beyond birthday (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
recinerate) wrote2016-01-18 09:58 pm
recinerate) wrote2016-01-18 09:58 pm
Entry tags:
ic | inbox
voice | video | text | action
voice | video | text | action
[Definitely an odd question, but not the strangest thing Beyond's ever encountered.]
Quite a lot, actually. One, it occurs with alarming frequency; two, it's not permanent; and three, the death toll after being revived is extremely unpleasant.
[He knows all of these things from personal experience. He can guess what prompted the question, but he'll ask anyway:]
Why do you ask?
Quite a lot, actually. One, it occurs with alarming frequency; two, it's not permanent; and three, the death toll after being revived is extremely unpleasant.
[He knows all of these things from personal experience. He can guess what prompted the question, but he'll ask anyway:]
Why do you ask?
[That's about what he figured.]
Who is dead, and where?
Who is dead, and where?
[Damn. Beyond doesn't waste time typing a response, just switches to voice as he heads out the door of his cabin.]
I'll be right there.
I'll be right there.
Not yet.
[But he does, quickly, and comes back using voice, because it's a little more personal than speaking through text. There's a note of genuine surprise in his voice.]
Oh ... I had no idea he'd done that.
[But he does, quickly, and comes back using voice, because it's a little more personal than speaking through text. There's a note of genuine surprise in his voice.]
Oh ... I had no idea he'd done that.
Edited 2016-04-30 13:45 (UTC)
None at all. The Admiral doesn't take requests on assignments.
What changes ...
[That's a good question - he hasn't been assigned an inmate with whom he'd spoken at such length before. No one else has read his file or knows as much about him as she does.]
I think that's entirely up to you, Elizabeth. I don't think anything has to change - this is only a temporary assignment, and I've no designs on forcing you into doing anything. Typically, I ask inmates to meet with me to discuss their expectations for the month ahead, but so far, no one has agreed to it. I'm responsible for seeing to your well-being for the month, so I also ask if there's anything you need that I can ask the Admiral for, since he typically won't speak to inmates directly. Outside of that ... I don't think anything changes on my end. I still want to help you, however I can.
[That's a good question - he hasn't been assigned an inmate with whom he'd spoken at such length before. No one else has read his file or knows as much about him as she does.]
I think that's entirely up to you, Elizabeth. I don't think anything has to change - this is only a temporary assignment, and I've no designs on forcing you into doing anything. Typically, I ask inmates to meet with me to discuss their expectations for the month ahead, but so far, no one has agreed to it. I'm responsible for seeing to your well-being for the month, so I also ask if there's anything you need that I can ask the Admiral for, since he typically won't speak to inmates directly. Outside of that ... I don't think anything changes on my end. I still want to help you, however I can.
[He's a little surprised at how secretly pleased it makes him feel, hearing that from her. He thinks, in a brief moment of detached analysis, that this must be what hope feels like.]
I appreciate it. When and where would you like to meet?
I appreciate it. When and where would you like to meet?
[That surprises him even more, though he does his best to recover from it before replying.]
I'm in 4-13. Stop by whenever you like - I'll leave the door unlocked for you.
I'm in 4-13. Stop by whenever you like - I'll leave the door unlocked for you.
Fine. [She signs off without any further goodbyes, and is at his door ten minutes later.
She looks impeccable, as usual. Her hair and make-up are just right, the purple blouse she's wearing neatly ironed. But her expression is annoyed, tense, and her shoulders are hunched.]
She looks impeccable, as usual. Her hair and make-up are just right, the purple blouse she's wearing neatly ironed. But her expression is annoyed, tense, and her shoulders are hunched.]
[Beyond isn't the first to greet her when she opens the door, but rather a fluffy orange no-longer-quite-kitten, who gives her a questioning mrow? and then dashes under the pristinely made bed. Beyond himself is tidying stacks of books at the plain oak desk on the left side of the room; other piles of books have already been arranged neatly on top of the matching oak dresser to the right of the bed. Everything in the room - the master bedroom of a suburban home - is plain, beige, unremarkable, from the paint on the walls and the lamp on the desk to the gauzy curtains around the single window to the outside, where bright sunlight, rows of palm trees, and a yard sign reading MODEL HOME can be seen. Except for the books, everything about the room looks unnaturally tidy, like no one actually lives here, a picture in stark contrast to Beyond's own personal casual sloppiness.
Beyond looks up and murmurs something in Japanese in the direction of the bed - the cat underneath - and waves Elizabeth inside.]
She's a little shy at first, but she'll come out eventually.
[He finishes arranging the books on the desk and turns the chair out to face the bed, gesturing to both of them with a sweep of his hand, a silent invitation to sit wherever she'd like, if she wants to sit.]
Beyond looks up and murmurs something in Japanese in the direction of the bed - the cat underneath - and waves Elizabeth inside.]
She's a little shy at first, but she'll come out eventually.
[He finishes arranging the books on the desk and turns the chair out to face the bed, gesturing to both of them with a sweep of his hand, a silent invitation to sit wherever she'd like, if she wants to sit.]
[She gives a soft huff at that- isn't everyone?- but steps over the threshold easily. The cat is a surprise, even if she knew that people had pets, Beyond didn't exactly seem like the type.
She sits on the bed, because it lets her see more of the room.]
This wasn't your home.
She sits on the bed, because it lets her see more of the room.]
This wasn't your home.
Edited 2016-04-30 19:26 (UTC)
No, it wasn't.
[He takes the chair opposite, sitting sideways with an arm wrapped around the back of it, one leg folded underneath him, the other propped up on the rung underneath.]
This ... was one of the places I stayed in Los Angeles, after I left the House.
[He goes silent for a moment, considering whether to add the last part, which he eventually decides on.]
Before the third murder.
[He falls silent again, chewing the end of his thumbnail, then adds another addendum:]
I don't think I could have tolerated being here if it had been the House.
[He takes the chair opposite, sitting sideways with an arm wrapped around the back of it, one leg folded underneath him, the other propped up on the rung underneath.]
This ... was one of the places I stayed in Los Angeles, after I left the House.
[He goes silent for a moment, considering whether to add the last part, which he eventually decides on.]
Before the third murder.
[He falls silent again, chewing the end of his thumbnail, then adds another addendum:]
I don't think I could have tolerated being here if it had been the House.
Beyond considers his answer for a moment before speaking it. But he's already decided to be honest with her, so there's no sense in lying about this.
"I would have looked for a way to hurt the Admiral. Or, possibly, a way to kill him instead and make death permanent."
It's what he had thought about, at various points during him time as an inmate. But he'd been dissuaded from taking that course of action.
"I would have looked for a way to hurt the Admiral. Or, possibly, a way to kill him instead and make death permanent."
It's what he had thought about, at various points during him time as an inmate. But he'd been dissuaded from taking that course of action.
The last few times they'd spoken, she'd been emotional, high-strung-- she would have scoffed those times, at that sentiment. And it is stupid, too emotional, impossible from what she's read on the network. But she doesn't scoff now.
"It isn't possible," she says, considering, neutral.
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