oohforeshadowing | IC Inbox

"Absolutely not." They hop from a low wall to a higher walkway, with barely more effort than taking a step. "There's nothing for me to go back to."

Nico follows with far more effort. "I'm not going back home, either. After." There are things for him to go back to, but another world offers so much more. "Where do you want to go?"

"No idea," they say, unconcerned. "Why are you going to all the effort of fixing a world you don't even intend to live on?"

"Because I wouldn't be able to live fully somewhere else if I didn't."

"Fair enough, I suppose."

They stop abruptly, sitting cross-legged on top of an oil barrel.

"So. You're my temporary warden, I'm your test subject. Warden me."

Nico considers them seriously, meeting Trouble's eyes for the first time before looking down again. The assignment might be temporary, but Nico believes in full diligence. Or perhaps he just doesn't like the thought of 'test subjects'.

"I had an inmate for a while. She was the... villain of the story. It was a role she chose to play, and one that she took on as a - reaction. It had its benefits, at times." More details are personal. "What do you get out of trouble?"

"Money," they tell him. "Thence food, clothes, shelter et cetera."

All the basics of survival, reasons he can understand easily from his own life. "The barge provides food and somewhere to live and clothes. There are dangers, but rarely permanent consequences in terms of life or limb. People come and go frequently enough that you can reinvent who you are with out the majority insisting you're actually someone else." It's a strange sort of reality, all told. "What do you like?"

"I've been here for a year, warden, please don't tell me the details like I don't know them."

They sigh.

"To answer your question, I like to perform, darling. To create."

"Do you like to have a large audience, or is it more for yourself?" He's genuinely interested, they might create in different forms, but Nico has allowed himself to admit, if only internally, that he has his own small passion for creating things.

"I do enjoy the occasional round of applause, darling. Unfortunately, everyone here is so wrapped up in their own personal melodramas."

"There are a lot of them." But people seem to manage that even when they have far more to occupy their time than on the barge. "Is it what you'd like to do with your life?"

"It's why I made it my career, darling. If I just wanted to pay the bills, there are other jobs."

Nico tugs at a lose thread, the frayed hem and cuffs of his jacket suggest it's a long standing habit.

"I think I'd like to build things."

Trouble's gaze follows his movement.

"That's lucrative. Maybe you could buy some clothes for the first time in, what, five or six years?"

There's a flicker something that might be a smile on someone else.

"Can't be more than two." His clothes can be described as shabby, but they do fit. For the most part. And in a world full of choices, it's easier not to have to think about what he wears. Still, his inmate works in the wardrobe room. "You like dressing up?"

Another toothy smile.

"I do like a transformative costume, on occasion. And it's nice to challenge others. Maybe you could come by my place of work sometime and I can fix you up."

Nico's willing to sacrifice a lot for the job. On the whole, the barge usually asks him to sacrifice very little. This is somewhere in between.

"Maybe." But he's already resigned to facing it, at least once. "Do you have what you need to be comfortable?"

"I do. My previous temp didn't seem to like me, but he was very accommodating. I do appreciate you asking, of course."

"Do you like to visit the Enclosure regularly?" Not that Nico thinks it's particularly difficult to find someone to open the door, but there might be times it's a bother to have to ask while he can open it for them without any questions.

"Not really. It's just nice to see a change of scenery, sometimes," they say idly. "And you might as well see what 'home' is for me, mm?"

They make a sweeping gesture.

"It's interesting." Nico's 'home' would just be concrete walls, whatever he feelings about open spaces, it's better than that.

"You said it's called the Valley of the Lost?"

"I did! It's a useful place for those of us who aren't keen to try fitting in elsewhere."

"Was it that sort of place even before a dictator arrived from another world?"

They shrug expansively.

"Probably! Honestly, darling, I can't remember that far back. It's been quite some time."

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