stormandwind | Spoiler Alert, lastvoyages

"I know. She told me." And the look she gives Mick is a long, considering one, because if she has trouble trusting him in general, she certainly struggles more to trust him with a member of her family.

"Neither of us does well at letting go after breaches," she says after a moment, in as neutral a tone as she can manage. It's the closest she's letting herself come to warning Mick, even though she wants to. Rosethorn's feelings stay tangled up with the people she loved in alternate lives, and Tris can't stand anyone having that kind of grasp on her mother unless they're going to treat her properly.

Mick meets her eyes during that long look, folding his arms. He's used to it. He is used to being distrusted and judged. He takes a breath after her warning. "It's not easy, but Rosethorn and I seem to have worked it out." Mostly by more or less avoiding each other.

Tris pauses a moment, not sure how much Rosethorn would be willing to share. Finally, she goes ahead and tells him, "You were worried about me being used as a tool, but I wasn't. Not the way Rosethorn was. I was an object to be afraid of. But she doesn't stop caring just because she wasn't quite herself in that breach, or because she never wanted another brother in the first place."

The unspoken don't hurt her is still there, just as obvious as before.

"The same way I never wanted another set of birth parents, but Jean and Cold still mean something to me." Rosethorn wasn't the only person who came out of that breach with a mess of mixed feelings and new connections.

"Well, she isn't alone in the not wanting a family. But this place doesn't give us much of a choice." He frowns when she mentions Cold. At the mention of Cold being a father in the breach. He has never thought that Cold wanted to be one. Not with how things were with Lewis. He grits his teeth. Part of him wants to tell her to back off, to protect Cold from any memories. But it is too late now.

And part of him is happy. The part that had been Rose's big brother is happy that she still cares. And furious that Tris implied he might hurt her.

He turns to look around the room, it is easier than to face Tris and all the complicated emotions. "Don't worry." He finally admits. He has no plans to hurt Rosethorn.

"No, it doesn't," Tris agrees grimly. She didn't mind her family in the last breach, because it was familiar. She was born to a family that didn't approve of what she was, and Erskine stole her away before they could reject her completely. It was like her real life, only gentler. Being born to parents who wanted her, though... the breach with Jean and Cold was the one she's struggled with most, by far.

She hesitates a second, then says, "Good." She'll trust his word for now, not that she has much choice in who Rosethorn chooses to let into her life. That doesn't mean she'll ever be anything less than prepared to make him regret it if he ever breaks that promise.

Tris is far too observant to miss the look on his face when she mentioned Cold. Circling back to the subject unprompted, she tells Mick, "I don't expect anything of him, but he was a far better father than my real one. I made sure he knew that."

Mick turns back to her. "Fathers are... Len and I didn't have good fathers. Lewis was worse than my dad. Len's always been uncomfortable with the whole idea of fathers last I checked. So don't push it. Don't ask him to be something he doesn't want to be." Mick doesn't believe in subtle warnings, might as well say it out loud.

Tris gives Mick an unimpressed look. "Were you not listening when I said that I didn't expect anything of him? I'm not looking for a father. Mine disowned me when I was nine, and I'm just fine without, thanks ever so. But he deserved to know he was a good one."

She thanked him for not giving her more issues with family than she already had, actually. And she can't just suddenly stop caring about him now that she's started.

Mick frowns. He is not sure it had been good anyway. But done is done.

"He would make a good dad, but I am not sure he wants to be one." He frowns. He isn't sure about sharing Len with someone with someone who dislikes him so much even if it just as friends. In some ways, he wishes it was just him and Len against the world the way it used to be.

"And you look like you've done well without a father, sounds to me like he didn't deserve you anyway."

"I'm not trying to be his daughter," even if she has no intention of backing out of his life again. Tris very deliberately refrains from mentioning that she thinks Odd is more of a danger there than she is. But Cold clearly cares about him, so Mick had better stay out of things where Odd is concerned.

"Neither of my parents deserved me. My foster family does." Tris cares a lot about Rosethorn, for very obvious reasons.

Mick looks at her for a long moment, trying to judge if he believes her or not. Eventually, he just gives her a nod. He does. At least for now. Not that he has a choice, it really doesn't matter what he thinks here.

"Good." He gets up, grabbing the beers since she's said she doesn't want them and then moves to let her eat in peace.

Spoiler Alert, lastvoyages

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warn, implied child abuse

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Re: warn, implied child abuse

Re: warn, implied child abuse

Re: warn, implied child abuse

Re: warn, implied child abuse

Re: warn, implied child abuse