Ooo, all introspective, and, like, stuff. Yeah.
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Anne and Effie went back to work, Anne promising another lesson the next time they could steal a chance. Effie seemed subdued after the entire affair, but not depressed, so Anne called it a victory, of sorts. It was too much to expect that she would be entirely happy to be learning how to hone her talent, not on this planet where mental gifts were seen as freakish. Actually, Anne pondered, tapping her fingers against her hip as she passed around the stationary groups of coworkers in the hall, there were a lot of things that were rather freakish on this planet. The Nebraska family, the Gung Ho Guns in general, she had observed from the vantage of her own world, but even after arriving on Gunsmoke, she had seen people that weren't entirely your typical human.
Sadly, most of these people were not what you would see as law abiding citizens, either. Outlaws and bandits for the most part, they used whatever made them different as a source of power. The people were right to fear the different when those who were abnormal gravitated to lawlessness, almost to a man. Of course, it's hard to be a happy, productive neighbor when all around you shun you as a monster. Maybe it's just one of those self-fulfilling prophecies, she mused as she slid into her desk chair. If enough people see you as evil, you just don't see a reason to be anything else. It takes strength of character to persevere in the face of opposition, and trust is a hard thing to win on this planet. Even with actions speaking louder than words, times were uncertain enough that few were willing to make the leap of faith needed to trust someone that their eyes told them was dangerous.
Anne picked up her stylus and tapped it against the desk as she thought, the rhythmic percussion aiding her musings. Luckily she and the others looked human enough for that to not be a problem, or at least most of the time. And she would be the first to rush forward and say that the whole Angel business creeped her out. As far as character went, she knew that she was strong enough, and fey enough that the opinions of others didn't weigh on her so strongly that she would change her behavior to suit them. Knives, Vash, both of them knew who they were, and neither would change to fit into whatever category the populace labeled them in.
But would Ace be? Would Alex? If angry mobs of people (and here her mind inserted a mass of humanity waving torches and pitchforks, despite the fact that neither item really existed on Gunsmoke) suddenly started to hunt them down, called them evil, called them demons, called them monsters and treated them as such, how would the two of them respond? How would Effie? Would they turn the other cheek, take the insults, the fear and try to work around it, or would they instead let the fear of others work upon them?
She worried about Ace the most. The child already had a cruel streak, was already hurting inside. Like anyone will when they are hurt, she was ready and willing to lash out at anyone who provided the slightest provocation. If someone dared to call her a monster, she'd likely respond like one. She wouldn't worry about what would come next, not the next day, not the next human, not anything beyond her reaction. And lashing out would ease the pain she carried inside, making her more and more likely to respond in anger until all that she gave to the world was her pain, making it grow in the hearts of others as she tired to ease it within her own. That would make her seem a monster in truth, and then where would they all be?
Anne grabbed the soldering problem off the back of her desk and arranged it neatly before her as if she were ready to focus on work, but still tried to think about what to do about Ace. She didn't need to be all that intelligent to be able to predict that the woman would not take the news of her and Knives getting back together well. There would likely be a tantrum of some sort, a lashing out at those who made her pain fresh again.
Knives leaving Ace for her was likely to make the girl feel discarded, for all that she was purportedly only using him. Discarded, rejected by the two people she loved the most, Anne feared to try to predict what would come next.
The best plan she could come up with was to try to break the news gently, but how gently can you tell someone that you stole their lover? No matter that she had stolen him first, and not regarding that Knives was more than just a toy to be passed along between them, what was she going to say to Ace?
She knew that it would have to be her. Knives being Mr. Completely-Lacking-In-Tact, the job would naturally be handed over to the only one with a prayer of not completely screwing things over.
Her, whose main skill seemed to be making people hate her. Really, she knew that she was not qualified to handle this evening. Something was going to be said wrong, and it was going to be her fault, or at least Ace would see whatever her reaction was as her fault, regardless of whether or not she was really to blame.
Anne sighed and buried her head in her hands, happening to see the report that she was really supposed to be researching. She made a face at the report, then in the general direction of where she supposed the camera watching her was. Brining her monitor online, she began pulling up files that looked like they might hold some of the information she desired. Using the stylus to pull them down to the lower right corner of the display, she yawned and shook her head, trying to dispel the maudlin thoughts that plagued her with such simple charms.