ic contact

[14thcommander]

It's Hange, Hange, Hange! Were you looking for me? I'll get back to you posthaste. Or when it's convenient.

[ communicator & actionspam it's all good ]

Comments

[mothmansplaining]

Be up in a minute.

[If she suggested the enclosure, it's probably to keep anyone from listening in. She probably has a location in mind, so if Ford gets there first, he will respectfully stand just outside, and if he's second, he'll walk into whatever she's programmed.]

[14thcommander]

[As it happens, Hange arrives after Ford does. She took some minutes to get black tea and fixings together, though it's not evident that's what she was up to since the tea, the honey, and the cream are all in containers and stashed in a portable teaset. It essentially looks like a small traveling case that she carries.

Hange looks Ford over without comment. A strange sense of cognitive dissonance washes over her as she does; very recently she felt a lot of affection for him. The Hange of that other world wasn't so different from the Hange of this one and if the same holds true for Ford...

Hypothetical friendships don't warrant woolgathering over. Hange begins punching a location into the enclosure.]

You've run into Betelgeuse?

[mothmansplaining]

I should say so. He's sleeping in my house!

[14thcommander]

[Hange stops. She looks at Ford.

ARE YOU INSANE?]

And you're okay with this?

[mothmansplaining]

[He sighs.]

I'm not happy about it, but I'm willing to put him up for a couple of weeks. He knows when he has to get out.

[14thcommander]

[Hange... sighs. It's fine it's fine. It's fine. She finishes programming in their destination and gestures to Ford - accompany her. Hange is happy to lead the way in as well. They come out on a long beach scattered with smooth boulders all over. Some of them are low and flat, enough to sit and set out tea.]

Well, if you wish to offer him your home, I won't argue with it. You should be warned that I'm planning on giving some of his abilities back. He has the ability to possess people and that's more trouble than it's worth for anyone, that's got to go, but I'm planning on giving him some cosmetic and basic survival things.

[mothmansplaining]

I know about the possession. I don't think he's tried it, but he shouldn't be able to get through anyway.

I'm only letting him stay with me because he can't be summoned from inside my cabin. Apparently, some people have been running him ragged, and he's been afraid to sleep in case someone names him and then throws him overboard.

He was exhausted. Fell asleep in seconds!

[heyyyy guess who also has been afraid to sleep for long periods of time]

[14thcommander]

[Hange leads them over to one of the rocks, taking a seat, setting down the case, opening it to obtain cups and tea and necessities.]

He's definitely not the kind of personality that wins people over easily. [And this tub is full of difficult people.] People have definitely been out of line with him, but some of the responsibility falls on him as he instigates. I haven't personally heard of him turning a verbal altercation physical, though. [She very well knows that doesn't mean it won't happen.]

possibly cw here for talk of sexual harassment

[mothmansplaining]

That depends on what you mean by "physical."

[14thcommander]

[His tone is suggestive enough that it sets Hange on alert.] Did something happen?

[mothmansplaining]

Nothing serious. He's just desperate for attention and doesn't care what kind it is. I've dealt with his type before. He's calmed down a bit now that there's ground rules and something to lose if he breaks them.

[14thcommander]

If you're going to imply things happened, tell me what they are. I'm responsible for him to at least some degree here.

[mothmansplaining]

[To Ford, he was just venting, rolling his eyes about Betelgeuse being difficult. This guy, right? He has had unfortunate things socialized into him thanks to being raised by Filbrick Pines in the 50s and 60s, so when she, rightly, is concerned, he bristles and reads it as an insult, like he can't handle himself. Defensive now:]

Nothing happened that I couldn't handle. I told you, I've dealt with someone similar.

[14thcommander]

[Hange studies him momentarily, then pats the rock beside her. Come and sit. She's pouring him tea, if he won't come get some himself.]

Tell me so I know what he's doing. If something happened, I probably have to address it with him.

[mothmansplaining]

Nothing happened. Nothing is ever going to happen.

[...he goes to sit down. Harder to bristle while sitting down and being offered tea.

Uuuuugh he doesn't want to talk about this.]

He's just--

[Ford waves a hand vaguely, grimacing.]

--handsy.

very flippant sexual harassment ref

[14thcommander]

[just as keikaku

Hange pushes the cream and honey towards him when he sits.]

Ohhh. [Dawning realization.] He grabbed a handful or something, huh?

[mothmansplaining]

[Way to make it extra embarrassing, Hange.]

That's not what I'm here to talk about.

[14thcommander]

[Here's a way in which Hange is shitty: a forced kiss or a stray grab or even a tongue in an ear, which she experienced from Betelgeuse in interaction number one, does not make that much of a ripple for her. Things have changed a lot but for most of her life her world was a hard, mean, bleak one, where people with means could often take what they wanted from people without. Getting away with just that is getting away easily. Ford doesn't seem injured; he was momentarily made uncomfortable.

Boundaries are something she's aware Betelgeuse will need to work on, but if no one was seriously hurt Hange is prepared to let the matter drop.]

Well, as long as you weren't injured. Feel free to push back on him when he pulls that shit. Betelgeuse needs to experience some consequences for those things.

[mothmansplaining]

[Ford, being who he is, is just glad she isn't making a big deal of it. It was a misunderstanding. She thought it was more serious than it was, and that's Ford's garbage social skills at work again. Yay!]

If I didn't have it under control, I wouldn't be letting him sleep in my living room.

[14thcommander]

Hmm.

[Hange sips her tea.]

What did you want to talk about, regarding Betelgeuse?

[mothmansplaining]

[Okay. Deep breath, shake off the embarrassment, go back to being Serious Ford, not Humiliated and Flustered Ford.]

Oh, just -- well. He's...

[Huff. Sip the tea, slow the heart rate, u are the master of your own social anxiety even if the scenario went more nightmarish than anticipated.

Be straightforward.]

Do you think you can handle him?

[He's not doubting. He's asking.]

[14thcommander]

I do think so.

[She's calm about it.]

He's disgusting and he reeks, which I'm sure he knows and uses, but I have over twenty years of experience on the battlefield and I can't express to you how much worse that is when it comes to stink and shock value. I'm not intimidated by his vulgarities or by what of his abilities I've seen. So far, I've found myself able to work out situations with him without, generally, turning to physical violence. He doesn't offend me and hasn't been able to rile me up. [Which seems really important with Betelgeuse.] We'll see how the month goes, but I think I could work with him.

[mothmansplaining]

[He listens.]

And the rest of the ship? I understand that his personality is difficult, and he brings a lot of trouble on himself. But plenty of people on this boat -- and the wardens are no exception -- seem to think that just because they don't like somebody, they can treat them however they want.

And besides that, he's --

-- I lost my temper with him. Said something that was out of line, on the night of the 13th. I tried to apologize, but he thought it was a trick -- that I was going to hurt him the minute he let his guard down, so that I could laugh at his suffering.

What I mean is, it's going to be difficult keeping others from making matters worse.

[14thcommander]

[There's a lot to address there, so Hange picks what seems like the most salient point first.]

Are you asking if the rest of the ship can handle him, or if I can handle him for them? Or them for him?

[mothmansplaining]

I'm saying that the rest of the ship will complicate this. It's hard being an intermediary between someone who hates most of the ship and a ship full of people who hate them back.

[at least Bill was smart enough to pick his battles, mostly. Bill is surprisingly well behaved compared to Betelgeuse. Civilized. Calculating. BJ is a loose cannon. Bill is--was?--a time bomb.]

...I'm concerned for him.