Progress
Characters: Brady and Mazie Setting: Kitchen and the farm, morning
It had been a surprise when the message from Mazie had popped up on his screen soon after he’d sent in his votes for the jobs list, and he couldn’t deny that he was just a little bit apprehensive about meeting up with her. It wasn’t a secret that she had no real fondness for him. What would she want to talk about? There were definitely a lot of possibilities, he knew, because there were several things he’d been hoping to get a chance to talk to her about. He wasn’t going to worry too much about it though. No, he’d just go, hear what she had to say, and go from there.
With that thought, he pushed away from his desk, pulled on a pair of shoes, and headed to the kitchen. Someone had already made coffee, which was nice as it saved time, and he pulled down a mug to pour himself a cup while he waited.
Pressed in her pajamas like always, Mazie headed down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Half of this was to extend a hand to Brady, to really show that while she was still inherently skeptical of him, she wanted to try and be more cordial. And part of this, well..she had something to thank him for.
Seeing him in the kitchen, she came closer and gave an awkward wave. "Hey," She said, keeping to an opposite counter as she watched him. "So..uh…the coffee any good?"
Brady was leaning against the counter facing the room, so he knew the moment she came in, and he couldn’t help the soft sound of amusement at the awkward wave. Nodding toward her, he gave her a little wave of his own. “Hey. Yeah, it’s not bad. Don’t know who made it, though.” He lifted the mug to his lips to take a drink, studying her over the rim for a moment more. “Autumn come find you yesterday?” he asked, and he’d have been shocked if she hadn’t.
"I came to find her," Mazie said, but her back was turned to him as she sought a coffee mug. Finding one, she came over to the coffee pot, making sure he saw her with it so he didn't think she was going to haul off and punch him again, this time for no real reason at all. She took her black coffee and pulled herself up onto the counter just a bit away from him.
"Part of the reason I wanted to talk to you. I…was kinda pissed yesterday when I heard you were taking down the nooses, because I wanted to see them where they were but…I thought on it last night and what I really mean to say now is…Thanks. You didn't have to do that, get involved or anything, and I…appreciate you looking out for Autumn like that."
Brady nodded slowly, even as his brows furrowed a bit. He’d have thought Autumn would have gone right to Mazie after they talked, but he wasn’t about to ask why she’d gone and found Autumn first. When she continued though, he stayed quiet, just listening. He was already mentally preparing to defend why he’d taken the nooses down when she went and thanked him for it. That was... unexpected. “Yeah, you’re welcome,” he said in a low voice, glancing down into his mug.
“Didn’t really think about whether or not you guys would want to see them hanging there,” he admitted, looking back at her. “Just saw them and it pissed me off that anyone was threatening anyone else like that. ‘Course, it pissed me off even more that you and her were the targets of it, but it was some pretty big bullshit that they were there at all. And, well, I figured just hearing about it would be enough. Thought it might make people panic more, the more people who saw it,” he admitted. Widespread panic was just something they really didn’t need in this place.
"You and me both, man…about the being mad that someone was threatening us thing. It's..hell, it's less even about me. Who the hell threatens Autumn that way?" She sighed, looking down at her coffee as she let the cup warm her hands.
"No, I mean…I get why you did it, I do. I just…I think I just sort of react to that kind of stuff without thinking it through. I still haven't been over there to see the tree yet. So thanks, really. For taking them down, for caring enough about her to do that. I really appreciate it." Especially because she apparently hadn't had the same thought process in mind. She'd thought of only what she could do to make herself feel better in the situation and that was starting to hit home hard with her. "It's…uh…it's nice to know that someone else has her back in this place."
Nodding again, Brady completely understood what Mazie meant by that. Autumn was just so... nice. She was more than that, of course, but it was a succinct way to sum her up, and he just never would be able to figure out why people liked to fuck with good people. “Yeah, fuck if I know. I’m just pissed that even though I was stuck over there during the blackout and awake all night, I have no clue who did it. I stayed in the music room keeping watch while one of the girls who got stuck over there too slept.” He did wish he would have thought to go out and take a look around from time to time, but that would have meant leaving Edan alone, which was not something he could have made himself do.
“Yeah, I get that.” Though he was surprised to hear that she hadn’t seen the tree yet. She seemed more proactive than that, and he knew that there’s no way in hell he wouldn’t have gone to see it as soon as he’d heard about it if he’d been in her shoes. “You wanna go take a look?” he offered, feeling a bit restless as it was.
"That's not your job, Brady. How the hell were you supposed to know if someone was out there throwing up nooses onto trees and carving our names into the bark in the middle of a blackout? Especially if you were with someone else." Mazie shook her head. "No, you..you did way more than anyone could have asked you to."
She glanced back his way, thinking that she would have gone to see the carving with Jeremy, but the curiosity was too much to come by for her. "Yeah, I'd like to, if you don't mind going back there."
Brady just shrugged at her insistence that it hadn’t been his job. He knew, logically, that it wasn’t, but his protective streak just wouldn’t let him not be frustrated about not having noticed anything. “Yeah, I know,” he said rather than debating it, though. Hell, she was actually sounding favorably toward him right now, and he wasn’t stupid enough to fuck with that. He was going to take what he could get.
“Nah, I don’t mind. Kinda restless right now. There’s a whole lot of bullshit going on around here,” he told her, which had him debating whether or not to warn her about whatever predator was among them. Meg had said she didn’t want it getting around that she was looking, but he hadn’t been able to help warning Edan about it. “Hey, I know you pack a pretty good punch, but do you carry any weapons on you?” he asked, trying for a curious tone rather than anything worried or urgent.
Taking her coffee, she slipped of the counter and started towards the exit of the kitchen, when his question caught her off guard. Watching him, she took the curious tone into account but still narrowed her eyebrows. "I'm guessing you mean besides my incredible hacking skills," She tried for a joke. "No, I don't. Hadn't thought I should. You saying you think it could be a good idea?" Did she want to do that? Proactively be ready for a fight that way? She usually fought her battles in cyberspace and while she wasn't opposed to fighting, did she want to go around looking for one? Not necessarily.
He snorted, shaking his head at her attempt at a joke as he pushed away from the counter and headed toward the exit. Like her hacking skills would do her any good if someone did try to hurt her. He didn’t doubt she could probably do some damage with her hacking skills, but it didn’t really compare to what could be done to her physically, he thought. “Yeah, I’m saying. Told Autumn I’d teach her some self defense, and Carmel messaged me yesterday to ask if I wanted to help her with some classes or something cause she got some equipment from the Admins for it. Just figure with the threats goin’ around and shit, it couldn’t hurt to be prepared, just in case someone does go after any of you,” he explained as best as he could without coming right out and saying that someone had been assaulted already.
She watched him again, considering that for a moment, and then nodded. "Ok, sign me up. I'll take your classes. Just know that I spent my formative years inside, in the dark, behind a screen so my stamina and endurance and all that crap is about zero." Sipping her coffee, she walked with him though had to stop herself and let him lead since she didn't know where the tree even was.
Brady couldn’t help but feel like it was a small win that she was even willing to spend any time around him, but he was also relieved. If they could get as many of these women prepared as possible, maybe if whoever this predator was went after them, they’d be able to stop and catch him. And, with the changes the Administration were implementing, they would have control over the punishment, which probably didn’t bode well for whoever this guy was. “I’ll keep it in mind, but I’m not so worried. Like I said, you already pack a mean punch,” he commented with a small but amused smirk to show there weren’t any hard feelings over it.
He led the way to the cafeteria, pushing the button to take the elevator down. He was quiet on the walk over to the other block, feeling a bit like it just wasn’t the time for chit chat. Leading her across the farm, he stopped in front of the carving on the tree. “Well, there it is. And the nooses were hanging there,” he told her, pointing up to one of the branches.
The smile was nice, but there was something she was still a little concerned about. "So..I hate to be that dick, but I gotta ask…You sure that this class is gonna not bring up some of those triggers or whatever they're called? I'm…trying to be as polite about this as I can, but I guess what I'm really asking is…am I gonna have to punch you again in this class if something gets out of hand?"
Once outside in the second block, Mazie took a moment to look around and stopped in front of the tree with him. She took in the sight, frowning instantly. "…What kind of crazy S.O.B. does this kind of crap…" She murmured.
