hadriel | 007✖; (text)

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007✖; (text)

bianca's gone. in case those who knew her didn't already notice.

it was her idea to set up monthly dance nights at the speakeasy. thought it sounded like a good idea back then. still do.

obviously we have a lot of other shit to worry about, but think we all could use a regular breather, if anyone wants to help out or bitch about how stupid it is.

[And that's all she wrote. Despite how things ended between her and Bianca the last time they met, this wasn't the outcome that Rey had wanted. Still, it could be worse. Not like enough people don't think of this place as a prison.]

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i'll bring it by later

do you want to share it

yes.
think that would be better.

then i'll be there soon

[And, a little bit later, she is.]

Rey?

[Rey leaves it at that until Maketh arrives. When she does get there, Rey is slumped over the couch, face-down and arm draped over the cushions.

[Her muffled call comes through the pillow:]

Door's open.

[Maketh steps in slowly, carrying a bag. It's got water bottles, some mugs, a few protein bars, and of course the alcohol. She hasn't decided which she'll be handing over first. She kneels down on the floor so her head is almost level with Rey's.]

Hey.

[Her head turns, just enough for one eye to peek from over the pillow her face is still mostly pressed in.]

Your turn to make a house call, huh? Should we start scheduling shifts.

[Some levity always makes dealing with hard shit easier.]

[Maketh brushes some of Rey's hair out of her eyes, gentle as she can.]

You know I love organizing things. Have you eaten anything today?

[Rey blinks slowly as a thread of hair passed over her eyelid. She turns her head to face Maketh fully, then.]

Maybe. [Pause. Sigh.] Probably not. Just one more thing I forgot to remember.

You're lucky I remembered for you, then.

[She says it quietly, giving Rey a little smile.]

Think you could keep a granola bar down?

Think so...

[She moves to sit upright, making room on the couch and also into a less awkward position to be having a normal conversation with a person.

[After all, she's depressed, not sick. Even if the two can blur together sometimes.

[She manages a wry smile of her own, but it's a rather pathetic display of emotion at the moment.] Thanks. For coming.

[Maketh hands over the granola bar and joins Rey on the couch.] Of course I came.

[There's really no need to spell out why.]

Eat.

[It's still confounding to Rey why anyone would bother putting up with her. She can be stubborn, rude, infuriating, and Maketh has had firsthand experience with all of those things. But she is none of them now as she takes a simple bite out of the bar. Rather than stuffing her face, she's a bit more careful, not wanting to agitate the roiling in her stomach any further than it already is.]

Why do you care so much?

[The words just come out, blunt but sincere.]

[Maketh leans back against the couch. She would have thought it would be clear by now, but things are rarely as simple in the real world as she makes them out in her head.]

Because you're important.

[Sometimes, even the most obvious things still manage to confound Rey to no end. She just frowns at Maketh's answer.].

Yes, but why? I'm not the only adept fighter here, and there isn't anything that I can do that someone else can't.

[Okay, that might not be entirely true. Or true at all.]

[Maketh huffs, reaching over to muss Rey's hair. Just because she can.]

Don't be foolish. There is only one of you.

[Hey, it's a thing. Not many people would feel comfortable touching someone who could chop their hand off as easily as they can burn it.]

Technically, there are a lot of me.

[So sorry.]

I am not concerned with technicalities.

[Maketh lets out a slow breath.]

There is only you, right here, right now. And that is what matters.

[Rey isn't really sure how much of that is true. She's really started wondering about it recently, though sources have been clearly contradictory.

[She scratches her forehead. A nervous gesture, some might have picked up, when she's also trying to break out of her thoughts.

[Then, mutters:] Not sure if Bianca thought the same. Or maybe it was just me.

[Maketh settles back against the couch, watching Rey.]

Why do you say that?

Our last conversation didn't exactly end on a positive note.

[Pause.]

We didn't fight. It's just... I'm not sure if I can give her what she wants. And if it's one thing we know, it's that our time is finite here. Can't expect her to wait that long to get over my shit.

I'm sorry.

[She says it quietly. It hurts, living with that regret. The truth of it bearing down hard.]

I can't--fix it. I know. But I'll listen. If it would help.

["Thanks but no thanks" immediately comes to mind. Emotions are hard enough to deal with, let alone of this caliber. So many of it is new territory to Rey -- this, especially. And she still feels utterly lost in it.]

It's... complicated.

[Wait, she's already said that, didn't she? Maybe not out loud, but...

[She huffs, taking another bite of her bar.] Just didn't feel right, letting her deal with me like that for so long.

[There's obviously more to it than that, and the fault not nearly as not as one-sided as Rey is making it out to be.]

[Complicated. Most things are, when it comes to relationships. Emotions. Putting names to either of those things. Maketh watches Rey for a long moment, then offers her the water bottle.] I know something about complicated.

[She gives Rey a little smile.]

Deal with you like what?

[She falls quiet a moment, before taking the water bottle, muttering a "thanks" under her breath.

[More silence follows, as she takes a long drink, quenching the dryness in her throat.

[After another moment, it becomes blatantly obvious that there's no subtle way if explain this without being straightforward about it.]

We never-- never slept together. Anything like that. I'm... [She huffs, rubbing her face with her free hand.] I have... problems. That she said she was willing to be patient with.

[Another long pause. She takes a drink, lamenting the lack of alcoholic punch to it that she thinks she needs for this damned conversation. But no. No, she needs her facilities for this one.]

She was with someone. One of those people. Like Undine. But he was... They were-- together. So it was different.

[Words. How do they work.]

The fucked up thing, I think? I'm not even pissed about it. Not like you'd think someone should be. I'm just pissed. At myself.

[There's a lot to unpack there and Maketh is struck - not for the first time - of how wholly unqualified she is to comfort another person. When did her relationships ever go according to plan? When she she ever have a relationship that didn't end with someone gone? But she ought to try. For Rey, she has to try.

Maketh sighs, running a hand through her hair.]

That's -- that isn't on you, Rey.

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