thisavrou_log | "Get outta here if you don't know"

Entry tags:

"Get outta here if you don't know"

Who: Peter (

seeingscarlet), and You
When: 15th to early 18th in the medbay, late 18 to the 23rd in the hold
Where: Medbay and the Hold
What: Directly after this. Peter really screwed up and now he's hanging out in the medbay until he recovers. Later he hangs out in the hold. Wanda's around to feild all your questions about how stupid her twin is.
Warnings: Discussion of character death, violence, and severe injuries

[Comment under the toplevel for which sibling you want to talk to. If you want a specific starter, please just oocly contact.]

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[That stings, honestly, though the only indication that it hurts is a slight tightening of her expression.] Enough about why you think I'm here. This is the first time I've been sitting at a friend's bedside, but it certainly is the first time I've been accused of having ulterior motives for doing it.

And this may shock you, but I don't think it's necessary to constantly watch everyone on the ship. I assume-- and maybe this is a failing on my part-- that if there's a problem, someone will come and tell me about it. I think everyone would prefer that.

I'm not saying you have to keep an eye on things. I'm saying the captains already knew. Don't go putting words in my mouth.

[She's not the target of his temper. His anger is self directed, a loathing mixed with guilt at what he's caused. It's coloring his tone, making his words clipped and short.]

You wanted to know if it was prompted? That's my way of saying it was.

[He glares at the wall, arms crossing over his chest. Not tightly, too much movement still hurts, but enough to close himself off. He needs a moment to get the fire in his stomach under control.]

I wouldn't have come to you with this. It's not your problem to deal with.

I caught that much, that the captains knew-- and I also caught from your tone that you either consider the fact that I was unaware a failing or that you expect me to be fed this information by them. I'll accept that clearly my being unaware of this issue has potentially cost a crewmember their life, but I won't let my words get twisted around. Not even by you.

[Elizabeth takes a breath and lets it out.] So they knew, and they apparently didn't do anything, so you're looking at the safety net believe it or not. My job aboard this ship is to contend with what the captains can't see to-- or what they won't see to. You know I'm taking that seriously. That makes fights between crewmembers my problem.

I'm not trying to twist- [But it starts out too angry. He stops, scrubs his hands as harshly over his face as he dares with his body still so sore. A breath. Another.] This isn't on you. So don't go saying things like that. No one's putting blame on you. It's their fucking fault or Rinzler's.

[He spits the name like venom, takes a moment to settle.]

It's already going to trial. There's nothing more that needs to be done. Nothing else is going to get done. [He peeks at her from between his fingers, expression growing serious.] The system here isn't worth shit Lizzie. I don't think there's a way you can work this out within it.

[Elizabeth understands, to some extent, the sentiment behind the statement. She hadn't been able to escape her tower by just asking, she'd had to break out. And the system of leadership in both Columbia and Rapture ultimately led to absolute collapse. In a way, the sort of laissez-faire attitudes the captains have remind her of what ultimately happened in Rapture. Anarchy. No restrictions on what people pursued. Anything could be explained away.]

[She stands up suddenly, fists closed.] What good is my position if I don't fix it, then? It's irresponsible, it's pathetic, if I just sit here and shrug it off when people are getting hurt. If there's no way to work this out within, then I have to expand the system. For you, and Wanda, and J-- and for anyone else who has this problem later on. We all come from different places and different times, it's idiotic to assume you and Rinzler will be the last violent conflict.

[He watches her stand, half expecting her to storm out.]

Look, I want this to change as much as you do. More actually! I can't stand the thought that guy is going to be free soon and could go right back after my sister. But you know you can't get like that over it. There's no one blaming you for not being able to control this.

[A pause.]

Tell me what you're thinking of doing.

And I doubt he'll live to regret it if he does. [As the words come out, she feels an almost painful recollection of a time when she sounded so dispassionate, so nonchalant about somebody dying. She didn't ever want to feel that way again, but here she is, thinking that Rinzler would probably deserve it if he tried to do something to Wanda.]

[After a moment of trying to own that feeling and failing, Elizabeth shakes her head and looks back at Peter.] I came from a place where the wealthy and powerful did everything they could to be undeserving of their position in life. Subjugating people. Using them as practically free labor. Letting them live and suffer and die in dark, filthy, disease-ridden, famine-prevalent streets. How am I different if I lock myself in my quarters with my fireplace and my books and my quilts and shrug while people are being killed decks above me?

...No one may be blaming me, but my conscience won't let me live with it. [And if there's one thing Elizabeth DeWitt possesses in spades, it's a guilt complex. She gets that from her father.]

I may have an angle. He messaged me after the incident with Sans and Papyrus, demanding to know why the captains and I hadn't destroyed Ploiatos. ...Ironic situation he finds himself in now, I'd think.

Lizzie, no. [All he hears in that tone is her own threat to do something. And he's not watching another friend get killed by that creature.] Don't even think about going after him without having someone with you. Don't get killed over this.

[He's aware he has no right to tell her what to do, but the idea of someone else dying at Rinzler's hand tears at him. He can't handle it, he knows he can't handle hearing another friend was lost to him. He's just not strong enough for that, not when he's still coping with J.

Peter tries to sound firm, but he just sounds scared and desperate.]

You're not like those people and you can't compare the situations. It's not the same thing and you know it.

[But really, he can't begrudge her desire to help. He can't be upset that her heart is set in a place that could benefit Wanda's safety.]

I don't understand. How does that help?

Peter-- [Elizabeth is trying to be compassionate and gentle, but there's something in her voice that suggests he listen carefully to her.] I understand your concern, but I'm less fragile than I seem, I can promise you that. I can handle myself against someone who wants to kill me.

[And her tone suggests she has direct experience with it.]

It may not be the same, I admit that, but I still can't just sit here to save my skin. That's not the sort of person I am, or want to become. That means I have to talk to him while he can't ignore me. He seems at least willing to do that even if we disagree.

[She sighs.] It's a long shot, I admit, but understanding his angle could lead me to the answer. I want to know if he thinks he's any different from Ploiatos. If he should be tossed out an airlock based on his previous concerns about that situation, and if not-- why.

[He doesn't comment, but the look on his face says enough. He doesn't believe her. And it's not just a slight against her.

He'd done all this for Wanda, even knowing what she could do. He'd seen her memories, seen the extent of her power. And yet he still believed he had to take care of enemies for her. He still thought of her as small and in need of protection. And the same thought extended to Billy and River. It was why he'd pushed Alice away from staying for the real fight, despite getting a taste of what she could do.

He maybe had a complex.]

Self preservation. Isn't that why most people would argue they didn't deserve to be thrown out?

[He sighs.] Can you at least promise me you'll be careful? Or try to?

Normally I'd agree, but I can't hear him making such an... emotional argument. He reasons like... like a computer.

[Which is odd for her to even consider, given how recent her introduction to computers and outer space has been.]

[She smiles and rests a hand gently on his.] I promise I'll be careful. And I won't go by myself.

His anger's pretty emotional.

[He mutters it, not really in the mood to go into his ideas that a computer is all he thinks Rinzler to be.

When she touches him, he smiles at her tightly.]

Thanks, Lizzie.

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"Get outta here if you don't know"

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