TRP: Goro and Larkin (Apology)

[Continuing Goro and Diva]

Setting

Goro has gone to confront Diva in her shop. Larkin has followed and is outside, eavesdropping.

Jen:

Fuck this shit. Larkin cursed to herself as she strained to hear. The conversation was clearer back here but still not clear enough to make out all the words. Ripley was in there? She could definitely make out Diva's voice. Not in a hundred years would Larkin forget that poison-sweet lilt of hers. Goro sounded pissed. Hell, she hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid. Like try and attack her or - Diva screamed. The sound send a chill down Larkin's spine and she froze in place for a moment, heart racing. Shit. Shit. She listened for another sound, for some indication what was going on but there was only silence. What the hell was she doing? Damn you, Larkin, move your ass and help Goro! She tore herself away from the window and bolted back around the corner, drawing a long dagger.

Lina:

When Goro exited the door, he was greeted by a slight, dark figure wielding a dagger. Old instincts took hold immediately, and he crouched to the ground to roll out of the way. But the figure was unmistakably familiar, and he only got as far as crouching at her feet before he looked up to confirm it. "What the fuck are you doing?" he whispered, and rose back up, throwing an arm around her to drag her away from the shop as quickly as possible.

Jen:

Larkin did not expect Goro to come out of the door just now and almost ran into him. She noticed in time to stop and point the blade in her hand away from his body but was too perplexed to resist when he begann dragging her away. "What am I doing? What the fuck are you doing?" she said when they had moved a few paces away from the shop, forgetting to feel guilty for a moment.

Lina:

"Just getting some more information out of our friend." A block away, he lets go of Larkin and reveals the brightly glowing stone. He whispers a command word and the enchantment ends, leaving it a normal rock. He shoves it into his pocket, taking the opportunity to scour that and every other possible spot on his person where someone might hide a vial of larvae. "Did you follow me? Fuck, you're good."

Jen:

"I -uh." Yeah, eloquent as hell, Larkin. She'd thought about what she would say if she got the chance to talk to him but somehow, none of that had stuck. "I didn't. I mean, I did when I saw you go into Diva's shop." She watched him fiddle with the glowing stone, then pat himself down like an addict searching for that last crumb of his junk. "Shit, what happened in there? You alright?"

Lina:

"I'm fine. More than fine. I... I think I learned something. About Diva. I don't know how we can..." He shook his head. "Fuck. Alright. Larkin, listen to me." He grabbed her by the shoulders so he could look her in the eye. "She still has eighteen seconds on me, alright? Eighteen. If you're there when it happens, don't... don't..." He squeezes his eyes shut and grits his teeth. "Don't fucking let me do anything like I did last time. Fucking shoot me. You're a crack shot."

Jen:

She jumped at his touch. Raised her hands by instinct in an attempt to separate herself from him but didn't. Wanted to break his stare but couldn't. She went rigid and listened to her friend ask her to kill him. No. She wanted to say it. No, I'm not letting you fucking die. But it would be a lie, wouldn't it? She'd let it happen before. How could he ask this of her? How could he expect her - god damn, he didn't know. Of course, he did not know. Larkin had no idea why she hadn't thought about this earlier but Goro had no fucking idea she'd chickened out on him on the ship. He had no idea he couldn't rely on her. She ground her teeth together and suppressed a laugh. It came out as a hiss.

Lina:

Goro lifted his hands off her and took a step back. He knew he was out of line. He knew he was making no sense, too. His mind was spinning too fast to get it all out right. "I'll tell you what happened in there, alright? But not here. Let's go." He turned and beckoned her up the street.

Jen:

"Goro, you-" shit, what was she going to say? Larkin considered lying. Maybe it'd be easier to just tell him what he wanted to hear. She'd certainly try and keep up her end of the bargain. This time. That should be good enough for the both of them... but it felt wrong. That's what she did to everyone else, usually. Lie and take the easy route. With the exception of very few people it seemed. Goro was right, though. They should go somewhere private where they could talk. As she began to move after him, Larkin realized just how much she hated talking.

Lina:

Goro's steps faltered. He frowned at her over his shoulder. "What's wrong?" Then he scoffed and rubbed his forehead. "Stupid question." But he still sensed something wasn't right--something beyond the distress she must be feeling over this whole situation. Hard to say what gave it away. Something in her voice, maybe.

Jen:

Shit, he'd stopped. So she had to do this right here after all, huh. Larkin took a breath as if to speak, then huffed it out again. Looked away. Rubbed at her face with one hand and stopped when she noticed the holes burned into the fabric of her sleeve. "I'm sorry," she said in a low voice. She didn't look at him. Didn't want to see his expression. "I didn't have your back."

Lina:

"What the hell are you talking about?" He raises his eyebrows and points in the direction of the shop. "I didn't need you to have my back. I went alone for a reason."

Jen:

"Not now." Fuck you, why are you making this even harder? Just yell at me already. "On the ship. When... when... shit."

Lina:

"When the what? Ah, fuck, I mean." He rubs his face. "I didn't mean... when I told you to shoot me, I mean, you know. Now that you know. I wouldn't have expected you to do it last time. There was nothing you could do. We didn't see it coming."

Jen:

"I wouldn't shoot you, Goro." She said it with more agression than she had intended. "I mean - I would. Maybe, because you- ugh, listen, that's not the fucking point here." Larkin turned to look at him now. She felt anger rising and though she wasn't sure who or what she exactly felt angry at, it was a better feeling than the shame. "Point is, I made a promise to you and I didn't keep it. Okay? Look, when Mishka - when he grabbed you and disappeared, we ran down. Rodger and I, I mean. Into the hold. I was... " Larkin paused, her breath coming faster now, and she took a step back. Turned away and covered her face with one half-healed hand. "I was right outside that damn door. And I just couldn't go in."

