[RL with Birkin]

[screwloose]

This time Birkin was coming to him, and that suited Stein just fine. He knew on some level that leaving his world for a bit would do him good, but he was involved in some new projects and still trying to work out how to deliver his last one to Medusa. It wasn't a good time to leave.

But a little company was always welcome, especially if it was like-minded company.

He'd taken a little trip to the store earlier in the day and bought an array of liquors - some bourbon, some gin, some tequila, and some rum. He didn't really know what Birkin liked, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to have a variety on hand.

And now he was at the computer, poking his nose around and waiting.

Comments

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin knocked on the door. The creepy ambiance of Death City didn't really bother him that much; he was used to creepy. If anything, he felt more in his element here than at home. The most frightening part about this trip was that he was, essentially, getting drunk with himself. And he knew himself well enough to know he'd be taking full advantage of the situation. Between "clutches" and "cute", Birkin decided maybe water would be a safer bet than anything else... But then, no man grieving his best friend's death would opt for water and he couldn't afford blowing his cover. Damn it.

He stared over his shoulder at the moon, quite literally, smiling down on him before turning back to Stein's house. Birkin had to admit, this place was a little creepy even by his standards.

[screwloose]

The motion sensor alerted Stein that someone was at his door, and he pushed off from the desk, rolling backwards down the hall on his computer chair. The door opened automatically at his approach, and Birkin would see nothing but darkness. Darkness and the sound of wheels rolling rapidly towards him.

Then Stein hit the doorjamb and the chair tipped him out onto the front step, right at Birkin's feet.

Ow. He had to fix that.

"Hi, Birkin," he said, grinning up at his friend. "Glad you could make it."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin smirked down at his fellow scientist. "I suddenly understand how you managed to get those scars." He stepped over Stein and into his house. Get in, get drunk, get out without stitches. That was the plan and he wanted it to stay that way. As he eyes adjusted to the darkness, Birkin couldn't help but notice that everything in the house was covered in stitches. He shuttered involuntarily before clearing his throat softly and turning back to Stein.

"So, what did you manage to steal from your friend's liquor cabinet?" He half-hoped it was something weak. But then, maybe strong would be better so he wouldn't feel the incision. Tough call.

[screwloose]

Stein got up quickly and dusted himself off, righting his chair and getting back on. He pushed himself along lazily with one foot, rolling along beside Birkin.

"I found a variety of things, because I wasn't sure what you might like," he said, lighting up a fresh cigarette. "Gin, rum, bourbon and tequila. What's your poison?"

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

"Rather morose way of putting it..." Birkin bit his bottom lip for a second, contemplating which one had the lowest proof, but gave up when he remembered he knew next to nothing about alcohol. "Rum sounds fine to me. And thank you for your consideration." It was rather hospitable of him to go out of his way to find something special.

He had to admit, it was sort of funny watching a grown man rolling around on a wheely chair like a child. Birkin could barely believe he was actually scared of Stein when he first got here. "Is that how you always get around your house?"

[screwloose]

Stein didn't get proper guests all that often, and he did count Birkin as a friend. If he didn't get him alcohol, then who would he get it for?

"A lot of the time, but not all the time," Stein said. "Rum it is," he added with a grin, rolling the chair over to his computer desk again and then standing up.

The living room had two couches facing one another over a coffee table. The walls were lined with scientific equipment, including what was clearly a coffee maker constructed using a bunsen burner, various beakers and filters and a graduated cylinder.

He moved to the sideboard and poured golden rum into two beakers for them. He didn't actually have normal dishes in his house.

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Idk, his bff Spirit?

Birkin took the beaker from him, chuckling as he slowly realized what it actually was. "So, I need to know," he momentarily raised his glass in Stein's direction and took a quick drink. "Do you have beverage beakers and chemical beakers or do they get used for both and you just wash them and hope nothing happens to your guests?"

He pointed in the direction of the coffee maker. "That definitely gets points for originality." Birkin took another sip. "Does it actually work?" He plopped down on one of the couches. The scientist had to admit, fear of becoming a test subject aside, it was nice just hanging out and having a drink with a friend.

[screwloose]

No way would Spirit drink alone with Stein, rofl

Stein dropped down to sit next to Birkin, raising his own beaker in a toast and then taking a drink from it. "I keep these ones here, so they don't get mixed up, but I can't say I've never switched things around just to shake things up," he said with a smirk.

