Come Sail Away IC Inbox
Sep. 16th, 2022 02:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crushed_pearlsErin's voice mail message is in a weary voice: "Erin Peters. If you called in the middle of the night and I didn't answer, I'm dying. If I pick up and someone on your end isn't dying, they will be shortly. Text otherwise."
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Date: 2022-12-27 11:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-27 11:26 am (UTC)And here Erin will see an expression that's never yet crossed Helena's face in her vicinity. A sort of irritated trouble, someone covering their embarrassment with sharper words than normal.
"I didn't realize who he was until we were on the way here. And I can't help but feel like I was left to be a fool about it."
So, it's not Erin she's irritated with, but a general abstract you.
"Did everyone simply...think I knew?"
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Date: 2022-12-27 07:24 pm (UTC)we have now timewarped to 12/23
Date: 2022-12-27 07:37 pm (UTC)Her fingers tap a little on her cane, a telltale sign that she's thinking. It's hard to voice her annoyance - it's hard to be annoyed at anyone at all when in her head she's screeching that this isn't needed, especially on a vacation, and that she owes Erin gratitude and kindness and the best face forward. She owes it to her to be a good girl. No one needs her being frustrated that she's not bright enough to find the missing pieces.
But she also trusts her, and there are precious few that she does here, and this wants to eat her alive unless she says something about it. Still, the guilt wants to tear at her, and it's hard to not apologize for coming there at all.
"I just...feel like there's something large in the room that everyone else knows and that I'm missing because I can't see it, ever since the wedding. And of course, this isn't your fault - it's mine, for not clarifying. I'm sorry if this is difficult at all."
TIME IS FLUID HERE
Date: 2022-12-27 07:48 pm (UTC)Helena's clearly distressed in some way; the flavor of the Glamour is complex but doesn't point to anything good. So Erin continues, in a gentle voice. "Ask what you'd like to ask. If I can't give you answers, I can tell you who can at least. What's the shape of what you feel you're missing?"
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Date: 2022-12-27 08:04 pm (UTC)She exhales, voice steady despite her nerves.
"It's led me to the conclusion that I need to try and understand this place more swiftly than I have been. To make such a mistake again...it could wind up with trusting the wrong person, at the wrong time."
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Date: 2022-12-27 08:09 pm (UTC)Say this straight or try to cushion it?
(Helena wouldn't forgive us for a cushion.)
Yeah. You're right.
"At the wedding, the Captain returned for the reception to dance with the author of the Black Binder, Skulduggery. The two of them shared a kiss, confirming suspicions that they're romantically involved, and, well. You can imagine the kind of tensions flaring up between those who feel the best plan is to kill or otherwise coerce the Captain versus those who think he's...more like me."
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Date: 2022-12-27 09:33 pm (UTC)This, more than anything else, will probably tell Erin a good bit about why Helena feels lost.
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Date: 2022-12-27 09:45 pm (UTC)Deep breath. This is going to be bad later.
"The Black Binder is the collection of what we know, or think we know, about the ship and its master."
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Date: 2022-12-27 09:50 pm (UTC)"And right now said collection is in question due to the now-unknown motivations of its author, but prior, it was considered reliable information."
Okay. She can follow.
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Date: 2022-12-27 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-27 09:55 pm (UTC)A tinge of pink rises in her face. So, somehow that had gotten out.
"You were all dealing with so much. To impose would be impossible."
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Date: 2022-12-27 10:01 pm (UTC)Erin pinches the bridge of her nose and manages not to sigh. "...If I can't handle something I'll tell you, okay? On the name my mother gave me. Don't. Don't do the 'I'm fine' bullshit with me. I'm so exhausted of it."
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Date: 2022-12-27 10:12 pm (UTC)More pink rises - she's embarrassed, thoroughly, to be caught out. But at least it won't be a secret she has to keep anymore, even though half of her mind wishes she had covered her tracks better.
"Maybe...when we get back, after Christmas, I should see Mr. Skulduggery."
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Date: 2022-12-27 10:51 pm (UTC)There's a small pause. Then: "I'm not gonna pry into your business, Helena. But if you ever need to talk, I'm ready to listen. I'm a bit hard to horrify, given the circumstances."
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Date: 2022-12-27 11:22 pm (UTC)Pause. Taking a breath, the words stick a little on the way out, and Erin will see some of that effort. The signs of someone who doesn't usually talk, fighting the urge to swallow more of her words.
"Whatever's in that binder, it won't be too heavy for me. I'll ask SecUnit later when
I see it if it wouldn't mind the recitation."
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Date: 2022-12-27 11:40 pm (UTC)"...Would you like a hug?"
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Date: 2022-12-28 12:08 am (UTC)But knowing Erin's considerations with space, she'll let her make the first move.
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Date: 2022-12-28 02:06 am (UTC)This is her friend, under Erin's aegis.
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Date: 2022-12-28 03:24 am (UTC)When she manages to speak again, it's half muffled in Erin's clothes.
"Sorry this wasn't merely me missing our usual discussions."
A gossip session is a lot more fun than this.
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Date: 2022-12-28 03:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-28 04:10 am (UTC)The second Erin wants to let go, Helena will - but truth be told, she's not going to be the one to do so first. Blame it on being a tactile person.
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Date: 2022-12-28 07:28 am (UTC)"Done deal, youngblood. Can't wait to tell ya how the maze went too."
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Date: 2022-12-28 08:24 am (UTC)"...your coffee's going to go cold, though."
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Date: 2022-12-28 05:13 pm (UTC)