empathicfault | IC Inbox

"Oh. Yeah." So that's why Malcolm brought it up. "I didn't know that started with a breach. Too new, too...busy feeling feral after that one, I guess."

He knows where this is going now, but he'll let Malcolm decide how to approach it.

Malcolm pulls his knees up a little more, so he's more fully curled against Will.

"So... I called Shaw to ask if she'd scheduled the mediation with Jedao and she brought up the Breach and I told her not to worry; that I wouldn't try, like, muscling in on their time or anything. Annnd she said I was self-sabotaging by being all defeatist and I told her it was deduction, not defeatism, because... basically, when you're the only one that doesn't get a bowling shirt, nobody has to tell you that you're not on the bowling team." He tilts his head up to look at Will. "She basically said that they're not even a group, but... they clearly really, really are. So. I don't know what to do with that because it wasn't like she said 'we'd like you to hang out with us' or 'you can't hang out with us', she just said... I shouldn't assume I'm not in the group that isn't a group."

Will listens and hugs Malcolm a little tighter as he explains. It sounds rough.

"You were trying to head it off at the pass, so to speak," he paraphrases, then licks his lips. "And Shaw- she doesn't read those things well, either. She probably doesn't even know...that they're absolutely a group."

He looks down at Malcolm with a faint, commiserating smile. "She might've had a point about it being a little defeatist. Maybe she wanted to spend time with you like...you had in the Breach? Navigating around 'don't worry, I'll leave you alone' can be challenging. What was she like in the Breach?"

"Most people don't need to navigate around it. They want the out." He considers the question. "The same but patient. Not so high strung. And I wasn't suggesting... I'm fine to spend time with her, but the group is their thing and I didn't want her to think that I thought I got some sort of free pass to it because the Breach put me in it." He pauses. "I wasn't even all the way in it there."

Will hums thoughtfully, even as his hand brushes up and down over Malcolm's shoulder and upper arm. "What makes you say that? Did they have meet-ups that didn't include you?"

“Yeah. I actually skipped out of an activity I did regularly to attend… their movie night.”

That’s a little on the nose when he thinks about it.

“And I think they were involved in plotting to overthrow the company we worked for.” A beat. “Without me.” If that needed clarification. “I liked it there.”

Will lets out a little snort of disbelief. "What was this place, anyway? Was it evil? You said it was some sort of research facility...what did it research?"

He'll address the rest later, but that second part seemed slightly more contextually important.

“Lots of stuff, I guess. I was working on some sort of time-space portal thingies,” Malcolm tells him. “Shaw said there were human experiments going on. I guess I looked into it and didn’t find anything compelling? It’s already getting fuzzy.” And he’d had more pressing issues than Breach stuff when he got back.

Will makes a face at the phrase 'human experiments' and rubs at his eyes. "Yeah, I've heard how that goes. That...there might've been something to that. I've never seen us have a breach where nothing suspicious is going on." Although maybe he'd just gotten 'lucky'.

"Time-space portals do sound fun," he admits, with a small smile. "And you had another activity during their movie nights? What was it?"

"...I played a strategy card game with some friends from work. It was called Wizard Council," he admits. Then there's a hesitation before he adds "And I... flirted with the girl that worked at the bar really badly and awkwardly but somehow she still wanted to talk to me." He pauses. "Shaw was going to try to help me with that... situation."

"Okay, so- you sound like you were pretty 'in' to me. Shaw was helping you out. It sounds like you could've gone to movie nights sometimes if you wanted. And there was a group of people you played card games with. That's...a lot, actually." At least it is as far as Will's concerned.

He smiles then, slightly mischievously. "What was the girl like? I don't know, I think you undersell how cute you are when you're awkward. She might've appreciated it."

“Shaw was helping me. But they had movie night the only day I always had other plans. And she trusted Neal.”

He pauses at the question, though Will telling him he’s cute when he’s awkward pleases him as much as any compliment from Will. A lot.

“…It was Laura Moon. She owned the bar.” He looks at Will uncertainly. “She seemed… actually interested when I talked to her.”

Will grins and nods. "She might've been. Hard to say with these different worlds." Especially with how they fade for most people.

He shifts a little, more to get Malcolm more comfortable than anything else. "I think..." he starts, reaching up to run his fingers through Malcolm's hair. "You had more connections there than you realize. And you might have more here too, it's just- filtering through your real-life memories. But if I say any more, I'm going to risk sounding hypocritical."

He plays with Malcolm's hair a little more, thoughtful, then adds, "You know you have me here, right? It's always nice to feel included, but- we're our own group. Always."

Malcolm nods thoughtfully at the first part, soothed by Will's fingers in his hair. The calm it brings helps him see things more clearly. He suspects Will knows that.

At the second part, he smiles softly. Warmly.

"I do know that. And if I had a thousand friends, I'd still come back to just you and me at the end of the day." He pauses, glancing down for a moment, drawing a pattern on Will's knee with his fingertip while he gathers his thoughts, then looks up. "I think... everyone that was... relatively easy for me to get on with leaving so close together is... still making everything hard. Even breaches when I'm not even me. Or... at least, coming back from them."

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