Jacobi's not gotten far from the spa, just out of sight of it, when a cloud of mostly bees flows out of a vent, coalescing into a thin human shape to walk beside him.
""Think they're going to figure their shit out before he hurts one of them?"" hisses the swarm, in an approximation of Taylor's voice.
Jacobi jumps a bit at the sight of the bees coming out of the vent.
"Jesus Christ, Taylor," he mutters, taking a side step. "Were you spying?"
Jacobi, who never expects privacy from anything he does anymore, sounds more amused than annoyed. "I'm not discussing this with a swarm of bees. There has to be a line on weirdness, and this is where I'm drawing it. Where can we talk?"
""It's not spying if Tim knows full well that the spa is bugged. Then it's just one-party consent.""
How a cloud of bees manages to sound slightly prim is beyond reason.
""On deck."" The swarm's shape shifts, an arrow pointing upwards and aft. After her freak-out in Zero yesterday, she's sure Rags is still checking on her (because she would be), but behind the Greenhouse is a perfectly normal place for her to be.
"Heh, bugged," he laughs as he takes the stairs up to the deck. He eventually finds her and sits, his back against the deck as he stretches his legs out.
"Well, well, well, I see we have a mutual friend."
She's been back here today working on repairing a hive frame - the bees don't like this one and she's working on why. But for now, she just perches on the wooden box, looking at Jacobi. She's fairly close to full spook, with her hair crawling with hornets and the bees visiting her between their flights among the plants. If it were anyone else, she'd dial it down.
Jacobi looks up to her with a sigh. Again with the weirdness.
"Who? Big soulbonding boss? Oh yeah, he's definitely someone who deserves to be here." He rubs at the back of his neck, right where the regulator is, just absently.
"But alas. My hands are tied. I have to be a good boy." Though his tone, dripping with sarcasm, might suggest otherwise.
"Jon asked me not to hurt him." She looks up, at where a hornet's nest is in the making against the glass, on the inside of the greenhouse. "But his phrasing was... 'contractually obligated.'"
"Not fair! I had to skirt around so much with Tim," he whines. "I gave him a step by step guide to keeping out of trouble and he followed it. So at least if I do go behind his back, it won't mean a demotion for him or Jon or Martin or Warren. Which is the only thing that matters. Those idiots are so self destructive sometimes. Well, not Warren. The other three? Definitely."
He didn't know Taylor was close with them, but he's glad to have someone like her on their side. She might not like him, but at least she can help protect his idiots.
That is honestly more consideration than she would have expected him to have for their mutual friends. And she's surprised to learn he, too, counts Martin among them.
"I don't want Rags in trouble either, which is the stumbling block in my own plans."
Jacobi hesitates, thinking this through. Involving another person would be messy and he doesn't entirely trust her, but she's heard enough already. She can be useful, if he utilizes her correctly.
"Well, he doesn't have to know if you help me," he suggests gently. "I don't have a plan yet. I need to talk to him. But if you don't directly move against him and help me instead, then you can keep your hands clean."
He pauses. "And the collateral damage on this will be next to nothing." He can't promise zero, but this is not a Connor situation.
"I can't say for certain until I have a plan in place," he tells her, going a bit into planning mode- something Taylor's never seen from him. It's far from his usual nonchalant, devil may care, fun-first mentality. But this is a job.
"But we're in a stressful situation where any additional injuries or deaths would be counterproductive to the task at hand and any damage to the ship would be exceedingly stupid. So any plan I make takes that into effect. No matter what happens, all his heat would need to be either nonexistent, or on me, not on the other three."
He waves a hand.
"But I can't predict everyone's reactions. So. Next to nothing."
She pulls a knee up to her chest, resting her chin on it as she regards him. She's never seen Jacobi of the Barge take that tone. But the part of her that still remembers being Taylor Jacobi knows it. She wonders, not for the first time, how close they are.
"I work in the kitchens, the gardens, and now the spa. And I have pretty good social credibility. When you tell me you have a plan, I can probably get you anything you need."
She looks away, towards where her mosquitos are telling her Elias is just then. "And from what Jon and Elias said on the Network, I think you'll want to go for the eyes."
"Did you know that you can make a pretty effective flashbang out of two lighters?" he says easily. Flippantly. "Catch someone off guard and you can actually blind them with it. Crazy."
He inspects his nails. "Well, that's good to know. I'm not allowed to fuck with him outright just yet, but I can talk to him. So that's what I intend to do now that we're at port. Recon. You do the same and we meet back again after?"
She raises her eyebrows, with an almost friendly smile. "Do you know I was blind when we met? Flashbang damage. From a much bigger bomb than two lighters, though.
"I'll talk to him again, if he'll talk to me. Took him a little while to work up the nerve to get past me, last time we spoke."
"I think absolutely everyone from that world is going to have a bug-thing. With good reason," she adds. "I stumbled into the middle of that with Jon my first month on the Barge. Nightmarish."
She says that, but it's plain on her face how little she means it. That- that expression is pure yearning.
He clears his throat at that and leans forward, hands on his knees. "Uh huh. Well, something else to keep in mind, but any bug related incidents is going to have your fingerprints all over it. So best to leave that as a last resort."
She waves it off. "I know. But keeping my harassing to benign incidents like that is probably less suspicious than me just ignoring him, at this point."
Taylor leans back against the glass, elbow propped on her knee. "Martin was my first temp warden. And Jon's a friend. I inherited Tim." She shrugs slightly. "And Elias Bouchard reminds me far, far too much of someone I know back home."
“Heh, mine is my boss too. And the guy who sent me here.”
She holds up a hand, and sends a dozen hornets to him - carrying a brightly colored little box. “I think we should keep this off the communicators, so if you want to talk, give this a hard shake.”
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 01:12 pm (UTC)""Think they're going to figure their shit out before he hurts one of them?"" hisses the swarm, in an approximation of Taylor's voice.
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Date: 2021-11-27 01:16 pm (UTC)"Jesus Christ, Taylor," he mutters, taking a side step. "Were you spying?"
Jacobi, who never expects privacy from anything he does anymore, sounds more amused than annoyed. "I'm not discussing this with a swarm of bees. There has to be a line on weirdness, and this is where I'm drawing it. Where can we talk?"
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 01:25 pm (UTC)How a cloud of bees manages to sound slightly prim is beyond reason.
""On deck."" The swarm's shape shifts, an arrow pointing upwards and aft. After her freak-out in Zero yesterday, she's sure Rags is still checking on her (because she would be), but behind the Greenhouse is a perfectly normal place for her to be.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 01:33 pm (UTC)"Well, well, well, I see we have a mutual friend."
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 01:38 pm (UTC)"Real charmer, isn't he?"
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 01:43 pm (UTC)"Who? Big soulbonding boss? Oh yeah, he's definitely someone who deserves to be here." He rubs at the back of his neck, right where the regulator is, just absently.
"But alas. My hands are tied. I have to be a good boy." Though his tone, dripping with sarcasm, might suggest otherwise.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 01:59 pm (UTC)He didn't know Taylor was close with them, but he's glad to have someone like her on their side. She might not like him, but at least she can help protect his idiots.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 02:13 pm (UTC)"I don't want Rags in trouble either, which is the stumbling block in my own plans."
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 02:19 pm (UTC)"Well, he doesn't have to know if you help me," he suggests gently. "I don't have a plan yet. I need to talk to him. But if you don't directly move against him and help me instead, then you can keep your hands clean."
He pauses. "And the collateral damage on this will be next to nothing." He can't promise zero, but this is not a Connor situation.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 04:03 pm (UTC)"Define 'next to nothing' for me." Oh Daniel. You aren't Taylor's first loose cannon.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 04:11 pm (UTC)"But we're in a stressful situation where any additional injuries or deaths would be counterproductive to the task at hand and any damage to the ship would be exceedingly stupid. So any plan I make takes that into effect. No matter what happens, all his heat would need to be either nonexistent, or on me, not on the other three."
He waves a hand.
"But I can't predict everyone's reactions. So. Next to nothing."
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 04:26 pm (UTC)"I work in the kitchens, the gardens, and now the spa. And I have pretty good social credibility. When you tell me you have a plan, I can probably get you anything you need."
She looks away, towards where her mosquitos are telling her Elias is just then. "And from what Jon and Elias said on the Network, I think you'll want to go for the eyes."
no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 04:43 pm (UTC)He inspects his nails. "Well, that's good to know. I'm not allowed to fuck with him outright just yet, but I can talk to him. So that's what I intend to do now that we're at port. Recon. You do the same and we meet back again after?"
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Date: 2021-11-27 04:47 pm (UTC)"I'll talk to him again, if he'll talk to me. Took him a little while to work up the nerve to get past me, last time we spoke."
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Date: 2021-11-27 04:54 pm (UTC)He leans forward. "Wait, though. Wait. The last time you spoke? What did you do to him?"
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Date: 2021-11-27 04:59 pm (UTC)She doesn't grin, but the smile's real in her eyes now. "I assume Tim's told you about Jane Prentiss."
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Date: 2021-11-27 08:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 08:53 pm (UTC)She says that, but it's plain on her face how little she means it. That- that expression is pure yearning.
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Date: 2021-11-27 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 09:11 pm (UTC)"Thanks for looking after them," he adds quietly.
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Date: 2021-11-27 09:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-27 09:25 pm (UTC)Too bad Elias can't have Cutter's fate here. Ah well.
He sits up. "Alright. Well thanks for the help, Taylor. I'll be in touch."
no subject
Date: 2021-11-28 02:35 am (UTC)She holds up a hand, and sends a dozen hornets to him - carrying a brightly colored little box. “I think we should keep this off the communicators, so if you want to talk, give this a hard shake.”
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