[Spike's got a pretty good glare, too, so odds are high they'll have a decent buffer from the people around them! But his idea, perhaps strangely, seems to make her stare into the distance, leaning her head back against her seat.]
Gods, no. The last thing I need to do is hand Tataru the equipment to make films. We've little enough downtime as it is. If I am in need of funds, I'd rather earn it with steel. I've enough experience in such such duties and it's far more practical than art.
[Not. To mention the fact that she and Alphinaud have never had to worry about money.]
Alphinaud may be more interested in the concept, however.
Well... I'd argue art has it's practical use too. Sometimes. But yeah, mostly it's just there to make life just a bit better. Not worth literally all your free time. By steel do you mean violence or smithin'
[It's okay, if she were he would simply go to her world and commit enough crimes 'till they're set. He doesn't know they're both bougie.]
But if you want to put yourself through giving him the idea, feel free. Just be ready for him to wave a cone about and yell "Cut!"
They're gonna be playing these ads for another five-ten minutes, by the way. I see that's not changed, futuristic as these cinemas are.
[Oh, yeah. The last name Leveilleur has meaning over there.]
Fighting. Ere coming here, Alphinaud and I were pulled to a world known as the First. While we were there, I spent several months honing my blade on sin eaters as a guard for what they called the Inn at Journey's Head. I spent a brief period of time guarding merchant caravans, but I cannot say my time with them ended happily.
But if they'll be playing these for some time yet, that means I can give you something.
[There's a grin on her face, but Spike might be able to recognize the hint of mischief there too.
It's the same look she tends to get on her face right before she starts giving Alphinaud grief in front of everybody.]
Fighting's how I make my money too. [Well... and mugging strangers. And stealing money from shops and stuff. But mostly he just steals money from dead vampires and demons and sometimes extorts Rupert into paying him.] It's a bit harder with this chip in my head, mind, but it's definitely my career choice.
[He raises a bemused eyebrow at her.]
A gift, huh? Let's see it then.
[Is she going to rope him into shenanigans or is she going to prank him. Let's see.]
Do you really need it to not harm humans? [It's not something she's thought about much, because it's never been an issue here. But he doesn't seem like he'd just attack people out of the blue, so... what's its purpose?
But when he asks, she reaches for a second bag that I've decided was on her, one marked with a store logo on it, and pulls out a box to pass over to him. It's not huge, but it's not a small box either--
Because this is absolutely a prank. And when Spike opens it to see, he'll find a set of Victorian aristocrat's clothing inside, reedy glasses and all.]
Since you brought it up when we were in Camebit, I thought you might like to revisit your old styles.
...Complicated question. Think of it like choosing between eating stale bread and a feast...
[And then she takes the clothes out.
He takes a second look surprised, processing her words, the meaning behind the gift... His expression flickers between a few emotions. Notably shock, hurt, a bit of anger, confusion.
She can't have known. He tries to bury all that, laugh maybe, 'cuz that's what she wants, but instead he realizes he can't.
Fucking honesty week. Still, after a solid three seconds of staring... he does see the humour in it... and lets out a single huff of laughter.]
Heh... my personal hell actually had a pretty similar idea in mind –
[It takes him a second to realize what he just said.]
[It's supposed to be funny. The clothes are so obviously not who he is that it was a shock to hear he'd once lived that life--she'd thought they're close enough that he'd laugh when he saw them. So the emotions that cross his face mean that the smile immediately drops from hers, replaced by concern as he stares...
And then answers.
In this one singular case, thank the gods for honesty week. Alisaie immediately reaches out to take the box back if he'll let her, dumping it into the seat in front of them (thankfully empty) without a second thought.]
[He smiles, gentle. He's still... affected, obviously but he's gotten over the initial shock and now he just wishes he hadn't made things awkward.]
...It is funny, just... a bit fresh, I guess. You can't have known, I'm not angry at you.
[Dawn makes fun of him all the time, so he's used to it. It's just... a part of himself he's a bit not happy about. Erastis pokes his head out of Spike's coat pocket and stares at the nobility clothes longingly.]
[It's not awkward--not for her, at least. Were it anyone else, it would be hard to respond; Alisaie's got too many insecurities of her own to navigate situations like these without some sort of hesitation. But outside of their first interaction, she's never had to pretend to be anyone but who she is with Spike. He's never tried to convince her to be anybody else, never even suggested that she should act differently than how she pleased.
And that makes it easy to respond.]
Still, I'm sorry.
