2. (ANTICIPATORY COPING) (VOICE --> VIDEO)

[slightlyoffchilt]

While I am not usually one to wax the philosophical so publicly, I must admit there’s a sort of poetry inherent to existentialism. Disorientation in the face of absurd, incongruent, maybe even violent sequences -- well, we have other names for that, too, don’t we? The experience, the circumstance.

[Chilton flips the communicator to video, showcasing only his clean-shaven face. His expression is mostly neutral, accented only with a wry halfway smile and an arched eyebrow. The scene glimpsed behind him is the Porter Lab in Cape Canaveral. This angle hides the cane that Chilton now relies on.]

The consequence -- traumatic. And if we consider the responsibility of the individual to create meaning for himself, well, then perhaps our reactions can be as predictable as clockwork.

[The camera zooms in, focusing on Abel’s face, which is fairly pale and lacking his usual facial hair in favor of stubble.

There’s the faint shadow of a shoe print on his left cheek.]

Don't you agree, Abel?

[Gideon's eyes drift upward, expression irritated but preoccupied, as he props himself up on his arms; his lower body isn't in the camera's view. There's a fork in his hand that is dangerously close to Chilton's leg.]

Can be, provided nothing interferes to change those natural consequences in the first place. An individual may create meaning for themselves in an ideal world… in the real world, fate waits behind unmarked doors.

Put that away, Frederick.

[Chilton, instead, slides the camera focal point over to Gideon's missing leg. In a few minutes, Gideon will be equipped with a Government-standard wheelchair. But until then:]

Someone help the fatalist here, please. He's on his last leg.

Comments

[infomodder]

[Both hands go up immediately as if he's saying no to a dish that smells foul or is comprised of something he's deathly allergic to. He has no issues showing that cast now, considering Chilton must know why it's there and he won't have to crap out something about how he messed up fixing a boat motor before he arrived or whatever else was an appropriately Will Graham method of accidentally busting his hand to hell and back.]

No no no, no. No. She talked to me because I had made it obvious I knew both you and Doctor Gideon. Never would've spoken to her otherwise. [He'd tell him to go look for himself, but if Chilton wants to? He'll do it without direction. There's also the fact of the matter that they talked about going out for coffee...now he thinks it's not happening. Maybe off the table entirely? That's not going to be mentioned at the moment if he can help it. Finally, hands back flat on the counter, his own hackles obviously raised, he focuses ahead again.] We've made a deal. It didn't include you doing your thing on me. Not your patient, not obligated to humor you. You start psychoanalyzing me, I hang up. Immediately. Understand?

[Thing said in a voice decidedly similar to Chilton's, of course. He means it, too. It's a little like training a dog. Either he quits or they end up never talking because it's pointless. As much as he's aching to know about why the Ripper is coming up and Doctor Lecter's been mentioned, it's rather important to set some boundaries.]

[slightlyoffchilt]

She talked to you.

[He found this information unpalatable. Danger was a systematically curious individual -- she would, inevitably, calculate Will's capability and his proximity to Chilton.

Chilton closed his eyes, briefly, but a lingered a moment too long to qualify a blink.]

Keep a careful stride with her, Will, on that verbal tightrope you're ambling down. I'm bound to my word, yes, our mutual agreement -- I won't be the one to break it.

[The threat hovers, like a crow drifting downwards towards a road-ridden corpse.]

[infomodder]

She told me you were her psychiatrist and said you were someone with ruthless ambition and an obsession with the sociopathic mind. I made an effort to spin it in a better light. Got accused of defending you. Then she said I must be psychologically aberrant.

[It comes out quickly, every word of that conversation having been filed away long ago. He's regurgitating it like he'd regurgitate textbook information, though it's obviously more personal than writing about history he'd never been involved with.

Disdain seeps into it to prove that much.]

Been ambling a verbal tightrope since I got here. She made hers tauter in our first conversation.

[Unless divine intervention or some sort of invasive power surges over him or Ripper Juniors start running around, no. She's getting nothing.]

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Will's dedication proves impressive -- not that Chilton ought to have doubted it, the man was a empathetic sponge. It wasn't impossible for him to empathize with Chilton's own fears (a notion that induced a quick shudder down Chilton's spine. Will Graham's talents have always been applied to narcissists, sociopaths, psychopaths, murderers, or all the above. Chilton fit two categories of such description). Based on Will Graham's personal values and notable behavior, in fact, Chilton should have expected a sincere loyalty to their pact.]

Danger can be cruel in her analysis.

[Be cruel, he said. Not just seem cruel.]

I wouldn't take it personally. She has a habit of... Possessiveness.

[Which was not a healthy habit to have with your psychiatrist. But perhaps hardly an uncommon one.]

[infomodder]

[Chilton can be rude, can take potshots at him for his mental state, can comment on every move he makes, and Will won't say a word. He won't like it, but if he gets treated and it goes well, why break it? He'd already hidden enough secrets, what was one more?

He's still staring straight ahead, though looking less and less willing to deal with this discussion the longer it goes on.]

I don't need advice on how to deal with cruel analyses. I've heard crueler from trained professionals. [Much crueler if he ever goes home, there's no doubting it.] She does seem possessive now, threatening you with pain beyond imagination on Doctor Gideon's behalf.

