ukan | IC CONTACT

[Chuckling] Not to me. But I see your point.

Mine is this: me telling you what I learn about what's happening is not a quid pro quo. You deserve to know what's going to happen to us. Period.

And what's going to happen? Has this happened before?

A couple of times, yes. The reasons are always different but, from the perspectives of the people on the boat, the situation is the same.

The perspective of the people on the boat. Which seems to be the only thing that matters.

Hm.

[But he's going to get to the point.]

If I need something, how many questions will you ask?

As many as I need to get an answer I'm comfortable with.

What do you need?

Nothing.

I'll get it through other means, then.

Wouldn't want to end up in Zero.

After what Ezio did I'm not sure who's else will hear you out besides me, John.

[A laugh.]

Making me dependent on you, Lark?

That's not a good look.

You aren't dependent on me. Asking me to give you things without knowing what or why is a little odd for you, though.

I said I'd tell you what wardens are saying? That's what they decided about you: to deny you things based on something you hadn't even done.

Did anyone disagree?

I did. Kiryu did. But he'll ask questions, too.

Oh yes, yes. Mighty Kiryu. [Annoyed:] I'm aware.

Iris?

I didn't talk to her about it, but she has your back.

I know she does. I'm working on trusting her. [Guess who's figured out he can lie better over the network?]

But in the meantime, I need a bandage.

Not for anyone other than myself, before you ask.

How big is the wound and do you need a tetanus shot?

[For John's sake and his own suspicions about this wound, he marks this thread private retroactively and from this point on]

Edited 2021-11-06 19:21 (UTC)

Bigger than a Band-aid and I've been vaccinated. I'm not that sort of religious nut.

I'll just have to trust your word on that. [But he's teasing]

Come over to 404.

John does and knocks at the door.

He has his coat on, but it probably won't cover the smell of blood - John's blood. There's no apparent injury on him. At least, not at first.

Lark has a med kit out on the counter.

"Was this penance or something else?" He isn't overly concerned, because John isn't.

And this is exactly why John goes to Lark. This is why he trusts him. This is why he asks him what he won't ask anyone else.

Lark knows. Doesn't make a goddamn fuss.

"No. Penance is the fasting," he says softly, saying it aloud for the first time. "Though that's quickly becoming a necessity."

He takes off his coat, revealing a shirt with patches of blood staining along his upper arm. That comes off next, revealing the scars and tattoos that are normally hidden. WRATH along his side, cruelly crossed off. The sigil of Eden's Gate under his navel. YES in big letters along his ribs. LUST on his shoulder blade. The crossed swords underneath.

And a newly scrawled ENVY in angry red on his left arm that he reveals underneath bloody bandages.

Lark washes his hands and pulls on gloves, sets John's arm over an absorbent sheet and examines it. Realistically some of it probably needs stitches, but he won't give them because the point is the scar.

"I know you've taken care of wounds before but Alec is a doctor so I'm required to tell you to change the dressing twice a day," he drawls, cleaning the blood off, making sure all the dried bits are scrubbed off, then applying antiseptic.

"You don't have to tell me the story behind this one but I certainly won't complain if you do indulge me." It still isn't concern in his voice. He's genuinely curious; John is the only person here besides himself who adheres to a strict code, and he enjoys every time they get to talk about the Ukan path or the Power of Yes.

He lets Lark move him around at will, straightening his back and glancing down to make sure that he doesn't fuck up his work. John knows what he's doing. He knows how to make it scar. He knows how to make it look good. Once it's healed, he'll scar it again- cross it through, cut it out. For now, he'll wear it.

Once he's satisfied that Lark's not going to do anything to mess up the lettering, he seems to relax.

"There is something here I desire," he says, keeping the story vague. If Jon's going to tell the other wardens about it, there's nothing John can do about it. "Desire more...anything I've ever wanted. Something that someone else wants."

Lark glances at him as he waits for the antiseptic to dry, then applies a nonstick pad, then begins wrapping his arm. "Other than freedom?"

He laughs softly. "Yes," he tells him. "A power."

But he doesn't know how much he wants to say.

"Something that someone else has, I mean. Something that was more important, in the moment, than God."

Lark straightens a bit, really looks at him. "What could be more important to you than God?"

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