hadriel | 009 [text]

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009 [text]

[Part of Chris thinks he should've made this post awhile ago, and part of him still doesn't want to. But it's a compromise to do it now, and it's probably the best time for it anyway; the last event is over, and new people haven't arrived yet. It's the calm before the whatever, storm or otherwise.

But he's going with text because even though it's been a little while, he doesn't want to try to say the first part of this post in anything other than text.]

Hey everyone. So I guess I'll start off with the bad news: anyone who were friends with Ashley or Josh should know they aren't here anymore. Also, I'm going to add that if Josh owed you money or favors or whatever else, you're totally out of luck because I'm not honoring them no matter what he might've told you.

[Jokes make this not heartbreaking, right? Definitely.]

Though I guess this is also a good time to mention that if you're working on anything important or even just keeping general notes or something, you might want to consider sending them to a friend every so often. If whatever it is is just on your phone when you disappear, it's pretty much as gone as you are.

So yeah. Back up your data and all that. Even if you don't want to send an electronic copy to someone, at least keep paper notes or something.

[Semi-relatedly...]

If anyone needs help with how to send files or whatever, just let me know. And I'm finishing a program for something else right now, but then I guess I'm taking requests? If there's something you'd like a program on your phone for, I can see if I can figure out how to do it. It's not like I have a whole lot else better to be doing, so feel free and ask even though I can't totally promise I'll be able to do it.

[But still, please ask. Please give him something to do other than miss his friends.]

And okay, last thing I swear, and it's the good part. For everyone who's new here and doesn't know, we have pretty awesome coffee at the bar thanks to Delight. Usually either Emily or I are there to make it, but if we're not just send one of us a message; it's part of the deal with Delight about the coffee to make it, so you're not bothering us or whatever.

So yeah, you might be stuck in a shitty cave, but at least there's coffee. That's something, right?

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Your home is fine. I would like to try more of that coffee.

[He's avoiding walking too many places as it is. He's a little sore from days of coughing up gunk and hiding in his closet.]

Awesome. I'll get some going and leave the front door unlocked.

[In case he doesn't hear him knock from the kitchen.]

[It takes him a bit to get there -- he did say he needed to check on his plants, after all -- but Carlisle does show up at the house eventually. He knocks before remembering he can let himself in.]

Chris? I'm here.

[Him, and a small pot tucked under his arm; it's home to a single, long vine that looks a bit like ivy, saved for the curled leaves with the blue patches.]

[Chris steps out of the kitchen, offering Carlisle a weak smile and then immediately distracted by what he's carrying.]

Hey Carlisle. What kind of plant is that?

[Chris knows next to nothing about plants, but he's curious.]

Coiler. It's just a cutting, but I thought I might bring it home with me. See how it does in my apartment rather than in the elements -- er, what elements there are.

[Fog, music, monsters, you know. Hadriel-elements.]

[He grins a little at that.]

Sounds like a plan. You know there was a blizzard here once? Inside a cave.

[Screw that blizzard, seriously.]

Edited 2016-09-02 22:23 (UTC)

[Carlisle gives Chris a flat look, then sighs.]

I suppose I should be surprised, but given the false gods and their proclivity for mischief, I am not.

Yeah. I'm not sure they'd even know it was weird for it to snow underground, honestly.

[The gods are more than a little clueless sometimes, after all. And Chris will lead the way back to the kitchen, which smells like coffee since it's just finishing.]

I think I remember how you had your coffee last time, but did you want to try it a different way, or...?

[Carlisle follows, his gait on the stiff end as he sets the plant on the counter for the time being. The vine finds its way to the nearest cabinet door and coils itself around the handle. The name is apparently appropriate.]

The same is fine, thank you. Did Emily ever make you the Breath of Night?

[The behavior of the plant is oddly cute in a way, even if it's slightly alarming that it can move that much on its own. Chris also doesn't miss the stiffness in Carlisle's steps, gesturing for him to take a chair at the table if he wants while Chris finishes the coffee.]

Yeah. It um, works really well, thanks.

[He and Emily may or may not be using more of it than they should, but considering how much being able to sleep through the night had boosted his mood he can't imagine trying to deal with Ashley and Josh being gone without it.

And that answered, he glances back at Carlisle briefly.]

Are you um, okay?

[He gladly takes that seat, waving away Chris' concerns.]

I'm fine. I've simply overexerted myself during the, er... However long that foolishness of the gods lasted.

[It's hard to tell time when you're in a closet.]

As for the Breath of Night, I'm glad it works well enough. The alchemical version is far more potent, but getting the ingredients is tricky in a place like this.

Did um, something happen? That event was pretty tame.

[So he's a little confused and still concerned, despite Carlisle's assurances. And he feels it's okay to pry a little bit, at this point.

He also finishes both coffees, setting one in front of Carlisle and taking a seat the table with his own.]

More potent how? It seems strong enough like it is.

[And he's been drinking it instead of breathing the steam, even.]

[Tame. Tame. Tame by some people's standards, maybe. Not everyone had a bear following them around, desperately trying to give them hugs.]

The alchemical version can lasts longer for those of us who would prefer a lot of sleep, and can be bottled for later use.

Which... [He sighs, leading into the answer to Chris' previous question, deciding he can give him details he'd keep closer to his chest when in the company of others.] ... Would have been handy for me to get some sleep in the various places I've been trapped over the past several days.