He blinked at the coffee maker, then chuckled. "Oh yes, it works perfectly. It's not that difficult. The bunsen burner boils the water, which travels up through the distillation apparatus, drips through the coffee grinds, through the filter and into the cup."

He glanced at Birkin. "So... what happened to Wesker?"

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Spirit has learned over the years that's a bad idea.

"Nothing like trace amounts of sulfate to give your drinks a little kick." At the question Birkin put the beaker down on the table harshly and let out an annoyed sigh, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Stein by staring at the floor. "He's dead; isn't that the only thing that matters?" After a few seconds, Birkin picked the glass back up and finished off most of the remaining rum in it with an obvious scowl.

The scientist turned to the man sitting next to him, staring directly into his eyes and trying to look as sad as he could to make the lie convincing. "Sorry, I just... I miss him. I know that sounds so ridiculous because who could honestly miss Wesker but... He was my only real friend for a number of years."

[screwloose]

Even a dog can get kicked one too many times

Stein reached for the bottle and refilled Birkin's glass. "I'm sorry if the question bothers you," he said, startled by the vehemence of the reaction. "I was just curious about what happened, since I think I pretty much missed it all when I was so out of it last week."

But when Birkin looked at him so seriously, Stein stared back just as penetratingly. "It doesn't seem ridiculous. As you said, he was your only friend for a long time," he said, shaking his head.

He was pretty sure Birkin was lying to him, but about what?

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

That right there was an ICE BURN

"It's alright; I overreacted a bit. I mean, you hardly pulled the trigger or anything." Birkin sighed. "He... Redfield injected him with a serum that kept his virus in check and it made him weaker. He tried to fight them off still, rather than pulling back and he... They crashed a plane they were on into a volcano, Wesker infected himself with Uroboros, he fell into the lava because some rocks moved around, then Redfield and his partner shot him with a pair of rocket launchers." He took another swig of rum, starting to get genuinely upset by thinking about his friend's near-death-experience.

Birkin scoffed. "Well, people always assume he must have been awful to me. He wasn't always like that, though. I mean, perhaps he was always a sociopath but, I don't think it was ever that obvious until later..." He looked the other scientist in the eye again, smiling sadly. "Or maybe that's just wishful thinking and I never noticed for some reason despite it always being there." The blond took another drink. This was strangely therapeutic in an alcoholic sort of way. Although he needed to watch himself, he was already getting sort of tipsy and Birkin had a feeling that if Stein got him drunk enough, he'd just blab out the truth.

[screwloose]

*smirk*

Stein stared, bemused, sipping his rum with one hand and turning his bolt with the other. It clicked as Birkin finished his explanation. "Now that is one tough guy to kill," he said thoughtfully. He would have liked to have the chance to do a full examination of Wesker.

He shrugged. "I don't know if he's been awful to you or not. I have no doubt that the both of you are sociopaths, though." He smiled crookedly. "Just like me. That doesn't mean much in itself."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

"Like all offshoots of the Progenitor Virus, the virus grants - granted the infected regenerative abilities." Birkin shrugged. "Unfortunately, it has its limits. Especially when dealing with extreme heat." He glanced over at Stein's bolt. That click caught his attention; he'd love to be able to take a closer look at it... He'd just have to try some other time.

Birkin just stared. He was just called a sociopath. Again. He was so fucking sick of everyone - He took a deep, shaky breath to calm himself. "I am not a sociopath. You might be, and Wesker definitely is - was, but I am nothing of the sort. I can emphasize with people! Like..." He gestured wildly for a moment, as if trying to remember what he was going to say before realizing he didn't actually have an example and dropped his hand back on the couch. "I just know that I have a perfectly normal mind." He took another drink, realizing that he was practically a textbook example. "I'm not a sociopath. I'm not."

[screwloose]

Stein nodded thoughtfully. "How come you never infected yourself with it?" he asked with curiosity. Perhaps it was just very dangerous, but certainly regenerative abilities and super-strength was worth a bit of risk.

He blinked. Why was Birkin getting so upset? Stein obviously didn't think being a sociopath was such a bad thing, so he couldn't think he was being deliberately insulted.

