She feels an odd touch of relief at the sight of her pistol –– it'll be worlds easier to get it back from Arthur than from Yunlan. Still, she's a long way off that. She fixes Arthur with an unimpressed look and opens her door for them.
Tess bristles, leaving him to close the door behind them.
"I know what I did, and I haven't pulled the gun on a single person since you gave it to me," she replies, and she puts out the hand for her gun. "So yes, I'm starting out that way. I want to know what he said to make you think it has anything to do with the gun."
He is definitely not handing her that gun back, now. He hates being this, the lawman, the warden. But he's also got a responsibility towards other people here.
He closes the door behind him, a little too loudly. "It has nothing to do with the damn gun, but if you're gonna come up rollin' your eyes right off the bat it's gonna be about the gun."
She keeps her hand out for a stubborn moment, and then folds her arms.
"Well excuse me if I'm not in a good mood, getting frisked like that," she replies. Being denied the gun for showing a bit of attitude is beyond bullshit to her, but she'll play ball. "He waltzed up to a conversation he wasn't a part of and decided to power trip."
"Why the hell did you want to take it! I don't care if that goddamn
vampire wants you to take his blood, he's a vampire, and he ain't
particularly stable!"
He isn't afraid of a little shouting, even if he's not really likely to do it himself, these days. Then again, few people get under his skin enough to piss him off like Tess can, sometimes.
Still. He doesn't do it now, because that sounds like something that warrants 'slow-and-steady'. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I had a buyer looking for a sample well before I decided I wanted out," she replies curtly. "But I can't just walk away in the middle of a job, Arthur, it doesn't work like that. You know it doesn't work like that."
"You want me to be happy now? 'Cause you realized you wanted out?
Because I don't know why the hell you'd even want to get into that.
Liquor's one thing, Tess, but shit like that?"
He isn't judging her, he's just baffled, but it sure could come off
that way.
God, of course he isn't happy. He was never going to be happy, she knows that, but it bothers her anyway. She feels like she's trying ––shouldn't that count for something? How hard is it to break a habit, anyway?
"Do you think I want to do any of this shit?" she demands. "That I ever have? No! But it's my job, it's all I've fucking done for twenty years, and I need people in my corner, I need people to owe me favours so I can collect on them when I need to, I need people to respect me, and I am good at it."
She lets out an angry breath. Holds a finger in his face.
"And you can't tell me wardens care at all about the blood," she warns him. "They don't. Yunlan just wanted an excuse to frisk me."
It's giving a lot away that she's never told him. The uncertainty, the insecurities, the need to keep going. How can you stop? How did Arthur ever stop?
He stopped because someone else was fucking up so hard he couldn't go along with it anymore. Well, that's not an option here. He grits his teeth and bats her finger away - he's been in too many fights in his life to accept someone getting in his space quite like that.
"This is no longer about Yunlan and what he cares about, and we both know it. How long ago did this start?"
She drops her hand, but she sure as hell doesn't move out of his space.
"No, it's about Yunlan," she disagrees, brushing right by the question. "He's been looking for an excuse since London. How much do you even know about the blood? Because I'll tell you exactly how it works."
“Steve’s blood is like a drug, yes, but it’s not a drug anyone on this ship is going to take unless they want to be having sex dreams and getting obsessed with Steve himself,” Tess shoots back. Might as well be blunt. “Who the hell is going to want to take it with a side effect like that? So I thought, this is fucking dead in the water, I’ll pass a sample off so my buyer can test it and realize for himself that it’s not fucking viable, and then I’m done. I’m out.”
She lets out a hard breath.
“And I’m telling you, Yunlan is power tripping, pushing me around and bossing me around, because Steve has been using it himself on Pagan for goddamn months. Saying shit like ‘do you think he loves me?’ when he’s drugging the guy. But I’m the fucking problem here? He knocks on your door instead of Nadja’s? Bullshit.”
He listens to her, because that's his job, despite the frustration and the anger. Channels those moments when Dutch was at his most frustrating, and Arthur needed him to make sure other people stayed alive.
And then takes it a step further, by staying silent a moment while he processes it. His jaw works, his hands now resting on the back of a chair.
"Fine. Steve's clearly fucked in the head, and something's gotta be done. But that don't change the fact that you had a buyer. Someone asked you, or you heard about that shit and reached out, and you still did it. Calm down and listen to me, like I am listening to you now."
It’s tempting to argue — And I’m telling you I started that long before London! But she’s said it already and it doesn’t change the truth of what she did, so she just swallows it.
“Okay, I’m listening,” she says, frustrated but god, she’ll try. He’s trying. “What was I supposed to do?”
"Tell me," he says, firmly, looking right at her. "We had that big
fucking fight in London over the stupid booze. Can't go a couple weeks
before something else you're involved in comes up, and this time I
don't get to find out from you, even."
Not like he's always learned his lessons on the first try, but it still
feels so damn unnecessary.
“I was going to talk to you!” she insists. Possibly, she thinks, her shittiest defence ever. “I told you the other week that I’d been offered a partnership and I turned it down, didn’t I? I’m trying to get back out of things I started before I even met you, and I don’t know what you want me to tell you! It’s not like you ever asked for specifics or details.”
He slaps the top of the chair in frustration- restraint, but still more aggression than he likes bringing to her. "I don't wanna grill you, or treat you like a child, because I don't wanna assume you're getting up to shit. You told me, you clearly didn't want to elaborate, so I accepted that and shut my mouth. And now I feel like a damn fool for it, because not only are you holding it over my head but someone else is now butting into what we got goin'."
