[audio] un: nah (forward-dated to the 3rd)

[damnable]

So turns out the beacon can swallow you up and spit you right back out after several decades in your own world - in case everyone else is as unaware of that being a possibility as I was.

Name's Red for those of you who didn't know me before when I was teenage-shaped and brand spankin' new to life. For those who did, sorry for the awkward, weird social situation the beacon's just created for us. Now that I'm wiser-to-life, I feel it's better to be up front about some things. I can see people's souls, auras, whatever you wanna call 'em. So I know a lot about someone from the get-go, and I can't turn it on and off.

So there's some options:

A) I can tell you what I see when I meet you in full detail so you know what I know.

B) We both pretend like I don't see shit. Denial is not just a river in Egypt, it's a fun little coping mechanism.

C) My ability malfunctions - can't control this but it happens here.

D) I can make some colorful description up, and we roll with it, cause why not? Live your dreams.

If you got a preference, let me know or I'll assume B is it. I'll be at the bar, drinking about a thousand drinks, and grappling with sudden onslaught of memories and emotions and all that messy fun shit. Cheers, and Happy Train day.

( OOC: Open to network responses and/or action spam. If you want Red to see your chars' aura at some point, feel free to fill it permissions here - I assume her ability just doesn't work if there's nothing filled out so no worries regardless. :) If you already filled it out on her old journal, no need to fill it out again! )

Comments

video;

[reparo]

[SEES THAT USERNAME AND GETS FILLED WITH DELIGHT AND RELIEF AND THEN notices...whoa.]

Merlin almighty.

video.

[damnable]

( christ-on-a-cracker this is much more difficult when she's hit with people she actually knows who saw her probably fucking yesterday, and she forgot for basically a whole ass mortal lifetime which is way longer than a hundred, boring years in purgatory. time to take a big old swig of whiskey, swallow past the burn and the ache and the being slammed with decade of being alone(ish) again in comparison to the group she had here, the people she had here, and continues: )

That's one helluva curse, but I seem to recall I prefer it when you throw in a fuck so... maybe something like 'Fucking almighty Merlin'. In the future. ...also, hey.

video.

[reparo]

[ She lets out a choked little laugh, because of course Red would pick this time to make a joke, and there she is. It's definitely still her. Last Hermione remembers (vividly and well), they spent a brief moment trying to rest together in Alem, bruised up girls with the weight of the world on their shoulders, and she'd just been made privvy to the fact that Red was - is - a Cerberus of some kind, and now this?

This older woman, with an impressive amount of hair, shockingly red and gorgeous and drinking whiskey. ] What the fuck. [ It slips out. She cracks a smile. ] How was that, better? Red - you made it out.

[ Cue the vivid memory of them talking about the beacons, about Hermione continuously avoiding the beacon or missing it, whenever it got activated, because she couldn't fathom leaving people behind with no goodbye, and Red had agreed and called her a good person and she made it out.

Which, she can't even begin to resent. ] And then back here.

action!

[matermali]

[ That's it? She didn't even expect for Red to leave, and then only this? Vanessa isn't going to excuse leaving it to just the network, thank you very much.

Despite local fashion, she still wears a dark Serthica dress, but without much jewelry or fuss to her loose hair. Vanessa approaches the bar with a look bordering concern more than anything else, and she lurks and waits for the shock of red hair to turn. She needed to only step near to know for certain that it isn't some kind of fabrication. ]

un: Black Prince; text

[blackscales]

[ ... Titans, that is quite the leap. His own, short one pales in comparison. ]

I'm glad to see you well.

[ An awkward enough way of saying 'good to know you didn't go home and get killed'. Hopefully not recaptured either, but, if she did... at least she's here. ]

video.

[thedreamer]

...Red?

Your voice, it's gone all sort of— [ He makes a whoosh sound as he exhales and then gestures with his right hand flailing about in the air, as if it explains anything at all. ]

What's happened?

No, you've explained that. The beacon. Decades, years, time—oh I know all about that. And here you are. Well, not here, not standing in front of me. Not far, though. The bar, that won't do. Give me a minute.

Keep talking, though, eh? Are you okay?

text. - un: slothbaby

[cosplayqueen]

Whoa this is a total plot twist! I have to ask are you supermodel pretty right now??? I totally could see you as the type of person to grow up to be super gorgeous.

You can totally tell me what my soul looks like by the way.

video.

[damnable]

So much better, there's just something so satisfying about the ck in fuck. Can't beat it. ( Red waves over another glass, and she breathes through the sharp shards in her chest even with that crack of a smile on her face. Her fingers slide over the rim of the glass, and she swallows thick past something like shards in her throat.

