inthebiblicalsense | TLV IC Inbox

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[In a very serious, business tone, Abel's answering machine sounds after any attempted calls that aren't responded to right away.]

You've reached Abel. I am not available at the moment, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If this is urgent, leave the line open.

And if this is Fitz I hope you're having a good day.

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"Good things, I hope." Norton has mentioned Abel vaguely, in passing. Not enough for Rawne to know much about him. Or to know what he thinks of what Norton might have said about him.

Abel thinks that Norton felt it was praise, though it had been building a suspicion about Rawne that is not appropriate to bring up at work. Nor is he planning on mentioning it until he's confirmed it himself. He can give him the benefit of the doubt that he can change and grow just like anyone else on board.

"He likes you. I can't say any of it was meant to be taken poorly."

That's a little ominous. Norton not meaning anything to be taken poorly doesn't say anything about how it was taken.

"Good to know he likes me," he says, a little wryly, "we've been together for, fuck, four and a half years, or so." The longest relationship he's had.

"He mentioned you offered your room when he first got in. That was kind of you." And that part doesn't bother him. It was a nice thing to do even with the promise of sex.

"That is about as long as I was active duty. It certainly is an accomplishment."

"I knew what it was like to not want to be in the cabin the Admiral provided." He'd trashed his and slept in the greenhouse until a warden had requested a change. "And I was just across the hall."

"I just changed my own cabin recently." He huffs a soft laugh and looks over at Rawne, "he's been making fun of my old bedroom since we met so I figured it was due for a change."

"Why'd he do that?" he asks, "he teased me about the room I got when I got back here. All I had was a cot for a bed."

"It was small, single bed with just enough room for my computer and my drafting table. I told him it was an upgrade from my Stateroom, but he didn't come over often regardless." A soldiers bunk, he called it.

"I don't think he appreciated the minimalism."

"He likes his comforts." Rawne smiles a little. "Whatever the opposite of minimalism is, that's his thing."

"Not that I blame him for it, but one look at his pillow collection and everyone would know he's a maximalist." He has to fight the smile as he says it, reaching over to grab his bookmark and slot it into the textbook, snapping it shut.

"But, we probably shouldn't be spending our time teasing him when he can't even pout or defend himself. Was there something I can help you with, Rawne? Or just looking for a chat?"

"Just a chat. I've seen you around and I know Norton works with you, so..." he shrugs. He's not the greatest at social stuff, still. "I figured we might as well get to know each other."

He almost laughs at the phrasing. Ah, yes. Working with Norton. That's one way to put it.

"Speaking of, don't ever try and tail a murderer with him if you want the element of surprise. I think he forgets that not everyone can teleport or become intangible. but that's the last thing I'm saying, I swear."

Edited 2025-03-05 01:32 (UTC)

That sounds like a story worth hearing. "I'll keep that in mind. If I ever have cause to tail someone with him."

Abel leans in with a coy smile and whispers quietly to Rawne as if sharing a secret, "It's because he can't stop talking. If I hadn't felt like I was going to die, it would have been incredibly enduring." Seems that was the last thing as he leans out of the other man's space, setting his book aside and crossing a leg over the other, turning to face him in his chair better.

"Now, you'll have to tell me about yourself, I honestly don't know much and you look like an interesting sort of man." The tattoo obviously stands out as a feature, hopefully not as painful or uncomfortable a story as Abel's own distinguishing feature, the scar across his lip.

"About myself? I'm no one special, really," he says, "I was in the Imperial Guard, died, came here, graduated, went home, came back, started wardening. I don't intend to go home again, I'll probably join Shaw in her world."

"Ah, another military man. I was a Navigator in the Alliance, a pilot essentially." He says with a smile, "I'm a little jealous. Shaw did ask me once if I was interested, and I did consider it myself, but...I have a mess to clean up back home." One that he still isn't sure he wants to stick around for, but he's not about to look at that fully in it's face and probably won't until Fitz graduates or he has something forcibly make him look at it.

"The messes where I'm from are too big for one person to clean up." And they'd involve drastically reshaping reality, at this point. "My first deal was to bring my commanding officer back, that's the most I could do."

You could easily argue that the one that Abel is aiming for is also too big for one person to clean up, and it is, but that doesn't stop Abel from believing it's his duty to try. "I can understand that... I've spent most of my time here trying to figure out how to end our war ethically. It's...quite the problem. If I asked for the eradication of our enemies, I would be no different than they are, and I cannot justify asking for genocide to spare humanity from their own eradication."

Though, he understands that's a rather serious topic for the gym, clearing his throat, he attempts to steer somewhere else, "Probably not the best topic for the gym though. What was your commanding officer like? Mine unfortunately revealed himself to be less than what anyone could think of him, it'd be nice to hear about a man deserving of his position."

That was getting awkwardly close to Rawne's mess, so he's glad for a change of topic. "Gaunt is... almost too perfect, sometimes. I used to think he was a stuck-up jackass but he holds himself accountable as much as anyone else. More, even. He's also the luckiest son of a bitch I've ever met."

Why does that make him think of himself, just with more fuck ups in the present, and definitely not very lucky any more. He'd felt that way when they flew, and they were lucky to be alive no matter how much skill he and Alexei had, but definitely not quite so lucky any more.

"He sounds like someone I'd enjoy meeting. I've been told I'm a bit stuck-up, though I try not to be."

"You don't seem stuck up to me." Though they've only talked once. "If he ever shows up here, I'll let you know."

"That's because I'm on my best behavior." He says with a smile, "I was much worse back in the academy, though I certainly have my moments now."

Resting his folded hands in his lap, he glances over at Rawne, "So, aside from your future plans, what do you like to do? Have any special interests?"

Rawne experiences that thing where, once someone asks you about something, everything you've ever done disappears from your mind. "I spend most of my time at work. But I like repairing things. And carving."

Abel generally only experiences that when he's on his back, he unfortunately remembers most things at all times and it's rather overwhelming at times depending what his mind pulls to the surface at any given moment. He does perk up at the mention of repair work though, "What sort of things? I was in charge of repairs on my Starfighter back home. And I like working with my hands."

"Mostly whatever breaks on the Barge," he says, "but I've started tinkering with motorcycles in the Enclosure."

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