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[withintenfeet]

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[hippie_ninja]

So. The crisis is over. How are you doing?

[withintenfeet]

I was kind of hoping you'd forget about that.

[ He says it with good humour, even though his voice is strained with aching exhaustion.

He's quiet for a moment, still; it's not even that he doesn't want to talk, really, he's just - very much out of practise. ]

That was...horrifying.

[hippie_ninja]

Come watch a movie with me and my sister?

[withintenfeet]

[ Pause for a moment of adorable befuddlement - ]

...I'd love to.

spam, the day after the end of breach;

[greenzone]

Willa meant to find Zerxus earlier in the month. She'd been reading some of the magic books her dad already had, reading them to him when she can't stand the quiet in the cabin any more. But it's not enough. And after the breach, with the fact that Arthur hasn't been answering her knocks or her messages, she needs something to do.

She spots him on deck, finally, after checking a few other places that seem like Him Kind of Places. There's a bruised anxiety around her heart on approach, fear that he'll disappear like Arthur or tell her to go away. She knew him for almost eight years. Except she doesn't know him that much at all.

It's weird.

"Zerxus?" Willa winces at how timid it comes out.

[withintenfeet]

He hears someone coming, but he keeps his gaze fixed on the stars - right up until Willa says his name, and he turns instantly. It's a little disconcerting, because it feels both like an instinct born from another life and what he'd do regardless, but that doesn't really matter.

"Willa? Are you all right?" It was her first breach. He's pretty sure that all the warnings in the world aren't enough to prepare you for that.

post breach

[deuceoftears]

Does your magic do anything for the death toll, do you know?

Re: post breach

[withintenfeet]

Not directly. I can help people get to sleep, that's about it.

Private

[talesuntold]

So, I'd like to get drunk, but that's off limits these days. I will probably stop talking to people on the communicators until I feel like being nice and diplomatic again.

And possibly bake cookies. Willa deserves some goddamn cookies.

Want to keep me company? [Someone ought to. Maggie might keep calling people until someone comes over. And since she'd been meaning to spend more time with Zerxus, two birds and one stone.]

Re: Private

[withintenfeet]

...Depending on why you shouldn't get drunk, I might be able to help. [ There's so, so much sympathy in his voice. ]

But - regardless, yes. [ Also, awkward about it! ]

voice;

[greenzone]

[Well, she has noooooo idea how to start This Conversation either so: tally ho.]

I think you should apologize to Hilbert.

Re: voice;

[withintenfeet]

That definitely wasn't where I wanted that conversation to go.

[ Wry, and weary, and not unapologetic, but... ]

But I wouldn't take any of it back.

Post everything with Eiffel

[riseunparalleled]

How are you?

Re: Post everything with Eiffel

[withintenfeet]

[ He just kind of stares for a second. People just straight up asking him that is still weird. ]

Um. Tired, mostly.

[ Helpless worry is exactly as exhausting as he remembers. ]

[hippie_ninja]

Please tell me you made it back okay.

Video

[withintenfeet]

[ He looks physically, emotionally, and existentially exhausted but he musters a rare smile regardless. ]

I'm all right.

[talesuntold]

You holding up alright?

If the answer is no, let me know if there's anything you need.

And if the answer is yes, let me know if that alcohol offer still stands. Got my heart a bit broken so I'm slowly scraping myself back together. I can just go sprawl on Jesus or Iris if you're not up for it. Which I'll do anyway, let's be honest, it's just a question of when.

[withintenfeet]

[ There's that silent beat of surprise, but it's quickly followed by gentle sympathy. ]

I'm holding up well enough to share a drink.

audio;

[cactusy]

Hey. You got a name?

Re: audio;

[withintenfeet]

Zerxus Ilerez. How are you feeling?

[takestime]

He's shivering with misery, half a dozen death tolls stacked on top of each other, but worse than that is the crawling, absolutely helplessness of knowing what's coming for him, clinging with all the strength he can muster to Zerxus because he's there, solid and warm and someone.

Then - the weight shifts, and he still feels utterly ruined, aching everywhere, head crushed in a vice. And he was still helpless, in the end. Brought down before he could change his fate. Dead and bound.

He doesn't move much, despite suddenly taking up twice the space where he's curled up on Zerxus's chest - and becoming heavier, too. He closes his eyes uselessly against his headache.

"Thank you. For trying," he whispers.

[withintenfeet]

Zerxus has been bracing himself for this, but he still isn't quite prepared; all at once he's seven years older, profoundly changed in ways he never could have grasped from secondhand knowledge.

There's no difference in how he holds Kahl, steady and gentle; there's no regret when he says, "You're welcome. I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

His voice is still a bit raspy around the edges, but he only had the one toll to contend with. Mostly, he just feels tired.

[conning]

Someone knocks shave-and-a-haircut on Zerxus's cabin door before pausing to wonder if that's even a reference that he'd get.

Either way, it's a knock.

[withintenfeet]

Weirdly enough, he does, and at this point he's stopped trying to make sense of that sort of thing. He just goes "well that's definitely one of the bards", which is why he looks wryly amused when he opens the door. Yep, sure was.

"Neal? Is everything all right?"

[voice]

[abyssalflames]

It would seem our lives have once again become intertwined, in an altered version of reality.

[It's not a complaint, by the tone of his voice. But if his breach self is anything to go by, there's almost certainly a reason he thought it worth speaking about.]

