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[empathicfault]

"Will Graham here. Leave a message."

[Open for text/audio/action/whatever.]

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[empathicfault]

[ Oh, good. Will hadn't been looking forward to maybe trying to curb his tendency towards violence, but he'd been worried that was a key to graduating. If Shaw doesn't think so, that's good enough for him. He doesn't know what a 'healthy way' would actually be, but he can rationalize the change fairly easily.

He smiles a little when she focuses on the pack. ]

No, I really haven't. And I know you've extended an invite from your team. But these people feel right and it might give me some help here. Trusting people...it's been easier here, but-

[ He shrugs. It's still very difficult, when it's not the couple of people he's clung onto. ]

[cactusy]

Yeah.

[Her thoughts exactly - and exactly why her first question had been to ask who else was involved.]

So how well do you know Wildthyme already?

[empathicfault]

Well enough to know I've barely touched the surface of her long lived experience.

[ That's said with a wry smile, that turns warmer as he looks down at his hands. ]

I wish my mind worked like her telepathy does. With everything being a back-and-forth, a sharing rather than an involuntary taking of knowledge. I've spent a few afternoons chatting without speech with her, or tugging her along the museum in my mind. Even the heavier, darker parts of her are a delight.

[cactusy]

Mmmm.

[It's a sound not quite of agreement, but also not of disagreement; she understands and isn't surprised by the assessment, in any case. It's also the nicest thing she's ever said out loud about Iris, paltry as it is.]

She drives me crazy.

[She's the most Root-like person on the ship, by far.]

But I think she could be really good for you.

[empathicfault]

[ Will smiles when told Iris drives Shaw crazy. It's rather fond. ]

I think she could be, too, yeah. I'm still sort of...blown away by how much positive emotional energy she puts out. And I should stop wondering where she gets all the time to do everything already.

I can't really tell- do you like her or find her obnoxious? Or both?

[cactusy]

I-- she--

[Shaw shrugs her shoulders, and then hunches them, looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable.]

It's complicated.

[empathicfault]

[ Oh, he didn't expect uncomfortableness. He raises an eyebrow. ]

Can I ask why? I mean, there's a lot that's complicated about Iris...

[cactusy]

"She reminds me a lot of Root," Shaw says. "So, that, uh-- that kind of sucked for a while."

[empathicfault]

"Ah." That explains everything. Will rubs at one of his eyes. "I can only imagine. And now it's not the same kind of 'suck,' but I'm sure it still feels strange."

[cactusy]

"The simulation could have made her just to see what I would do," she says quietly, swallowing. "It's the kind of trick Decima would pull."

[empathicfault]

"Yeah," Will agrees, with a quiet nod. "See how you reacted to someone similar, but not the same. And since her similarity makes you think of that, it puts you on your guard." He stops for a moment, corrects himself. "More on guard."

[cactusy]

"She's so understanding about it all," Shaw says, sounding mildly disgruntled about this, too.

[empathicfault]

Will chuckles, because he really gets that disgruntled feeling. "Yeah, she is. I thought she was better at hiding things, for a while. It's harder for me to tell when someone's not human, you know? But she's always been just as full of curiosity and wonder and glee as the day I met her. Which- she was a wolf, then."

It's one of the meetings he's had on the Barge that he remembers the most fondly.

[cactusy]

"She was a wolf when I met her, too," Shaw admits, still pulling a face. "I didn't know she was a person; I thought she was just... a dog."

[empathicfault]

There's more chuckling from him, mostly because- "She had a tag on when I met her, that said she was a warden. But I didn't read it until I'd already thrown some toys for her and- well, I guess it's good I don't babytalk with my dogs."

[cactusy]

"Yeah, uh... funny story; that tag was because of me."

[empathicfault]

And now he actually laughs. "Let me guess- she surprised you with not being a dog, after you'd already spent some time with her?"

[cactusy]

"She shifted back and I tried to punch her in the face," Shaw says, with just a mite of embarrassment. "Turns out she's a pretty good fighter."

[empathicfault]

Will grins. "Kind of serves her right for surprising you like that. I didn't check the tag, but that's on me." He shrugs.

"I am also completely unsurprised that she's a good fighter. Did you two really get into it after she shifted back?"

[cactusy]

"Uh-- kind of. We fought, but it was just a friendly spar to her."

Shaw had been surprised and angry. Iris had just had fun with it, because, as it turns out, she enjoys fighting every bit as much as Shaw does.

"Then last month we went at it in the gym and really freaked out Eiffel. Turns out he thought we were actually trying to kill each other."

[empathicfault]

He looks almost impressed to hear they scared Eiffel. "I don't imagine either of you pulls any punches...especially if you both have Gaius heal you up at the end. I'm almost sorry I missed it."

[cactusy]

"Yeah, that was the plan," she says, her lip curling upwards - she's honestly kind of impressed that they scared Eiffel too, though she knows full well that he's a weenie when it comes to violence. "I'd say we'll do it again sometime, but, uh-- it probably shouldn't be in public."