Warhammer 40k: Wrath & Glory RP #43
After coming up from the depths of the New Dawn, Gimlet asks Larssen to show him the body of Inquisitor Engarde, so he is taken to the mortuary of the ship. Engarde is definitely missing a lot of his face, looks like he was shot straight in the face with some kind of plasma weapon very close range, and he obviously wasn’t wearing helmet at the time. Gimlet goes through Engarde’s pockets, and notices that his stuff, like wallet and his badge has been taken. But he does find an engagement ring in Engarde’s pocket carved with Engarde’s and Corrida’s name. Aw, sad.
At some point Gorm makes his way to the infirmary where Tabasco has just finished chopping off Vivek’s arm. That was apparently one thing Gorm was going to ask about, but yeah, nothing to be done with spine damage. For some reason, vaccines are talked about and Tabasco decides to give Gorm his booster shots. Gorm wants to talk about Gimlet with Tabasco, as he is worried about him. Gorm asks if Tabasco has noticed anything wrong with Gimlet, and Tabasco shrugs and says that he and Gimlet don’t have that kind of relationship, they mostly just flirt. Gorm asks about their relationship and Tabasco says they’re not in one, but Gimlet is a nice fellow. Tabasco’s not quite certain why Gorm thinks he would be good for the job, but of course he wants to watch after Gimlet. Gorm says that Tabasco is a rather cheery fellow, cheerier than Gimlet’s Inquisition friends at least. Gorm asks Tabasco for refills for his medkit, and Tabasco shows him the medicine cabinet and reminds him to get a booster shot in half a year. With that, Gorm leaves.
Pretty soon after Gorm has left, Gimlet comes to visit Tabasco. Tabasco asks him about the sapling Gimlet is carrying first, it being kind of big. Gimlet tells him it’s a gift, and Tabasco recognizes it as a Granny Smith apple-sapling, named after his great-grandfather from Apple’s side. Gimlet asks if he could talk with Tabasco in private, and Tabasco takes him to the surgery, which he hasn’t yet cleaned, but the blood should be dried by now. Gimlet tells Tabasco that he’s been in the Inquisition all this time. Tabasco takes it well, says it explains a few things (after all Gimlet was supposed to work for his sister only and then threw random naked dudes to Tabasco), and also says he doesn’t expect Gimlet to tell everything to him (like as a doctor he hears a lot of stuff people don’t usually tell other people, and that’s fine too). Gimlet says he didn’t want to lie to Tabasco anymore, because he likes him. Tabasco says that’s nice, he likes Gimlet too, and maybe they could go plant the sapling together later as a date. Tabasco asks how Gimlet’s friends took it, and Gimlet points towards his ear (which makes Tabasco think Gorm did that for Gimlet being an Inquisition member). Tabasco offers to patch it up a bit nicer, and does so (also gives Gimlet his vaccines).
They do go to the arboretum of the ship to plant the sapling (Gimlet does the digging, Tabasco unwraps the sapling). Tabasco asks Gimlet if he is doing alright, and Gimlet admits he’s not doing so hot for the moment, but isn’t quite sure if that’s anyone else’s problem but his. Tabasco pleads for Gimlet to let other people care for him, including Tabasco himself and Gimlet’s friends. Gimlet tends to agree to the point, but says it’s hard at the moment. They discuss Inpax’s situation at the moment (re: Gimlet having to kill her) and Tabasco has no clear answers, but agrees that Gimlet might need to get his hands on her and see what the situation is. They finish planting the tree, and Gimlet says something that (I can’t remember) prompts Tabasco to tell him he can kiss Tabasco if he wants to and Gimlet stammers. Tabasco asks if he was being too forward, but Gimlet says it’s not that. They agree to go get coffee together and then maybe at some point they do kiss?