UP, UP, AND AWAY-VERSE

[greenzone]

Willa doesn't normally stop over unannounced. Even if her version of 'announced' is a text ten minutes before she knocks on the door. She loves her mother, no question or doubt, but she always has been a daddy's girl.

Especially today, when she's stopping over unannounced to... use his bathroom in the hope that he is not home. So she can clean herself up a little from the bare-knuckle punch up she had with two other girls behind the school after hours.

...She lets herself in.

Re: UP, UP, AND AWAY-VERSE

[withintenfeet]

Alas, his hours can be unpredictable, so he is in fact lounging in an armchair scribbling in a journal when he hears the door open. He's on his feet in seconds, worry and wariness guiding with equal force - is his family in trouble, is someone trying to break in, did something happen to Jedao and Edwin, did -

It's not a relief to see Willa stained with blood and dirt, exactly. But she's whole and upright, and a lot of tension leaves his shoulders even as his eyes go wide.

"What happened?" He's already striding forward to see if he's missed anything, if it's worse than it looks -

The day after Edwin kills Richter

[deuceoftears]

You want to go to the Enclosure and beat the shit out of each other, maybe?

Re: The day after Edwin kills Richter

[withintenfeet]

[ It's as much a ragged exhale as a word. ]

Yes.

Now?

text at like 2am

[cactusy]

did you dream that we were on the same team last month, or was that just in my head

Re: text at like 2am

[withintenfeet]

it was in both of our heads

those were - some of the better ones, i thought

Port.

[mukha]

Pyotr, dressed in 21st century clothes from a local secondhand store, is just sitting down to play cards when Zerxus enters the bar. Good Lord. Is he stalking him? Of course he is. The idea was probably to wait until port, hoping to catch him relaxed and with his guard down.

Well, it's not going to happen—he doesn't ever relax—but he may as well act the part, especially since it's similar to the one he was playing anyway. He takes a long sip of his drink and cheerfully waves him over, grinning with slightly unfocused eyes.

"Hey, it's you! Hey, how is it that we never talked since that time on deck?" That's just to throw him off, but he looks earnest. "I never did thank you for that, did I? This guy saved my life!" He waves his arms as the two men across watch with growing impatience. "I've got to buy you a drink," he cheerfully prattles. "Do you want to play with us? It's poker."

Re: Port.

[withintenfeet]

Zerxus isn't exactly fashionable, but his outfit is at least less conspicuous than a full suit of armour. There's nothing he can do about the horns, of course; hopefully the Barge is either making them invisible or convincing people that's definitely just a normal mutation going on.

He wasn't looking for Pyotr specifically, but he is trying to keep an eye on inmates in general; he pivots towards him immediately after that first sweeping glance of the bar, which handily bolsters the assumption. He's successfully thrown off, too, at least for a moment, expression shifting from bafflement to exasperation to . Okay, fine, if they're doing this -

"I'm not much of a player myself, but I'll definitely take that drink." Zerxus manages to sound casual, if not quite cheerful. He's trying not to think about trailing along after Nydas when they were young, arguing with him about cheating but backing him up every time, so obviously he does.

He steals a chair from another table, sliding it close enough to Pyotr that he can pull off a few tricks of his own.

[voice]

[abyssalflames]

I spoke with your son, while he was here.

[It's not offered in a tone of voice that suggests he was in any way bothered by it, or that the conversation was anything less than perfectly polite. Instead, it's merely an offering of fact (and another of Lahabrea's somewhat unusual choices of ways to start a conversation).]

Re: [voice]

[withintenfeet]

...He told me as much.

[ His own voice is soft and strained. ]

Thank you. I think he -

You reminded him of some people he hasn't seen in a very long time.

Sept 17

[abrightboy]

Sorry about... putting you on the spot. I just... Neal worked so hard on that. I didn't want to see it just... fizzle out without him. Like it was all for nothing.

Re: Sept 17

[withintenfeet]

Apology accepted, but I knew where you were coming from. I don't want to let that happen, either - Neal deserves better, and so does the Barge.

[abrightboy]

On the back of the clearly hand-drawn card, he has printed the date (Dec 28) and time, as well as the location - the Enclosure.

[mukha]

[Continued from here.]

Well, it is a good thing I already don't acknowledge and don't respect your 'authority,' or I might start to have some doubts about the legitimacy of this vessel.

By the way, if you show anyone this conversation, or discuss it, I will consider it a violation of trust and yet another betrayal by so-called 'authority' to add to the long list I've already experienced, starting with my father abandoning me and continuing all the way up to Zavier killing me during the breach. 😊

Anyway, I actually kind of like it when one of you says that all of this can be justified because we're 'dead' (maybe). It's very revealing, though I suppose I can't judge. I'm ashamed to admit that I myself used to look down on dead people too until I (again, maybe) became one of them. Alas, it happens to the best of us!

But aren't even most of the other inmates at least asked before they're brought here?

[withintenfeet]

The only time I'd ever share something you said to me in private would be if you were threatening people.

I'm dead, too, and I'm not above you in any sense. Between the two of us, only one is actually damned.

Apparently asking at all is pretty new, in the scheme of things. Most inmates still aren't given a choice.

text;

[onlyhearmusic]

[Backdated to around the time of Kahl's aggression towards Collins and Trevor during the Sheehan network post.]

Do you have a moment? I have business with you to discuss.

Re: text;

[withintenfeet]

Of course. Like this, or do you want to meet in person?