hadriel | seventh; video + open to action (let's skip the charades, you're seeing right through me anyway)

[Nick has been notably absent from her usual post at Delight's bar for the past several weeks, but today, as she turns the video camera of her phone on herself, the familiar sight of shelves of multicolored bottles lined up behind her indicate her location. That's right - she's back, and she is smiling as she holds up a tambourine and gives it a good shake. If you've met Nick even once, you'll know that she is made of sharp edges and not someone who smiles easily.]

Hey ... I dunno who left this here for me, but I wanted to say thanks. This is ... this is really great.

[The fact that she is openly addressing Hadriel with her thanks is perhaps a testament to how significant this particular item is for her, since gratitude doesn't come easily for Nick, either. Then again, if you know her well enough, you may notice something different about her entire demeanor - something softer, something warmer, something much less feral and hostile.]

Oh, and one more thing ... [She sets the tambourine down on the counter in front of her and gestures to the bar around her.] Thanks for not letting this place burn down while I was out ... "sick." Everyone knows this place is a shithole, and we only got so many not-shitty things here. Delight's bar is prob'ly the best one. Gotta hang on to what we've got, right?

[She grins again as she reaches over to cut the feed and get back to work. Perhaps you're there to place an order with her for something to drink?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah. That's definitely true.

[Though, to be fair, Adam's only serious breakup involved a lot of other things going on. Still, it hurt, and he can only imagine how much worse it would be if your bond were deeper.]

It's a lot easier to be clearheaded once you've moved on.

I guess. Or someone knocks some sense into you.

[She knows a little something about that, after Confusion's revival.]

That might be a quicker way. Did something happen?

Ah ... yeah, you could say that. Back when our powers were all fucked up - there's this guy, and he kinda got into my head. Not on purpose, of course.

[That's important to stress. Ushahin in her friend, and Nick absolutely believes he wouldn't have hurt her intentionally like this.]

Well, I mean, you know what they say about walking a mile in someone else's shoes ... try having their whole life crammed into your head.

That sounds... confusing and kind of disturbing.

[Adam's head has been fucked with enough. Having someone else's life crammed into it is a terrifying thought. It doesn't seem to have been too pleasant for Nick, either.]

Are you okay?

Yeah ... [She gives the camera a thin, grim smile. "Confusing and disturbing" was a fairly mild description of the experience.] Yeah, I'm fine now. Better. He fixed me up again. Didn't even take all the king's horses - just took some time to put all the pieces back together again.

I bet.

[She does seem okay, though - or at least mostly herself, which is what matters.]

So he has powers that do that?

Yeah, I guess so ... I mean, he totally didn't do it to me on purpose. He's ... he's a friend. He wouldn't try to hurt me like that intentionally.

[It's really important to Nick that no one thinks badly of Ushahin over what happened. She doesn't fault him for not having control over his powers - that belongs to the gods, especially Confusion.]

And he did fix me. Just took some time. Shit, I wouldn't even know where to start with fixing something like that.

I'm glad it was unintentional.

[It's a little alarming that it's something that's possible at all, but at least unintentional is better than intentional.]

Are there side effects?

Side effects? What, like, headache, nausea ... occasionally remembering someone else's life like it happened to you and not being sure about what's real or not?

[She offers a thin smile to go along with the joke-that's-not.]

It's all right. I mean, every day gets a little better. I'll be fine.

Exactly like that.

[He's dryly amused. He is, after all, very familiar with not being sure what's real or not.]

Let me know if there's anything I can do.

seventh; video + open to action (let's skip the charades, you're seeing right through me anyway)

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