♻ 013 | video/text

[tucky]

[video]

[Tiffany, of course, makes a point of visiting the chapel every Sunday morning, but she also drops by every few days besides that as well. Today, she'd noticed something was amiss the moment she'd walked into the room: it smells funny (like there'd been a fire, she thought), it's dustier than usual, and there's a large sunken stain on the floor.

She is very displeased about this, and becomes doubly so when she finds Dillon's broken rosary on the floor.]

Hey.

[She's filming herself sitting on one of the newly-shortened pews, looking sternly at the camera.]

The fuck happened in here? Where's Dillon? This is his.

[She holds up the rosary, dangling it from her fingers.]

Somebody kill him? Were y'all fighting in the chapel?

I don't got an anger parasite in me, but if someone hurt Dillon, when he just woke up, you got me to deal with, you hear? You don't fight in God's house, and you don't hurt my friends in here, either.

Fuckers.

[And with that, she cuts the feed. She'll be in the chapel for a while, first looking around for clues and then sitting and praying.]

[text]

[Hours later, after her conversation with Jean, she adds a short addition to her post.]

dillon is dead i dont know if he's coming back

Comments

Spam

[tucky]

I know.

I thought he'd appear right away. That's what most people do, right?

Spam

[takeyouapart]

We did.

[He exhales softly. He only spoke to Dillon briefly, and it left him wanting to get to know him better.]

How did you find out that he...?

Spam

[tucky]

The person who did it came in here. She had that parasite too, before. Now it's gone.

[takeyouapart]

[Merlin nods.]

We're finding out who's infected, helping them. I've dealt with a couple of people. Dillon must have...been trying, when he...

[He wishes he'd been there. He could have helped; maybe prevented this.]

[tucky]

That sounds like him. He's a helpful, wonderful person. And so are you.

Merlin.

[She pulls away so she can see his face. Simon had told her to look at him and ask him something; see how he reacted.]

Do you think you and me are equals?

[takeyouapart]

[He knows exactly where this is coming from; he saw her conversation with Simon. But he doesn't identify that; he just answers, honestly.]

No. [A beat.] If it came to it, I would put your life above my own.

[tucky]

[She's wounded by the "no", and it shows; she automatically assumes he means he thinks he's better than her. But then he continues, and hurt gives way to confusion.]

So what does that mean? You think I'm better than you?

[takeyouapart]

[He shakes his head.]

It's not about better or worse. I don't think either. What I think is that you're my friend, and I protect my friends.

[When he can. And sometimes he can't, and he's nowhere near accepting that yet but he's at least inching towards it.]

[tucky]

But you said you don't think we're equals.

[takeyouapart]

[He smiles faintly.]

I'm like you. I don't rank people.

[tucky]

But that's different. Being equals ain't about ranking, it's about not thinking I'm an inferior person to you.

[takeyouapart]

[Merlin can't really agree. When you start judging people in terms of their being better or worse than you are, that is absolutely and fundamentally about ranking. But maybe there's a need for absolute clarity here, using the definition she's given.]

Tiffany. I don't think that. If that's what being equals is about, then yes. I believe we're equals.

[tucky]

Good. Thank you.

I've had a lot of people in my life who think they're better than me, and I'm glad that's not you.

[takeyouapart]

It's not. It never -

[He checks himself.]

I can't make promises for what I might become during the floods. But here, and now, in my right mind: I will never think that.

[tucky]

Floods are different. Breaches, too.

[She leans forward against him again.]

You know, I do rank people a little bit. I have favorites. You're one of 'em.

So's Dillon.

[takeyouapart]

[Merlin nods and squeezes her shoulders gently.]

I hope he comes back.

[He just wishes they could do more than that.]

[tucky]

... He probably will, right? Maybe for some people it just takes a little longer.

[takeyouapart]

[He nods. Maybe they're just delaying the inevitable but there's nothing wrong with having a little hope to cling to.]

Maybe. We don't really know how it works.

[tucky]

Do you think the Admiral would tell me if I asked?

[takeyouapart]

[Merlin has to shake his head.]

I - no, probably not. He doesn't seem to ever want to tell anyone anything.

[And he wouldn't really want to encourage her to try when he's so sure she'll be disappointed, and likely even more frightened.]

[tucky]

... If he comes back, where's he going to appear? Will he just show up in here?

[takeyouapart]

Or in the Infirmary, maybe. Like we did, after the breach.

[tucky]

... I wanna wait for him somewhere, maybe, but I don't know where to wait.

[takeyouapart]

[His uncertainty is obvious.]

Tiffany, it could be a while before we know anything. Do you think he'd want you to do today?

[tucky]

I think he would want me to pray for him.