murder --7; voice

[heltersskelter]

[Tate's walking down the hall, his communicator at his side. the video is on, so it flashes as he walks: the wall, his leg, the wall, his leg. it's dark, wherever he is. darker than the halls of the Passenger Quarters, lacking the glow of Engineering or the Shuttle Bay.]

It's like we've come to a new stage of our relationship, now we're talking. [it's as though he's been holding a conversation with someone and the comm started in the middle of it] But you know, I think that guy, you know the one, he needs something more poetic, like: There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast... Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! ... You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?

[he stops, for a second, and from the lowered angle you can see his other hand. his fingers drum against his leg, like he's anxious. blunted, bitten nails digging into the fabric of his jeans.]

You aren't afraid are you?

[he's walking again]

By the way, sorry about Hayden. She's kind of a bitch when she doesn't get laid, and I mean, you know how people can get on this ship. But next month is New Years, right? I think Hayley missed that. It should be one hell of a party. It's been two years since the first jump showed up. Not everyone has something back home, you know? Maybe some of you have crap to go back to, bullshit families and wives and kids. Jobs, like your lives even matter. But maybe this place isn't so bad. [his voice lowers, not quiet, just deeper:] Can't say this ship never gave you anything.

[then he stops again, all at once. it's darker than it was a second ago, like maybe he's standing beneath an awning. there's no movement for about five minutes, you can't even hear Tate breathing, and right before the video winks off he says:]

What's for dinner?

Comments

[20mentholkools]

Got that part. Seems like she thinks that's all it takes.

[heltersskelter]

[his breath leaves him in a rush, like he's been kicked in the stomach. he remembers the house, the glow.]

She's crazy.

[20mentholkools]

Saying the same about you.

[Not that Riddick needed to be told. But he wanted to hear Tate's reaction to it, blunt like that.]

[heltersskelter]

I don't want- I just need some help. [he says, pitiful, pleading, voice catching like he's having trouble breathing, his hand grips the device as though by holding it tighter, he could make Riddick understand.] Doctor Harmon was supposed to help me get better.

[20mentholkools]

[Riddick knows he has a soft spot for kids. And he knows it's seen him make mistakes in the past. But they'd never been the kids doing - just times when he shouldn't have stayed, shouldn't have fought, but did. Tate was different. Tate wasn't a kid, and Tate had killed him.

The pitiful tone doesn't work. Riddick never had any pity to spare in the first place, and there's nothing in him that Tate's pleading can reach.]

You think a doctor could fix it? There's no better for you, kid.

[heltersskelter]

[as always, Riddick is unflappable. Tate doesn't realize it, but this mask boomerangs his emotions, makes everything bigger and harder and intense and he finds himself warring between wanting to rail against Riddick (screaming and stabbing) to believe him and burst into tears because he won't (and they're supposed to, they're always supposed to believe him)]

But why? [he hiccups, fat tears rolling down his cheeks, on the verge of a sob] Why can't I be fixed?

[20mentholkools]

Fixing means something's gotta be broken.

[Maybe there was a time, once, where Tate was something else. Something lighter, more innocent, a real kid. But that's long gone.]

[heltersskelter]

[there's a clear shake to his voice now around the tears]

I don't understand.

[20mentholkools]

Save the bullshit for someone else.

[The crying, the not understanding. You didn't get to be like Tate without knowing exactly what you were.]

[heltersskelter]

[he goes quiet after that, and it's partly that Tate realizes his bluff has been called and partly because he has himself so worked up that at first, he can't snap right back. he doesn't sniffle, but the tears do stop.

he's like Hayley, Tate recognizes distantly. Tate couldn't pull that shit with her either. he pulls his mask up, snout first.]