snowblindrpg | [network] @ADMIN; Arrival

[That gets another chuckle; congratulations Claire, you actually managed to surprise him with that one. He likes that kind of confidence too, even as it makes him miss Fiona with a sharper pang than usual.]

But not confidence; not at all.

Confidence is earned, isn't it? Cockiness is just bravado. Confidence is honest, and that's attractive to me.

[Which is why she's honest, herself. She tries her best not to be a hypocrite.]

Cockiness is for little boys still learning how to be men.

And yet, too many grown adults are cocky. [She sees it most in doctors.]

So, despite your chosen career, do you think yourself an honest man?

No.

[The answer is immediate.]

I don't mean to say that I lie all the time; that I never tell the truth. But I'm not an honest man, no.

[The funny thing is that she thinks it's honest, that he'd say it that blankly.]

I've saved a man, once. [She doesn't have to say who.] I did it outside the hospital, performed a medical act that I'm not technically qualified for. Saved his life, but I could have lost my license.

[She sighs, swallows thickly. She's not saying she would excuse everything he's done, but what's back home shouldn't really influence what's here. They need to be able to trust each other. At some point, anyway.]

Point is, there are degrees to honesty.

You did it because it was the right thing to do, yeah? And it was. Followed the rules, and he would have died.

I don't follow the rules either, but I am not a do-gooder. That is not to say that I never do good, and there are people who benefit from what I do, at home. But I am not a noble figure, at the end of the day. It is a nasty fucking business that I work in, filled to the brim with people willing to do nasty fucking things, and I'm one of 'em.

[It's not self-hatred or guilt that motivates him to say this - no I'm a bad guy, and everyone should hate me because I don't deserve any better. On the contrary, he sounds incredibly matter-of-fact.]

I'm sure it is. And you know what? I don't care. If I find you bleeding on my doorstep, I'll help you anyway.

[Her tone is just as matter-of-fact as is his. She's not new to this. She saved the life of the man who kidnapped her.]

I don't really care either, who you are back home, as it doesn't affect me. It's none of my business. What matters is here and now, getting out of this place.

I'm not telling you that you shouldn't. And the rest - yeah.

[He feels the same.]

[That actually makes her laugh, if a tiny bit bitterly.]

It'd be incredibly self-sacrificial of you to tell me I shouldn't.

[And apparently there are some of these around here - Watson, for starters. But Claire doesn't really believe in self-sacrifice. It's selfish. If you can get help, get it.

And in another world, back home, she'd be a lot more wary of him. But here, all she can do is try to get help, herself, and Alfie is definitely the kind of man that is resourceful and intelligent enough to bring it.]

I'm glad we agree.

You're not a bad sort, Claire Temple.

Thank you. [Another smile.] I'll say you're not so bad yourself, with the caveat of, you know, your criminal past.

[With that caveat, she likes what she's hearing so far.]

It's my criminal present and future, as well; let's make that clear.

What I don't know doesn't bother me.

But now you do know, don't you.

Not really. I don't know what you do, back home, nor do I care to. Plausible deniability.

That is generally the position I ask superheroes and law enforcement to take. Yes.

[But she's neither.]

I'm happy to take it as well, even if I'm neither of these things.

If you like. Yeah.

I would.

All right, then. No business talk.

Excellent. Business talk is only boring anyway.

You prefer personal conversation?

I prefer whatever conversation that doesn't incriminate anyone. If it's got to be personal, then so be it.

You know, lots of people talk about the best people to talk to are bartenders, but they're wrong. The best are nurses; we've got the same kind of oath as doctors do, but without the superiority complex.

Are superiority complexes a problem with doctors where you're from? Must be a twenty-first century thing.

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