Synergy Study

[Containment]

She knew, then. That was a lot less of a relief than he thought it would be, as the court disappeared and the ball with it. He let her catch his eye, watched her in the air overhead. Her exasperation didn’t move him, but he couldn’t say it didn’t bother him, either.

The bared teeth almost made him flinch. It wasn’t a smile. He’d seen a very similar look, before.

For just a moment, the front of his chest was bloody. Throat cut. Eyes glassy.

Then nothing had happened at all. Like an anomaly, Cody was intact. Whole. Safe, all scars back in his mind where they belonged.

He stepped away from Charity, and went to where the sidelines had been. He sat down on the ground, the snow forgotten. There was no anger, no fear, not even exasperation. He seemed tired, as if this was a trail his mind had walked before, and he didn’t want to have to retrace it.

“It would be, yes.” His voice was quiet, now, too. “I know so many people who could explain it better than I can, but yeah. It would be my purpose to put my purpose first, at that point. I think that’s anyone’s purpose. Like– like a game with a friend. You’re still friends, and you care about them, and what they want, but if you’re playing something like basketball, what you want – in that case, to win – becomes more important. I have to put the Foundation first. I don’t know what your becoming might do, and I’m not going to ask you. But that’s why we do research. If you were willing to let it be an enclosed experiment, maybe, but that also isn’t fair to you, maybe even less than just leaving you here. I’m sorry.”

He bent his knees up and put an arm around them while his other hand rummaged through the coat pile for the energy drink.

 

[annasiel]

The flash of death cowed her. Eyes widening, Charity withdrew, again turning away from Cody - a little too quickly to not be anything other than shame. As he went to sit down, drawing up his legs and pulling out his can of liquid, Charity flitted down beside him, still not looking, but sitting in the snow nearby.

"Sorry."

She almost whispered it.

"I thought I had - sorry."

People were fragile things. They had defined boundaries - like the rules they played by, their bodies were things of rules as well, and when those rules weren't upheld, they stopped forever.

"I'd do it. The - thing. If it meant you trusting me." She brushed her hand past her ear - or where an ear should've been - grabbing at the back of her head. "Do it the slow way. But I want you to promise that it isn't meaningless. I want it to happen for me, not - just to answer more questions, then put me away again."

 

[Containment]

The can opened with a very satisfying crack, and Cody took a long drink as Charity settled beside him. Quiet, quieter even than before.

As she apologized, he reached down into the collar of his shirt, and pulled 255 back out. He tugged at it idly with his free hand. color="#9B111E"]“No, it’s fine– you didn’t. Sorry.”[/color] Maybe he shouldn’t be apologizing, but he felt like he should, because she’d worried. Anomalies didn’t normally worry, and they shouldn’t have to. He definitely shouldn’t be causing her to worry.

“You’re fine, and you’re right about it being slow. I’d have to go through the right processes. It’ll be a while, while everything gets processed. I’d need to get someone out here to screen you– just ask some questions, which I know you don’t like but would be important – and – you’d need a vessel, right? We’d need to find a Class-A with the right psych profile to match up, and establish a sleep schedule. It… would be an experiment. But yes. It’ll be for you.”

A second long drink, while he considered the next part. The… harder part. Experiments were fine, but promises – you never knew, with promises. He had to be careful.

“I won’t promise that this will end the way you hope, Charity, but I will keep you informed about the process. And if I have to say no, you’ll know why. But if we determine it’s safe, and if we can talk some more before then, I’ll promise to do everything I can to make sure it’s implemented.”

 

[annasiel]

Her touch was sudden, and barely even present, like a gust of wind on an otherwise still day or a ripple on a quiet pond. Barely present, but certainly there, her arms awkwardly wrapping around him from behind for half a second, then letting go a moment later. Were he to look behind him, then, she'd be several feet away from where she'd been sitting before, hair shrouding her face in billows, hands twisting together.

"Thank you."

Though the action felt stilted, rehearsed, her reaction to it seemed genuine - slight excitement, slight amusement, and, a bit more than the two, embarrassment.

"You can come here whenever you like, you know. You don't have to wait until you've rotted even more."

Her hair slipped aside, showing a quirked smile.

"We could be friends."

 

[Containment]

If Cody didn’t know any better, he’d think Charity had just given him a hug. And he didn’t know any better, but it was very clear that she was embarrassed, and he didn’t want to make it worse. It’d be best not to make a big deal about it unless she did.

“Cellular decomposition waits for no man,” he quipped instead, with the classic Cody smile that he now couldn’t help. She had accepted his answer, which had lifted his spirits enough. That, and the definitelynotahug. “But I won’t have rotted as much by the time I come back. That, I do promise.”

His eyes hadn’t quite lost their gleam, although they also hadn’t lost their exhaustion, either. Not from a lack of sleep – just… pressure. It was just the pressure. And something else on his list, although between Charity and Ira he imagined he’d be kept busy during a lot of his downtime.

That actually gave him an idea, which he decided to keep to himself for right now.

“I’d like that, Charity. Let’s be friends.”

He needed friends, after all, and if he did, he was sure she did. And Weiss would blow a fucking gasket when he found out, which was all the more reason to let what would be, become.