♕ 001 spam/text

[broughtwhiskey]

open spam - anywhere.
[Disoriented is a word for what Philip feels upon waking on the Barge. There's a dull throb of pain in his chest and his head, things he know he should be dead from, and his shirt is still slick with blood. He also recognizes the room he wakes up in with everything where it should be, but he knows it should burned out. The view outside the windows, however, aren't looking out into the streets of Woodbury, but an infinite void. He isn't sure if this is what death is supposed to be like, but he has a feeling it's not because it feels very much alive.]

[He's willing to stay as long as it takes to change and clean the blood off his face, but no longer than that. He doesn't feel particularly keen on lingering in a room with this many reminders right now. Already he's trying hard to not think of what just happened, the large amount of nothing he just left behind once more. He looks for any of his weapons before leaving to find them gone. So perhaps not everything is in its place. But no matter. He can improvise if the situation calls for it.]

[Stepping outside into the hall, he still doesn't know what to make of any of this. but if there's one thing he knows, it's that he needs to get his bearings and so he sets off to learn the layout of wherever the hell he's ended up.]

text.

[Later, after he's had the chance to explore and numerous explanations and perspectives on what this place is, he only has one question:]

How many of you are here?

Comments

deckity deck it is

[broughtwhiskey]

[If there is one thing to be gleaned from Philip's body language, it's that he's tense. He doesn't trust this place. He doesn't trust the people here. He doesn't trust anything that's happening. He's ready for something, although what exactly is always up for debate. But nothing of what he's seen so far exactly assures him that anything can be trusted easily and a healthy (although sometimes extremely unhealthy) amount of paranoia has managed to get him this far, so.]

I suppose that's the word for it.

[akweks]

[That's all he really needs to know to figure out what's going on. Mistrust is common here, and Connor has a fair amount of it himself from time to time, but the tension discloses the rest. Lost and distrusting -- so he must be an Inmate.]

Just arrived, then. [He makes a broad, sweeping gesture toward the void beyond the railing.] It is very difficult to explain, but I will do my best. You have questions.

[broughtwhiskey]

[Connor's assessments on all fronts are extremely accurate.]

A few, [Philip confirms. There is a brief pause as he looks out over the void, taking a moment to consider where to begin. He probably won't accept Connor's word, at least not a face value or alone, but it is a place to start. He turns his attention back on Connor.] What is this place?

[akweks]

[Connor doesn't exactly expect to be completely believed, but he'll try anyway. It's in his nature to help.]

She is only called the Barge. [Which reminds him that she probably should get a proper name at some point. Something to bring up later, maybe.] She moves through space, though I admit I do not quite understand how. Some of us are here to atone for things we have done, and others are here to help guide them.

[broughtwhiskey]

Atone.

[Philip says the word with a small scoff. It might be hard for Connor to discern whether it is because Philip doesn't think it's necessary or if he's just in disbelief. It's a little bit of both. At least he's realistic enough to not think he's here to help anyone. He's watched that go up in flames more than once at this point.]

And let me guess, you're one of the ones "guiding," right?

[He doesn't make airquotes because he is a grown-ass man and not a sassy teenager, but they're pretty palpable.]

[akweks]

[It's okay because Connor doesn't know what air quotes are anyway. But he gets the gist...]

As you say. [He shrugs; the separation between Inmate and Warden makes him uncomfortable at times, so he doesn't like to make a big deal out of it.]

I do not like the implications of the terms, but I am called a Warden. Those who will atone are called Inmates.

[broughtwhiskey]

[The terms do have their implications, ones that Philip can't say would hold much meaning back in the world he knows. It's why he never bothered accusing Rick's group of being prisoners when he was cajoling Woodbury into taking aggressive action. People weren't afraid of prisoners anymore. They didn't care about what people had done so much as they were of what they might do. Those were the careful seeds he had to plant then.]

[He does wonder if the implications mean anything to the people here on the Barge, but he doesn't ask that. There is more than one way to size a man up than just looking at him physically after all.]

What you prefer they be called then?

[akweks]

[That gets a bit of a smile, albeit a thin one. Connor is not a man prone to aggressive displays of emotion.]

I have not been able to come up with a substitute yet. I do not agree with titles at all, but this is not a very common opinion here.

[broughtwhiskey]

[Philip would prefer less aggressive displays of emotion anyways. It's better to keep things a little closer to the chest, if you ask him. It makes you harder to read and demonstrates a certain amount of control over oneself, possibly over others.]

[You're okay, so far, Connor. You're okay.]

Titles are hard to forget, [says the artist formerly known as The Governor.]

[akweks]

[Connor had been raised to exercise restraint in his daily life, so it's always a little weird to him when people are overly open about things. He's getting used to it -- fourteen years since he left his village, he's still getting used to it -- but it will probably never come naturally to him.

He waves his hand a little in a vague gesture.] They also imply unneeded division between people. We are all the same, only some are further along on our paths. It is no reason to call ourselves something different.

[broughtwhiskey]

[Philip regards Connor for a few seconds, waiting to see if there's a follow-up to that. But Connor seems to really believe it as a truth.]

[Philip finds that to be an inherently naive thought. People are not the same. They've never been the same, not even before. The strong have always sat on top and those too weak to hold onto power have stayed at the bottom. Divisions have been necessary for society to function. But debating with an idealist never goes anywhere and only generates unnecessary frustration. Let him live with his head in the clouds. The eventual consequences will be for Connor to bear.]

Well then, I'm glad you see it that way, [Philip says with a smile.]

[akweks]

[Connor may be an idealist, but he's not dumb -- he knows that cagey response for what it is, and quirks an eyebrow slightly.]

Yes. Feelings of superiority will get you nowhere on the Barge. [He might be getting a little haughty now. Just a little. He doesn't want this dude to think he's better than him or something, just because Connor isn't fully jaded.]

Atoning for one's missteps is crucial to leaving her. Humility may often be a part of that.

[broughtwhiskey]

I'm sure it is for folks who want to leave.

[Which is not a group of people Philip can necessarily categorize himself as right now. Even if Philip had survived his final assault on the prison or if Rick had done as he asked and surrendered it peacefully, he had lost everything all over again. It was too late and he failed Meghan like he failed Penny. This isn't the oblivion he was hoping for and he still has to carry those losses, but it doesn't make any difference to him whether he feels it here or elsewhere.]

[akweks]

[Connor spreads his hands out at his sids.]

The Barge is meant to be a temporary stop along our paths. I do not know what you believe in, but I do not think she is meant to be the final destination for any of us.

[broughtwhiskey]

And I don't think that's your choice to make.

[He is not bristling at this, however. It's more a simple statement of fact.]