Gorm has wandered off from the infirmary towards the lower decks and finds Molly at the engineering station and asks if they could talk in private. Molly says sure and takes Gorm to her shack, where she hands out the data disk to Gorm (telling that she 100% did not look into it at all). Gorm thanks her for her service, Molly thanks him for all the jewelry (though Gorm hasn’t given any to her personally). Before Gorm leaves Molly asks if he would like some birds, as Gimlet kind of stranded them to Molly and she thinks the engineering deck of a voidship is not the best place for a pair of birds. Gorm tends to agree, but he’s “more of a dog person”. He has someone in mind he could hand the birds to, but there’s a problem that one of them is very keen on cursing. Gorm attempts to get the bird to say “father” instead of “fuck” and maybe manages to do that? He drops the birds off at his room and goes to find the next person he needs to talk to.
Tabasco needs to run back off to work, but before that Gimlet asks Tabasco where he might find Apple, and from his instructions makes his way to her room. He finds Apple and her husband Habanero in the middle of an intense game of Scrabble (intense from Habanero’s point of view at least). Gimlet asks if he’s intruding and Apple tells him to sit down, as she waits for her husband to finish her turn. Gimlet thanks Apple for her assistance and lets her know he managed to locate his father. He shows him a picture of Cara and baby!Gimlet (not Valance though, since he’s a Navigator and Gimlet is most definitely not). Gimlet did have something to ask as well, namely was Cara buried near Limestow. Apple says that there’s an old graveyard by Limestow that Aunt PomPom used to upkeep, now that would be falling to Peach who has taken over the Estate. It holds mostly people of Limestow (except from that burning incident, because, well, cremation got that covered). Gimlet thanks Apple again and leaves. As he leaves he can hear Habanero triumphantly put down a word, but Apple points out that it’s not a word.
Gorm meanwhile knocks on Jennifer’s door. Jennifer asks him to come in, so he does. Jennifer is busy doing pottery, Mimir at her feet. Mimir jumps up immediately at the sight of Gorm, almost making Jennifer fall over. Gorm gives her best girl some belly rubs and asks what Jennifer is making. She mentions that apparently there was clay on the ship so she is attempting to recreate a vase she remembers from her childhood, with little success so far, but it’ll at least be something to remember this ship by. Gorm thanks Jennifer for taking care of Mimir, and Jennifer says she probably didn’t feed her well at all (she’s getting pudgy) and that Mimir kept on sleeping on top of her like a weird wolf-shaped blanket. Gorm gives Jennifer a #1 Mom mug as a gift, and Jennifer laughs it off, saying at least Laurel wouldn’t agree with the sentiment right now. Apparently Jennifer and the other miners from Hellhole are leaving the ship to find a job, a fact that obviously has upset Laurel greatly.
Gorm says he feels a little bit guilty about Layla, about not really listening to what Jennifer had to say about the situation, since he was stuck on his own world view. Gorm understands why Jennifer would want to leave the ship, but Jennifer’s life wasn’t easy on Hellhole. Jennifer says of course she is leaving with her remaining community, and if she wants to get Laurel to a pilot school, she needs to earn money for that. Besides she is not doing much worse than most people in the Imperium. Gorm says that he’s come to the realization that there isn’t much of a point to suffering, that there’s value in comfort and family, and having contributed in Jennifer losing some of her family, Gorm thinks Jennifer deserves an easier life, and he’d like to help if he could. Jennifer is unsure what to even ask, she merely wants a better place than Hellhole to settle in. Gorm says he knows a guy from Obsidia who he can ask to take Jennifer & co. Jennifer is grateful for that.
