jumpthegun | IC Inbox (v1.0)

[He's taken the night to try and be calm, he knows there are always two sides to every story, but that doesn't stop his voice being a tight disapproval.]

Dr. Watson, I spoke to someone who said you refused to treat him when he was hurt, is that-- did you really do that?

[John's with Amber in a small shed and really doesn't want her overhearing this. He switches Al's incoming messages to translate to text and replies with that. There are all of two people he has ever refused treatment to, and Al wouldn't be upset about the Joker.]

Mr. Pierce and I have a complicated relationship, Al. There are things you don't know that are better kept that way. And all of that is to say, yes, I did refuse to treat him. There was a reason for it I'm not at liberty to share.

He's a person, no matter what problems you might have with one another, isn't that a good enough reason for helping anyone? He said you wanted to leave him to die!

[He's so disappointed, it's practically coming off him in waves.]

I didn't think you would do that sort of thing, Dr. Watson.

[He's not a person, he's a spider. They're Sherlock's words about Moriarty, but it holds true enough for Pierce. And here's the start of it. Al is the first one that Pierce is going to turn against him. Low-hanging fruit. They weren't that friendly to begin with, although, he had hoped after asking Al to fetch those livers and salt...]

Did he mention to you I stopped him being killed when he told you that? Or that I refused him treatment after another doctor had already examined him, and he told me he didn't actually want treatment?

Edited 2017-03-01 17:13 (UTC)

...No, he didn't.

[Al still sounds disappointed, but he's not come into this spitting mad. He knows there are always two sides to every story.]

Why would he say that he didn't want treatment?

Because another doctor told him it couldn't be helped and it's been too much time since the original injury. I gave him some advice on preventing gangrene and frostbite.

[He hesitates, but he's still not pleased about this.]

I think you made him scared of going to doctors for help, and that's not good. I don't know your full reasons, you're right, but Mr. Pierce has always been nice to me and I don't like to think of him hurting for no reason.

Edited 2017-03-05 16:25 (UTC)

I'm glad he's been nice to you. I'd like to keep it that way.

[Which doesn't address anything Al's really said. But the less he knows, the better.]

What's that supposed to mean?

[Why would any of this have a bearing on Mr. Pierce being nice to him?]

It means the more you know about him, the less nice he becomes. Which is why I'd like to keep you out of things.

[Has John met Al? Does he really think that's going to work?]

What are you talking about? Dr. Watson, you can't just say something like that.

Alphonse, if you want to believe I'm a right bastard, that's fine.

[It means he'll need to enlist someone else to find salt and livers, but if it's to protect the kid...]

I don't know what to think, except that you're hiding something from me about Mr. Pierce and your reasons for not wanting to treat him.

I am. And it's nothing you need to get involved in.

Should I ask Mr. Pierce?

[Al isn't above a low blow every now and again.]

[That is extremely low. There's an uptick of irritation in John's voice.]

If you do, I'm sure you'll get his side of the story and put a few more people in danger.

[John isn't above low blows, either.]

If you won't tell me how I'm putting people in danger, how am I supposed to avoid it?

[Not dropping this.]

By not talking to Mr. Pierce about this. I imagine he'll continue to feed you information on me being incompetent or cruel to him. Just accept it, be sympathetic, and move on.

I'm not just going to accept something like that without trying to get the truth, Dr. Watson. We might not always get on, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to accept you're a jerk without asking why.

It's the truth as he knows it. I'm sorry you're getting caught up in this Al, but I'd really like to keep you as far from it as possible. You like Mr. Pierce and he probably likes you for the moment. [Because Al is presently on his side.] It's better for you and our getting out of here if more people don't get fully pulled into this conflict.

[There's just the sound of a light and stubborn huff from his end.]

I'm not going to just sit aside and let either one of you badmouth the other without trying to get to the bottom of it, no way. And if I'm caught up in it already, then I should know what's going on so I don't make things worse.

[John rubs his eyes feeling very tired, indeed. Maybe if he throws Al a vague bone, he'll lay off.]

Mr. Pierce has hurt someone I love in a way that's unforgivable. Any animosity between us stems from that. The only thing you need to do to not make things worse is not talk to him about me unless he brings it up, and then just be sympathetic to whatever he has to say.

[Hurt someone he loves in a way that's unforgivable? That's incredibly cryptic and more than a little worrying. There's not a lot of ways that someone can be hurt unforgivably.]

I don't want you to break someone else's confidence, Dr. Watson, but you have to understand that I can't just pretend to be sympathetic like that. If I don't know what's happened, or who's in the right, I can't pretend.

[He's an honest guy!]

You're saying you'd be able to pretend if you had the whole truth of it?

[Not that honest a guy.]

I don't know, but it would sure be easier.

@LELRIC; audio; morning of 211

@jwatson; text

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Wow, pretend all of this has been text from John...

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