You made it out. Cue H's words in her mind. You think you can make it out? The feeling of being dragged across pavement cracking open. Cue a much more distant conversation with Hermione when she was worried - the distant feelings she now has had more than enough experience with to recognize as being a crush, being complicated feelings beyond purely platonic. )

[private]

...it was an accident, which sounds like a bullshit thing to say. The siege happened. I went down to Hell. I was so drained and screwed up from it, followin' the line and didn't know the line went to the beacon. Panicked but it was too late. I was scared as shit of ending up back there.

private video.

[reparo]

[ Her expression softens. ] I'm not blaming you - I had a feeling that this is how people end up making it out, purely by accident.

I'm so sorry that it - that you ended back there, and that you were scared and also - [ Would it be excessively presumptuous to think that Red is apologising for not having said goodbye? She can't, surely. Hermione wouldn't hold it against her.

She lifts her shoulders, drops them, and sheepishly: ] Would it make you feel better if I said fuck some more? Fuck fuck fuck - you're older now. [A little smile.] And your hair is gorgeous.

[action]

[damnable]

( The truth is this was easier. It was easier to make this network post to rip it all off like a band aid as quick as she could then to try to imagine having this conversation again and again. It may have been mostly an accident - stepping through that beacon, but she'd been so fucked up at the time, some part of her probably just accepted it too. Time to see if she was dragged back into the Underworld after all, if she managed life with any certainty, but even after several decades, nah.

It's impossible to hide from Red. There's a reason she became a PI - easy money for someone who can sniff out just about anyone - literally, still fuckin' creepy to mention. So she knows Vanessa is there, she slides her finger along the rim of her glass, remembers the time they spoke after Vanessa came back and the message she left her, remembers like it's pulled from some fogged up dream, still has her gift - first one ever. The bar is mostly quiet, and Red swallows thick before she speaks low: )

...you gonna say anything?

text.

[damnable]

Thanks. You... too?

Kinda lost track of everybody at some point. Think when Hell cracked open like an egg and welcomed us all in.

video.

[damnable]

( Red is remembering The Doctor, of course, and how he can sometimes say more than he means to or say more - ramble before all of his thoughts have caught up with him, before he's processed everything. She takes a slow sip from her glass even as she nods. )

The one and only, Doc.

( at least he has experience with time travel so this is probably far from the last time this has happened to her. She is much better at compartmentalizing at this point in her life, much more experienced with all the emotions that come with being human even if she doesn't necessarily deal with them in the most healthy way. )

I'm peachy keen. ( she remembers referencing that with him too which is mostly why she says it. ) ...you? ( Hell/the siege was a... time. )

[damnable]

Well damn, sunshine, still the sweetest person among us, I see.

Good to know though. Not everyone wants to know, but if I had to guess your aura's going to be really bright and warm and colorful. I didn't see anything when we last spoke, but my powers were waaaay on the fritz during that whole Hell siege. I'll let you know when and if that changes.

[matermali]

[ Any questions she had prior are silenced as Red speaks. She steps closer, but doesn't answer. No, in fact she's just going to stand there until Red looks at her, whether or not her silent, pale gaze has been invited. It's one of her specialties.

She wants to hear everything, but she doesn't need an explanation. What she needs is to look into Red's eyes. ]

private video.

[damnable]

( Red snorts laughter at that. It was less apology more explanation. ) Yep, you know the surefire way to comfort me.

I'm much, much older now. But thank you for noticing - means a lot coming from you. ( She smirks and tips her glass in the direction of the video like she's toasting her even if there's still a lot of emotions rattling around in her chest. ) And I'm okay - promise. Pretty difficult to rattle me these days, but I'll just say this is one fuck of a good effort on the universes' parts.

Whatever cosmic fuckboy force has decided this was the right move. I'd like to flip it off but I don't know where to point my finger.

Just didn't want you to think I was a total dick who took off without a word.

[rumorate]

[Allison snagged herself a ticket and intends on enjoying as much of this train ride as she possibly can. She's also been ignoring her pendant because beyond agreeing to share a room with her brother, she's not giving him more of her time until then.

Also because she's worried about him and if they start talking about what happened in Hell she may never leave his side so might as well get a couple drinks until that starts. She slides up to the bar next to Red, not recognizing her - not even aware of the change yet, and looking her over, she has to give her credit for her hair game.]

Love the fringe. Not many people can pull that off.

[damnable]

Y'know, if we're gonna be playing some-form-of-chicken here, I'd like a heads up.

( Red sucks in a breath, takes a deep drink from her glass, and then winces through the burn sliding down her throat. She doesn't know why she's being stubborn about this but all the compartmentalizing in the world doesn't prepare her for what this in particular is like. Is she just never gonna look, and Vanessa's never gonna speak, and then they're locked in some immortal contest for no other reason than emotions are shitty?

