riverview | 😢 voice; @b.potts

Entry tags:

😢 voice; @b.potts

[ It happened overnight. The amnesia wore off and she woke up Sunday morning suddenly possessing months of knowledge of a man who'd shown her worlds and times Bill could never have imagined, prior to meeting him. She hadn't believed Cisco when he'd told her about this man called the Doctor who could travel through time, who was her friend. But now she remembers him, and more importantly, she remembers how she hasn't seen or heard from him in weeks.

When she goes to start recording, the camera comes on and she gets a view of how shattered she looks from crying, and quickly switches to audio only. ]

How... How do you know when someone's left? Gone home, I mean, or just... gone somewhere that's not here. Is there a list of names somewhere to check?

[ She pauses, hesitant, before adding, ] Do the ones who've left ever come back?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Um, you get a different error message if you try to contact someone whose not here anymore. It's... not in this reality and a number.

And they do come back sometimes! Sorta... maybe not exactly...

[ More to herself, ] So he is gone, then.

[ A deep breath. Then, outwardly, ] I guess that explains the error message I got when I tried to call him.

What do you mean, "not exactly?"

Um, some people come back, but it isn't exactly the same them that was here? They might be from a different point in time or... I dunno.

This is the sorta thing you wanna talk to someone smart about.

[ That gets a sad sort of laugh from Bill. ]

Problem is, my go-to smart person is the one who's gone.

Oh. Sorry.

But I just meant, someone smarter than me. Who actually really gets what 'alternate timelines' and 'paradox' means.

I understand. Thanks, anyway.

There's a public record of those that have left. I don't know that it's complete or whether it matters if a person chose to go home or didn't, though.

[A pause.]

According to the record they can come back, there have been a few instances of the same person here in the last few months alone. No one I knew personally so I can't say for certain, but- in the places I was before this there's no way to know if the person that comes back is the same one that was here to begin with. They might come back without memories of ever having been here before, or different memories from home if it's someone you knew outside of the Quarantine.

So they might be pulled from a different point in their timeline, or from an alternate universe?

[ So, no guarantees that the Doctor who came back would be her Doctor. ]

[She catches on quick, alarmingly quick. The confusion is evident in his tone.]

Uh- right. You know, you're the first person that grasped that idea right away.

[ That's why the Doctor liked her. ]

It helps that I'm sort of used to this line of thinking. I already know this place brings people in from alternate universes, and different points in time.

Makes sense.

[Someone else has to be aware of alternate realities, right?]

Guess I'm just used to people being more shocked. You'd think being on a moon that pulls people in from different worlds would be all the evidence they need...

Anyway, I do a lot of research on this stuff so let me know if there's anything I can do to help or answer any other questions.

I will. Thanks.

You said you've been in places like this before?

Sort of.

I was taken from my home world almost six years ago, and found myself in another place before this one. This would be the third, except- the other two were run by beings that claimed to be gods and had nothing to do with a portal accidentally bringing is in for our own apparent benefit.

A lot of things are similar, but it doesn't all add up.

Wow.

[ Because what do you say to that except "Wow" ? ]

Do you think the three places are connected, somehow?

[A lot of things in Ed's experience, this is the first time he's gotten a wow at all, actually.]

There hasn't been any evidence of that, I don't think. The first place I was brought to was ... a place we were supposed to redeem ourselves for our sins. I was there four years and things changed a lot in that time, we were basically frozen in time so no one aged. We were there to be punished, the idea was that it was based on purgatory in a way.

[None of that made any sense to him but what does he know? He's not religious and it's not a religion practiced in his world anyway.]

After that I was taken to a place that encouraged sinning, which seemed a little backwards. At first I thought it was just another trick but- the landscape certainly never trained that drastically before. The gods there said they needed our help, preferably willingly. It wasn't meant to be a punishment.

A friend of mine from the previous place did show up, but we were the only two there as far as I know.

[so there was one connection, but he'd always viewed it as a coincidence.]

When everyone started disappearing from that place I wound up here, and I guess it was... when I felt the most displaced, so it makes sense. Only the store I used to run is here too, and that doesn't.

So, no... I don't really think they're connected. If they were I think more people would show up who experienced the other places before now. No one's here from Attollo or Purg last time I checked, even the people I recognize don't know me.

That's... [ Bill pauses. ] ...I don't know how I would handle that, honestly. Being pulled from place to place, the people you know not knowing you...

It happens with people from home sometimes, too.

[Nobody's safe, not even the people who haven't been on another world before.]

People not knowing me I can get used to, I mean I have. The worst part was how many times I've seen my brother come in go... In that place you don't want your friends to stay, it was hell.

[Quietly.]

Watching them leave gets lonely though, no matter what world you're on.

[ Bill nods, sadly. Not that he can see, because this is voice only. But she swallows, and finally says. ]

Yeah, it is.

The good news, I guess, is that anyone can come back at any time. They might not be gone for long.

[He's honestly not even sure if that's reassuring.]

Maybe. Maybe, but there's no way of knowing for sure.

[ Glass half empty. ]

No, unfortunately there isn't.

[He'd know all about that, for every time Al came back to Purg he disappeared just as abruptly.]

Sometimes they come and go so many times it's almost better they didn't show up at all.

[ Bill isn't sure she agrees with that line of thinking. ]

I mean, I suppose so, if the place you're stuck in is bad, but... Wouldn't you rather see someone you love for a short time than not see them at all?

