friendsfordinner | ic contact for tlv

[ Hickey nods. He goes to open the bottle of wine, taking a drink directly from it before offering it to Tesla.

And he knows that the man's probably surprised about his room. Hickey's seen enough of other people's rooms to know his is unexpected. There's a little smirk on his face before he teases, ]

Turns out the Admiral doesn't really know what to do if you haven't lived anywhere long enough for it to be a proper room. My room when I first arrived was a little slice of Terror, complete with terrible hammock. One of the wardens asked the Admiral to change it to something like this.

[ There's an actual bed now. He's not complaining. ]

The Admiral doesn't always have the best track record with cabins even if you have.

[Tesla hasn't ever really minded his, to be perfectly honest. But he knows that there's been more than one case where a newly arrived passenger finds their lodgings to be less than ideal - sometimes to the point of complaining about it on the network.

He takes the bottle when Hickey offers it back, though, before taking a drink of his own.]

Although honestly, I can't say I approve of a lot of his apparent choices?

[There's something approximating a shrug, and then he passes the bottle back.]

Edited 2021-09-30 03:33 (UTC)

[ His expression shifts a little as the conversation continues. Hickey's a man who enjoys gossip and the possibility of getting some gossip is enticing. ]

Well go on, [ Hickey says, with a nod. ] There's a story there. I'm listening.

[ What choices DOESN'T Tesla approve of? ]

[For all that he wouldn't, himself, call it gossip boy howdy is there a list of things Tesla doesn't approve of.]

You've noticed how sometimes people just... disappear? The Admiral has never really given a decent explanation for why some people do and others don't. Not to mention the part where he keeps running us into... alternate realities, or whatever breaches are supposed to be.

[ Hickey can't help but let out a small, quiet little chuckle. ]

I'm sure some people won't take this as an explanation, but it feels like the Admiral might save himself a lot of grief if he just admitted he can't steer the ship.

Honestly? It would be more open than he's been with us so far. And that's not exactly a high bar.

[And Tesla has definitely considered the possibility himself, even if the Admiral has never directly confirmed or denied his ability to steer the Barge.]

We're all aware of it, [ he points out, with a smirk of a smile. ] It's not like his inability to steer is some great secret. Might as well get it out in the open.

Exactly. But apparently he's too... I don't know, caught up in his image of himself to actually want to admit to what everyone here can see.

[ Hickey lets out a short, bitter little laugh at that. ]

Image matters, [ he points out, with a little shrug, ] but it only matters as long as you've got it. I'm certain his image is already ruined among the crew...or at least, challenged.

Exactly. And the fact that he's not owning up to his inabilities isn't helping his image either. Not that he needs the help, if he's been trying to run it into the ground.

[Which, for all Tesla knows, he might actually be trying to do.]

If he's trying to run it into the ground, that means there's something or someone even more higher-up than him. People don't run things they chose into the ground. They only run shit assignments that were given to them.

If he's intentionally trying to run it into the ground, yes. But it could just be that he's not as good as he - or his higher-ups - think he is at this job.

His higher-ups, [ Hickey repeats. ] You think there might be other Barges out there?

No, I know there are other Barges out there. This isn't the first one we've had.

[Although it's never really seemed to be something that the Admiral is inclined to talk about.]

[ Well that is new information to Hickey. ]

What d'you mean this isn't the first one we've had?

When I first came on board, we had a different one.

[Not... vastly different. But different enough to have been noticeable at the least.]

But a couple years back the Admiral was basically ordered to come in and have the Barge serviced? And I guess also because his superiors wanted to talk to him. But instead of actually waiting for that, he stole another Barge and went on the run.

Huh.

[ There's a small, calculating frown on Hickey's face as he takes in all this information. Weird. ]

Makes you wonder why he was so scared of talking to his superiors.

He wasn't exactly the most well-liked even then. And his superiors did want to talk to us.

[Which could definitely have made the Admiral a little antsy, he supposes.]

The black sheep of his lot? Or maybe he's just got a rubbish personality?

I don't have a lot of points of data on that. But I've never really been impressed by what I've seen of the Admiral.

I've only been here a few months and I'd have to agree. The constant crashing makes it hard to tolerate the man.

That's the least of it, but yes. It doesn't exactly endear people to him, no matter what else he might be technically offering.

Still, if there's only one game in town, you'll play it no matter how unpleasant the situation might be. And, at least in my world, he's the only one who could bring a man back from the dead.

Mmm. Mine as well.

[Mostly. Sort of. He's not going to talk about the time he tried to bring the recently-dead back as vampires and technically succeeded, even if not as well as he might have liked.]

Wonder if that's a constant for everyone here.

[ There's a pause before Hickey shrugs. ]

Maybe if I'm bored I'll ask those magic journals.

ic contact for tlv

Re: spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

Re: spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

Re: spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

spam;

Re: spam;