he met Nick, and things just went downhill from there...]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-18 11:10 pm (UTC)Yeah. It's a shame, given the kind of help he could give us.
[And while he knows he can't change Danse's mind, it's hard to ignore the fact that Danse is avoiding the Guard on account of him. They could use all the help they can get, especially in times when they're pitted against each other rather than the gods.]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-19 05:26 am (UTC)[She scoffs, having a feeling that she knows what's going on in that metal head of his.]
If it makes you feel any better, he's been a good help at the bar.
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Date: 2017-05-19 08:24 am (UTC)[Nick glances back Rey's way, a rueful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.]
You know what? It does make me feel a little better. A man like him seems like he'd be lost in a place like this without the Brotherhood at his back... though if what he's said holds water, he might be lost back home, too.
[Still, it's better a man like him have a hobby, something to keep him productive. That's the Brotherhood mentality, and when you're in deep enough to be a Paladin, it's a hard line of thinking to break.]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-19 06:14 pm (UTC)Don't... think he's with them anymore. Unless you've got more soldier boys wherever you're from, he said that he was no longer one of them.
[Nick never told Rey that the Brotherhood were military, precisely. But that's the vibe she got and definitely what she felt from Danse himself. The disciplined mannerisms, the combat readiness, down to the way he talks.
[In other words, Nick is probably right about Danse being lost.]
no subject
Date: 2017-05-19 10:18 pm (UTC)[Nick recalls easily the rage in Danse's eyes as the man charged him, the vehemence pouring from his mouth the moment he brought up the Brotherhood. Nick knows well enough what someone struggling with loss, what a man ready to take the world down with him because he has nothing left, looks like.]
He said the Institute took out organizations like the Railroad, and was practically foaming at the mouth when I mentioned the Brotherhood. If I had to wager, I'd say he's no longer a part of anything anymore.
[But Nick doesn't realize just how not a part of the Brotherhood Danse really is -- not yet, anyway.]
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