ʟᴏxʟᴇʏ ( ᴄʜɪᴠᴀʟʀʏ ). (
charmoffensive) wrote in
therookery2023-06-19 04:04 pm
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Entry tags:
crystal.
FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Loxley
RECIPIENT: All
NOTES: Time to be snad (snake sad)
So,
[ very casual, for that one beat. ]
I'm not sure how things are done around here per rifter vanishments. Ceremonially speaking. Thus far it's sort of been a bit of hearsay, a few raised glasses. Somewhere between a resignation and a sudden death, on the spectrum of our understanding. I imagine it depends on your sense of cosmology.
[ That's enough stalling. ]
Richard Dickerson is gone, I think. The Head Healer. So we'll be short a few miracles going forwards.
Anyway,
[ does sound like the start of more talking, but it ends there. ]
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it feels strange to know something about him, and have him be gone. now doesn't seem like the time to broach it with loxley. )
Do you want to have a drink about it?
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[ But then, on reflection; ]
Maybe later.
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I'm sorry.
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[ He's fairly good at sounding completely unupset at the worst of times, and now is no exception. Still, ]
I really did think that we'd vanish together, if it happened.
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It doesn't seem to work any way that'd be fair, generally.
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[ A triple negative. ]
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[ No qualifier. There's no pretending at wishing he was home, where he feels split somewhat even between the two places, at this point, or perhaps even less than even. Save that now his friend is where he is not. ]
I'm certain you've seen plenty of us come and go.
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More than there are of you now, I suppose. Well, I paid some more mind than others.
( it occurred to her, not long ago, that she doesn't know when exactly her ex-husband departed from thedas — cannot think of anyone to ask, or anyone that she should tell. it's a strange feeling to sit with, so mostly she hasn't. )
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I doubt that. More likely he has simply taken a brief leave from the island without informing anyone.
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That was also my first thought. But he's left all his things, if he has. His weapons, his boots, his journals, his tools. There's a decent stash of elfroot, too. Well, was. [ Possession and the law, etc. ] And no mounts taken from the stables.
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[Hypothetically.]
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[ amused, in spite of himself, ]
it sounds like you've got his number. I'll try not to be too angry when it works out to be true.
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[Oh, but what if Mister Dickerson has left his crystal behind as well? Would that be strange? Would that be uncommonly strange?]
—However, [she starts again.] it would seem to me to be far more productive to simply scold him for not leaving a note or at the very least offering a more ready excuse than disappearance to his friends than to hold it against him more broadly.
[The man has a certain sensitivity.]
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I have this feeling, is all.
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Well, you must reserve that feeling. It doesn't do to be so pessimistic, sir. But I wish you all the best, I hope you cheer up soon. We will all laugh about this when Mister Dickerson returns.
[(In a few days—no, weeks, when it seems very likely that there can be no alternative—maybe she will feel poorly about having said so. But not today.]
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... You good?
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[ :/ ]
I stole his elfroot, though, so I might give that a try. I'm afraid it'll make me existential, though.
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She suggests,) Don't do it alone?
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I mean, I'd hate to call it a wake, but it seems kind of weird to let a person vanishing out of existence to go entirely unmarked. Even if that mark is just getting high with some people.
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We don't really acknowledge it very much, huh. When people leave.
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You think?
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I'm certain.
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Then you have my condolences.
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Look, I know we're not ... if you want to do something, when you're ready. A wake or a ceremony or something. I've lost some people that way and it was kind of rough not to have anything to mark it, for me, so. Happy to show some rifter solidarity if it would be helpful.
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And. I don't know. You went away for a while and came back, isn't that right?
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[It's not impossible. But she knows so many more rifters who haven't come back, at least so far, that there's a note of caution in her voice.]
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Would you've been very offended, coming back, to learn there'd been a service mourning your passing?
[ There is a mild injection of humour in his tone. He can't help it. ]
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Touched, I think, but not everyone's alike.
[A pause in which she considers whether to add this:]
I was engaged, the first time I was here. To a native Thedosian. It fell apart when I came back. I think most people with any sense realize that the world doesn't stop revolving when they leave it, for good or bad.
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[ A considering pause, thoughtful. Remembering. ]
There ought to be something—not just for Richard, for anyone who leaves this way. Maybe something different than a funeral so we wouldn't all feel weird about it.
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Do you have any traditions that could be adapted? I've got a few ideas, but I think something informed by a variety of experiences probably makes most sense.
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[ There, that all feels a little more real. The impulse to pick up the crystal and pitch to him the sort of question that might have Dickerson sigh heavily. It twinges, and he moves on. ]
He was a cleric of a god from our homeland, though, so a prayer wouldn't go amiss. Something prayer-like. What're your ideas?
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Obviously, it depends on the person we're recognizing, but I think maybe some sort of ceremony or practice with both part might be good?
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Stories, though, that would be good. Elfroot for incense, perhaps, [ minorly less serious. ]
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Even though I didn't know him much, if you do decide to do something, I'll show. I think it might be good to start some traditions.
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[ but also— ]
I'm sorry your friend has gone.
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[ Har dee har. ]
Thanks.
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I'm... sorry to hear that.
[Spoken with sincerity; he may not have loved the guy, but nobody deserves to just vanish. or go wherever it is Rifters go when they're no longer here.]
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