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Hey. No changes, just hurts like a bitch. Still can’t extend it fully, but I’m not too surprised about that.
Yeah, I’ll grab some of that. And duly noted — for what it’s worth, I don’t use.
[Not that it feels like any warden would believe her, at this point.]
[Not that it feels like any warden would believe her, at this point.]
Must be a drag being short staffed this time of year.
I’ll be there in a minute, anyway.
I’ll be there in a minute, anyway.
[She waits until Tess arrives to answer, then wheels over in her chair with a bottle containing a few of snazzy futuristic painkillers - Vicodin strength, but without any of the addictive properties.]
Things are doing okay. I'm just worried about what could happen, you know?
Things are doing okay. I'm just worried about what could happen, you know?
[Tess is looking a little worse for wear, but mostly tired. Bone tired, weight of the world tired. Vicodin-strength feels promising, at least.]
I’d be surprised if I was in the only scuffle during all that invisible nonsense.
I’d be surprised if I was in the only scuffle during all that invisible nonsense.
Edited 2020-12-18 05:02 (UTC)
[Tiffany, admittedly, has a bruise or two and an air of weariness about her herself, but not to Tess LevelsTM. Giving her another once-over, she kicks another rolling chair in her direction, inviting her to take a seat and hang out for a bit if she wants.]
You were the worst - at least that I knew about. Not everybody likes coming to the infirmary.
You were the worst - at least that I knew about. Not everybody likes coming to the infirmary.
[She’ll take it. It’s not like she has anywhere else to be.]
I don’t either, but I’m not risking being able to use my arm. Did Yunlan come in?
I don’t either, but I’m not risking being able to use my arm. Did Yunlan come in?
Nope. I tried to get him to, but he said he could take care of it by himself and he had people who'd watch out for him and keep him awake.
[She thinks there's a decent chance that he did not, in fact, enlist help or fully follow a concussion care regimen, but she can't exactly force treatment on people - and even if she could, she wouldn't want to.]
You look like shit. Been sleeping?
[She thinks there's a decent chance that he did not, in fact, enlist help or fully follow a concussion care regimen, but she can't exactly force treatment on people - and even if she could, she wouldn't want to.]
You look like shit. Been sleeping?
I hope he got brain damage.
[She is, unfortunately, still petty.]
Not much, no. I just read all night, or stare at the ceiling for hours. Not much else to do.
[She is, unfortunately, still petty.]
Not much, no. I just read all night, or stare at the ceiling for hours. Not much else to do.
[A one-shouldered shrug.]
I can deal with the pain –– been through worse with far fewer painkillers. Just can't turn my brain off.
[Maybe she needs the concussion.]
I can deal with the pain –– been through worse with far fewer painkillers. Just can't turn my brain off.
[Maybe she needs the concussion.]
No point in even thinking about it. I doubt I could look at him sidelong now without getting into shit, and he'll do whatever he wants and people will shrug it off anyway. That's just life.
[She shakes her head, corner of her mouth twisting up.]
I don't think I'd survive back home if I was that fixated, and I am extremely petty sometimes.
I don't think I'd survive back home if I was that fixated, and I am extremely petty sometimes.
[He waves a hand, brushing it aside.]
Eh, everyone here is so focused on talking about feelings sometimes. But being petty feels good sometimes.
Mm, speaking of petty, have I ever told you about the fucking assholes I sent to Singapore once?
[Giving her an out...]
Eh, everyone here is so focused on talking about feelings sometimes. But being petty feels good sometimes.
Mm, speaking of petty, have I ever told you about the fucking assholes I sent to Singapore once?
[Giving her an out...]
[The answer feels familiar to her in a bone-deep way, and it makes her feel a fresh surge of anger at Yunlan; makes her force herself to take a deep breath in through her nose. She'd meant it when she told him that she doesn't hate him and that she believes he has good intentions, and her opinion there hasn't changed. But when she thinks of him now, she also thinks of the nicer Litchfield guards. When push came to shove, it wouldn't have mattered how friendly and personable they were: she doesn't think a single one of them would have hesitated to break bones over less than what Tess did, even if they never would have done the same to someone on the outside. Would Yunlan have reacted differently if he'd found himself in the same situation with a warden? Maybe not; maybe he would have done it to anyone, warden and inmate alike. But she doesn't feel at all sure of that.]
