[his gaze lowers only after she's finished speaking (like sometimes, it's safer to keep looking her in the face, if Tate had that kind of self preservation), and he feels everything around him grind to a halt. like the crushing of bone.
he hasn't seen this mask in months, and looking at it hanging, black like oil, from the tips of her fingers- he's not sure what to make of it.
blackmail? forgiveness? manipulation? a plan? he cycles through everything it could possibly mean and comes up empty.
when he reaches out to take it, his fingers touch hers and his eyes go back to her face.]
Why?
[not why should he keep playing. why this? why now?]
I didn't trust you. [ she doesn't shy away- though Hayley has never honestly done so in a conventional way. but there's a tell in that too. in the privacy of her own room, in Tate's company, she finds that she isn't pretending to be anything anymore. she isn't a highschool girl, and she isn't an all-powerful merciless killer. she's something else.
whatever that might be.
Hayley's expression remains vacant, without being empty, and she allows the contact, minimal as it is, before her hand lowers to her side. ]
[the words are heavy in the air between them, like a physical presence. when she lets go, his chin lowers, with his hands, and his fingers press across the nearly slick fabric of the rubber. now i do. he has a strange sensation that he isn't quite sure what to label. he shifts his weight, kind of like a shuffle, and his voice is a mumble when he glances up at her through his pale lashes.]
[ it's maybe a tease and maybe too honest, but it comes out as a convoluted order just the same. Hayley takes one step back, then another before she turns her back on him, pads over to her desk to find search for a mug. she needs a cup of coffee. and space.
offering her back to him is just an extension of her earlier statement, and she doesn't need to see Tate's face to know he gets it. ] Now get going. You don't have to hang out with me all day.
[he can still remember a time she would have shot him in the face before turning her back on him, and Tate brings the mask against his stomach, holding it between both of his hands like something precious instead of just a piece of fabric.]
[ she doesn't freeze- because Hayley never stops being in motion. not really. regardless of the heart that does or doesn't beat in her chest (metaphors are for people that can afford them. she isn't one of them.) but her fingers find the mouth of her mug regardless, and go still.
i wouldn't mind. hanging out with you.
in the otherwise darkness of her room, with a ghost at her back- holding his mask like a lifeline (holding a world of things he doesn't need and desperately believes he does) Hayley smiles. ]
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no subject
he hasn't seen this mask in months, and looking at it hanging, black like oil, from the tips of her fingers- he's not sure what to make of it.
blackmail? forgiveness? manipulation? a plan? he cycles through everything it could possibly mean and comes up empty.
when he reaches out to take it, his fingers touch hers and his eyes go back to her face.]
Why?
[not why should he keep playing. why this? why now?]
no subject
whatever that might be.
Hayley's expression remains vacant, without being empty, and she allows the contact, minimal as it is, before her hand lowers to her side. ]
Now I do.
no subject
Thanks.
no subject
I don't do regret.
[ it's maybe a tease and maybe too honest, but it comes out as a convoluted order just the same. Hayley takes one step back, then another before she turns her back on him, pads over to her desk to find search for a mug. she needs a cup of coffee. and space.
offering her back to him is just an extension of her earlier statement, and she doesn't need to see Tate's face to know he gets it. ] Now get going. You don't have to hang out with me all day.
no subject
I wouldn't mind. [a beat.] Hanging out with you.
no subject
i wouldn't mind. hanging out with you.
in the otherwise darkness of her room, with a ghost at her back- holding his mask like a lifeline (holding a world of things he doesn't need and desperately believes he does) Hayley smiles. ]
Yeah?
Okay.