It'd be an asshole move to not bother being a warden to you just because you're quiet. Especially if you're a friend of Fair's.
[And she's not surprised at all by that connection - already, they remind her of each other. Finding out that Angeal is Zack's mentor feels like a puzzle piece snapping into place.
Coming up on the dock, she scans her eyes over the eclectic offerings, noting with distaste that none of them have motors. She wonders if that's standard, or if they're just unlucky. Going to stand next to a rowboat, she looks at Angeal, raising a questioning eyebrow.]
Sounds like I might have years to work through things, if something else comes up more immediately important, that's not an asshole move to focus on it.
[Saddling a warden with two inmates simply doubles their workload! How is that fair to anybody?
If all the motorboats were already taken that would be Angeal's luck. The rowboats are considered for a long moment, brow furrowing, before he simply shrugs and heads to climb into the nearest one with an ease that suggests it's not his first.]
Just tell me where we're headed, and I'll do the rowing. We have containers for this special water we're supposed to get?
[He has designs on rowing in both directions. He's just not going to say so, he knows better.
The boat seems sturdy enough to do the job, so long as the weather didn't suddenly turn or anything, and as he settles into his chosen spot and picks up the oars, there's the matter of containers.]
..I could run back up to the deck, I think I saw a five gallon bucket.
[Bringing magical repair water in a five gallon home depot bucket is PERFECTLY REASONABLE. It'd be fewer trips!]
[Someone more magically-minded than Shaw might have been able to deduce that the cups are the only things that will be able to carry the water, in order for it to keep its intended effects; magic, after all, tends to have rules of its own, if one knows how to look for and understand them. Unfortunately, Shaw knows how to do neither of those things, and she's too logic-minded to find any flaws in this plan. Of course they should just use a bigger bucket. It's obvious.]
Get two, if you can find them. Check the greenhouse.
[Angeal's world does have magic, unfortunately all his training in it has been more of a scientific bent than pure mysticism with rules that make no sense. So it seems perfectly reasonable to try to cut down on runs needed. Why do little cups?
If he could figure out how to get an entire barrel out there he would, but the rowboats simply didn't look big enough to handle the weight.]
I'll see what I can find.
[So back out of the boat with Angeal, and back towards the other Boat. It's going to take him a few minutes, even at a jog, to find what he's looking for. At least it's a peaceful day?]
[And while he does that, she'll busy herself with preparing the boat for departure: untying it, readying the oars, and then steering the prow directly into the sandy shore, anchoring it in place so that Angeal can easily board when he returns and they can shove off immediately.]
[And when he does return, somewhere around fifteen minutes later, he's now got two 5 gallon buckets, with their lids. There's a lot of barge to repair, little cups one at a time was a waste.]
Sorry, I took a minute to wash them. I don't know if magic water can be contaminated, better safe than sorry.
[He doesn't mind getting a little wet to get back onto the boat, it's a bit necessary with someone his weight standing on the part buried in the sand. But it won't take more than a bit of maneuvering at least to get them fully back in the water.]
[Shaw will hop into the prow to help him get the buckets in, settling them on the floor between the two seats - and then handing the oars over to him only a little bit grudgingly.]
So you said you think you might be here for work-related stuff. Assassinations?
[His smile is brief and he hopes, friendly, when he takes the oars and settles into place. He's getting the impression getting the chance to row back is going to be a challenge.
But the smile fades. 'Work', such as it was..]
Not usually. I was more ... if my rank got called in it's because you needed the entire base razed, not because you need a single target eliminated. I'm not sure what the equivalent is in other militaries. My orders sometimes included ... non military targets.
[No surprise, there.]
At the time.. orders were orders, and we were there to try to make their lives better. The company did good. It brought health care, cheap electricity, roads, sanitation, better infrastructure.. but the cost was war. Over and over.
One of the best. There weren't many at First Class, just myself, Sephiroth and Genesis for ... a long time.
[But the Planet was dying because of it all. That was too high a price to pay.]
I don't feel bad about most of what we did. I had my orders, I followed them, I pushed back when I felt it was too much. But maybe the Admiral doesn't agree.
Doesn't agree that you shouldn't feel bad, or doesn't agree that you should have pushed back?
[Based on what she's seen on the Barge, she has what she feels is a pretty good guess as to which is more likely, but she's interested in hearing his thoughts.]
With not really being bothered by most of it. Can't imagine a being here to help us has a problem with kicking up a fuss when things got too bad.
[Makes sense to him, even if it's not why he's here at all. The rowing isn't any kind of a distraction but it's nice to have a simple physical goal: row.]
One of my close friends is here too but I'm getting the impression he's here for things that happened after my death, not before it, and he had the same orders I did. Sometimes refused them too.
