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“I’m hoping to get another inmate at the end of the month. Will thinks they should give me a vacation first, but it’s not like we can go anywhere and honestly working keeps me out of trouble,” Malcolm says with a shrug.

Abel had been taking a vacation of sorts since he got here and he had not enjoyed very much of it at all. "I can understand that. I haven't known what to do with myself half the time since I got here and it's gotten me in trouble a few times." Thankfully not a lot, and he feels like he had kind of fixed that one conversation since he hadn't just stormed away, but it was awkward sometimes, going to the Gym. Ah well, Jacob could judge his form all he wanted so long as they could stay civil.

"Is...Will your soulmate?" He knows already, but if he slips up later it will help not give anything else away. Besides, it might be a good thing hearing it from Malcolm rather than the Gossip chain.

Malcolm will talk about Will all day long if asked, so good plan.

"Yeah! Will Graham. He works in the kennels and you might see him around walking or training his dogs. We had the same job in our worlds, investigating murders."

"Oh! So does that make you a detective as well? Or were you part of a forensics team?" Its definitely an interesting career choice. He'd been witness to enough people die over the years that he isn't sure whether a job like that would disturb him, but it certainly wasn't something most people could do.

"I haven't met Will, though I love dogs, so that will at least give me a good starting point if I catch him out on a walk. How long have you known each other?" Since he doubts they started the first day they met, but it wasn't unheard of. He'd done it anyways, though definitely not on purpose.

“I’m a detective. A profiler, specifically. Him too. We use behavioural psychology to study and hunt killers. I’ve known him for a bit over a year. He was here for a few months before I knew… about his feelings. We just celebrated our first anniversary in port,” Malcolm rambles happily. “We’ve both lectured at the same detective school in our different worlds too, which is neat. We’ve both worked for the same law enforcement agency.”

He can see how being so similar might be a comfort. Abel isn't sure he'd enjoy having a partner that was so close to himself, they'd never talk to each other if all they did was work anyways, but having a friend with shared experiences here would be valuable.

"That makes a lot more sense to me. I was thinking soulmate was you being too much of a romantic, but it definitely fits given the context." That embarrassment is starting to bleed away now that he has more information, adding a few footnotes under Norton's original assessment. "I'm sure that it's nice to have someone who has shared in most of your experiences, even if they weren't with you to do them."

“We’re perfectly matched. But… we’re not exactly the same. We have a lot of differences, too. Complementary differences. So we can help each other. So we can be stronger together,” Malcolm explains.

"It'd probably be boring if you were. I don't think many people want to date themselves." He smiles, though Cain had certainly not been very complementary. Perhaps if he had actually met the real him and not some version of himself that had been completely made up, it might be different. There was no real separating him here though.

“Exactly. Do you want to see a picture of him?”

Malcolm is already taking out his phone. He’s been taking all kinds of pictures of Will. Abel may recognize the Barge staircase the photo is taken in when Malcolm hands it to him.

Abel is secretly amassing cute pictures of happy couples, and despite the sting of jealousy, it makes him smile, considering Will. There had been a lot of very attractive men on board the Sleipnir too, but it's a little different when you can consider most of them on the Barge to be some kind of available, even if it's just to look. Expressing open interest hadn't been safe or appropriate, but he is thankful it's not like that here, passing the phone back.

"He's cute. I like his curls." The way it almost makes his hair look messy but purposefully so reminds him of Ethos. "You have good taste, obviously."

“I know, right? I like his curls too. This one is my favourite so far…” He shows him another picture, and then he’ll tuck his phone back into his pocket. “We started taking a lot more pictures recently. We realized we’re living a life we want to remember now.”

"I'm sure I've said this too many times already to practically everyone i've met, but it's nice, meeting so many queer people." He smiles at the other picture, finding that Malcolm looks pretty handsome too when he's showing his partner off. It's the kind of happiness that comes with enjoying your life, like he said, and it's very attractive.

"Makes me feel normal for once."

“You’re… made to feel not normal where you’re from? For that? I’m sorry,” Malcolm tells him genuinely.

Abel pulls a face, shaking his head, "No, it's...My father is a conservative politician. If I'd been interested in women it probably would have gone better for me, but he didn't want a media scandal." The way Malcolm looks at him though, sorry about it almost swings him right on back to being uncomfortable.

"I never really trusted anyone with telling them after what happened when I came out to I came out to my parents. Just-" Cain. "Hard to get used to it not being a secret."

“I understand that. What it’s like not to be able to trust someone you feel like you should be able to trust. To have to hide part of yourself from everyone. The feeling that… no matter how hard you try, someone might notice something and make it all for nothing.”

All that suffering for nothing, right? There's something dangerously close with what Malcolm says, and he hadn't read his own file when he'd looked at Cook's information on project Thebes.

It made him wonder if they had known even if he hadn't said anything to anyone. The thought makes him kind of sick. "It kind of eats at you. I'm thankful it won't have to be like that here."

“No, exactly. Not at all. And maybe you’ll get the chance to meet someone here that’s perfect for you, that you never would have been able to meet in your world. I’m not nearly the only one that has,” Malcolm tells him.

Abel opens his mouth to say something but lets it drag for a moment, unsure. "I'm not really here for that, but... I suppose if I had the chance, it would be nice."

“I wasn’t here for that, either! I didn’t think that was something I could even have, to be honest. So just… don’t close yourself to any possibilities. Of any kind. That’s my advice to new people,” Malcolm tells him.

He manages a little smile, taking another sip of his tea. Definitely less than lukewarm now. If he continues to see Malcolm like this it is going to become awkward when he eventually has to start talking about Cain.

"I'll keep it in mind."

“In the meantime, is there anything in particular you’re wondering about here?” Malcolm asks.

Oh, there's a lot. Now that he's put on the spot with a question that isn't just about himself he isn't sure what to pick. "I suppose it would be nice to ask about your method. I understand that everyone is different, but...having some idea of what worked for you would be helpful so I can start to formulate a plan." Or more of one. He was still considering just fashioning himself after some kind of commander, but it wasn't a fleshed out idea or one that someone might be receptive to.

"My... method? For what? Wardening?" Malcolm clarifies.

As much as Abel thinks he's obvious, he really should give context for what he's saying rather than just thinking about it. "Yes, sorry. I have an idea in my head of what that would look like for me, but I don't know if it would be effective."

"Well, it really depends on the inmate. What works with some inmates would rub others completely the wrong way," Malcolm tells him. "It helps to listen to your inmate about their needs, but... don't let them get away with whatever their toxic behaviours are."

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The fuck did I do to that last tag? How did I even do that?

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