”How do you even know that reference?” Though he realizes after, it probably isn’t one.
He’ll open the door and gesture for her to come in. She’ll be greeted by a Bernese Mountain Dog at Jon’s hip, wagging up a storm but not actually pouncing on her even though she’d clearly like to.
“The dog’s name is Winifred, the cat’s name is Sasha, they’re both very friendly,” he’ll explain as he gestures to the kitchen table. The file is right there, on top of it, neat and tidy and clearly untouched.
Jon will close the door and lead the way to the table and Winifred will walk along beside him, settling next to him and between the two of them as they get to the table. It’s clear she wants to greet new friend but Jon’d trained her since she was a puppy. None of that until it’s welcome.
“It is,” he says as he takes a seat. “And no, I haven’t read it.”
He glances at the file, and then he focuses on her.
"Somewhat." He leans back a little and tries to find the words again. It'd been surprisingly simple with Elizabeth. Or maybe it wasn't and he was just remembering their ease later in the relationship. No, at that, it'd been terrible.
Well, lets see if they can do better.
"I haven't read it because I don't actually think it will be useful." He taps the folder a couple of times and he pushes it towards her. "Not just because it's a massive invasion of your privacy and a great big bomb planted right smack in the middle of any trust we might establish, but-"
He draws his hand back.
"I'm not interested in what the Admiral has to say about your life. What you have to say is much more important. And listening to him before you strikes me as a good way of getting an unhelpful bias."
"And just to make it clear, I have no intention of using my abilities on you in the course of our tenure together unless you explicitly ask me to." He glances at the stove near them and after a moment, he'll get up and put the kettle on. He should have done it earlier but he'd been distracted.
"In some ways, I'm glad you got to see that bit in the Lonely. Now, you know what it feels like when I do that without having to show up. So you'll know you're not being coerced."
Winifred is looking at her with deep love and she might just nuzzle at her leg now.
Jon keeps his eyes on the kettle, or at least in the direction of as he pulls out the rest of the nonsense for tea.
"If you mean 'facing down terrible people who make you feel like the worst thing ever', that's roughly 'every day' back in my world. At last for the last two or so years."
"No," he says honestly, "I most certainly do not. If I could have my books and a chair and some tea, I'd be much happier than getting... oh, say, kidnapped by an evil puppet circus master and moisturized for nigh on a month so they could skin me. This place is very much an improvement for me."
He's considering what to add-
"If you have a preference for tea now, speak or forever hold your peace."
“A ritual to bring-“ He pauses as he realizes he hasn’t really explained things from the top to the bottom just sort of, thrown things at her as he goes. They’ll get there. “The place we were was called the Lonely. The patron of that particular bit of nonsense is what’s known as the Stranger. My patron is considered diametrically opposed to theirs and they thought it would be a nice little compliment to their plans to have the skin of an Archivist on hand.”
He’ll slice up a lemon and put it on a plate for adding. After a moment, he even puts a bit of cheesecloth over it. Fancy.
He’ll pour the near-boiling water in the teapot now.
“Essentially. It’s not- well, they’d say it was a god. But I generally call them ‘entities’. The classification of them, the names and the boundaries, it’s all sort of… ‘arbitrary’ isn’t really accurate, but they’re technically all interconnected.”
“Yes, well,” he says as he watches the tea steep, “it seems I had friends in strange places and one of them decided to save me. Mostly because it amused him.”
"...you're catching on. Everyone is... affiliated with something. Myself, Martin... the other two on board from my world. Anyone who gets involved is usually- well, they're claimed or marked or- or find what fits for them. It's the closest thing to magic we have."
"...Okay. And you're sure that your spooky patrons haven't sent you to a
ship full of trapped, desperate people with every other screw loose so they
can...recruit?"
He looks back over his shoulder and shakes his head.
“Given that I completely undid the work of centuries coming here, I doubt it.” He’s got everything on a small tray and he brings it over. It settles on the kitchen table as Jon settles into his chair.
He looks back at her then.
“They can’t really reach here, not properly. I can feel the difference.”
"So, I know it's basically the same question I asked last month but I do
actually kinda care about the answer now. If you're not going to read my
file, how does this...go?"
“…I’m curious why you seem to think that reading that file or not reading that file determines how we ‘go’.”
He reaches for his own, already filled with milk and tea, and adds a bit of sugar. The man is far too apt to use tea as a meal, so he at least fills it with as many calories as he can.
“But the answer remains the same: we decide what we’re doing together. I’m not your babysitter or your teacher. I won’t pretend to be some lofty moral type sprinkling self-improvement aphorisms like breadcrumbs for you towards some bullshit ‘better you’ that might as well be someone else.”
He looks over at her.
“There’s a conflict inside of you. Possibly several. We need to figure out what it is and work towards resolving it.” He sips his tea. “I have ideas, obviously, but again. You are the subject matter expert on you. I’m here to give you something to bounce off of. And, apparently, to keep you armed, going by most of this boat.”
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timeasmymeasure
Spam
Date: 2021-07-01 01:37 pm (UTC)She doesn't respond to that message, but there's a quick rap on his door a few moments later and her voice calling through:
"Hey, Jonny."
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 01:40 pm (UTC)He’ll open the door and gesture for her to come in. She’ll be greeted by a Bernese Mountain Dog at Jon’s hip, wagging up a storm but not actually pouncing on her even though she’d clearly like to.
“The dog’s name is Winifred, the cat’s name is Sasha, they’re both very friendly,” he’ll explain as he gestures to the kitchen table. The file is right there, on top of it, neat and tidy and clearly untouched.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 01:46 pm (UTC)Cassandra stares at the dog. She's pretty sure she's seen smaller horses.
