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He said he didn't expect me to trust him, then spouted a lot of things I'd have to trust him to believe.
That he'll never take my magic from me, no matter what I do with it, for instance. That he wants this to be a partnership, despite knowing how my last partnership ended. He says he isn't going to push me unless I want him to, as if anyone has ever cared what I want. The list goes on.
[She isn't touching on some of the more painful things he said. Like that he cares about her, or that she deserves better than anyone has ever offered her, or that he wants her to be happy. Those are so unfathomable that she can't possibly trust them.]
The rest of it? It'll just take time. I didn't believe it at first, either.
[And he tries to sound hopeful for her sake, but truthfully, hearing the bit about partnership hits a little hard with Jacobi, who isn't really sure where he falls on their own partnership. It's hard to say that she can trust him in that when Jacobi is still a little lost on it.]
But - he is going to push you. Just so you know. You're just not going to realize that he's pushing you. And it's not in a lying or deceptive way? But he's just not going to let up until you get what you want.
[Ulla just looks doubtful at the idea of time being enough to overcome all her distrust.]
I assumed he would. Otherwise what is he doing as my warden? He doesn't seem like the sort to sit idle.
Oh my god, no. But he was like that as an inmate, too. And in real life. He doesn't ever stay still. Or if it he, it's because he's' got a million things going on in his crazy train brain.
Honestly, he's exhausting sometimes. Feel free to tell him to buzz off sometimes. I think you probably could get away with that.
I could also ask him to teach me more instruments when I want to stop talking. [That strategy should last awhile, on both their parts. She has her priorities, and music is almost always a good reprieve.]
Funk is a musical genre? [She's never heard the word before.]
I'm not surprised he played in a band.
I'd gathered that. And you would certainly know.
And hey. If there's anything I can do, even if it's just to try and get you a little peace and quiet for a while?
I will.
He said that when he read my file, he was fighting the urge to ask for your help destroying a castle underwater. I wouldn't want that; I'll take my own revenge. But he seemed as sincere as anyone ever does.
[If Ulla doesn't wholly believe Kepler wants to help her, it's because she doesn't believe in anyone. It isn't personal.]
Thank you.
Okay, wait. Let me amend that. If you want my help destroying a castle underwater, I would absolutely help you.
Or if you just want to destroy anything underwater.
I'm so game.
I'll bear the offer in mind.
Can you even breathe underwater? [No, there's no technology that lets humans do that in her world.]
[Wait.]
We can carry air in small tanks underwater.
That's useful. Humans haven't come up with that idea in my world.
Some are so suspicious of magic, though, that it's for the best they can't get at anyone who lives under the waves.
The trait isn't confined to humans, unfortunately. Sildroher can be every bit as judgmental.
[It isn't the phrasing she would have used, but...] Shit could use fucking up.
Hell yeah.
What's worse than a mutineer cannibal?
A mutineer cannibal virgin who can't drive.
A mutineer cannibal with a worse name than Hickey, which, granted, is almost impossible.
I don't know. I could go on.
[He just wants Jacobi to suffer in that knowledge.]
Second, everything you've got is absolutely wrong, because the correct answer is mutineer cannibal evil-murder-ghost-bear cult leader wannabe.
But also.
What?
Tim. Tell me more right now.
And Hickey...also no.
[There's the tell-tale hiss of a beer bottle opening in the background.]
There's this giant fuck-off god-bear. That actively hates everyone and can commit murder in the first degree. Premeditated murder.
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