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[postmilitary]

Comments

video

[undisguised]

[Normally, Edward would start out with text. But since they're paired for the month, he figures he might as well get the "yes this is what my face looks like" over with, in case Petr didn't see his introduction. And, after the thing with Tess, he figures it'd be better to have the surprise handled at a distance.]

Hello. I'm Edward Deegan, and I'm your assigned warden for this next month. [And normally, he'd say more, but first... Might as well wait to see what the response is like.]

Re: video

[postmilitary]

[One beat.]

Rough day?

[undisguised]

[Edward snorts, amused. Well, the bar was low, but that's still a better reaction than he was expecting.]

You could say that.

[postmilitary]

[Fair enough.]

I still do not know what these assignments are supposed to do.

[undisguised]

My best guess is that the Admiral's throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. That's... assuming you mean the temporary ones, not in general.

[postmilitary]

I mean...all of this. But assignment, in particular.

What are the duties? No one knows.

[undisguised]

Yeah, I have to admit, it'd be nice to have more policies in place. For everyone involved.

For what it's worth, my take is that my job is to help you figure out what the Admiral might want from you, and to help you do that as much as possible. And to protect you as needed along the way.

Which is still broad, I know. Since I'm new here, so I don't have any idea what graduation really looks like. [Someone named Steve graduated very recently, but it wasn't anyone Edward had talked to. He has no idea what went into that.] But I intend to do the research to find out.

[postmilitary]

The only reason I can think for a man who is feeding me to not tell what he wants.

Would be if it is something I very much do not want to give him.

[undisguised]

Maybe he thinks he's already made it clear. Which he hasn't, but that doesn't mean he can't be wrong.

Or maybe he thinks figuring out is part of the point. That's just as likely, even if it's a pain in the ass for us.

[postmilitary]

Do you believe I will need protection?

[undisguised]

[Edward had a nice chat about how many guns there were and got shot his all during first week on the Barge, so...]

It's possible. Scuffles happen. Not to mention the weird things that can happen to the ship.

Ideally, you won't need it. But it's not like we can say everything about this place is ideal. But if you do need it, then I'm willing to do whatever I can to provide it.

[postmilitary]

Will you give me my own weapons back?

[Calmly, as if this were a purely academic and logical question.]

[undisguised]

Depends. What did you have?

[Edward has settled with Lark on it being a bad idea for inmates to be unarmed, even after the whole thing with Tess. But a handgun is one thing. The kinds of guns he personally keeps in his closet right now are another.]

[postmilitary]

Heavy weapons of the company were held jointly. But I would like my sako rifle, my glock, my knives and holsters, my crossbow, and grenades for emergencies.

[CAN'T HURT TO ASK???]

[undisguised]

[Edward can't help the upward quirk of one corner of his mouth.]

This isn't a yes to all of it, [he should get this out of the way,] but how many knives are we talking?

[postmilitary]

Seven.

For luck.

[undisguised]

You're getting two. [Edward's voice is light, amused.]

And the glock.

I feel like if the grenades become necessary, we already have bigger problems.

[More seriously:] Hopefully I don't need to say this, but I'm going to anyway so we can say that I did. I'm requesting these for you for self-defense only, or in the defense of another, and only in the face of lethal danger. And if you have to shoot, then shoot to disable if at all possible.

[postmilitary]

The korshun and one of the kizlyars, then. But if we have bigger problems, we may not have time to ask for more.

[He meets Edward's gaze very steadily.]

There is food here. Clean water, little disease. I do not like to kill, and I would not wish to cause trouble even if I did.

[undisguised]

Good. [And now Edward has the conversation that he can show others later, if something happens -- to defend Petr, or to defend himself, or both.

It's tempting to say, "if we have bigger problems, then I have something for that," but he doesn't want to even hint to someone about what he has locked away in his cabin. (And not just the fat man; his assault rifle is there, too.)

So, instead, he goes with,] I'll put in the request when we're done talking. But I wanted to ask you to tell me about where you're from, what your life's been like. In a... general sense is fine, for now. Then, I'll return the favor. Just so we know what we're working with. [A beat.] And how long you've been on the Barge. That, too.

[postmilitary]

Three weeks.

For the rest, I think, we should meet.

[undisguised]

[So... Even less than Edward. Which probably also means that he came in not long before, or even during, that whole language fiasco. That sucks.]

Fair enough. Where would you prefer?

[postmilitary]

Where is secure?

[undisguised]

Cabins should be. They're easy to guarantee privacy, at the very least.

[postmilitary]

Yours, then.

[undisguised]

[Edward figured it was an even chance as to which he'd pick. It'd depend on Petr's priorities. His own cabin would put them in his territory, but then it'd also be a concern of privacy. Not that Petr's choice particularly tells Edward which matters more to him -- It could just as easily be that he's feeling nosy, and wants to examine Edward's space and how he handles it. Or it could only be a surface deep decision. He isn't ruling that out, either.]

3-17. Is there anything you'd like to drink? [So he can prepare it ahead of time. He should probably also consider some kind of snack...]