IC Inbox III

[ukan]

This is Lark, leave a message.

Comments

[ukan]

[For the first time, Lark looks up with a mischievous grin]

Is that so? I want to come back to stop overloading you, but... I once served nothing but toast and water for a week until someone came to help out. The ship could use some oatmeal and gruel to wake them up.

[atowncalledtreffy]

Well, if Archer wants to be Daniel's sole wetnurse, then it frees up some of my time to go piss off and sleep. So yeah; him and me and Sweeney might just do boiled oats and bread. Maybe a root vegetable if I'm feeling charitable.

[ukan]

Well I'm sold on the idea. Everyone seems convinced I've gone senile, mwybe we'll do oats for dinner, too.

[atowncalledtreffy]

Would make clean-up easier. Just two enormous fucking stewpots and a ladle and be done with it.

[He gives a tired grin, rubbing at his eyes. But Trevor never knew the meaning of the word 'stop working' either]

Who else says you've gone senile? Besides Archer, I mean. I want to know so that when I see them for dinner I can hide a glob of spit in their food.

[ukan]

[He laughs] All right it's mostly Archer. But in his defense, I did dump dinner shift on him and then I did piss all over his rug when he stepped up as an advocate, which is a program I've been working on getting people to do since I got here.

I heard John Seed got stabbed. He doesn't seem to want any revenge for it. And Jacobi hit Sweeney--I need to talk to him about that, shit.

Anyone else flying into a rage that I haven't heard about?

[atowncalledtreffy]

[He shakes his head a little; Trevor missed both of those incidents.]

No. Didn't even...fuck. Notice.

[Boy is that a stifled yawn]

Which one's Jacobi again?

[ukan]

He's one of my pack. But a human member. Long-ish curly hair, kind of small compared to half the ship but looks like he could cut you in a dark alley. I think you'd like him. Or really hate him.

When's the last time you slept?

[atowncalledtreffy]

Huh. Sounds like Rags. What the fuck was he beating up on Sweeney for?

This morning.

[For three hours]

[ukan]

I'm not sure. I'll ask him. But if I had to guess I'd say it's grief and dealing with whatever happened to him in those domains. Having something to hit can put a lot of things in place.

[Not for Lark. Fighting, for Lark, just leaves him feeling thoughtless and unanchored. But he understands the appeal.]

[atowncalledtreffy]

I'll fucking ask him.

If he's as tiny as you say he is, he must have got his ass beat, then. Sweeney's an orange mountain in man form.

[ukan]

I haven't heard or smelled him around, so you might be right. Have you seen Sweeney since then?

[atowncalledtreffy]

No, but we switched to opposite schedules so one of us could watch Daniel while the other sleeps.

[ukan]

Fortunately for Archer, he'll have time to watch Daniel now that I'm going back to work.

Did you see Daniel at all since you hit him?

[atowncalledtreffy]

Just glances before one of us ducks out.

He seems mostly all right. Someone set his nose for him. Envy and him seem to be close.

[ukan]

Maybe he can keep Envy in check, then. [a groan] Envy looks to be a real shit stirrer in the making.

[atowncalledtreffy]

Oh, you have no fucking idea.

[He says this first as a glib note and then…exhales, worried]

Shit.

[ukan]

[Oh. That's not good.]

I haven't followed things with Envy closely enough. What are you thinking?

[atowncalledtreffy]

It’s probably nothing right now. Just has the potential to go to shit later on.

Envy’s a homunculus. Sort of a creature built by an alchemist to perform tasks. And Daniel knows alchemical symbols and rituals.

[ukan]

Of all the things he could have had 'amnesia' about, why couldn't it have been fucking rituals.

Shit.

[atowncalledtreffy]

He’s a fucking torturer, Lark. He went into details that made ME squirm.

And Envy is strong but I think he’s easily led under the right person. I’d be more worried about him getting used in some fuck-off dark magic.

[ukan]

One more reason I can't muster up any sympathy for him.

[And as much as he trusts Archer, it is killing him to have to be hands-off about the man who helped cause everything that has gone wrong.]

At least Sweeney isn't likely to go down the black magic path.

[atowncalledtreffy]

Sweeney’s a good person, far as my judgement can tell.

Daniel’s a monster hiding behind a mask of a scared kid. Who even knows how much he believes his own facade?

And Envy is just gut reaction in humanoid form which makes fighting him fun and easy.

[ukan]

I don't buy it. I think he's manipulating people into protecting him, because he knows the ship hates him. I'm still not here to let people murder or torture him, but we need more eyes on him than we've actually got, and for Archer's sake and the sake of me continuing to be a warden, I shouldn't be one of those watching up close.

I did piss some people off by announcing you'd hit him and then telling them I'm not going to punish you for it. By the way.

[atowncalledtreffy]

Envy is easily manipulated. I think Archer’s smarter than that. Sweeney I think is like me: not particularly clever when it comes to figuring out evil-minded bastards and their plans but not willing to see shit go down in front of them.

I could always just make him stay in place somewhere. Still got Jon’s item.

Well, I’m glad that getting him back after the little shit used me for an easel is as popular as ever. So let me see if I get this right: you say it’s all right to punch him but people here want to kill him, and those same people are angry at you for letting me punch him? Or are those different people?

[ukan]

No one so far has told me they want him dead; downside to being a warden is people don't tend to tell me their crimes before they commit them.

The usual, human-friendly theory of justice is that cooler heads design the punishments. They don't like that I let you settle your own score with him. But since you did kill Father John, I think they just doubt that you're the sort of man who is happy with one punch.