He gives a soft hoot of a laugh. "Nearly six months to the day, in fact. I was permanently paired the month after I arrived, but Mr Caffrey spent most of that in stasis after he restored my powers, and he finally vanished in September."
"Well, the rate at which wardens do or don't disappear here is sadly something even my prophetic abilities aren't able to predict," he says with an anxious, tittering laugh. "But it does make it somewhat difficult to have faith in the Admiral's decisions, to grant me someone that was predominantly absent."
"I wish I could promise you that that's not going to happen again," Lucy
says, frowning at her teacup. "But it's not our choice - I went back home
for a little while, before I planned to. What I can promise is that my
roommate will know right away if anything happens to me, and - I'll make
sure she knows to keep you in the loop, okay?"
Lucy just picks up the discarded shirt and goes about folding it carefully.
"Yep! You were paired with her temporarily, right?" Lucy says, glancing up.
Tendi's identity as her roommate is not a secret and she's not sure what
the look on his face is all about.
"That's right." He has to shift his legs a little to get comfortable again. "Our pairing actually interrupted it, she was due to be paired with me until the middle of the month."
"I suppose we are... friends, in a sense." Even if the term is a bit loaded for him, Tendi is... nice, in a way he's not used to receiving, but- likes, despite himself. "I'll admit I was reticent towards her acting as my warden, but she offered that instead, and it... I suppose it became a bit easier to keep speaking with her in that regard."
"I'm... not sure, actually." Both hands wrap around his cup to grip it a little. "I suppose I never really thought people could be both to their own inmate. It just seemed... unseemly."
He tilts his head slightly. "Well, you're my superior. Fraternising with your lessers like that is something rather frowned upon in most circles of Hell."
Lucy grimaces a little bit. Nope, no, we're not letting that stand.
"This isn't Hell, Stolas," she says simply. "And you are not my lesser. The Admiral has let me do things that you can't do, but he's not some...ultimate ruler on who's better than who. The ship needs wardens and inmates to work, right?"
"I am planning on going back to Hell when all of this is over," he points out, "and I'm not planning on overturning the place. I just want to go home and look after my daughter."
"Great! I want that for you too. But it doesn't have anything to do with
anything I just said about where we are or who's lesser than who here,"
Lucy says, cheerfully. "So, friends....?"
Lucy smiles, and pauses to sip her tea. It's becoming very clear that a
willingness to sidestep diversionary word salad will serve her well in this
pairing.
"So, we should probably set some...ground rules. Obviously if anything
happens, I'll contact you as soon as I can, but I'd like to spend time with
you too. Just to catch up, or do things together. But I don't want you to
feel smothered, either."
That gets a delighted smile from him, and his hands clap together excitedly. "I'd be delighted to! The portal spell is really not so difficult to learn, if you wanted to start there, Blitz's hellhound worked it out as fast as you please, but anything more complicated and we might need to start teaching you some demonic runes first!"
Not that he sounds disappointed by having to teach her more, in fact. It's half of his entire purpose, after all!
"That'd be great!" Lucy says. "And - I don't know anything as exciting as
magic, but if you'd like to learn about Earth, or - well, is there
anything you'd like to learn?"
"I actually travel to Earth quite frequently," he chirps brightly. "And of course most of our media and literature are inspired by humanity."
He lifts a hand to gesture to Lucy's room. "Though I can't say I'm quite familiar with the time period your room is from. You aren't from one of the Earths adjacent to the common one everyone else seems familiar with, are you?"
Admittedly he's more familiar with nuclear fission in terms of stellar activities, but he's certainly not obtuse. He's hired Blitzø to kill politicians over global warming, in fact.
"Ah - I am, yes." And now he gives her a look of concern. "I assume the arms race went... more poorly, on your world."
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arsegoetia) wrote2024-04-29 04:01 pm
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"Oh - gosh, I'm sorry," Lucy says, and means it. "That can't have been easy."
She gets that inmates wanting to graduate isn't universal. That he did, but didn't have a warden to support him? That's tough. Unfair, even.
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"I wish I could promise you that that's not going to happen again," Lucy says, frowning at her teacup. "But it's not our choice - I went back home for a little while, before I planned to. What I can promise is that my roommate will know right away if anything happens to me, and - I'll make sure she knows to keep you in the loop, okay?"
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"This roommate wouldn't happen to be Officer Tendi, would it?" he coos, as he drops it in Lucy's lap.
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Lucy just picks up the discarded shirt and goes about folding it carefully.
"Yep! You were paired with her temporarily, right?" Lucy says, glancing up. Tendi's identity as her roommate is not a secret and she's not sure what the look on his face is all about.
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"Oh - of course." 'Interrupted' sounds like it's a bad thing, so she delves in a little: "The two of you get on pretty well, then?"
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Lucy smiles.
"...I'd like to be both. Your warden and your friend. Do you think that's possible?"
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Her smile fades, replaced by something more cautious and curious.
"Why unseemly?"
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Lucy grimaces a little bit. Nope, no, we're not letting that stand.
"This isn't Hell, Stolas," she says simply. "And you are not my lesser. The Admiral has let me do things that you can't do, but he's not some...ultimate ruler on who's better than who. The ship needs wardens and inmates to work, right?"
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"Great! I want that for you too. But it doesn't have anything to do with anything I just said about where we are or who's lesser than who here," Lucy says, cheerfully. "So, friends....?"
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First with some reproach; then confusion; them it rolls over to incredible bafflement when it sinks in that she's absolutely serious.
"...oh, er. Well then, I- um." He blinks, and looks down at his tea for a few moments before he looks back at her. "Alright?"
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"Great!"
Lucy smiles, and pauses to sip her tea. It's becoming very clear that a willingness to sidestep diversionary word salad will serve her well in this pairing.
"So, we should probably set some...ground rules. Obviously if anything happens, I'll contact you as soon as I can, but I'd like to spend time with you too. Just to catch up, or do things together. But I don't want you to feel smothered, either."
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The question comes out so stilted and confused that it can only be genuine.
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Lucy doesn't ask if Stolas doesn't have any friends, since he's...kind of already told her.
"Sure! Friends hang out together, look out for each other, teach each other things. I'd really like to learn more about magic from you."
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Not that he sounds disappointed by having to teach her more, in fact. It's half of his entire purpose, after all!
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"That'd be great!" Lucy says. "And - I don't know anything as exciting as magic, but if you'd like to learn about Earth, or - well, is there anything you'd like to learn?"
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He lifts a hand to gesture to Lucy's room. "Though I can't say I'm quite familiar with the time period your room is from. You aren't from one of the Earths adjacent to the common one everyone else seems familiar with, are you?"
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Lucy's smile is a little bleak.
"No, I'm not. A couple centuries after most people, at least, and - you know what a nuclear bomb is, right?"
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"Ah - I am, yes." And now he gives her a look of concern. "I assume the arms race went... more poorly, on your world."
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