atowncalledtreffy

[Shit. Crippling him could happen any number of ways. Trevor leans his head back against the cell wall, shutting his eyes.

He opens them again, still unafraid but with a tired sadness to him. How is he supposed to protect anyone if he faces irreversible judgement from the very people who fail to stop others from hurting people right in front of him?]

All right.

[A slow nod. Good. Trevor's hesitance about explaining himself was an obstacle before, but maybe it's resolved now.]

From the top, then. You went to get supplies?

[He nods, once]

I was bartering. The goods were overpriced and I told the man so. We struck a deal where neither was happy, I turned to leave.

I heard a knife being pulled and a gasp and when I turned around there was a vampire biting into the man who was pulling a knife on me.

And what happened then? Did you pause? Did you say anything? Did you recognize the vampire?

Didn’t recognize him. I told him to let the man go and reached for a stake in case he didn’t listen.

He let the man go. Introduced himself as Laszlo Cravensworth and muttered something about me being ungrateful that he saved my life.

I told him I was a vampire hunter. He turned into a bat, tried to flee.

[Dammit, Trevor.]

The fact he was trying to help you doesn't help your case. Him wanting to help at all is progress for him.

Why didn't you let him go?

He wasn’t looking to help me. He was looking to feed himself. I was just a justification.

Because he was eating a person right in front of me.

I'm not saying I agree with his method, but if he'd only wanted to feed there were safer places and easier targets. It was at least a part of his motivation.

So he tried to fly away. How did you stop him?

[Trevor's jaw tightens. He's angry with Lark now that he would try and justify easier targets, and can't help but spit right back;]

An easier target like a child? An older woman? Yeah, you're right.

I threw a stake through his wing. I could have gotten him through the heart but I was told by someone that killing was frowned upon here.

[He takes a breath. Lets it out. God, anger is such a fucking useless emotion when he's trapped here.]

[Lark watches him quietly for a moment, letting him be angry without trying to talk him out of it.]

No, you're right. And he's gone this long on the ship without feeding, and there were other ways to help. I'm just trying to understand the situation. The more I understand both sides, the better I'll be able to defend you from the other wardens.

What happened after you staked his wing?

[He has his sincere doubts about any other warden who wants to condemn him for getting rid of a threat to someone's life but it's a useless fucking argument.]

He fell onto a balcony. I chased him up there, but lost him when he disappeared into a bedroom and the lady of the house took issue with my breaking and entering. It was either continue the chase or get my legs hacked off.

If you weren't going to kill him, what did you plan to do if you did catch him?

Knock him out, tie him up, bring him back to the ship.

[A nod. Good. This seems like progress, despite the violence.]

Here's my problem.

At home you have to react in an instant, and you have to treat things as an immediate threat because they nearly always are. Right?

Look, if you're about to pitch the idea that I shouldn't treat a vampire sucking blood in front of me as a threat, I should tell you that the whole point of my being here is apparently to send me back home to a place where immediate threats are fucking everywhere.

If I was going to treat him as an immediate threat, he would have been dead before he had a chance to get up off the ground.

I'm not. He shouldn't have been feeding on humans when we have blood here for him.

And I'm not going to try to stop you from having quick reflexes. My problem is that you've fought people since you came here who weren't immediate threats.

That's the problem: how to let you stay in shape while also getting you to discern the difference between the true dangers and the people who seem like threats but aren't. Like Jon.

[Trevor blinks. And then barks a harsh laugh, bitter and getting worse]

Oh my god.

[Really? He's here for something he did a month ago on his first day, that he apologized for as soon as he realized moments later that Jon wasn't a threat? Trevor can't deal with the level of bullshit that's coming his way. He places the tray carefully in the receiving end]

This isn't going to work. Just tell the other wardens I'm a remorseless prick.

No. Even if you are a prick, you can do some real good here, Trevor. I'm not going to watch them pare you down to nothing just because they're making assumptions about you.

We've had violent inmates come through. We haven't had one who was doing it to try to help people before. It's usually a struggle to get an inmate to give a fuck about anything but themselves, I'm not going to let them kick that out of you.

They're not going to kick that out of me.

[that much is true. Trevor settles back down on the bunk, leaning over his knees]

If it's between watching someone on this ship feed on someone and getting my hands broken or my body burned, it's going to be me every time. I'm not going to stop protecting people and if that means every fucker on this ship hates my guts, then it won't be the first time.

That's my family, Lark. It's who I am. So you might want to unhitch your horse from my wagon before my violence paints you in the same light.

Oh plenty of them hate me already for insisting inmates deserve rights.

I don't have a problem with you defending people. I will fight for you to have the ability to do it. I'm asking you to learn discretion. Killing people here only makes them angrier which only hurts more people as collateral. That's why I keep telling you to learn some new tactics. You keep saying it's a good idea and then you keep reverting to what you know, and it doesn't work.

Well, that's one mark against you already. Good job.

[it sounds fond, even if he is still angry]

I think it's a good idea because Death's not really something that sticks here. But I told you I'm as magical as a clay brick and I'm an old killer who knows one way of dealing with things that want to kill, and that's kill them right back.

Happy to show you other tactics. Can't learn 'em.

Then partner with someone who does have magic, who does have the ability to make requests. Just because you can't do something directly doesn't mean you should keep falling back on things that don't work.

The only reason it didn't work was because I tried not to kill him and still was brought in here. By the people - hang on.

[A thought!]

Are wardens actually meant to stop inmates from killing people? Because that would explain the ship a lot if they aren't.

[A bitter laugh] Yes, we're supposed to. You can see how many people actually try. It's easier to be reactive instead of proactive.

Easier still to not give a fuck.

But you can't stop protecting people, and neither can I.

Fuck. [Says Trevor, heartfelt and actually empathetic towards Lark.

A little. Not very, considering where he is and how he got here]

I protect people who can't defend themselves against magic or monsters. You want to protect the ones snacking on them.

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