mrballisticsdummy

mrballisticsdummy

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From:

reformedsinner

[Quietly]

So. Why were you fighting?

[He'd asked the exact same question before, but he suspects the answer might be different with less adrenaline and not in front of Eiffel.]

From:

mrballisticsdummy

That depends on why you're asking. If it's because you give a shit, I might answer.

If it's because you're angry and defensive, then I'm going to stonewall you.

From:

reformedsinner

[Very thoughtfully:]

Anger and giving a shit are mutually exclusive?

Is this a new Warden thing?

From:

mrballisticsdummy

Ah, I see we have opted for the sarcastic approach! Very good choice. Super effective.

[A pause.]

Look, we're friends. So I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

I threw zero damn punches. All you saw was me signing to him, and then him hit me, and then me try to block and restrain. Did I piss him off? Yes. Was it to make him angry enough to hurt himself? No. Was it for a reason? Also yes.

The why is hard. It's his story. Not mine. He simply refuses to acknowledge it.

From:

reformedsinner

[Gonou is silent for a long moment. At last, still quiet:]

I know you didn't throw any punches, Jacobi. He was clearly the one who started hitting.

But I don't like finding my friends trying to hurt each other in the hallways. Sometimes, digging into a bleeding wound can hurt quite a bit more than a punch.

From:

mrballisticsdummy

You weren't my friend in that moment.

But if Eiffel sees you as any sort of friend, he'll tell you the beginning of his story. I hope he does. I'm sorry you won't ever know the ending.

From:

reformedsinner

You mean, I wasn't sufficiently on your side?

[His tone is edged.]

From:

mrballisticsdummy

Yeah, exactly. You didn't stroke my ego and tell me how much you adore me.

No. You came in fucking hot. That's what I meant.

From:

reformedsinner

I --

[... Jacobi actually does have a very good point about the overreaction.

The silence stretches for a long moment. At last, low:]

The last time I saw him fighting in the halls, he was rendered into a bloody mist immediately afterwards.

But you're right.

[and this takes some swallowing of pride, so there's another brief silence before--]

I'm sorry.

From:

mrballisticsdummy

[The apology is appreciated, but the second bit of news hits him hard.]

He was what?

From:

reformedsinner

Violently killed by magic the week after we got back from the Galley.

[In a flat and matter-of-fact tone.]

From:

mrballisticsdummy

Jesus. Well, hey. Look at what a little context gives us. Understanding.

[Despite the words, he does sound more sympathetic than outright sarcastic.]

Look, I'm the loose cannon. I'm the one that people don't trust. When there's a fight, it's always - what did Jacobi do wrong? You know those assholes automatically picked me as the one with the nukes?

And hey, I get it because I'm usually instigating it. But uh - this was different, alright? I didn't just rile him up because he annoys me. The last thing I wanted was for him to get more hurt.

From:

reformedsinner

Well.

I know how reluctant Eiffel is to throw a punch, and I know you don't like him.

[He recalls Jacobi telling him about Eiffel being friends with Maxwell's killers. There had been more than just annoyance there.]

I, ah, may have been overprotective. But if I walked in on Eiffel punching anyone I'd assume they must've pushed quite a few buttons first.

Now, if he were insulting the last six generations of their family, he's likely to be the aggressor....

Why did you rile him up?

From:

mrballisticsdummy

Yeah, you are overprotective. But so am I.

[He tsks.]

Can't answer that one.

From:

reformedsinner

I'm... not asking for the details of what you said. Only why you thought it was so important for him to hear it that you thought it was worth pushing him into a rage.

From:

mrballisticsdummy

Sorry, buddy. Can't tell you that, either.

Spoiler alert.

Just by telling you that, I'm risking his blood pressure rising if he ever finds out.

I wish I could tell you. I really do.

From:

reformedsinner

... Spoiler?

[He does his best to follow Eiffel's conversation, but it only works because he's usually able to gloss over whatever strange reference Eiffel's making, or guess it from context. In this case, though -- it feels important. And he doesn't understand.]

From:

mrballisticsdummy

Yeah. Spoiling something is when someone tells you the ending to a story you haven't finished yet.

Edited Date: 2022-10-16 12:32 am (UTC)

From:

reformedsinner

You can't tell me because you were acting based on knowledge about his future.

[He doesn't like that thought at all. Actually -- it's terrifying, in a way that makes him want to fight things, even though he doesn't know what there might be to fight.]

You didn't -- tell him something about his future, did you?

From:

mrballisticsdummy

No. And that's why I'm not telling you. I don't want anything getting back to him.

This place has never been good about secrets.

From:

reformedsinner

Nowhere is good about secrets -- not once anyone knows them.

[He won't push. That's a very good reason for Jacobi not to want to give details, and the details themselves aren't any of his business.]

But... if it's bad, is there any way for him to avoid it? If there is, you might want to tell him.

[His voice is low as he says that. There might not be a way around it. But he himself, if he'd had any chance to get information -- very much would have wanted to know his own future, a year ago, when it could have made a difference.]

From:

mrballisticsdummy

It's hard to say.

He's a year behind me. An entire year of decisions that lead to where he ends up. A lot of dead people and he already has more information now than he did. Maybe he'll avoid it.

From:

reformedsinner

A year...

[He sighs.]

Well. I suppose it's possible he will, then. I was just thinking -- in my own past, there are some decisions I wish I'd been warned against.

In any case. I -- know you were trying to help. But I do think it's important to be careful, when you're meddling with other people's hurts.