hadriel | voice;

Can those out exploring the oceans receive messages from the islands? If so, have a safe and lovely trip, and try to stay out of the water: I'm not sure I want to imagine what lives down there, but I doubt it's anything friendly. [ There's a small, stained pause. ] And... if Aren Brosca is still out there, somehow, please let your housemates know when you'll be returning home. Pup seems to miss his other, furry friend.

[ It's been so long since she's heard from the Warden, though, that Cecily can only imagine Aren has long since gone home. Another from Thedas, come and gone. ]

... For those still on land, it's gotten a bit too quiet for me. If anyone is on the Westernmost island, or can make their way there, I'd love a game of Wicked Grace. I've gone through the rules before, but that was some time ago, now: I'd be happy to relay them again.

[ Best to distract with cards and some drinks, right? ... Right. ]

Look for the enormous, slobbering beast, and I should be somewhere nearby.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I guess so. I miss her. [she waits until Cecily finishes dealing to pick up her cards] Really? So it must've been a trip to meet her in person. [that sounds potentially awkward] She was. Is. 'Cause she's still a hero. She's just not here anymore.

I do, too. She was an incredible person.

[ They were friends, at least, and housemates. ]

She isn't here, true, but she might come back. You never know, with Hadriel. [ Some of Cecily's friends have come and gone a few times already. ] You just never know...

[ There's a long pause, and then she drains her glass. ]

I'm sorry: have I offered you any?

[Laura isn't getting her hopes up, but] Yeah. She could? It could happen. Maybe something back home needed her?

[during that pause, Laura turns her attention to the cards in her hand, sorting them into like groups]

No, not yet. It's cool. You've got a lot of stuff on your mind.

I'm not sure. [ ... ] But, I'd imagine so. The Hero of Ferelden is needed just about everywhere, I should think.

[ Cecily scoffs at 'you've got a lot on your mind,' thinking it to be an understatement. All the same, she pours for Laura and then passes it across the table. ]

Here you are. Cheers to those of use who still have to live in this ever-changing hellscape.

Yeah. [she swallows hard] So she's probably gonna be gone for a while.

[she was trying to be diplomatic. and she takes the drink]

Yeah, cheers. May we keep our sanity. [she clinks her glass against Cecily]

Easier said than done. I don't know about you, but I've certainly lost my sanity once or twice here already.

[ That's Hadriel for you!! ]

...because of god things? Or something else? [she asks carefully]

I think everything that happens here is because of "god things." [ Her mouth flattens into an understandably unhappy flat line. ] What happens after is - just the details.

[ Still painful, naturally, and in their own unique ways. But always, always because of the gods. Or the Null.

Usually the gods. ]

It does seem that way, doesn't it? [she sighs] They really don't get how people work, do they?

[after all, Laura was dead until she came here. if she'd been approached in the afterlife and asked to volunteer to go to Hadriel in exchange for a second chance at life, free of BOB and everything he caused, she probably would've said yes]

I think that's the entire concept. They've no concept of how we function, and we don't understand them, either.

[ She isn't sure she'll ever get how the gods here think. ]

[a short laugh] I know I sure don't. But you'd think they'd be at least a little better at understanding us. They've had people here for what, two whole years?

[so they must not be trying very hard]

Nearly three, I think. [ She knows, but doesn't say. ] I'm not sure that they want to understand us, Laura. Not if it doesn't benefit them in any way.

[ Did Delight understand them better than the others? Now, they may never know. ]

Three? Holy shit. [Laura frowns] Then I guess if they wanted to figure us out, they would've by now.

[Laura wouldn't know, it seemed like right after she arrived, all that mess with the Null started]

Or we're not able to, as we're missing pieces. [ It's never as simple as a puzzle or a game, though. If only. ]

Maybe. But how can we know if we're missing pieces if we don't even know what they are?

I think it's easy enough to say that we don't have all the information.

[ She certainly doesn't feel as if they do, anyway. ]

Yeah, that would be putting it mildly. If we're missing pieces, it's like a puzzle with great big gaping holes in it.

[and she knows that she's not the one to figure any of it out]

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