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!

Comments

[greatoldjohn]

It makes you wonder if the doubts many have about the Admiral is merely an expression of the confusion they feel at the task set before them.

A loftier sort of "what the fuck were you thinking?"

[crab_rangoon]

[He chuckles, a bit darkly.]

Well, I apparently earned my freedom here. But that doesn't explain a damn thing.

[greatoldjohn]

[ That makes him perk up. ]

You did?

What was that like?

[crab_rangoon]

Being an inmate?

You're asking for a goddamn dissertation, my friend. I was here for seventeen months.

[greatoldjohn]

I don't know what a dissertation is, but we've got forty-five minutes to go.

[crab_rangoon]

True. Well, I already mentioned what I was like. I had no reason to change, nothing to work for. Until I met my warden and he gave me something to fucking do.

I lost my daughter - she was killed by someone's hand when she was still a baby. He gave me a way to have her back. Naturally, I took it.

[greatoldjohn]

[ He doesn't know right now, what happened to Arthur's daughter. When he finds out-

Well, there's no telling what he'll do. But this is a piece of it. ]

I'm glad she was returned to you.

[ God bless this baby Stanzyc. He can't help but remember how haltingly Arthur had said those words. A question for another day. ]

That was what you needed? Something to want?

[crab_rangoon]

Yes, well, I didn't have much else to live for before then. I was just scraping out a living, doing shit here to stay out of the way and try to live my life in the only way I knew how.

Then I had something else.

[greatoldjohn]

You found a purpose. Meaning to the span of your life.

[ That is not idle curiosity. He talks about that with a great intensity. ]

[crab_rangoon]

Yes.

And she's alive and well, which is all I fucking wanted.

So I came back after I - did my part.

[greatoldjohn]

You're a warden to do your part? Help others as you were helped?

[crab_rangoon]

God no.

I did my part before, at home.

Here? I came back here because I still was searching for purpose.

[greatoldjohn]

Any luck?

[crab_rangoon]

Well, I'm Misty's warden and I found the person who is coming back with me. To make my life less fucking pathetic and lonely.

So I say - yes.

[greatoldjohn]

Good.

I'm glad for you. Truly.

[crab_rangoon]

[He looks up to the ceiling, gathering himself.]

Well, what are you searching for here?

[greatoldjohn]

A means to get things I need that won't... send me backwards.

A body of my own, for one. Arthur... Arthur deserves to be whole again.

[crab_rangoon]

Good. Just don't forget who is doing all the work in the end.

[greatoldjohn]

No, I'm... well aware.

[crab_rangoon]

I thought as much.

[He gestures to the door.] Feel free to stick around for her. I'm going to clean up the kitchen a while.

[Nervous energy born from uncertainty means it's time to do chores.]

[greatoldjohn]

[ John doesn't answer but he is going to start floating around looking at the art and the patterns and the decoration in the room with outright fascination. ]

[citizendetective]

[Misty naps for another hour or so - long enough for the effects of the painting to wear off, and saving them all another round of headaches (for the next twenty-four hours, anyway). Once she's straightened out her sleep-rumpled clothes and combed her fingers through her hair, she pads out into the main cabin and--]

Well, that sure was weird.

[crab_rangoon]

[Pagan has a grilled cheese ready for her and holds it out on a plate.]

Eat.

[greatoldjohn]

[ John will wait until she's at least taken the sandwich before asking- ]

How are you feeling?

[citizendetective]

[She considers the question as she chews and swallows, tilting her head.]

Not more headache. And no more desire to explore every inch of that creepy abandoned city.