One more gulp and then she does turn to look, and it's like a swift blow to her chest, like temporarily being transported back into the younger version of her who cared so much, had so many friends here, lived a short but very different life. It's hard to adjust to the flood so all that leaves her is a soft, strangled hiss: ) ...shit.

[damnable]

Thank you for noticing. I've always been a big fan of your hair too. ( Red takes a long sip from her glass, having already realized that Allison has likely not seen her entry post so... obviously the best way to do this is just... to do it right?

Like a splash of cold water or warm vodka or- )

Hi, Allison. ...it's Red, older, wiser, etc.

video >> action

[thedreamer]

[ Thanks once again to the pocket watch he'd received months ago, tracking Red down would be easy enough even if she hadn't announced where she is. But he'd lost track of her during the siege, hadn't he? Of so many others. And he might have lost her for good. ]

Well. You know me. Never better. You do know me...you remember?

[ She knows his name, obviously, she hasn't simply forgotten everyone, but she's lived decades apart from them. He can easily imagine the disorientation she's contending with, the emotions of what she's gone through. He'll want to know everything, all of it, though...recognizing there are things she might not share, or be ready to. ]

Save a drink for me...almost there...just a moment. Ten seconds in fact!

[ ...a drink that he'll spit out, but...you know. They can still metaphorically drown their sorrows. And when he does find her, his blithe facade crumbles a bit and he makes a move as though he might hug her, but stops short. ]

Hugging—a very good thing, the cure to many ills, supreme comfort, the ultimate expression of, I've got you don't worry. An absolute classic and we'd gotten good at it. So, I've made my case, I think, best I can. Permission to hug?

[ To say that he was worried about her, is even more worried now, would be an understatement. ]

[rumorate]

Shit.

[She slides onto the stool as she looks her over, taking in the details of her face and seeing the things that stay the same, just more adult. The familiarity is there, it just throws her for a loop that Red got to have so much time at home when she only had a few days.]

The beacon did that?

[damnable]

As Celine Dion once said, it's all coming back to me now.

( Red remembers, or she is starting to remember. There's multiple decades of her own life between this moment and the short life here she was made to forget - almost a year. It had nearly been a year that she was here but not quite. Since then, it's been mortal lifetimes, supernaturally responsibilities, and all that jazz.

She makes a comical face at mention of leaving a drink for him because she can't remember him ever Drinking (with a capital A for alcohol) anything in all the time she knew him. Still she orders a fruity drink? If he liked anything, she feels like it'd be that, and anyway, she can sense him coming - recognizes that too. And takes a bigger drink. Fuck.

Red turns slow, feels that compartmentalization shake and crack and threaten to make her feel something sharp and sudden. Her throat clogs when she sees his face. Hugs. Right that thing. It's not that she hasn't hugged plenty of people since then, but the last decade or so specifically has been nonexistent when it comes to hugging. So she's gonna be rusty at it, but -)

Well, when you make a case like that better than any lawyer around town, how could I say no? ( She pushes herself up to her feet. ) Permission granted.

[damnable]

My sentiments exactly.

( Red makes a face as she takes another drink from the glass and then nods in answer to the question. )

Yeah. Didn't know I was in line for the beacon. Hell and the siege was a Time for everybody as you know, and I was a mess, and then bam. Gone. For decades.

[rumorate]

I only got a few days.

[Less than a week, really. She didn't know this place could keep hold of you for that long. Then again, Allison went home long enough to see the world end, so maybe the rules are different if your world is gone. The Beacon doesn't want to let the bodies go to waste.]

How're you adjusting, coming back with so much time being gone?

[matermali]

[ Whatever type of game chicken is, it appears that Vanessa has won, but there's nothing to gloat over. Her heart pinches when she thinks of everything Red experienced without her near to even know, but then she hardly deserved to be told if Red chose to leave. She had nearly let Hell's demons isolate her from her friends. What did they owe her?

Stepping closer, she reaches out to try to brush a few strands of Red's hair back behind her ear so she can better see Red's eyes, needing to adjust and lift her hand a bit higher than she used to. The slight adjustment is enough for her eyes to feel a stinging behind them.

She had so looked forward to seeing Red grow, but if her darling monster had been allowed to find herself away from here, Vanessa would have preferred her never to return.

Her whisper is soft for its sad musing. ]

You are taller.

[damnable]

But were they an impactful few days at least, or was it just normal, casual days? Wonder how it decides.

( Red sure has not ever heard of anyone being gone for so long before - days, hours even, months? But decades is new. She was scared of plenty when it came to the beacons but didn't really anticipate... this.

Of course she also assumed Hades would grab her shortly after she existed in real life back home. Sooo. Expectations and all that. )

Currently? Copious amounts of drinking and compartmentalizing. Only been here for a few hours, still... remembering and letting that slot in with the life I lived after. How ever it squishes together.