middleofsomewhere | So Familiar a Gleam: Conclusion

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So Familiar a Gleam: Conclusion

Time to leave!

There is not much of the city left, but the park is holding together as those anchoring help those who are not voidtreckers through back to where they belong. Monsters continue to attack and a little further out there is a battle of hearts and minds being fought with the mass of colours and chaos.

Eventually, after the bulk of citizens had been evacuated everyone with SCA's on would hear Jin-Roh's voice after a few frantic beeps, as Chiff aligned everyone's SCA's. "We are almost done here, if you are with anyone not tethered to a voidcraft get them to the evacuation point, as quickly as possible."

Anan pulls out of the anchoring point to call out to any defenders in the park. "Come on! Anyone who isn't a voidtrecker! It's time to go."

Luckily those off fighting the entity headed the message and made their way to the park as Jin Roh spoke again.

"Everyone else get ready. When we call it you need to leave. If you don't have your SCA on then get to someone who does."

As the last people rushed to the park Anan calls out again, through her SCA and outloud to the park. "You need to unanchor, before you can evacuate. Everyone be ready."

She goes in again though, because there are some last people, those from the large battle, getting through as another message was called.

"Almost there. Be ready. On my command..."

Anan unanchored again. "Quick everyone unanchor."

"NOW" Jin Roh's voice came through strong on their SCA's. Hopefully those with SCA's would grab those without.

There is some outside help as well, the train pulls anyone who is unconscious or still under the entity's control, forcibly evacuating them. This includes Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and Zagreus.

Luggage Carriage

There has been a mass evacuation before and that was crazy enough but since then the population of the train has almost doubled and now it is an extremely tight squeeze as everyone crashes into the luggage carriage at the same time.

The train jerks and rolls as they enter into the void at breakneck speed and again as they seem to slow, rather than speeding off though the void.

There's a crackling from their SCA's. "Voidtreckers? Voidtreckers come in!" Anan's voice. "Please tell me you made it..."

There's only a few moments of signal and soon they are flying though the void again, away from the strange non-world, the entity sealed for now. To new adventures, but first hopefully some time to recover from all that has happened.

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"I still got a li'l' bit in my Sleeper car. It's from my homeworld, though. So I don't know how you'd like it."

He finishes up scarfing down his mess of food like a classy soul, then stands up.

"C'mon, just don't be offended if I fall the hell asleep again after a dose or two."

"At this point, I don't think I have much to complain about so long as it numbs the thinking." And maybe burns a bit. Or a lot. She's not picky at the moment.

"If that's an offer, I'll gladly take you up on it. But don't let me keep you up if you'd rather sleep."

"Nah, I already slept for a whole ass day. An' now I know all the drinks I had back in Jinnjar were fake as hell." Sure they tricked him into thinking they were alcoholic, but didn't work.

There's a transgate in Standard now anyway that makes the whole journey easier. So he gets up and heads that way.

"I've a feeling most people are going to sleep longer than that after that mess. And the lot of us deserve it." A solid nap day sounds rather wonderful, actually, even her work ethic won't allow it despite having nothing else to do to satisfy it.

She follows without questioning it--she should probably have some more self-preservation instinct, but at the moment she could not care any less. If she drops dead, at least she'll get some rest.

Luckily that transgate can lead to car one, and his cabin is damnably up the stairs but pretty close. It's one where Conan and one of the WangJis currently reside.

He takes twice with his ticket to let her in 'cause it's one of those days and takes some time to dump the books in his bunk in the floor so they're not in the way, then puts the little collection of odds and ends he has on top of them.

He digs in the side corner to find his second bottle to find his second bottle of brandy, which he opens, takes a drink of, and offers out to her classily. "Ain't how it's supposed to go down but it'll do the job."

Now is definitely not a time to bother with manners and she takes the offered bottle and drinks, making a face as she feels the burn, but not really caring. That's the whole point, and there's not even a Court or a Seneschal to get after her for losing her head. Ha ha.

"So long as I can't feel anything by the end of it, I think I'll manage."

"This train ever put you in a situation like that before?" He presses his back against the wall and takes the bottle to have another drink. 'Cause he's seen some weird shit but this is high tier.

Losin' ones own memories and gettin' 'em switched out with someone else.

"Not me, no, but I've not been here as long as some of the others." That thought scares her, though, and she flops down to sit on the bed next to him and try not to think about it. Maybe she should have been polite and brought some of her own alcohol to share.

"Lady willing, it won't happen again, either."

"Well, ya never know what'll happen around here."

He says it both grim and resigned, like if it does happen again he'll roll with it when it happens. He finishes off a swig before gesturing her over, all while offering the bottle.

"C'mon an' lean on me. Easier than tryin' to fit into these things that way. Don't worry, I ain't as much a turd as that other version of me." He wouldn't get handsy.

She's certainly not going to pass up on that offer and she takes the bottle for another swig, and manners be damned. Who's going to stop her? Talia's not here to help, so the next best thing is not thinking about it. And alcohol is the fastest way to make that happen.

She even takes him up on his offer and leans against his shoulder. Better to start now than when she might actually need it later.

"Honestly, at this point I'm not sure I'd much care if you were. You're the one with the drinks."

"Hey, I ain't that type o' guy. I'm clear about my transactions." He chuckles wryly at his own terrible joke, getting comfortable with his arm hanging loosely around her shoulders.

"I think the worst part is I never looked in earnest for nobody while I was raisin' Quill. Had too many other worries an' only wanted company sometimes. But still, y'know, wanted some company. An' that little shit took lessons I never realized an' the second he could he became a menace."

