FAMILY DINNER

[falsify]

[Having Nancy over isn't as common as it used to be, life is busy and whatnot, but Eames sometimes makes an effort. He's even gone so far as to make something to eat that he knows Nancy loves, and he is well stocked with wine for the two of them.]

[Arthur's off visiting a friend or something, so it's just the two of them for tonight. The two of them and a dog who is always happy for familiar company and spends a good chunk of time sat by Nancy's feet, only slightly hoping maybe she'll share some food even if it's against the rules.]

Comments

[stauncherhearted]

Yes.

...Is it working?

[falsify]

No. [He breathes a small laugh.] Nice try though.

[stauncherhearted]

Damn it! [She snaps her fingers.]

I'll just become a socialite on my own.
[She'd had a taste of that life, truthfully. It may have been years ago, but she'd still dated the vampire representative. She'd been the right-hand woman of the Maiden. ]

[falsify]

I know a few, it's pretty hard work.

[The fact that he technically is a socialite flits through his mind, but that's... Maybe not a topic for now.]

[stauncherhearted]

I don't think it's particularly me, anyway.

[falsify]

No? [He's not disappointed tbh] You'll figure it out.

[stauncherhearted]

I mean. With any luck.

[falsify]

[Eames doesn't reply to that immediately, glancing down at his drink as he considers what it is he wants to say. It's a thoughtful silence before he speaks, eyebrows pulled together in concentration.]

You know, Nancy. I'm a man of few regrets. Good choices and bad, I make them and move on. But... I never fully realised the hold that Fagin had on you.

[He looks up at her, still with that expression on his face. Almost as though it's difficult for him to say this.]

I thought getting you out from under his thumb would be enough, and you'd realise on your own that you're so much more than what he made you. That you're smarter and capable of much better than you were allowed.

[It's an unusual amount of pure honesty for him, and honestly Eames is deeply uncomfortable saying any of it, but it feels important right now. He sighs, shaking his head just a little.]

I never wanted to push you. Perhaps I should've.

[stauncherhearted]

[The conversation veers to the left and Nancy is left thrown against the side of the proverbial car. Her mouth is dry, and she reaches for more to drink, an automatic reflex at this point in her life.

She doesn't understand, exactly what he's trying to say, and she shakes her head, her lips twisted in some sort of uneasy grimmace.] What d'you mean? You've pushed me- the election, Norrell... You can't say I didn't have a damn big part in all of that. [But after each bit of magic, she'd been exhausted, sleeping for near days.

But that was the part she gleaned to, ignoring where he'd called her smart, capable. She'd always been told she was smart, sure, but it was that rough sort of street smarts that you couldn't very well measure with degrees and certificates. But she wasn't smart about magic. Fagin had kept her from learning her true powers, and even now she so often forgot she had them in the first place.]

[falsify]

[She's clinging to the wrong part of what he's said, but Eames can't say he's surprised. He shakes his head, not dismissive, but to try and come at this from a different angle.]

You know the reason I came to find you originally? Fagin was boasting about this witch he had, managed to break her slave ring. Still his though, he'd make sure we knew.

[Point being, that's a pretty outstanding thing to do, though he expects Nancy hadn't ever realised that. It's hard enough figuring out you're wearing one in the first place, let alone taking it off on your own.]

A witch that smart, that capable-- Intelligent, even. That's a useful friend to have in somebody else's house.

[He sighs, shaking his head again. So rarely disappointed with himself that it's an unusual expression on his face, tired and almost sad.]

I never pushed you to realise that potential though. Never pushed you to do anything, not even to find different work.

[stauncherhearted]

[Well, that takes the wind out of her sails. She's happy to let it go, truthfully, settling back a bit further in her seat to listen to him. This is new- all of it.]

He- he said that? [Of course he had. He'd been- he'd been proud of her. It didn't matter if he was just using her to brag- Fagin wanted people to know how smart she was. She can't help herself but a grin breaks out over her features, her eyes bright. He was awful to her. He'd abused her, sold her and she hated him. Glad he was dead, even.

But that didn't mean he wasn't her father.

Nancy looks down, trying to hide the reddening of her nose. Great, Eames, you're going to make her cry.]

Damn him.

[She sniffles, trying to hide it with another drink.]