[Cruelty and possessiveness; no wonder you like her. You've got that in common. See yourself in her, advanced being that she is. Terrifying, or compliment? He won't say it. He thinks it, but if he expects Chilton to keep his thoughts on Will to himself, he can't turn around and refuse him the same. Quid pro quo.]

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Chilton glanced to the side, when Will discussed his crueler professional analysis. He, too cleanly, recalls what he had said about the Chesapeake Ripper upon the courtroom stand -- a diagnosis, while correct about the Ripper, was never the less targeted at the wrong man.

The doctor cleared his throat. Fortunate, for him, that Will was a few paces behind their mutual timeline.]

Are you going to make a habit of eavesdropping?

[Will can touch upon any open Network post, as it's all fair game. But Chilton won't recognize that.]

She won't beyond my imagination. [I've been through too much, is the implicit tone.] She's only being emotionally reactive.

[A state that, no doubt, Will was already finely in tune with. Whether he liked it or note.]

But she is my patient, as you keenly noted, and I won't speak in any additional depth on Danger.

[A thankful break from the topic -- for Chilton. He was unaware of Will's internal analysis.]

[infomodder]

[Doctor Graham. Temporary badge. Followed not long after by informing Will he'd heard all about him in those fancy circles, therefore he must have known Will wasn't a doctor. It felt like an attack. He's fully aware of the allegations against him, and even more aware that that sort of nastiness? Nothing in comparison to whatever's been said about him since.

His eyebrows knit together, everything Chilton says seemingly confusing him more than the last. It's obvious when he doesn't realize the dog's stuck his nose on the counter near him until he starts licking at his cast, which gets a gentle push as a sign he needs to get back on the floor.

Wonderful timing, giving him something tangible to be distracted by so he can figure out how to phrase things without the risk of sounding possessive himself.]

Danger as your patient isn't any of my business. [Hopefully it stays that way.] I'm not following along because of her, I'm—there are two people here I know. Two. [His good hand runs through his hair. He's aggravated. Shouldn't this be obvious?] This isn't snooping through smalltalk, this is. Different.

[The struggle for words here isn't hidden, looking from the door (can someone please come in right now) to whatever's on the far wall, hand rubbing at his forehead. It's always been easier to find whatever he's trying to say with Lecter. Their communication was not always clear cut, but it flowed easily. He didn't get that much, didn't expect it with anyone else.]

It's making notes for future reference. That's all.

[Seems they're all a little emotionally reactive, but Will's not about to mention his emotions with current company.]

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Chilton hesitated, before verbally addressing again -- Will's agitation is evident, even though his control of himself is fairly admirable. The abrupt speech, the explicit explanation; he did not want to be misunderstood. That was likely a reoccurring issue with Will Graham, Chilton figured, thinking back upon what he knew of the man, in retrospect. Was that why he refused professional analysis? A fear of being misunderstood. Mislabeled. People often feared, and then hated, what they misinterpreted. Wasn't that true? And who else would be acutely aware of that, if not Will Graham?

All thanks to that thing he did, of course.]

Notes for future reference. Your foresight is admirable.

[Chilton didn't sieve away the drip in his voice.]

Let's keep it that way, shall we? My business is my business, and yours is... All yours.

[A proposition that was unlikely to remain in any conceivable form for long.]

I think we both are interested in our personal endeavors, in this world.

[infomodder]

[He didn't have to have a thing to read Chilton's message loud and clear in every way presented. His foresight was admirable? Control was important, kept him from saying things like I wouldn't need to have any sort of foresight if you hadn't apparently pissed off a good deal of people here already, was what kept him from saying it now. Control and the knowledge that things weren't right and he'd never know what he might need to know if he didn't play the game (or, perhaps more accurately, things he needed to know told him in a good way). So he bites it down, though it's as evident as his agitation that there's something on his mind he's choosing to...disregard.

It's way more evident he's biting his tongue when business is mentioned, and he's almost smiling by the time Chilton finishes. Chilton interested in his own personal endeavors, wasn't he always?]

I'll let you in on a little secret, Doctor Chilton. [There's nervous energy there as he turns to look back at the camera, fingers rapidly rubbing up against each other for lack of anything else to do.] My personal endeavor in this world is to not have to go back to the job I just— [How does he phrase this without sounding bitter? Was forced to retire from? Retired from early, probably without a pension to speak of? Oh, hell, there's no way to phrase it without sounding bitter. No need to beat around the bush in that regard, and there's no beating around the bush here, there's no chance of being misunderstood. Will Graham wants nothing to do with murder and murderers who think in unique ways, hates it, hates the job, hates that he can do it, hates how he does it. He's not doing it here. He's focused on making sure this is understood and there is no doubt that if push came to shove, Will Graham was perfectly capable of his own sort of ruthlessness.] —left. You don't make me leave this retirement, I won't do everything I can to put you in your retirement. That's the deal. You—

[Focus vanishes when the bell over the door jingles, Will snapping out of it when he spots a customer. Good stopping point, too, because he's certain his point's been made, he's heard Chilton's, and it seems he has...other things to worry about.]

—have a good day.

[Said so, so, so pleasantly it's likely Chilton's never heard that from him before. He has to look good for the customers, doesn't he? That's it, that's all there is, and he cuts it off without another word.]