[Jacobi is Tim's favourite room-mate and when he flops all over Tim's couch, Tim exits the kitchen a few seconds later.]
Yunlan, Ye Zun, Taylor and Zack all bothering me about a game plan. [He hands Jacobi a beer while he talks, as he rounds the couch to put the rest of a six-pack on the table and flop into the gap between his shins.] And Ulla updating me on Shen Wei being in Zero. And the man has less emotional awareness than you did when we met.
He doesn't have to be formally acquainted to have seen him. He had been in the library quite a bit.
He takes the glass and sits up so he doesn't drown himself trying to drink it.
"But I spent a week in Zero, separated from people for the whole week...except you idiots who snuck in, and forced to do homework on how to fix it after my tantrum. And I didn't even have a warden. What are they suggesting?"
"Okay, first of all--" Then he pauses, and frowns. "Wait, shit, hold on."
Immediately he's back on his feet and taking his beer with him to the bedroom, but he's only gone for a brief moment to flick what sounds like a light switch - not that Jacobi will notice anything different when Tim comes back out and continues, "So I'm heading this off with--" and he slams back down, sitting leaned forward for Maximum Indignation "--you know I'm gonna put in a decent effort for him, because this is a fucking job and he's a bloody person who needs a bloody hand and I'm happy to give that, right?"
"No one yet, I just need to be a bitch about it," he says. "Because-- like, I didn't even get a chance to see Shen Wei, or say a bloody word to him edgeways, because suddenly his entire extended family is in my DMs telling me to be gentle with him because he got traumatised by Flotilla!"
He's being incredibly reductive and he knows it, which is why he turned the Zero switch on so any eavesdroppers can't get offended.
"At least Zack is trying to be forward-planning, but again, I hadn't even seen Shen Wei yet! I didn't even learn he was in fucking Zero until his brother told me- oh, yeah, they're fucking aliens."
He takes a long sip of his drink. Because fuck him, honestly.
Jacobi rolls his eyes a bit at the 'be gentle with him' part. That's not how Jacobi has ever operated and it's not what Tim has ever done with him, either.
"Jesus Christ," he mutters. "Must be nice to have a tantrum and then everyone run to your defense."
He might still be a bit salty at how a majority acted when he hurt someone unprovoked. Not that he blames them, but not many people gave a shit about his "fragile state."
"So you've got them wanting leniency after he tried to kill a dude. I mean, Sephiroth can get on people's nerves, so I kind of get it." He takes another drink. "Isn't this the reason Shen Wei got demoted? Killing someone?"
That seemed so long ago. Years, really. He had almost forgotten.
"Yeah, I think it was Carol? Fuck, that was a while ago now. But apparently he did it right after he got out of jail there, which." He makes a face around his beer. "I'm just saying, I didn't see Rawne go and murder any bloody inmates when he got out late."
"Exactly," he says with a shrug. "And really? I'm disappointed in Taylor. She was so pissed off at me when I fucked with Blanky that she refused to talk to anyone I was associated with, including Warren, who she was close with. And she happily marched my ass to Zero when I was covered in bees."
He sighs. "I know everyone's emotional about it, but you know to step back from it. Seems cut and dry to me. Take away his means of hurting people until he can play nice, right?"
Tim is definitely not telling Jacobi that Shen Wei hurt Taylor. But the temptation is very fucking real for a moment.
"Yeah, Ulla beat me to that, actually. She chimed in too, since she was technically his warden for a bit there. Limited him down to make sure he couldn't kill people, but she didn't take his powers away entirely. Refused to, actually, since Warren didn't do it for her."
He finishes off his drink in one long pull, and thuds the empty glass on the table. "At least Yunlan's got the grace to admit it's his own fucking fault that his being an absolute dumbass with Sephiroth is what upset Shen Wei. But the way they all came at me, you'd think I was his fucking permanent Warden. I have a file, Jacobi!" he stresses dramatically, flailing an arm in exaggerated outrate. "I had to make one, because that is how much bloody bullshit there is leading up to this nonsense!"
"Of course you did. This sounds like a novel of nonsense." Jacobi never really enjoyed untangling people's stories. It was nothing but endless tedium. Fortunately, Tim is much better at that than him.
He finishes his drink and stands up to refill his own glass.
"Also, for the record, Warren took a calculated risk with Ulla. I don't know if she realizes that. He had a long list of pros and cons in his head and determined that the ultimate outcome was that Ulla needed full trust right from the beginning. This guy? Who apparently no one thought to depower after he literally killed someone and got demoted? Has just proven unequivocally that he can't be trusted yet and has more work to do. Like at least read a self help book. I didn't get access to anything stronger than baking soda and vinegar for the same reason. Still, thank God Ulla took some emergency actions."
He hops over the back of the couch with his drink and sits down beside Tim.
"So wait. Go back to the Yunlan part. How is it his fault?"
"Oh, god," he mumbles, grabbing a fresh drink before he starts. "So Yunlan's permanent inmate is Sephiroth, right? Apparently he convinced Sephiroth to share his weird mutant blood with him for..." He shrugs both shoulders bodily. "Reasons, he didn't elaborate and I didn't care to ask. Only it turns out him, Zack and Cloud, some bullshit in the thing that makes them super-soldiers is seriously lethal for normal humans - like fucking Yunlan, and it started being symptomatic on the Clipper. He got it healed when we all got back, but when Shen Wei saw him, they got into an argument about it and Shen Wei decided to try killing Sephiroth over it."
"And Shen Wei and Yunlan are a thing, right? Huh."
He can sort of understand the sentiment. He knows his relationship with Warren borders on obsessive - an unhealthy amount of obsessive - sometimes. And when Warren did something fully stupid with Ulla and got hurt, Jacobi had been pissed for weeks. He still didn't murder anyone, but the sentiment was there.
