(open)

[hischair]

When: 19th
Rating: TBC
Characters: You!
Summary: A shindig at the beach for the best navigator in Starfleet.
Log: 

[ OOC: Feel free to assume your character has received an invite to the party via their inbox or word of mouth for Chekov's birthday! Everyone is welcome except you, Khan and presents are mandatory for the Enterprise's young navigator. Please tag under either section to keep the party somewhat ordered, and have fun! ]

Comments

[candothat]

[(Even things that don't have a practical use can develop. That includes kindness.)

But Pavel forgot that trying to talk about good and evil with Hei is fruitless rather than philosophically intriguing. There's no changing his mind or convincing him that, in the City, he has an opportunity to be a decent person--that everyone has the capacity to be decent. Hei's view of morality is far more complicated than Pavel's and, although the Russian doesn't believe in the stark contrast between good and evil that he did when he first arrived in the City, they can't see eye-to-eye. Pavel's worldview has no room for cynicism.

He almost goes sprawling--see, this is exactly why Pavel never has more than a drink or two--but rights himself and replies cheerfully.] It is a wonder I am ever invited to parties.

[mortemscintilla]

[ Kindness and decency may have their perks. But Hei will never, ever lie and say that they're more important than anything else. Kindness is for people who don't recognize the dozen different nuances of sound for each crack of bone; decency is for people who want a family and children and to live and do good until they get old. Hei may want satisfaction, if not happiness, but his satisfaction isn't that. At the end of the day, well -- nobody wants to be alone. Isn't that all anyone is looking for? It's enough that he can form ties with people, however rare or brief or tenuous. Enough that he can have roadmarks, if not anchors, to humanity, in the shape of those he meets. ]

[ For someone who subsists on illusions and emptiness, on a labyrinth of smoke and mirrors, it's enough. It's progress, even. ]

You can't get kicked out of your own party, [ he says, lightly brushing the grains of sand away from his clothes. ] Still, it's better not to push your luck. [ A joke, a warning, and advice, in his own way. ]

[candothat]

[All progress is good progress, and Pavel feels that progress is constantly being made with Hei. Now that the incident with the furniture on the ceiling is distant enough to make Hei's behavior that night a hazy recollection instead of a stark and immediate memory, Pavel is almost at ease with Hei. He likes him, in spite of his better judgment. He admires his intelligence and oddness and alien view of humanity and his brusque (but not cruel--not lately) attitude.

It's this admiration that spurs Pavel on to discard his cup and soldier on through this vodka-soaked melancholy without too much philosophical idiocy.]

I am not so stupid that I let myself become an idiot around anyone.

[mortemscintilla]

[ In Hei's history, he's liked a handful of people too. But he's felt absolutely no compunction in ruining or eliminating them, if that's what his survival required. That's how he operates, with a mutable dosage of harshness and sweetness -- whatever penetrates his victims softest corners, aims at the exact spot to get the arterial geyser of funds or emotions or info spurting. Whatever keeps him alive. He's a creature of expedience, his behavior tailored to the situation, and to the individuals in his periphery -- colors shifting and personas dappling like a chameleon's. He might be wearing a mask right now. He might not be. ]

[ The point is that Hei's spent a long time switching faces and identities. There's a deep wariness at the idea of being himself. Of letting that self -- so frayed and shriveled -- form real attachments with real people. He'd tell himself, There's a first time for everything. But BK201 doesn't function on the basis of cliches. (Still, once upon a time, he'd never imagined he'd function with teammates, either.) ]

[ He quirks an eyebrow when Pavel discards the cup. ] I'll take that as a compliment, then. [ One more thing Hei doesn't believe in -- Compliments. But his tone is dry rather than barbed. Why shouldn't it be, really? This is a party; not a stakeout. No reason for Hei's seeming amiability to invert into knives and venom. ]

[ (Nothing, at the end of the day, is without a purpose.) ]

[candothat]

[Pavel is in no condition to try to puzzle Hei out. It's an impossible task sober, attempting to determine how much of Hei is genuine at any given moment or if there's a shadow of truth to what he says or, indeed, if there's anything genuine and true about the assassin outside of Pavel's hopes. As such, he stops trying.]

It was intended to be complimentary, but I must always be an idiot to you, correct? Reaffirming what you know to be true takes no trust on my part. [Oops, he's still being a bit philosophical. He's Russian, he can't help it.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Perhaps it's better to stop. Deadlier and smarter men have hit roadblocks trying to puzzle BK201 out -- or to find patterns in his rational and irrational decisions. The wisest conclusion they've come to is to leave him the hell alone. Some people aren't worth kinking up your brain trying to figure out. (Even so, sometimes the the sincerity Hei notices in Pavel, in Korra, is like a foreign language. Maybe if he listens long enough, he'll begin to mimic it. Maybe one day, he'll even mean it the way they do. Who knows?) ]

[ His mouth takes an imperceptibly wry turn at Pavel's comment. ] You're doing that thing again. [ That drunken philosophizing by the campfire thing. ]

[candothat]

Which thing? [Pavel studies Hei's face for a moment, as if that will help him remember what it was they were talking about.] Ah, yes--pushing my luck.

[He nods and returns his focus to the bonfire. When he speaks again, his tone is far too meditative and serious for his words.] Thank you for coming to this. Maybe there is a reason--tactical reason--for this... but you are here, and I'm appreciative.

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei's built to react to the most volatile situations. To hear words like What's to stop me from killing you now? and to disarm his enemy with a smile or a word. To calculate how to avoid getting nicked by a whizzing bullet in a six-to-one firing squad, with a split-second's glance. To walk into a room, sharp gaze bouncing from head to head, and zero in on the person who'll be the easiest mark -- just by skimming over their body-language and expressions. ]

[ But he has no idea what to do here. Feels unprepared, by the seriousness swimming in Pavel's voice, by being handed the heavy anchor of his gratitude. Please, Thank You, You're Welcome -- none of those are things that Hei knows how to say. He isn't programmed for that sort of nicety, unless it's with the intent to manipulate. Instead, letting his cadence fall into something calm and quiet, he says, ]

The party's not over yet. I plan to stick around awhile longer.

[ For recon. For data-collection. For making sure Pai interacts with new people. (And, let's be fair, for the dessert table.) ]