That was something he could admit that he had thought about himself, and he couldn’t say he was surprised that she was asking. “Don’t worry about bein’ polite. It’s a valid concern, and yeah, I’ve thought about it. Hard not to. Came to the conclusion that the threat outweighs the risk in this case, and teaching self defense isn’t really a triggery situation. Anyone comes up behind me and tries something? Yeah, I might drop ‘em, but I’d hope no one would be stupid enough to do that. As long as I’m aware of what contact’s comin’ my way, I’m all right,” he explained, hoping that it might help ease her mind even just a little bit. “And I’m not drinking. Haven’t had a drink since that day at the pool.” It made things both harder and easier, really.
It was all too easy to wonder just what she seemed to be wondering, but Brady knew that there were all sorts of fucked up people in the world, and so it surprised him far less than it probably should have that someone had done something like this. That didn’t mean it pissed him off any less though. “Someone who wants people to panic, who wants us to question everyone we encounter and wonder. It’s a way to hinder trust, to encourage chaos,” he replied quietly, even if he didn’t think she’d actually been looking for an answer.
That Brady was aware of it, admitting it, and talking to her about this was kind of strangely refreshing in a weird way. Plus he just admitted he hadn't been drinking since that day so she could put that pretty easily on the 'pro' side. "Gotcha. Just know I have my eye on you," She said, trying to make it sound like a joke even if she did still intend to keep her eye on him. Refreshing or not, seeing was believing in this instance and she hadn't really seen the complete change yet.
"So you really think it's got nothing to do with me or Autumn specifically?" That was the part that scared her, the part that had her freaking out yesterday and trying to come up with any sort of decision that would keep this from happening again.
Brady gave a short nod at her statement, taking it seriously in spite of the joking note she’d infused in it. “Wouldn’t expect any different,” he said honestly. He really would have been surprised if she’d just flipped a switch and accepted him without reservation. He’d done wrong by Autumn that day, and he had no problem with having to prove himself now.
“Fuck,” he muttered, lifting a hand to scrub through his hair. “That’s the problem, you know? There’s no way to know what whoever did this was thinking. It’s all speculation. I gotta figure there’s something about you and Autumn, since they went to the trouble to carve your names. If it was just to freak everyone out, why carve any names at all? The nooses would be enough for that.” Not that he thought this would help ease her mind at all, he just couldn’t help but be honest in his thoughts and observations about it all.
There was that tinge of a thought again, that realization that if she had control over the cameras, maybe she'd know something more. But then, in all honesty, would she know what they were thinking. Probably not. Just who had done it, in a best case scenario. "Sometimes this place just seems really jacked up to me…The stocks and now this. I mean…Logically it probably doesn't make sense to think they did it but what do we have saying they didn't?" Shaking her head, she ran a hand through her hair. "It was probably just someone else here, though. I just..I feel like there's nothing I can do to get on top of this thing. Like..whatever decision I make on how to act based on this shit happening, I mean…does it change the fact that someone is still out there doing this shit? Making nooses, writing on doors, fucking shit up just for the thrill of it?"
As Mazie ranted a little, Brady couldn’t help the way his thoughts wandered to what little Autumn had said the day before, about being worried about things that Mazie was getting up to, and he got the itch to ask. Would she even tell him, though? Autumn had said they were things she probably shouldn’t talk about in the open. “So, I’m gonna ask you something, but know I’m not gonna get bent out of shape if you don’t wanna answer,” he began, pitching his voice lower even though he didn’t actually see anyone around. “Is there something you can do to try to get on top of things?” It was vague, which just made him feel awkward. He was used to being more direct, but he was trying to keep Autumn’s reservations in mind.
That caught Mazie off guard. She'd never expected Brady to be someone she'd find talking about this kind of stuff. Secretive conversations were getting to be the norm with her, considering that she had started the anonymous posting journal, but this seemed to be more in depth than this. Did Autumn tell him? She couldn't blame her if she did, probably wanted someone who wasn't Mazie to talk to and get a real opinion on the idea. "…There's something I could try, but got two pretty strong opinions against it and I'm gonna guess you're a third?"
He held up his hands. “Whoa, I got no opinion yet,” he told her with a small grin, trying to keep things light. “All I even know is Autumn was upset ‘bout whatever you might be getting up to and didn’t think she should talk ‘bout it in the open. If you want the opinion of someone who thinks something needs to be done, I can give you one,” he offered, half expecting her to brush him off.
Great. She was making Autumn so upset that she had to come running to Brady for comfort. She was doing a stellar fucking job, wasn't she? Watching him for a moment, she sighed then took another sip of her coffee. "You know what, why the hell not? Hit me," She said, honestly curious as to what his opinion might be, especially if he was billing himself as a person who thought something needed to be done.
