Meeting of Alien Haters Anonymous

[jonesiseverywhere]

[It took a bit to catch up with Wash. Casey already had to tape up the cheap hockey sticks he bought with the cheap tape he bought and by the time he'd finished, Wash had already made his excuses and left Greg and Rose alone.

Fortunately, roller-blades were faster than walking and Casey had more or less figured out the city through the -sigh-paper route he'd had to take to pay for the stuff he'd burned. So about 15 minutes after Wash left, Casey was skating up behind him.]

Wash! Wait up, Wash!

Comments

[unrecovered]

[Excuses weren't too hard to make anymore, with things in the apartment as tense as they were. Wash had done his best not to storm out, at least. Execution wasn't everything, but it could always make things worse.]

[The last thing he was expecting was for Casey to chase him down; usually, it was the opposite. He slowed to a stop and turned.]

What's up?

[jonesiseverywhere]

[Casey slid to a halt beside him and picked up his feet to let his skates retract.]

Just wanted to talk. You, uh, split pretty quick. Took me awhile to catch up.

[He can guess why, but he wants to hear it from Wash first. See if he's up for the chat.]

[unrecovered]

[He's pretty sure he knows what Casey wants to talk about, but he might as well let him lead.]

[Is that a nearby bench? That sure is a nearby bench. Let's sit there.]

Okay, about what?

[jonesiseverywhere]

[Fair enough. Let's sit.]

Guess you're picking up bad vibes from Rose too, right?

[unrecovered]

[He takes his helmet off and sets it on the bench next to him, so it's pretty easy to see his lip curl at the mention.]

It's not so much bad vibes - I just don't like her attitude.

[jonesiseverywhere]

Yeah. Me either.

I mean, I know this is important to Greg and everything, but it's like...a nice version of the Kraang, you know?

[Makes sense to Casey, let's see if it does to Wash.]

[unrecovered]

A nice version of the aliens invading your world.

[That's going to require some elaboration.]

I don't think it's that extreme, but...I get what you're saying. She talks about humans like we're kittens - like we can't take care of ourselves.

[And it rankles.]

[jonesiseverywhere]

[Thank goodness Wash can use words, it saves Casey from having to explain himself.]

Yeah, like kittens! The Kraang made New York into Kraang-y slaves 'cause they thought we didn't matter and it's like...isn't that the same thing but in the other direction?

[He didn't want to think this of Rose because it's NOT the same and he KNOWS it but he almost lost his family -both his families- to the Kraang and that's not something that just goes away with a smile.]

[unrecovered]

I don't think it's that bad, but that doesn't make it a good thing either. It sounds like she likes humans, but you can still screw up something you like.

[He pauses for a few moments. He's not sure he should say this to Casey, but...well, it affects them both.]

I think her attitude killed Greg's self-confidence, and I don't think either of them really realize it.

[jonesiseverywhere]

[Casey was still processing the first statement, because...Yeah, that was sure true. He knows that well enough. But he didn't didn't to carry the thought far enough before Wash's next statement hit him.]

You think? I thought it was cause he failed at making a music career, lives in a van, and never gets to see his kid.

[unrecovered]

[That was surprisingly astute, and it brings Wash up short. He needs to remember that, for all his suicidal tendencies, Casey can be smarter than he looks sometimes.]

I meant his confidence in battle. He's so worried about how he shouldn't be messing with magic that he doesn't realize he's good at it. Rose made it pretty clear she doesn't think he can handle himself, and if he believes that...

[He trails off and shrugs. They've both seen the results of that line of thinking.]

[jonesiseverywhere]

Oh! Oh yeah...

[It's kind of like April, only she doesn't want her powers for some reason. And nobody's telling her it's too dangerous but herself, so it's not really the same.

But maybe the same thing will work for them both.]

...Maybe we can help them both. You know, help build their confidence in him.

[unrecovered]

[Literally every idea Casey has had so far has been harebrained at best. Wash is...wary.]

What are you thinking.

[jonesiseverywhere]

Greg needs some wins! Rose needs to see him come in and stomp the Nox with his magic!

[unrecovered]

[For a few moments, Wash has absolutely nothing to say. The sheer amount of idiocy in that idea has staggered him.]

If I had a week, I couldn't list everything wrong with that idea, starting with the fact that Greg could die.

[jonesiseverywhere]

[Wow, Casey hadn't thought he could be offended but...there it is.]

...Do you...seriously think I would let Greg get the kind of trouble where he could actually die

[unrecovered]

I don't think you have the power to control the situation if something goes wrong. Knowing the Nox, it will.

Think of something else.

[jonesiseverywhere]

Fine, fine...

[He leans back on the bench.]

I don't think I'm wrong though. They ain't gonna start thinking Greg can handle himself without help.

[unrecovered]

You're not wrong.

[He takes a moment to ponder. They have to be smart about this.]

We need to work on her. Greg won't listen to us while she's here, so we have to change her mind first.

[jonesiseverywhere]

Yeah, but how? I get the feelin' just telling her that Greg helped me beat a shadow horse isn't gonna cut it.

[For what it's worth, that impressed Casey (and also kind of saved his life) but Rose has probably seen a lot worse.]

[unrecovered]

We have to...I don't know, change her opinion somehow. Get her to see the damage she's done to him.

[Rose probably won't like it; Greg will hate it; and Wash still isn't sure he's in a good position to make this call. Great.]

It's gonna get ugly.

[jonesiseverywhere]

[He sucks in the kind of breath you only take to brace yourself when you have to do something you REALLY don't want to.]

You mean Greg's gonna get hurt.

[An idea comes. Maybe Wash won't go for it. He probably won't go for it, but it's all he's got right now.]

Maybe Rose can fight with us for awhile?

[unrecovered]

[Once again, surprisingly astute.]

Probably.

[Definitely.]

[It's an idea, and he gives it his due.]

We can try, if you want to put up with that. I don't know if it'll fix anything, but we can try.

[jonesiseverywhere]

Hey, if Rose thinks humans can't fight then all we gotta do is prove her wrong, right? Then she'll see that Greg can totally do it AND that he's got awesome backup!