“Who wants to be doing this?” Tess shoots back, and she’s tempted to just walk out instead of disappoint him more. “I sure as fuck don’t, I don’t even mean to hold it over your head -— but I’d rather you grill me than get upset when I do shit the only way I know how! Not fucking Yunlan, you.”
He's holding on to that chair hard enough that he might just break part of it off, and he takes a few seconds- one, two, three- before breathing out.
"I will grill you. If you tell me about shit. I will do my best to not leave you alone and let you hide, if you also do your best to talk to me. You can't get out? You gotta finish the job? You goddamn try and talk to me, Tess."
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Arthur's resting against the wall, her pistol in a hip holster. He gives her a nod when she walks up, then notches his chin at her door. Shall they?
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"Can't wait to hear how he spun this one."
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"You gonna start out that way? After a fella who I don't consider a friend shows up on my doorstep with your firearm in his possession?"
Fuck that. He's straightened up, but he's not even going to start this conversation if that's going to be her attitude.
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"I know what I did, and I haven't pulled the gun on a single person since you gave it to me," she replies, and she puts out the hand for her gun. "So yes, I'm starting out that way. I want to know what he said to make you think it has anything to do with the gun."
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He is definitely not handing her that gun back, now. He hates being this, the lawman, the warden. But he's also got a responsibility towards other people here.
He closes the door behind him, a little too loudly. "It has nothing to do with the damn gun, but if you're gonna come up rollin' your eyes right off the bat it's gonna be about the gun."
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"Well excuse me if I'm not in a good mood, getting frisked like that," she replies. Being denied the gun for showing a bit of attitude is beyond bullshit to her, but she'll play ball. "He waltzed up to a conversation he wasn't a part of and decided to power trip."
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He's got his arms folded right back, mirroring the hell out of this conversation.
"What about the blood, Tess?"
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"Why the hell did you want to take it! I don't care if that goddamn vampire wants you to take his blood, he's a vampire, and he ain't particularly stable!"
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"Because I said I would months ago, and now I'm trying to finish the job so I can get myself out of this stupid fucking situation!" she argues.
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He isn't afraid of a little shouting, even if he's not really likely to do it himself, these days. Then again, few people get under his skin enough to piss him off like Tess can, sometimes.
Still. He doesn't do it now, because that sounds like something that warrants 'slow-and-steady'. "What the hell are you talking about?"
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"You want me to be happy now? 'Cause you realized you wanted out? Because I don't know why the hell you'd even want to get into that. Liquor's one thing, Tess, but shit like that?"
He isn't judging her, he's just baffled, but it sure could come off that way.
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"Do you think I want to do any of this shit?" she demands. "That I ever have? No! But it's my job, it's all I've fucking done for twenty years, and I need people in my corner, I need people to owe me favours so I can collect on them when I need to, I need people to respect me, and I am good at it."
She lets out an angry breath. Holds a finger in his face.
"And you can't tell me wardens care at all about the blood," she warns him. "They don't. Yunlan just wanted an excuse to frisk me."
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It's giving a lot away that she's never told him. The uncertainty, the insecurities, the need to keep going. How can you stop? How did Arthur ever stop?
He stopped because someone else was fucking up so hard he couldn't go along with it anymore. Well, that's not an option here. He grits his teeth and bats her finger away - he's been in too many fights in his life to accept someone getting in his space quite like that.
"This is no longer about Yunlan and what he cares about, and we both know it. How long ago did this start?"
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"No, it's about Yunlan," she disagrees, brushing right by the question. "He's been looking for an excuse since London. How much do you even know about the blood? Because I'll tell you exactly how it works."
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"Tell me. I doubt it's gonna piss me off more than this is already pissin' me off."
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She lets out a hard breath.
“And I’m telling you, Yunlan is power tripping, pushing me around and bossing me around, because Steve has been using it himself on Pagan for goddamn months. Saying shit like ‘do you think he loves me?’ when he’s drugging the guy. But I’m the fucking problem here? He knocks on your door instead of Nadja’s? Bullshit.”
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He listens to her, because that's his job, despite the frustration and the anger. Channels those moments when Dutch was at his most frustrating, and Arthur needed him to make sure other people stayed alive.
And then takes it a step further, by staying silent a moment while he processes it. His jaw works, his hands now resting on the back of a chair.
"Fine. Steve's clearly fucked in the head, and something's gotta be done. But that don't change the fact that you had a buyer. Someone asked you, or you heard about that shit and reached out, and you still did it. Calm down and listen to me, like I am listening to you now."
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“Okay, I’m listening,” she says, frustrated but god, she’ll try. He’s trying. “What was I supposed to do?”
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"Tell me," he says, firmly, looking right at her. "We had that big fucking fight in London over the stupid booze. Can't go a couple weeks before something else you're involved in comes up, and this time I don't get to find out from you, even."
Not like he's always learned his lessons on the first try, but it still feels so damn unnecessary.
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"Because I don't wanna be doing this crap, Tess!"
He slaps the top of the chair in frustration- restraint, but still more aggression than he likes bringing to her. "I don't wanna grill you, or treat you like a child, because I don't wanna assume you're getting up to shit. You told me, you clearly didn't want to elaborate, so I accepted that and shut my mouth. And now I feel like a damn fool for it, because not only are you holding it over my head but someone else is now butting into what we got goin'."
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He's holding on to that chair hard enough that he might just break part of it off, and he takes a few seconds- one, two, three- before breathing out.
"I will grill you. If you tell me about shit. I will do my best to not leave you alone and let you hide, if you also do your best to talk to me. You can't get out? You gotta finish the job? You goddamn try and talk to me, Tess."
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