[ Rowan huffs out a dry laugh, the corner of his mouth tugging up in a barely there smile. ]
Hardly. You're not all that far.
[ Which isn't quite true as he had been in the Down and she's in the Up, but it's not as if he had anything better to do at the time.
He licks his lips as he takes a position in front of the espresso machine, examining the buttons and levers to see if he can figure it out just by looking and poking first. ]
Besides, I like being in the Down. Kinda my questionable choice, so I gotta deal with the consequences.
[ Rogue steps just to the side, not really intending to look over his shoulder while he fiddles with the machine but also not nearly as eager to keep a decent amount of distance between herself and other people as she usually is. The idea that he’s Like Bobby, which seems to have alarmingly implanted itself in her head, or that, at the very least, he’s trustworthy in that Bobby Drake sort of way, has her defenses lowered more than usual.
And she certainly hadn’t asked for company just to throw up an impenetrable wall between him and any vulnerability she might show.
Aside from work, Rogue can’t say she’s spent a lot of time in the Down outside of Haven. All she knows is that the public housing is lacking. And that there’s a great chance she’ll get mugged if she wanders around alone. ]
Really? Why?
[ It’s a blunt question. Not even close to polite, but she blurts it out because she can stop and think about how entitled it sounds. If she’d really stop to think about it, she’d get it. She knows how uptight and too fancy and uncomfortable her own apartment is. Being left alone, for the most part, in the Down and not feeling like there’s always someone watching must be great. ]
[ His first response to her question is to merely shrug. Rowan does not take offense easily, or at least he does not show it easily when he does. He prefers a blunt question to dancing around a question, even if he would be one of those inclined to do the dancing. But the straightforward manner of the question reminds him of Faraday, Citra. They were just like that.
He pokes at a button and the frother starts shooting hot air out. Okay. He shuts it off. Good to know. ]
I'm not saying it's smart. [ He gives this preamble with an arched-brow look at her. He knows it's not. ]
But back home, I had a sort of... mentor that lived this very ascetic lifestyle. It kept him focused. I don't want to get soft around here. [ He pauses to look at her. ]
Not that I think all Dominants are getting soft in here or that having a nice place makes you bad. I just know what I need and it's one of the few choices I still get to make, you know? So. The Down.
No. No. It's... I don't actually disagree with you. Not that I want to sound like I'm complaining when so much is wrong with the Down but... between you and me... this place -- [ Her apartment. ] Isn't exactly... me.
[ Not that she hadn't been living in a literal mansion for years, but that had never felt quite like her either. Like she constantly had to be careful not to break something or stain something. Like she'd never quite fit no matter how much she tried.
And she can understand not wanting to become soft. Being without her powers meant that she'd become acutely aware how vulnerable she actually was. And that she wasn't half the fighter some of her former teammates were. ]
I grew up in Mississippi... is that a place where you're from? Nothing bad about it but we didn't have a lot. We scraped by a lot of the time. Everything about the Up is... too much.
It is, I think. Everything kind of got combined together into different territories, but I know the name.
[ Not that he knows or understands the implication of being from the South, culturally, socially, economically, whatever. Those nuances are lost to time. It's just a place.
But he listens and nods slowly, again. ]
I think I get that. Not that I would want you to live in the Down. It's honestly not great. But it isn't so overwhelming.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Hardly. You're not all that far.
[ Which isn't quite true as he had been in the Down and she's in the Up, but it's not as if he had anything better to do at the time.
He licks his lips as he takes a position in front of the espresso machine, examining the buttons and levers to see if he can figure it out just by looking and poking first. ]
Besides, I like being in the Down. Kinda my questionable choice, so I gotta deal with the consequences.
no subject
And she certainly hadn’t asked for company just to throw up an impenetrable wall between him and any vulnerability she might show.
Aside from work, Rogue can’t say she’s spent a lot of time in the Down outside of Haven. All she knows is that the public housing is lacking. And that there’s a great chance she’ll get mugged if she wanders around alone. ]
Really? Why?
[ It’s a blunt question. Not even close to polite, but she blurts it out because she can stop and think about how entitled it sounds. If she’d really stop to think about it, she’d get it. She knows how uptight and too fancy and uncomfortable her own apartment is. Being left alone, for the most part, in the Down and not feeling like there’s always someone watching must be great. ]
no subject
He pokes at a button and the frother starts shooting hot air out. Okay. He shuts it off. Good to know. ]
I'm not saying it's smart. [ He gives this preamble with an arched-brow look at her. He knows it's not. ]
But back home, I had a sort of... mentor that lived this very ascetic lifestyle. It kept him focused. I don't want to get soft around here. [ He pauses to look at her. ]
Not that I think all Dominants are getting soft in here or that having a nice place makes you bad. I just know what I need and it's one of the few choices I still get to make, you know? So. The Down.
no subject
[ Not that she hadn't been living in a literal mansion for years, but that had never felt quite like her either. Like she constantly had to be careful not to break something or stain something. Like she'd never quite fit no matter how much she tried.
And she can understand not wanting to become soft. Being without her powers meant that she'd become acutely aware how vulnerable she actually was. And that she wasn't half the fighter some of her
formerteammates were. ]I grew up in Mississippi... is that a place where you're from? Nothing bad about it but we didn't have a lot. We scraped by a lot of the time. Everything about the Up is... too much.
no subject
It is, I think. Everything kind of got combined together into different territories, but I know the name.
[ Not that he knows or understands the implication of being from the South, culturally, socially, economically, whatever. Those nuances are lost to time. It's just a place.
But he listens and nods slowly, again. ]
I think I get that. Not that I would want you to live in the Down. It's honestly not great. But it isn't so overwhelming.