"Still not Yunlan's fault, no matter how much forethought didn't go into a royally idiotic plan. And...how old is Shen Wei? If he's a weird alien thing?"
"I'd say Shen Wei's right to be upset about Yunlan putting himself in harm's way for no good reason, but the takeaway being that he ought to murder Sephiroth for it is entirely on Shen Wei." Jacobi has the right to be upset when Warren does something dangerous, after all.
"And according to Ye Zun, they're both about ten thousand years old."
He lets out a loud groan. "So the twins are child soldiers, right? Apparently Shen Wei was one of the good guys-" with heavy airquotes with his free hand, because seriously. "-so obviously he's just a complete emotional fuck-up."
"Oh, I know I'm good at it," he snorts wryly. "That's half the problem, since no one else in this clusterfuck apparently is." He takes another good-sized swig. "Maybe it's a cultural thing to bottle it up as badly as that, who knows."
"Yeah, but he went in the direction you're supposed to go. You're fucked up for a million years and then you go to a magical space prison and get better."
He reaches over to tap Tim's glass. "Drink more and it'll make sense."
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Yunlan, Ye Zun, Taylor and Zack all bothering me about a game plan. [He hands Jacobi a beer while he talks, as he rounds the couch to put the rest of a six-pack on the table and flop into the gap between his shins.] And Ulla updating me on Shen Wei being in Zero. And the man has less emotional awareness than you did when we met.
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He doesn't have to be formally acquainted to have seen him. He had been in the library quite a bit.
He takes the glass and sits up so he doesn't drown himself trying to drink it.
"But I spent a week in Zero, separated from people for the whole week...except you idiots who snuck in, and forced to do homework on how to fix it after my tantrum. And I didn't even have a warden. What are they suggesting?"
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Immediately he's back on his feet and taking his beer with him to the bedroom, but he's only gone for a brief moment to flick what sounds like a light switch - not that Jacobi will notice anything different when Tim comes back out and continues, "So I'm heading this off with--" and he slams back down, sitting leaned forward for Maximum Indignation "--you know I'm gonna put in a decent effort for him, because this is a fucking job and he's a bloody person who needs a bloody hand and I'm happy to give that, right?"
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"Yeah, I do. Because I've seen you do it. Like...I'm the one who knows the shit you do for your people the most. Who is doubting you?"
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He's being incredibly reductive and he knows it, which is why he turned the Zero switch on so any eavesdroppers can't get offended.
"At least Zack is trying to be forward-planning, but again, I hadn't even seen Shen Wei yet! I didn't even learn he was in fucking Zero until his brother told me- oh, yeah, they're fucking aliens."
He takes a long sip of his drink. Because fuck him, honestly.
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"Jesus Christ," he mutters. "Must be nice to have a tantrum and then everyone run to your defense."
He might still be a bit salty at how a majority acted when he hurt someone unprovoked. Not that he blames them, but not many people gave a shit about his "fragile state."
"So you've got them wanting leniency after he tried to kill a dude. I mean, Sephiroth can get on people's nerves, so I kind of get it." He takes another drink. "Isn't this the reason Shen Wei got demoted? Killing someone?"
That seemed so long ago. Years, really. He had almost forgotten.
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He sighs. "I know everyone's emotional about it, but you know to step back from it. Seems cut and dry to me. Take away his means of hurting people until he can play nice, right?"
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"Yeah, Ulla beat me to that, actually. She chimed in too, since she was technically his warden for a bit there. Limited him down to make sure he couldn't kill people, but she didn't take his powers away entirely. Refused to, actually, since Warren didn't do it for her."
He finishes off his drink in one long pull, and thuds the empty glass on the table. "At least Yunlan's got the grace to admit it's his own fucking fault that his being an absolute dumbass with Sephiroth is what upset Shen Wei. But the way they all came at me, you'd think I was his fucking permanent Warden. I have a file, Jacobi!" he stresses dramatically, flailing an arm in exaggerated outrate. "I had to make one, because that is how much bloody bullshit there is leading up to this nonsense!"
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He finishes his drink and stands up to refill his own glass.
"Also, for the record, Warren took a calculated risk with Ulla. I don't know if she realizes that. He had a long list of pros and cons in his head and determined that the ultimate outcome was that Ulla needed full trust right from the beginning. This guy? Who apparently no one thought to depower after he literally killed someone and got demoted? Has just proven unequivocally that he can't be trusted yet and has more work to do. Like at least read a self help book. I didn't get access to anything stronger than baking soda and vinegar for the same reason. Still, thank God
Ulla took some emergency actions."
He hops over the back of the couch with his drink and sits down beside Tim.
"So wait. Go back to the Yunlan part. How is it his fault?"
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He can sort of understand the sentiment. He knows his relationship with Warren borders on obsessive - an unhealthy amount of obsessive - sometimes. And when Warren did something fully stupid with Ulla and got hurt, Jacobi had been pissed for weeks. He still didn't murder anyone, but the sentiment was there.
"Still not Yunlan's fault, no matter how much forethought didn't go into a royally idiotic plan. And...how old is Shen Wei? If he's a weird alien thing?"
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"And according to Ye Zun, they're both about ten thousand years old."
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He crosses his legs in Tim's lap, boggling a little at the age. He can't fathom that sort of lifespan, let alone what that might do to someone.
"So not only is he robbing the cradle, he had ten thousand years to get his shit together and decided to be a villain instead?"
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He shrugs. "Well, emotional stuff is something you're good at. Even if you think you aren't."
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He reaches over to tap Tim's glass. "Drink more and it'll make sense."