[He is hurt, for some reason. He doesn't know why, and can't really articulate it beyond expressing a frustration, partly at himself. Maybe this runs a lot deeper than he really wants to think about, or analyze, or both. Maybe this has something to do with the conversation he had with Taako back at the feast-
...and we've never really- y'know. Talked about personal stuff. Personal lives.
I'm not here to get all feelsy, my guy.
-and maybe it's just a reminder that no matter how engaged he tries to be, he's always going to miss something somewhere, lost in his own head. These people are his friends. He's supposed to know this shit.]
[Yeah, okay. This is not how Lup ever wanted any of this to come out.]
shut it right now its not your fault
look. everythings been pretty shit lately. you have your own issues. i got mine barry and i have been through some real hadriel influenced crap so i havent exactly been chatting him up to folks talking bout my estranged husband isnt exactly a fun time, you get me?
[Nate isn't trying to lean on the oh, woe is me, he just wants to be less of a shitty person. The immediate backlash is reassuring, but doesn't really assuage the notion that he ought to be more aware regardless.
Talking about my estranged husband isn't exactly a fun time, you get me?
[Lup’s usual style is to keep vague on how she met Barry, to not talk much about the mission they’d been on or the 100 year cycle they’d been stuck looping for a full century.
But. Nate’s a friend. And clearly she’s been keeping her cards too close to her chest. For all that she’s bullied her way into his life, into his own personal drama, maybe it’s time she shares a little more about herself.]
its kind of a long story
so after uni koko and i applied to work for this super prestigious organization that specialized in scientific research and shit and like yeah we were interested in the work but it was more to rub it in the faces of everyone that these little shithead elves who grew up from nothing could beat out everyone else for the limited positions
and natch. we did. thats where i met barry. saw him around a few times but then we all three got handpicked for this research mission together and that was kinda the start of it
taako told me a little about the starblaster mission. surveying planets, right?
he might have taken a while to ask you out because you're fucking terrifying
[It wasn't a lot of detail, but Nate got the feeling that the reason behind the mission's survey was something Taako didn't want to bring up. It's good to get details corroborated, too, not that he didn't suspect a striking similarity in their childhood when compared with his own.
He doubts there were Catholic orphanages in their world, but those kids he met on the street when he got turned back into a twelve-year-old were just as scrappy as the Drakes.
Nate hates texting this. It feels impersonal, so he switches.]
[Knowing Lup, Nate can likely imagine the smile that curls smugly at the woman's lips at being called terrifying.]
yep got it in one. supposed to just be this two month deal. go out. study the other planes. their lifeforms, magic, plant life, etc. and then come straight home
only we just missed out on the last step
[No home to come back to.
The sudden change to voice is a little startling considering Lup is absolutely hanging out like, naked in Barry's room while he makes his secret calls elsewhere, but the immediate shift in tone leaves the woman shifting to sit up, her own voice dipping down low to match his. Though she doesn't lose any of her usual air of nonchalance, even considering the topic.]
Abandoned. Orphaned. Left behind. Whatever you wanna call it, yeah. That was us. Parents took off an' left us with some relatives. But surprise, surprise. Turns out elves aren't interested in raising little queer kids who aren't their own. We got passed around a lot, until we decided we were done.
[Taako has always been a great deal more quiet on this particular subject, so the fact that Lup so voluntarily outlines it for him is a shock. Maybe he shouldn't be surprised: she's a blunt person, and honest, which is also why she's trustworthy. What she tells him reminds him of Lance in his various foster homes, shuttled from place to place until finding somewhere to settle.
Except in this case, they set out on their own.]
Went into an orphanage when I was five, Sam was around nine.
[Some details - that their mother felt suicide was her only option, that their father carried them for a year before giving them up to the State - sting too much to share over the phone. They're not important to this conversation, anyway.]
He got kicked out in his teens for causing trouble. I didn't really get kicked out so much as I, um. Left. I was twelve, at the time? We did something that would have gotten us separated forever, it seemed easier not to go back.
[Five and nine. Near the same age that Taako and Lup were plopped off at a relative's doorstep, the start of one of many cycles in their life. She wonders if it was any different, experiencing what they did with an age gap, where one sibling was the designated protector, the other to be protected. Even if Lup took it upon herself to keep her twin safe, always leaping forward with the bristling anger that always kept her going, it was an easy partnership of switching off roles.
Did having to rely and look up to an older brother change the game for them? She wonders.]
Good. [She's not sneering exactly, but there's a certain fierceness in that single word that's impossible to hide.] Fuck anyone who threatens to separate siblings. It's total horseshit. Koko and I would've done the same.
[There's no question of whether or not Nate may have had a more stable life if he'd stayed and found a family instead of going off on his own with his brother. Lup understands him in this. That was never even an option. How could it be?]
