Clearly. The cat is who this is being considered for, entirely. The same reason York is staying precisely where he is, because the dear sweet kitten could not possibly be moved at this point.
"That doesn't sound like a terrible idea," he admits, after a moment.
"I don't think I've ever seen that." A cat on a leash, kitten or grown. Wash probably wield think you could herd a cat, kinda explains his trend of trying to herd misfits nowadays
"There are a number of things I would have thought impossible before meeting him." Locus shrugs. "He may be onto something. I suppose it costs nothing to try."
That's what all this is supposed to be, right? Trying to push in new directions, seek new horizons. View himself as something else, challenge himself to be capable of new things.
He falls quiet again. It wouldn't do to ramble unnecessarily.
"Fighting for a cause I believed in. Doing things for myself. Making friends, allowing myself to..."
To feel. Or rather, to recognize those feelings and not immediately push them away. Not all of them. To embrace what he's been given rather than risk losing anything that means something to him.
"Be a person rather than a machine of war?" You're never not a soldier- but being someone more than that? It takes time. Takes work. Takes practice and something to ground you and York's pretty sure he's only got that about half the time. But when he's got this?
It's easier to think that maybe he's got it right.
"It's...easier, I think. If you hear it over and over, if it'll take the burden of responsibility from you." The others in the program weren't good enough so they didn't make the cut- that's all. That's bullshit since it was unsafe as fuck but buying into that?
"He knew that. He always knew exactly what to say." He snorts quietly. A fact made even worse now by the fact that he somehow possessed a compelling voice. The last thing on Earth a manipulator like Felix needed.
"Not always. He kinda fucked up when trying to talk me out of fighting him." Namely by invoking Locus but- shit. IT had been kinda hard to shake. "The trick is keeping him off balance. He really doesn't like flashbangs."
Shit he learned while trying not to get stabbed worse.
"His pride is his weakness. He overstretches, allows himself to become too reckless."
And for years he'd been the one to pull him back when he got too close to the edge. Now, tetherless, there's no telling what he'd be capable of. A sobering thought.
"I can work with that." Or at least try to work with that. When it comes to compelling words- Felix has him beat. But they're equally lucky AND York's got his grenades, backup, and a solid reason to want that asshole in jail.
"He got a lucky shot in the first time, it won't happen again." Delta will be with him, that counts, right? Right. Just gotta play over the footage of those voice clips and see if it's a harmonic thing or a magic thing.
He might be half blind and more than a little paranoid but one squirrley fuck with a fetish for knives? He can take.
At which point York is going to get Locus staring directly at him, expression severe. He doesn't need reassurance about how good York is, or what luck may or may not be involved here.
He knows his former partner too well to be comforted by any of that.
"..." Taylor looks up, brows lifted- certain of his own skill and ability to nudge things in his favor but-
Something in that look settles like a stone in the pit of his stomach. Has him thinking back over how Felix was able to order him to just- not breathe for a second. "...Alright. I won't."
Only then does the tension start to unwind. Not entirely, not a full release, but an inch at a time as Locus takes a breath and nods, satisfied with that answer. One-on-one, even Carolina hadn't been able to clench a solid victory against Felix. He was not to be underestimated.
Especially with a power of influence he'd always dreamed of having.
"This is not lack of faith in you," he amends, after a moment.
"Kinda hard not to take it that way." He's just gonna be honest, here. Second on the leaderboard WITHOUT his powers, he's been learning to adjust- learning to weaponize the flying is the next thing on his list. The real problem is the whole 'no kill' order but-
You can hurt someone plenty without actually killing them. He knows this pretty damn well.
"I thought so as well, when Washington did everything in his power to prevent me from taking care of Felix personally. But I don't know how to phrase it in a way that will make it more palatable."
While they're being upfront and blunt, here. Which honestly? He prefers.
"The truth is, the only reason he was defeated was that his enemies banded together against him. If you try to take him on alone, you give him an unnecessary advantage, and if anything happened to you..."
Right. Okay. Maybe a little too upfront. Reel it back in, Sam. His jaw snaps shut.
"You've got a history. He has no idea who I am or how I operate except for the brief taste he got in the hall and that- well it wasn't my strongest showing." So he'd underestimate York when he's got a solid reason to one to put someone's head through a wall. But...Locus is still tense, still worried, and that's enough for him to sag and sigh, head lolling against the back of the sofa.
Long suffering and aggrieved. Why does no one think he can fight his own damn battles? "Whatever. I'll make sure I got backup."
He can keep to that much, even if he resents it a little.