[There's a shifting from her bag, carefully placed in the seat next to her, and Taf pokes his nose out, the rest of him following as Alisaie looks at Erastis.
????]
If you'd like them at some point, they're yours. But you needn't make that decision lightly.
[Since Erastis is looking at them, she stands up to retrieve the box from the next row down, hopping the seats when she finds that the cravat and glasses had fallen out. As she does, Taf just strides across her seat, bold as you please, and will continue straight into Spike's lap unless told not to, settling down and purring reassuringly.]
[Alisaie being unapologetically herself is one of the things he likes most about her. She's not deceptive or duplicitious, even when she was aggressive. So, the feeling like this is awkward dissipates slightly because he does trust her entirely, because he knows her well enough at this point.
So he just sighs, also looking down at Erastis.]
I think he wants to wear 'em. More his style anyway.
[When Taf wanders into his lap, Spike is surprised for a moment before smiling fondly and gently petting him. In that moment, and really in all moments, he's so glad to know this girl and he's decided that he'll kill and die for her.]
[She hadn't even realized what Taf was doing at first. But she realizes it as Spike pets him, and it brings a smile to her face as she finishes retrieving the clothing, putting it in its box and climbing back over the seats into their row.]
It's a bit more complicated than that, for me. It's more like he's a piece of the me that was around a hundred and twenty years ago. Which is still part of me, mind, but... he's a piece of my soul, and I haven't had one of those since I died the first...
[He stares at the screen, furrowing his brow.]
...They're making another Star Wars...? That's not Han Solo, what the bloody hell?
[He shakes his head, scritching Taf's ears.]
Anyway, yeah when I first died I lost it, so he's a piece of that.
[These ads are absolutely wild. She hasn't been paying attention to them so far because what's been going on with Spike has been much more important, but--what's this? They're flying through... space? How does any of that work?
But anyway. Taf is delighted at the scritches, leaning into them. His presence was originally supposed to be more reassuring for Spike after that mistake with the clothes, but he's certainly not going resist getting attention himself!]
Has it been difficult to have him back after so long?
I sort of... only half have him back. It's like how I could feel Rin's emotions, right? 'Cuz of the link?
Same principle. There's a tether between me and that part of me, I guess. We're not the same but I still... feel what he feels, it's just distant. It's what makes going without properly feeding easier, even without the chip.
Oh. [It seems strange to think about, but she's never been able to fathom Spike's insistence that he has no soul. He's always seemed to have one to her, even when he makes those sort of casual jokes about murder.]
Even if it's distant, I'm glad you have him by your side.
You were explaining the chip before I gave you that gift. It's to do with what you feed on, I assume?
[In fairness, sometimes he's not joking. Say the word and Baraqiel is dead. The presense is enough to keep him from giving into temptation, but even with the daemon, he hasn't noticably changed. It's why he didn't even notice Erastis' bleeding heart until a bit later. He still had principles before, they just weren't the type of principles that most understand.
Adultery, for one, is something he thinks is only done by the absolute scum of the earth. Murder and torture are both good fun, though.]
He and I have a complicated relationship. [He pokes Erastis' head, just once. Little dimwit.]
But yeah, not exactly. It just means I couldn't hurt people without it causing serious unavoidable agony. I stopped trying to get it removed once I fell for the Slayer.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[He takes them right to the back, because they're the best seats. If anyone looks like they're going to sit near the two of them, he will glare.]
Maybe we can nick some equipment and you can bring the wonderful practice of film back home with you? You'd make a killing.
no subject
Gods, no. The last thing I need to do is hand Tataru the equipment to make films. We've little enough downtime as it is. If I am in need of funds, I'd rather earn it with steel. I've enough experience in such such duties and it's far more practical than art.
[Not. To mention the fact that she and Alphinaud have never had to worry about money.]
Alphinaud may be more interested in the concept, however.
no subject
[It's okay, if she were he would simply go to her world and commit enough crimes 'till they're set. He doesn't know they're both bougie.]
But if you want to put yourself through giving him the idea, feel free. Just be ready for him to wave a cone about and yell "Cut!"
They're gonna be playing these ads for another five-ten minutes, by the way. I see that's not changed, futuristic as these cinemas are.
no subject
Fighting. Ere coming here, Alphinaud and I were pulled to a world known as the First. While we were there, I spent several months honing my blade on sin eaters as a guard for what they called the Inn at Journey's Head. I spent a brief period of time guarding merchant caravans, but I cannot say my time with them ended happily.
