[Perhaps the best place on the ship to reduce the risk of being overheard, although with power barriers on the cabins deteriorating, even that isn't entirely guaranteed. But that might be outweighed by other concerns.]
[Being overheard isn't the worst problem, beyond his normal level of Shuos avoidance, but he'd rather not and his cabin is a decent enough meeting spot.]
Yes.
[He's already close to the door, so it doesn't take long to program it and then go back to making his way through his candied apricots.]
[He's still at least somewhat on nurse duty; Quentin is physically largely recovered but Jedao hates to leave him alone. Within the hour, though, Fives wakes up, and Jedao sends a new message.]
On my way.
[And when he's there the door lets him in. He meanders with his hands in his pockets, wondering whether the risk of being eaten is greater or lesser here, figuring Mikodez will find him quickly enough.]
Since I'm asking a favor, I'll resist the 'in your own time' jokes.
[It's not like the question is time sensitive. He doesn't bother to respond to the second text, but does call out when he's notified of Jedao's arrival.]
Don't taunt the corridor, it'll probably manage to pick up bad habits.
[He waves the door open from where he's sitting with his legs up on a desk in one of the less formal rooms, halfway through something that'll probably be a hat.]
"This is what I've come to, asking for... information from someone with no taste."
He's addressing a wall, but then, it's a wall with a lost of listening equipment inside it.
"In case you were wondering, the information is half the favor. It's personal." He says the word with slight pain of someone who would rather erase it. At least, when used honestly.
"I wasn't." Sometimes letting himself wonder is just asking for weird paranoia spirals. Mikodez had to tell him eventually, or else spring a trap that he had no motive to build, so -
- better not to wonder.
He takes a handful of the candy after all, though, because it's something like a overture of sympathy, and because Fives will probably like it.
He's wondering now, with that little admission, but he's merciful enough not to emphasize it by saying so.
He rests his chin on tented fingers a moment, Jedao is the best choice for understanding certain things, but that comes with it's own complications. Perhaps especially what he might remember from a Mikodez who hadn't quite been who he had been in this life.
"My job complicates relationships, I suppose. My first... responsibility is to the Shuos," his first and last everything is or them. "I know them. I have their files. I have everyone's files." He's the one ultimately responsible for how that information is used, for all he makes sure to delegate carefully. There was Istradez, who he already knew, and the paid therapists but there are a lot of reasons that the exceptions to not having sex with the people who work for him are rare and not instigated by him. "I believe there are different expectations to how much you're supposed to know both ways, from what I've seen of people from Earth here."
Managing people is what he does and he doesn't see any reason that should change, but -
"There are conversations about expectations. But t's hard to know what expectations they even have that need to be addressed." It's more extreme when it comes to people from Earth, so just because he had problems with that in the hexarchate too, it doesn't mean he's asking Jedao for generalized relationship advice.
"Quentin wants to talk about everything, except if I do lots of murders." Jedao makes a face for this capriciousness, despite how deeply relieved he actually is that they've come to an understanding about it.
"While I'm thinking more about that, what's the other half?"
"That's not actually confined to Earth, a lot of people don't want to talk about everything when it comes to lots of murders. That's half the reason for sex." He's joking. Mostly. Definitely in part. "They're often not really into budget meetings either.
"Which part of the other half. Media representation is only useful so far and different times and places all taken into account, but from what I've gathered there frequently seems to be weird ideas about fucking, or even talking about it."
"Talking about it in private seems to be more acceptable. Not just between partners, either."
Steve squirmed like a ferret and had unrelated emotional problems, but he hadn't actually seemed all that shocked about a friend trying to give him sex advice.
"You said information is half the favor. So what else? I'm not loaning you sex toys."
"That makes sense, as much as part of the arbitrary nature of their 'standards' do." Mikodez might not have open and honest conversations with partners about sex, but that's because he spends his life lying and manipulating people, that doesn't mean he doesn't believe in the importance other people having those conversations.
