IC inbox for Snowblind

[thewarningafter]

@beyonce

You've reached Dr. Stephen Strange. Leave a message and my secretary will get back to you.

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[thewarningafter]

If he hadn't died --

[That's the worst part of it. Stephen still thinks they could have gotten through the entire program without this level of bullshit if only House hadn't spent half of it as a child and needed to push away everyone who'd seen him that way.

But going down that road risks blaming Peter, which isn't fair. He's as much a victim as anyone else.]

[termineur]

Yeah. But that's the big problem, isn't it? There's a whole lot of death and nothing we can do about it.

[ He's not even thinking of blaming Peter. He considers any of that mental manipulation to be 'brain-washing' and worse for the people affected than the people who died. If he didn't, he'd have to judge himself far more harshly, and he doesn't feel like doing that. ]

There's always something that pops up that we can't control. So every one of us tries to find the tiny bits of control we can hold onto. For you, it's trying to help. For House? It's making sure that wall is there.

[thewarningafter]

Yeah, I'm told I have some issues with control.

[But he's lost so much of it here. More than he could have imagined.]

That's kind of what he's said, too. In shittier words.

[termineur]

Think all of us have issues with control. We're all used to being masters of something, skills far beyond the normal populace. It chafes when we've got to start respecting the laws of physics again.

Trying to help is not a bad goal, though. It's what's gonna get us through this, as much as House's single-minded stubbornness is. This place is trying to rip away our control, but people like you and Al have made a difference- even if it doesn't work out more times than you'd like. If you knew what I was like when I first got here...well, you'd see it in me, at least.

[thewarningafter]

Extraordinary people, the whole bunch.

[A theory that's come up before.]

I can kind of, uh. Guess. Based on what you told me, based on what I know about, you know. Psychopathy. You know you're doing really well, right?

[termineur]

[ Gabriel wouldn't be Gabriel if he didn't try to single out the 'special' people from the general populace.

He sounds oddly shy when he replies. ]

You think so? ...thanks. I don't know if its sinking in as much as I give the impression- I'm still so used to faking it 'til I make it, you know? But I'm trying.

[thewarningafter]

I know.

[Yeah, he knows better than to trust what he sees on the surface...even if he sometimes forgets.]

You're trying, though. I know that's true.

[termineur]

That's- ...I've heard it from Al, but it's nice hearing it from another source, you know?

[ Gabriel sounds slightly flustered- he's honestly not sure how to handle people believing in him, still. Al has gotten him to be a little less suspicious of it, at least. ]

I'm going to go ahead and call Peter back, make sure he's still en route. You guys interrupt whenever, and I'll make sure he takes the call.

[thewarningafter]

[Stephen grins to himself, unseen.]

Yeah, alright. Tell him he's an idiot for me, will you? And that we're glad he's back.

[termineur]

[ That gets a snort of laughter from Gabriel. ]

Will do. Thanks for giving me the excuse- he's kinda tough to wrangle.

[ And Gabriel's trying to be patient because he knows it's (mostly) a death loss. ]

Talk to you later, Stephen. Stay warm and all that.

[thewarningafter]

You, too. And keep us updated.