[Video]

[maddest]

I'm setting up communal clotheslines here, for anyone whose bedding is waterlogged. Bring as much strong wire or string as you can if you can find it.

We work best when we aid one another.

[x,y]

Comments

[thelightbringer]

I could, but some of your neighbors would still know. It seems I have an aura.

['Can you imagine?' his tone asks.]

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

Get thee hence, foul demon!

[Flicking laundry water at him, making the sign of the cross, then shrugging.]

Lip service done. Let's walk?

[thelightbringer]

[Break can't see, of course, the way that Lucifer smirks at that.

He leads Break around where people are absent, and then along the creek.]

What will you do if you stay here another year? Or two, or four...?

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

Do you mean in terms of life goals?

[thelightbringer]

[Dryly] People tend to need those to survive.

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be dead soon.

[thelightbringer]

And then you'll be brought back, a few memories lighter, maybe an ability lost.

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

Yes. But I'll start storing things in advance. Make a safe house, get a pantry, for when I start to go again.

[thelightbringer]

A safe house? You don't plan to stay with any roommates...?

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

I can't.

[He shakes his head.]

[thelightbringer]

You can. In fact if you try to leave, I have no doubt they'll chase you down. Al, at least, will drag you home with him if he knows you're out on your own.

Or are you tired of their concern?

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

I won't tell them.

[In a tone so mild he can only be upset.]

[thelightbringer]

[He stops walking and rounds on Break, hand on the man's shoulder to stop him.]

These children think they need you; you wouldn't leave them except to protect them. What happened?

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

They deserve better than to see me like that.

[Quiet.]

[thelightbringer]

[He can't argue with pride. Well, he can, and has, but he won't right now; it's the same philosophy he would have.]

Mm, fair enough. But you won't be able to keep them away forever.

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

No. Part of me thinks it would be best to end it fast.

[thelightbringer]

Ending anything here is nearly impossible.

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

You could. Just- hold your hand over my mouth and nose until the rasping stops for good.

[thelightbringer]

Well, for one thing, if I did kill you I'd want a little flare to it.

And for another, you'd come right back. Body and all.

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

I think I'd reset, though. To seeing, breathing-

I need to sit down.

[thelightbringer]

It's possible. I suppose we'll find out, one way or another.

[He finds them a boulder hanging over the river.]

Those are your plans for living here?

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

Tell me something better?

[thelightbringer]

When Rhode was here...I told her to see it as an opportunity. We could do things here that we would never get the chance to try at home. We could perfect things we couldn't practice otherwise.

[mister-hatter.livejournal.com]

That's far more hopeful than I thought I'd get from you.

[Catching his breath.]

[thelightbringer]

[He's quiet for a moment.]

Rhode made me naive again, I suppose. It felt like a second chance, having her welcome me as openly as she did.

When Gabriel came...that was a second chance. I've tried, as much as I can, to find a way to reach my goals while keeping him close to me. It's not going to work. I know that. My brothers will never join me, and I can't pretend to be what they are.

But even temporary things are worth having.