Family Reunion || Reasoning
Feb. 3rd, 2018 11:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsTopaz attempts to reason with Taboo. It goes as well as one would think.
He had gotten her chickpea curry.
Topaz was sitting on the floor, staring at the curry in the takeaway container, her arms wrapped around her legs. Taboo had untied her to eat, since she couldn't exactly help if she was weak from hunger. And she was seriously debating refusing to eat. She was starving, though; she hadn't gotten breakfast before running out of the mansion the day before, and hadn't managed to get anything to eat before the Destines had taken her. And he had gotten her favorite dish. He had remembered her favorite dish. Or maybe it was a coincidence. She didn't know.
"You've lost your bloody mind," she informed the man who had once been her father as she finally picked up the spoon to start eating. She wasn't going to be any good to anyone if she was too weak to fight.
"As you already said before," Taboo pointed out absently - he was sitting at the small table provided in the room for breakfasts and was going through a number of books. "You'll see, Topaz. I promise, once this is over, you'll thank me. You'll have a real family again."
"Okay," Topaz said slowly. "Let's pretend, for even a minute, that this is actually going to work. What then? What's your grand plan? You're officially dead, she's officially dead, and I have school on Monday. What exactly do you think we're all going to do?"
"What has that teacher of yours been doing? Magic will get us anything and everything we need. The Way will provide." He made some notes on a pad before looking up at her. "You do know of the Way, at least?"
Topaz glared back, gritting her teeth. "And here I thought I couldn't hate anyone from the Way more than that Ancient One tosser," she bit out. "Should've known you'd sell your soul for something like that." Now she was kicking herself. She should have tried to find him after everything that had happened, at least to keep tabs on what he was doing.
His lip curled. "The Ancient One. On him being a 'tosser' as you so eloquently put it is something we agree on. But you can't escape the Way, no matter what nonsense Sefton has put in your head. We all must choose. And I have chosen the way of strength. Of power. Of the ability to take care of myself and my family." He looked meaningfully at her. “All of my family. You'll see, once Alice has returned to us."
A small smirk pulled at Topaz's lips. "Funny you keep bringing Amanda up," she couldn't help but needle. "Guess it stings that I went and found a better teacher. But since you seem to want to talk about her, I can give you a small preview of what nonsense she's taught me. Rule number one - don't abuse magic. Might not hurt you to get that lesson."
"Magic is simply another means to attaining your goals." Taboo snorted. "If your teacher wasn't too afraid to use her gifts to their fullest, you wouldn't be here, would you? But she isn't, because she mustn't 'abuse magic'." He stopped short of actual air quotes, but they were clear in his sneer. "As I said, there is a path of strength. The strength to protect those you care about, if you aren't too afraid to take it."
"Those you care about," Topaz sneered back. "You only care about yourself, no matter how much you try to delude yourself into believing otherwise. You don't even give a damn about Mum, you're doing this all for you."
Taboo surged to his feet, knocking over the small table. "I HAVE DONE ALL OF THIS FOR HER!!!" he thundered, glaring at Topaz before reigning himself in. "All of this," he repeated in a quieter voice. "Ever since she died. Everything I've done, has been for her. You don't think I know what I've done? You think I enjoy this, taking you against your will, holding you captive, threatening children? I do this for her. And for you. For the family that was taken from us." For a moment he looked broken, his voice catching. For a moment, he was her father again.
Topaz stood as well, her face a stony mask. "You had choices," she said coldly, not impressed by the act - or maybe it was real. She didn't know. She didn't care. "Every single step of the way, you've had a choice. No one is pointing a gun at your head. No one is threatening someone you care about. You could have walked away. We-" Her voice caught. Damn it, he wasn't going to get to her. She shut down her mind entirely, trying to block out the emotions in the room. "We could have been a family. You and me. We could have left that house, left London, left the god damn country, and started over. It would have been hard without her, and it would have hurt like hell, but it's what she would have wanted, and you know it. Have you ever, for one bloody moment, stopped to think about what Alice would have thought about this? How would she look at you if she saw what you've turned into? What would she think of you putting me in danger, getting us into something that almost got us both killed, abandoning me? If you think she would have approved of any of it - if you think, by some miracle this does work, she'll even be able to look you in the eye, then you and I remember her very differently. I did what she would have wanted. I moved on. You had the choice to do that too, and you refused. And look at where it's gotten us both."
"You have no idea what she would have wanted. You didn't know her like I did." The glimpse of humanity disappeared and the mask dropped again. "But we can ask her. Tomorrow." He started picking up his books from where they'd scattered on the floor. "Enough of this. Eat. Sleep. You'll need your strength for the spell."
Topaz stared at him flatly, her expression revealing nothing as she leaned against the wall and slid back down to the floor. He had made one thing easy, at least.
