TLV Inbox

[greatoldjohn]

[in a rather deep voice] "This is John Doe. Please leave your message. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I may respond in text if I'm currently with Arthur. Apologies."

Now Moved To: Inbox: Act II - please tag in there!

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[greatoldjohn]

He pulls out his communicator to speak directly to both of them, putting on the reader to speak it out loud.

It's bullshit!

Arthur will feel him huff.

The rooms have protective filters, but the doors aren't any stronger than a normal door.

...we should probably stay in most of the time. And travel early in the morning.

[lestercraft]

"Thank you."

Arthur hasn't actually been to Natalie's room before, so he's feeling more than a little awkward being here when he has literally no idea where anything is - and still in his fucking pyjamas, no less - but knowing they're safe makes the information less immediately pertinent.

"If you can make requests from the Admiral, Nat, you should ask for a refrigerator for now. That ought to minimise the number of times we'll be forced to leave for food. I'll still need to go by the Wardrobe, I don't have any fucking clothes, but since there's no warden keys there's nothing particularly damaging to worry about there. I'll- shit, I need to check in with Mandrake too," he adds with a belated, guilty note of realisation, but it makes his tone less harried than his survival recitation.

[pitofguilt]

Oh my god, she can request stuff from the Admiral. That sure does open doors-- but no. She's got a small stash and two healthy plants. She's fine.

"I'll do that while you get settled."

Which she promptly does, and only then does she realize--

"Shit. You've never been in here before. If you come towards me, there's a table and chairs where you can sit down."

[greatoldjohn]

[ Wait, you've never-

Shit, you've never been here before. ]

John hadn't even realized because he's been here plenty of times. He should have known, given his laughably inaccurate guess at the floor, but he'd waved it off since they hadn't been down for a while.

[ Sorry, sorry- Arthur, tell me if you haven't been somewhere before, for Christ's sake! I don't always know!

We've come in through the main door, which shows a bed a few feet directly in front of us, as well as a table and chairs off towards the left. To the right is a shelf wide enough to function as a table or desk and beyond a number of windows let in the starlight. There's a door there which leads to a bathroom which now appears to hold a shower and a bathtub. ]

And a kettle, please.

Arthur likes his tea and coffee. Might as well make that easier too.

[lestercraft]

Arthur gets the two realisations in almost perfect sync, and snorts quietly.

"As if I've had any reason to before now," he comments dryly, but between the two directions he makes his way to the table, putting his cane and bag down (right on top of the file, coincidentally) before he finds a seat in his right hand and sits a bit heavily.

It's only when John's done speaking that he continues. "I'm aware I'm being overly cautious, but with the number of inmates who are fresh enough to still go completely fucking feral if they receive any power - or even older ones who may simply have been biding their time - the safest option is to stay clear until the flood blows over. You-" he turns his face to where he's pretty sure Natalie is. "-ought to be fine, Nat. Unless someone has personal issue you're in the safest position here."

[pitofguilt]

"You sure about that? Some guy murdered me for literally no reason a few months ago. Nobody's really safe. --kettle should be showing up soon."

Look at her, able to provide sanctuary to her warden and his partner. (She hasn't forgotten what John said that day, about love being inextricably tied to Arthur. She just, you know, doesn't think about it, because love means love lost, and she's not willing to look grief in the face yet.)

"You gonna be weird if I say you can share my bed? You can take the couch otherwise. Looks really plush."

[greatoldjohn]

That's Arthur's decision, not mine. It's his back, after all.

And I agree with you, Natalie. It's best to stay inside until we get some idea of how people are behaving.

[ Mandrake has your file, Arthur. We should... consider how to handle that. ]

[lestercraft]

Arthur's lips press, but the moment of pale stiffness that comes with it is from John's comment, not Natalie's, and he makes an effort to sound polite when he replies out loud, "I think I'll sleep on the couch, if it's all the same. It hardly feels proper, for any number of reasons."

But John gets the unpleasant lurch of realisation that comes with thinking about his file, and his right hand curls into a tight fist.

[pitofguilt]

Arthur and his 1930s sensibilities are both charming and such an easy target.

"Should be safe here. Might not even need to go out for a few days."

She certainly won't be going out. Inviting people over, sure, but that's that.

"You two any good with a rifle? You can take mine if you decide to go out."

[greatoldjohn]

We've... never had one to try.

[lestercraft]

"I know how to handle one," he assures. "And- actually, John, it might work well for us. It's two handed, you'd need to aim it for me since you'd be holding the barrel, but the kick would be into my shoulder."

[greatoldjohn]

[That could work.]

We'll give it a shot. Anything I should know about aiming it?

[pitofguilt]

"Keep it steady. Stay as calm as you can. I know you don't breathe, John, but do something like breathe out when Arthur goes to pull the trigger."

If Arthur has experience, then they'll be okay.

[lestercraft]

"You've seen how my pistol bucks a bit when I fire - the rifle would do the same on a much stronger scale, so try not to let go," he adds.

"We shouldn't need to use it," Arthur points out, "since we'd want to avoid using lethal force, especially on an inmate, but I think you can handle it just fine, John."

[greatoldjohn]

[ Hopefully, it won't be an issue. ]

He doesn't sound nearly as confident but he isn't about to push the matter further. They're in a safe place, together, and it could be worse.