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Arcade +Various - Windows
Date: 2012-04-03 06:30 am (UTC)It's gotten easier for Arcade to tolerate the things he sees as there's more to see, as perverse as that sounds.
Raul has to be just about the most lonely, depressed, guilt-ridden person he's ever seen, and he's seen Boone. Past that, it's nearly impossible to read the ghoul through the sarcasm and dry wit, or to tell when, if ever, he's being serious because of it. The only thing Arcade is sure of about the man is the fact that he's obliquely but very genuinely fond of both Charlie and Cass. He'll still insult the hell out of both of them with an unending supply of backhanded compliments, but there's something fraternal about it, something that makes both women tolerant. Charlie acts completely oblivious, taking them as genuine, and Cass gives back as good as she gets.
Cass is frustrated beyond belief; at life, her lot in it, the state of the world. She's also possibly the most honest, well-adjusted person out of the whole bunch of them. What you see is what you get, unmixed and unadulterated, just like an unopened bottle of booze. It's rather refreshing, having someone around who wears their heart out plain, just like the little pendant around her neck.
And then there's Charlie. Charlie, the Courier, who can kill someone with a tiny, unseen slice of a blade and who's currently lapping grease off her dinner plate like a dog.
Charlie is a mystery. Too much of one. It doesn't look like she's holding things back; she talks as plain as Cass does, her opinions flowing just as free. Probably freer than they should on some occasions, but that twangy voice and affable 'aw, shucks, can't you see I'm just a slow hick of a gal' attitude puts most people off their guard. It's a sham, and he knows it; he saw it when he realized she'd suckered him and he's seen the truth of that knowledge reaffirmed whenever she gets genuinely upset. It's the only time that mask she has on slips.
She wears it just like that battered old coat and the only flashes he gets of the person inside it are just like the ones he gets of who that person is. Sharp, hidden things that have been worried over until they shine like mirrors and then wrapped up tight. Things that would be very, very bad for everyone if they came out uncontrolled.
But they don't.
The shininess she does pull out is precisely what whoever around her wants to see in her. Cass has a drinking buddy. Boone has a surrogate target or partner, Charlie's temperament changing to meet whatever his maladjusted needs are for the day. Raul has someone to look after. He himself found someone who needed him for his mind, even if she's turned out to be a hell of a lot more intelligent than she let on to begin with. He still wonders if that dumb act was for his benefit or hers.
He wonders if any of this is for her benefit, if she's planned out this collecting of people for a clandestine or higher purpose, or if it's just some kind of damaged social compulsion she's responding to, another side-effect of those bullets to her brain. Like gravitates towards like, or loss towards loss, and she displays the appropriate lure to whoever catches her eye. But then maybe he's full of shit and they're really the ones who have collected her.
He wonders why. The real why of it all.
That's something he just can't see, no matter how hard he tries.
Re: Arcade +Various - Windows
Date: 2012-04-04 01:30 am (UTC)I am in love with Charlie. Even though she's withdrawn and plays her cards close to her chest, you get a lovely sense of who she is. Your writing has so much substance, even when it's just a few paragraphs of observation. I wish I had your eye for characterization and detail.
I just want to wrap myself up in your character descriptions and take a nap.
Re: Arcade +Various - Windows
Date: 2012-04-05 01:56 am (UTC)