Brady was a little surprised that she was asking his opinion at all, but particularly considering he’d just told her why he didn’t have one yet. “Well, I still don’t have an opinion on what you may or may not be doing, cause I don’t actually know what it is, but the way I see it...” He paused, giving himself a moment to gather his actual thoughts, taking a drink of his own coffee. “Things are pretty fucked up all around here, and I don’t trust the administration as far as I can throw them.” Not after what Meg had told him. To protect the identity of her attacker? It was fucking sick. “Hoping that we’ll be able to figure shit out a little better once those jobs are in place, but I don’t really know how much we’ll be able to do.” Not when the eye in the sky was protecting predators.
"Nice to hear that not everyone thinks they've got our best interest in mind," Mazie said, unable to really stop the smirk that came with that knowledge. Of course it was Brady she'd find something in common with, how ironic. "I don't know, I've gotten some new ways to look at it and I'm starting to think that what I wanted to do would make me no better than The Man anyway. I might have to regroup and figure something else out."
He highly doubted they were the only ones who thought that, though he didn’t really feel any better about it. It would be nice if they could trust their keepers, but he wasn’t so foolish as to do so blindly. “Yeah, it’s a fine line,” he agreed almost absently. Whatever she had in mind, if she thought it wouldn’t make her any better than the Administration, then it might be good for her to try to figure something else out.
Sighing, Mazie shook her head. "I don't know, Brady. Maybe something will happen once the jobs are chosen. I just…come from a place where shit doesn't get done unless you do it yourself." Finishing off her coffee, she let the mug hang from her fingers as she looked at the tree again. "Can we leave? This whole...thing creeps me out."
“I hope so, but... Yeah.” It was just still hard for him to see how things were going to get better, even with the jobs. He trusted Jae to do what she could to make a difference, as he had little doubt she would be one of the three voted into the law enforcement position, but he still didn’t see how any of this was helping rehabilitate the people who weren’t willing to make changes in themselves. That was what the whole point of this experiment was supposed to be, right? “Yeah, we can.” He took one long look at the tree again before frowning. He kind of wanted to do something about it, but he didn’t know what.
Starting back towards the elevator, Mazie was quiet for a few moments. When she looked back up at Brady, she studied him for a moment. "You're…taking care of her, right? Looking out for her when she's around you." It was probably a stupid question. Autumn wouldn't hang out with him if he was a threat, she was sure of that, but still Mazie couldn't help but ask. "Just..if I'm not around, I like to know that someone else has her back. And it kinda seems like she trusts you to do that."
As they walked, Brady didn’t feel any strong urge to break the the silence. There was just a lot to think about. But when she spoke up again, it was more than enough to pull him from his thoughts. He waited her out, and when she finished, he nodded. “Yeah, doesn’t make much sense from the outside, does it?” he asked knowingly about the way Autumn seemed to trust him. “But yeah, I’m looking out for her as much as I can. No one’s gonna fuck with her when I’m around, not if there’s anything I can do about it. And, like I told ya earlier, I’m gonna try to teach her some self defense so hopefully she’ll feel a little more secure and not like she always has to have someone around to have her back.” And he was definitely going to suggest that she arm herself as well.
Mazie gave a small smile, shrugging a little. "Hey, she's got a good judge of character. I get that from my perspective, it might not make a ton of sense, but you seem committed to change and I get that. I appreciate that. Especially appreciate the fact that no one's gonna fuck with her when you're around. Makes me feel better knowing that."
Again, she was quiet while they returned to kitchen, heading to the sink to do a quick wash of her cup and put it on a drying rack. "Well, you just let me know if there's anything I can do to help for the self defense classes, ok? And remember, count me in, too."
The way he and Autumn had talked at the pool last week had made it all too easy to understand each other more, and since Mazie hadn’t been a part of that conversation, he could understand why it didn’t make the most sense to her. But it wasn’t something he wanted to dwell on, so he just gave a short nod and let it go. While she took care of her coffee cup, Brady decided to top his own off, nodding at her question. “Yeah, I’ll let you know,” he assured her. He’d probably put something up on the journals after he worked out schematics with Carmel, or maybe she would, but either way, he’d make sure people were aware.