Vincent (to Eep): Oh. Hey, Slim. I didn't expect you'd be awake. Everything was fine. I was just taking the Little Man out for a walk. I was telling him about when I first met his Auntie Mouse. I can't believe that was only 6 years ago. It feels like a lifetime.
Eep (to Vincent): I'll bet. Um, I've wanted to ask you about something. For a while but I wasn't sure how to bring it up...
Vincent (to Eep): Oh? You should know by now I have no shame. Do I, Victor? Hee hee. What's up?
Eep (to Vincent): Back when Hiiri did that, uh, whatever she did to Mouse's head, and she was taunting you, when she was in the cell... Um, she mentioned something that really pissed you off. About, um... she, uh...
Vincent (to Eep): She called me a murderer. I remember. Heh. I'll admit, I was hoping you'd forget.
Eep (to Vincent): Yeah. You mentioned that you had red in ledger. What was she talking about? Look, you don't gotta tell me if you don't want to, but I know how shitty it feels to carry around some giant secret. What happened? I don't care what the fuck Hiiri says. I can't see you murdering anybody.
Vincent (to Eep): Oh. I appreciate the sentiment, Slim. And, I really wish I could disagree with you. When I crewed with Alistair, he agreed to help a man named Drake capture a huge royal airship called the Reliant.
Eep (to Vincent): Holy fucking God. Did they kill the crew? Oh. Yeah. Stupid question. Sorry. So, uh, were you there when they were...
Vincent (to Eep): Drake was a nasty piece of work. He and his crew... They boarded the ship first, and they weren't keen on taking prisoners. ... No. I was part of the second wave. I was there for the aftermath, which was... It wasn't very pleasant. Eleven people were killed before we could stop Drake's men. It was a massacre. It was our fault it was a massacre. We knocked out their security system, and took out most of the weapons. If we hadn't, then it wouldn't have been so horrible.
Eep (to Vincent): Fat Christ! I don't know what to say, Vincent. I really don't. Did you, uh, did you actually kill anyone?
Vincent (to Eep): Personally, you mean? No. I was shot early into the raid when I tried to stop Drake from assaulting some poor young lady. I blacked out after that. I'm not quite the good-hearted charmer you thought I was, am I?
Eep (to Vincent): Oh Christ! Knock it off with that self-berating bullshit. Yeah, you got involved in something stupid, and shitty. Uh... OK. Really shitty. Really, REALLY shitty. But it doesn't mean you're a like a psycho or anything. Hiiri's full of it. Mouse know about this?
Vincent (to Eep): I... What? That is SO not the reaction I expected. And, of course my sister doesn't know. I didn't want her to know I was a...
Eep (to Vincent): Stop. Just stop with that. I haven't slept. I don't have the energy for it. Tell her. She loves you. She still will. You gotta learn to trust that, you know.
Vincent (to Eep): ... Heh. I think you may have rendered me speechless, Slim. Thank you. You're probably right. Anyhoo, I should get going. Little Man will most likely wake up from his nap hungry. I'll see you two later. Bye.
Eep (to Vincent): Yeah. Later.
A few minutes later:
Eep: Jesus Christ…
Mouse (to Eep): Hey sexy man... I'd offer to give you a hug, but Otto made me workout for the past 3 hours & I reek... He is so bossy. What's wrong? Did something happen?
Eep (to Mouse): Huh? No, no. Nothing's happened. Everyone's fine. I was just, uh... Christ. I don't even know what to say. I was just talking to your brother. Still processing, I guess.
Mouse (to Eep): Phooey, he didn't even come & say hello, that little jerk... So, you two had a serious talk, I'm guessing, judging by the look. Anything you want to talk about or is this a guy thing?
Eep (to Mouse): Yeah, he ran off pretty quick. He used Victor as an excuse. It was... Yeah. Serious. I wanna talk to you about it, but... I dunno. I feel like maybe he should be the one to do it.
Mouse (to Eep): Oh... That good, huh?
Eep (to Mouse): Yeah. Hiiri said something to upset him when she did that, um, whammy thing to you, and I asked him about it. Gimme a hug for a second. I don't care how sweaty you are.
Mouse (to Eep): Oh, I see... It's okay. This is about some of the stuff Vincent did when he was crewing with Alistair, isn't it? I knew there was more to it than what he told me, I'm not an idiot... Percy showed me his file. Hiiri thought she could torment me about it, dropping hints & making tasteless jokes, but I already knew all about it. That's one of the difference between Hiiri & I. She likes to bring up nasty shit to make people off balance & upset them, I don't. I just figured when he was ready to talk about it, he would... or not.
Eep (to Mouse): Thank God! I had no idea how I was supposed to go walking around with that in my head without sticking my foot in my damn mouth. No offense, but your brother's kinda an idiot.
Mouse (to Eep): Heh. You're just figuring that out, now? Percy wasn't too happy when I asked him for the file & I promised on pain of death that I would not tell Vincent he gave it to me. So, I guess I should get cleaned up & go talk to my brother.
Eep (to Mouse): Yeah. You should. Get cleaned up, I mean. Heh. You kinda stink. Hey! Fuck off with that! I was teasing!
Mouse (to Eep): No, come here, I want to give you a great big stinky hug, first… Uh oh... I've now ruined you for the day. Looks like you'll have to get cleaned up, too. What a shame.
Eep (to Mouse): Yeah. Crying shame. Somehow, I think that was part of your plan. Course, I'm like a painter now, right? Being gross and unwashed is kinda expected. Maybe I should just stay this way.
Mouse (to Eep): Oh? If that's how you want to play this, then... Well, okay... Here, hold this... and this... Still feeling like you don't want to shower?
