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[stand_unshaken]

 

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[stand_unshaken]

He grunts in annoyance - not at Yunlan, but at Tess getting up to things she's clearly too smart to be getting involved in.

He takes the bottle, and takes a swig before replying. The comment about the bootleg makes him feel a little unsettled - does he really know, or is he just guessing?

"Don't want her bootlegging the less hard stuff either," he settles on. "That's the kinda shit she got up to back home, no need for it here."

[wildguardian]

"I'll leave that up to you!" Yunlan shrugs. "I don't have any evidence of this, but I'd be very surprised if she didn't stock up on contraband in London. We ran into each other in a back alley, and she clearly wasn't enthused to have a Warden around cramping her style."

He leans back in the chair, smiling easily. "I don't envy you your job. She's sharp."

[stand_unshaken]

"And I, apparently, have lost my edge," he complains. Not because he didn't know about the bootlegging - but he found out around the same time Yunlan did. In London. And he had no idea about this.

"I like her. I know she's gonna make it outta here. But she keeps goin' back to what she knows."

[wildguardian]

"It's hard to break an old habit," Yunlan shrugs. "I think you're right -- I think she'll make it out of here, but she's got to figure out how to dial it back first."

He raps his fingertips against the desk. "Well! That's about all I needed to tell you -- unless you've got any questions I can answer?"

[stand_unshaken]

"The other guy - he's alright?"

[wildguardian]

"Bit shaken up, but no real harm done."

[stand_unshaken]

Arthur nods, satisfied as he can be with all of this going on.

"Thanks for takin' it up with me directly. Feel free to take that bottle."

As Arthur had felt free to take it from the Lounge.

[wildguardian]

"I appreciate the offer, but I've got a few I'm working through in my cabin yet." He nods to Arthur, getting to his feet, and holds out a hand to shake. "Thanks for the help."

[stand_unshaken]

He shakes Yunlan's hand, sees him out - and then calls Tess.

He almost never calls.

[dog_eat_dog]

Tess knows what this is about the moment her communicator goes off, and she lets it run for half a minute before she picks up.

Crisply: "Hey."

[stand_unshaken]

His frustration builds in those thirty seconds, so his voice is clipped when she picks up. "Where are you?"

[dog_eat_dog]

"Showers." Technically, she supposes. The Brew is close enough. "What'd he say?"

[stand_unshaken]

"How about we talk about that face to face, Tess?"

[dog_eat_dog]

She considers where she is and whether that shows in his journal –– if he's even looking. Maybe not, if he asked, but maybe he's checking. Fuck.

"Sure," she replies anyway, businesslike, as she lets herself out of the Brew. "Where to?"

[stand_unshaken]

"Your cabin should be fine."

He's not going to murder you behind closed doors. He just doesn't want to do this out in the open.

[dog_eat_dog]

"On my way, then."

She's there shortly, rounding that last corner in the hallway already steeled for a disagreement. Her chat with Bill hadn't taken much of the edge off the encounter with Yunlan, anyway.

[stand_unshaken]

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?

[dog_eat_dog]

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.

"Can't wait to hear how he spun this one."

[stand_unshaken]

"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.

[dog_eat_dog]

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."

[stand_unshaken]

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."

[dog_eat_dog]

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."

[stand_unshaken]

He's got his arms folded right back, mirroring the hell out of this conversation.

"What about the blood, Tess?"

[dog_eat_dog]

"What about it?" she retorts. "Steve told me to take it. He was still saying to let me have it to the end. Bet Yunlan left that out, huh?"

[stand_unshaken]

"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!"