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[edelstein]

@edelstein

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[smokedout]

[Wryly:] You're so right, you're just a few actually tough questions away from getting me drunk.

[He likes that laugh, though. Dodger calls the waiter back, and gets two more bottles of whiskey. It's where most of his money goes anyway, going through several bottles a day to keep himself at a base level.

Once they've arrived, he pours himself another glass while he speaks.]

Where do you stand with Toma? And his brother, for that matter.

[edelstein]

[ . . . ]

Pour.

[With a frown she grabs her shot glass and holds it out to him.]

What do you like about Toma?

[smokedout]

[He pours her shot. Figures.]

He reminds me of my boss, back home. Bloemrose does, too, but Toma actually knows what he's doing. He could run circles around me, that makes it worth sticking around and learning from him.

[He chews his cheek.]

Some men are born leaders, built out of better substance than anyone else. True individualists that exist to mold the world in whatever way they see fit. I don't think he sees it that way, but it's what I see.

[He takes a sip of his whiskey. That was heavy, probably better to sandwich it in another idle comment.]

And he reminds me of my brother. Same as Chobe reminds me of myself.

[edelstein]

[The shot is knocked back with a bit more force and a little less elegance. Rin puts the glass back down on the table as she leans in. No regard for the order.]

You've got some shitty eyes. Maybe consider glasses, hm? But before that - why did you make a cat?

[Just because this is the first time shes bringing any attention to it doesn't mean she didn't catch his fidgeting earlier.]

[smokedout]

[He snorts. Alright, so she's close with Toma. Or as close as Toma lets anyone who isn't Chobe.]

I'm blind in one eye, actually. I'd probably be better just cutting it out.

[Or corrective surgery... you freak.

He glances down at the cat.]

I don't know. Just wanted something to keep my hands busy. And talking to you made me think of trying to pet a cat.

[He holds it out to her. It's rough, and there's fingerprints left in the metal, but it's recognizable as a sitting cat and that's all he was going for.]

Do you want it? Otherwise it's just going in the trash.

[edelstein]

[Oh. Huh. That's interesting. Curiosity squashes caution as she reaches out to accept the figurine. Rin has a soft spot for cats, and even told Dabi as such on the network - which is why she asked about it.]

Sure. I'll take it. Do you do this often?

[smokedout]

[He relaxes a little more, and something in his gaze softens when she accepts it. It feels like he's getting somewhere, finally.]

Yeah. It's, y'know, it's something to do that doesn't hurt anyone, keeps my hands busy so I can think. I used to fix motorcycle parts, too, patching them up and molding them back into shape. Haven't had a reason to do that here.

[There's a heavy amount of caution apparent in him when he starts to open up, but there's a slight tone shift when he mentions motorcycles. A tiny hint of how deeply he loves talking about them, even if he's trying to sound passive.]

[edelstein]

[The alcohol has her filter faltering. Earlier relief he didn't visit the Ugly Duckling completely forgotten as she says:]

That university spot has a workshop class. Metal and wood working. I dunno, might be good for you?

[smokedout]

[He shrugs.]

I've been learning more from Henry, actually. He was a blacksmith, before he became a knight. We fixed up some of the swords from the market in November, I think it was good for him. Getting to go back to his roots, I mean.

[Dodger can only imagine what it's like, constantly being surrounded by screens and high-tech gadgets and magic when none of that shit existed back home. All things considered, the resort is fairly mundane for him, but hanging around Henry has given him a deeper understanding of his own privilege.]

Anyway, I can pick up plenty from reading books and trying shit myself. It's how I learned everything growing up.

[edelstein]

[Hm. She's still not sure how she feels about this. Slender fingers hold her shot glass by the lip so she can gently tap the bottom on the table. He's not asked... is this winning? It doesn't feel like a victory or a loss.]

Not for the class, just access to the materials and tools. Anyway... how old are you?

[smokedout]

Mmm..

[Materials and tools do seem helpful. That's been the main sticking point, figuring out how to get a permanent spot to forge going.]

I'm twenty-five. Or- no, I'm turning twenty-six in a few days. The sixteenth.

[He frowns slightly. He's going to have to get used to saying that. It feels unnatural.]

Do you know anything about alternate timelines?

[edelstein]

Yeah, have since before I was ten.

[The things that happen when you wield a magic item that overlays an alternate version of yourself on you for a brief period of time. And then there's also the jeweled sword of Zelretch that would allow her to draw power from alternate universes so she could get an opening to kill her sister...]

[smokedout]

[Funny, when he showed up here he was so excited to meet people who knew what the hell he was talking about. And now it feels like everyone he talks to has some idea or other about alternate realities, and Dodger spends all his time around the one person who could not wrap his head around it if he tried.

It actually makes him chuckle quietly.]

I learned about them in my twenties. The hard way.

[He knew the general concept before that. He just... hadn't gotten brain damage that made his place in the space-time continuum unstable, yet.]

[edelstein]

[Slowly Rin draws her thumb over the little metal cat in her hand - feeling the grooves Dodger's fingertips have made.]

Did you have any siblings?

[smokedout]

[Dodger's gaze lower to her hands - watching her play with the metal cat, feeling something he isn't sure what to call. But it's positive, he knows that much.]

I've got a little brother. We're not blood-related, his parents adopted me. He'd be turning twenty-five soon, I think, his birthday's in March. [And since he's sure this will come up eventually:] That's the 'Anthony di Lonza' I asked you to watch out for.

[God, he misses him.]

What about you?

[edelstein]

[Slowly her expression turns a bit melancholy. Rin stops touching the cat to favor the shot glass.]

Pour. Ask another, I didn't take turns correctly.

[smokedout]

[Ah... yeah, fair. He pours her shot, and empties his own glass again before refilling it.]

When did your father die?

[edelstein]

[That shot gets thrown back before she replies.]

Eight, and my mother was gone by twelve. My father's first apprentice, a priest, became my legal guardian after that.

[Tch. There's a bit of poorly veiled vitriol for said priest when she talks about him.]

[smokedout]

[That actually gets a smile on his face. Bitter, but it is a smile.]

We have a lot in common, then.

[edelstein]

[Childishly she wrinkles her nose and sticks her tongue out a him.]

That's not the way to get me to like you better, y'know. Do you like coming inside or leaving your mark better?

[smokedout]

[That earns a huff of laughter.]

I'd rather come inside. But if I'm using someone's mouth, I want them to taste it before they swallow. And I want to kiss them while the taste is still in their mouth.

[He hasn't actually... put that in words before, but there's a little hesitation in his tone.]

Why don't you want people eating you out?

[edelstein]

You want to taste your own cum in someone's mouth!?

[Give her a moment. She's Feeling It now so the way she reacts plainly and falters is honest. Her brain wants to address this before answering his questions.]

[smokedout]

Yes?

[He gives her a look like she's being weird for questioning him.]

I like the opposite, too. Letting someone else taste themselves on my mouth.

[edelstein]

[How can he be so chill about it when she thought snowballing a guy could be prime humiliation fodder? It's even worked once!]

I don't want to taste myself! I'm bitter and gross like an apothecary's workshop!

[Seemingly no problems with tasting or swallowing semen, though.]

[smokedout]

[He's definitely noting that - that she's got no issue with tasting or swallowing his cum. And it does also answer his question about getting eaten out, at least partially.]

Then you don't have to. I won't notice the taste, and I can wash it down with something afterward.

[Implying that he still does want to get kissed.]