ArchivedLogs:What happened to casual?

What happened to casual?
Dramatis Personae Anette Daken
In Absentia	2015-03-30 Anette punches Daken. The End. Also part of Future Past TP.
Location <NYC> 202 {Anette} - Sunrise Apartments - Clinton
This studio apartment is not big, the living area L-shaped with the entrance at one end and a kitchenette found at the other, its linoleum old and peeling. The shabby carpeting in the combination livingroom-bedroom area carries the stains and smells of tenants long past, frayed and peeling at its corners with the ghosts-scents of smokers of yesteryear. In the cramped bathroom in the back, water damage stains the walls. As does rust, around the showerhead in the tiny shower stall. It's the middle of the day when Daken arrives at the apartment complex. He's dressed, oddly enough, in mechanic blue coveralls and a pair of steel-toed boots. His destination seems to be Anette's apartment, because he wastes zero time going up to the door and knocking several times. It's been a quiet day for Anette. Her schedule's been pretty bare so she's filled it with stretching out on her couch, flipping through channels on an old, flickering TV. Clearly, nothing seems to capture her attention as she ends up settling on an old black and white movie and she closes her eyes, beginning to doze off. Daken shifts a bit from where he stands outside the door, eventually fishing his phone out and dialing Anette. "I know you're in there." he grumps slightly, a thoughtful frown plastered onto his face. A flip phone on the coffee table beside Anette begins buzzing, startling her awake. She grumbles and immediately opens it just to hit the CANCEL button. She makes her way to the door and jerks it open, ready to tell off whoever is on the otherside. The realization that it's Daken takes her by surprise and she freezes for a split second, her eyes wide. Suddenly, her right hand balls into a fist and aims it straight for his face. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO CASUAL?!" she yells, clearly not as happy to see him as she usually is. Daken takes the fist to the face, lips splitting open, but healing before they barely have a chance to bleed. What little blood is there is wiped away with his sleeve. "Hello to you too. What happened to casual? Apparently we had a child, and you love me." He motions past Anette to the apartment inside. "Mind if I come in?" Anette watches Daken's lip heal with a frown, apparently unsatisfied with the speed. "I don't do love. Hell, I rarely do like. Yeah, you better come in." She steps out of the way. "You were the one who went feral because you thought I was dead. Jesus, I've been losing my mind over this kid, reality and dreaming, and this whole time it's yours?" She can't take her eyes off Daken, still unable to believe his role in everything. "So the fact you got better as soon as you saw me was COMPLETELY coincidental then." Anette closes the door behind them and leans up against it, her arms crossing her chest. "Wait, Victor? Is that wher...seriously, what the hell?" She groans and makes her way to the kitchen and pours herself coffee. Black. "I don't do kids, I don't do seeing the same person for -five- years, and I sure as hell don't do love. And I've been under the impression you're the same." "I am. I guess we were just the right kind of crazy for each other." Daken replies with a faint half-smirk. "And yes, that's where Victor came from. He's my uncle, though I doubt he knows it." Anette suddenly looks up, her dark eyes briefly flashing bright yellow at the mention of being perfect for each other. "Don't even joke about it." She takes a large gulp of her coffee, gripping the mug tightly. "What the hell do we do about this? I mean, I suppose the safest thing is to cut everything off now. Though I think if we cut ties around year four we'll still be safe." "Why not just play it out? That's probably the most genuinely happy I've ever seen you, when you weren't sad." Daken suggests with an arched brow. "We'll make sure the sentinels don't happen, then we can focus on seeing what is happening with us. We can't chase skirts forever. I'm not suggesting we say fuck it and start dating.. But continue doing what we are now. Occasional dates, and a lot of hooking up." Anette shakes her head. "I like chasing skirts. I like living in shitty apartments alone. I don't like...feeling open and exposed. Besides, you've been doing this how long, what's another forty years?" She looks down at her coffee and pauses a moment. "I -was- happy to see you. But...only because of the pain. From my side, I could feel...so much pain. Nothing like I've ever felt in my life. And I will do anything to avoid feeling that." Daken lifts his shoulders in a slight shrug. "I've been doing it for almost thirty years. Let one person I really cared for get away. Not a good feeling." He turns to head back over to Anette, reaching up to rest a hand on her shoulder. "I know how it is. I was all pain, and not long from going nuts." Anette gently shrugs Daken's hand off her shoulder. "I'm just...so confused. Love is a weakness. Why would I do that to myself?" She looks up to Daken, her eyes furrowed in thought. "You of all people should understand and want to avoid it." "It's a thing that can be exploited, yes. But it's also one of the quickest ways to enrage a person. Threaten somebody they love, and they'll fight you with everything they have if they aren't a weak willed coward." Daken gives his head a slight shake. "And neither of us are weak willed cowards." Anette chuckles faintly. "I think we both know that neither of us has any trouble coming up with ways to be enraged. Hell, I just punched you over a dream." She sets her coffee down and leans against the counter. "But it's also the easiest way to hurt a person. If someone is strong, you don't go after them, you go after who they love. If that motivation is gone...then they're broken. Simple as that." "If somebody hurts a person I care about, I'm killing everyone they love. Spouse, children, pets, parents, cousins, nieces, nephews, then I'm cutting off their hands." Daken grins a bit. Anette shakes her head again, rubbing at her eyes. "So you'd need someone hurt to do that? Say...say the dream really does happen. Someone, in an attempt to hurt you, kills me. So you wipe out their entire gene pool. Then what? You go back to the life before? Like nothing ever happened? If future me wasn't in the picture, they try to hurt you and you demolish them. Simple." Daken lets out a small huff. "It's because you actually grew to care about me." The look on his face turns into a teasing grin, "I am a pretty awesome guy. And you've been pretty excellent so far." A hand comes up to rub over his mostly shaved head. "And we'll fix the future so we don't have sentinels rounding us up. That way we could just see what happens, without running the risk of people trying to kill us. Well, no more than usual. And we've made it this far with all of our arms and legs. Well, I grow mine back. You just haven't lost any." Anette narrows her eyes at Daken's response. "As if I would fall for you. You must've brainwashed me. Only logical explanation." She hops up onto the counter and turns towards Daken. "But either way, you're perfectly ok with this...Disney ending?" "Why wouldn't I be?" Daken arches an eyebrow. "And I didn't brainwash you." he moves over to rest his hands on Anette's legs. "I'm not proposing we shack up. I'm proposing we have a lot more sex, and get some dinner." Anette hmmphs softly as Daken approaches, then suddenly grins. "What if I say yes to one and no to the other?" she says, leaving it up to Daken to figure out which is which. "Still think you brainwashed me." "Then I'll take what I can get." Daken flashes a wink, hands moving up to Anette's waist as he gets a bit closer. "Still got a few things to try." Anette grins as she jumps off the counter, stepping close to Daken. "Oh really? Hmm...don't know if I should be concerned or not." "You just might." Daken chuckles, slipping his arms around Anette's waist. "So, what should we do before you kick me out?" "Hmm...well, clearly finding stronger birth control is in order," Anette teases. "Otherwise, whatever you want." Daken just flashes a grin, taking Anette's hand. "Let's go work on that then."