.049 [TEXT TOTALLY TEXT]

[timesbureaucrat]

[Friends(ish) Filter (minus Ardent who is dead and totally OFF this filter now)]

Has anything happened while I've been indisposed? [Yes, he's trying to get right back to work. And avoid talking about what happened.

[Private to Admiral]

Revive Ardent.

[then later, after hearing that Ardent is still a vegetable...Warden Filter]

The death toll

Comments

Spam

[rass_bestie]

[Guess who sped in as soon as your message appeared on the network? He nearly fell off the visitors chair. Thank goodness for Time Lord balance.] /Telepathy?/

Spam

[timesbureaucrat]

//Yes. My brain is perfectly functional.// [Mostly. Aside from the lingering concussion and painkillers.] //Which makes this misadventure better than the incident with Arthas, as far as these things go.// [He's trying to make light of it, otherwise he'll end up raging.]

Spam

[rass_bestie]

/I'm going to mock up a warden item for you./ [He's unable to quite hide his worry for him. /I would have found you… but Minaru. Well, it was emotional./

Spam

[timesbureaucrat]

//I don't need a leash.// [He appreciates the concern but Da-ad Founder, he can take care of himself. Only...not very well.]

//I understand the last flood was difficult. It all happened so quickly that I'm not sure anyone could have stopped it in any event.//

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[rass_bestie]

/Which is probably why I'm telling you rather than slipping a sensor into your bloodstream./ [Pause.] I told Rassilon something happened to you. Not who did it, I didn't even know at the time. But he was angry./

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[timesbureaucrat]

//Damn conniving Gallifreyans...// [Wait, did he think that out loud?]

//Why would Rassilon be angry? I'll be fit to follow orders again in no time. Surely that's all that matters.// [There's a hard, bright, bitter edge to that last thought.]

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[rass_bestie]

[That makes Omega snort with humour. Then sighs.] /Having one's father pop up will tend to push your father issues. And Time Lords are his children./ [The emotion that 'children' brings up is bemusement. Ancestors he gets, but he doesn't see Narvin, Brax or the Doctor as his kids. Narvin just happens to be the friend who gets himself killed, which happens far too often in the real world, so he tends to take that personally.]

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[timesbureaucrat]

[Narvin has very little in the way of paternal instinct and not much more in the way of parental role models. He's not sure he understands it.]

//Do you mean he's possessive? That he feels that no one has the right to punish his people but him?//

Re: Spam

[rass_bestie]

/That would be the impression I'm getting./ [Shrugs.] /I don't think Rassilon is quite in touch with what being a father really means./

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[timesbureaucrat]

//I suppose...all things considered I'd rather he be furious at Ardent than blaming me for getting myself temporarily incapacitated.//

Re: Spam

[rass_bestie]

/So would I./ [Ardent so far out of his good books right now.] /Would you like anything? I hear ice cream is good for mouth issues such as this./ [Pause.] /What are you going to about him, may I ask?/

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[timesbureaucrat]

//No, nothing. I don't need food yet and I'd rather not do anything that...// [...reminded him further of the stump that was what was left of his tongue. But he didn't volunteer that thought. It sounded weak, like he couldn't really face what Ardent had done. He could face it. He just...didn't want to. Repression was the best option.]

//Braxiatel offered a few suggestions, although unfortunately I don't have the resources to carry them out.// [And he doesn't want to get demoted, of course. And, despite everything, Narvin still has a vague sense of justice that he clings to. And tortuous retribution, as fun as it is to ponder, doesn't really fit his personal system of ethics.] //Take him off library duty, certainly. Possibly deny him access to the library. Require that any books he wants have to be requested through me. Take his precious secret and make it as public as possible.// [Well, maybe that one was a little bit vindictive. But he was a spy, not an idealist like Romana or the Doctor.]

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[rass_bestie]

[Omega just nods.] /Make sure you take precautions for that last one./

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[timesbureaucrat]

//Of course. I won't be trusting Ardent again any time soon. I should never have trusted him in the first place.// [More validation for his paranoia.]

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[rass_bestie]

[There's a second where he feels a little responsible to speak against the paranoia before realising that he, in fact, has had all the tense conversations with Brax over the network. He hadn't noticed. So he just nods and makes a suggestion.] /Over the network and in well-trafficked areas./

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[timesbureaucrat]

[Narvin nods. Paranoia is naturally the wise course of action.] //And I plan to restrict his access to weapons.//