I had a- [he drops his voice, as though the creature might hear him] this bear following me.

Edited 2016-09-03 03:10 (UTC)

[Oh, okay, that makes sense as far as the alchemical version goes. Chris thinks it would probably creep him out too much to get any use out of it, but he can see why it'd be worth making.

But the rest of Carlisle's response is not at all what he's expecting; the animals he'd seen appearing with people had been the harmless types, but a bear definitely doesn't sound harmless especially considering Carlisle's history.]

Oh, geez. A-Are you sure you're okay?

[Not just physically, but otherwise.]

That was um, not a great choice of animal on the gods' part.

[He opens his mouth to insist he's fine, but something else entirely comes out after a moment's hesitation behind his coffee mug:]

Absolutely not. I haven't slept well, eaten well, or done anything well in days. I am... more than grateful for the city to return to how it was.

[Though the overexertion might explain the fact the bandage on his arm is practically black with stains, and a few droplets on his tabard still need some work to be removed.]

[Okay, he can't help with most of that, but--]

Well, um, we have food.

[He can't promise it's great--it's down to just himself, Emily, and Hannah and they're all feeling pretty down--but there is ready to eat stuff. And of course the coffee.]

But... Yeah. I can see why you'd be glad it's over. I just had a deer following me around.

[She'd been entirely harmless and generally unobtrusive, so the candy coming out of faucets at inopportune times had been the worst part of the event for him.]

[He shakes his head.]

I can feed myself, I just-

[Too stressed to bother. Ah, the life of someone who knows no end to the depths of his cowardice.]

It wasn't even a particularly dangerous bear, but I still couldn't face it. I ended up at my neighbor's apartment, begging to be let in.

[And worse than begging, which is one of the reasons he's so exhausted. There's a definite streak of disgust that colors him in that moment, etching into his brow.]

Edited 2016-09-03 04:04 (UTC)

Yeah, well, can doesn't mean totally have to.

[Chris is not exactly the mom-friend of their group but he manages well enough in the role when it falls to him, which he feels it does right now. So he'll just get up and go back to the fridge to look through it for something decent.

But he doesn't miss that look that crosses Carlisle's face at his next comment, and Chris frowns a little in a combination of concern and sympathy.]

I think um, you had really good reason to be freaked out. Don't be too hard on yourself for it.

That doesn't—

[But he cuts himself off, shaking his head. He may have had a good reason for panicking, but not for turning his aural magic on Kate. There's no excuse for that, and his fears do not justify his actions.

He rubs at his eyes, frustrated as ever with himself, and moves away from the topic, hoping the distance will help his nerves.]

There are worse things to concern yourself with, such as your friends. How is Emily handling this latest development? And Josh's sister? She's still here too, is she not?

[Chris lets the topic shift, just kind of keeping the former one in the back of his mind for now. He also manages to find some sort of noodle and vegetable dish he remembers they made two nights before and was pretty good, so he won't be a bad person or anything for shoving at Carlisle.

A bowl later and it's in the weird, alien microwave, and Chris turns back to answer the questions.]

Yeah, Hannah's still here. We're um, all handling things, I guess. Hannah hasn't been told about um... You know, anything, so as far as she knows she'll just see Josh again when she goes home. Em's distracting herself with sewing, I think.

[They're dealing, as always, if not particularly well. It being down to just Emily and Chris that know what happened at home is really not easy, though, and that's without the issue of knowing that if Josh doesn't return here at some point then it's the last time they'll ever see him.]

I see.

[He's watching that weird alien microwave -- he has a similar one in his house, but has yet to figure out exactly what it does. He's not the sort to experiment with technology.]

I'm sorry you've all lost them for the time being. [And possibly forever.] Though I suppose that each person deals with loss in their own way.

[Figuring out the microwave had been a necessity at UD house; there's no way these kids would've survived if they had to cook everything on a stove. Chris still probably shouldn't be allowed to use one.]

Thanks. Yeah, um, at least Em and I are... Kind of used to it, I guess. Sam, Mike, and Jess have all been here and left, before.

[But losing Ashley and Josh so close together, especially with all the stuff about Josh, is just a lot more difficult.

He's silent a few seconds, gaze drifting to the floor, before continuing.]

I just, um... I feel like I really messed up with Josh, while he was here.

[Like he wasted the time, because he couldn't get past what happened at home no matter how much he tried.]

How so?

[Given what Chris told him before about Josh -- what he did back home, and how it affected them -- Carlisle is fairly certain he knows the answer, but sometimes, it helps to vocalize it.]

[Chris gives a small shrug, still staring at the floor.]

Things were just... Weird. I was trying to forgive him or even just ignore what happened at home, because I knew this was gonna be it, but...

[But although sometimes things could approach normal, there was always a voice in the back of his head that reminded him this was the same Josh that did everything he did on the mountain.]

[Yep. That's about what he expected. Regret is a funny thing, a creature that thrives on the hypotheticals of the world, the what-ifs and the if-onlys. It feeds on mistakes made by not making them at all, by doing something -- or nothing -- rather that risking the right choice.

Though sometimes, there are no "right" choices. That is where regret feasts no matter what.]

Perhaps he will return one day, though I'm not certain that would be any better.

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