He leans across the table slightly. "Yeah? Well, I stole this hat after I shot the guy wearin' it," he tells him. "Coulda been the guy I dragged off the horse, too. Can't really remember."
He rolls his eyes. "Point is, this Admiral doesn't seem to know the difference between the two."
"Sounds like you had a busy day," Steve murmurs, with just a bit of a wry grin.
But, "No. He doesn't, always." He thinks of Bucky, and his fingers curl into a fist on the table, before he realizes it and flexes them again. "But there's a line. If you cross it... it makes things pretty clear."
Which, he realizes, is vague. "Don't kill any inmates. No matter what. Only way it won't get you demoted is if you're not in your right mind, in which case, the advice probably becomes pretty moot."
"Killing's bad business," Steve murmurs. "People still do it here. Even though the victims get back up again after. Not that they have an easy time of it. Even wardens have to death toll."
But that's not the point. "People are still people. They still get angry and violent and people still end up dead."
Killing is not always bad business, but Jake mostly knows when to keep his opinions to himself. "That's how people are. Especially when you got all kinds of different people here."
Steve lets out a quiet laugh. "I meant mostly the death toll, yeah. But a little bit of the other thing, too. Sometimes no one knows. Sometimes their warden just... doesn't do anything about it."
"Take responsibility for my inmate's actions, same as I'd have taken responsibility for anyone under my command."
He doesn't have to guess, in this case. His inmate had done some pretty terrible things, when he'd been unwittingly sent home by the Admiral. So, he'd come back and dealt with it, because it was his responsibility to deal with it.
"No one learns anything when their actions just go ignored."
"It was complicated, the time I had to deal with it. The Admiral sent me away, and while I was gone, my inmate used abilities she had to influence two wardens into attempting murder on an inmate for her. And then a different inmate killed her over it, all before I got back."
God, that had been a mess.
"But when I got back, her file was still in my cabin. I was still responsible for her, and that hadn't changed while I was gone. She'd proven that she'd act out while I was gone, so - I didn't get gone until she'd proven she wouldn't do it again. I stayed in her room and we worked out a way to put that ability to better use than influencing people to do things when she was angry. And when I found out who'd killed her..."
"She graduated, yeah," Steve confirms. "But - I don't think it was so much her changing as... changing the way she thought about things. Changing her outlook on the world. Not who she was. I never wanted to change who she was. That would've been a disservice."
He considers how much to tell, because the details aren't necessarily important, and it's not worth bogging down the message: "Her people had been oppressed for a long time. Overcoming that wasn't about revenge, because anger begets anger. Violence begets violence. And it's not about forgiveness, either, because some things you just don't forgive. It's about wiping out the diseased thinking, and letting better ideas grow in its place. When she left, I went with her. I wasn't gonna win her war for her, but it was a war worth fighting."
"I'll keep that in mind," he mutters softly. He's been around a long time, that's obvious. He's been everything. Warden. Inmate. Both. Jake knows he would be stupid not to listen to him.
Steve just shrugs one shoulder. "Everybody's different. I just want to make sure inmates get seen as people. Not just problems." He hates the system as it stands, but it's not going anywhere. Better to at least try to do something small, he hopes, so that nobody falls through the cracks.
"Anyway - I haven't been a warden for a long time. I don't know how good my advice really is, anymore, so. Grain of salt and all that," he adds, trying to crack a wry half-smile.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: spam
Date: 2021-01-31 03:37 am (UTC)He rolls his eyes. "Point is, this Admiral doesn't seem to know the difference between the two."
Re: spam
Date: 2021-01-31 04:04 am (UTC)But, "No. He doesn't, always." He thinks of Bucky, and his fingers curl into a fist on the table, before he realizes it and flexes them again. "But there's a line. If you cross it... it makes things pretty clear."
Which, he realizes, is vague. "Don't kill any inmates. No matter what. Only way it won't get you demoted is if you're not in your right mind, in which case, the advice probably becomes pretty moot."
Re: spam
Date: 2021-01-31 04:07 am (UTC)"Killin' inmates seems like bad business," he points out. "What would be the point?" Other than it's wrong, but maybe it isn't? Jake isn't certain.
Re: spam
Date: 2021-01-31 04:15 am (UTC)But that's not the point. "People are still people. They still get angry and violent and people still end up dead."
Re: spam
Date: 2021-01-31 04:18 am (UTC)Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 12:24 am (UTC)Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 12:32 am (UTC)He raises his head. "Unless you mean that the person who did the killin' doesn't get punished?"
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 12:49 am (UTC)Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 01:06 am (UTC)"Yeah. And what would you do?"
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 01:16 am (UTC)He doesn't have to guess, in this case. His inmate had done some pretty terrible things, when he'd been unwittingly sent home by the Admiral. So, he'd come back and dealt with it, because it was his responsibility to deal with it.
"No one learns anything when their actions just go ignored."
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 01:35 am (UTC)He's mostly curious because Steve seems...so damn righteous.
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 02:49 am (UTC)"It was complicated, the time I had to deal with it. The Admiral sent me away, and while I was gone, my inmate used abilities she had to influence two wardens into attempting murder on an inmate for her. And then a different inmate killed her over it, all before I got back."
God, that had been a mess.
"But when I got back, her file was still in my cabin. I was still responsible for her, and that hadn't changed while I was gone. She'd proven that she'd act out while I was gone, so - I didn't get gone until she'd proven she wouldn't do it again. I stayed in her room and we worked out a way to put that ability to better use than influencing people to do things when she was angry. And when I found out who'd killed her..."
That had been an even bigger mess.
"It didn't go unpunished, either."
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 02:56 am (UTC)He waits to light it a moment, leaning forward as he tries to get the story straight.
Still, the punishment was...oddly fitting, it seemed.
"Did it work, though? What you did?" He finally flicks the match. "Did she change?"
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 03:01 am (UTC)He considers how much to tell, because the details aren't necessarily important, and it's not worth bogging down the message: "Her people had been oppressed for a long time. Overcoming that wasn't about revenge, because anger begets anger. Violence begets violence. And it's not about forgiveness, either, because some things you just don't forgive. It's about wiping out the diseased thinking, and letting better ideas grow in its place. When she left, I went with her. I wasn't gonna win her war for her, but it was a war worth fighting."
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 03:05 am (UTC)"I'll keep that in mind," he mutters softly. He's been around a long time, that's obvious. He's been everything. Warden. Inmate. Both. Jake knows he would be stupid not to listen to him.
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 03:19 am (UTC)"Anyway - I haven't been a warden for a long time. I don't know how good my advice really is, anymore, so. Grain of salt and all that," he adds, trying to crack a wry half-smile.
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 03:22 am (UTC)"I take it how I take it," he assures him. "Gettin' advice from more than the likes of you."
He returns that half-smile with a quick look, a warmth around the eyes that has the hint of a smile. "Thanks for the coffee, Steve."
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 03:26 am (UTC)And, "Sure thing, pal. Keep the thermos. Comes in handy."
Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 03:29 am (UTC)Re: spam
Date: 2021-02-01 03:40 am (UTC)He offers Jake a sketchy little salute, and sees himself out.