We were about eleven, I think. Found a traveling caravan from there and hopped on. We had to pretend we were one kid for awhile, since the dicks there refused to take the two of us on, even if we were both working out asses off for them, but it worked. For awhile.
[There's a variety of loyalty that can't be bought, can't be feigned, and it's that express brand of ride-or-die for a sibling that Nate knows well enough to have recognized it in the twins a long time ago. The kind of loyalty where if one party comes forward with a story about a drug lord, a prison break, an ultimatum, the other would automatically agree to help. There is too much history and trust not to do so.
The similarities are striking and Nate can't help the faint smile, because he absolutely believes that Taako and Lup pretended to be the same person to keep up a convenient charade. With their background and street smarts it stands to reason that a lot of the melodrama of performance in the way that they act - Taako in particular - stems from like work.]
Yeah, that sounds like you guys. We left the country. Labor laws were a little more...lenient, south of the border. Sam did the odd job here and there, I was mostly busking, uh, picking tourists' pockets. That kinda thing.
[For a moment he debates whether or not to tell her this, because it's hilariously embarrassing given the audience, but also pretty telling.]
Had a sleight-of-hand phase- [That never really went away.] -so I'd do street magic while Sam lifted wallets.
[For how emotional of a turn this conversation has taken, the sound of Lup's laughter - high-pitched and unrestrained and so so loud - might feel out of place. She barks out a laugh and the sound of it against all of this tension feels strange to even her, but that stops nothing.]
Holy fuck! [She breathes out into the receiver, giggling and utterly delighted. For all of the sadness to be said for this talk, to hear of two young boys struggling to survive in the same way Lup and her brother had, she wants to find fun in the similarity, not just mope over what can't be changed.
For their shitty upbringings, look what they've all become. Nothing's a bigger 'fuck you' to an unfair past than growing up and becoming incredible.]
You did street magic? Sweet, little Natey Drake? I - [she dissolves into giggles again, pulling the phone away just to wipe at her eyes before Lup's back.] I need to see. I need to see your whole routine. You have to still know it, gods. Please. Koko an' I will show you ours if you show us yours.
[The instant he admits to it, he regrets it. Sometimes he forgets how laughable stage magic must be to people who can practice actual magic, and Lup is nothing if not unforgiving when it comes to giving others shit.
Nate pinches the bridge of his nose with a vague sigh.]
[Getting into an argument about how his world has categorically lacked "real" magic would be pointless, particularly since the original direction of this conversation veered elsewhere, so he just takes it.
Mouth a tight line, he takes a deep breath through his nose and exhales slowly.]
[It's a real show of their friendship that Lup doesn't just drag the man for another hour over this. But she's not stupid, she sees the tight line of his mouth, the way he draws a calming breath. The teasing doesn't bug him, she thinks, maybe it's just the subject matter. It hits a little close to home.
Which Lup naturally understands.]
Fiiine, I won't say a word. Promise.
[And for once, she means it. Taako won't hear a word.]
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no subject
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lup what the fuck
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in my defense
your abs keep distracting me whenever i was gonna tell you
why the heck are you even shirtless as often as you are
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and secondly, I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS
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we are friends you goobus
me not telling you doesnt mean we suddenly arent
we are p close babe. that hasnt changed.
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[He is hurt, for some reason. He doesn't know why, and can't really articulate it beyond expressing a frustration, partly at himself. Maybe this runs a lot deeper than he really wants to think about, or analyze, or both. Maybe this has something to do with the conversation he had with Taako back at the feast-
I'm not here to get all feelsy, my guy.
-and maybe it's just a reminder that no matter how engaged he tries to be, he's always going to miss something somewhere, lost in his own head. These people are his friends. He's supposed to know this shit.]
i'm sorry
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shut it
right now
its not your fault
look. everythings been pretty shit lately. you have your own issues. i got mine
barry and i have been through some real hadriel influenced crap so i havent exactly been chatting him up to folks
talking bout my estranged husband isnt exactly a fun time, you get me?
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Talking about my estranged husband isn't exactly a fun time, you get me?
Yeah, he's sure it was the same for Elena.]
abundantly
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you wanna meet him??
will that help?
i get ur pissed at me so just like
whatcha need fam?
[She’s not saying sorry. But also, she’s maybe just a little sorry.]
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and i'm not pissed at you, i promise
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what did you think?
totally cute right?
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how did you guys meet?
