01 : text : grace.g

[expectaspectre]

[ Grace actually got here a while ago. Apart from a brief encounter with one guy by the inmate cells, she's been drifting around, invisible. Watching. Not talking to anyone, just observing. One guy got handcuffed to the cafeteria tables. It very much reinforced her resolve about staying invisible for a little while.

But she hadn't been lazy-- Her first goal was to raid the research library to find some stuff written by people who are way, WAY more experienced than her about this whole situation. She's spent the past few days reading in her room.

Probably now that she's more acclimatized, it'll be an okay time to try to communicate. Safer. Via text. ]

hello

since arriving here i've been trying to read more about what the experts in the field recommend to assist with prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration. a lot of it seems... difficult to implement, at least immediately

but one of the things they discuss is the option of Group Therapy and i was just wondering if there was anything like that already available

it seems like it could be helpful

Comments

[expectaspectre]

some voices count for more, surely

it might be better if it came from someone else

[counterstep]

Not by my measure. We wardens are all equal. To separate levels of import would only create conflict, bring insurrection.

You've read those books on prison management, so you then have also seen the examples what can happen once a pecking order is established, no?

[expectaspectre]

[ How DARE you use her studying against her! Damn you, logic! ]

you're right of course
but it just
would be better

if it were someone else's idea

> private

[counterstep]

may i ask why?

it disheartens me to hear anyone say those sorts of words

( he had those sorts of thoughts before too. still fights them sometimes. )

[expectaspectre]

[ After double and triple-checking that the privacy is, indeed, on, and deciding just how much she's willing to say to someone she JUST met, who might or might not be how he's been representing himself via text at all... ]

i'm not good to be around

there's something wrong with me

[counterstep]

that can't be true if you're a warden

why do you feel that why?
i ask out of concern
if you don't want to meet with the others, i won't make you
can't, anyway
i just want to understand

[expectaspectre]

it's hard to explain

you'll understand if you meet me in person
it's like a feeling
unsettling
makes the fight-or-flight go haywire

people don't like being around me
it's understandable

[ :( ]

[counterstep]

i'm so sorry
that sounds so horrible to endure
is it a kind of magic?
does it affect everyone?

[expectaspectre]

[ ...He SEEMS nice. At least he's not being judgemental about it! MAYBE he's trustworthy?? ]

it's not magic i just


i died


came back wrong i think

we're not sure

but it's not all bad
i can walk through walls
and the flying is nice
so that's something

[counterstep]

( i died. came back wrong i think.

it strikes harder than he expected it to, maybe because he never expects anyone to really understand anymore. no one tries to. why wait? but that makes it so much worse. she seems, so young. bright. full of that good, the true good, that he always saw in steve.

what a cruel thing, fate. )

something like a specter?

obviously i know we've only just spoken so
you haven't any idea who i am or what kind of person i was before this either

this might sound crazy but i did too
died
came back wrong
different


different abilities from yours too
but i know what happened with me, at least

[expectaspectre]

[ Grace takes a long time to reply.
A long time. ]

are you okay ?

[ The implication of course being that she is not. Not yet anyway. ]

there's no such thing as ghosts
there's just me

[counterstep]

( he laughs at the last because it hurts enough to make his eyes sting. the same could be same for him. )

i try to think of it in terms of if i can still manage or not
for now i still can

( so, no, he isn't. he doubts he'll ever be again, but he came here to try anyway. because you have to keep going. no one else will do it for you. )

[expectaspectre]

if there's ever anything i can do to help
i'd like to

if that's okay

[counterstep]

honestly, i'm more concerned for you
you're being newly arrived

would you be willing to meet with me?
i know what you said
about the fight-flight response

but i think i might be okay

( there's nothing he truly fears. )

[expectaspectre]

[ A brief pause. ]

i won't take it personally if you're wrong :)

[ ...That's a "yes". ]

[counterstep]

even so i hope i'm not 🙂

i'll be in my room the rest of the day
drop by when you're comfortable
warden room 104