"Why does it bother you so much if you are?" he asked.

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

"Wesker was special. He was... Manufactured, if you will. Along with several others. They were supposed to be the perfect humans. Better than humans. Unfortunately, that virus Spencer - our old boss - forced me to make was too unstable at the time and we didn't really have the technology to fix it." He took another drink. "Most of the Wesker children died. The only one that survived was Albert. I wouldn't even want to think about what would happen if a normal human was infected..." Whatever it was, Birkin assumed it was probably extraordinarily painful. "Besides, I'd hate to go to the DMV and wait in line to get my eye color changed to 'red' on my license." He laughed slightly at his own feeble attempt for a joke, finishing off the rest of his glass then holding it out to Stein for some more.

Birkin didn't really know why it bothered him so much; it just did. And really he didn't want to talk about his mental state all that much anyway. "So, how are things going here? I noticed you got into a bit of trouble with Kid over Medusa's new body."

[screwloose]

Stein refilled the glass and poured himself a second. At this rate, Birkin was going to be pretty smashed, but that was all according to plan. Not that Stein really had a detailed plan, but Birkin was likely more pliable when he was intoxicated, and at the very least Stein would be able to get more out of him.

He laughed at the joke, even if it was pretty lame. "I guess it's not that simple. Have you perfected the virus since then, though? Maybe it would work on normal humans now - obviously it wouldn't make sense to try it out on yourself, but you could probably find some subjects if you looked around." Whether or not the subjects would be willing was another matter.

He cocked his head, then rolled his eyes. "Yes, Kid's having his doubts about more than just me these days, I think. I can't really blame him, but it's not nice to be accused of betraying Shinigami-sama right to my face. Maka Albarn seemed to get it, though. I'll have to talk to Spirit and figure out how we're going to deal with the situation with Medusa, I suppose. I can't let her get the upper hand, even if she thinks she has it."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin nodded in thanks, putting the beaker down to avoid drinking too much more. "I'm working on perfecting it now. I still need to talk to - I mean, I wish I could still talk to Wesker to see what needs to be adjusted, but, you know, I can't." That was a good enough explanation, right? Right. Makes perfect sense. After all, it probably took some time for someone to get used to the whole past-tense thing, anyway.

"I don't see how you can take him seriously. I mean... He takes obsessive-compulsive disorder to a whole new level. I've never seen anything like it." Ignoring his better judgement, he took another sip. "And really, I don't see why you don't like Medusa. She's always so nice to me. She really reminds me of Wesker to be honest. And because you remind me of, well, me I think you two would work well together." Birkin smiled. Might as well get to work on that little plan he formed with Medusa while he was here. "I think you'd have more fun focusing on science than just doing what that Shinigami guy wants you to."

[screwloose]

Stein's eyes flickered. Birkin was making a lot of mistakes about that whole Wesker thing. How hard could it be to remember that he was dead? But if Wesker wasn't dead, Birkin had to have a reason for keeping it a secret, which meant he wasn't going to be able to get him to admit it just like that.

His attention was caught by Birkin's next words, anyway. He frowned faintly, sipping from his own cup. He also didn't drink often, and he could feel a pleasant fog settling over his brain. The fog was rarely far away, anyway.

"Kid is smart, but you're right, he has a very clear idea of the way the world should work. Cross him and he won't keep his opinion a secret," he said.

His eyes cut to Birkin, but he wasn't surprised by what he was saying. Of course Medusa would appeal to him - Birkin was like Stein. "I can't argue with that," he said slowly, watching a little spindly creature with three eyes cross the room and disappear under the coffee table. It was a hallucination, he knew, but he watched it anyway. "I'd be lying if I said her way of looking at things didn't appeal to me."

I watched Soul Eater all day and I'm thinking about apping Liz next month fffff

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin followed Stein's gaze for a second and raised an eyebrow after seeing nothing there. "I think she'd really appreciate it if you were more officially her partner rather than secretly trying to kill her and all that." He blinked a few times. That would probably get needlessly complicated over time, wouldn't it? "What's holding you back from dropping that mask and joining up with her then?" He tilted his head in curiosity. To an extent, Birkin genuinely wanted to know what Stein did to redeem himself so to speak in everyone's eyes. Maybe he could use that to his advantage and get everyone on his world to trust him so he could launch a sneak attack.

