action | OTA

[sanctus_dei]

Passengers: Theo, and you
Location: Chapel/loading bay
Date: morning/afternoon of Feb.15
Summary: Theo is an annoying brat and he's here to tell you about it
Warnings: none, yet



[After a pretty intense drying out period, Theo is slowly returning to his normal self. Unfortunately, that self is an unrepentant pain in the ass, with too much time on his hands and no real outlets for his energy and seemingly endless anger. At least he's starting to finally look a little better. He's back to wearing his suit again instead of just Peregrine-issued pajamas, and he's even got a little more color back in his complexion. Some fresh air and a trip to the beach seems to have put some life back in him. Maybe this wasn't a good thing.

With his books limited on what he is allowed to read, and the ship locked down on what inmates are allowed to do unsupervised, he’s left to wreak havoc on whatever he can get his hands on. Little did he know that today he’d finally be assigned a warden of his own for the first time, so Lucifer gets to hit the ground running with this kid. ]


For inmates [morning]
[Any inmate who happens to be passing the much-neglected chapel will hear some crashing noises from inside. When they peek in, they will find Theo causally tearing the place up. Digging through what little has been supplied, as nothing had been requested yet, he upturns the storage containers of symbols and vestments, littering the floors. Seats are knocked over, tables tipped. It’s definitely the work of one very mature teenager.

When he notices he’s being watched, he only shrugs as he rummages around.]

Y’know, it’s funny. I half-expected to find one of them hotel Bibles hiding in here somewhere.


For wardens [afternoon]
[There’s a loud crashing noise coming from the area of the loading bay, and upon investigation, there’s Theo. He’s dragged several of the chairs from the mess hall out here, and has tossed them in the way of the auto-closing doors that smash them like tin cans. He’s holding the next one over his head and is ready to toss it over when he’s discovered, and he stops in his tracks.]

[Dryly, he adds:] … Oops.

Comments

[sanctus_dei]

[Of course he has a hard time answering that. Theo can't tell if it's because Lucifer really doesn't know, or if he's just trying to get him to talk more.

Lucifer wasn't here when Theo arrived to see the charming name badge they outfitted him with. "HELLO, my name is THEO CRAWFORD. I have killed 987 people. I enjoy CHESS and READING."

He finally looks away, finally noticing that torn collar. When he reaches for it, he sees how he's shaking and stops.]

If you don't know, I'm not telling you.

[dealwiththe]

No, I don’t know. I don’t have your file, and I’m not psychic. I don’t know what you think about what you’ve done, what you believe or feel, unless you tell me.

[ But he didn’t expect to get a coherent answer, anyway. This is a process, and a long one, judging by his own experience. It took Lucifer several years in therapy to fully admit to the depth of his own self-loathing. It would be absurd to expect so much progress from Theo in a couple of conversations. ]

Is there anything you want to ask me? About what I expect from you, or about anything at all, really?

[ He thinks he’s clarified the whole what am I supposed to do thing as well as he can, for now, but he also wants to make sure Theo knows he’s here to listen to whatever he’s got to say. ]

[sanctus_dei]

[Still looking away, Theo lets out something resembling a rueful laugh.]

Pretty fucked up of an idea for them to make you do this job without telling you what you're up against. Seriously, what a joke this place is.

[He realizes this means he's going to have to talk to Lucifer about it, that it's supposed to be up to him to talk about it, he grimaces. Maybe he could just make something up. He's really regretting everything he spilled so far. Theo's favorite subject was himself, but only when focusing on showing off how much he knew about spellcasting, and how good he was at it. Everything else? Not so much.

When Lucifer asks if he has any questions for him, only Theo's eyes swivel his way.]

Yeah. You fuckin' regretting taking this job yet? It's gonna be a long fucking month.

[dealwiththe]

If we were to be paired up permanently, I'm told I would have access to your file. It may help. But I've never had one before, for any of my patients in Hell, and I've gotten along fine.

[ Recall that he's been doing this in Hell already, more or less. This isn't his first rodeo. ]

And no, I don't regret taking this job. Just because something is difficult doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. I've found that goes for people, too, sometimes.

[sanctus_dei]

[The idea of being paired permanently with a warden - any warden, but especially Lucifer - was a terrifying prospect. He swallows, but he doesn't lose his gaze. It outs serious weight on his next statement.]

I wonder how they'd compare against me.

[He meant that. What circle of Hell do you land in for mass murder on the scale he committed?]

[dealwiththe]

[ Lucifer, on the other hand, suspects Theo ought to be permanently paired pretty quickly - he feels like the boy could really do with having someone reliable and trustworthy, long-term, rather than being shuffled about from warden to warden for potentially months on end. ]

That might depend on what metric of comparison you're using. There's what people have actually done - and then there's the guilt, and the denial, and the self-loathing, and resentment...

[ It's the other stuff that actually brings them to Hell, after all. ]

[sanctus_dei]

I am not taking back what I did. [He snaps back quickly on that. If he showed regret, all those lives were sacrificed for nothing. But it's too late for that - he already admitted he regrets being brought back.]

I'm notsorry. I made my point and I'm... I'm not taking it back.

[He's starting to run out of steam. While is anger seems never ending, his energy isn't. He might be feeling a bit better health-wise, but he has a long way to go. The adrenaline has finally petered out, but he'd stand at this corner and scratch at Lucifer all day long like this if he had to.]

[dealwiththe]

[ In Lucifer’s experience, those who are quickest to say I’m not sorry are often very sorry indeed. ]

I didn’t suggest that you should.

[ Which is true! He still doesn’t even know what Theo actually did. But the kid seems to be running out of steam, so it might be time to bow out for the time being. ]

Unless you have anything else for me - a question, or a request - I’ll leave you to it. You’ll be confined to this room until tomorrow morning, but you’ve got your CommLink. I’ll send you a few things to look at, if you want. And tomorrow, we’ll start again.

[sanctus_dei]

No, just-- leave me alone.
[Squinting, Theo rubs his eyes and forehand with a hand - his head was pounding worse that ever. It pretty much had been all the time since he arrived, though.]

Right. We'll see about that.

[As if he has a choice.]

[dealwiththe]

Yes, we will.

[ Lucifer sounds quite a bit more certain than Theo, and he slips out of the room without another word, locking the door behind him. Within the hour, Theo’s CommLink will receive a couple of basic first aid manuals, and a handful of episodes of the American TV procedural Bones. ]