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

[14thcommander]

[She is totally distracted by that last point.]

How are you alive then?

[She's reaching out to poke him. Hmm. Feels solid. Doesn't feel like he's full of gas. Hmmm.]

[mothmansplaining]

Oh, it's still normal blood while it's in my body. But, as soon as it breaks contact, presto! Lighter-than-air gas. Impossible to use for blood-magic rituals.

The magic comes from an alchemical sigil I put on my socks. I've got another for ammonia, but that one's less practical, except for when I'm out of cleaning solution.

[14thcommander]

I wanna see the sigil.

[please. PLEASE show her the sigil.]

[mothmansplaining]

Well, okay, but I've had these boots on all day, so...don't say I didn't warn you.

[Ford pulls the left boot off. He crosses his ankle over his knee with a huff so that Hange can see: the bottom of the sock, which has been mended at the heel, has a complex symbol drawn onto the bottom in permanent marker. There are alchemical symbols for the components of blood and for helium, mathematical equations, and all kinds of esoteric nonsense.]

[14thcommander]

[Hange gazes upon this and says the first thing that comes to mind.]

That seems like something you should have tattooed on. If someone peels off your socks won't they be able to get your blood?

[mothmansplaining]

Only if they know it's there.

[A jovial and conspiratorial wink.]

Hence the bottom of the sock! If I got it tattooed, I'd be unable to change it. I might need my own blood for something in the future! And besides, an unlimited ammonia supply is darned useful, especially when you're an inmate and can't get at the cleaning chemicals in the maintenance closet.

[Also, he'd been helping to feed Tesla at the time, purely as a friend, you understand, and that shit needed to be removable.]

[14thcommander]

[Hange nods, because all of this is totally reasonable and sensible, the kind of thing any person who could prepare themselves with magic to deal with any kind of situation would do.]

If the basic structure is similar you could tattoo that and then mark it on... I suppose that'd be more time-consuming than socks, though...

[mothmansplaining]

I suppose an incomplete formula might be feasible. But then I'd need a marker that wouldn't rub off halfway through the day but wasn't too permanent to wash off in a hurry.

[14thcommander]

Wipe down with alcohol. A rag and a flask.

[mothmansplaining]

....well, I do have that.

[He has a lot of pockets in this coat. This baby can fit so many survival supplies. He thinks it over.]

I would have to redo it every time I came back from the dead. Which I'm sure I could find someone in a port to do, but those only happen every few months. You don't happen to know anyone on the Barge who does them, do you?

[14thcommander]

Off the top of my head, no I don't.

Is that something that happens to you often?

[mothmansplaining]

Not particularly. But you never know when it will! I've died several times since coming here for one reason or another, so I have to take it into consideration.

[14thcommander]

You know, [Hange snaps her fingers,] that brings to mind, I spoke to a man, Fives, early on when I arrived here. He told me that he left the barge to "set" his tattoos, that then they wouldn't disappear if he died. You could do the same.

[mothmansplaining]

Would it work on any world, or does it have to be my own?

[There's heaviness to how he says that. If it has to be Ford's own world in order for his death-toll-reset-state to update, then he's out of luck.]

[14thcommander]

That, he didn't say, which leads me to believe it should work regardless of what world you go to... it seems more likely he'd specify if it had to be his own.

[mothmansplaining]

I'll ask him, then. If any world will do, then this just might work.

[14thcommander]

[Hange nods, turning to stare out at the ocean again.]

It sounds like you've been through a lot here. [And in your life in general.]

[mothmansplaining]

[Ford breathes out a long sigh.

He wants to trust Hange, to open up to her about everything that's happened -- the deaths, Bill being here, the fear of Bill escaping, the fear of never seeing his family again, the real knowledge that something in him is broken and he'll never understand others easily, the desire to help people here who are hurting but not knowing how to do it equitably, and Bill...Bill using him again, and Ford missing him anyway like a damned fool.

But complaining is showing weakness. It implies Ford can't handle this, and he wants to show he can. He's fine, he's been through plenty of terrible things before, and he doesn't have to tell them to everyone he meets.]

If I could, I'd leave in an instant. But it's still my best chance to find my family and bring them somewhere with a future.

And there's the other inmates. It'd make me a real jerk to give up on trying to make the place better as soon as I didn't have to deal with it. The things I hated about being an inmate didn't go away just because the Admiral decided I was safe enough to bring back to life.

[14thcommander]

[She has a lot more questions for him. She saw him fight with Iris on his post about the watches, something that seems unlike Iris and, judging from this conversation, a little unlike him. There’s lots of questions to be asked here, but it can be teased out, doesn’t have to come in a rush now.]

Well! I appreciate your showing concern for Betelgeuse. It’s been interesting talking to you. More tea?

[mothmansplaining]

Thank you.

[He accepts the tea.]

I just want to see him treated fairly, that's all.

[Consequences when they're warranted, not passionate or disproportionate revenge. A chance, but nothing careless.]

And to make sure that you'll be all right. The double standard when it comes to inmates everyone knows are troublemakers and people who are supposed to know better can be....frustrating. And Barge public opinion never makes sense. I once saw someone admit to multiple counts of genocide and everyone basically said, "Well, try not to do it again!" You never know how this ship's going to take anything.

[14thcommander]

Well, speaking of that, maybe there's something you should see.

[He initiated contact with her, after all. On the off chance they run into each other again, Hange did the whole thing so people would know and could choose at their discretion whether they wanted to associate with her or not.

She reaches out a hand, wiggling her fingers.]

Pass your communicator over.

[mothmansplaining]

...

...

All right.

[He hands it to her.]

[14thcommander]

[Hange takes it and fiddles around til she finds her last post (cw for descriptions of torture and humans being devoured there I guess). Then she hands it back to Ford and sits back, expression inscrutable, waiting for him to look it over.]

[mothmansplaining]

[Ford watches the recording.

Eyebrows go up at the torture description. But he doesn't seem particularly shocked.]

That's exactly what I'm talking about. How many people actually decided they wanted to have nothing to do with you after they heard about that?

[He feels a little bit privately bitter, still, that other people's confessions of torture and murder get a chorus of "but I still like you!"s, while he, Ford, is a pariah for trying to hold the Admiral and Authority accountable for what the people on the Barge have been through. Yes, he knows the problem with it was that Ford didn't ask them if they wanted his help or were willing to take the risk, but still, it feels like...like there's some emotional note everyone else is hitting to get support for their mistakes that is out of Ford's range. Just another reason he's not normal.

But that isn't Hange's fault. And torturing someone and then realizing it was a bad idea is well within the realm of acceptable associating behavior. Ford's last boyfriend tortured him. On multiple occasions. Did Ford ever get a real apology for that? Did Bill ever feel true remorse for them, outside of a blood curse? Certainly not before they started dating. He's....Ford's standards are also a little fucked up.]

[14thcommander]

Mm-hm.

[The reaction didn't surprise her. She knew the barge populace had seen worse. Still, it's best that people know and have the chance to make their own decisions. Being forthright is its own kind of power.]

No one has. It's still better that people know. I shared this so nothing would come as a surprise to people. [She spreads her hands, shrugs.] Since we're speaking, I wanted you to know also.