fourthsaken | IC inbox!

[It is comforting, having someone there while he closes this chapter in his life. Someone who understands what this place meant. He settles an arm around her and exhales softly, steeling himself.]

It does suck. But it's- for the best right now. I need to put my energy into the clinic, and I can't run this place by myself. I also can't- I can't hire anybody. I don't want to. It wouldn't be the same.

[Jade reaches for his hand, not very subtly lining up the matching tattoos on their wrists, connecting the lines together. She nods as he explains his reasoning.]

I get it. Trust me. I hate hiring new people for Pandemonium. I'm never gonna be able to find another assistant manager even though I could really use one.

Is there anything else we need to do?

[It helps, glancing down to see the lines that skate across her wrist onto his, a seamless pattern. It's grounding.]

You're still looking, though, right? I don't want you to work yourself too hard. [It would be a shame to see Pandemonium have to close like U&R. It means... a lot more, to a lot more people, than this little investigation office ever did. That's the big difference, he thinks.]

No. I think I got everything. I'm keeping the building, I'm not selling it, it's just not a sustainable business right now. [A pause.] Natasha's stuff is in that box there. If you wanted anything out of her office. To remember her by.

Yeah, I'm still looking. It's just... Hard.

[Jade knows Soeki will understand. He won't tell her that it should be easy for her to find new employees, to replace the coworkers that were like family to her.

She looks curiously over at the box at Soeki's suggestion, but doesn't go over to investigate it yet.]

That's okay? I don't wanna take something you want.

I get that. [It's incredibly hard to try to replace people who meant so much to a business, to the ones left behind. He could never replace Natasha or Itachi, or even Sasuke. That's why he knew he had to close the doors.]

No, it's okay, go ahead. I know she meant a lot to you too. I've already got her name plate from her desk, though, I'm... gonna put it with mine, on my desk at the clinic.

[Jade nods before making her way to the box. It feels weird, almost wrong, to go looting through Natasha's things, but Soeki's right. Natasha meant a lot to Jade and she wants something to remember her by. Jade's sure Natasha would want her to have something too. It takes her a moment until she decides on a coffee mug, Natasha's favorite.]

... That's a good idea. To keep part of her with you. It's stupid, but I haven't touched Enjolras' office at all. It feels too weird. I know he'd be cool with me working in there but I just can't do it.

I always do. [He agrees quietly, fingers unconsciously going up to the back of his neck, idly touching the name he knows is there.] Nah, I get it. It's not stupid. I was working out of Natasha's office but it felt weird changing anything about it. I couldn't even bring myself to clean up the cobwebs from the corners.

[Once she's chosen the coffee mug, Jade returns to Soeki's side. She wraps one arm around him in a side-hug, making herself a constant reassuring presence. She doesn't know how Soeki feels, but Jade always feels clingier after talking about her friends that have left. She nods again in understanding.]

I still find his stuff around the store, like notes and quills made from his feathers and it's just... I should clear them out or something, but it doesn't feel right. Pandemonium will always be more Enjolras' than mine.

[[Soeki curves his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her briefly to his side. He can't help but look at the coffee mug for a few moments; he still remembers how she took her coffee.

But this is ridiculous. She wouldn't want him to mope.]

It's still yours. He wanted you to have it. I get not wanting to get rid of his stuff, though. I didn't want to get rid of any of hers.

[Jade stays pressed against Soeki's side even when he lets go, wanting that closeness, the reassurance that at least he isn't going anywhere.]

Thanks for letting me pick something. It means a lot.

She would want you to have something of hers. She cared about you too. [And Soeki would want to fulfill whatever wishes she might have had. She was important to him, just as important as Jade and Oliver are.]

Yeah... I dunno if she ever realized how much she helped me. How important she was to me.

She was really perceptive. I'm sure she knew how much she mattered to both of us.

Yeah. [There's a long silent pause, Jade taking a moment to line up the matching tattoos on their wrists, before she very quietly poses her next question.] Do you think we get to go home when we leave?

[Soeki blows out a slow breath, needing a moment before he can scrounge up an answer to such a monumental question. It's a loaded one, for him. He could lie and give her hope, but it would feel just as wrong, somehow.]

I don't know. [He finally says quietly.] I don't think we do.

[It's the answer Jade was expecting, but that doesn't mean she was ready to hear it. Her entire form seems to curl in on herself, blinking back mist. It leaves her with another important question, another questions she's afraid to hear the answer of.]

Where do you think we go?

[He reaches down to search for her hand, wrap her fingers up in his if she's solid or just curl his through her hand if she isn't.]

I don't know. Nowhere, maybe. If I had to guess... I'd say there's probably nothing beyond this place except... nothingness.

It could be worse. It's not Hell.

[She's not solid, and because it's Soeki, she doesn't force herself to become solid, instead just letting her shadows surround his hand.]

... Nothingness sounds worse. At least you're not alone in Hell... right?

I don't know if I was even aware of anything when I was... you know, gone. Unawareness is definitely better. [As opposed to consciousness, anyway.

He snorts quietly, but there isn't much humor in it.] I guess, if you count your demonic torturers and the screams of the other damned.

[Jade fixes him with the most concerned look, the tendrils on her back reaching out to surround him as if they could protect him from that possible fate.]

Torturers?

Let's... maybe not talk about Hell. That's a hell of a depressing subject.

... Right. Sorry. I swear I'm not trying to make things more depressing.

Hey, it's fine. It's just- not something I think you really want to hear right now.

I never want to hear about you ending up in hell.

[The statement is slightly defiant, as if Jade believes as ridiculous as it sounds, that somehow she'll be able to stop that from happening. And maybe she could. Jade's certainly made more impossible things happen before, through some incomprehensible combination of magic and faith and belief.]

[He smiles wryly.] Which is probably why we shouldn't be having this conversation.

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, JADED. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 005.04.008.13 * CHARACTER NAME/ALIAS has joined 005.04.008.13 <JADED> hey, you've reached Jade. <JADED> leave a message or whatever and i'll get back to you. <JADED>** God, I hope this shitty thing actually works.

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