Inbox - Fade Rift

[nonvenomous]

Book/crystal/correspondence/action/whatever you desire.

Comments

[acreage]

[ huh. ]

Which is how Wysteria and Ellis knew we were coming.

[ mused aloud. ]

Has anyone tried going through one, from this end?

[nonvenomous]

I'll contact you once I'm back at the Gallows.

[nonvenomous]

I don't know the answer to that either.

[ But wouldn't it be nice to finally find out without drawing suspicion to him personally. ]

It might be a question better posed to the accumulated experience of Riftwatch overall.

[sulahnan]

Alright.

[ and then she waits ]

[acreage]

Might be. It'd be weirder if someone hasn't tried it yet.

[ something to think about, anyway. doors tend to go both ways, in his experience; even the protomolecule had followed that logic.

presently, with good humor, ]

You know, my schedule is pretty empty, [ you need the rest, he asks you ] but I'm aware there's still a war going on. If there's something you need to get back to...

[ he likes the company, but it's an out if richard wants it. ]

[nonvenomous]

[ A red dusk has faded deep into to the purples and greys of twilight; the first stars are already pricking over the bay when Richard clips his way up the dock from the ferry. ]

I’ve returned.

[ -- out of the blue, but in the nick of time, so far as he’s concerned. ]

Shall I meet you atop the tower?

[nonvenomous]

I agree.

[ Just look at the sorts of people Riftwatch attracts. ]

It’s inconceivable that no one in the history of the organization has -- at the very least -- leaned in to peek at the other side. Never mind -- [ what else has he wondered about? ] something along the lines of a non-mage attempting to parlay with a demon.

[ He is preoccupied with his consideration of taboo to the point he nearly misses the out on offer, and has to consider it anew with his hand still full of dirty laundry. Hm. ]

I do have preparations to make. [ He pauses again. ] Do you need anything? Reading material?

[sulahnan]

[ Just her luck, as soon as she dozes off is when he announces his return. She sits up and fumbles for the crystal. ]

Yep, yeah, 'course. Should I uh—

[ A pause that totally isn't a yawn, off-crystal. ]

Should I bring the usual stuff?

[ weed and blankies? ]

[nonvenomous]

[ She did give an oath -- Richard forgets himself in his acknowledgement, and opens his mouth to assure her, only to catch on the doubt of Averesch’s awareness, and further still in recognition that Wysteria -- inevitably -- has much more to say. ]

Is it paranoia? [ He waits to ask. ]

Individuals or entities deliberately exerting influence over Rifts is a more logical explanation than a random evolution of the phenomenon, and has less dire implications than widespread, worsening destabilization as an inevitable progression of the root cause never being resolved.

[ A doom spiral. ]

Personally I think it’s an appealing possibility. Manageable.

[acreage]

Especially with Rifters dropping in on them for years. [ at least two years, he knows from talking to wysteria. ] Not to mention the issue of the monsters.

[ though on that note. ]

I didn't think demons [ christ fuckING HELP HIM ] were really the negotiating sort.

[ he's read about deals with the devil, of course, but the point is always that demons always work in those loopholes so they win in the end, and people suffer. monkey's paw. ]

Please. [ reading material. ] I'm not picky on subject matter.

[nonvenomous]

Please.

[ Weed and blankies: the only kind of tower night out worth having.

Into the tower, up the stairs, Richard makes a brief stop in his room to unload his satchel and to pick up a heavier cloak, a hat and blanket of his own.

He also brings a pie. ]

[nonvenomous]

Hard to say. [ Re: demons. ] They can speak, can't they?

[ What’s the worst that could happen? ]

I’ll bring some books by tonight. I’m overdue for a library visit.

[acreage]

And play the fiddle, so I hear.

[ or maybe that's just the devil. ]

Thank you. And I didn't say before, but I'm glad you're doing better.

[ physically, at least, not crossing the line of our silent pact to not talk about feelings. ]

[nonvenomous]

I’m not aware of any instrument proficiencies they might have, [ Richard says, and also: ]

Thank you.

[ Two hours later, he will arrive in whatever infirmary situation they have Holden laid up in with a small stack of three books, one of which is a helpful, illustrated guide to torture devices. The other two are lusty barmaid style romance novels.

Rather than hand them over directly, he leaves them with the healer on duty at the door. ]

[acreage]

[ ]

[sulahnan]

[ She gets there first, which isn't really a surprise because she was already on the fourth floor when he called.

But like a good friend she does wait for him to arrive before lighting up, offering him the first toke. ]

Is that a pie?

[nonvenomous]

It smells like apple.

[ Are there even apples in Thedas?

Richard waves her off to smoke first, once he’s placed the pie down on the stonework between them. He has blankets to make a nest out of. ]

[sulahnan]

[ Smells like there are apples in that pie, at least. ]

Did you bring forks, too? I brought mead, but no glasses.

[ Though it seems like not having glasses for a drink is a less messy prospect than no utensils for a pie. ]

[nonvenomous]

[ 3/4 the way through hunkering down into a blanketed slouch against the rampart, Richard leans to produce a moderately heavy dagger from the region of his hip, and drops it next to the pie -- deft, for a man with a splinted thumb. He doesn’t say ‘don’t be a coward.’

The arch look he sends after it says it for him. ]

[sulahnan]

Well alright, then.

[ She hunkers down beside him in her own blanket club uniform, keeping her hands free for puff puff passing.

So she puffs, puffs again, and passes the joint over to Richard. ]

Is our petit espion with us tonight?

[nonvenomous]

[ Richard hisses an invitation under his breath, and Ribbon nudges out from his collar to see about it, a button of black at his throat that starts to emerge, feels the chill in the air, and seems to think better of it. She sinks s l o w l y back out of sight as Dick reaches from his blankets to take the offered joint. ]

Perhaps if we go in later, [ he says on her behalf, to assuage any disappointment before he tokes. ]

So, [ he says a beat later, still holding: ] The stars.

[sulahnan]

The stars, [ she nods and gestures skyward. ] They're up there.

[ There's yer problem right there. ]

[nonvenomous]

Yes. [ They are.

Dick lets go with a short cough and a clearing of his throat, with a shorter puff to follow, and so on. After nearly a year, the act has become routine. ]

Had you already been smoking?

[sulahnan]

Nah. Earlier, yeah, but not recent enough to matter.

[ Back to the sky. ]

I think this time of year there's only three or four constellations we can see.

[nonvenomous]

That’s alright.

[ He hands the joint back across. ]

Do humans defer to your existing arrangement, or have constellations of their own?