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But. Nate’s a friend. And clearly she’s been keeping her cards too close to her chest. For all that she’s bullied her way into his life, into his own personal drama, maybe it’s time she shares a little more about herself.]
its kind of a long story
so after uni koko and i applied to work for this super prestigious organization that specialized in scientific research and shit
and like yeah we were interested in the work
but it was more to rub it in the faces of everyone that these little shithead elves who grew up from nothing could beat out everyone else for the limited positions
and natch. we did. thats where i met barry. saw him around a few times but then we all three got handpicked for this research mission together and that was kinda the start of it
took him nearly 50 years to ask me out tho
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he might have taken a while to ask you out because you're fucking terrifying
[It wasn't a lot of detail, but Nate got the feeling that the reason behind the mission's survey was something Taako didn't want to bring up. It's good to get details corroborated, too, not that he didn't suspect a striking similarity in their childhood when compared with his own.
He doubts there were Catholic orphanages in their world, but those kids he met on the street when he got turned back into a twelve-year-old were just as scrappy as the Drakes.
Nate hates texting this. It feels impersonal, so he switches.]
...you guys were like me and Sam, weren't you?
[He's not talking about Barry anymore.]
no subject
yep got it in one. supposed to just be this two month deal. go out. study the other planes. their lifeforms, magic, plant life, etc. and then come straight home
only we just missed out on the last step
[No home to come back to.
The sudden change to voice is a little startling considering Lup is absolutely hanging out like, naked in Barry's room while he makes his secret calls elsewhere, but the immediate shift in tone leaves the woman shifting to sit up, her own voice dipping down low to match his. Though she doesn't lose any of her usual air of nonchalance, even considering the topic.]
Abandoned. Orphaned. Left behind. Whatever you wanna call it, yeah. That was us. Parents took off an' left us with some relatives. But surprise, surprise. Turns out elves aren't interested in raising little queer kids who aren't their own. We got passed around a lot, until we decided we were done.
What about you two?
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Except in this case, they set out on their own.]
Went into an orphanage when I was five, Sam was around nine.
[Some details - that their mother felt suicide was her only option, that their father carried them for a year before giving them up to the State - sting too much to share over the phone. They're not important to this conversation, anyway.]
He got kicked out in his teens for causing trouble. I didn't really get kicked out so much as I, um. Left. I was twelve, at the time? We did something that would have gotten us separated forever, it seemed easier not to go back.
no subject
Did having to rely and look up to an older brother change the game for them? She wonders.]
Good. [She's not sneering exactly, but there's a certain fierceness in that single word that's impossible to hide.] Fuck anyone who threatens to separate siblings. It's total horseshit. Koko and I would've done the same.
[There's no question of whether or not Nate may have had a more stable life if he'd stayed and found a family instead of going off on his own with his brother. Lup understands him in this. That was never even an option. How could it be?]
We were about eleven, I think. Found a traveling caravan from there and hopped on. We had to pretend we were one kid for awhile, since the dicks there refused to take the two of us on, even if we were both working out asses off for them, but it worked. For awhile.
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The similarities are striking and Nate can't help the faint smile, because he absolutely believes that Taako and Lup pretended to be the same person to keep up a convenient charade. With their background and street smarts it stands to reason that a lot of the melodrama of performance in the way that they act - Taako in particular - stems from like work.]
Yeah, that sounds like you guys. We left the country. Labor laws were a little more...lenient, south of the border. Sam did the odd job here and there, I was mostly busking, uh, picking tourists' pockets. That kinda thing.
[For a moment he debates whether or not to tell her this, because it's hilariously embarrassing given the audience, but also pretty telling.]
Had a sleight-of-hand phase- [That never really went away.] -so I'd do street magic while Sam lifted wallets.
no subject
Holy fuck! [She breathes out into the receiver, giggling and utterly delighted. For all of the sadness to be said for this talk, to hear of two young boys struggling to survive in the same way Lup and her brother had, she wants to find fun in the similarity, not just mope over what can't be changed.
For their shitty upbringings, look what they've all become. Nothing's a bigger 'fuck you' to an unfair past than growing up and becoming incredible.]
You did street magic? Sweet, little Natey Drake? I - [she dissolves into giggles again, pulling the phone away just to wipe at her eyes before Lup's back.] I need to see. I need to see your whole routine. You have to still know it, gods. Please. Koko an' I will show you ours if you show us yours.
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[The instant he admits to it, he regrets it. Sometimes he forgets how laughable stage magic must be to people who can practice actual magic, and Lup is nothing if not unforgiving when it comes to giving others shit.
Nate pinches the bridge of his nose with a vague sigh.]
Forget I told you. Please.
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Pretty sure 'forget I told you' basically translates to 'please tell Taako immediately'.
[Maybe google translate messed that one up, but Lup'll take it.]
Nate, you're good. You're so good. The whole thing's just cute. You gotta admit that much.
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Mouth a tight line, he takes a deep breath through his nose and exhales slowly.]
Are you done? Are you done yet?
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Which Lup naturally understands.]
Fiiine, I won't say a word. Promise.
[And for once, she means it. Taako won't hear a word.]
Look, I get it. You know I get it.
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