She would have no problem letting Amanda tear him to shreds.
He had gotten her chickpea curry.
Topaz was sitting on the floor, staring at the curry in the takeaway container, her arms wrapped around her legs. Taboo had untied her to eat, since she couldn't exactly help if she was weak from hunger. And she was seriously debating refusing to eat. She was starving, though; she hadn't gotten breakfast before running out of the mansion the day before, and hadn't managed to get anything to eat before the Destines had taken her. And he had gotten her favorite dish. He had remembered her favorite dish. Or maybe it was a coincidence. She didn't know.
"You've lost your bloody mind," she informed the man who had once been her father as she finally picked up the spoon to start eating. She wasn't going to be any good to anyone if she was too weak to fight.
"As you already said before," Taboo pointed out absently - he was sitting at the small table provided in the room for breakfasts and was going through a number of books. "You'll see, Topaz. I promise, once this is over, you'll thank me. You'll have a real family again."
"Okay," Topaz said slowly. "Let's pretend, for even a minute, that this is actually going to work. What then? What's your grand plan? You're officially dead, she's officially dead, and I have school on Monday. What exactly do you think we're all going to do?"
"What has that teacher of yours been doing? Magic will get us anything and everything we need. The Way will provide." He made some notes on a pad before looking up at her. "You do know of the Way, at least?"
Topaz glared back, gritting her teeth. "And here I thought I couldn't hate anyone from the Way more than that Ancient One tosser," she bit out. "Should've known you'd sell your soul for something like that." Now she was kicking herself. She should have tried to find him after everything that had happened, at least to keep tabs on what he was doing.
His lip curled. "The Ancient One. On him being a 'tosser' as you so eloquently put it is something we agree on. But you can't escape the Way, no matter what nonsense Sefton has put in your head. We all must choose. And I have chosen the way of strength. Of power. Of the ability to take care of myself and my family." He looked meaningfully at her. “All of my family. You'll see, once Alice has returned to us."
A small smirk pulled at Topaz's lips. "Funny you keep bringing Amanda up," she couldn't help but needle. "Guess it stings that I went and found a better teacher. But since you seem to want to talk about her, I can give you a small preview of what nonsense she's taught me. Rule number one - don't abuse magic. Might not hurt you to get that lesson."
"Magic is simply another means to attaining your goals." Taboo snorted. "If your teacher wasn't too afraid to use her gifts to their fullest, you wouldn't be here, would you? But she isn't, because she mustn't 'abuse magic'." He stopped short of actual air quotes, but they were clear in his sneer. "As I said, there is a path of strength. The strength to protect those you care about, if you aren't too afraid to take it."
"Those you care about," Topaz sneered back. "You only care about yourself, no matter how much you try to delude yourself into believing otherwise. You don't even give a damn about Mum, you're doing this all for you."
Taboo surged to his feet, knocking over the small table. "I HAVE DONE ALL OF THIS FOR HER!!!" he thundered, glaring at Topaz before reigning himself in. "All of this," he repeated in a quieter voice. "Ever since she died. Everything I've done, has been for her. You don't think I know what I've done? You think I enjoy this, taking you against your will, holding you captive, threatening children? I do this for her. And for you. For the family that was taken from us." For a moment he looked broken, his voice catching. For a moment, he was her father again.
Topaz stood as well, her face a stony mask. "You had choices," she said coldly, not impressed by the act - or maybe it was real. She didn't know. She didn't care. "Every single step of the way, you've had a choice. No one is pointing a gun at your head. No one is threatening someone you care about. You could have walked away. We-" Her voice caught. Damn it, he wasn't going to get to her. She shut down her mind entirely, trying to block out the emotions in the room. "We could have been a family. You and me. We could have left that house, left London, left the god damn country, and started over. It would have been hard without her, and it would have hurt like hell, but it's what she would have wanted, and you know it. Have you ever, for one bloody moment, stopped to think about what Alice would have thought about this? How would she look at you if she saw what you've turned into? What would she think of you putting me in danger, getting us into something that almost got us both killed, abandoning me? If you think she would have approved of any of it - if you think, by some miracle this does work, she'll even be able to look you in the eye, then you and I remember her very differently. I did what she would have wanted. I moved on. You had the choice to do that too, and you refused. And look at where it's gotten us both."
"You have no idea what she would have wanted. You didn't know her like I did." The glimpse of humanity disappeared and the mask dropped again. "But we can ask her. Tomorrow." He started picking up his books from where they'd scattered on the floor. "Enough of this. Eat. Sleep. You'll need your strength for the spell."
Topaz stared at him flatly, her expression revealing nothing as she leaned against the wall and slid back down to the floor. He had made one thing easy, at least.
She would have no problem letting Amanda tear him to shreds.
