tucky | ♻ 010 | audio/spam

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♻ 010 | audio/spam

[warden filter]

So, uh-- when I first got here, Dr. Cambridge put an implant in me, so I wouldn't have to deal with periods and stuff. But it was a birth control thing too, so that means if I'm having sex I don't have to bother with condoms or nothing, right?

[She sounds hopeful. Please give her the green light to be irresponsible, guys!

(Just kidding, please don't.) ]

[spam]

[Little-known fact: the deck kind of freaks Tiffany out. Out there, space is right in your face, and there's so much of it-- it's impossibly big, and it makes her feel impossibly small. She's never even seen the ocean from the deck of a ship; seeing the entire universe from one is infinitely more overwhelming.

But it's also nice and peaceful, in a way-- not to mention beautiful. So sometimes when she's feeling particularly brave (and right now, post-port, she definitely is) she goes out onto the main deck. She almost always stays away from the railing, opting instead to stick as close to the side of the ship as possible. Sometimes she walks, but it makes her feel a little dizzy. Mostly, she can be found sitting down-- not on a bench, but on the floor, her back pressed against the solid, reassuring Barge wall.

It doesn't matter where she sits. Either way, she can still see the stars.]

[filtered to Mason; dated to after her conversation with Barbara]

This is the kind of message you aren't supposed to respond to and in fact you should delete it off your phone once you have read it and pretend you realized it all on your own. I know guys don't pick up signals sometimes but if I'm real honest girls are the same way even though we're supposed to be better at this stuff so don't feel bad. So in case you didn't already know the signal coming from me is this, I like how things are and will not be unhappy at all if nothing changes but if you asked me out on a date someday I would say yes.

[Look at her, using spellcheck! It doesn't help with punctuation issues, but still.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm fine.

[She hooks her chin over his shoulder.]

I'm real good, actually-- especially now.

You missed a port.

I guessed. [A very brief skim of the last few days' network entries were more than a hint.] What happened to you? You'll need to catch me up.

I...

[And here she grins, pulling away a bit so she can see his face.]

Merlin. You will never guess what I did.

Remember how you said you want me to feel good about the decisions I make? I do. I-- I was clear-headed, and even when I was scared I didn't go off my rocker, and I trusted my judgement. Mine. Not anybody else's.

You did?

[He's still tired and strangely disoriented, but it's her enthusiasm as much as what she's saying that makes him smile broadly.]

Tiffany, that's brilliant. Will you tell me about it?

Yeah, of course. Wanna sit down?

Thank you.

[He does appreciate the offer - old manners dying hard - and takes a seat on the chair he normally uses when they're together in her room.]

So...?

[He leans in, interested.]

[She plops back down onto her bed, closing her eyes and gathering her thoughts.]

I started out in the basement, I think. It looked like a basement. There was a guy there who I didn't know-- Omar? He said he knew you. And I got some tips from him about where to get weapons and stuff.

[When she says that, she sliiiiiiides her eyes over to the corner of her room, where there's a small pile of loot: two iron fireplace pokers, and two goddamn swords. She hadn't really made public the fact that she'd brought them back from the port because she'd been afraid they'd be taken away from her, but now she's realizing that she forgot to hide them before inviting Merlin in. Whoops.

Gaze snapping back to him, she rushes on.]

And after that I wandered around some, looking for people-- wardens, mostly. I looked for you. Then I found Mason in a bedroom, all fucked up-- there was monsters in there with him, and they were giving him alcohol and stealing his energy. Messing with his head. So I pulled him out, because that did not look like a good situation, you know? But he was real hammered and I knew I couldn't walk around with him, so I found a quiet place for us to wait and called for help. Simon came.

[She smiles a little at that. She loves Simon.]

You know Simon? He's great. I got offered help by a couple people before him, but either they didn't make it to us in time or I didn't fully trust them. I wasn't gonna go off with someone I didn't trust in a place like that, especially not when I was trying to help Mason. That wouldn't've been a good choice, right?

[His eyes follow the path of her gaze, and - right, okay. They can talk about that later.]

I think so. You were worried about him, you chose to protect him. I believe that's a good choice.

I think it's easier to make good choices when you're trying to help someone else. 'Cause then it ain't just about you, you know?

Yes. It is.

[Though sometimes it gets problematic when you're making choices solely and exclusively on the basis of helping someone else. Not that he'd easily acknowledge that.]

So what happened then? Simon helped you?

Yeah. Simon helped me. And then he had to go help someone else, but me and Mason still stuck together. We had to keep going up because that's where the Barge was, and we had to get through a giant chessboard-- Anya helped us there.

Mason got better after a few hours. That was good.

[Giant chess board...? No, that's barely relevant.]

And - you made it through, in the end, because you chose the right things?

I think so. Maybe I would've been okay if I'd made other choices too, but... I don't think the ones I did make were the wrong ones at all.

I'm glad.

[He smiles without reservation.]

I'm sorry I wasn't there to see it, Tiffany, but - I'm really proud of you. And you ought to be proud of yourself.

I am. I truly am, and I'm glad you are, too. 'Cause what you think means a lot to me.

[He gets to his feet and crosses over to her, squeezing her shoulder.]

I want you to always feel this way, Tiffany.

[And then he glances over at the small armory she's accumulated.]

Are we going to talk about those?

[She leans into his touch, but stiffens a little when he changes the subject to the weapons.]

... Now, I know what you might be thinking, but I didn't hurt anybody who wasn't trying to hurt me first. And none of 'em were from the Barge.

[He gives her shoulder a pat, then moves away to lift one of the swords. Hefts it in one hand with the grip of someone who knows what he's doing; tests the weight and balance.]

...I was thinking that if you've got one of these and don't know how to use it properly, you're going to hurt yourself before you hurt anyone else.

I did okay in there, I think. I didn't hurt myself.

[He already knows he can't just take these things. That won't teach her not to do it again; it'll just encourage her to cover her tracks better. That's not something he wants to endorse.]

Would...you like to be better?

With a sword?

I don't know. I don't really think I'm a sword person.

[He hums and moderates his previous thought a little.]

You can keep them if you'll let me teach you how to use them.

Can I have a gun instead?

No.

[And that's the end of that line of enquiry.]

[Oh well, it was worth a try.]

Is it really hard to learn how to use a sword? Does it take a long time?

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