TLV IC Inbox

[inthebiblicalsense]

[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.

Comments

Maybe an hour after the Incident so as not to crowd him

[verynormalturnipseller]

[Wen Ning is still in doctor mode, tones carefully measured and softened, painfully conscientious.]

He's with his warden. Are you alright? Do you need anything?

[inthebiblicalsense]

[Magic is one hell of a drug, he will give it that. His nose is still broke but it's been set and the swelling just isn't there. That doesn't mean there isn't any bruising though, the center of his face forming deep purple and burgundy bruising around his nose and under his eyes.]

I couldn't tell who pulled him off of me, I'm assuming it was you?

[He's trying to not sound so surprised that it's him that did it. He might be taller but he's pretty thin.]

Im about as good as someone who was going to be beaten to death, but at least im not suffering the same way I would back home. Magic is very useful.

[The fact that he just has the pain of his nose and a headache rather than all the other things that would have been tacked on without it makes him feel like he's cheating.]

I just need to think about how I'm moving forward.

[Changing positions isn't an option he's going to consider. He doesn't think it would benefit Jacob or himself if anyone thought he was scared of him after what happened.]

[(Anonymous)]

His warden came very promptly after he calmed down and I could call. But it seems like he's not the type to make a public show of whatever they're deciding. There are things you can ask for if you're worried, like a restriction from the admiral.

[inthebiblicalsense]

Who is it? I don't actually know, though I probably should have checked before now. [He needs to be more proactive about things obviously and is frustrated with himself that he hadn't thought to have a talk about Jacob before with who ever.]

I don't know if that's my first move, but I'll talk to his warden about it. Punishment could be seen as retaliation for our opposing views. I'm starting to see some sense in what he told me, if only to find some common ground, though I wish it had come before I set him off. Im...honestly a little confused why he picked just then, I didn't think the last thing I said was inappropriate but I don't know him that well.

[verynormalturnipseller]

I hadn't met him before, either. Norton?

[Wen Ning sounds it out with the slightly ponderous care he usually does with unfamiliar names.]

I'm sorry, I don't have any insight. He was already swinging by the time I made it in.

[inthebiblicalsense]

[Oh. God dammit. He has no idea if it will, but he feels like the conversation he's going to have to have is going to be awkward.] I know him. I'll give him a call when I can think about it a little more.

And that's fine, I didn't really have a good first impression with Jacob anyways. I just wasn't expecting him to react that way...

Violence was punishable by incarceration in the brig no matter your reasoning back home. It changes things moving forward, and is probably a good motivator to do what I've been warned to do multiple times already. [Keeping his mouth shut when he didn't have to share his opinions. He'll try and take it to heart now more than he did before.] Talk isn't just talk and this was a necessary lesson.

[verynormalturnipseller]

Inmates especially don't have any reason to trust the hierarchy here.

[Wen Ning, on balance, likes the barge, but he is emphatically aware of what a loss of autonomy feels like, even if the things you have to do might be the things you'd have opted into anyway.]

Punishment in a real place means something that'll follow you a long time, and lose you what you want for the time that's right in front of you. None of that is so when we're here.

[inthebiblicalsense]

I think that's why I'm so opposed to some kind of magical punishment. The time here is already against their will, it would be more effective if it was personalized, and that makes it worse. What good is it going to do to keep him from harming me again if I do something in retaliation? I feel like that's just encouraging him to be more creative about it next time if he feels so inclined.

But that part is up to Norton to decide, not me.

[He pauses a moment, so used to rubbing his temples, pinching the bridge of his nose as he thinks and neither of those are a good idea right now.]

Maybe I should make some rules for the Gym, line them out clearly as expectations so that the consequence for breaking them is clear before anyone makes a rash decision. Then it's their choice whether the action is worth the consequence. Clear rules and expectations usually lead to more informed decisions... which I would hope would also mean good decisions rather than impulsive ones.

[verynormalturnipseller]

And do you have a plan to enforce those rules, or does that go to the admiral?

[He keeps his tone very mild. Even if there's a particularly good healer at hand, you don't shake off injuries that quickly, not in a healthy way. But that sounds to Wen Ning like kicking the same problem over to a sign.]

[inthebiblicalsense]

There is another advisor in the gym, I've only met her the once, but I think she'd be better at it than I am if it came to that. I...Feel weird about asking the Admiral.

[It's probably because he's still new and he shouldn't be asking anything of his superiors, but he'll have to at some point he's sure.] There are a lot of things I have to consider, people to talk to about this before I make up my mind.