[Another sign the old Wash isn't entirely dead and gone: his ears turn red. Something they'd only ever seen when his helmet was off, but sometimes happened in conversation during lunch when he'd put his foot in his mouth.]
[Of all things to survive this long, his occasional awkwardness was one of them. Which had been why he'd not always been the most effective at menacing Doc.]
[He thinks hard. He's just promised to not be who he was anymore. And maybe he can. Even if he tries to play the game to keep Jorgmund from ruining his life, maybe he can use that for his friends. For all the people trapped here. Throw them Jorgmund the scent when it comes to rebellion. Feed them false information. And maybe he can make the right choice if he's forced to, if it's a choice between himself and all of them.]
[And take the hit.]
[But they have to be worth it. They can't be yet more people willing to ruin his life.]
[York is hitting all the right notes, saying all the right things. He didn't expect that.]
Continue not trying to kill me.
[This could be a ruse on York's part - something he still fears about North. But if it isn't...]
[If it isn't, maybe everyone here is worth sacrificing for. He's definitely starting to think Tucker is, because of the flashes of memory. Bunny. Dave. He kind of, almost...no he does like some of the others.]
And be honest with me. I can't take any more lies. Any more manipulation.
I don't want to be who I was.
[He really, honestly doesn't.]
But I will be that if people do what they've always done and betray me, lie to me, try to kill me, use me.
[A pang of guilt.]
Although I'd limit it to being that way only at the people trying to screw me this time. Not people like those Red soldiers, like Donut.
[He gets a flash of Donut and him walking away from the moment he shot him, after traveling through the... something strange with time travel? The Evermore or something?]
no subject
[Another sign the old Wash isn't entirely dead and gone: his ears turn red. Something they'd only ever seen when his helmet was off, but sometimes happened in conversation during lunch when he'd put his foot in his mouth.]
[Of all things to survive this long, his occasional awkwardness was one of them. Which had been why he'd not always been the most effective at menacing Doc.]
[He thinks hard. He's just promised to not be who he was anymore. And maybe he can. Even if he tries to play the game to keep Jorgmund from ruining his life, maybe he can use that for his friends. For all the people trapped here. Throw them Jorgmund the scent when it comes to rebellion. Feed them false information. And maybe he can make the right choice if he's forced to, if it's a choice between himself and all of them.]
[And take the hit.]
[But they have to be worth it. They can't be yet more people willing to ruin his life.]
[York is hitting all the right notes, saying all the right things. He didn't expect that.]
Continue not trying to kill me.
[This could be a ruse on York's part - something he still fears about North. But if it isn't...]
[If it isn't, maybe everyone here is worth sacrificing for. He's definitely starting to think Tucker is, because of the flashes of memory. Bunny. Dave. He kind of, almost...no he does like some of the others.]
And be honest with me. I can't take any more lies. Any more manipulation.
I don't want to be who I was.
[He really, honestly doesn't.]
But I will be that if people do what they've always done and betray me, lie to me, try to kill me, use me.
[A pang of guilt.]
Although I'd limit it to being that way only at the people trying to screw me this time. Not people like those Red soldiers, like Donut.
[He gets a flash of Donut and him walking away from the moment he shot him, after traveling through the... something strange with time travel? The Evermore or something?]