15 - Video

[bodilesswarrior]

[Look who's awake!

Barbara looks rumpled and worn, hair mussed and skin pale. There's a stylised owl on her forehead, wings curving down her cheeks, stopping at the edges of her smile.

Iris is there with her, bedraggled and beaming. Between them, Jonesy hops and mews, clamouring for attention.]

Hey, Barge. [She sounds a bit exasperated, but she woke up with Iris in her arms and purring in her ears; she's incapable, right now, of being overly irritated.]

Fill me in on the past few weeks, would you? [Not that she won't be going through the network with a fine-tooth comb, of course, but individual perspectives are always valuable.]

Comments

[bodilesswarrior]

[Softly.] I understand wanting vengeance. He ought to pay for what he did.

But killing him won't make any difference, to Slevin or anyone else.

What we need to do, more than anything, is protect the rest of the ship.

[fire_punk]

He won't be able to kill anyone else while he's death tolling. [See? He's not just thinking about revenge.]

[bodilesswarrior]

Which lasts about a week.

[fire_punk]

Then we figure something else out for after. I don't know what.

[bodilesswarrior]

[Gently.] There's your problem. You're running on emotion, not thinking ahead. That gets you in trouble.

[fire_punk]

That's hard when I'm trying to make sure I don't end up in pieces first.

[bodilesswarrior]

I know, but that's also when it's most important.

[fire_punk]

I can think while he's death tolling.

[bodilesswarrior]

You can sit on this Barge and think forever, if that's how you keep going.

[fire_punk]

Then you figure out something better.

[bodilesswarrior]

We figure out something better.

I'm not asking you to be helpless.

[fire_punk]

And how long will that take?