[Hmmmmm. If he's from Zack's world, she knows quite a few people also from there, but most of them are wardens. Which, as far as the people she knows by name go, narrows it down to--]
The way I see it, everybody makes their own choices. Even if you did something crappy to him, he has the free will to decide whether or not he wants to talk like a supervillain on the network.
[She pauses, then thinks to add--]
He's not anything close to the worst of the worst. My guess, the guy you knew is still in there somewhere.
If genetic degradation is involved, he might not have had much free will in the matter.
[There is a moment where the metholodical rowing becomes harder, a focused drive of some unpleasant emotion or other, but as soon as he realizes it he readjusts.]
... But I hope so. He's here because someone thinks he can do better, and I know he can. He was a good man, not so long ago to my memory. Reliable, kind. Loyal.
[Lots of good things, lots of things that hurt to think about if he accepted he might have had a part in things going so badly.]
[And that's the truth, at least. If it wasn't one thing going pear shaped, it was another. Sometimes it felt like life on this ship was just moving from one headache to the next with no pause inbetween.]
How long have they been partnered? If it's been a while and progress isn't getting anywhere.. might not be ideal.
[Sometimes a good, trustworthy friend isn't what's needed to motivate - maybe that's why Angeal's not really gotten involved either. He was exactly the wrong person ot handle a friend's problems.]
[It's the sort of blunt question that some might take offense to - but Shaw, queen of blunt questions, doesn't seem put off in the slightest. She gives a nod in acknowledgement of the point, but--]
Wardening's annoyingly inefficient sometimes, especially when the inmate's especially smart, especially stubborn, or especially bad. Like I said, he doesn't seem like that last one to me, but smart and stubborn's a tough combination. Could be that progress is happening, but it's happening slowly. Or, uh, circuitously.
[The unpredictability of the Barge isn't always an asset.]
Throwing a bunch of strangers together and hoping half of them have a fundamental realization about their entire lives is usually a pretty big ask.
[Obviously it works often enough that it's worth continuing. And it gave people like him another chance too, already pretty aware of what was wrong but not sure what to do about it.
There were worse topics for a boat ride across a foreign sea to who-knows-where to get special magic water.]
Especially with what seems awfully like monthly dips into trauma and suffering.
You get it. This place is weird all around, and I don't know what the Admiral was thinking when he set it up like this. Best answer I keep getting from people is that the chaos and confusion is a perk, but I don't buy it.
[She pauses, and then adds:]
Don't get me wrong; it could be a lot worse. If I were fundamentally opposed, I wouldn't be here. My objections are, I dunno, cosmetic.
If I didn't think it had potential I wouldn't have agreed to come.
[How many inmates were there by choice? Angeal hadn't found another yet, though he knew they existed, he wasn't unique. But most had to be dragged kicking and screaming.]
Though there's been some history, I guess, with how the Admiral does things versus usual ships, and .. he's got a pretty good success rate? So there's got to be a method to the madness, we just can't see it because we're at the bottom of the well looking up.
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weartearrust) wrote2024-07-10 05:31 am
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[And she's not surprised at all by that connection - already, they remind her of each other. Finding out that Angeal is Zack's mentor feels like a puzzle piece snapping into place.
Coming up on the dock, she scans her eyes over the eclectic offerings, noting with distaste that none of them have motors. She wonders if that's standard, or if they're just unlucky. Going to stand next to a rowboat, she looks at Angeal, raising a questioning eyebrow.]
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[Saddling a warden with two inmates simply doubles their workload! How is that fair to anybody?
If all the motorboats were already taken that would be Angeal's luck. The rowboats are considered for a long moment, brow furrowing, before he simply shrugs and heads to climb into the nearest one with an ease that suggests it's not his first.]
Just tell me where we're headed, and I'll do the rowing. We have containers for this special water we're supposed to get?
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[She may be tiny, but she's stronger than she looks, and would rather work her muscles than not.]
Last boat I was in, there was a bag hanging off the side, but I'm not seeing one here. Maybe under the seat cushions.
[She climbs in to investigate, semi-reluctantly leaving the oars to him for now.]
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[He has designs on rowing in both directions. He's just not going to say so, he knows better.
The boat seems sturdy enough to do the job, so long as the weather didn't suddenly turn or anything, and as he settles into his chosen spot and picks up the oars, there's the matter of containers.]
..I could run back up to the deck, I think I saw a five gallon bucket.
[Bringing magical repair water in a five gallon home depot bucket is PERFECTLY REASONABLE. It'd be fewer trips!]
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Get two, if you can find them. Check the greenhouse.
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If he could figure out how to get an entire barrel out there he would, but the rowboats simply didn't look big enough to handle the weight.]
I'll see what I can find.
[So back out of the boat with Angeal, and back towards the other Boat. It's going to take him a few minutes, even at a jog, to find what he's looking for. At least it's a peaceful day?]
