"Nope. If anything, I'm going to get in trouble when Cesar learns about this conversation. He wanted to supervise our first meeting to make sure I didn't intimidate you."
Cerrit's hands are visible and nowhere near his axes, and his crest is fluffy without being at full alert. He's taller than her, but he's not using that height to bully her.
Man she wishes she had her shades so that he couldn't see the way that her eyes narrow at that. Does she have to worry about this man trying to intimidate her?
"You make it sound like you planned to come and see me regardless."
"I wanted to put a face to the name." Cerrit watches her for a moment, and then takes a small bobbing step back, clearly offering her space. "You don't have to like me or anything, but for Cesar's sake, I'd like to avoid tension with you."
Her lips press into a tight line, then she just sighs, and the tray flips up under her arm to hold less like she might swing it, and more just secure against her side.
"If you've been talking with César then I'm assuming that he's given you some idea of why I don't trust you."
"I think that people are going to form their opinions whether I like it or not," she argues, but shakes her head, looking back at Cerrit with a stern set to her jaw. She's not outright hostile, but certainly treading close to it. "But ideally, I would rather people know me as more than a villain and if you're coming up to me like this, on César's behalf, then that tells me you have concerns of your own."
"My concern is that tension between you and me is going to cause pain to a
sweet, brilliant man we both care about. I had hoped to defuse that up
front, for his sake."
She's still unsure about all this, but at the very least, she does trust that he has decent intentions toward César, if he's coming in here to assess her for himself. Now the only problem is what that means for how he's going to treat her.
"So what exactly do you want me to do, then? I'm behaving myself because I like the life I have here, and nobody has given me a reason to cause any problems. Maybe that's subject to change at some point but for now, I'm a model citizen." There's a definite note of sarcasm there.
"Vika chose to kill Cesar for things he did in his world that were a crime by her standards. Not anything he did here. And I think, to be honest, that's a dick move. For me to judge you by the standards of my world and its laws for actions you took under your own circumstances in your world? That sounds really shitty to me. We aren't in either of our worlds. We're here."
"Oh, I've had that talk with her, about the context of his world versus her world and his motivation versus her trauma. And I know what you're getting at, but you also have to consider that no matter where I've gone, cops have always been the same, because they perceive me a specific way regardless of whether they know me or not. I'm not inclined to trust you because of that. But I also don't feel like starting an actual fight, when you've approached me at my place of work."
Cerrit's feathers droop. "Would approaching you off-shift have been better? I thought that it would come off more demanding and forward. Here, you're working. You can tell me to fuck off; that's within your authority."
Her weight shifts, hands propping on her hips with the tray still held in such a way that she wouldn't drop it. "Think of it this way: usually when someone approaches a service worker for small talk, it's because they're sure that the worker has to give their full attention, like they're holding the person hostage. You seem...reasonable enough, but usually this kind of approach is both out of pocket and really manipulative. It's lucky for you that it's a slow day right now."
For whatever it's worth, he hears that, his crest feathers fluff...and he doesn't immediately defend himself.
Instead, he lets that thought sit, and then offers a bobbing little bow. "You're right. I didn't think about it that way. I beg your pardon. Should I go?"
"A lot of people don't, and the kind of people that do think about it and do it anyway are the kind of people that I tend to break the noses of because they're making the people I work with extremely uncomfortable." No, there hasn't been a rash of people leaving the Oak & Iron with black eyes, so it can be inferred that she's decked people in her home world for the decidedly shitty practice of cornering people behind counters for inappropriate customer interactions.
"I'm giving you some grace since you came up to talk with good intentions but a thoughtless approach. I'm going to reserve further judgment and hope that the next time you two talk, it won't cause trouble for any of us.
"Now, normally I would ask if you needed anything else but you seem to have abandoned what you were having before."
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-02-21 06:45 pm (UTC)Cerrit's hands are visible and nowhere near his axes, and his crest is fluffy without being at full alert. He's taller than her, but he's not using that height to bully her.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-21 07:36 pm (UTC)"You make it sound like you planned to come and see me regardless."
no subject
Date: 2024-02-21 07:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-21 08:58 pm (UTC)"If you've been talking with César then I'm assuming that he's given you some idea of why I don't trust you."
no subject
Date: 2024-02-21 10:12 pm (UTC)"He implied it pretty heavily. Do you think it should still matter, here?" Cerrit remains calm, and glances aside so he's not doing a full stare.
"Is that the standard you ought to be held to, or should I judge you only on your actions here, as I can see them?"
no subject
Date: 2024-02-21 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-22 12:16 am (UTC)Cerrit's feathers fluff slightly.
"My concern is that tension between you and me is going to cause pain to a sweet, brilliant man we both care about. I had hoped to defuse that up front, for his sake."
no subject
Date: 2024-02-23 02:23 am (UTC)"So what exactly do you want me to do, then? I'm behaving myself because I like the life I have here, and nobody has given me a reason to cause any problems. Maybe that's subject to change at some point but for now, I'm a model citizen." There's a definite note of sarcasm there.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-23 03:52 am (UTC)Left field question, but he's going somewhere with it.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-23 08:21 pm (UTC)"Ah...not particularly. But I also don't know you from anyone else outside of the physical, and the appeal to authority."
no subject
Date: 2024-02-24 04:02 am (UTC)"Vika chose to kill Cesar for things he did in his world that were a crime by her standards. Not anything he did here. And I think, to be honest, that's a dick move. For me to judge you by the standards of my world and its laws for actions you took under your own circumstances in your world? That sounds really shitty to me. We aren't in either of our worlds. We're here."
no subject
Date: 2024-02-24 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-25 07:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-25 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-27 01:10 am (UTC)Instead, he lets that thought sit, and then offers a bobbing little bow. "You're right. I didn't think about it that way. I beg your pardon. Should I go?"
no subject
Date: 2024-02-28 06:05 pm (UTC)"I'm giving you some grace since you came up to talk with good intentions but a thoughtless approach. I'm going to reserve further judgment and hope that the next time you two talk, it won't cause trouble for any of us.
"Now, normally I would ask if you needed anything else but you seem to have abandoned what you were having before."
no subject
Date: 2024-02-28 07:35 pm (UTC)"No, it won't cause any trouble. Thank you."
And he slinks back to his table.