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[dog_eat_dog]

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[dog_eat_dog]

Tess would know at least a little about thick skulls; she has one of her own. She nods.

"Yeah? It's weird, going native like that. I feel like I missed the whole port."

She would have loved to go shopping.

[stand_unshaken]

"It wasn't a good one. Not a bad one, but I don't know if it was good. Too much like home, too little like it too."

[dog_eat_dog]

"Makes sense," she agrees. "Too much temptation. Maybe I would have just made that worse. I'm a good enabler."

[stand_unshaken]

"Maybe. Besides, I had those powers. Like a flood and port in one."

[dog_eat_dog]

"There's that," she agrees. "What powers did you get?"

[stand_unshaken]

"I could make people feel more of whatever they was feelin'. And, uh, store some memories in metal. For later, I guess."

[dog_eat_dog]

Bizarre. Tess tries to imagine how that works, how good it would feel to bury anything she didn’t want to process in a hunk of metal. Maybe chuck it into a lake, if she was feeling particularly spiteful.

“Did you like it?”

[stand_unshaken]

He considers it. "Sometimes," he settles on. "I liked bein' able to do something the way some people here can. But I didn't have a handle on it."

[dog_eat_dog]

“Hard to imagine anyone would, in just a week.”

Especially with temptation.

“I didn’t peg you as a guy who wanted magic powers.”

[stand_unshaken]

"Ain't you ever wanted some? The way people go around here, showin' off. A gun wouldn't do shit against most of 'em."

[dog_eat_dog]

She grimaces. People whipping out powers has never seemed like anything but a dick measuring contest to her — big gods, puny mortals.

“If I had them, I’d milk them for all they’re worth,” she replies. “But it’s like cheating. At least people know you earned it when you can shoot well.”

[stand_unshaken]

"Never thought of it like that."

But she's right, put like that. "I do like doin' things on my own merit, but at least now I know what it feels like."

[dog_eat_dog]

“No harm in experiencing it,” she replies. She glances sidelong at him, at the miserable state of his face. “At least not anything that won’t heal.”

[stand_unshaken]

He grunts and makes a face at her - he knows, he knows.

"I been through worse."

[dog_eat_dog]

“Freaks me out anyway,” she replies. Big talk from someone who has gone through the wringer more than once, but it is how she feels. “It could still get infected.”

[stand_unshaken]

"It won't. I just got my ass beat, and I'm sore as hell, but we ain't in the wild here. We got the infirmary."

[dog_eat_dog]

“Custodial isn’t exactly squeaky clean,” she replies.

[stand_unshaken]

"Hey, I got a princess working with me now," he reminds her. "She can do the disgusting stuff for once."

[dog_eat_dog]

Ugh, Leia. Tess isn’t sold on her, but she isn’t as annoying as expected.

“Yeah, we’ll see how long a princess keeps up with it,” she replies. “The novelty of being amongst the commoners will wear off.”

[stand_unshaken]

"The novelty of doin' any kinda cleaning," he points out. "She had no idea. I'm no homemaker, but it ain't that hard."

[dog_eat_dog]

“It’s so ridiculous to me. I bet she’ll forget about cleaning after a month and just chase down the no-shows.”

Tess snorts.

“She tell you I gave her a hard time?”

[stand_unshaken]

"Did you?"

He pulls back a little so he can give her a look - why?

[dog_eat_dog]

“Relax, I didn’t haze her or anything,” she replies. “We got on fine anyway. I just didn’t want her to think she could walk in and give orders.”

[stand_unshaken]

"Gee, thanks."

He tips his head back against the wall and closes his eyes. "I told her that too, you know. Don't drag people in by the hair. Don't give orders."

[dog_eat_dog]

“Yeah, well, it’s different coming from a warden, and now I know for myself,” she replies, feeling perfectly set in her choice. “You like her otherwise?”