closed

[prayercycles]

WHO: Fortunato and Danger
WHERE: Maurtia Falls Psychiatric Hospital
WHEN: Sometime in September
WHAT: Time to clean out an office and be very stoic around one another
WARNINGS: None yet, will add if needed


[ Fortunato is perfectly used to his position at the Psychiatric Hospital by now, but he can't deny it's become hard to describe. He's become good enough at the often very specific things Danger has for him to do, and he certainly gets along with Danger, he thinks. To some extent the work is monotonous; he supposes he's liked by his co-workers, but he's not social. He rarely does much other than what he's given to do, not one for any sort of workplace gossip. He'd rather just do what he's asked to well, and he suspects Danger isn't one to occupy herself with anything she's not interested in, either.

That said, the smoothness by which their routine has gone made it a bit surreal when Dr. Chilton ported out. Fortunato was aware that Chilton had set things up for the inevitable transition to go smoothly, but at times it was as if nothing had changed. It's somewhat saddening, even if Fortunato was never close to the man.

So Fortunato enters the building assuming he's going to have another fairly simple day- but as he passes where Dr. Chilton's office once was, he notices something. Even with his vision issues, it's not as if Danger is hard to spot. ]

Danger...?

Comments

[mortalweapon]

[ It was, in a way, a fulfillment of her duty to Chilton to make sure that things ran as if nothing had changed. A preservation of his legacy, perhaps. Or maybe it was for the same reasons she still takes care of that fancy penthouse where Logan Delos used to live. Complicated reasons. Then again, the reasons probably don't matter much. She isn't likely to elaborate on them, and Danger has always done as she pleases, whatever her motives are.

Still, she could have left. Abandoned this place, now that she was beholden to nothing there. But she didn't.

It's possible that Chilton would have been pleased to know that. Or maybe he would have bristled at her blatant disregard for his privacy now, as she helps herself to his now vacated office. She was never sure whether he wanted her scrutiny or not. At times it seemed like his ego revelled in the way she cataloged his every detail in her meticulous memory - and at others, he preferred his secrets. His manipulations. But either way, he was hardly there to stop her now. She was organizing papers and books into tidy boxes, using her hands but also the long extended cables of her hair, which now seemed equipped with useful little claws.

She was aware that someone was approaching (hallway camera, remoted feeding her data), but she waits until Fortunato speaks to look up at him, acknowledging him with her unblinking stare. ]

May I help you, Fortunato.

[prayercycles]

[ Fortunato is non-confrontational enough that he shrinks back a bit, and appeasing enough that he remains in the doorway. He has to take a moment to put things together, to make sure he’s seeing what Danger is doing right, but...yes, to clean the office makes sense. It’s been long enough to know Chilton is unlikely to return.

Her response isn’t exactly friendly, but he’s never sure what to make of that. It’s Danger. Friendly isn’t the first word he’d use for her. ]

...No. I- I did not expect to see you here. [ After a moment: ] Do you- do you want me to help you?

[mortalweapon]

[ She scrutinizes him as he lingers there hesitantly in the doorway, but she doesn't pressure him to either stay or go. It's her experience that he can be a little nervous in her presence - maybe in most anybody's presence - and she's patient enough that she doesn't mind letting the silence hang between them while he makes up his mind.

When he poses that question - or rather, makes that offer - she tilts her head at him a little, considering. It isn't as if she technically needs the help, but... ]

If you wish to help, you have my invitation.
You may begin by packing the doctor's books from that shelf.

[ She gestures before going on, unreadably: ]

Have you noticed a difference, now that he is gone?

[prayercycles]

[ Fortunato is the type who tends to take an invitation as a bit more than a simple invitation, at least from authority figures. Danger is one of them, although he supposes she’s also Danger- he’s not quite sure if she’d disapprove of him deciding not to help either, if only because if she wanted to command him, she likely would.

He goes over to the shelf, getting to work stacking books into one arm. He’s thinking to himself. ]

No. Not much. [ How strange to say. Things have been going smoothly, all things considered, but when Dr. Chilton had a presence in this world for so long, from what he’d heard... ] But...it could be different, in other parts of the hospital.

[ After all, if anyone could keep things running as if nothing had happened...it’d be Danger. ]

[mortalweapon]

[ No, she supposes Fortunato might not have noticed much difference. And if there was some kind of difference, it would probably be of the sort they're quite used to, as ImPorts. These kinds of transitions become so normal. Nothing in any world or universe is truly permanent, but the transient nature of things is especially poignant here.

It's an emotional difference, she supposes. That's what she feels. Not a practical one. And therefore not one necessarily worth mentioning aloud. ]

You know you are not obligated to stay and work here.

[ She says this mildly, not missing a beat as she continues to sort through papers. ]

[prayercycles]

[ Fortunato takes a moment to respond, for a few reasons. For one, that’s what he always does; he thinks over things a bit too much. And further, this is exactly the sort of statement he tries to be careful around, hoping not to anger anyone with however he responds.

And he’s a little surprised, in a way, by Danger’s statement in the first place. Would she want him to leave? Or would she assume he wanted to? He’s not sure of either. Danger is not someone he’s decided he generally knows the nature of, beyond what she makes clear. ]

...I would like to stay. I- [ He admittedly feels a little pathetic to admit this. ] I do not do anything else.

[ Of course, that opens up another question- with Chilton gone, he’s not even sure any imPorts remain here besides him and Danger. Does Danger want to go? ]