He shakes his head over Peter.

"I appreciate that." She really does. She's accustomed to being treated with respect, but at the moment, as long as she's getting herself good and drunk, she can't really question where it's coming from. Although she does sort of like the feel of his arm around her shoulders. It almost feel safe.

"They always seem to take more to the lessons you'd rather they didn't. Children are always devious."

"Well, at least he took some lessons from his Ma, too... I never met her. I just heard the music they used to listen to together. He played it all the time. I'd hear all her ideals. I know her passin' hit 'im hard."

He hopes his passing didn't. But, after another drink, he forces himself not to think about that.

"But he turned out a good guy, bettern' what I woulda done raisin' just on my own." He might have mentioned this, but he's reminded. Mostly because of her own investment in her daughter.

"It always seems that way. I know if I'd continued with Elspeth the way I had been, she would have been far different." Thank god for Talia, exactly what she'd needed, of course. It always seemed to work out that way.

She takes another drink at the thought of the monster Elspeth could be, and hands the bottle back. There's a vague thought that she should be responsible, but she ignores it. Now is not the time for responsibility.

"I'm sure he's a good man."

"He is. Still bet ya good money he'd do somethin' to make ya wanna punch 'im, but other'n that? He worked out just fine."

All tucked into the corner of his bunk he rubs her back as he reclaims the bottle. Not the full span of it, just up between her shoulders as he takes a drink. Because if there's a pretty person cuddling right up to him, by god he's going to partake in some physical contact even if he is planning on minding his manners.

"How was it goin' with Elspeth?"

Normally she wouldn't have shared the story--everyone at home already knew it, and she was sort of enjoying the anonymity that comes with being outside Haven and Valdemar with people from other places she hadn't even imagined before she'd been dragged onto the train.

Now, though, she's beginning to feel the effects of whatever alcohol is in that bottle, and it's enough of a warm buzz that she only briefly considers that she should probably keep this to herself.

"Her father tried to kill me. Everyone tried to warn me off marrying him, but I was young, naive, and in love. If there's a worse combination of traits, I can't think what it might be." She would shake her head, but it's resting against the man's shoulder, shoulder, so she sighs instead. "He was so charming when I met him, but he only wanted what I could give him. Or, rather, what I couldn't. Eventually, he left, but not before Elspeth came along. And when I went out riding one day, he and his friends ambushed me. It's a damn miracle Alberich insisted on riding with me. Or ForeSight. His is better than mine."

She pauses again for another sigh and another drink. Bad memories deserve both.

"After, I could never tell if whether my punishments for Elspeth's behavior were because of what she'd done or if I was reacting to what I could see of Karathenelan in her, and I left her care mostly to a nurse he'd sent as a peace offering. That nearly turned out to be the worst decision of my life, but a little angel swept through and saved her."

That kind of thing always scared him out of falling in love. He'd had a few people seduce him just to try and kill him. Playing the long game like that? Nightmarish. His heart is weak and cracked and small, easily broken, and he needs that thing to fight with.

That it's exactly what he expected to come from love, and that he's not surprised at all, is a good part of the tragedy here.

"You do know that him doin' that is his fault, right? Him failin' at a father? Havin' all the good stuff like a wife an' little girl an' just throwin' that away? That ain't on you. That was on him. But uh... considerin' I made my own mistakes, I get how the ones came after wear on ya."

He, luckily, never saw much of Ego in Peter Quill. Meredith Quill was too strong in him, bless her bones.

"What happened that she needed savin' from?"

"I do know that, actually. That's why it was so difficult for me to know whether I was actually doing the right thing or taking out my frustrations on her because she looks so much like her damn father." She scowls at the thought, but she's at least managed not to compare Elspeth to Karathenelan for years. She's not anything like him.

"I didn't want that to be the reason she was punished, so I left her in the care of others who didn't have that problem. That was another mistake, but I didn't realize it until she started turning into a spoiled brat." She'd made so many mistakes in her life, trusted the wrong people, and it had almost cost her the one thing she couldn't bear to lose. The one good thing her husband had given her.

"Then Talia swooped in and made her a person. She even ended up Chosen."

"I coulda stood to spoil Peter more. There's gotta be some kinda middle ground."

He shifts so he can rest his scruffy chin on her hair, happy with the warm comfortable feeling both from the drink and a warm body beside him. He likes being near people, as terrifying as it is. And it's often easier with a woman. For some reason they're marginally less likely to stab him, so there's a subconcious comfort there.

"What's a Chosen?"

"I'm sure there is. Damned if I knew what it was then, though." Now, she had more of an idea, but still isn't all that certain about it. Talia had done most of the work Selenay herself should have done. She likes to think she knows better now, but she can't exactly test that, can she? Not without another child and she's in no position for that.

"A Herald. Or A Herald-Trainee, I suppose. Someone who's been selected by a Companion.
I miss mine."

He remembers her mentioning her abilities. It's the first time he's wondered if they come natural or if she was trained for them.

"Who was your Companion?"

Sounds like she's better off with them than the ex she had a time with.

"Caryo," comes our of her mouth before her brain catches up and realizes that the name won't mean anything to him. What's in that bottle, anyway?

"Uh...she's sort of a...guardian spirit. The Companions all look like white horses with blue eyes, except they're sentient and they Choose a Herald and bond with them. They're what makes a Herald a Herald, and they don't Choose poorly. There's a load of history as to why, but I won't bore you with it. It's not great drinking conversation."

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So Familiar a Gleam: Conclusion

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