[Week 2] Late late late evening 321

[breakaleginhalf]

[The voice that chimes in on the network is tired, and aching, and a whole host of other things Gil is very obviously holding back only tenuously.]

Someone needs... can someone go check on Matthew. Please. Liminal Space. He's...

[A long silence.]

...I dunno if he's-- he's not cavosophia. He's not. [It almost sounds more like he's reassuring himself.] But I-- ...Ghalib hurt him.

Comments

[capital_asset]

What happened?

[Private; Protection II]

I'm not going to ask if you're all right, since that seems rather obvious.

[youandyoualone]

Ah.

Should we be looking for Ghalib's corpse, then?

[He's ASSUMING that someone lost their head and decided that murder was the best solution.]

[breakaleginhalf]

[He's too tired to hide the faint huff of amusement at Raidou's private comment, but it's followed by a strong wave of guilt.]

Uhh. Ghalib thought Matthew was weird, had his fucking-- creepy goddamn cult people stalking him for a bit. But. His family found out about Hana, the whole... [Another pause.] That. And, uh. When they tried to talk to him about it, he. Fucking stormed off, thought-- decided that maybe they were only mad 'cos he did it wrong, 'cos that's the fucking issue here, right?

So. So he found Matthew, thought - he's weird, no one's gonna miss him, let's try again. Only, fuckass didn't know about the angels? Wasn't prepared for them to fight back, or to try and turn him into flambé. That's what brought me back.

[breakaleginhalf]

He's alive. I'm riding shotgun.

[It's hard to say which he sounds more disappointed by. He's too tired to even try and take a shot at Delaunay.]

Almost got torched. 's'more than the fuck deserves.

[fearinahandfulof]

Do you want to be separated from him?

[She's never talked to Gil before, but... well. She can do that.]

[breakaleginhalf]

I...

[He wants to say yes. He wants it so bad.]

...can you... come back to me on that one? Not sure yet.

[fearinahandfulof]

All right.

We... know to watch him, at least. Either way, I mean.

[capital_asset]

Is he still alive? Ghalib, I mean.

[He's assuming Matthew is, but he's not currently in a position to go and check.]

And Matthew and/or the Angels fled?

[youandyoualone]

Ah. Well, that may prove useful, depending how much in control of the body you might be. If naught else, it puts you in a position to repair Ghalib's damage as much as you might, at least until Cabal disposes of him.

[Hi, Gil. Delaunay is done pretending in public that he's not a cold bastard. It only took two years.]

[breakaleginhalf]

Yeah. Fire missed, just scorched my coat. Scared him.

I didn't see where Matt went, but I can't Pin him, so. Liminal Space, probably.

[breakaleginhalf]

[Luckily Gil already knew that about him, thanks to his dungeon and Thorne's breakdown on him.]

's'mine now. Not fucking giving it back if he's gonna try and attack more people.

But I dont... I dont know how to fix this. I can't just - take out the part where Ghalib fucked them up, it--you know it doesn't work like that you fuck, how long've you been you?

[That's a genuine question, despite his grievances. The last thing he knew, Delaunay was flirting with his sister. With Thorne. Goddamnit.]

[breakaleginhalf]

I don't... I can't trust him, unsupervised. Look what fucking happens. [He's not angry at Cassandra, he's just making a tired, blunt point.] And if someone's gonna be stalking him anyway, might as well stay here and keep the closest eye on him possible.

[fearinahandfulof]

[She didn't think he was.]

But if they decide to kill him or otherwise punish him, that will fall on you as well.

[capital_asset]

Probably.

[Hopefully.]

Where are you now?

[breakaleginhalf]

Dying is so much easier to handle than...

[Than living with the fact he tried turned two people he considered friends into mindless Stepford Slaves.]

...anything they wanna do to him, I can deal.

[breakaleginhalf]

Still in the caves. Cold, quiet. Ghalib told his cult not to disturb him, so no one's gonna come by.

He wasn't going to go home anyway. Gonna stay here and rest.

[fearinahandfulof]

I know. But that presumes they will kill him.

[breakaleginhalf]

If it's physical, I'm fine. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

If it's mental, I can just tap out. Let him deal with it.

[capital_asset]

It's not his cult I'm worried about.

[fearinahandfulof]

Unless they decide to hollow him.

[breakaleginhalf]

I'll be fine. I can take care of myself way better than he could.

[But he appreciates Raidou's concern, so he sends a private push of affection and assurance.]

[breakaleginhalf]

He deserves it.

[fearinahandfulof]

Maybe, but do you?

[breakaleginhalf]

[The long silence is probably telling.]

Shit happens.

[capital_asset]

I know you can. Still, though.