After awhile you start spending the whole time waiting for them to leave again. It's not something I'd wish on anyone else.

[It's been almost two months since Al arrived, Ed will settle down eventually.]

In the first world I was in, my brother never really stayed for longer than a month. He showed up a lot, just never stayed...

[She can probably hear the smile in his voice, rueful.]

The last time he was there for almost a year, though.

[ She can hear the sentiment in his voice, and she can't help but be jealous of the relationship he must have with his brother. ]

I suppose I've just... never had someone I cared about losing before.

[Ouch. He sounds almost guilty after that statement. Ed's never not had someone he cared about, even when he was alone it wasn't for long.]

That... must be tough.

You okay, girl?

[ Bill is reluctant to turn on video, but for Lup, she will. Her eyes are red, but she's doing her best to hide the fact she's been crying. ]

I'm-- [ Is she okay? Not really. Not even close.

She sighs, deflating. ]

I forgot him. Probably the one person who had a hope of getting me back home, and I forgot him. And now that I can remember him again, he's gone.

Oh, Bill...

[She can relate, weirdly enough, thanks to all the stupid memory shit in her own world.

...the thought of forgetting Taako and then him not being here any more makes her heart ache like someone stabbed it.]

I can't say everything's gonna be fine because I don't like lying about shit like this, but it seems like sometimes people can't choose when they go home.

...and if it was that memory shit that went on, I'm sure he doesn't blame you.

Edited 2017-08-25 15:47 (UTC)

No, I know. [ She rubs at her face, trying to keep from crying again. ]

I know exactly what he'd say if he were here. He'd say I have to stop wallowing and move forward, do what he would do.

[ That does cheer her up a bit, imagining the Doctor's reaction to her sadness. ]

Sounds like sound, if a little abrupt advice. Feelings aren't that easy though, are they?

[She gives Bill what she hopes is a comforting smile.]

You need some ice cream and wine?

[Taaco Twins™ coping methods.]

No. Feelings aren't that easy. [ Which is something the Doctor would have forgotten. ]

Ice cream and wine sounds pretty much perfect.

I gotchu covered, my gal. What's your favorite flavor and where should I deliver my tribute?

Anything with chocolate's good.

I'm in the communal housing, floor two. Unless you've got a better place for it.

Nah, it's all good with me if you are. I'll be over in a little while.

Cheers.

[ She'll be there, though she won't bother to get out of her pyjamas. ]

[When Lup does come over, she's in pretty relaxing duds as well - a t-shirt and cut-off jeans. She's carrying an armful of chocolate ice cream pints, a pie and two bottles of wine.]

Honk honk it's the feel better police! Please open up before I drop all this shit?

[ Bill drags herself up to let Lup in. ] Hey. Thanks for... Thanks.

[ She helps Lup by taking one of the pints and a bottle of wine off her hands, and leads her over to the kitchen. ]

[She shakes her head at that and lets Bill grab some of the stuff.]

Don't mention it. I mean, we don't know each other that well but I'm not gonna leave a girl alone after something like that.

[Lup walks into the kitchen like she owns it and starts looking for spoons.]

[ Bill, knowing her way around the kitchen, pulls two spoons out of the silverware drawer, and two glasses out of a cupboard for the wine. ]

Corkscrew's in that drawer, there.

[She snorts at that and casts a small blue mage hand in the bottle, using it to push the cork out.]

Need no stinking cork screws here, sweetie. Magic~!

[Lup places things on a table and then smiles.]

Love the style, by the way. Seems perfect for relaxing.

[And crying.]

Handy, that.

[ It manages to get Bill to smile, at least. She carries the glasses and spoons over to the table, then pulls out a chair and flops into it. ]

Oh, this is just... I didn't exactly feel like getting dressed today.

That's understandable, my gal. Wouldn't want to, either.

[She walks over and pours them some wine before sitting down as well.]

So he was really important to you, huh?

[No mockery or joking, just understanding. Lup was far too used to losing her friends, even if it was only temporary.]

[ Bill gives a small smile of thanks for the wine, before reaching to take her glass and sip from it. ]

He was my tutor first. But more than that, he was my friend.

That's harsh.

[She opens one of the ice cream containers and heats a spoon enough for it to slide through the frozen treat easily.]

You're not gonna stay here forever, though? I mean, it hurts, but you'll see him again?

[ Bill smiles at the trick with the spoon. Magic is so handy, it seems. She's almost jealous. ]

Yeah. As soon as I get sent back. It's just weird, being back to having no one.

[ Which feels selfish to say, when there's someone right there with wine and ice cream to comfort her. ]

No one from home, I mean.

Nah, I get you. If I was the only one from home, here... shit, I'd be pretty lost.

[She shrugs a little and then looks at Bill.]

...but that's what friends here are for, right? There's people here that care about you, I just know it.

[Lup gestures dramtically with her spoon.]

I mean, I don't go getting wine and ice cream for any basic bitch? We've got you.

[ That does make Bill smile. She takes her own spoon and tries scooping a bit of ice cream, but can't quite manage it as easily as Lup, due to the whole not magically heating it up first thing. ]

I appreciate that. I do. Really.

[ She takes what little ice cream she could manage to scoop and eats it, letting the cold sting her mouth before she swallows. She sighs. ]

I just need to... move on.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

😢 voice; @b.potts

Voice - @lolococo416

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

[voice | un: edward.elric]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

video @lightemup

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject