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[She's got the right of it there: Yusuke does, indeed, enter the conversation with a fair bit of apprehension. It would have been awkward enough speaking to the doc after they'd had time wound back on them, but with this whole mess with Kurama and Keiko still ongoing in addition to that ...

He doesn't know how much she knows about him and Kurama and Keiko, but it seems clear to him that anyone with sense'd be disgusted with him if they did know about it. So it's a pleasant surprise when she responds by teasing him; it doesn't make him laugh, but the familiarity of it sets him somewhat at ease. If she's taking the piss, she must not be pissed. Not enough to immediately lay into him, which is. Something, he guesses.

Of course, it could be that she doesn't know anything and that tongue lashing'll come after he finally gets around to telling Keiko about him and Kurama. Ugh, he's so sick of worrying about it. TIME TO BANTER AND PRETEND LIKE ALL IS PERFECTLY PEACHY.]

watch it lutece

i might try to hold your hand the next time i see you if you keep talking like that

I cooked eggs for Strider and bullied Fugo a fair bit. You holding my hand is the least of my worries.

[She hesitates for a moment, then adds:]

Are you all right?

[Ah. A beat of radio silence passes before he answers.]

i mean youre probably not gonna catch me in the snack aisle at the store anytime soon but other than being traumatized by chocolate easter bunnies yeah im great

what about you

you good, doc

[Liar. She knows very well he can't be status-quo, but who is she to bully him into revealing his emotions?

. . . on the other hand: who does he really have, now, besides her? Kurama and Keiko both are right out, and while Rosalind is confident in Yusuke's socialization skills, she isn't certain if he has anyone willing to listen.

How would Robert do this? He's so good at prying emotions out of her, even when she doesn't want them to come to light. How would he handle this?]

I've had better months, I'll admit. A demon menaced me, to start with; a child stole my book; and while my outing with Robert wasn't precisely ruined, I'd rather not wanted to be a teenager throughout it.

Edited 2017-04-22 20:29 (UTC)

oh yeah i heard robert showed up while i was awol

did he get the youth activating treatment too

[Pretty surreal to think about how there's essentially now two Rosalind Luteces in this place. He wonders what the dude version looks like.]

He did. It was rather strange, actually; we'd never gotten to see each other like that before. We didn't meet in person until we were 23.

He's eager to meet you.

[Oh. Now that he didn't expect.]

you told him about me?

Of course I did. He wanted to know everyone who was important to me; you certainly make that list.

[EVER GET A FEELING SO FRIENDSHIP

In all seriousness, Yusuke is honestly touched and... pretty surprised as well. He hasn't known Dr. Lutece for very long; compared to Kurama, he hardly feels like he's even talked to her that much, so it's a bit of a trip to hear her refer to him that way when they've only just begun to get to know each other. Then again, it hadn't taken much for him to feel that way about his friends back home, had it? Shit, he met Yukina once and he'd fight ten dozen guys for her if Hiei and Kuwabara didn't get to them first.

Maybe it's because of what happened when he was bite-sized? But no, Robert showed up before that, so that doesn't fit, unless of course they only had this conversation recently...

Well, whatever. It's weird to think that he could become significant to someone in such a short amount of time, but it isn't unpleasant, and though there's a certain temptation to come right out and ask her if she knows about the Thing with Kurama and Keiko, it feels more appropriate and more important for him to reciprocate her sentiment than it does to try to contend it with evidence of his own inadequacy.]

well hell

if hes even half as badass as you i bet well get along great

All that I am and more.

[She means that, too. She really does. There's no one who thinks higher of herself than Rosalind Lutece, but nonetheless, she knows, Robert is the superior twin. Not smarter, not more dedicated, but kinder. More emotional, more social, more able to fit into society as a whole-- more human, in fact.]

You have to be kind to him at first. No bullying. He's already mildly put off Fugo refers to him as Robert instead of Dr. Lutece.

[Well, that's one hell of an endorsement. That thing about Fugo, though. . . uh.]

if thats what he considers bullying he better not come over here for tea

[HE AND KURAMA WOULD EAT HIM ALIVE.]

did you break it to him that weve already got our dr lutece

[Oh. Oh, no, and now it's her turn to feel an awful rush of sentiment and friendship. She refers to them as her ducklings, yes, she loves them and adores them, and surely that's returned, but . . .

It isn't a competition. It's not as if she ever needs, or indeed wants, to be better than Robert. They're a pair, a duo; he truly is all she is and more, and there's no better addition to this city. She's never sought to outpace him, because to do so would be an exercise in futility.

But people have preferred him over her before. God, they've always wanted him. Their parents had, and they hadn't even known of Robert; they'd just wanted a son so badly that a daughter could never possibly compare. Cambridge had been the precise same way: Miss Lutece, while your test scores are admirable, at this time Cambridge is only accepting male candidates, and as such a young lady such as yourself would be entirely unsuitable . . . have you considered our girl's school?

Never mind in Columbia. God, she'd had to start going to Finkton and Comstock House all on her own, because each time Robert attended, he was always the one ultimately consulted. How many times had she given an answer, only for all the men in the room to look expectantly at her double? For surely both Luteces were intelligent, but only Robert could be trusted to give an accurate answer. (Robert, thank god, had always done his best to defer. As my sister just said, god, he'd started to sound like a parrot, but he never once faltered in giving credit where it was due).

No one's ever wanted her over Robert. Except now, suddenly, someone does.

Oh.]

He's aware of it. He hastens to point out that there are in fact two Dr. Luteces right now, and that it isn't a one-person-only slot.

Edited (NOPE JUST ONE COMMENT) 2017-04-24 19:48 (UTC)

sounds like somebodys got a little insecurity problem

theres people for that yknow

[QUIT BEIN' A DOUCHESUKE, YUSUKE]

Be nice, I said.

[He's perfectly secure, thank you, he's absolutely full of himself when he wants to be, only she can't say that to a student.]

It isn't insecurity, it's insult. You lot are far more casual than we're used to.

well what does he expect

you got here first and anyway itd be confusing as hell to have two dr luteces even if you werent a hard act to follow

[Thank god this is over the watches. She's grinning unbearably right now.]

He's an accomplished scientist; he expects respect.

Can you at least manage Dr. Robert?

not without picturing a clown dressed in a white coat

Dr. L?

serial killer with an md who eats his victims after he minces em with a scalpel he named pookie

Oh, nonsense.

He'd go for something far more sinister. Rosie, he'd call it, and refer to it with an alarming amount of affection.

right probably in that creepy stage whi

wait arent YOU rosie

Yes. And he regards me with an alarming amount of affection.

well yeah i bet but

you know its supposed to be romantic right

like when bad guys talk to their weapons like that its supposed to sound like some really screwed up foreplay

[HE HAS NO IDEA]

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