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[mothmansplaining]

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"Stanford Pines. Leave a message."

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[tetractys]

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO UNTIL THEN?

[mothmansplaining]

[He shrugs; you can hear it in his voice.]

Stick around.

[tetractys]

ARE YOU HEADING OUT WHEN THE SHIP'S DONE?

[mothmansplaining]

....I don't know. I...haven't been thinking that far ahead, yet. I was expecting to have to negotiate a lot harder for the deal!

[On the one hand, he wants to be with his family. On the other, he...wants to stay with Bill, until Bill's free too. He hasn't brought it up to Stan yet.]

[tetractys]

[Soft:] YEAH.

[Bill believes him, Ford tends to just sort of take problems as they immediately appear in front of him.]

HOW ARE YOU FEELING, HUH?

[deal is pretty great, maybe they should celebrate.]

[mothmansplaining]

Ha ha. Pretty surprised. I mean, Rose did all the work herself, but I never thought an inmate paired with me would actually end up graduating!

I offered her the deal, you know, if she wanted it. She wouldn't take it. It was the right thing for her to do -- she realized that she couldn't assume what the people she cared about needed anymore, and using a deal to change things would just be making the same mistakes. Changing things in a way she thought was better, instead of listening to everyone else.

I'm really proud of her. She came a long way.

[tetractys]

YOU'RE NOT A DEAD WEIGHT, YA KNOW. YOU HAVE A LOT TO OFFER!

[mothmansplaining]

Ha ha. You think so?

[He's not convinced. He did tell Rose she shouldn't keep secrets, but she had to come to understand why on her own. All Ford did was be her friend.]

[tetractys]

FORDSY, COME ON. YOU'VE BEEN GREAT FOR ME, AND I'M NOT EVEN YOUR INMATE. I'M JUST TRYING TO GET YOU TO STAND STILL SO I CAN PET YOUR HEAD!

[mothmansplaining]

That's different! It's not my job to get you to graduation. I'm just trying to get us to a point where we can live with each other!

[tetractys]

I KNOW. AND I WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO WARDEN ME, WE DON'T NEED THIS TO BE ANY MORE COMPLICATED THAN IT IS ALREADY.

BUT I'VE SEEN THE SKILLS FOR IT YOU HAVE, KID. YOU'RE A GOOD FRIEND, AND YOU'RE A KIND PERSON. YOU KNOW HOW TO SET BOUNDARIES. AND LEARN FROM MISTAKES!

[mothmansplaining]

...thank you.

[The people who've expressed that they want him to stay, and that they feel he's doing good here, have surprised him. It's surprised him that it's happened at all! He's somehow gone from "heartless bastard" to this, and...even if he leaves eventually it's nice to know that's how some people feel about him.]

It's nice to hear that, even if being thanked by the Admiral for my "hard work" was galling.

[u g h.]

[tetractys]

[Bill rolls his eye.]

FORGET HIM. YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED, HE CAN HAVE WHATEVER KIND OF ATTITUDE HE LIKES ABOUT IT. HEH!

[mothmansplaining]

I still feel like I'm playing the Authority's game by cooperating, [he admits.] I don't like feeling that way -- like what I'm doing is helping them, even if it's also helping someone I care about.

[He feels used and complicit at the same time.]

[tetractys]

IT'S THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN. FOR NOW.

[When Bill graduates, that'll change.]

I CAN'T TELL YOU WHAT TO DO, FORDSY. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE ANSWER IS.

[mothmansplaining]

Ah, that's okay. It's a question I've got to live with. You just worry about getting out of here.

[tetractys]

WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO IF HE ASSIGNS YOU AGAIN BEFORE YOU FINISH THE SHIP?

[mothmansplaining]

....making sure my family's safe comes first.

[He's not the only warden on board the ship. If he chooses to leave, the inmate'll be reassigned.]

[tetractys]

I GETCHA.

HEY, THIS IS GREAT, THOUGH! WE SHOULD CELEBRATE!

[mothmansplaining]

[Rose hadn't. He...he kind of wishes he'd been able to celebrate with her more, but he understood that she wasn't in the mood for it, not after what had happened -- not that soon. But maybe he can party for Rose? She deserves it.]

What did you have in mind?

[tetractys]

I DON'T KNOW! MAYBE WITH ROSE? SHE SEEMS KINDA, UHH, DOUR... IF SHE'S NOT IN THE MOOD WE CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!

[... sigh]

MAYBE WITH STAN.

[If it is with Stan, Bill's secret plan is to sneak out the back.]

[mothmansplaining]

I can ask her, but....I'm not sure she's in a partying mood.

...

...

[Does he want to do something with Bill and Stan? Ford feels a bit of apprehension at the thought. Even if Stan agrees, that'll be tense, and Ford's not sure he's up for brother-exboyfriend mediation.

Means something that Bill suggested it, though.]

Thank you for offering to do that. But it's okay. I can do something else with Stan later, if he wants to.

[Bill suggested celebrating. What Bill will want to do will likely be different from what Stan wants to do, and that's OK.]

[tetractys]

[OPENLY RELIEVED.] YEAH, OKAY!

WHATEVER SOUNDS FUN TO YOU. YOU'RE GONNA GET THE KIDS, FORD. YOU DID IT. YOU GUYS HAVE YOUR WHOLE FUTURE AHEAD OF YOU!

cw moon truthing

[mothmansplaining]

....have you ever been to the moon?

I mean the real one. Not the set in Area 51.

oh god do i need to warn for that i do it constantly

[tetractys]

YEAH! APOLLO TWELVE WAS ACTUALLY LEGIT, GO FIGURE. THEY FELL ASLEEP UP THERE AND I GOT TO SEE THE MOON MINDSCAPE!

WANT TO GO?