video;

[storyseeker]

[Elena Fisher isn't a constant ray of sunshine, no matter what some people say, but she's usually in good spirits when she talks on the network. Even in Hadriel's most difficult times, she's tried to project an air of optimism, or at least determination.

Not today.]

Nate's gone.

[She seems to search for more words before shaking her head.]

I just wanted to let people know.

Comments

[audio]

[pocketspa]

[He almost wants to apologize. It's a weird sensation, but he's been on both sides of it and he knows how bad it is. He knows the way Lup crushed the air out of him the first time he died and she didn't and she had to go months without him. He also knows the hopelessness of knowing someone has struck off on their own and nothing you can do can reach them. The loneliness, the betrayal, the thought that you simply weren't good enough. It's like they're already dead.]

So he's got 20% of a plan. Cool.

[He's not helping. He knows it.]

'Mm sure Lup has called you over. Come on by. I'll whip somethin' up.

[So Lup can have her words and her comfort and her being fucking good at all this, and he'll make cookies and twists of meat and work with his hands until the clench in his chest is gone and the breath comes back to his lungs. And that'll just have to be good enough.]

Okay?

[audio]

[storyseeker]

[20% might but pushing it, but she's not sure how to compare it to what Nate's usually got, or how well it works out for him. It might actually be pretty good. She just hopes like hell that in whatever time Nate's in now, he's got it covered, and that the brother she barely got to know picks up the gaps.]

Yeah?

[Despite herself, Elena's a little surprised, which maybe she shouldn't be. Taako's a friend, someone she likes and trusts, and she's fairly sure that it goes the other way, because it's hard to imagine him being able to hide it if he had to regularly spend time with someone he didn't like, or to even try.

But in her experience, he's also not likely to go out of his way, to reach out to offer comfort of his own volition. And that's fine, it's not something everyone is good at. So it means something to her that he's done it, and it makes her feel a tiny bit better, even if it's a speck of light in an overwhelming darkness. The specks will add up in the days to come, she hopes.]

Okay. I'll come by soon.

[audio]

[pocketspa]

[Siblings, right? At least he's not alone. If Elena had said he'd struck off without the brother he's heard was so important, Taako would have opened a dimension door back to his world and smacked him upside the head before he even got back home.

But at least this is audio, so she can't see the way his face is twisted as he tries still to process this, as he's finding himself grieving for a man he should really barely know.

Man, feelings are so bad.]

Cool. See you then.

[And he hangs up.]