hypnagothic | [The City] IC Contact

His son? God. He was maintaining the spell for -- how long? Sixty years? Seventy?

One hundred and seven years.

[ his voice is soft there, only just louder than a whisper. ]

[ She knew it was a long time. And she might have thought, well, to an immortal, what's a long time?

And the answer is, when you don't know when you'll get out. If you'll get out. If this is your whole life, now, forever. This place where nothing is yours, not your time, not your dignity, nothing.

And to an immortal, what's forever?

It's a long time. ]

I'm so fucking sorry.

[ Her voice is hardly any louder. Two years in Ravenscar seems like a pittance, by comparison. ]

[ he glances sideways at her as they walk, meeting her eyes if she'll meet his before turning forward again, walking a few more paces in silence to let her condolence hang in the air between them a while longer. ]

I had only escape a few days prior to meeting you in London.

[ She does meet his eyes, unsure what she'll see there. ]

Yeah.

And how long -- how long did you have before you got dragged here?

[ in the dim late night and shadows, she'll see his pale eyes as they focus on her while they pass under a lamp, his expression closed off, understandably so. it's only when he faces back around and his eyes turn away that she'll catch a flash of a quiet rage, as distant and cold as starfire. his voice remains as even as it ever is though. ]

Several months. I had completed rebuilding mt realm.

Christ.

[ She rubs a hand over her face. ]

I'm -- Christ. I don't know.

[ She wants to express sympathy, or something, but what is there even to say? ]

May we both hope for a more expeditious escape from this place.

I'm sick of hoping.

[ A touch of her own rage comes through there, though it's tired. ]

But I'm pretty close to bloody useless here. I've got no books, no supplies -- I'm making everything up from memory and scrounging shit from the grocery store, and the whole thing might not even be magic. And if it is, it's way beyond me.

[ She hasn't said this out loud to anyone. Maybe it's the late hour, maybe it's because he's already opened the door to saying the things you don't say to anyone else. Maybe it's because he's the only person who's seen her flat in most of the last year. ]

[ maybe it's because she knows he's good at keeping secrets without judgement, too. well, too much judgement, and that he wouldn't use such vulnerable moments against her. he glances sidelong at her again, quiet while she spouts off until she's finished. ]

Hope can be a powerful tool as well. You should not discard it so easily.

[ Several extremely snarky responses suggest themselves. She glances over and meets his gaze, though, and huffs instead. ]

Sure. I probably shouldn't.

Probably not.

[ he falls quiet while they turn some corner, taking a few steps more before speaking again. ]

Are you still troubled by nightmares?

[ Oof. Does she. Constantine takes a deep breath, rubbing her forehead again. ]

I appreciate you didn't go looking to find out.

You mentioned your lack of sleep.

Yeah. [ She grimaces. ] I ... was in the mall for longer than a night.

... How long?

[ Hey, remember when she was being vulnerable a minute ago? Fuck that. Her tone now is determinedly light and exasperated. ]

Oh, hell if I know. Long enough to see Astra and Rachel again and exchange how-do-you-dos.

And for the woman with you, as well, presumably.

She just saw Astra. [ No, that's not fair. She winces a little. ] Just something pretending to be Astra.

As well as your reaction to it.

[ he glances to her again. ]

[ Yeah, she's avoiding eye contact. ]

Did you get chased by any of them? I mean, do you know what was happening in there?

I did not, but the woman I came across was already being pursued.

[ Flat: ] When they caught you, they murdered you.

[ She remembers the encounter with Kim and amends: ] Or you murdered them. And the people around you experienced it. Hallucinated it with you.

As my counselor used to say, it's the sort of thing that can undo your progress.

I did experience such an occurrence with her. Thankfully, that seemed to bring the event to a lull for the night until we could leave the following morning.

--Was she all right? Were you?

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