Eep (to Mouse): Fat Christ! You know, you could have just said, "I'll be naked in the shower," and that would have worked. God... But no. You had to go and be all gross about it.
Mouse (to Eep): You are no fun. Fine... I'm going to take a shower... where I will be naked, because that's what you do in a shower. If you see my husband, please let him know that I'd like him to join me.
Eep (to Mouse): Yeah, yeah. Like you handed me a pile of sweaty workout gear cause it was supposed to turn me on. Sell it somewhere else, lady.
Mouse (to Eep): I thought the fact that I was naked in front of you would make up for that part... my mistake. :-P
Eep (to Mouse): Yeah, well...
Mouse (to Eep): Well then, give me back my clothes & I'll go take a shower.
Eep (to Mouse): No. ... I... Shit. I had something clever for this like two fucking minutes ago, you know. Stop being all distracting with your stupid sexiness and nudity and shit!
Mouse (to Eep): Heehee... Stupid sexiness?
Eep (to Mouse): Yeah. Maybe I think my wife is sexy. What of it?
Mouse (to Eep): Come with me, you big ninny.
A couple hours later:
Mouse (to Poppy): Hey Poppy! Is Vincent around?
Poppy (to Mouse): Yes, he's out on the balcony swinging his sword around, honey.
Mouse (to Poppy): Ummm, is that code for something?
Poppy (to Mouse): No, honey...You'll see.
Mouse (to Vincent): Hey, little brother... Oof... Watch where you're swinging that thing.
Vincent (to Mouse): Oh good heavens! Mouse? I'm so sorry, hun! I didn't hear you come outside. I didn't nick you, did I?
Mouse (to Vincent): Heehee, no. I'm fine. Sorry if I startled you.
Vincent (to Mouse): Whew! Thank goodness. Never scare a person with a pointy object, hun. It tends to end poorly.
Mouse (to Vincent): Yes, I'm well aware... So, what's the big deal with stopping over at my place & not even giving your sister a hug or a little wave hello? Are you mad at me or something? :-P
Vincent (to Mouse): Your husband is quite the tattletale, isn't he? I'm guessing our little chat earlier is why you're here?
Mouse (to Vincent): You are wise beyond your years, little brother. :-) Eep seemed a bit frazzled, so I thought I'd come talk to you.
Vincent (to Mouse): You might want to hold on to your thoughts on "wise" for a while. How much did Eep tell you?
Mouse (to Vincent): Not much, actually... He didn't have to.
Vincent (to Mouse): Wait... What?
Mouse (to Vincent): He didn't have to tell me anything, I guessed... I'm not an idiot, little brother.
Vincent (to Mouse): You... You *guessed*? How on earth did you guess? Did you know? You knew that I, I mean, I was a...? How did you know?
Mouse (to Vincent): I asked Percy to show me your ISS file... I've been telling you repeatedly that I picked stuff up when I was there. I just figured you'd talk to me about it when you were ready, but clearly I need to talk to you about it, instead. We've been through too much for me to be mad at you, you know?
Vincent (to Mouse): Oh? Oh. OH! That bloody file! You didn't read ALL of it did you? The eye witness accounts get a bit blue towards the back...
Mouse (to Vincent): I should say they do... and, complete total rubbish. Where do they get that stuff? Did you pay those people?
Vincent (to Mouse): Ha ha! No, no. I had nothing to do with those reports! Honest and for true. Well, not most of them at any rate. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about... Well, about a lot of things, actually. The Reliant was one of the reasons I didn't want to tell you about my little day trips over to Britannia. I mean, how was I supposed to explain THAT? "Hey, sweetie! Today I inadvertently helped a brute slaughter innocent people! How was your day?"
Mouse (to Vincent): Well, while a pyscho robot was downloaded into my brain she murdered several people using my own hands... so trust me, I can relate. But, you're my brother & I love you... So, no more secrets, okay?
Vincent (to Mouse): I know, hun, but you didn't have a choice in anything Hiiri did. I made all my own fool decisions. But I promise. No more big secrets. I know I should have told you, but I couldn't stand the idea of what you might think of me.
Mouse (to Vincent): You're an idiot, little brother. Come here & give me a hug.
Vincent (to Mouse): Thank you, sweetie. You're better than I deserve. I can't believe you actually read my ISS file. Oh good heavens! Say you didn't read the report about me running rum to the Colonies with Captain Birdie.
Mouse (to Vincent): You mean, the "pirate adventure rum"? Did you actually dress in drag to get through a checkpoint?
Vincent (to Mouse): Well. That answers that question. Are you honestly surprised I dressed in drag to keep from being arrested? I've done worse for tips at the club. Heh. The pregnant belly and bonnet were a nice touch.
Mouse (to Vincent): No, it doesn't surprise me at all. What does, is that you managed to keep it hidden from me for so long... I'm impressed that you didn't let anything slip.
Vincent (to Mouse): Heh. It's not all that impressive. It wasn't something I was overly proud of, hun, so not bringing it up was easy.
Mouse (to Vincent): So, do you have anything else you want to tell me that you've been hiding? An extra head? An evil twin? Secretly, you're the prince of Moldavia?
Vincent (to Mouse): Hee hee. Why? Is being an airship captain and a member of the Empire of Britannia's aristocracy not impressive enough for you?
Mouse (to Vincent): Heh... I suppose it will have to do, little brother. So, are we good? No more worrying about what I'll think of your dark & sinister past, okay?
Vincent (to Mouse): Heh. We're golden, big sister. Thank you.
Mouse (to Vincent): No need to thank me, little brother. That's what family is for. Now, take me to that tiny nephew of mine.
Vincent (to Mouse): Of course! I think he's starting to smile. Poppy insists he's too young, and it's just gas, but what does she know? :-P
