cactusy | IC contact for lastvoyages

She saw you, and valued what she saw.

[ He nods. He knows how important it is to be understood- even just to have someone who was willing to try. ]

And you valued her. Even if it's not in the accepted or normal way.

What was her name?

[Her eyes fall shut again, for just a second.]

Root.

Root.

[ He thinks of a tree, first, but immediately pushes that aside. His eyes slide to Shaw's arms and the tattoos around her wrist. ]

The computer term? Root...drive?

[Ah, he gets it. She lifts her wrist, giving him a better look at the slash marks.]

Pretty sure she picked it because of a computer's root user - the person who's got all the power and control and can run circles around everybody else on the system. This symbol's for the root directory, though. It's the highest-level directory that holds together everything under it, and keeps it organized and safe.

[Pause.]

It's how thinking about her makes me feel.

[ He smiles, faint but there, as he examines the slash marks. ]

Is she your Deal? Bringing her back?

Mmhm.

[She rubs a thumb over one of the marks - a new habit she's developed.]

Things kinda suck without her around.

Yeah.

[ He says it like he knows, letting out a small sigh. ]

That's a good Deal. I hope I can meet her someday.

Do you-- can you-- I mean, am I really--

[The words sputter out on their own before she even fully realizes what she's trying to say.

She wants to hear him tell her that she loves Root again.]

Really....?

[ He trails off. He knows what she wants, he's just trying to connect it to what she's saying. It's a habit he had to develop early, one of his misguided attempts to not creep people out.

He punctuates it with a smile. ]

You really love her. You are capable of that. And you really miss her.

Even without my condition, I know that you came here, doing work you yourself don't think you're suited for, under an unknown intelligence that you have every reason to mistrust, just to try and bring her back. You wouldn't go to such lengths, if there was nothing there.

[The weird burning in her eyes turns into a weird wetness, though it's not enough to actually well up and fall onto her face. She presses the pad of her thumb to her left eye anyway, feeling it.]

Okay.

[She murmurs, looking at Winston instead of at Will.]

Thanks.

You're welcome.

[ He lets that sit for a moment, so Shaw has time to process that a little, at least. Eventually, he reaches over to scratch behind Winston's ears, then leans back. ]

You know, when you do get paired? I could help you with translating your inmate's emotions. If you want. Getting to know someone's motivations was literally my job.

... Yeah.

[God, she can think of so many ways in which that could be useful. She looks up at him, making eye contact again.]

Yeah, that'd be good. I'm not always as bad as you'd think at figuring that stuff out, I can be a pretty good study of human behavior, but, uh... I'm not great at handling it.

[ Will lets out a tiny chuckle. But he doesn't dodge the eye contact, this time. He looks pleased that she's taking him up on it. ]

Yeah, I'm less help at knowing what to do with the knowledge, but I still think I could be useful.

In return, I can do my best to make sure nobody hurts you.

[Which she admittedly would have done anyway, but.]

[ A playful smirk crosses his face. He does totally know that. Still- ]

Sure. I'd like that.

You still want to train me up for patrols? -after you're done tolling, of course.

We don't have to wait, I'm fine.

[She woke up like a day ago.]

[ He laughs. He knew he should've waited to bring it up. But maybe it's not too terrible to focus on what they can do, right now. ]

I was just going to say that I seem to be less averse to practicing at the range now. Not that I know what you're going to want to throw at me, but...might have a bit of an easier time with anything else, too. But we can give it a couple of days, let you get over the worst of it.

[ Besides, you're looking pretty comfortable there with a dog on your lap, Shaw. ]

Do we have a range?

[She hopes go god that the answer is yes and she's just somehow missed it despite exploring the entire Barge from top to bottom, but she's almost positive that he's talking about the Enclosure.]

[ Will shakes his head apologetically. ]

Just the Enclosure. But it's getting used as a range so much lately, I sort of wonder if that's something that could be- I don't know, petitioned for?

I would suggest just setting one up, but I don't know where we could that people wouldn't raise a stink.

I haven't had much reason to have fun with a gun here, and if you're patrolling with me, I'll protect you.

[There's an unspoken but here, because good god would she like a real, non-VR gun range. You can't exactly go firing off guns in the gym (unfortunately).]

[ Will snorts a bit, just an aborted attempt at a chuckle. But he looks pleased to hear it. ]

I don't doubt it. And it's not like we really need the ability to shoot things around here. But I have noticed that a lot of people use target practice to focus and calm down. Maybe I'll talk with Malcolm about arguing therapeutic benefits.

[ Malcolm's the type to take whatever he thinks necessary to the Admiral. ]

Kinda curious about how that would go.

[She says, arching an eyebrow. Malcolm is, in her experience, weird about guns.]

Oh, yeah?

[ Will raises an eyebrow right back. He hasn't heard of Malcolm having any problems with guns, but he can guess. They're a little too easy to use in a moment of weakness. ]

He is much more about bladed weapons. Maybe I'll bring up a fencing club at the same time. Or try to save a spot in the range for axe throwing.

Axe-throwing, huh. Sounds fun.

[Both to do, and to watch other people do.]

I'm, uh-- not a big fan of the Enclosure, but--

[But even if she can't see herself ever using it casually and recreationally, she should get to the point where she can go in without literally throwing up, right? Hating it is one thing; not being able to even enter it is a handicap.]

Yeah, it's a complete fake reality machine, when you're having a hard time with fake realities. I'm not surprised you're not a fan.

[ He rubs his face. ]

I don't think you should push yourself to use it, if you can help it. I- my brain kind of does that sort of thing on its own, and I'm a little rough with it, too.

[ The only thing that got him to even try it was the promise of dogs. ]

IC contact for lastvoyages

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