There is literally no one I don't hate right now.

[notplaying]

Toby was in the council office. He had the door propped open with stack of his least favorite books, and numerous stacks of paper neatly set out in equal intervals around the table with chairs in front of each. He was at what he counted as being the fifth one. The order was: Council Parameters, Grievances of Property, Grievances of Person,

Comments

[handandahalf]

Jon heard the rhythmic thumping noise coming from the Council office and paused, puzzled. Sticking his head in the door, he saw the older man tossing the ball against the wall with a look of intense concentration on his face. "Does it help?" he inquired with a bit of a rueful smile on his face.

[notplaying]

"Yes," said Toby, not stopping, but glancing over at the young man, "I think. I've been doing it for about twenty years, so I assume it helps. It's conceivable it doesn't and I just think it does."

[handandahalf]

"Habits can be like that," Jon agreed. He had a fair few of his own that, by now, he couldn't quite remember why he had started them in the first place. "What are you working on? If you don't mind my asking," he added with that smile again.

[notplaying]

"Of course not," Toby said, sitting back, turning the ball over in his hands.

"Sit, if you like. Ah, law. Laws," he specified, looking over the table. "So we can..." He cleared his throat and ran his fingertips over the bridge of his nose, "have some."

[handandahalf]

Intrigued, Jon took the chair on the other side of the desk. "What sorts of laws?" he asked. "More than the Declaration of Rights, you mean?" When he had been on the Council, Jon had helped enact the Declaration, which he had thought to be all the laws the island would ever need.

[notplaying]

"Yes," Toby said, reaching over and sliding the aforementioned piece of paper to the center of the table, "more than the Declaration. The Declaration is a good start but it's not something the IPD feels they can police. We need laws that say murder is against the law, and this is the punishment you can expect, and so on and so forth. We also need laws defining what the council is for and what the council can do. That's what....that pile is," he said, and pointed. It was a wordy pile.

[handandahalf]

Jon's eyebrows went up. "I see," he said. "Where I'm from it's very different, you see.... This is all quite new to me. But I can see the difference between saying everyone has a right to life and saying it's illegal to murder." He paused and then added, "So you're trying to decide which things need the latter kind of clarification?"

[notplaying]

Toby nodded a little.

"More trying to put them into terms appropriate for the island and it's population, and figure out what, exactly, punishment for committing the acts would be."

[handandahalf]

Jon nodded again. "Which ones are giving you the most trouble? I'd be happy to offer an opinion... though if you are on the council now you already know my father and brother, who have likely presented the Westerosi way of doing things already," he said with a smile.

[notplaying]

"I've got some idea," Toby said, offering a slight smile back.

"Most of the people here are from post-medieval societies, though, and prescribe to somewhat less permanent solutions to most crimes, for better or worse. What are your thoughts on impeachment?" Toby asked. "How many times should someone in power be allowed to f- to commit a crime or offense and be allowed to remain in of run for office?"

[handandahalf]

"Impeachment," Jon said, puzzled. "I'm not familiar with that term. As for the rest, well..." He thought of men-- and women-- of power he'd known in his life, both the good examples and the bad. "It depends on the offense. Something which violates a law, if done in the name of the greater good, may be permissible... but for the most part I think any abuse of power only leads to more abuse. However that may be evaluated or controlled, I think it should be done to our best ability."

[notplaying]

Toby nodded a little, thoughtfully.

"Right," he said. "Right. Good." He wanted Ginger and he wanted coffee and he wanted his kids.

"We need an actual jail," he muttered.

[handandahalf]

Jon thought of Cersei Lannister, who he was quite sure was mad and more than deserving of being locked away, and nodded. "I agree. Something private, but more than that cell on the other side of the island-- close by, so if something goes amiss we may know of it quickly."