"I like your house by the way. You certainly put a lot of yourself into this building." Birkin couldn't help but smirk at Stein. He had an... Interesting sense of interior decorating, to say the least.

Yesssssss, another convert! \o/

[screwloose]

Stein looked up at Birkin. "To be honest, it's people," he said, a bit bemused. He drained the last of his beaker and reached for the rum again. "When I was little, Spirit kept me leashed, and by the time he went off to get married, I was used to it. I do feel as if I owe Shinigami-sama a lot, and there is...fulfilment in what I do."

He frowned, really trying to work it out in his mind in a way that Birkin might be able to understand. But he suspected it was a losing battle. "Then recently, I started teaching these kids, training them to fight witches. And I..." He smiled self-deprecatingly. "I guess I'm fond of them, for some reason."

He glanced at Birkin again. "And for all that I want Medusa, I don't trust her. She uses people up and destroys them, and she doesn't have the tiniest vestige of loyalty to anyone. Not to me, either. She wants a toy, not a partner. I don't want to be a toy."

You guys need pamphlets like a proper cult :|

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

"I don't know." Birkin picked the beaker up again, taking another drink. "I personally wouldn't want to be leashed like that. By anyone." He frowned slightly. "What did Shinigami do that makes you feel like you owe him anything? It's nice that you're fond of your students, but what about yourself. Aren't you and your desires more important?"

Birkin sighed. "But then, I wouldn't really want to be a toy either..." He bit the inside of his lip, looking for a slightly less depressing topic. "So how did you get that?" The scientist pointed at the scar on his companion's face to clarify.

But then you'd be on guard!

[screwloose]

"Shinigami-sama opened the school," Stein said, then realized that wasn't exactly a full explanation. His lips twisted. "He and the teachers practically raised me. I was an orphan, and had nowhere to go. He trained me to fight, taught me about souls."

He sobered. "I know my own desires are more important, but not necessarily all important. The leash... well, it was what they figured I needed, I guess. Spirit was the only one who could keep me distracted so I didn't hurt the other students. Except him, of course."

The change in subject prompted a soft chuckle. "I cut the skin and peeled it off my skull as part of the surgery to give me this." He tapped the bolt with a fingertip.

At least you won't E-meter me?

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin raised the beaker to his lips again. So Stein was an orphan. Just like Sherry... And looking at what Stein became, he didn't want to imagine what happened to his daughter. "What would have happened to you if that school didn't exist, do you think?" Although he was quite certain he didn't really want the answer.

"Spirit is the one that just showed up and posted the personal ad, right?" He scoffed. "For someone who's so noble, he certainly isn't very classy."

The scientist didn't bother to hide his shock. "You did that to yourself? Why!?" Eyes wide and jaw slack, he just stared at the bolt. "You know you could have killed yourself, right?"

...probably.

[screwloose]

Stein shook his head. "If Shibusen didn't exist, I'd probably either be a toy of a witch already, or in jail." Want it or not, Birkin had his answer.

He laughed softly. "Spirit is a good man, a good man, but he's a philanderer of the highest order. His wife divorced him recently because he couldn't keep his hands off of other women."

The reaction from Birkin wasn't terribly surprising. "I might have, I suppose, but I was reasonably sure I wouldn't die." He smiled and spread his hands. "I'd rather trust these hands than anyone else's." Then he rolled up his sleeve, revealing a scar that encircled his forearm. "All of these are self-inflicted."

D:

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin didn't have anything to say back to that comment, so he chose to just drink some more. It would be his fault if she was in jail, or worse... Goddamn it.

"I'm not sure if I feel worse for him or his wife." He was starting to notice a bit of a pattern with Stein, to be honest. Before he could stop himself (he'd blame the rum if anything), he asked: "Are you ever actually attracted to people who are monogamous? I mean... There are some definite similarities between Vanessa and this Spirit guy."

He understood not wanting to trust other doctors. He hadn't been to another doctor in a long, long time. Birkin instinctively reached out to grab Stein's arm, stopping himself before actually touching him. "All? You mean there's more? What in the world were you trying to prove?" His face showed genuine concern for his fellow scientist. Whatever reason Stein had for cutting himself up like this, it couldn't be good.