IC inbox!

[fourthsaken]

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.

Comments

[fourthsaken]

[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.

[crowedthedead]

[[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.

[fourthsaken]

[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.

[crowedthedead]

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.]

[fourthsaken]

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

[crowedthedead]

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

[fourthsaken]

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?

[crowedthedead]

[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.

[fourthsaken]

[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?

[crowedthedead]

[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.

[fourthsaken]

[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?

[crowedthedead]

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.

[fourthsaken]

[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?

[crowedthedead]

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

[fourthsaken]

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

[crowedthedead]

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

[fourthsaken]

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.]

[crowedthedead]

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

[fourthsaken]

We shouldn't have it today.

But some day... [She leans up to look at him, gaze unusually sure.] I'm not gonna let that happen to you. We'll figure something out.

[crowedthedead]

[Soeki breathes out a sigh, scrubbing a hand over his face.] I've already had this conversation with Oliver. I did this to myself. If I get back home, and I die, I made my own bed and I'm going to have to lie in it. I don't want you getting your hopes up thinking you can change something that's inevitable.

[fourthsaken]

[She doesn't seem deterred by his response. She knows today isn't the day to push the issue, but she's no less determined to help him.]

Okay. But, remember, I brought my mom back to life. I don't think it's harder to bring you out from hell.

[crowedthedead]

Those two things are very different, and you know it. Anyway, I wouldn't want you to do that for me. Resurrection always goes really wrong. You can't extend a life past its time and the deal to re-do the judgement of a soul is way too dangerous.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade reaches out to take Soeki's hand again, lining up their matching tattoos.]

I know it always goes really wrong. Trust me. But even if you hated me for it, it'd be worth it. I'd rather have you safe than have you like me.

[crowedthedead]

[He lets her, sighing, his fingers curled loosely against his palm.] This is why I didn't want to have this conversation. I don't want to have this conversation with anyone, ever.

Nobody around me is going to make my mistakes.

[fourthsaken]

I've already made them. I brought my mom back from the dead, remember?