He thinks. It reads that way, and that wasn't his intent. But he's never been as good at coaching these things or dulling the edge. He doesn't know how to say it in a way that will make York understand that because he is his friend, he is more danger than most. That Felix will almost certainly target him, tease him, making him think he's won and go in for the kill, because he knows how Felix plays with his prey.
York is capable, but he isn't motivated with the same sort of malice or vindictiveness.
"Annoyed. I don't need backup to handle him, I don't need to be protected, and I'm not incapable of reading a fight and choosing what hill is worth dying on or not." Seriously. The one thing keeping his voice even is the fuzzball asleep in his lap. Sure, he died, but that was with backup. Whether or not he has help isn't gonna change a goddamn thing.
"But fine. I'll make sure I got someone if I run into him again. Okay?"
He's learned that, along the way. Felix is his burden, he feels, but he knows he can't take him on by himself. That's asking to be put back in a very bad situation, one he might not come back from of his own free will again.
Locus's eyes are still resting on York, however, almost questioningly.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
"That doesn't sound like a terrible idea," he admits, after a moment.
no subject
"He seriously got you a harness for her?" Walking a cat- how's that for an image m
no subject
It's the oddest thing, but Wash seems to know a good deal about cats. Perhaps he ought to take some of it into account.
"I believe the idea was training her at a young age, so it wasn't strange to her later on."
no subject
no subject
That's what all this is supposed to be, right? Trying to push in new directions, seek new horizons. View himself as something else, challenge himself to be capable of new things.
Which apparently includes cats on leashes, now.
no subject
How they got from there to here? Blanks in the pattern. And a curious guy like him can't levee them empty.
no subject
"Fighting for a cause I believed in. Doing things for myself. Making friends, allowing myself to..."
To feel. Or rather, to recognize those feelings and not immediately push them away. Not all of them. To embrace what he's been given rather than risk losing anything that means something to him.
Couldn't lose what you didn't have, didn't claim.
no subject
It's easier to think that maybe he's got it right.
no subject
Something pulls the edges of his eyes tight, mouth thinning into a rigid line.
"Felix...wasn't entirely responsible for that. I wanted to believe him. To believe that's all I was."
no subject
Made losing them easier.
no subject
"Nowso more than ever."
no subject
Shit he learned while trying not to get stabbed worse.
no subject
And for years he'd been the one to pull him back when he got too close to the edge. Now, tetherless, there's no telling what he'd be capable of. A sobering thought.
no subject
no subject
Petty, vengeful, and utterly merciless, he knows exactly how far Felix would go to prove a point. His stomach clenches uncomfortably.
"Don't face him alone."
no subject
He might be half blind and more than a little paranoid but one squirrley fuck with a fetish for knives? He can take.
no subject
At which point York is going to get Locus staring directly at him, expression severe. He doesn't need reassurance about how good York is, or what luck may or may not be involved here.
He knows his former partner too well to be comforted by any of that.
"Do not fight him alone."
no subject
Something in that look settles like a stone in the pit of his stomach. Has him thinking back over how Felix was able to order him to just- not breathe for a second. "...Alright. I won't."
no subject
Especially with a power of influence he'd always dreamed of having.
"This is not lack of faith in you," he amends, after a moment.
no subject
You can hurt someone plenty without actually killing them. He knows this pretty damn well.
no subject
While they're being upfront and blunt, here. Which honestly? He prefers.
"The truth is, the only reason he was defeated was that his enemies banded together against him. If you try to take him on alone, you give him an unnecessary advantage, and if anything happened to you..."
Right. Okay. Maybe a little too upfront. Reel it back in, Sam. His jaw snaps shut.
"It would be unfortunate."
no subject
Long suffering and aggrieved. Why does no one think he can fight his own damn battles? "Whatever. I'll make sure I got backup."
He can keep to that much, even if he resents it a little.
no subject
He thinks. It reads that way, and that wasn't his intent. But he's never been as good at coaching these things or dulling the edge. He doesn't know how to say it in a way that will make York understand that because he is his friend, he is more danger than most. That Felix will almost certainly target him, tease him, making him think he's won and go in for the kill, because he knows how Felix plays with his prey.
York is capable, but he isn't motivated with the same sort of malice or vindictiveness.
no subject
"But fine. I'll make sure I got someone if I run into him again. Okay?"
no subject
He's learned that, along the way. Felix is his burden, he feels, but he knows he can't take him on by himself. That's asking to be put back in a very bad situation, one he might not come back from of his own free will again.
Locus's eyes are still resting on York, however, almost questioningly.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)