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"Do they do Dealer's Choice on Earth? If I don't know it, you can teach me."

He's learned plenty of Earth card games by now, albeit perhaps not from Hickey's time period - he and Harry didn't spend much time on cards.

"They do indeed," Hickey says, with a little nod. "Most of the games I know involve more than two people, but we can play Snap with just the two of us. And it's simple enough that you can pick up the rules easily."

Taking the deck of cards, Hickey starts to shuffle it.

"I hear you know our Quentin," Jedao murmurs, nodding along otherwise.

There's a quick, brief, almost imperceptible tenseness in Hickey's shoulders before he continues the conversation.

"Quentin and I are...complicated, to say the least."

"Mm. Nevertheless. He's a very kind person, and I think he'd want you to know that he's not ignoring you, he's disappeared from the barge. I'm sorry."

There's an almost preternatural blankness to Jedao as he says it; categorically refusing to show the depth of his grief, but not bothering to put up a front of anything else, either.

Wait. What?

Confusion flashes over Hickey's face for a moment as he frowns. He's disappeared. But they just talked a few days ago. He knows that disappearances can happen without notice but to happen that fast...

"You sure he's gone?" He has very mixed feelings about that.

Jedao watches the mix of emotions flit over Hickey's face; the yellow eyes arrayed in his shadow watch, too.

"We are engaged. Our bed disappeared from under me when his cabin reverted to standard. He may return, but I am quite sure he is gone currently, yes."

There's a long pause while Hickey gets his thoughts in order. It's better this way, the practical part of his brain points out. Now you won't have to deal with all those pesky feelings Quentin's got with regards to you and Goodsir. That's one less person on the ship who cares about Harry Goodsir which makes your life just a little bit easier.

Doesn't change the fact that a part of him still liked the kid. But it's not like he can do anything about this, is there.

"Huh," Hickey says, after a pause. "Well. I'm sorry to hear that."

And that's all that Jedao's going to get for the moment as Hickey forces a neutral expression on his face and starts to deal the cards.

"You are, aren't you?"

And he's not. Interesting.

"Don't tell me he actually pulled back just for Harry's sake."

"Oh no," Hickey says, with a chuckle. "He hates me. But there was a breach where the two of us were close—that time we spent as pirates. I enjoyed his company then."

That much feels safe to admit.

"Magical, aren't they?"

There's a softness to Jedao's fondness for breaches that goes beyond nostalgia into something almost religious, an awe and gratitude that makes him look momentarily like a gentle man.

"Are you sure? He can say the worst shit when someone catches him off guard, but hate doesn't come easily to him."

"One of the reasons I'm on the Barge is because I hurt Harry Goodsir," Hickey points out. Might as well get that out right now. Lay those cards on the table. Tell Jedao what's what and see how he responds to this.

"I'm the reason that man died. Considering that Quentin and Goodsir were close, he didn't take kindly to that."

"Oh, I know."

He says it serenely; inside, he pokes at his own unhappiness, and comes to the peculiar conclusion that this might be jealousy. Jedao should have provoked more of his enemies on the barge into killing him, clearly; apparently that would have swayed Quentin into choosing a side when mere pain and terror never had. Or perhaps it's just that Harry is so much softer than Jedao, until the chips are down. He provokes protectiveness.

"He has a marvelous capacity for blithely befriending monsters, is all. Not least to my own benefit. I wouldn't have guessed that was enough."

Edited 2021-10-31 04:38 (UTC)

"Well, maybe that marvelous capacity for befriending monsters as you so put it, is the reason we got along poorly."

Because, and Hickey will go to his grave saying this, he's not a monster. Sure, other people probably think so. But other people weren't in the same situation he was. They just don't know.

"It's not like it matters now, though. There's no point speculating about someone who's not here."

"Oh, you're precious about it. My apologies."

He's reminded, with an off-kilter and hideously inappropriate flare of amusement, of the time he called Harry a butcher.

"What a surprise, I don't like a man who doesn't know me from Adam making assumptions," he says, with a steely tone in his voice. It's obvious from this conversation that those first impressions went poorly and he does not like Jedao.

"So if you're going to be like that, I'd appreciate it if you just bugger off."

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