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Sorry, I took a minute to wash them. I don't know if magic water can be contaminated, better safe than sorry.
[He doesn't mind getting a little wet to get back onto the boat, it's a bit necessary with someone his weight standing on the part buried in the sand. But it won't take more than a bit of maneuvering at least to get them fully back in the water.]
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[Shaw will hop into the prow to help him get the buckets in, settling them on the floor between the two seats - and then handing the oars over to him only a little bit grudgingly.]
So you said you think you might be here for work-related stuff. Assassinations?
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But the smile fades. 'Work', such as it was..]
Not usually. I was more ... if my rank got called in it's because you needed the entire base razed, not because you need a single target eliminated. I'm not sure what the equivalent is in other militaries. My orders sometimes included ... non military targets.
[No surprise, there.]
At the time.. orders were orders, and we were there to try to make their lives better. The company did good. It brought health care, cheap electricity, roads, sanitation, better infrastructure.. but the cost was war. Over and over.
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Yeah, I did a lot of that too, once upon a time - following hard orders for the greater good. Were you good at it?
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[But the Planet was dying because of it all. That was too high a price to pay.]
I don't feel bad about most of what we did. I had my orders, I followed them, I pushed back when I felt it was too much. But maybe the Admiral doesn't agree.
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[Based on what she's seen on the Barge, she has what she feels is a pretty good guess as to which is more likely, but she's interested in hearing his thoughts.]
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[Makes sense to him, even if it's not why he's here at all. The rowing isn't any kind of a distraction but it's nice to have a simple physical goal: row.]
One of my close friends is here too but I'm getting the impression he's here for things that happened after my death, not before it, and he had the same orders I did. Sometimes refused them too.
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Cloud or Sephiroth? Or someone else?
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[Angeal trusts his judgment about people, it's never failed him before. If Cloud seemed like a good person, surely he was.
It's something to think about, while he rows.]
When I knew him, Sephiroth.. wasn't like how he is here. I suppose I'm partly to blame for that as well, but I'm not sure how to make up for it now.
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[She pauses, then thinks to add--]
He's not anything close to the worst of the worst. My guess, the guy you knew is still in there somewhere.
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[There is a moment where the metholodical rowing becomes harder, a focused drive of some unpleasant emotion or other, but as soon as he realizes it he readjusts.]
... But I hope so. He's here because someone thinks he can do better, and I know he can. He was a good man, not so long ago to my memory. Reliable, kind. Loyal.
[Lots of good things, lots of things that hurt to think about if he accepted he might have had a part in things going so badly.]
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[Shaw asks - studying him closely, noting the way he leans into the work.]
Zhao's a good guy. Dedicated.
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[And that's the truth, at least. If it wasn't one thing going pear shaped, it was another. Sometimes it felt like life on this ship was just moving from one headache to the next with no pause inbetween.]
How long have they been partnered? If it's been a while and progress isn't getting anywhere.. might not be ideal.
[Sometimes a good, trustworthy friend isn't what's needed to motivate - maybe that's why Angeal's not really gotten involved either. He was exactly the wrong person ot handle a friend's problems.]
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Wardening's annoyingly inefficient sometimes, especially when the inmate's especially smart, especially stubborn, or especially bad. Like I said, he doesn't seem like that last one to me, but smart and stubborn's a tough combination. Could be that progress is happening, but it's happening slowly. Or, uh, circuitously.
[The unpredictability of the Barge isn't always an asset.]
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[Obviously it works often enough that it's worth continuing. And it gave people like him another chance too, already pretty aware of what was wrong but not sure what to do about it.
There were worse topics for a boat ride across a foreign sea to who-knows-where to get special magic water.]
Especially with what seems awfully like monthly dips into trauma and suffering.
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[she says dryly, shooting him a fingergun.]
You get it. This place is weird all around, and I don't know what the Admiral was thinking when he set it up like this. Best answer I keep getting from people is that the chaos and confusion is a perk, but I don't buy it.
[She pauses, and then adds:]
Don't get me wrong; it could be a lot worse. If I were fundamentally opposed, I wouldn't be here. My objections are, I dunno, cosmetic.
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If I didn't think it had potential I wouldn't have agreed to come.
[How many inmates were there by choice? Angeal hadn't found another yet, though he knew they existed, he wasn't unique. But most had to be dragged kicking and screaming.]
Though there's been some history, I guess, with how the Admiral does things versus usual ships, and .. he's got a pretty good success rate? So there's got to be a method to the madness, we just can't see it because we're at the bottom of the well looking up.
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[Shaw mutters under her breath. Then, louder:]
It's not that I don't think people are right about the chaos being purposeful. I just think it's bull that it's worth it.
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