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[hippie_ninja]

This is Jesus. Leave a message.

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[konstant]

He is not practiced at doing things for himself; he isn't, one the whole, surprised he folded so quickly. He is disappointed, but he doesn't expect anyone to understand that any more than they seemed to understand his objections in the first place, so that's a card that stays tucked in close to his chest.

Jesus mentions Sara, and K smiles, fond.

"She had the hardest time with it, I think. Did she yell at you?" She always yells first.

[hippie_ninja]

"No." He gives K an amused look. "Does she yell at you?"

[konstant]

"A lot," he admits, ducking his head in false shyness.

"Apparently I'm vexing."

[hippie_ninja]

"You?" He teases. K? Never. "She did say she might shake you when you got out. Before she hugged you."

[konstant]

"It hurt her," he says softly. "A lot."

He looks up from where he's stirring the contents of his bowl and meets Jesus's eyes.

"I didn't want to hurt my friends." And he's sorry.

[hippie_ninja]

"K, I want you to do what's right for you." He doesn't have to like what it looks like, he doesn't have to like where it puts K. If K is doing what's best for himself, Jesus will support it.

[konstant]

So this was you saying goodbye.

K will never forget the look in Jesus's eyes when he said that to him, the way his face changed as he understood.

"I can't believe that hurting people that care about me falls into the right category. How do you balance it? How do you choose?"

[hippie_ninja]

That's the eternal question. Jesus doesn't have a good answer for that, either; his only solution is to not get too close. He doesn't want that for K.

"How did you feel when you were in prison? Before everyone went missing."

[konstant]

"Better."

He knows how that probably sounds. Nonetheless, it's true.

"I knew what to expect. I knew no one could come in and anywhere near me unless they have the key to the door, and I knew what all of them wanted. It was quiet otherwise."

[hippie_ninja]

Jesus listens with no opinion on what he's hearing. It's K's experience and that's all he's asked for; his perspective of it doesn't matter right now. He just wants to understand.

"Do you feel like you don't know what people out here want?"

[konstant]

"All the time. Or if I do know what they want it's not something I'm interested in giving."

Honestly, he's not used to so much in a world that's never heard of a replicant before him. It had felt nice, even confined, even naked, to have some forced space.

[hippie_ninja]

"You can always ask me what I want. Maybe it doesn't work with most people but I'll always try to just tell you." Although the answer most of the time is probably not going to be helpful, since Jesus doesn't really want anything from him.

[konstant]

"You're easy to read."

Especially now that he's familiar with him.

"But just walking down a street - people know what I am, back home. The coat tells them if nothing else. Humans don't think of replicants as living, so they don't expect anything. And other replicants avoid me. But here -"

He makes a vague gesture with his hand.

[hippie_ninja]

"Here, people like you." But he wonders if that's how it reads to K.

[konstant]

"Some people." Sometimes he feels more comfortable, too, amongst the natives of this place with their distrust for LIERs than he does those in the program.

"Is that not something that happens to you? Someone smiles at you for no reason and you don't know why?"

[hippie_ninja]

He shrugs. "There's always a reason. But if I don't know them it's none of my business. ...You know I didn't want anything from you when I gave you that candy bar, right?" Because Jesus is someone who smiles for no reason at people.

[konstant]

"You're easy to read," he says again.

"But initially I did wonder. It's not... Normal for me. Polite maybe. Indifferent usually, or disgusted. I can tell."

[hippie_ninja]

"What people want here is pretty simple," he points out. "Easy to read."

Jesus doesn't think anything of people smiling at him. He's used to it, he's grown up with it. But it's not any big shock that here, the smiles come with agendas. If anything, he'd have thought it would make it easier on K to read.

[konstant]

"Which then falls into the category of things I don't want to give - which leads us back to the complications of being a Submissive rather than a blade runner."

He shakes his head and offers Nibbles a corner of his bread before he takes a bite of his sandwich himself. It doesn't matter.

"I'll get used to it or I won't," he says around chewing.

[hippie_ninja]

It's true. He will or he won't. Never growing used to people treating him with a modicum of respect is not the worst fate K could have; just an uncomfortable one.

"It'll get easier," he says, with faith.

[konstant]

K looks up to meet Jesus's eyes when he hears the conviction in his voice. He used to have that, he thinks. Belief.

He misses it, and in this moment does his best to pull it over him like a warm blanket.

"Thank you," he says, quietly but warmly. "I missed seeing you."

[hippie_ninja]

"I missed you, too." He puts his empty bowl down.

"You did help, you know. I wouldn't have found V as soon as I did if you hadn't helped out."

[konstant]

"I liked that part of the job. Investigating. Following leads.". That part was more like a puzzle than anything.

"But you went and got him out." He looks pointedly at Jesus's wrist - and got hurt in the process.

[hippie_ninja]

"I've been hurt worse than this." He'd still been able to get V to safety despite it, and that's what matters.

"You know, problems like that might come up again. Maybe not mass abductions, but problems. We should plan to work together when they do."

[konstant]

"I'd like that." Provided he's not locked away again. He probably won't be.

It was a good lesson.

"Is your other friend okay?"