I worked at the garage, and you gave me my Office, too. You were incredibly kind in that. [Granted, she'd only gotten new work when it became quite clear that she had to be a law abiding citizen for at least a few weeks.]

[falsify]

I supported you, of course I did.

[He says it like the idea of him doing anything else is ridiculous, even if it shouldn't be considering who he is and why he reached out to her in the first place. It's not like he ever lied to her about any of it.]

[Eames reaches for her hand to give it a gentle squeeze.]

But what I'm saying is you're capable of so much more than he ever let you think, and I knew that from the beginning.

[stauncherhearted]

[Nancy squeezes his hand back.]

...Thank you, Eames. Coming from you, that... it means a lot.

[She rubs her thumb over the back of his hand.]

He never told me anything. He only wanted me to do what was best for him- learning to make blood replenishers, healing, concealing. Obviously picking pockets, but that's not a magic skill.

[falsify]

Yeah, sounds like him.

[Eames sits back, still holding her hand, and raises an eyebrow with a light smirk.]

Hated it when I started figuring out the mortal world for myself, or when I used to go off with... A friend. [He laughs a little, shaking his head.] I was never one of his kids, but I think he liked that little bit of control he had when I was still green.

[stauncherhearted]

[Nancy’s face falls and she leans forward, her face a mix of awe and... not pity but empathy.] Eames- I had no idea. I didn’t- I’ve no idea how old he is- but— Eames...

[She doesn’t know how to ask what she needs to ask. It’s not a good question. But she has to know] he didn’t- I mean he never hurt you, like he did me, did he?

[she still can’t say what Fagin did to her. What Bill did. Some wounds never healed after all.]

[falsify]

No, no. [He shakes his head.] He definitely took advantage of my naivety to get me working for him, but that's as far as it went.

[Fagin preyed on lonely kids after all, kids who needed a family, who needed to be loved. Eames, on the other hand, had a mother who'd probably have torn him limb from limb if he even thought about it.]

[stauncherhearted]

[Nancy lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding.] Good. I couldn't bare to know he's gotten to you, too.

It's bad enough as-is. [All the children that'd come before her, that came after. He wouldn't hurt anyone ever again. But that barely made it better.]

[falsify]

[He gives her hand another squeeze.] I'm fine, always have been. I'm the last person you need to worry about.

[stauncherhearted]

Yeah, but I said that, too.

[And Eames worried. Eames worried for the right reasons.]

[falsify]

Unlike you, I can't lie.

[He smiles.]

If the worst thing that's happened to me is an old man tricking me into working for free, then I'm a lucky man.

[It's not the worst, and it's an oversimplification of what his relationship with Fagin was like, but it's still practically the picture of a perfect friendship compared to what Nancy went through.]

[stauncherhearted]

[For that remark, Nancy rolls her eyes.]

You are. He's done far worse to far too many.

He would have done worse, too. I know that. If it hadn't been for Bill. [Not to bring up wounds that are still very very raw. She would never forgive him for what he did. Ever.] You hate him all you like, but after I was with him, Fagin never touched me.

[falsify]

[Ugh, it always come back to Bill. Eames has a lot to say to that, but he stops himself, releasing her hand and clenching his jaw for a moment.]

[And then the moment passes and he huffs out a heavy breath.]

Let's get back to happier topics, hm? This was supposed to be a lighthearted chat.

[stauncherhearted]

[Nancy nods, even before she feels the stinging of her nose again. Happy. So they don't wind up yelling at each other across the table and she doesn't ruin his kitchen again.]

Happier. Right. 'cause someone went and made it serious first.

[She gives him a look, and a smile.]

[falsify]

[She seems mostly fine with it, so Eames nods and smiles back.]

Fine, I'll be the one to lighten the mood as penance.

[He purses his lips as he thinks on a topic, and his expression falls a little as he realises they're probably going to cycle back around to earlier topics and he going to have to share details he'd rather not share with Nancy.]

[That's fine. He'll just take a big gulp of his drink first.]

Let's skip back to earlier then, before I took us [gesture] here. Anything you're dying to know about?

[stauncherhearted]

[Nancy nods, waiting for him to offer his penance. It's shown to be adequate, but she frowns for just a moment, her brow creasing slightly.]

Dying to know about? You mean- you and Arthur, or?