therealpm: (Damn)
[personal profile] therealpm
*Peter sits at his desk and sulks.  He's already paced back and forth across the room 60 times (he counted), and is now waiting for the hour before he'll do so again.  It's become a bit of a ritual, something to break up the day and stretch his legs in the confined space of the cell. 

He glares at the stack of BIS work still left to do.  The stream of paper is seemingly neverending, and that's part of the problem.  There is never any sense that he has completed something- achieved anything indeed except knocked down one more briefing to a digestible size, with a thousand still to go.  He makes no decisions, alters no part of government policy, merely reads in, concatonates and writes out a one page summary in what is now perfect longhand.  He is bored out of his skull.

Peter hasn't tested the wards since Paddy was last on guard- all the guards since have been magical and rather more inclined to enquire as to what he is doing than previously.  He supposes John has warned them to be extra vigilant and the lack of even an illusion of privacy grates.  He hasn't managed to de-spell the phone either, and the knowledge that it has taken over a week to fail to do something he would normally be able to complete in under 10 minutes is yet one more frustration on top of the pile.  It is growing incresingly difficult for him to maintain his temper, to keep to the social niceties and not just snap at the next comment, change into the wolf and howl at the door.  But for now he bides his time with pacing and thinking up excessively creative means of revenge.*

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 04:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
Yes, although...

*He pauses, wondering how best to frame the events of today to ensure he is allowed out again.*

...it is somewhat monotonous. Today's excursion was a welcome respite.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 04:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bamfbercow.livejournal.com
You cannot leave the Parliamentary estate, Peter. If you insist that the forecourt is no longer of any interest to you, then you shall have to make do with the occasional trip to a car park.

Moreover, if you're getting cabin fever, do not simply wait for one of your guards to pick up on it - we cannot read minds! - but instead inform us of your predicament and we shall see what we can do to alleviate the problem.

DEFRA may not hold werewolves in the highest regard, but they will intervene in a case of neglect if they have to.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 04:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
I do not see why: were I to attempt to escape I would merely give DEFRA a license to hunt me down and shoot me in the back of the head.

*He scowls and considers pointing out that his guards hardly intervened when Fiona Millar tied him to a door, so he doubts any pleas to be let outside will be met with anything other than derision, but that would mean admitting to John that he'd allowed himself to be tied to a door, and Peter isn't in the mood for that humiliation either.*

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 05:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bamfbercow.livejournal.com
You are a werewolf, Peter. We still have absolutely no idea how this came to be - you don't know if you're infectious or not! You have to stay on the parliamentary estate because if you don't - if you're taken off site without express permission from DEFRA and someone spots you - they have the legal right to shoot you the instant they see you, even if you're accompanied by all of your guards, wearing a bind and a collar - even if you're shackled into a Hannibal Lecter suit, for Merlin's sake!

If you wish to have someone else take you on and be your legal guardian in the hopes that you'll get to go out for walks wherever and whenever you like, then I will fetch the forms in an instant and have you transferred on Monday. However, I hardly think it would do you any good in the long term.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 05:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
...they only have that legal right if they are aware that I am a werewolf. My reputation amongst the general populace may not be particularly... positive, but I hardly think there are a large number who believe me to be undead.

As for working out how this came to pass- if you will allow me the freedom of my laboratory I can find out. Otherwise your guess is as good as mine.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 05:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bamfbercow.livejournal.com
*John rubs his temples*

Peter, I cannot let you into your lab unsupervised. At all. That is out of the question.

What may be possible is for you to go there with someone who actually understands what it is you are doing - namely, Vince. However, he is ever so slightly busy at the moment being in coalition and running one of the biggest departments in the country. Unless I administer a truth potion to you and have a guard or two watching you, there is no possible way you are going to get into your lab, Peter.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
*Peter's eyebrows shoot up*

You know as well as I do that truth potions are highly risky and give unreliable results. There's a reason that even this government doesn't consider them suitable for interrogative use.

...would you be satisfied with two guards and a binding? As you say, Vince is busy. The only way it will be possible to determine the cause and potentially prevent future outbreaks would be for me to do the research.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bamfbercow.livejournal.com
*John briefly considers pointing out that there is another way to discover the source of the lycanthropy - hand Peter over to DEFRA and let them dissect him - but decides against it.*

I'll seek advice from Frances on this matter. I can't promise anything.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
Thank you. I would like to pass on any results to Vince as soon as possible. I am sure he will find them interesting when brewing a cure.

*He hesitates, wondering how far to press his luck*

It was good to see Freddie, Oliver and Jemima again today. I know you probably will not believe it, but they were never in any danger.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bamfbercow.livejournal.com
You're right; I don't believe it.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
*Peter shrugs, awkwardly.*

If you do not believe the potion has any effect, why continue to ask me to drink it daily?

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bamfbercow.livejournal.com
I have total faith in both the potion and the collar - I just simply do not trust that you have been taking it long enough for it to be truly effective. Moreover, I recognize that, while both do a great deal to reduce your magic, the wolf and your physical strength, it is no substitute for keeping you away from my children.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
I have been taking it as specified for nearly two weeks now. I have transformed at will and kept my mind whilst doing so. I have met with your children and the only result is that they had a pleasant afternoon.

What further proof do you require?

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bamfbercow.livejournal.com
Blood tests. Brain scans. A expert opinion at the very least!

When you boil down the argument to its bare bones, this is the result: I do not currently trust you to be around my children for a prolonged period of time. You may argue all you like - and I'm sure you will - but you cannot and will not make me feel like an appalling individual for putting the safety of my children above all else, Peter.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
...a brain scan.

I wasn't aware Westminster Palace had the facilities. Unless that's the point? I can't leave the grounds without a brain scan, I can't obtain a brain scan... without leaving the grounds.

Fine. But I see no reason why some secluded park or base should not be sufficiently difficult for the public to locate as to be safe for a brief stroll.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bamfbercow.livejournal.com
If you think I'm treating you so appallingly then I'll call DEFRA first thing Monday morning to come and collect you.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
*Peter shrugs, and gives John a level stare*

You told me that if I wished to leave the cell, I should ask. I have done so.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bamfbercow.livejournal.com
And your request has been noted.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
And rejected

*Peter inclines his head.*

Thank you.

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 06:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bamfbercow.livejournal.com
*John nods at Peter. The discussion has ended and John goes back to his paperwork.*

Re: 2 p.m.

Date: 2012-09-15 07:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therealpm.livejournal.com
*Peter waits, to see if there will be any further response, then gets to work shifting his bed, desk, and anything else he might conceivably need a few inches away from the walls.*
Page generated Dec. 30th, 2025 04:24 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios