XOqNI

[tongueamok]

Hello, this is Carlisle. I mean, it's not Carlisle as in I'm actually answering you right now, so if you're trying to reply to me at the second, you should probably save your breath because I'm not really here. This is some kind of a recording of my voice, but this is my communicator. I'm going to assume these devices are as common here as they are in other places — not my world, but others, ones more technologically advanced than where I come from— so if you'd like to leave me a message, then you may do so here, or er... Right. Here is fine. So just leave yo— [beep]

Comments

[tongueamok]

[Carlisle's brow furrows, his eyes burying themselves in the mug in his hands.]

My partner says that often - that we are trapped in the midst of a war we did not choose to fight. I think he would prefer to stay out of it. I am not sure my conscience will allow it any longer, not when those who are important to me are out there.

[Pratt included.]

I cannot change their minds about whether or not they fight, try as I may... and I have tried. They have their reasons, whatever they may be, and it is my duty to help ensure they survive this. We've lost so many to this place.

[theweakhavepurpose]

I'm not sure we can stay out of it. Not like the Null are going to spare non-combatants or anything.

I don't want either side to win, I just want all of us to survive and get the fuck out of here before they annihilate each other.

[He frowns, starting to get angry about the situation, but the tea is keeping his temper in check. He's kinda enjoying that honestly.]

So I guess we keep fighting even though it seems hopeless.

[tongueamok]

I guess so.

[His eyes flick to that box on the table again; he leans forward, nudging it toward Pratt with the tips of his fingers.]

Regardless of your choice, I- I prepared you something that might help you, if only a little.

[theweakhavepurpose]

[he closes his eyes, breathing in the smell of the tea. He'd never even really liked tea, being more of a coffee guy - or more precisely a cup full of sugar that had coffee poured over it. But this was nice. Whatever Carlisle had put in it was relaxing and for the first time he could feel his mind settle down from its constant overdrive.]

You don't have to do that. You've helped me so much more than I can repay you for already.

[Setting the mug down he reaches for the box, surprised to find it heavier than expected.]

[tongueamok]

I need not repayment, Deputy Pratt. Your commiseration has been a comfort to me, as has your company. I only hope that, at the end of this, we both find the lives we deserve, however much we may doubt that we deserve them.

[Inside the box is exactly what Pratt might expect, given the weight and that it's from Carlisle: it's another rock, this one covered with even more glyphs than the last one he gave the deputy. The stone is relatively flat and big enough to fill his palm, its smooth sides etched with numerous sigils and glyphs, each one carved delicately in minuscule print; the flat top of the rock has the contact point much like the other one, while the rest of the lines of the glyph curve around to the back, criss-crossing and connecting in ways more complex than his usual work.]

I know there are times I cannot be everywhere, but I hope that, if you are injured and I cannot reach you, this will help. What healing it may provide is not as thorough as what I do, mind you, but healing only through what can be dictated in scrolls and glyphs is tricky, at best.

[theweakhavepurpose]

[Well that cuts to the heart of it doesn't it? Both of them thinking they don't deserve anything good, and both of them trying to convince the other that isn't true. Maybe there is a sort of redemption to this place. Where two people such as themselves can find some meaning to their existence and atonement for what they've done in life.]

This is awesome!

[He holds the rock in his hands, turning it over and over to look at all the precisely carved glyphs that form together in a way he can't possibly ever understand. Carlisle knew what he was doing though, and Pratt silently marveled at the care and study that went into learning such a craft.]

Anything helps, I'm only human and much as I wish I was some gun toting badass that doesn't feel pain, I'm not. This is... this is great. Thank you.

[He keeps staring at it, because looking at Carlisle might make him have actual emotions and he can't have that.]

[tongueamok]

[Carlisle's fingers tighten on his mug, a smile creeping across him despite the circumstances that brought them to this point, ones that necessitated the crafting of such a gift in the first place. That feeling that he's done something good, and that he's truly made a difference for one of his friends -- in fact, the feeling of having people he feels comfortable calling friends at all -- brings him joy that's hard to contain, even in these dark times.

He watches Pratt's reaction, wishing he had more to offer.]

You are very welcome. I would not let just anyone use that stone, but I tested it myself for its potency, and it should serve someone like you, who showed some magical promise, well. We may only be human, but there is still much we have to offer to this existence. That is something I hardly would have believed before coming here and meeting the people I have... the friends I have been afforded. Yourself included.

[theweakhavepurpose]

[Well that gets a smile out of him, honest and genuine.]

Thanks for that.

We've come a long way haven't we? Maybe this place... Well I'm not gonna say it was good, but there were moments that I wouldn't have had back home.

[Maybe it was for the best he'd been here, it had given him second chances that he knew he wouldn't get at home. And to meet people from places he couldn't even have dreamt of. ]

Magical promise huh? I like the sound of that.

[He looks back down at the rock, because he's about to get all emotional here and he's already a little embarassed.]

You're a better friend to me than everyone I knew back home.

[To be fair those are mostly acquaintances and people he worked with or was forced to interact with because it was such a small town. But the friends he'd made here seemed somehow true, more real.]

[tongueamok]

Had I not been spirited away from Bear Den, I would not have found renewed purpose in my life. I would not have survived this long, given my condition. I would not have met the people I have, nor would I have ever believed in my own potential. For all I know, I might have never experimented with glyphcrafting on rocks had I never needed to.

[He finishes his tea, setting the mug aside.]

In short, I feel the same -- about everything. This place was not necessarily good, but... perhaps it was what we needed. And for that, I am grateful.

[theweakhavepurpose]

Yeah I mean good is a little much. But it hasn't been entirely shitty. And considering where we both are back home we're doing pretty damn well.

[Pratt hours from death and Carlisle knowing what his fate will be in the future are both terrible situations to be in. And while they likely wallow in depression and cowardice more than they should, the fact they leave their houses at all should be regarded as a minor miracle.]

Planted my first garden and everything. That was kinda nice. Sort of relaxing. People used to tell me that, that they had hobbies like gardening or whatever because it was relaxing and I didn't believe them. But I get it now.