Gorm has few things to say about Layla still, mentioning that if she makes it through the process she won’t remember much about her childhood, she probably won’t even remember Gorm. It’s by intention, as familial relationships may prevent the Astartes from pursuing their goals. Jennifer says she understands. Gorm gives Jennifer a framed picture of the selfie on the mountain Layla sent. Jennifer starts crying, attempts to hide her tears with her hands, which only causes her to get clay on her face, so she rushes to the kitchen to wash her hands and face still crying. Gorm and Mimir follow, and Jennifer buries herself in Mimir’s fur until she is done. Gorm places a comforting hand on her shoulder and asks whether Jennifer would like to hear updates about how Layla is doing, and Jennifer says she would like it. They hug (and Gorm does the nose-rub greeting with her). Gorm says it looks like Mimir might be better off with Jennifer, as she would never be accepted on Fenris. Jennifer is a bit reluctant but agrees to keep Mimir. Gorm says he’s going to go find Laurel and Jennifer says that he should let him be upset, if that’s what he needs to feel. Gorm says goodbye to Jennifer and Mimir who attempts to follow him out of the room. ( :( )
When Gimlet was out with Tabasco, he spied Konstantine in the library, so after visiting Apple, Gimlet goes to knock on Konstantine’s door (after having put his Inquisition badge on). The man is indeed still on the ship, and Gimlet asks what he is doing here, as Inpax is gone. Konstantine shrugs and lets Gimlet know that yes he was here on Inpax’s request, but he doesn’t work under her, so he’s heading out for his next assignment. Inpax kind of left without telling him, but that’s alright. Gimlet asks if there was anything odd about Inpax that Konstantine noticed, and after thinking about it for a while, he says that Inpax seemed to be hiding her face before leaving (it is a bit odd, Inpax usually did that only on the job). Gimlet thanks Konstantine and leaves.
Gimlet calls his dad who is currently on an Ultramarine ship. He seems to be doing just fine, says that it’s going to take a while to get used to working again. He checks in on Gimlet’s general well-being. Gimlet mentions where Cara is buried, and they decide they could make a trip to visit her grave once this is all over. From there their talk turns to what Gimlet might want to do with his future. Gimlet says he was kind of thinking about working for their Navigator house, which is a fine idea in theory, except as Valances are a renegade house they have no base, and instead are scattered across the galaxy, working on ships, and as Gimlet can’t navigate for real, there’s really no work for him. Valance isn’t opposed to restoring the house in theory, but there is Shaneka Locarno that stands in between that, and there are probably more useful things to do than that (see that whole speech about greedy Navis Nobilitie Guilliman gave back on Terra). Gimlet tells his dad that he thinks Gorm wants him to become an Inquisitor. Valance says that’s a fine career choice, if that’s what Gimlet wants. Gimlet says he wants to be close to his family. Valance says an Inquisitor’s ship would need a Navigator too, so that doesn’t rule it out, but again Gimlet should do what he wants, and not what he thinks Gorm or anyone else wants.
Gorm finds Laurel in the starmap room near the command deck, doodling a map all alone. He goes to the boy and after chatting with him a bit informs him that he heard they were leaving the ship. Laurel says that he is not leaving. Alright then, says Gorm. He has some gifts for the boy, first being a locket with a picture of his sister and a rune meaning “Valkyrie” inside it. Gorm explains the meaning of the rune and asks Laurel if he misses Layla. Laurel says he sometimes hears his mom crying about it, but that he doesn’t cry, nope (sniffle). Obviously this isn’t a very exciting gift, so Gorm got him a toy-spaceship as well. Gorm says he heard that Laurel wants to become a pilot, and if Laurel wants to accomplish that, he’s better off following his mother, so he can go to pilot school. If he wants to be a pilot on a rogue trader ship, he better marry a rogue trader. Laurel makes a face and agrees to go with his mom. Gorm says he has one more gift for Laurel, and he can come pick it up after he has finished packing. Laurel says okay, and leaves to pack.
Gorm goes to arrange things with Carl (presumably) and then comes back to his room, where Uffe has been watching over the birds. A bit later there’s a knock on Gorm’s room’s door and Laurel comes by. He greets Uffe and then he catches sight of the birds, and very enthustically goes to check them out. Gorm said that the birds reminded him of Laurel, since he’s into flight and stuff. Laurel names them Thunderhawk and Stormraven after Astartes’ aircrafts. He then turns to Gorm and hands him a gift, a space map with Fenris in the middle that Laurel made for Layla’s school presentation. Now named Stormraven looks like it’s about to say something, but both Gorm and Uffe glare it down and it only beeps pleasantly. Laurel says goodbye to Uffe and Gorm and takes the birds and leaves.