TLV: IC Contact

[sixfeetofdirt]

Careful; I bite.

Comments

after ulla's announcement

[greatoldjohn]

Question: do you want to know what's going on with me or do you not give a shit?

[sixfeetofdirt]

[There's a long pause.]

Good afternoon, John. May I ask what's going on with you? Several people seem to have died.

[greatoldjohn]

Sorry.

Good afternoon.

You can always ask and I'll always tell you.

...and yes, they did.

[sixfeetofdirt]

I assume he was trying to either get to yourself and Arthur, or draw your attention to him.

[greatoldjohn]

Second one. He attempted to kill Arthur before. Didn't work, so he threw a pissy baby fit.

Just with murder.

[sixfeetofdirt]

Was he killed on discovery just to save Johann the trouble, or would that be deemed unsportsmanlike?

[real funny how you can see a cycle of violence from a mile away when it doesn't involve you directly huh]

[greatoldjohn]

They put him in Zero and now Ulla is going to protect him.

[ Yeah, you're not the only one. ]

...I give it a week at the most, honestly. No insult to her or anything, it's just...

[ He's being realistic. ]

[sixfeetofdirt]

If you're not counting the time he spends in Zero, I think six days is much too generous.

...Seven, it's seven days. I knew that.

[greatoldjohn]

...I forget sometimes too.

But I'm actually figuring they might wait until the switch over. New temps get assigned on the 15th.

[sixfeetofdirt]

Ah.

I suppose I was lucky to miss out on that nonsense. Being handed around like some inconvenient stray dog would have become very annoying very quickly.

[greatoldjohn]

Yeah, I know Red had to deal with that for way too long. I only had one temp inmate before we ended up paired.

[sixfeetofdirt]

Mm. You know, I assumed that 'what was going on with you' was the killing spree, but it seems not to have affected you directly, so. Was there anything else?

[greatoldjohn]

There is but you didn't actually answer my question.

So I don't want to assume.

[sixfeetofdirt]

I literally asked what's going on with you. That somewhat presupposes that a shit is given, does it not?

[greatoldjohn]

Actually, you asked if you could ask what was going on with me.

...I'm not trying to be a dick. You were upset when I assumed things. I'm trying not to do that.

[sixfeetofdirt]

You're not trying and yet you are somewhat succeeding, but very well. What's going on with you, John?

[greatoldjohn]

Well, right now, I'd like to know what you want. Because apparently I'm a dick if I assume things and I'm a dick if I listen to exactly what you say. And if that's another 'just have to wait until you're ready' thing, that's fine, I can do that, but if I'm supposed to be learning how I should listen to you, I'm going to need a little help.

[ Huff. ]

What I was calling you to mention is that I was able to talk Arthur down from just marching down there to talk to him like a fucking idiot and part of that is that Arthur is now invisible to Collins, so he can't 'watch' Arthur's pain from doing this shit, unless Arthur contacts him.

I tried to talk to Collins and he dismissed me out of hand and then used Latin, apparently, to say some stupid shit that doesn't even apply to me so I don't think he's going to use you for anything, but I thought you should know. It's not a big chance that you'll get pulled into anything but... I didn't want you to be in the dark.

[sixfeetofdirt]

Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.

...in this specific instance, I suppose that all I want is for you to be aware that asking for permission to ask is functionally the same as asking? Especially when it's with regard to information you've already offered me?

[greatoldjohn]

Okay.

I'll keep it in mind.

...and sorry if I'm grumpy. I'm just... feeling a little useless right now and it always sets me off balance.

[sixfeetofdirt]

It's alright. I can deal with 'grumpy'.

[greatoldjohn]

Thank you. I do appreciate it.

You need anything?

[sixfeetofdirt]

...Given the recent frequency of murder around here, I wouldn't mind revisiting my access to magic.

[greatoldjohn]

I don't see any reason you shouldn't have your full capabilities.

I'll ask for that today.

Anything else?

[sixfeetofdirt]

No, nothing else.

...Thank you, John.

[greatoldjohn]

Any time.

I expect it'll come through sometime today.

[ A pause. ]

...can I see some of it sometime? Magic in your world seems very different from what I know.