mercurialize

hi kylar this is bob

i am supposd to ask u if i can chng my cabin

Sure, I can put in the request.

Got a new cabin arrangement in mind? Or I guess I could ask for the plain one if you don't have an idea. It's not bad. It's not great. It has the basics. Pretty sure, anyway.

[Oh god he does not want to have this conversation over the phone. Nor does he want to do half an half. So he texts:]

meet u somewher and we can talk abt it?

[Oh. This is going to be like... A Whole Thing.]

Uhh.. yeah. Pick a spot and I'll be there in five.

[Bob is made of awkward sometimes. Sorry, man.]

on deck is fine

[And he'll take the elevator up, from there, shifting around restlessly in the cab as it goes up, and then tapping equally restlessly on the deck railing when he goes out to lean on it.]

[He is there on time. Exactly five minutes. He makes sure to make a decent enough amount of sound on his approach just to avoid any startling.]

So, please don't tell me you've got a blueprint or something. Because... that'd be a little over the top, don't you think?

[Bob's watching the entrance from belowdecks, anyway, so he sees him coming. He straightens up at his approach.]

No, no... just it seemed weird to talk about it on the phone. I don't know-- um, how specific I need to be? I've never asked for a cabin change before.

[Phone? Oh, right. Phone. Sure.]

Bad news, neither have I. I'm guessing you can be as specific as you want or as vague as you want. If you want, I can make the request while you're here or... I can say 'do this' and you can fill in the rest.

[Usually he'd add a 'and no funny business' but Bob doesn't seem the funny type.]

[Bob scratches his head.]

I guess I could do that. I do have a specific thing I need in it. The rest doesn't really matter a lot. I just don't know what all the Admiral needs to know. Do I need to describe everything, or, I don't know, just say "a hostel I stayed at in France".

[It's amazing how... slow paced this place can be. And it strikes Kylar that this, of all things, is a concern for Bob. Like he's going to get in trouble if he gives the Admiral the wrong room layout.]

Tell you what, try that and we'll see if he got everything you needed and if it's wrong then we try again.

[Sorry, man. Bob at least is probably an outlier with this kind of thing. It's taken him six months to even muster up the effort, and then the courage, to ask.]

Okay. I can type it in, I guess. Or you can. I also need the floor to be dirt, and a, um, a sun lamp? Those are the only specific things.

[He gives a shrug before pulling out his device from, arguably nowhere, and then holding it close for an audio message. It feels a little ridiculous that he's not great at using these things right in front of someone but. Oh well.

He gives the initial message before offering the device to Bob.]

Say it however you'd like, I don't think he'll mind. But it's all yours.

[There's a moment where Bob looks very much like a dear in the headlights before he manages to stammer out his request.]

[He'll take the device back and give a quick confirmation for what's been said. Just in case the Admiral needs something more than his initial permission offered.]

See? Easy enough.

[He gives a quick smirk of a smile.]

Anything else you need while I'm here?

[Bob shakes his head a little, still looking a little shell-shocked from having to talk, out loud, to the Admiral.]

No, I... not unless you know a lot about taking care of tiny trees.

[He's not going to hold his breath for that one, really.]

[He rubs the back of his head and grimaces.]

Yeah, I can barely keep a tulip alive. You're probably better off asking someone working the greenhouse or something. Can't even say I'm familiar yet with who that could be either.

[A thought occurs to him.]

I'm guessing that's why you need the sun lamp and dirt floor..?

Yeah. One of the fair folk at the market sent a... baby tree person home with me? I don't know.

[It sounds crazy, but here he is, with a tiny walking tree. At least it doesn't talk.]

Just taking it out to the garden once a day really doesn't seem like enough, and anyway, I really don't want to keep it in the awful lab room that is my cabin right now. That seems mean.

Wait. You mean your room was a lab? As in the one where you dealt with those experiments?

[He looks completely disgusted.]

What the fuck was the Admiral thinking?

Well, I mean. It's not like I remember it at all.

[He shrugs.]

But it is really creepy. It's got these shadows on the wall, like, I don't know, ghosts or blast burns or something.

[A pause.]

Well, it did. If the room change is already done. I don't know how fast that happens.

[Does not remembering it make it better or worse? Kylar is not sure. Probably better..? Either way, it's the concept that's wrong.

Since Bob doesn't seem too troubled though, Kylar isn't about to continue raising a fuss. Instead there's just an exhale.]

Not sure, but I think it's pretty quick. Want me to walk down with you? Then, if you still need something adjusted we can get that over with at the same time.

Sure.

[Company is generally better than not, and Kylar deserves to see what he helped make, Bob thinks. He motions with his head in the direction of the elevator to the lower decks, then leads the way.]

It'll probably be fine. So long as it's not creepy.

[He easily follows, more keeping pace than staying too far behind.]

You mean the room change being creepy..? Or what it was?

[He may not have been entirely paying attention to Bob's given request to the Admiral. Oops.]

I mean, the original room is creepy. It's a lab room. Like where the experiments happened, that I told you about? And there's these burn shadows on the walls, like somebody died there and left-- well, shadows. It's creepy.

I need you to make a request for me. Other wardens have offered but it very likely will mean nothing unless it comes from the Warden assigned me.

My visitor destroyed nearly everything in my cabin. Personal effects. Clothing. Tools. Research notes.

[ Gifts. ]

I need it restored, as much of it can be.

[He reads over the message with a brief debate. It doesn't last that long before he starts his reply with an audible sigh.]

Yeah, sure. I'll put in the request. Does "fix anything broken" suffice?

It should. Thank you.

Inbox

Text, a couple days into Dec

He's gonna do Audio cause lol medieval got no typing what are you doing sir

Re: He's gonna do Audio cause lol medieval got no typing what are you doing sir

Re: He's gonna do Audio cause lol medieval got no typing what are you doing sir

Re: He's gonna do Audio cause lol medieval got no typing what are you doing sir

-> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Re: -> Action

Text - Shortly after their first meeting

Replying with Audio

Text