[drp] gurneys and journeys (fresh-faced interns)

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yeah, I don't think you can just... ask that." She smiled briefly, thinking about how utterly awkward that would be.

Temperance sighed, fidgeted. "I think I will wait for her around the court and see. But... but, Rabbit." She took a deep breath. "I cannot kill anyone."

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"I figured. But I hope that if she gets violent, you won't just surrender. You have to be alive to help people. Not... well..." If she failed, she'd be his fetch. He swallowed again. "Nevermind."

"I wish I could give you more about how to talk things out without asking Shiloh or Algernon what they did. Maybe tell Hart she'll be free soon or something? If all this Charter crap goes the way I want, she will be." Of course, discussing such things with Oroh had only made her irate. She had wanted to be the one to take Temperance's place, to have the chance at a real life again, but he'd been too attached to even consider letting her go. He hadn't known she had minded until she was trying to scratch his eyes out.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I know." She smiled a little, awkwardly. "I suppose we will see what happens. I've... I've come too far to toss it away, I think." Temperance felt like most fetch/tithe encounters involved violence of some sort.

"Yeah... I, I feel bad for them having their lives snatched away. I don't think the tithing system is fair."

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Rabbit didn't exactly have sympathy for how the current fetches had ended up that way, mostly because there was nothing he could do about it now. He did agree about tithing to a large extent, though he knew that had he been given a choice as to whether or not he wished to follow his most recent life path, he wouldn't be where he was. He was grateful on the inside, horrified on his own behalf, and unable to find the words to describe how being a noble made him feel. It was complicated.

"There are definitely better ways things could be done. I'm not sure what they are, but..." He shrugged. "No death would be nice. And freedom, like I said. No compelling people to do s**t, some sort of... nobility instruction packet. I don't know. Just less pain and more everything else."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Definitely something to mention the next time the charter comes up." She sighed. "Something more symbiotic rather than master and servant, if they must be tied." Temperance raked her fingers through her hair.

"But I don't know what and I'm not... not a noble or anything." She shrugged. "But I guess.. I'll... I'll try soon. I'll get out of your hair."

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"You're not in my hair," he said with a roll of his eyes and shake of his head. "You could stay here forever and I wouldn't mind. It's just, one: I don't think you want to, and two: Your fetch is messing with your life." There was a more dire problem—that she would become something else if she stuck around too long—but he wasn't going to burden her with that if she didn't already know. He could only assume it was a long way off anyway. She didn't seem any different than she had at Christmas.

"It's okay. Just... whenever you want."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance smiled: a small, silly thing, pleased that Rabbit said she wasn't bothering him, that it'd be okay if she stuck around. She hid it behind her hand.

"Luckily, my fetch doesn't seem to be messing with it too badly." She idly wondered if she could switch to part-time once she got her nursing degree. Half time there, half time here, running some kind of small clinic.... "But I'll... I'll try to... soon."

She paused, thinking. Do no harm, but take no s**t. "Rabbit, this is a weird request, but can you get a certain drug for me? It's not entirely... legal."

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

He had been lucky too, or at least that had been the only conclusion he had come to after returning home to no discernible changes in his life. Even his sister had been fooled, prompting negative feelings on both sides: her for not recognizing that her brother wasn't her brother, and him for proving so easy to duplicate.

Rabbit hesitated to speculate on Hart's more hidden life-ruining capabilities, in fact he had nothing to say at all until Temperance mentioned illegal drugs.

"You want... drugs?" he asked, briefly caught between amusement and confusion until amusement won. "Well, I could... waaaaaaiiittt. This is for her? I was gonna say no promises because going to real jail isn't on my list of goals, but that's too good. Yeah, sure. I'll do it. What kind of drug?" He leaned forward, elbows on the table.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yeesss, for her," she said slowly, a little shame-faced. Temperance leaned forwarded as well, pulling out a small notebook. She wrote the name of the drug as she talked, its streetnames, the look and how it was normally sold.

"If.. if you can't get it, let me know? I don't want you to get in trouble." Temperance paused. "I'd owe you big, though, if you manage to snag it." Regardless of the fact that she already owed him big-time. "And... can you... take me to my apartment to meet her? I don't think I can wait around her for it. I'll take her back when we're done, though."

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"I'll be careful," he said absently, skimming what she had written. His personal drug experiences numbered far fewer than one might expect, but he still recognized one or two of the alternate names on the list. He even had a person to start with, that was, if he still existed in this world. Rabbit wasn't anxious to look like he was aiming to take advantage of someone in front of a complete stranger if he could help it.

"I'll also try to take you back when you're ready too." He wasn't any more sure that it would work than he had been before, and he knew that if it did it would take even longer than getting her here in the first place had, but in light of her plan, he would make the effort. He had no idea what the plan actually was, but he could make a decent guess and, more importantly, he trusted Temperance's brain. "I should get things ready. I might be out of town for a few days."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Thank you, Rabbit." She took a long, deep breath and held it in for a moment before expelling. "I can pay you back too, of course. I just... don't have cash on me, here." A nervous laugh.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

He hadn't even thought about the paying part in the brief flurry of planning and feeling useful again, but yeah, drugs cost money. That was what made selling them so enticing. It was nothing he couldn't handle these days, and he shrugged as he got to his feet.

"It's no big deal. Buy me a sandwich or something someday. What matters is that you win."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance would pay him back, and not just in sandwiches, assuming she lived. Well, she might sort of live, regardless. She'd make fetch happen. Temperance made a face at her own thoughts.

"I... I'll try, Rabbit."

smerdle

fin?