armoured: (gen] sigh)

[personal profile] armoured 2015-07-31 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[His heart twists in his chest. Poor Max, how many people must he have loved and lost to think that any friend is doomed to die and haunt him? Al's voice gets even gentler, sympathy throbbing through every word.]

Max, I promise I won't die. I've got too much to do to let myself die before it gets done... besides, my brother would never let me live it down if I died and left him alone.
armoured: (gen] jazz hands)

[personal profile] armoured 2015-08-01 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[He sighs, but he's not going to back down. Years of arguing with Ed, and determinedly forging forwards towards a seemingly impossible goal, has made Al completely stubborn in situations like this.]

I won't let myself die, don't you feel that way? Survival is the only option. Don't you think you can make promises to survive if your will is strong enough?
armoured: (sad] thoughtful)

[personal profile] armoured 2015-08-02 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you want to survive?

[It takes all his self control to ask this question calmly, instead of giving into the irritation and fear rising in his chest. Max is so hopeless, it truly terrifies Al.]
armoured: (gen] elementary)

[personal profile] armoured 2015-08-06 01:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay.

[He isn't going to argue the promise any more, he'll dial it back a little and try for baby steps.]

Then if you want to survive, you'll use anything at your disposal that can help you do that, right? Then use me. I'm here, and I want to help and support, you'd be a bad survivalist if you didn't make use of that for as long as you had me around.

[Which, unspoken, is forever in Al's head.]
armoured: (gen] attentive)

[personal profile] armoured 2015-08-13 05:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I didn't say rely on me, I said use me.

[This goes against Al's philosophies, but he's trying a soft approach in the hope it will work.]

Don't think of me as a friend, or even as an ally, just as a tool to be used. That way you don't have to worry about depending on me, you just use me and the help cooperating with me can give for as long as it lasts.

[Which will be forever.]

And if it doesn't last, then it's just like a tool breaking. It's nothing to be upset over, or-- Just keep in contact with me and share information, that's not so hard, right?

[He's relying on the spark of something inside Max to start caring through exposure, and Al can gently and slowly move him over from reluctant ally into friend. If it has to start this way, then Al will take it, he just won't plan on 'breaking' ever.]
armoured: (gen] follow me)

[personal profile] armoured 2015-08-13 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[He hates this, he hates that Max is so spooked by the thought of even an ally that it has to be approached this way.]

Mm, okay. But... if we're going to keep in touch about information, maybe we should try to keep a regular contact, okay? It doesn't have to be every day, or even every other day.

[He's pushing for every little victory he can get.]
armoured: (gen] neutrality)

[personal profile] armoured 2015-08-14 04:24 pm (UTC)(link)
...thank you.

[He won't bother Max any more for tonight, not when he's pushed and won a small victory. So he just finally hangs up to leave Max in peace.]