![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
✘ Round 4 | [Audio]
[It's time for someone who rarely accesses the network to rear his head again, driven to desperation as the days have ticked by and he's failed to find even a trace of one of his closest friends. That being said when Glacius speaks there's an uncharacteristic urgency tinting his voice, worry bubbling just underneath the surface.] Kate Galloway. Has--has anyone seen or heard from her recently?
[Realizing that in his haste to get to the point he's left out some details, he dials it back a bit:] She's, ah, a human woman. Brightly-colored hair. Worked at the clinic, primarily. I... haven't seen a trace of her ever since the masquerade and...
... Please. [His voice finally wavers noticeably, resignation clashing up against his innate tendency to hope again hope. This can't be how it goes.] I need someone to tell me she's still here.
[Realizing that in his haste to get to the point he's left out some details, he dials it back a bit:] She's, ah, a human woman. Brightly-colored hair. Worked at the clinic, primarily. I... haven't seen a trace of her ever since the masquerade and...
... Please. [His voice finally wavers noticeably, resignation clashing up against his innate tendency to hope again hope. This can't be how it goes.] I need someone to tell me she's still here.
private audio
When Matt disappeared, she'd gone to Maketh for comfort, and Maketh had told her something that had made it all a little easier to bear. Maybe it'll help Glacius now too.] It's not gone with her. It's yours, and nothing can take that from you.
[She sighs sharply taking a moment to gather her thoughts again.] I don't know how anyone is supposed to bear this. But we all go through it, so maybe... maybe the way we deal with it is by dealing together. Not, like, all the time, but... whenever you feel up to it.
private audio
[Right now, it's hard to see it as anything but... although he's already made friendships, and he's not going to turn them away or let them wither now. He should be making the most of the time he has with the people he cares about who are still here, so that in the event that they do end up disappearing, he doesn't end up with the same sort of regrets that he has here--feeling like Kate simply slipped away from him. The alien responds to Emily's sigh with one of his own, but it's less and more shaky... this is all so hard to think about.] That would be good for me, I think. I just... don't know when... I'm not in a good place right now. [But perhaps that's all the more reason for him to seek support, instead of trying to sequester himself away as he grapples with the terrible burden of loss. Unfortunately he doesn't know how to outwardly ask for such aid, having never suffered this before and not wanting to seem pathetic or needy.]
private audio
[It takes time. That's all there is to it. It'll take time for the ache to dull. It'll never stop hurting, but it'll be easier to live with.] I get that. It's okay. [Glacius won't be alone. He has Carlisle right there with him.] I guess-- start small. Like this, right now. This is good. I'm sure Carlisle will listen if you want to talk to him. You know where I'm living and where I work, and you can message me on the network whenever you want, okay?
private audio
private audio
Anytime.
private audio > action
Nevertheless, when he finally arrives and knocks on the door, the sound is tentative, like he's still worried about being a burden to his friend. Try as he might to remind himself that Emily has never been anything but supportive of him and she wouldn't think of him as such in his time of need, the loss of his friend is painting everything a bit more sorrowful right now. It'll be visible on his features and in his body language when Emily opens the door; his expression is still wasted, and his normally straight posture is hunched now, back and neck bent under the weight of his sadness.] Emily--hello. I apologize again for not getting back to you sooner. Thank you for... being willing to see me now. Things have been... hard. [Understatement of the century, but then his depression is making everything muted right now. Just standing here is sapping at his energy, making it hard to find the words to properly express himself.]
permaaction
[She closes the door and waves him in to the living room. As she sits on the couch, she says,] I'm really sorry you're hurting so much.
no subject
It's such a simple sentiment, the apology, and yet it's one he hasn't been offered yet. Carlisle offered him logical responses and ample physical comfort, but he hadn't simply apologized for how badly he knew the alien must have been suffering. Glacius flinches, then lowers his head in a sorrowful manner as he sucks in a breath, which he lets t out in a shuddering exhale.] Th-thank you. I've... never hurt like this before. I am trying to cope with it, but I do not know... how long it will be before the pain ebbs. I suspect it may never truly go away.
[He'll always miss Kate, after all.]
no subject
Yeah, it won't. [She's not going to lie to him.] I still miss Matt a lot. It still hurts. Not as much as it did before, but still. [She meets Glacius's gaze. Is it just her, or do his eyes seem a little dimmer than normal? Still green and beautiful, but not the same, exactly.
A few seconds of silence later, she reaches out and puts her hand on his. Like this, Emily's hand seems so tiny and weak. If not for the magic she's been learning from Carlisle, she'd think that's true. But between that and the fact that Glacius has her back, she knows there's strength there, hers and her friend's.] It's different for everyone, but you're going to be okay.
no subject
He does manage to find it in himself to turn his hand to clasp his friend's, though, after a moment's hesitation--trying to take solace from the same strength that she has noted.] Thank... thank you, for that hope. Most of the ones that other people have offered to me have been... precarious ones, mostly involving Kate's return, which I... find unlikely. This, however... I feel I can believe, even if it may be a distant aim.
[He squeezes her hand--gently, always so careful with that immense strength of his--trying to live up to some of the resolve she's shown him with a smile. It's fragile, maybe even a little forced, but he's making an earnest attempt.] After all. You're always right, no?
no subject
You should've seen me the morning I realized Matt was really gone. [She gives a small, self-deprecating laugh.] I spent days with Wolfie. Like, anywhere I went, I took him with me.
[When Glacius grasps her hand, she smiles for him, a tiny, sad, sincere little thing -- and then she laughs again, quietly, when he references her number one rule.] Yeah, I am.
[There's a short pause, then she goes on.] I don't want to give you hope for something that might not happen. It'd be like lying. I don't want to lie to you, so... [She shrugs.] This is just how it is for me. I know you'll be okay. You're the strongest person in this entire cave.
no subject
[That, too, feels like a distant aim, but it's one Glacius won't stop working towards as long as he has people who believe in him. He's lost one of them, but that just makes the ones he has left all the more important to him.] So thank you, my friend, for giving me heart in all of this. It means more to me than I know how to say... know that you will always have my loyalty and support.
no subject
It's the least I can do. [She gives him a small nod, smiling a bit wider.] I'm here for you.
no subject
Anyways--I know you are. There is perhaps... one more thing you could help me with. When I posted to the network, someone suggested that we set up some sort of... service, or gathering, of Kate's friends to honor her departure. Is that something you would... like to be a part of? [They did make his sash together, after all. In Glacius' mind, it's only right that Emily should be helping him spearhead it.]
no subject
However, for him, Emily would go. She'd want to show him that she supports him, that she's there for him, just like she said she is.]
Of course. [She smiles again, this time more subdued.] I'd be glad to help you out. Whenever you're ready, whatever I can do to help, I'll do.
no subject
What do you think? I don't want to treat it like a death ceremony, but I... I do want to make sure her absence is properly honored.
no subject
You could always start some sort of shrine. Maybe by the clinic, where she worked. Set up something that looks kind of like an altar, maybe with a few shelves. Put something on it that represents her, keep it tidy, visit it often, tell people it's there and what it's for. They can add things to it if they want. It'd be like sharing things from here with her even though she's gone.