open } she's had her fill of destinies and that's why she flew away

[choosetruth]

Who: Georgia Mason, YOU
Where: the Kindergarten
When: June 23 - 27
Rating: PG-13ish probably
Summary: Georgia's a Dhampir Oracle. Goodie. Just like she's never dreamed. At least she has spells that make people tell the truth.
The Story:

[Starters in the comments! There's one party starter available for people if they want to get stuck in the zone of truth for threads.]

Comments

[choosetruth]

"That was always going to happen." Jay's job isn't in as much danger as he thinks, mostly because Georgia was never hiring him for his ability. She was hiring him to keep an eye on him. Even before she'd pieced things together, she'd known he might be trouble. But she's in no hurry to assure him his position is safe. Not right now when she's busy raking him over the coals. She stares at him, sizing him up as she takes his measure.

"You've never had a real team, have you?"

She doesn't think about the ways she's lucky very often. Being assassinated and cloned and experimented on tends to skew your view of your life pretty negatively. But there are some ways she is very lucky. She has Shaun. Even when they were separated, him thinking she's dead and her trapped in the CDC, she knew she was loved, and she knew when she found him they'd be unstoppable again. She had Shaun, and she had Buffy, and they had their handpicked team of betas, and her parents may have been terrible, but they did make sure she got the best journalism training available, even if it was mostly to make sure she didn't besmirch the brand.

Jay clearly didn't have any of that. No wonder he's a fuck up.

She huffs out a breath. Yelling at him might be fun, but it's hardly productive.

"Please attempt to show the barest minimum common sense. I am available if you need help or advice, but I'm not here to babysit you. I don't want to have to reject things."

[burntvideocassette]

"Of course, sure, I'll--I'll try my best."

The offer's still on. Somehow. Somehow. He can't screw this up. At least 'I'll try my best' is true enough that he's able to say it.

"And--and no, it's just been me, most of the time...that I can remember. And Tim, for a few months." Again, he looks up, staring in the general direction where Tim started walking. This feels too familiar, in the worst way. ('Do me a favor and stay out of my life!') He unconsciously shuffles in the same direction. "But that--that didn't really...pan out..."

It's an evasion, but not quite a lie.

[choosetruth]

"Sounds complicated." And while his evasion isn't subtle, she doesn't need the details enough to push. Personal issues aren't her business. It's how she's managed to keep her own personal life a secret for so long and not felt too much like a hypocrite for it. Tim and Jay's relationship doesn't matter to her past how it might affect Jay's work.

"I'm never alone. I have Shaun. Nothing but death can tear us apart, and here not even that." There's no danger that things with Shaun won't pan out. Having him is the one thing in the world she can be confident about. "You're going to need to learn to work as part of a team. When you get stuck, you ask for help. And not by posting confidential material."

[burntvideocassette]

Jay nearly laughs. The last couple times he asked for help went great, didn't they? And the last time he responded to somebody else's call for help, that definitely wasn't a trap designed to take advantage of his good intentions. Asking someone for help requires you to trust them, at least a bit, and evidence so far shows that trusting people's a terrible idea. Expecting other people to trust him might be even worse.

The bitterness probably shows on his face. Jay hopes it doesn't, though.

"Sure. Okay. I'll--" He wants to say I'll try, but it gets caught in his throat. Right. No lies. "I understand."

[choosetruth]

"Do you?" She frowns at him, staring at him with a focus so intent that if she had the option, she would flay him open with her eyes. "Don't make me regret this."

She doesn't want to hear what his true response to that question is. He doesn't know if he'll make her regret it or not yet, and hearing he's going into this thinking he will would bias her against him even more than she already is. Instead of waiting for a reply, she turns and stalks off.

The zone of truth remains for another few minutes after she's gone.