cactusy | IC contact for lastvoyages

I already have a whole file. Which we should probably talk about, along with all the other... permanent warden stuff.

You doing okay with this whole, uh, revelation?

[ No, he'd really rather not go into the file, honestly. But with how Shaw is, it's kind of inevitable. Not much point in fighting that. But there's at least a question first. ]

Uh...I mean, it's really weird, don't get me wrong. But I think having someone writing regular, very unflattering tabloid articles about me probably got me a little less sensitive to the idea. Maybe I'll feel differently when I look at it.

It just seems--

[She pauses.]

Tabloids are one thing. Having someone tell you you're not real where they come from is another.

It's functionally the same thing, for me. I know I exist, I know my experience. If something else comes by and tries to give others a wrong impression, there's not much I can do about it.

I might've gotten lucky, actually, with Hannibal being the focus. That means that I won't be labelled the 'intelligent psychopath' this time. Although 'murder husbands' is still on the table, I suppose.

Murder... husbands? That was a thing?

Ah, that was a Freddie Lounds original. Scum of the earth, that one.

[ He sounds kind of fond, though? ]

She wrote that about us, after somehow finding out about my trip to Europe to find Hannibal. She was...infuriatingly insightful, sometimes. Wish she would've used that for actual journalism, instead of sneaking into my hospital room and taking pictures of my stab wounds.

I don't know, Graham; sounds like a trashy asshole to me.

Now, come on- I didn't say she wasn't.

You know she sold t-shirts during the Red Dragon investigation? Offered me one.

Edited 2023-05-01 02:11 (UTC)

Did you punch her?

I didn't. Should've.

I did fake-murder her, back when I was trying to trick Hannibal. Scared her pretty bad, for a minute.

I can't wait to get to this part of your file.

[ He sounds amused. ] I'm sure there's a couple enjoyable bits in there.

So far, I'm just pissed at your superiors.

Are you? 'cause I thought I had every right to be.

[ Other people clearly had different opinions. ]

Well, that certainly doesn't get any better, the farther you go. At least Jack drops his performative apologetics, eventually.

Psssh. Asshole.

[There's the actual sound of flipping pages; she has his file with her right now.]

I've told you about my team at home. I've told you we protect people, right?

You've mentioned. The people out there and also your team. Sounded...unusual.

[ He doesn't want to say it's hard to believe, but it's still hard for him to believe. ]

It's kinda like temporary pairings. We get our mark to keep track of, we do our best to protect them or stop them from hurting other people or both, and then the day is saved and everybody moves on with their lives.

Permanent pairings clearly aren't like that, but I don't have a frame of reference for what they are like. Other than how other wardens do it, most of which sounds like... not my thing.

[So what she's saying is, he might be her problem, but she's his problem, too.]

[ Oh. Okay, he understands where she's going with this. ]

Well, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't respond well to 'how other wardens do it' anyway. So we'll see how you do things. At least you'll have more than a zero percent chance.

So I'm guessing you didn't get a manual for this, either? Nothing tucked in along with my file?

No manual, no orders, just bad advice from other wardens.

-- Mostly. Some of the advice is okay.

[She's literally asking Yunlan for advice right now.]

Oh, yeah? Glad it's not all junk.

[ He's curious, but- there is another, more pressing matter. ]

Well, I do have a request, if I can get that out of the way. See, I was hoping to add a dog for every temp warden I had. I figured if it was once a month, maybe the Admiral wouldn't notice...how many I was asking for. But since we're paired up permanently now, that sort of messes that up.

Still, think I could ask for another dog?

Is this one-dog-a-month thing going to go on indefinitely?

I suspect the Admiral will put a stop to it before I would, but- I'd like to get the dogs I had from home back, if possible. That's seven total, plus the little guy I got handed while I was on the Dragon case.

And- I'd just like to have more dogs aboard, you know?

You gonna be able to take care of them all? This place is a tin can.

Yeah, I'm planning to take them out to the Enclosure regularly, let them run around a variety of big fields. But we'll make the full rounds, too. I'm not unused to managing that many- in fact, I'll have more time for it here.

[ Come on, Shaw, please? ]

One at a time. Yeah? And we figure out babysitting duties for if you go into a coma or something; you know about how the comas work here?

IC contact for lastvoyages

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