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]

[ Does that worry you? ]

[lestercraft]

Only in as much as we don't know what we're up against, here. At least back home it was either some abomination from the Dark World, or your own fucking cultists.

[There's no real heat there, though, just a sort of resigned exasperation.]

There's just going to be a lot of... a-adjusting, I suppose. To some people's... powers.

[greatoldjohn]

[ The girl with the butterflies...

I am sorry about that, Arthur. ]

[lestercraft]

It's fine.

[In the faintly clipped tone of "It's not fine, but we don't have the leisure to talk about it".]

It was unreasonable of me to expect you to recognise that. I'm not sure I could have if I could see.

[greatoldjohn]

[ Except they do have the leisure. But he knows that tone well enough and it's been a long enough evening, a nice enough evening, he doesn't want to argue. Growth. ]

[ I'm sure we'll both get better at figuring out the other people here. It's part of our jobs, isn't it? ]

[lestercraft]

Yeah. And you said... eight decks, around twenty rooms each. At maximum capacity we'd only be dealing with around a hundred and sixty people, which- it didn't seem to be quite that many at the party, surely. It shouldn't be too difficult adjusting.

[greatoldjohn]

[ We should do a walk around together sometime tomorrow. Give you a sense of the scale of things.

Were you assigned a job?

I was. ]

[lestercraft]

[That gets a more genuine chuff out of Arthur, and he shifts in his seat so he can pull the communicator out of his pocket and slide it onto their desk.]

That was messaged to you? You'd have to let me know.

[greatoldjohn]

[ It was. Here, let me show you how to-

You can actually set it to read out to you, if I'm not here. And to give a sound notification when you get a message. ]

[ He won't touch it until Arthur gives the go ahead but then that left hand will work fast to fix the settings.]

['ll be working in the art gazebo up on the deck.]

[lestercraft]

Thank you, John.

[He may well keep it up while John is present, even just to give himself that slight edge of independence he misses.

But the reveal- well, it would make Arthur blink, but there's a visible oh! in the way he sits up a bit straighter.]

The art gazebo? Really?

[He's baffled, but in a positive way, he's madly curious.]

[greatoldjohn]

[ He doesn't begrudge him that independence, hence finding out these things in the first place to show him. But he had checked with some of the odder names he knew and it had had a bit of awkwardness. Not that he expects Arthur to be writing swathes about Shub Niggurath. ]

[ Yes. I'm not sure what that will entail but I'm... excited to discover it. ]

[lestercraft]

Well, you'll definitely have to show me it later. A gazebo is- it's like a pavilion, a small, open structure - like a house without any walls or windows, just the roof and struts holding it up. They're usually quite lovely.

[greatoldjohn]

[ And they're used to house art? ]

[ He's not quite sure what this will entail, after all. They'd sort of skimmed the art gazebo in their 'tour'. Natalie deserved her booze after helping him. ]

[lestercraft]

Or quite possibly create it. It could be that art supplies are stored there. [Never let it be said Arthur Lester would discourage the arts.] It's actually quite common in the summer for people to use the space to paint or draw, I often saw young artists doing so in one of the parks overlooking Miskatonic River.

[greatoldjohn]

[ Arthur will no doubt feel John perk up immediately at that. ]

[ You think I'm meant to supervise the creation of art? ]

[ Exciting!!! ]

[lestercraft]

[John's delight is infectious, and Arthur can't help but grin.]

It would seem so? But let's make sure to see the place for ourselves before you get your hopes too high. You still haven't told me what my job is, yet?

[Hint hint, friend.]

[greatoldjohn]

[ Oh! Sorry, Arthur. One moment... ]

[ He's sorting through with his hand and- ]

[ You're working in.... the communal wardrobe! ]

[ He definitely sounds like he thinks that's a pretty neat spot to be in. ]

[ I've been down there. It's where I picked out my new clothes, the softer robes I'm using now. ] [ There's the soft murmur of him reading- ] [ You'll be working with a Mr. Edward Teach. ]

[lestercraft]

[Arthur can't help the loud scoff of surprise, and he's quite glad he doesn't have that extra drink he was thinking about.]

The wardrobe, seriously? The Admiral is aware that I can't see, yes?

[It's largely rhetorical, but it still feels ridiculous.

...but even so, he does remember quite a bit about fabric types and functions, and it shouldn't be too hard to learn most of them again by touch. He'll just have to leave the actual putting away to his coworker--]

Sorry-- John, did you say Edward Teach?

[greatoldjohn]

[ Yes. That's what it says, Arthur.

It doesn't look like the sentence has been broken off. So I assumed it was a name.]

[ There's a short pause. ]

[ You stand taller when you're dressed like this, seem more steady, more sure of yourself. Maybe the Admiral thought to put you somewhere where you could give others the comfort of presenting themselves as they wish the same way. ]

[lestercraft]

[He hums, assuaged but not yet convinced.]

I do know something about how- 'clothes maketh the man', I suppose.

[He leans back in his chair again, scratching idly at his stubble. He didn't shave before the party, so it's getting unpleasant.]

Still, Edward Teach... th-that's something of a famous name, in our world, he's an infamous pirate, he was supposed to slaughter every ship he came across.

[greatoldjohn]

[ And yet, he's a warden here.

I'm sure there's more to the story than we could guess.

Or they simply share a name.]

[lestercraft]

True, that is- that's...

[He cuts himself off with a yawn, the slow kind that starts quiet and builds to a distinct pop in his jaw that makes him wince.]

Christ, my apologies. That's something we'll have to ask him tomorrow, I guess.

[greatoldjohn]

[ 'The pleasant dark that comes at night
Is just as friendly as the light.'

Perhaps we should head to bed for the evening. ]

[lestercraft]

[Arthur goes... oddly still, when he hears that little recitation, and clocks his head a fraction.]

Hold on, w-where did you get that one? That poem.

[greatoldjohn]

[ Huh? ]

[A book I found in the library. I... may have spent some time there while you were in the infirmary. ]

[ It's a big part of why he took long enough Arthur was out and about by the time he came back. ]

[I liked the sound of it.]