Lina:

Goro's brow was furrowed through most of her explanation, but when she reached the end his face softened. "That's been bothering you?" Larkin didn't answer. She wouldn't even look at him. "Larkin. Larkin. I knew you guys were out there. I could hear you. I was fucking praying to Mask that you would leave, and save yourselves. And Mask must've whispered in your ear, because you did. So thank fucking god for that. There was nothing you could have done in there, except get killed by Diva. God." He took a deep breath and turned away, struggling to chase the image from his mind. Another three, four, who knew how many bodies for him to deal with. There was only so much he could do.

Jen:

Larkin heard his words but she found it hard to truly register them, to let them replace what she had already decided for herself to be true. Goro wasn't mad. And he wasn't just forgiving her, he was glad she'd run away. Her eyes burned again and she wiped at them but they weren't wet. A moment later, however, she looked up and directly at him. "Mask?"

Lina:

He made a show of looking left and right, up and down the street. Then he stepped closer to her, put a finger to his lips, and said, "Shh." He stepped back with half a smile on his face.

Jen:

Larkin stared at him for a moment. Then grinned. Then laughed aloud. Just one short bark of laughter at the absurdity of it but fuck, it felt good.

Lina:

Goro smiled for a moment longer, then it faded. "Seriously, though. If it happens again when you're around, shoot me." He looked away, glancing up at the tops of nearby buildings. "Maybe that's not what you meant when you said you'd have my back, but I know you're practical. You can do it."

Jen:

Oh, come on. The relief of a moment ago faded. Larkin felt bad for him, bad for everything that had happened. He was right, she was practical and maybe what he asked of her was the rational thing to do. And normally, it would be easy to just agree. Usually, she did not care for other people like this. But she did care for Goro. Somehow, they'd become a team.

"Fuck you," she said.

Lina:

Goro rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air. "I can't fucking win with you people." And he turned to continue heading back to the ship.

Jen:

Ugh. So much for being a team. Finch would have known how she meant it. Larkin reached out and took Goro by the shoulder, stopping him. "Shit. Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean - uhm." She let go and moved in front of him, blocking his way. "I'm not good at this talking stuff." She smirked a little but it felt weak and unconvincing. "What I meant was, if it happens again, well, I try every damn thing I can to stop you without killing you, okay? And that's only if we can't chop Diva's fucking head off before. Hell, I can't wait to see that bitch die. We'll make it happen." Larkin reached out again and put a hand to Goro's upper arm, squeezing.

Lina:

Goro stared down at her. Fuck, how did this keep happening? Every person he cared for, another potential victim for Diva to relish tormenting. Life was so much simpler when it was just him, alone. He needed to start setting a hard limit on how many people he collected in his life. "I knew what you meant," he said. "And I didn't want to hear it. Ripley said the same goddamn thing to me when I told her about the deal, told her to take me out and get it over with. And look at her now. Look at--" He cuts off abruptly, turns his face toward the sky, and presses the heels of his hands against his eyes.

Jen:

Larkin felt her chest tighten again. How was she supposed to react to this? She wanted to do something, to tell him how it was going to be alright. Except neither of them would believe it. Tell him they were going to fuck Diva up the way she had made him suffer only seemed to make it worse as well. Shit, what did people usually do in these kind of moments? Larkin had no clue. When she had needed comfort as a kid, she'd curled up with her arms around herself or climbed up a building until the people below her seemed small as ants. Later, she'd discovered drinkin. But Goro didn't drink. At least not like this. And dragging him up a roof seemed... impractical. She took a step forward and put an arm around his shoulder. Then another step and a hand on his back.

Lina:

"Ah, fuck," Goro muttered. He flung his hands away from his eyes and blinked until the stars were clear. "I'm fine," he said, but he put his arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. "God damn it. Don't you have anywhere else to be?"

Jen:

"Ugh." Larkin held the hug for a second longer, then took a step back. "I guess I'll have to go talk to my uncle soon. Tell him I'll have to skip town for a while. He's not going to be happy 'bout that."

Lina:

"You need me to rough him up a little for you?"

Jen:

Larking couldn't hold back the laugh. "Hell, no. Fuck, Goro, don't you think you're in enough shit already?"

Lina:

He shrugged. "I do what I have to do."

Jen:

"You don't have..." Larkin trailed off and tilted her head at him. "I guess I never told you who I work for, huh? Aside from R- from the guild."

Lina:

"No, I don't suppose you have."

Jen:

"Huh. Well, I guess I just assumed you knew. " In Larkin's world, almost everyone knew her uncle. Those who did business with him and his people at least. Somehow she had counted Goro as one of them. "You ever heard of Renar Basha?"

Lina:

Goro's eyes grew wide. "Basha. Basha. Fuck. Is he your..." He glanced off to the side. "No, he's not your dad."

Jen:

Larkin chuckled. "No. He's my uncle. He raised me... kind of. And now I work for him, so I gotta tell him when I plan on leaving the city. Especially since I've... uhm. " She trailed off. "It's kinda complicated."

Lina:

Goro frowned. "You sure he doesn't need roughing up?" He gave a bark of a laugh and swiped a hand over his eyes. "Yeah right. Imagine me, threatening Renar Basha."

Jen:

"I'd like to see the look on his face." Larkin smirked and this time it was genuine. "Hm, I guess we've been standing around here long enough. Time to get our asses outta here, don't you think?"

Lina:

"Yeah. Yeah, what the fuck are we doing here. Come on." He motioned for her to follow once again, and they walked side by side into the night.

[END]