Two Steps Back

Who: Brett and Eris
Where: Their apartment
When: Morning

Eris was awake, debating leaving for the day, to go for a walk. Really, she was still wondering what the hell was going on between she and Brett, but that wasn't something that was going to leap to the forefront of her mind, not something that had some perfect answer that she would suddenly land upon. So, she was very heavily considering going out, leaving, not coming back until late evening. Mostly she was just trying to figure out if she left a note or not.

The phone broke into her concentration, and she picked it up, frowning slightly as she was told there were flowers delivered downstairs. Maybe one of their clients was showing their appreciation. She didn't really have much of a reason to be paranoid, and therefore just went down alone to get it.

Of course, when she got there and saw the bouquet, it didn't take her long to pick out what was the matter with the flowers. Sure, the colors were all reminiscent of blood and bruises, but it was the belt that stood out. What with it matching perfectly to the one left on her neck. The ruby caught her eye belatedly, and she blinked as she realized the front desk clerk was asking her if she was alright. She smiled, forcing it, pushing everything aside for a moment. "Of course." she said pleasantly. "Someone certainly has expensive tastes." she commented, winking, and then she headed back for the elevator, all thoughts of leaving the building dashed. She was steady on her feet, though she felt like she was shaking.

The ride back up to their floor seemed like it took years. When the door finally closed, she leaned directly back against them, and she dropped the bouquet to the floor, where she stared at it. "Brett." she said, though it was far too quiet to carry, her voice unsteady.

Brett had woken just after she'd left. He'd rolled out of bed, taken a quick shower and thrown on some fresh clothes, feeling a world better today than he had done the day before. His hair was still damp as he'd headed out to look for her, hitting the end of the corridor which lead from their apartment just as he heard his name called. It didn't take anything else, not in that tone anyhow, for him to go from wandering to running as he headed to find her, taking in the fallen flowers and the deathly pale of her face which spoke of shock. "Princess?" He asked the question as he got to her, taking her by the elbows and turning her round towards him. "Julia - what's wrong?" he asked, his tone and the expression on his face all concern for once.

"He's been here. Downstairs, but..." she said, though it took her a few good moments to get herself speaking. It certainly wasn't prompt. She blinked a little and just shook her head, trying to clear it, and she looked back down at her hand, where she'd carried the note. It occurred to her that she hadn't actually read it. She'd seen it, and looked at the words there, but hadn't read it. She did now, though. "Enjoy the necklace." she said, holding the note out to him. She really didn't want to be holding it anymore. And could they get back to the apartment which was behind two shut and locked sets of doors? That was feeling like a good idea right around now.

Brett took the piece of paper from her and read it, taking in the rest of the note - the date and the time. He didn't need to ask who 'he' was. He balled the paper up in his fist as he glanced towards the elevator. He hated mind games. At least if the fucker had tried to get up here he could have deal with him directly. Except, of course, she'd been up before him - things could have been really bad. He'd definitely be having a word with the conseirge later, to find out whether Andre had tried to get up here. "Let's talk about this inside," he said, putting a hand to her back to lead her towards the apartment.

She looked down at the flowers again, at the belt, and the ruby that caught the light. And she left them there, going where Brett was leading her. He could take care of that later. She didn't even really want to know what was done with the flowers or the belt or the necklace or anything. He could deal with that and she was going to do her best to move past that. "Are you going to lock the doors?" she asked, hating that she even asked it. Then she shook herself a little. "He's gone. Nevermind. He won't be back again today." she didn't think.

"I'm going to lock the doors anyway," Brett told her, his voice just shy of a growl as he stalked them towards the apartment, locking the first door behind them as they entered the corridor back there. The note was still balled up in his fist, the paper by now a tight little ball as Brett took out some of his anger and frustration on it. How dare he, how dare that bastard... taunt... in that way.

Eris was trying to pull herself together. Because really, she needed to. She needed to not be weak right now, and that was what she felt. She'd dealt with this the other night, this was just him trying to get to her and it worked, and that was completely fucking unacceptable. She couldn't let him do this to her. Even if he wasn't there to see it, and she could play it any way she wanted on the street, if there was anything to play, she still needed to not let this derail her like it was. The problem was it was easier said than done, really. When she got into the apartment proper, she went to the couch and dropped down onto it, staring at the coffee table.

Having locked up and placed the keys in their usual place on the small table by the door, Brett stood in front of her, looking down. Then he sat down on the coffee table in front of her, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He looked at her for a moment, then shifted again, turning to sit next to her on the couch, one arm resting across the back there, not quite round her, not quite touching her. He finally loosened his grip on the paper, tossing it onto the table. "He wants to meet. Dinner, by the looks - you're not going," he told her, his voice still low. "I am. I'm not going to let this bastard screw with you like this."

She looked at the crumpled sheet, and realized she'd totally missed that on it. She'd read the words, but missed the invitation. Dinner? Really? She frowned, then reached out to pick up the note, and she uncrumpled it, looking it over. "What exactly are you going to do?" she asked. "...I don't know if I want you to go alone." she admitted, not looking at him, eyes still down on the slip of paper.

"Frankly? At this stage, I don't know. But I do know I don't want you anywhere near that fucker. And I know that if neither of us show, this is just going to continue. So - I'm going to be there. You're going to be somewhere that isn't here for the night. Probably Gray's, unless you'd prefer me to sort you out somewhere else to spend the night. But I don't want you here, in case he's guessed that I might be the one showing and is counting on it," Brett said, clearly having thought this through in the time it had taken them to get from the elevator to here.

"He's a killer." Eris said, finally looking at Brett again. "And I'm aware that you've been around them before and all, but this is personal to him, clearly." she said, with a vague gesture towards the door. "What are you going to even do? Tell him to stop bothering me? Tell him to back off? It's not like anything rational is going to sink in, he's pretty obviously not in the slightest bit afraid of any kind of repercussions."

"This is personal to me as well," Brett told her, almost reaching out to touch her hair with the hand that laid across the back of the couch, just about out of her sight. "I know what he is. I know what he's capable of. But I can't just fucking stand back and do nothing at all," Brett told her, anger more than frustration creeping into his tone.

She looked away for a long moment, not even sure what to say to that immediately. His tone she was ignoring for the most part, thinking that was at least slightly healthier than her own reactions to things, so she wasn't about to complain that he was pissed. "I don't want to spend my time hiding from him." she said. "I never did that before I don't plan to start." And sure, her not hiding possibly contributed to the fact that she'd been 'killed' in the first place, but that wasn't the point, in her book.

"I don't want you anywhere near him," Brett told her, firmly. She could put that down to his being protective if she wanted, but he knew it wasn't just that. It was seeing her reaction every time Andrei came anywhere near them. She fell to pieces. She didn't deal well and he was afraid that she would be a liability if she did meet the guy again. That she would betray somehow exactly what he'd done to her, and if the man discovered that. Well, Brett didn't know what that would do. And he didn't want to know.

She didn't share most of what went through her mind, but it was racing. Like she didn't want to start finding rocks to crawl under. Not right now, not ever. Even if she was scared. Or how she didn't want Brett dealing with it by himself because she honestly didn't know who she'd bank on if it came down to a fight, all she did know was that Andrei wouldn't hesitate to kill Brett and she didn't think Brett would go that far which automatically put him at a disadvantage. That and she was wondering if Andrei might pull something on Brett because he was in his way. That was something that left her feeling cold. "I don't want you anywhere near him either." she said quietly, knowing she'd said that already but still.

"Honestly? I don't particularly want to be anywhere near him either. But ignoring him completely isn't an option. He's not a problem that's just going to go away and I'd prefer to step out to meet him than wait for him to come to us. The message was clearly meant for you, but it's not outside the realms of possibility that you'd send me. After all, the suggestion we put forward to everyone was that I was your bodyguard. Now I'm your messenger. But I don't want you there. I don't want to risk you," he told her, meaning that in a number of ways.

She didn't want to risk him, either. And she almost said that Andrei wasn't going to do anything in a public restaurant, but didn't, because then it meant her own fears about his wellbeing were unfounded. And she couldn't quite reconsile that in her own mind. It didn't make sense, but it was very firmly there. Concern won out. She didn't overthink his statement about not risking her. She'd heard him say similar things before, so it wasn't new. "What do you plan on telling him?" she asked. "And do you have anyone you could call to give you back up?" she asked. "Because right now? Having someone else would be spec-fucking-tacular."

Brett shook his head. "Princess, you know my past. There isn't anyone," he told her. Of the people he knew, those he trusted were extremely few and far between, and those that he not only trusted, but who would be good as any kind of backup were basically non-existent.

In that moment, Eris wished she knew where Clayton had gone. Where he'd disappeared to, even if she didn't even know if he was in on things or not. Jakob said he hadn't been, not that she trusted Jakob to tell her the truth on things. Though in that particular case, there wouldn't have been any real reason to lie. Still, she thought about him, and wondered if they needed to stop being so isolated. Not that either of them were terribly social at the moment. Really she didn't even so much want to be. But right now, they needed a friend. Someone who would at least be able to back them up.

Brett waited a moment, but she didn't speak, so he took a breath and tried to address the question he hadn't answered before. "I'm going to talk to the guy. Find out exactly what his game is. And the rest I'll have to play by ear." He didn't expect it to be easy. Andrei was a fucking nutcase at times, in his non-professional opinion. He was one scary-scary guy, but the only other option was do dance to his tune - for Eris to turn up. And, as far as Brett was concerned, that would simply be asking for trouble. Never mind that every bone in his body hollered loudly against her going anywhere near him. He finally gave in, reaching across to touch her hair, twisting a lock from the side of her head around his finger, then letting the curl go and repeating the gesture.

As far as Eris could remember, he'd never done that before. Playing with her hair didn't seem to rate on his list of things to do. Ever. That seemed to be something that would cross the lines he usually so strictly held in place. She wondered if it was meant to be comforting, and couldn't decide if that was the motivation or not. Or if it mattered, either way. "His game is to get a reaction, I imagine." she said, after what felt like a long silence. "And if there's more to it than that, I doubt he'd let on about it." she continued. "I'm worried he's going to do something to you." she said, looking back at him finally.

She worried about him. That was new. Maybe not so much that she did, he could piece that together, but that she would admit to it. They didn't tell each other they were worried about each other. Or they hadn't. Maybe they did now. "I can handle myself," he said, deciding against adding the thought that had occurred to him in all of this - that it might be a set up. That Andrei might not be there, but might instead be, say, across the street with a sniper's rifle, waiting to take her out. It was possible, he knew, but he didn't consider it probable. he knew something of Andrei's work. The guy was more hands on than that. A clean cold kill from a distance may be efficient, but it wouldn't be his style. Brett was also relying on the fact that he wasn't her to protect him from that. That maybe, even if Andrei was stepping away from his norm, that having someone else turn up would give him pause. But there was no way he was telling her any of that.

"I know you can handle yourself." Eris said, shaking her head a little. "That's not what I'm talking about. If it's just something to get us somewhere at a specific time, someplace he controls the environment for, at least a little, then who knows what the hell he's got planned. And if I don't show and you do, what if he decides to take offense and take it out on you?" she asked. "And I don't really know what you're planning to accomplish by talking to him. He's the man who was hired to kill me and it turns out he missed. And it's not like the guy doesn't enjoy his work, so I doubt he does it for the money. Besides, whoever knows he was the hitter on me? Well, that tarnishes his reputation, doesn't it?" she asked, just speaking at this point, not filtering her thoughts before they were shared aloud. "If it's a point of pride, who the hell knows what he's capable of or what he's going to pull."

"And if we don't go, then he'll just carry on. Only maybe next time he'll try and get further than the front desk. or send something more than a damn bunch of flowers," Brett shot back at her, his anger at Andrei slipping through before he made a concerted effort to rein it back again. "I want to know what he wants. I want to know what the fuck he's playing at. And I want to know whether what we have here right now is enough."

She looked at him, shifting on the couch to sit sideways, her back against the armrest as she did so. "Don't forget the belt and the necklace. I think that was a real ruby. I would be surprised if it wasn't." she told him. "What he wants is to freak me out, have me live in fear, and possibly get a second shot at killing me." she said. "If I had to guess. So, what do you say to that? He doesn't need the money, I doubt he'd be able to be paid off in any manner. And as for whether what we've got here is enough--what other measures could even be taken?" she asked.

He let go of her hair as she moved, dropping his hand to the backrest. "We could get security in. Proper security. Or we could move to another building where they could provide that," Brett told her, though he knew that if Andrei was really determined, nothing they could do short of locking themselves away from the world entirely would work. "He's told us that he knows where we are - which was hardly a stretch for him, all things considered." What with the advertising and handing out their address to everyone. "And yes, he wants to freak you out - which he's succeeding in. But those last two - it's easier to be afraid of the unknown than to face things. At least then we'd know what we were dealing with. No, I don't think I can get rid of him. But I can get the measure of him." That would be something at least.

"I don't think we'd be able to afford anything better right now, and I don't know that we could afford extra security up here, either." she said. "Plus there'd be the additional question of how often do we have security on, are they bodyguards as well, are they live-in..." she rattled off, considering personal security was something she'd had to provide for herself before. So she knew the kinds of considerations they had to think about. "Plus it would dull any affect having you as a bodyguard has. Socially speaking, I mean." she pointed out.

"Which is why I want to get a better idea of what we're facing in him," Brett said, having listened to what she had to say. "Because of all of the above - but if it seems he's going to come gunning for you and I don't think I can protect you from that alone? Then we'll find the money. We'll make those decisions. And screw the 'socially speaking'," he concluded with some feeling, his blue eyes flashing.

Eris watched him, his body language, his eyes, she listened to his tone. Saying nothing for a few moments, she just assessed things as well as she could. Dimly, she was aware that at least she was feeling slightly less awful right now. She'd calmed, at any rate. "Would you really feel safer if we hired someone to stand in the hall?" she asked, tone quiet, but truthful. She wanted to know.

No, "Would you?" Brett asked, rather than answering. To hire someone else to stand in the hall - they would just be another person to watch, to wonder if they were doing their job, if they were loyal, or if they were just going to turn on them. Brett didn't trust people, and he had good reason not to trust people. Not only had he been screwed over and his life ruined in the past by people he thought that he could trust, he'd also been the untrustworthy one himself. Going through the motions, giving the perfect appearance of loyalty - even to the extent of going against his base instincts - and all the while he'd been biding his time. And when the opportunity arose, he screwed them over and he'd never lost a night's sleep over it. Never regretted it, even for a moment. But, if having a man stand in the hallway was what it took, if it was deemed that necessary, then he'd prefer to watch someone he knew was there. It would be a necessary risk.

I couldn't handle you not being within sight. What the fuck do you think? Went through her mind, but she didn't say it. Instead, she shook her head. "No." she answered, being honest. It didn't even occur to her to try and lie about that score, because she wouldn't be convincing. She wouldn't feel safe with some paid guy in the hall, who could just as easily say it wasn't his problem what was going on. Or who could be paid off, or just decide really? His life was more important to him than to get in the path of a psycho.

He nodded slightly at that, before falling silent for a moment or two, thinking things over. There was no certain answer to this problem, and it was one he'd prefer to do without. But nothing in life was ever simple, that was for sure. "What do you want to do?" he asked her, eventually. He'd laid out what he wanted to do, but he'd made the mistake in the past of not listening to her on subjects which directly concerned her, and he'd been making a concerted effort to never do that again ever since.

She sighed heavily, reaching up to rub at her temple a moment. "I have no idea." she said honestly. "I think more or less, any move made will be the wrong one, because there isn't a right answer here. Nothing's going to magically make this okay. And if you go alone, I'll just be worried about you the entire time. If I go, who knows what he tries to pull. If we went together, same thing, if I try to go elsewhere for the evening, I don't want to be in some abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. Though I agree that it would be a little too simple to assume that you might want to go without me and deal with it yourself, which leaves me wide open. So to speak. If he did come through the door I'd be taking shots before he could say 'did you like the flowers'."

"No matter what happens - I don't want you here the night of the meet," he told her, firm on that point. "I think it would be a very, very bad idea for you to be findable that night."

She wanted to suggest she could go back to the Round, but people might actually know she was there. Just because she hadn't heard anyone specifically saying that didn't mean that wasn't the case. "Maybe I'll just get a hotel." she said, sighing. "Or get one of the girls to get one, and register it under their name, then go." Which might work better. And it wasn't like the girls wouldn't do it, either. Hell she was willing to bet that some of them would do it without even asking a single question about it.

Brett hesitated, aware that when they'd met Andrei in the first place, he'd been with one of the girls. He'd been pissed about that then, wanting to leap right on it, make sure that the bastard never got his hands on Ava again. But that had been before he knew what Andrei had done. Before his focus had been well and truly shifted to Eris. Now, now he was just left with a feeling of discomfort, of worry that chinese whispers would be in action, that using the girls wouldn't leave her secure enough. In this, Brett was aware that his paranoia was running rampant.

Frowning slightly, she looked at him, then prodded his thigh with her toes for just a moment. "What?" she asked, wanting to know what it was he was frowning about. She'd thought that it was sounder logic than something else, but if there was a flaw in her reasoning--and she couldn't be sure there wasn't--then she wanted to know what it was.

"Ava knows him," Brett said, quietly, not adding onto that at all. Sure, she could go through on of the other girls. But - women talked, didn't they? They gossiped. He'd seen it all the time at the Kitten Club. Supposed secrets would travel like wildfire, just because the girls there talked to each other.

"Yes, and Ava isn't one of our girls. And she left Babylon ages ago. I don't even know how many of the girls even talk to her. She was a woman all about herself, after all, all about her own personal gain and appearances. Hanging out with common whores wouldn't really do anything for that image." Eris pointed out. "...though considering you brought it up, the situation concerns me." she added. "Let's just say I don't like him being around her and I don't like the idea that he might decide to see what happens if he hurts her to get a rise out of me."

"I don't like it either," Brett admitted, not convinced that he was sold on the difference there, but not pursuing it any further for now. "He was playing with her and she didn't even seem to notice," he added, thinking back to that night.

"She doesn't notice a lot of things." Eris said. "That, and I'm sure she's playing a game on him as well, and wouldn't even consider the idea that he'd be playing one on her." she added. "She was always one of my girls who if she could have just thought through things better, she could have been very good. As it is, she can manipulate, but she falls short in a lot of areas. She quite often flat out doesn't understand the people around her. And if you don't get what make people tick, you can't really get in there and twist things to your advantage." she said, voice distant. Then she cleared a little and looked to him again. "What would you suggest otherwise?" she asked.

"If she doesn't understand him, she's going to get herself in too deep before she even realises what kind of a shark he is," Brett commented, shaking his head a little. "You don't play games with a guy like that." He doubted that even Eris in her heyday would have played games with Andrei, not unless she had no choice at all. Not voluntarily. "And I would suggest either you can be certain that one of the girls would do it and could be guaranteed not to tell anyone. Or I'll ask Ginger to do it."

"I don't want to even vaguely involve Ginger in anything." Eris said, tone firm on that. "Absolutely not. Because that would be such an easy mark for him, and even if he doesn't go connecting things back...I just wouldn't want to risk it." She had kids. And weirdly enough, Eris actually sort of liked the woman. She'd been friendly and had filled up her days when she had nothing else to do. Her kids had drawn little scribbled pictures of her. NO, it wasn't okay to involve her in anything, not with psychos running around.

Brett could accept that. As much as he never said anything, and had always treated Ginger with an air of impatience, he'd had a well hidden soft spot for her and her kids. For years they had been the only people he would tolerate without needing something forcing him to do it. "Then - girls you completely trust?" he suggested, going for the remaining option.

"I don't completely trust anybody." Eris said, a knee-jerk reaction and right after she said it, she wondered if it was true. If she trusted him. She'd said she trusted him. And yet the statement didn't feel wrong. Which had her wondering what the hell she was playing at, because wasn't she supposed to trust him? In a lot of things she did. She trusted him far more than anyone else she'd ever met in her life. She trusted him with everything she would deem important. Which left the question if she did reserve some trust, what was the focus of that? What exactly didn't she trust him with? She was frowning, looking down, like she didn't know if she was going to retract the statement or not, but it was clearly bothering her.

Brett wasn't offended at the suggestion that she didn't totally trust him. He'd never expected it to be otherwise. His own feelings were the same way - he didn't totally trust anybody either. He wanted to trust her. He did. But he knew he still had to actively work at it, he had to fight the instinct to not trust. "I should have phrased that better," he agreed, in reply. "Do you trust any of the girls to be able to keep their mouths shut?" he asked her.

She didn't so much answer as she nodded. Sure. She was still on the topic of trust in her mind, and trusting him. And now, she was even more aware of the fact that they ignored issues and were still ignoring them and she'd actually been on her way out the door today to continue avoiding. To avoid as much as possible, where she was going to disappear for the majority of the day. It was quite possible that she needed to focus on the psycho who probably wanted to kill her in a nice and slow manner, but she was distracted. Maybe she just really didn't want to be thinking about Andrei, and this, while still sucking, was sucking less.

Brett raised an eyebrow when she nodded but didn't answer. He looked at her for a moment, frowning lightly, before he tilted his head a little and leaned in slightly more. "Princess?" he asked, concern edging his tone. He wasn't quite sure what was going through her mind.

She ticked her gaze back to his, his tone registering more than the word. "I'm fine." she said, standing up and walking towards the kitchen, the gesture feeling a lot like it was familiar. Likely because she'd spent a lot of time walking away from him at the loft, going to get herself a drink. And right now she was going for water, not alcohol, but it was the same sort of thing. Walking away in some capacity. She did do that a lot, didn't she. She was always doing that.

He watched her from his position, turning slightly to be able to do so, not particularly liking being cut off in that way - both by her words, and by her actions. But he refused to follow her. He was always doing that, following her around like some pathetic fucking puppy dog, chasing after her when she left, or when she walked away. He opened his mouth to speak, then decided better of it and just watched her instead.

She got herself a glass of water and swallowed some of it down, then she leaned against the counter and stared at the cabinets across the way without really seeing them. Drawing in a deep breath, she let it out in a rush, then finished her water, setting the empty glass next to the sink. She needed to decide what she was doing, here. "When is the reservation for?" she asked, tone distant.

"Tuesday, at seven," Brett told her without needing to refer to the paper again. There was no way he was going to be able to forget those few details provided. He knew exactly where the restaurant was. The little fuck. It wasn't quite where Brett had been meant to dump Eris' body - it was too public for that. But it was probably the nearest place. And it did have a fabulous view out over the river.

"What day is it today?" she asked, since she knew she could wrack her brain and still get the day wrong. Not only was her sense of time a little off, but she definitely couldn't keep track of a detail that minor. Or, that minor in her life these days. And even before then it wasn't like she'd had a nine to five job to attend.

"Sunday," Brett supplied. "So two days away." Nicely calculated to give her time to fret about it. Nothing like a bit of warning. "I was thinking of taking a drive down to the restaurant this afternoon, once they'll be open. Have a look round inside, see if there's anything it would be good to know in advance." Like the wrong places to sit - either too exposed, or too private.

"Right." she said. She wasn't going to tell him not to. Her mind was still ticking over things, though. Both with ideas of where to be, as well as that internal drive she had to not hide. To face this head on like she had everything else in her life. Even if it wouldn't go well. She was absently rubbing lightly at the scar around her neck, still staring off into space as her mind kept going over things.

Brett watched her, but didn't say anything. He'd already asked her once, and firmly got the brush off, so he wasn't going to try that approach again. He waited for a few moments, then he stood, walking off towards the bedroom slowly, wondering if she would stop him, or if this conversation was over now.

She was aware of him leaving, of walking off into the bedroom. She didn't do anything about that straight away, still grinding everything over and again in her mind, trying to figure things out. Where she stood, what she wanted to do, if there was anything to do period. So it was a few minutes before she followed him, pushing off of the counter in the kitchen to head to the bedroom. "You're one hundred percent against the idea of us both going." she said, tone being somewhere between a statement and a question.

Brett had been making the bed - really for no other reason that he'd walked out of the living room because he'd felt unwanted there, and he'd ended up in the bedroom as a result. There wasn't really any reason for him to be in the bedroom, of course, but he was damned if he was going to walk straight back out again. So - he'd given himself something to do, and he was a neat person by nature. "I think it would be a bad idea," he said, his tone being somewhere between an opinion and a firm statement.

"Why?" She asked, and it wasn't edged. She honestly wanted to know why he thought it, what his view on it was. It could in fact be valid, after all, so she needed to know his take. Depending on what it was, her own actions would likely be affected. It wasn't a hundred percent certainty or anything, but there was a certian large chance that it would be.

Brett looked reluctant to answer that for a moment, picking up her pillows and giving them a shake as he decided what to say to that. In the end, he dropped them back into place and addressed the question. "Firstly, because he failed to kill you and he's clearly taking that personally. My gut instinct is to keep you as far away from him as possible," he said, before continuing with barely a pause. "But, on top of that, I've seen how you react every time he's even mentioned, and I'm not confident that you would be able to get through an entire dinner with him and still be able to keep it together, if that's what was called for. You already talk about how difficult you find being out in society and keeping up that public face. Having to do that whilst under incredible stress because you're sitting across from the guy who tried to kill you is something I think that most people wouldn't be able to handle. And I'm really not sure that you would be able to do that," he said, not enjoying telling her that. He generally tried very hard not to bring attention to her weaknesses. He had always viewed her as a very strong person, he didn't want anything to change that. But, this was honesty.

Eris was hit with a rather hard swirl of emotions as he spoke. It all rained down from that last bit, though. "Is that what you think." she said, tone utterly unreadable. She looked at him for a long moment, before she looked away, then turned and walked back into the living room. Nowish she was again wishing she hadn't dumped the bottle of whiskey down the sink. She could use a drink. She wasn't angry, per se, though part of her really thought she should be. She didn't know what kind of a label to put on how she felt.

He followed her this time, on her heels. "Am I wrong?" he shot at her - or rather, at her back, since she was still walking away. If he was, then he was willing to hear it, this time. it seemed the tables had turned - it was usually he who was so convinced that she could do things, her who was sure she couldn't. And the time he took the opposite stance, she got pissed with him. He wasn't even surprised.

She didn't say anything for a few moments, having walked over to the window where she gazed out of it. She supposed it served to teach her. Showing that vulnerability apparently meant that was all he saw, what he counted. What he, in her mind, held against her. It was why she'd never been keen on showing any at all, and why it had been nice before the brain damage, where she hadn't really had it in so many terms. Not like she did now, anyways. It sent a chill through her system, like a slow shut down of emotional responses. She'd thought she could trust him with herself, and those vulnerabilities that she hated. Now she was learning otherwise. "When I saw him, it was entirely without warning, when I'd never even considered I'd see his face again. It hadn't even crossed my mind. And suddenly, there he was, the man who'd raped and killed me, standing right there, all smiles and even wearing the belt he used to choke the life out of me. And I stood there, and I smiled. And I played nice, and said all the right things, and I held everything together til I got home." she said, tone still unreadable. It wasn't even telling him he was wrong. There wasn't a true answer to his question there, even if it was an answer to things in her own head. I waited until I felt safe expressing everything, and I guess that bit me in the ass in the end anyways, didn't it darling. "You didn't even know anything was the matter." she added, looking at the ghost of his reflection in the glass. "Not until I let you."

Brett nodded. "I know - I didn't. But we were also only with him for, what? Ten minutes at the most. Knowing what I know now - I think you did well. Very well. But I also saw you afterwards. I saw what it did to you. I've seen what you've been like since then when he's come up. Could you turn those ten minutes into several hours? Would you be able to play nice, smile, say all the right things. Deal with the shit you know he'll throw at you, those thinly veiled threats coming your way. He's hardly fucking subtle. Picking the place he did, sending bruise-coloured roses. Sending that fucking belt. The necklace. That dinner will be more of the same, and you'd have to play by his rules for the whole of it. Would you even want to do that?" he asked her, the last a real and honest question to which he wanted to know the answer. How she responded, he knew, could very well affect his position on one side of his opinion on this. The other - that instinct to keep her as far away from that bastard as possible, would remain the same.

"I would feel better about that than thinking he fucking wins because I'm hiding." Eris said, and she was back to putting distance between them. She didn't want to be next to him, near him, not with that feeling of something akin to betrayal like lead in her chest. She knew it wasn't, but it felt like that. She could feel walls slamming back up. "I don't hide. I don't cower. I'm better than that." she said, feeling emotional but she was keeping it shoved down. It was hard to do it, but she did it. She'd have to re-learn. Even if she already knew that her emotional stability was the very first thing she realized she didn't have control over anymore.

He officially hated the idea of her going. He knew he did. Right down to his bones he hated it. It made him feel sick to think that she would have to face that man again. But it wasn't his decision to make. He'd nearly lost her, trying to make decisions for her, and whilst he'd more seriously nearly lost her for other reasons, that loss was still there all the same. He wasn't willing to risk that again. Not whilst the feeling was so fresh. Whilst they still hadn't sorted things out. Whilst their position was still precarious. "You want to come," he said, more summary, but with a hint of question there.

"I want to shove a screwdriver into his jugular and feel the hot spray against my skin, but we don't always get what we want." Eris said, in a moment of totally unfiltered thought. "I don't know if I want to come. I just know I don't want to hide." she said. "You might just see the weakness in me? But that's not all that's there." She turned to look towards the door. "I'm going for a walk." she told him. Even if she knew she'd have a hard time stepping over those flowers, and pressing the call button for the elevator. She'd have a difficult time leaving the building. She'd feel like any second on the street that he was there, watching from someplace.

He didn't say anything. This was why they hadn't talked then. Because nothing had actually changed. She was still walking away. Leaving whenever things got difficult. She always left, even knowing how he viewed that. He'd been trying to change the way he reacted to things, but the result was still the same. He didn't know why he even bothered. "...You have no idea what I see in you," he told her, before turning on his heel and heading out to the office, leaving doors open and unlocked as he went.

She wanted to know what he meant, but she didn't trust herself to ask without things getting worse. She was already having trouble holding it all together, and she wasn't about to give him more fodder to think she was weak. No, that was over. Or, it was as over as her fucked up emotional filter would allow. Not leaving immediately, she left it for a few long moments, trying to get a better grip on things. To calm down, or just shut everything out. She wasn't used to shutting things out, she'd never really had to before. She'd never had to shut anything out because it hadn't been there previously. If she could get that back maybe she'd be okay. maybe. She didn't know. Eventually she walked out, aware that he was in the office but she didn't look in as she walked past. She did stop to stare down at the flowers, though. Then she bent, and unclasped the necklace from around the flowers, and she held it in front of her eyes. It was pretty, of course. Then she reached up to clasp it around her neck, and she stood, taking the stairs instead of calling the elevator. The less people she had to deal with right now the better.

He was very aware of her going. He didn't lift his head as she walked past the door, but he could see her in his peripheral vision. As much as he looked as if he was bent over the desk working on something, he wasn't. He was waiting to see if she'd ask. But she didn't - she just walked out. It was hard not to take something like that personally. Especially not when she stopped at the roses. He didn't realise what she had at first, but he looked at her properly as she straightened back up, just able to see her without shifting his position. He watched as she fastened on the necklace, and then walked out on him.

No - it was impossible not to take that shit personally. He picked up a paperweight and launched it with a frustrated cry at the far wall. It left a large dent in the plasterwork where it hit and dropped heavily to the floor. Nothing had changed. Not a damn fucking thing.