Memory Cave

[voidtreckermods]

After the passengers see a glimpse of a life that is not their own they appear in a cave. It is light, a strange moss glowing on the walls and ceiling illuminates the cave nicely and it is large enough for them to pace around in without trouble.

They are not alone. In the cave with them is another voidtrecker. Maybe someone they know well, maybe someone they have only seen in the aisles of the train. But they are together in this cave together.

The cave has no exit, at least not yet. They know that it will, eventually. When the time is right.

But for that time to come, they first must talk...

(OOC: For reference: memories!)

Comments

[springforth]

Persephone really wants to wave it away, to say of course, but he did tell her some pretty vulnerable things. With some supernatural poking and prodding, sure, but still. She shrugs.

"I'm--I don't know that I'll every be really alright. But--I mean--" She huffs out a breath, swinging her arms out beside her and blinking her eyes rapidly, to ward off tears.

"It messed with me, sure. But what I did in response, how I acted, messed me up a lot more." She hesitates, teasing out enough information to give him an idea, to not have to say the words. She should probably say them to someone, sometime, but not right here, right now, "I don't like this part of me very much, the person I became that day."

[wherewoof]

He nodded a little. He could guess that she'd hurt someone, maybe. That was usually what happened when someone said things like that. Or maybe he was assuming because he'd also hurt people and regretted it.

"That kind of thing's hard. I don't know if it ever gets easier, either." Living with that kind of feeling, disliking or hating something about yourself, something you'd done.

He hesitated a moment, shrugging awkwardly. "If you ever need anyone to talk to about things, I'm a pretty good listener." Better at listening than he was talking about some things, at least.

[springforth]

"I don't think it does. It hasn't been too long but I still--I worry about it. If I get angry enough, will I do it again? That sort of thing." She's still being vague and perhaps that's to protect herself or him or some nebulous idea of her reputation on the train, how people see her. Selfishly, she doesn't want people to know all those dark bits, the hard parts, though vaguely she knows some people wouldn't even care.

"It's--my people run into that, we all can do awful things if pushed too far. I guess I just thought I wasn't that sort of person and it turned out I was."

[wherewoof]

"That's understandable. Worrying about it, I mean. All you can really do is try your best to be the person you want to be." And not do anything you'd regret. Sometimes it was easier said than done, but the keyword was try.

"Some things are out of our control, but others aren't." What he meant was, focus on the things you could control and try not to worry so much about the things you couldn't.

[springforth]

"Yeah--yeah I know." Persephone doesn't quite take it as he means, not entirely. Sure, she knows she couldn't control what happened to her friends, but she also isn't sure she could control that swelling of rage if something happened to someone she cared about here. She breathes out hard, blinking a few more times to keep the tears back.

"Um--thanks. For listening, even if honestly, neither of us would want to do this again." She smiles, crooked and unsure and plastered on as it is.

[wherewoof]

"Listening's the least I can do," he said. "And thank you, too. I'm sorry you had to relive this kind of thing."

It hadn't been great for him either, but he'd at least managed to make peace with what had happened to him. And he hadn't lost anyone. It didn't make him feel lucky, just...sad in a different way. He knew there was a limit sometimes when it came to helping people, and that there were some things you just couldn't do. He could punch kidnappers or abusers, but he couldn't do anything about emotional pain, not really.

"Hopefully this is the last time," he added. "That we'll end up here." He'd just been -- kind of -- looking forward to a vacation. Or at least relaxing.

[springforth]

This--this feels like the end of something. Maybe just logically, he's done and so is she, they've said their piece. So her head comes up, looking around for the doors, the exits. When she finds one, she grabs the knob, looking back at him.

"Do something nice, alright? We shouldn't have to go through all this not to do something nice for ourselves."

[wherewoof]

He nodded, smiling a little before turning almost reluctantly to the other door.

"I will. And you, too. You deserve something nice." Especially after going through all of this, but also because she seemed genuinely nice and kind.

[springforth]

Persephone glances at the door, taking a deep loud breath, straightening her shoulders.

"I'll do something kind for myself. But first I should do something honest." Her hand tightens on the knob, a firm smile on her lips, "I'll bother you again when its on our own terms, okay?"

And then she's through the door.