This is where I realize I don't know what kind of volume measures you use. It's about four liters, we've got some buckets labeled 'five gallon,' I'll bring one.
See you soon.
[It takes him about fifteen minutes, because a full five-gallon bucket of water is heavy, but he'll show up at the door to Zero eventually, putting both hands into hauling.]
Don't know what liters are either. Sildroher don't have a system of
measurement. Not like that, anyway.
[Ulla manages the smallest flicker of a grateful smile when he
arrives. She's curled up around Taylor, leaning into her side, tail draped
across Taylor's lap.]
[Ulla shakes her head, her arm tightening around Taylor's waist. He
doesn't know. Being shot would have been preferable.]
Didn't shoot me, at least at first. I ducked underwater, she shot my
transportation device, and the water boiled. I couldn't get out before it
flooded my throat and my gills. And I don't have magic right now, even if I
could've managed to sing through the damage.
When she shot me directly, it was a mercy killing.
Taylor keeps her arm around Ulla's shoulders, but she's gone very, very still. Not at all in the way she used to go swarm-still when she wasn't fully in her body, but the silence of someone trying not to respond.
She makes herself move again, just her fingertips stroking Ulla's hair, soft as breath.
No, he hadn't known. All he'd heard was from Quill via Shaw, I shot someone with a fish tail.
He stills, himself, at Ulla's description of her death, his lips thinning over all the things he could say about boiling to death. Burning to death, with just the medium changed, in truth.
"I'm sorry," he says, low. "For bringing that back. I didn't get the details."
"I'm alright," she tells them both, though it's mostly for Taylor's
benefit.
And this next part is all for Taylor, her voice low and urgent. Zhao Yunlan
can hear it, but it isn't meant for him. "The last time I burned, the
person I loved most betrayed me and left me for dead. I'm healed, and
you're here, so I'm alright."
There's a reason she's clinging so hard to Taylor right now. Why she needs
the comfort. It's not about death, or pain. It's about the memories and the
fear.
"She's my responsibility, technically," Ulla says softly. "Mine and
Trevor's. All the unpaired inmates are. But I'd appreciate your help during
my death toll."
She's giving herself a few days before she has to actively face Quill.
But she sees the way Zhao Yunlan is looking at Taylor now, and Ulla, of all
people, understands the desire for revenge. She even managed to graduate
without giving it up entirely. It was the one piece of unfinished business
she went back to her world to take care of before leaving for good.
Voice quiet enough that Quill shouldn't overhear, she underscores Zhao
Yunlan's warning with one of her own. "If she's mine until she's assigned,
that means it's my job to protect her, not only to protect other
people from her." She takes that seriously.
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[audio, after Quill's rampage]
Fair warning, if you don't answer me I'm going to go track down your assigned inmate to make sure someone's put in the revival request.
Re: [audio, after Quill's rampage]
[It takes a little while, but not so long that he'd need to go hunt down her inmate.]
No need. Erik already requested my revival. In Zero with Taylor now.
A bucket of water from my cabin? I'm not used to being on land in this form for as long as I'm likely to. It might help.
Re: [audio, after Quill's rampage]
[He can probably snag a five-gallon bucket from an unlocked area. Maybe they have some extras in the kitchen.]
I'll be down there in a few. Glad to hear you're revived already, make sure you're getting some rest, say hi to T for me.
Re: [audio, after Quill's rampage]
What's a gallon? [She supposes it doesn't matter.] Whatever you bring is fine. Thank you.
Re: [audio, after Quill's rampage]
See you soon.
[It takes him about fifteen minutes, because a full five-gallon bucket of water is heavy, but he'll show up at the door to Zero eventually, putting both hands into hauling.]
Re: [audio, after Quill's rampage]
Don't know what liters are either. Sildroher don't have a system of measurement. Not like that, anyway.
[Ulla manages the smallest flicker of a grateful smile when he arrives. She's curled up around Taylor, leaning into her side, tail draped across Taylor's lap.]
Thank you.
Re: [audio, after Quill's rampage]
[He sets the bucket down by their side, within easy reach for Ulla, and steps back with a wryly tilted smile.]
I know what this feels like. I was one of the ones she shot last time she showed up, sorry to say.
Re: [audio, after Quill's rampage]
[Ulla shakes her head, her arm tightening around Taylor's waist. He doesn't know. Being shot would have been preferable.]
Didn't shoot me, at least at first. I ducked underwater, she shot my transportation device, and the water boiled. I couldn't get out before it flooded my throat and my gills. And I don't have magic right now, even if I could've managed to sing through the damage.
When she shot me directly, it was a mercy killing.
no subject
She makes herself move again, just her fingertips stroking Ulla's hair, soft as breath.
"Ulla..."
no subject
He stills, himself, at Ulla's description of her death, his lips thinning over all the things he could say about boiling to death. Burning to death, with just the medium changed, in truth.
"I'm sorry," he says, low. "For bringing that back. I didn't get the details."
no subject
"I'm alright," she tells them both, though it's mostly for Taylor's benefit.
And this next part is all for Taylor, her voice low and urgent. Zhao Yunlan can hear it, but it isn't meant for him. "The last time I burned, the person I loved most betrayed me and left me for dead. I'm healed, and you're here, so I'm alright."
There's a reason she's clinging so hard to Taylor right now. Why she needs the comfort. It's not about death, or pain. It's about the memories and the fear.
no subject
Her eyes meet Yunlan's, and she doesn't hide the anger in them, even though it's not in her voice at all. "Same Quill?"
no subject
"I'm going to make sure she doesn't have any weapons and someone's watching her after she gets out of Zero. You make sure Ulla's all right, okay?"
The serious edge to his voice is more a response to the anger in Taylor's gaze than to what she's saying.
no subject
"She's my responsibility, technically," Ulla says softly. "Mine and Trevor's. All the unpaired inmates are. But I'd appreciate your help during my death toll."
She's giving herself a few days before she has to actively face Quill.
But she sees the way Zhao Yunlan is looking at Taylor now, and Ulla, of all people, understands the desire for revenge. She even managed to graduate without giving it up entirely. It was the one piece of unfinished business she went back to her world to take care of before leaving for good.
Voice quiet enough that Quill shouldn't overhear, she underscores Zhao Yunlan's warning with one of her own. "If she's mine until she's assigned, that means it's my job to protect her, not only to protect other people from her." She takes that seriously.