[He's surprised enough by her response, happy with it enough, that he misses a step in answering her.]
Oh- Steve Rogers is a friend, we wanted to see if the Admiral responds to pairing requests. But in all likelihood I'll be paired before T'Pol is ready to leave. And maybe that's better...I get the feeling she's safer here than at home. You know?
I don't really know her. But I know there's a lot of people like that, and I ain't surprised.
I hope you get somebody who's real good to you, Lark. Somebody who treats you right. But no matter what, you ain't gonna lose me; I'll still be your friend.
Thank you, Tiffany. [His voice comes softer than he'd meant.] I'm glad you have Lourdes.
And I'm glad to call you 'friend'. I didn't have a lot of those at home--not humans, especially. I think it was a mistake sometimes, after being here.
[Which is to say that he feels the same, even if he isn't sure how best to say it: that he'd fight beside her, that he'd sleep curled up in a wolfy ball beside her, that he'd hunt and bring her food if they were on a port together.]
You're more influential than anyone I know here, actually.
Compassion, yes. But it's different. With them, they know I'm here for doing something worse than they have done, or that I'm still here because I won't change the way they were willing to change. They still care--but I'm an inmate first.
I'm another person, with you. You aren't going to try to make me be anyone other than who I am.
You have. You know what it's like. And they should, too--but that's what I
mean. You treat me like you understand. Most of them treat me with pity. Or
frustration.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[audio]
Thank you. [He means that.]
You know, if Lourdes graduates before T'Pol, maybe I ought to ask the Admiral to pair us up.
[By which he mostly just means 'thank you', again. He'd listen to Tiffany, even if he won't listen to hardly anyone else on board.]
[audio]
I'd feel proud to be paired with you.
... What's T'Pol got to do with it, though?
[audio]
Oh- Steve Rogers is a friend, we wanted to see if the Admiral responds to pairing requests. But in all likelihood I'll be paired before T'Pol is ready to leave. And maybe that's better...I get the feeling she's safer here than at home. You know?
[audio]
I hope you get somebody who's real good to you, Lark. Somebody who treats you right. But no matter what, you ain't gonna lose me; I'll still be your friend.
[audio]
And I'm glad to call you 'friend'. I didn't have a lot of those at home--not humans, especially. I think it was a mistake sometimes, after being here.
[Which is to say that he feels the same, even if he isn't sure how best to say it: that he'd fight beside her, that he'd sleep curled up in a wolfy ball beside her, that he'd hunt and bring her food if they were on a port together.]
You're more influential than anyone I know here, actually.
[audio]
You're kidding.
[audio]
You actually have compassion for us, for inmates, above your own wishes. I didn't think any warden could do that.
[audio]
[audio]
I'm another person, with you. You aren't going to try to make me be anyone other than who I am.
[audio]
I did bad stuff, too. You know that; you read my file. And I ain't the only one, either. A lot of the people here have - wardens, too.
Re: [audio]
You have. You know what it's like. And they should, too--but that's what I mean. You treat me like you understand. Most of them treat me with pity. Or frustration.
Are you here for your deal, or for Lourdes?
[audio]
But I care about Lourdes more than anything.
[audio]
[audio]