crushed_pearls | Come Sail Away IC Inbox

Erin almost, almost sends 'good job', and then she reconsiders it. Dimitri is a kind soul. Struggling to become something new he can't even imagine. He doesn't need affirmation that he can kill with skill, especially not when he seems so painfully aware of that awe-inspiring strength of his.

So what gets sent instead is:

You have done Giles an incredible kindness. Thank you for that. I am sure he will find a way to express his gratitude whenever he is feeling equal to leaving his home.

Do they remembr what happpened?

Current evidence suggests the possessed have lost time in a manner very painful to them. They will need gentleness.

They wre in the nothing?

I believe so. I struggle to imagine anywhere else they could have been.

Forced to watch while his own body deceives and attacks the people he loves? Or trapped, conscious, in a frozen, lightless, senseless Nothing? Dimitri honestly couldn't say which sounds worse.

Ill keep that im mind

It does mean that he can't talk to Giles about it. And he can't just -- he can't keep this in his chest. It'll warp him like that Relic warped Miklan, break his bones and curdle his blood.

Can i telll yuo someth ing

My job this morning is to help as best I can. Lay it on me Dimitri.

There's a long pause before Dimitri's reply.

I nkow what his brain feels like

Ive nevr had ti look someon in t he face after that

Edited 2022-11-10 01:40 (UTC)

Erin makes the phone repeat that text several times. It sticks with her, lingering. Reminding her of old battles that never quite stop clinging. And now this latest one, with the tearing of muscle under her grip...

Flippant reassurance would be...the wrong call.

That will be a new one on me too once Crabb wakes up. And Ossie eventually. Cassandra. I can only take it as a blessing that they do not have to remember how they died. The only advice I can really give is that if you try to explain those feelings to Giles all you will really do is force him to live a pain he has been spared. When you are up for it come find me. I can pour drinks and we can try to talk it out. Or if there is someone else you trust who is far from Giles maybe. You really did do him a great service Dimitri. To be used like that is a horror beyond all others for our people. Your strength bought him relief from that. Ossie too who had to live with knowing his love was being abused in that way. I am not trying to pretty up the battle but in a bad situation you did something powerful and good.

[ Early on in the month, a new folder of photos appears on the recipient's phone. Inside is a selection of photos from various points in Darcy's childhood. Key photos are as follows;

-baptism and confirmation

-a handful of pictures from her first fencing lessons at 8, and subsequent first competition at 12. Features a medal presentation with three other girls about her age.

-Darcy on an idyllic looking farm somewhere mountainous, looking bored and uncomfortable in gumboots

-Darcy at a Christmas market, utterly delighted and chewing on some cured meat.

-a slightly blurry picture of her asleep on someone's shoulder as a toddler, drooling a bit.

-a single picture of her at a princess themed birthday party. Darcy wears the haunted expression of a war veteran and a bright orange flouncy dress.

-several embarrassing photos of her doing dumb kid shit that she is willing to murder over.

Any additional or specific photos I leave up to your discretion, go nuts have fun physically kill her with embarrassment. ]

Dimitri has a hard time believing that, no matter how much sense it makes. No matter how much he knows, rationally, that it's the truth.

Thats why I tol d you nd not him
Or ossie

Thank you
I wil try to beleive that

I dotn drink liquor
Alcoholo and i dont mix wel l
But i will take yuo u p on that when i can

We can do boba. Undine turned me on to the stuff. Just try not to literally physically choke on it if you have not had it before. Keep well Dimitri. I am here for anything in my power.

[After this conversation and also this one she is going to get that text Crichton promised to send later the very same evening (before the chaos happens).]

It really was my Arthur you met. Small world. Good news, he's not stuck on using "it" anymore. Mystery solved.

Glorious. I need to drop by sometime. The ship is up to three nickels now. I just got a roommate and she is also blind so at some point we gotta make like a list of things people could do to help out and then it out in the wrong direction. You two keeping well?

You know, after the slaughter and everything.

Both of you blind in the same cabin? How's that working out? Should I come over and say hi to the newbie some time? Wish I could say I'm surprised that this place has so many of you and still hasn't gotten any reasonable accommodations in place. The least they could do is make the text to speech function work better.

[The ways in which he has heard Arthur's phone butcher things, let him name them for you.]

I already make it a habit to go to the food bar with Arthur so I can point him in the right direction on the buffet. I could do the same for you two. Other than that, you'll have to tell me.

[He almost wishes she hadn't asked about... the rest. They have been better.]

We are doing our best. What else can you do around here?

God do I hear you on the text to speech. It is not friendly to several people in my life and it is not my ally. I do not know how Helena would take just dropping by but she is easy to spot. Very short dresses nearly glasses cane kind voice. She is a student of poetry. I suspect she is struggling with being here but given that she just moved in I do not want to be crass enough to press her on that.

You should hear what it does to emoji. Listen to this: 😎

Helena. I can always look for a way to introduce myself once she's more settled in. I can't blame her. Few of us are happy about being here. But, if she likes poetry, maybe she can join me and Arthur some time at the poetry club Nobunaga hosts. Maybe she could teach the rest of us how to not suck at it.

Wow that is a horrible thing to do to the shorthand of image writing. If you do invite her there impress upon Nobunga to not just fucking touch her. It is unbelievably rude even to the sighted and if I find out he made her uncomfortable I will crush him in his armor like a can of fucking tomatoes and it will be very satisfying after he was rude enough to touch me without asking. That threat delivered it sounds like a wonderful idea.

Likweise

It wyold help to do somethin useful
That dosent nvolve a sword

You should hear what the eggplant sweat drops sounds like. Don't try that combo in public.

[Crichton is a menace to Arthur with his emoji.]

Sure, I'll try and hammer it home for Nobunaga. He's can be a bit much sometimes, but his heart is in the right place. Careful about making those threats to him in-person, he might enjoy that. I hear you, though. I promise to keep an eye on him. For some reason, he listens to me.

["For some reason" he says. It's be cause they are friends.]

He did seem less than impressed when I had to threaten him in person but since he has been inclined to leave me be I am returning the favor. All respect to Robert Frost but sometimes good fences do make good neighbors. Looking forward to catching up with you and Arthur sometime. Until then.

As long as you both can stay on your sides of the fence in peace, I'm happy. We should try to get together for a karaoke night some time. He gave me Muppets music and I've been practicing. Don't be a stranger.

I do not expect this to sink in just because I text it the one time but honestly Dimitri you are doing useful things. When love and connection and friendship are things people yearn for and are denied it is easy to see them as frivolous rewards or the bounty of a world of peace which you can never see from atop the wall you guard. But they are not luxuries. They are necessities of human life. People die without love as surely as they die without air and it hurts them the entire time that they die. If the Captain enjoys our despair then the friendship and consideration you offer is a blade sharper than any you could grasp in your mighty hands.

I'm not interested in any of what the captain said. Secrets can stay secrets. I'm texting only to send your own words back to you.

"You might find it hard to sell the idea that your death isn't important once people get to know you."

I may not know you well enough to feel much myself, but I'm sure there are people who would be hurt by your death.

-Valdis

Fair enough. The story is yours for the asking. I had previously intended to try and tell everyone. Some friends of mine convinced me otherwise. They said it was simply visiting the horrors of my world on those for whom it was neither their business nor their burden to bear. That I was making others the instrument of my self destruction. I believed them about that. I still might. But it is out in the world now. The hand I must play has been dealt. Thank you. For reaching out.

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