Fucking guards--
[It slips out, and immediately, she raises a hand in surrender.]
I know, I know; I'm a hypocrite, okay.
[Because she stayed, because she's here, because she's a guard now too in many people's eyes, regardless of how different warden and guard feel in her mental lexicon.]
Fucking guards--
[It slips out, and immediately, she raises a hand in surrender.]
I know, I know; I'm a hypocrite, okay.
[Because she stayed, because she's here, because she's a guard now too in many people's eyes, regardless of how different warden and guard feel in her mental lexicon.]
[There's a flicker of confusion on Tess's face –– guards? –– but it clicks just as fast. Tiffany had been imprisoned at some point before being an inmate, hadn't she? It tracks.
She hasn't always liked Tiffany. Parts of her still loathes the tolerance, the withheld judgement. But a Tiffany indignant, heated? That feels like the most relatable thing in the world.]
Yeah, you're one of 'em, but at least you're not a cop. Cops and military types are always bastards, and people are okay with that. That's the rub of it. They just ask what I did to deserve it, rather than if they were justified. Fuck that.
She hasn't always liked Tiffany. Parts of her still loathes the tolerance, the withheld judgement. But a Tiffany indignant, heated? That feels like the most relatable thing in the world.]
Yeah, you're one of 'em, but at least you're not a cop. Cops and military types are always bastards, and people are okay with that. That's the rub of it. They just ask what I did to deserve it, rather than if they were justified. Fuck that.
[News to me, she thinks, chronically a person who avoids talking about feelings. She'll take it.]
Nope. Let's hear it.
Nope. Let's hear it.
[He points at her once, though.]
And don't give me a fucking lecture. Just remember, you asked. Now...Because of Ishwari and her goddamn bleeding heart, I once sponsored an entire class of wide-eyed kids to study medicine in Singapore. With my own money! Pulled lots of strings, you know. Went out on a limb for them. It was supposed to be a great thing. They would study there and return. And healthcare would flourish around the country. They could, in turn, teach others.
Those fuckers never came back! The absolute ingratitude. Now, my heart was broken. I had put so much of myself into them. Well, in my broken hearted state, I made sure that Paul dealt with their families in Kyrat and I, well, I had my contacts in Singapore find a fitting end for the rest of them.
They were the best and the brightest. No use letting them use those talents elsewhere.
And don't give me a fucking lecture. Just remember, you asked. Now...Because of Ishwari and her goddamn bleeding heart, I once sponsored an entire class of wide-eyed kids to study medicine in Singapore. With my own money! Pulled lots of strings, you know. Went out on a limb for them. It was supposed to be a great thing. They would study there and return. And healthcare would flourish around the country. They could, in turn, teach others.
Those fuckers never came back! The absolute ingratitude. Now, my heart was broken. I had put so much of myself into them. Well, in my broken hearted state, I made sure that Paul dealt with their families in Kyrat and I, well, I had my contacts in Singapore find a fitting end for the rest of them.
They were the best and the brightest. No use letting them use those talents elsewhere.
It's so fucking stupid. And I could have just shot him outright and been marched to Zero and gotten my warden pissed off at me anyway, and not spent the month with a fucked up arm, but no. I decided I didn't want to stick around to fight him.
[She's pretty sure that she shouldn't be considering that, but it feels true to her: there shouldn't be an incentive for just shooting someone in the head. She'd thought it'd been a fair bit of restraint on her part, and the punishment feels worse for it.]
And even more twisted that he planned to break my arm. He told me he would before he did it.
[She's pretty sure that she shouldn't be considering that, but it feels true to her: there shouldn't be an incentive for just shooting someone in the head. She'd thought it'd been a fair bit of restraint on her part, and the punishment feels worse for it.]
And even more twisted that he planned to break my arm. He told me he would before he did it.
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