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[stand_unshaken]

 

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[dog_eat_dog]

[A lot of dread went into sending this, and there's still a trace of it in her voice, but hey, she's being responsible.]

Inmates are up to some bullshit –– planning a retaliation for one getting killed yesterday. I'm not invited for obvious reasons, but I've been asked to hold onto some contraband if someone gets killed. If that happens, you wanna come with me and "bust" me so I can at least look like I tried?

At home if you want to talk.

Audio

[stand_unshaken]

Yeah, alright. I'm getting coffee, I'll come to yours right after.

[And he's knocking on her door five minutes later, holding two cups. He's probably a little too glad that she contacted him this time.]

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[dog_eat_dog]

[Not an immediate argument. Alright, she can do this.

She gets the door when he knocks and stands back so he can come in.]

No quiet end to the year, huh?

[stand_unshaken]

He slips inside and closes the door behind him.

"Not a chance. We'll be lucky if nothing's set on fire. So - what's happenin'?"

[dog_eat_dog]

"Mmhmm," she hums. She'd take fire over more interpersonal bullshit. "I don't know a lot of details, but some new inmate killed Rawne –– guy from maintenance, if you don't know him. If wardens are doing anything, I haven't heard about it, but Rawne gave the guy's description to some other inmates and they're going to track him down and kill him."

And she's not included, thank fuck for that.

"One wants me to hold on to some contraband for him if he gets killed, just in case some warden searches his cabin, and I don't feel like getting ragged on for saying no. Hopefully it won't come to that, but just in case..."

She gestures vaguely at Arthur. She's not fucking around with a third incident in two months.

[stand_unshaken]

He gestures vaguely back - he gets it, he understands. "I'm glad you told me. Stash it, we'll make a show of finding it if we gotta. Ain't Rawne's warden gonna do anything?"

[dog_eat_dog]

There’s a flicker of a smile. He’s glad. That’s good.

She shrugs.

“Quentin doesn’t really keep on top of Rawne.” Case in point: he doesn’t know jack shit about the bootleg. “So maybe, maybe not.”

She pulls out her communicator to glance at a message. She pockets it again.

“Come on. I gotta wait at the cabin to collect the stuff, he’s left the door unlocked for me.”

Arthur will figure out it’s Pagan the moment they cross the door, but that’s fine by Tess.

[stand_unshaken]

"And what you gotta wait for? If the door's unlocked we should just go in."

He's already moving. Geez, just like old times.

[dog_eat_dog]

"If I hear it went well, I won't need to take anything, will I?" she replies, heading out the door after him. She gestures to the stairs up, locks her door behind her and heads off ahead of him to lead. "If I don't hear at all, then he's gotten killed."

[stand_unshaken]

He lights a cigarette as they go. "What materials are we talking about, exactly?"

[dog_eat_dog]

“Matches, alcohol, photos, probably some shivs or something, if he isn’t an idiot.”

The last bit is a guess, but anyone who doesn’t craft something in the absence of a real weapon deserves to be called stupid.

She brings Arthur to the fifth floor, to Pagan’s room, and she pauses at the door handle to glance down the hall. No one around for now. She gives Arthur a playful little shhh gesture, finger to her lips, and lets herself in.

[stand_unshaken]

He follows her, and sees right away whose room it is. He waits to groan until the door is closed behind them, and then rubs a hand over his eyes.

"This guy? He'll never keep himself outta trouble."

[dog_eat_dog]

Tess grins a little, nose crinkling.

"Good thing he's not your problem, yeah?" she says. "Ellie's his temp this month. I tipped her off, too."

[stand_unshaken]

"Works for me," he reminds her. "Well, with me. I put a brush in his hand and he pretends to be the most glamorous painter on the whole Barge - poor Ellie."

[dog_eat_dog]

"He's obnoxious as hell," Tess replies, but that is at least in part why she likes him. He's transparent, more-so than her in many ways. She wanders his room, opening the closet to reveal his collection of colourful suits. "Doing work in custodial must be novel to him, rich guy like that. I bet it's like those people that spend thousands of dollars to fly to Africa just to sloppily paint fences and then come back and tell everyone about the charity work they did."

[stand_unshaken]

"Don't know about all'a that, but I'm sure he never even saw a mop, before. But I think he must respect me at least a little, to do the work he does."

Half-assed as it is. He's got a soft spot for him, damn himself.

[dog_eat_dog]

"A lot of inmates like you," she replies. "You're not a sanctimonious asshole."

She closes the closet and starts idly looking through drawers next, curious almost by habit. She won't take anything, but hey, she was invited to go through his shit.

[stand_unshaken]

Normally going through people's stuff is Arthur's jam, but right now he just leans against a wall and watches her do it.

"Who is? One obvious party aside."

[dog_eat_dog]

"Uh, all of them?" she chuckles, rifling through a stack of books, all in a foreign language. She flips between the pages like she might find something tucked in there. "It's pretty much in the job title. The obvious party is leading the pack, though."

[stand_unshaken]

"Think he stuck something in the floorboards?"

He isn't checking. He will not.

"I think most people are just tryin' their best. You just like me because I don't give you any bullshit."

[dog_eat_dog]

Their best isn't good enough, Tess thinks, but he's not wrong. She would give Arthur all the leeway in the world for treating her like a partner in this rather than a project. She snaps the book shut and puts it away, giving the floorboards a glance. They seem firm under her feet, and there's no obvious gap of a board that needs to come in and out.

"You hold me accountable, and that's the difference," she replies. Flippantly: "And they aren't fun to drink with."

[stand_unshaken]

"Well, I got plenty of practice at that," he jokes back, pushing away from the wall.

"What'd you find?"

[dog_eat_dog]

"Looks like a journal, it's handwritten," she replies, gesturing at the book. "But not in English, so no snooping for me."

This time. She moves to the trunk and crouches down to unsnap the latches. Efficient work, even with only one arm.

"You have any plans for New Year's?"

[stand_unshaken]

"More of that drinking," is all. "You?"

[dog_eat_dog]

"Thought about doing Archer's party, but the location sucks," she replies. Outdoors at night, no thanks! "We should drink together, then."