But if they'll be playing these for some time yet, that means I can give you something.
[There's a grin on her face, but Spike might be able to recognize the hint of mischief there too.
It's the same look she tends to get on her face right before she starts giving Alphinaud grief in front of everybody.]
no subject
[He raises a bemused eyebrow at her.]
A gift, huh? Let's see it then.
[Is she going to rope him into shenanigans or is she going to prank him. Let's see.]
no subject
But when he asks, she reaches for a second bag that I've decided was on her, one marked with a store logo on it, and pulls out a box to pass over to him. It's not huge, but it's not a small box either--
Because this is absolutely a prank. And when Spike opens it to see, he'll find a set of Victorian aristocrat's clothing inside, reedy glasses and all.]
Since you brought it up when we were in Camebit, I thought you might like to revisit your old styles.
1/2
[And then she takes the clothes out.
He takes a second look surprised, processing her words, the meaning behind the gift... His expression flickers between a few emotions. Notably shock, hurt, a bit of anger, confusion.
She can't have known. He tries to bury all that, laugh maybe, 'cuz that's what she wants, but instead he realizes he can't.
Fucking honesty week. Still, after a solid three seconds of staring... he does see the humour in it... and lets out a single huff of laughter.]
Heh... my personal hell actually had a pretty similar idea in mind –
[It takes him a second to realize what he just said.]
2/2
Shit. Me and my bloody mouth...
...God, I hate this week.
[He looks at her, apologetic.]
no subject
And then answers.
In this one singular case, thank the gods for honesty week. Alisaie immediately reaches out to take the box back if he'll let her, dumping it into the seat in front of them (thankfully empty) without a second thought.]
Spike... Forgive me. I didn't know.
I'd have never asked for them if I had.
no subject
[He smiles, gentle. He's still... affected, obviously but he's gotten over the initial shock and now he just wishes he hadn't made things awkward.]
...It is funny, just... a bit fresh, I guess. You can't have known, I'm not angry at you.
[Dawn makes fun of him all the time, so he's used to it. It's just... a part of himself he's a bit not happy about. Erastis pokes his head out of Spike's coat pocket and stares at the nobility clothes longingly.]
no subject
And that makes it easy to respond.]
Still, I'm sorry.
[There's a shifting from her bag, carefully placed in the seat next to her, and Taf pokes his nose out, the rest of him following as Alisaie looks at Erastis.
????]
If you'd like them at some point, they're yours. But you needn't make that decision lightly.
[Since Erastis is looking at them, she stands up to retrieve the box from the next row down, hopping the seats when she finds that the cravat and glasses had fallen out. As she does, Taf just strides across her seat, bold as you please, and will continue straight into Spike's lap unless told not to, settling down and purring reassuringly.]
no subject
So he just sighs, also looking down at Erastis.]
I think he wants to wear 'em. More his style anyway.
[When Taf wanders into his lap, Spike is surprised for a moment before smiling fondly and gently petting him. In that moment, and really in all moments, he's so glad to know this girl and he's decided that he'll kill and die for her.]
no subject
[She hadn't even realized what Taf was doing at first. But she realizes it as Spike pets him, and it brings a smile to her face as she finishes retrieving the clothing, putting it in its box and climbing back over the seats into their row.]
There's nothing wrong with embracing that, too.
no subject
[He stares at the screen, furrowing his brow.]
...They're making another Star Wars...? That's not Han Solo, what the bloody hell?
[He shakes his head, scritching Taf's ears.]
Anyway, yeah when I first died I lost it, so he's a piece of that.
no subject
But anyway. Taf is delighted at the scritches, leaning into them. His presence was originally supposed to be more reassuring for Spike after that mistake with the clothes, but he's certainly not going resist getting attention himself!]
Has it been difficult to have him back after so long?
no subject
Same principle. There's a tether between me and that part of me, I guess. We're not the same but I still... feel what he feels, it's just distant. It's what makes going without properly feeding easier, even without the chip.
no subject
Even if it's distant, I'm glad you have him by your side.
You were explaining the chip before I gave you that gift. It's to do with what you feed on, I assume?
no subject
Adultery, for one, is something he thinks is only done by the absolute scum of the earth. Murder and torture are both good fun, though.]
He and I have a complicated relationship. [He pokes Erastis' head, just once. Little dimwit.]
But yeah, not exactly. It just means I couldn't hurt people without it causing serious unavoidable agony. I stopped trying to get it removed once I fell for the Slayer.