"If I ever ask to borrow sex toys, when there isn't one of the stranger floods going on, I'll be embarrassed at the low quality of whoever's trying to imitate me." He waves a hand. "The other part of the favor is having this conversation with the veneer that it's one just between people of the same universe with certain shared points of understanding, mostly avoiding certain issues of other points of connection. Just because it's baked into asking you in the first place doesn't mean it's not a favor." He approaches things with a certain type of precision.
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Re: text
[But Jedao's still the most potentially useful person to ask, and that comes first.]
Re: text
[Perhaps the best place on the ship to reduce the risk of being overheard, although with power barriers on the cabins deteriorating, even that isn't entirely guaranteed. But that might be outweighed by other concerns.]
Re: text
Yes.
[He's already close to the door, so it doesn't take long to program it and then go back to making his way through his candied apricots.]
Re: text
[He's still at least somewhat on nurse duty; Quentin is physically largely recovered but Jedao hates to leave him alone. Within the hour, though, Fives wakes up, and Jedao sends a new message.]
On my way.
[And when he's there the door lets him in. He meanders with his hands in his pockets, wondering whether the risk of being eaten is greater or lesser here, figuring Mikodez will find him quickly enough.]
Re: text
[It's not like the question is time sensitive. He doesn't bother to respond to the second text, but does call out when he's notified of Jedao's arrival.]
Don't taunt the corridor, it'll probably manage to pick up bad habits.
[He waves the door open from where he's sitting with his legs up on a desk in one of the less formal rooms, halfway through something that'll probably be a hat.]
Re: text
[But he comes in and finds something to sprawl on.]
no subject
He waves a bag at Jedao.
"Candy apricot?"
no subject
"Apricots are already sweet, you monster."
no subject
He's addressing a wall, but then, it's a wall with a lost of listening equipment inside it.
"In case you were wondering, the information is half the favor. It's personal." He says the word with slight pain of someone who would rather erase it. At least, when used honestly.
no subject
- better not to wonder.
He takes a handful of the candy after all, though, because it's something like a overture of sympathy, and because Fives will probably like it.
He's wondering now, with that little admission, but he's merciful enough not to emphasize it by saying so.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Jedao might have to think for a minute to separate out Earth-weird from Quentin-specific-foibles.
no subject
He rests his chin on tented fingers a moment, Jedao is the best choice for understanding certain things, but that comes with it's own complications. Perhaps especially what he might remember from a Mikodez who hadn't quite been who he had been in this life.
"My job complicates relationships, I suppose. My first... responsibility is to the Shuos," his first and last everything is or them. "I know them. I have their files. I have everyone's files." He's the one ultimately responsible for how that information is used, for all he makes sure to delegate carefully. There was Istradez, who he already knew, and the paid therapists but there are a lot of reasons that the exceptions to not having sex with the people who work for him are rare and not instigated by him. "I believe there are different expectations to how much you're supposed to know both ways, from what I've seen of people from Earth here."
Managing people is what he does and he doesn't see any reason that should change, but -
"There are conversations about expectations. But t's hard to know what expectations they even have that need to be addressed." It's more extreme when it comes to people from Earth, so just because he had problems with that in the hexarchate too, it doesn't mean he's asking Jedao for generalized relationship advice.
no subject
"While I'm thinking more about that, what's the other half?"
no subject
"Which part of the other half. Media representation is only useful so far and different times and places all taken into account, but from what I've gathered there frequently seems to be weird ideas about fucking, or even talking about it."
no subject
Steve squirmed like a ferret and had unrelated emotional problems, but he hadn't actually seemed all that shocked about a friend trying to give him sex advice.
"You said information is half the favor. So what else? I'm not loaning you sex toys."
no subject
"If I ever ask to borrow sex toys, when there isn't one of the stranger floods going on, I'll be embarrassed at the low quality of whoever's trying to imitate me." He waves a hand. "The other part of the favor is having this conversation with the veneer that it's one just between people of the same universe with certain shared points of understanding, mostly avoiding certain issues of other points of connection. Just because it's baked into asking you in the first place doesn't mean it's not a favor." He approaches things with a certain type of precision.