shroudedinsecrecy | INBOX (IC)

Not often, no.

I think the last time I rode on one had to be...close to five years ago. Perhaps longer.

...But they're so useful.

[ Guess who is a fan of the trains for his lazy butt. ]

I suppose they can be, yes.

I just haven't had to travel anywhere in the city yet that I couldn't approach through a different method. That's all. Maybe, one of these days, I will take the train.

I suppose if you only took one job... you don't have to rush between different places.

[ Makes sense, really. ]

It sounds a lot more relaxing.

Perhaps you and Athena should both consider the idea.

I know you said you get to work together in at least one of your jobs, but...if all you're doing is work, then I can imagine how difficult it must be to be able to really spend time together.

Well I kind of... work a normal amount of hours but it isn't for the money. For me, I mean. When you work with people you get to learn about them. Everyone here has so many different experiences, it's kind of... nice?

But we find time. [ Now he just looks sheepish. ] Though she did fall asleep while we were together once.

[Now, some people might interpret while we were together as something...different. ~~Unless they were actually correct in their assumption.~~ Iris, on the other hand...]

What were you two doing that made her fall asleep like that?

[ Well at least she isn't the type to think of that but ??? ]

We went to the cinema. ...We probably should have just stayed in though.

Was it really that giant a leap, though?]

Was she able to at least make it home alright?

[ ????? What kind of gross man do you take him for to tell gentle young women about things?????? ]

Of course I made sure she got home safely.

Oh, good. I'm glad.

She's very lucky to have someone like you looking out for her.

[ He actually flusters slightly at that, reaching up to scratch behind his ear. ]

That wasn't the point I was trying to make though.

Perhaps not, but that doesn't make it any less true.

[Accept the compliment, Merlin.]

There are some who can go an entire lifetime without finding someone like that.

If you put it like that, I hope Feenie does that for you as well.

[ Eyebrows raise... he better, or he's going to find himself tripping over odd vines that weren't there minutes before!!! ]

[Her brows rose slightly at the name, surprised, before she gave a soft giggle.]

I didn't know anyone besides me called him that.

Well I don't, but it's what you call him.

...And you aren't answering the question.

[Iris, of course, then assumed he was just teasing her for the nickname.]

That doesn't mean you have to. Everyone else I talk to either calls him Phoenix or Mr. Wright. Oh, except for Mystic Maya--she calls him "Nick" for some reason.

[And as for his question:]

He's more than taken care of me. In a way, I owe him my life.

[ More like teasing Phoenix for her using it... ]

Well I call him Mr. Wright to his face. [ Though ... he isn't sure he wants to go with this topic when she says she potentially owes him her life. ]

...What happened?

[What happened, indeed. Where does she even begin?]

There was...somebody was killed at the Temple where I live. Somebody very close to a lot of the people involved. I was blamed for it--[a story in and of itself]--and taken away.

Feenie...at one point, I was sure I would be found guilty, but because of him and his friends, the...truth came out. [A painful truth, yes, but one which shed light on so much of their respective and shared pasts.] He believed in me, when he had...every reason not to. [Yet another story] For that, I owe him my life.

Sorry-- [ He maybe thought she was talking about something... not as catastrophic as that but... ]

Then I'm glad he was there for you. It can't have been busy, if you were blamed for it. You didn't have to say anything either so-- [ He presses his lips together, kind of awkward, then says: ] Thanks.

[Her whole life was catastrophic; being accused of murder still wasn't even close to the worst part of her story.]

...for what?

[She had been ready to tell him he hadn't needed to apologize, but then the expression of gratitude caught her of-guard.]

[ This is true, but it's still bad if it can lead to your head on a chopping block. ]

For saying? I mean... you didn't have to.

[...well, technically she would have been hung, but semantics.]

I know.

But...it's alright, Merlin. I've spent so much of my life having to hold things inside and keep secrets from people...it's almost a relief to have someone to talk to about everything.

[ Either way it leads to death!!! ]

Well you can. Whenever you want, I mean. I don't mind listening. [ Even if he isn't sharing his own thoughts... ] With anything, really.

That's very sweet of you.

[Even if he never did share his own thoughts. Long as it had taken her to reach a point of openness, she would hardly expect the same from him if he wasn't ready.]

Goodness, though. There's...just so much. I know you already know some of it--[Thanks to a few momentary outbursts in the past.]--but...well, I suppose you can say my life has been full of extreme ups and downs.

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