"...Okay," she says, and moves towards the table without showing even an inclination towards petting either of them. "Is that...?"
Her file. Her life?
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 01:48 pm (UTC)Jon will close the door and lead the way to the table and Winifred will walk along beside him, settling next to him and between the two of them as they get to the table. It’s clear she wants to greet new friend but Jon’d trained her since she was a puppy. None of that until it’s welcome.
“It is,” he says as he takes a seat. “And no, I haven’t read it.”
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 03:22 pm (UTC)Cassandra sits down opposite him.
"Assuming I believe that: why not? You want me to tell you my life story myself when it's already right there?"
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 03:54 pm (UTC)"Somewhat." He leans back a little and tries to find the words again. It'd been surprisingly simple with Elizabeth. Or maybe it wasn't and he was just remembering their ease later in the relationship. No, at that, it'd been terrible.
Well, lets see if they can do better.
"I haven't read it because I don't actually think it will be useful." He taps the folder a couple of times and he pushes it towards her. "Not just because it's a massive invasion of your privacy and a great big bomb planted right smack in the middle of any trust we might establish, but-"
He draws his hand back.
"I'm not interested in what the Admiral has to say about your life. What you have to say is much more important. And listening to him before you strikes me as a good way of getting an unhelpful bias."
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 04:17 pm (UTC)She pulls the file towards herself and stares at it but doesn't open it.
"So, what if I don't want to talk about my life?"
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 04:21 pm (UTC)That's it. End all. Be all.
"And just to make it clear, I have no intention of using my abilities on you in the course of our tenure together unless you explicitly ask me to." He glances at the stove near them and after a moment, he'll get up and put the kettle on. He should have done it earlier but he'd been distracted.
"In some ways, I'm glad you got to see that bit in the Lonely. Now, you know what it feels like when I do that without having to show up. So you'll know you're not being coerced."
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 04:26 pm (UTC)"...Yeah. Yeah, that was...definitely something," Cassandra says.
While Jon's back is turned, she reaches out to give Winifred a scritch behind one ear.
"How much of your life is like that, anyway?"
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 04:29 pm (UTC)Jon keeps his eyes on the kettle, or at least in the direction of as he pulls out the rest of the nonsense for tea.
"If you mean 'facing down terrible people who make you feel like the worst thing ever', that's roughly 'every day' back in my world. At last for the last two or so years."
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 04:39 pm (UTC)"So this place must be a step up, huh."
She tolerates some nuzzling. Mostly she's missing Owl, and a large dog is a poor substitute.
"Or, maybe you've had to turn into the kind of guy who kinda likes it that way."
cw mention of mutilation
Date: 2021-07-01 04:43 pm (UTC)He's considering what to add-
"If you have a preference for tea now, speak or forever hold your peace."
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 04:50 pm (UTC)"...Black is fine. Thanks. What did they need your skin for?"
(How bad was his skin before that, that it needed a month-long moisturising regimen?)
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 04:55 pm (UTC)Beat.
“Lemon or sugar is available.”
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 05:05 pm (UTC)"...Lemon. Thanks. So they were trying to bring their god or whatever into your world?"
This, she seems to be on solid ground with.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 05:23 pm (UTC)He’ll pour the near-boiling water in the teapot now.
“Essentially. It’s not- well, they’d say it was a god. But I generally call them ‘entities’. The classification of them, the names and the boundaries, it’s all sort of… ‘arbitrary’ isn’t really accurate, but they’re technically all interconnected.”
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 05:26 pm (UTC)"Right. But you've still got skin, so I'm guessing it didn't go to plan," she deadpans.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 06:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 06:30 pm (UTC)"Was this a friend from one of your other crazy-person ritual clubs?"
Does he have other kinds of friends?
no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 06:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-01 07:11 pm (UTC)"...Okay. And you're sure that your spooky patrons haven't sent you to a ship full of trapped, desperate people with every other screw loose so they can...recruit?"
no subject
Date: 2021-07-02 01:05 pm (UTC)“Given that I completely undid the work of centuries coming here, I doubt it.” He’s got everything on a small tray and he brings it over. It settles on the kitchen table as Jon settles into his chair.
He looks back at her then.
“They can’t really reach here, not properly. I can feel the difference.”
no subject
Date: 2021-07-02 01:13 pm (UTC)"Well, that's reassuring. Kinda."
She reaches for the teacup.
"So, I know it's basically the same question I asked last month but I do actually kinda care about the answer now. If you're not going to read my file, how does this...go?"
no subject
Date: 2021-07-02 01:26 pm (UTC)He reaches for his own, already filled with milk and tea, and adds a bit of sugar. The man is far too apt to use tea as a meal, so he at least fills it with as many calories as he can.
“But the answer remains the same: we decide what we’re doing together. I’m not your babysitter or your teacher. I won’t pretend to be some lofty moral type sprinkling self-improvement aphorisms like breadcrumbs for you towards some bullshit ‘better you’ that might as well be someone else.”
He looks over at her.
“There’s a conflict inside of you. Possibly several. We need to figure out what it is and work towards resolving it.” He sips his tea. “I have ideas, obviously, but again. You are the subject matter expert on you. I’m here to give you something to bounce off of. And, apparently, to keep you armed, going by most of this boat.”
no subject
Date: 2021-07-02 01:36 pm (UTC)Cassandra twitches a grim smile.
"I can take care of myself. I mean, if I still had the Moonstone it wouldn't be an issue, but I guess that's the Admiral's prerogative."
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