Steve should maybe have given himself time to cool down after hearing that Mick had been the one to set the fire that Lark died in, but that's not really Steve's way. What he does is find himself in front of Mick's door, knocking insistently, and waiting for the guy to open up.
This isn't the first time that he has dealt with Mick and a fire. Maybe he should have put two and two together from the start. But right now, he needs to talk to the guy, because something is wrong - something is wrong with this whole damn boat, if wardens can just do this kind of thing.
It takes quite a while for Mick to answer the door, but when he does open it. There is a makeshift bandage around his neck but apart from that, he doesn't really look worse for wear. He folds his arms when he sees who it is, leaning on the door and blocking the way in.
That's fine - Steve really doesn't want to come in, and at least the door doesn't get slammed in his face right off the bat. He shifts his weight, body posture going tense, and says, "Yeah. You can explain what the hell you thought you were doing in the library."
Part of him means setting the fire. But part of him means, leaving an inmate to die in it.
Mick looks him over when he tenses but his own body language doesn't change.
"Fires are cleansing." At least that is what he had been telling himself, what the compulsion had been telling him. "Have you ever had to do something? Not a moral had to, but a had to like you have to breathe?"
"The last place I heard someone say that was not anyplace you want to be associated with," Steve says flatly, crossing his own arms, finally, though he doesn't otherwise move.
The rest of it, though - yeah, he gets it. He does. "Yes. But it sure as hell wasn't setting a fire. Is this normal for you? Because this isn't the first time, and if you want to burn down your own shit, who am I to care, but you got someone killed."
Now that is enough to make him tense and he frowns at Steve. "I don't see how that is any of your concern if it is normal or not."
Mostly because it isn't, the desire yes, but not being unable to not act on it. But he is not going to say anything about that to someone he barely knows.
"Then you must not have been paying attention to... anything for the past year. It's my concern because you got someone killed." Someone who's a close friend, yes, but Steve would be standing here no matter who had died. "You ruined property that wasn't yours. So if this is normal, we deserve to know about it, and if it's not - you probably need some help, pal."
Mick's eyes narrow. "No." He looks at Steve for a long moment. "I'm fine as far as you or anyone else on this ship needs to be involved. What exactly has made you think I care about property that is someone else's? And I am not the only one who has gotten inmates killed, am I?"
That stings - well, of course it does. He's sure it was meant to. Steve can't help it; he takes a step forward, fists clenching, but he doesn't do more than that. "At least I cared that I did. At least I considered it before it happened, and I'm starting to think that a lot of the people in the right on this ship are on the wrong side of the line."
Not all of the inmates are right, nor are they all good people. But God, there are so many good people locked up as inmates, and there are people like this serving as wardens -
"What about people not on this ship? Would they be concerned about you?"
Mick shrugs. "The only person who would is dead." He meets Steve's Eyes calmly. "Yes, it is unfortunate that someone died but I did not force anyone to be in there, and I wasn't trying to kill anyone."
"Well, that's convenient," Steve says - maybe more flatly than he should,
but he's not feeling particularly charitable. "It's not unfortunate,
Rory. That is not how it works. If that's really how you see your position
here, then I am gladder by the day that I'm not a warden anymore, because
the standards have really gone downhill."
Part of Steve - a big part - wants to just deck the guy in the mouth. Part
of him knows it won't do any good, but he still wants to do it, anyway.
He's not here to mete out justice, or revenge, or anything like that,
but... but fuck, if this is really how the guy operates, if this is
really how wardens operate, then what Steve said is exactly true: He is so
glad he doesn't have to even pretend to agree with these people.
He's gotten people killed, too. But he's never called it unfortunate
and shrugged and moved on. He's never pretended that just because he was't
trying to get anyone hurt, that absolved him of responsibility. It sure as
hell doesn't.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spam!
This isn't the first time that he has dealt with Mick and a fire. Maybe he should have put two and two together from the start. But right now, he needs to talk to the guy, because something is wrong - something is wrong with this whole damn boat, if wardens can just do this kind of thing.
Re: spam!
"Can I help you?"
spam!
Part of him means setting the fire. But part of him means, leaving an inmate to die in it.
Re: spam!
"Fires are cleansing." At least that is what he had been telling himself, what the compulsion had been telling him. "Have you ever had to do something? Not a moral had to, but a had to like you have to breathe?"
spam! (vague reference to germany during ww2)
The rest of it, though - yeah, he gets it. He does. "Yes. But it sure as hell wasn't setting a fire. Is this normal for you? Because this isn't the first time, and if you want to burn down your own shit, who am I to care, but you got someone killed."
spam
Mostly because it isn't, the desire yes, but not being unable to not act on it. But he is not going to say anything about that to someone he barely knows.
Re: spam
spam
spam
Not all of the inmates are right, nor are they all good people. But God, there are so many good people locked up as inmates, and there are people like this serving as wardens -
"What about people not on this ship? Would they be concerned about you?"
Re: spam
Re: spam
"Well, that's convenient," Steve says - maybe more flatly than he should, but he's not feeling particularly charitable. "It's not unfortunate, Rory. That is not how it works. If that's really how you see your position here, then I am gladder by the day that I'm not a warden anymore, because the standards have really gone downhill."
Part of Steve - a big part - wants to just deck the guy in the mouth. Part of him knows it won't do any good, but he still wants to do it, anyway. He's not here to mete out justice, or revenge, or anything like that, but... but fuck, if this is really how the guy operates, if this is really how wardens operate, then what Steve said is exactly true: He is so glad he doesn't have to even pretend to agree with these people.
He's gotten people killed, too. But he's never called it unfortunate and shrugged and moved on. He's never pretended that just because he was't trying to get anyone hurt, that absolved him of responsibility. It sure as hell doesn't.