Re: quicklog: atticus/matt
[Matt wasn't sure if he believed Atticus wasn't a writer, or that he couldn't be one, only that he wouldn't. He did believe the rest of it, though - that he was a storyteller was pretty obvious. A good one, too.] You make them a person. [He acknowledged the idea, decided it fit.] Seems like something you're good at.
[Daniel was a more complicated question, and he wasn't going to force Atticus to talk about the guy, or what had happened, if he wasn't ready to talk about it. Sooner or later he might decide that was a story somebody should hear, but it was probably too raw right now. Hell, he hadn't told a single person that story about his damn arm, and that happened almost eighty years ago. People's stories were their own, a piece of them to be parceled out when and where they wanted. He didn't push, but later, he would ask again.
Matt didn't get propositioned. It wasn't part of his life. Sex was something left behind, for the most part, with civilian living. The one real exception to that, the one attachment he had in his life as an asset, that had been bad for both of them, even if the thing itself had been good. And it was a one-off. There was no one else. There were a few isolated incidents, sure, but all early on, all part of the mission, before his handlers decided their asset was too erratic for undercover work. After that, he really only interacted with his handlers and the people he killed. He met a lot of people that way, but there wasn't much room in the relationship for romance.
He didn't, therefor, realize he was rejecting anything. He thought he was tabling a discussion while Atticus was wasted and fucked up in the head. After the life he'd led, the likelihood of him hopping in with somebody who was fucked up was zero to nil. That was just how it was. He wasn't going to forget the offer, or assume that door was closed.
He watched Atticus roll onto his side and stayed there, for a moment, hovering over him. Dying takes dedication.] I'll stay. [All those reasons Atticus gave him to leave, and he didn't take a single one.
He was already withdrawing when Atticus told him he was a good kid, and a smile flickered across his face. Atticus probably couldn't see it, already turned over, but on the top step, he shook his head. Sometimes he felt very strange and out of place in this world, just when he was starting to think he'd got his footing. Atticus made him feel like that - a little anachronistic, not knowing what to say, sure only of the fact that he didn't really have anything figured out.] I'll lay off when you do.