voice; a sad announcement

[lasergrenades]

[There is silence when the broadcast starts, interrupted only by several shaky breaths like whomever is there is trying not to cry. In making this announcement, Pepper is conceding to the reality of loss that has confronted her for four days. Her voice is small and full of sorrow when she finally manages to speak.]

Bakura's-- gone.

[They both knew they were living on borrowed time, that inevitably one of them would be bereft of the other. That doesn't make the grief any less painful. He's dead in his home world, and he may not come back as her Bakura if he ever returns.]

If-- if anyone sees him-- tell him to come home.

[OOC note: Fear not! Bakura is on Dreaming walkabout and will be back. Pepper of course does not know this.]

Comments

[wrathfulkhan]

[Gene understands all of the things Pepper is going through - she looks exactly like how he'd felt. And he knows why it'd be hard to stay upstairs. He doesn't blame her for sleeping in the living room.]

Of course, [he says with a little smile.] What are friends for?

[He sits on the couch next to her and sighs.] Yeah, me too. [The implied "and Tony, too" is left unspoken, even though they both know they'd benefit from his company.]

[lasergrenades]

Chocolate, [she answers, spotting what else Gene has brought. This is clearly the most important thing friends are for at this moment, right? Right. Focusing on that.

Gods, she wishes Tony were here, for both their sakes. They're a family, and right now it feels like it's falling away from them bit by agonizing bit. Pepper tips sideways a little and leans against Gene, resting her head on his shoulder. She's quiet for another while, and her voice is small and scared when she speaks again.]

I don't-- I don't know if he can come back, Gene. Not like he was.

[wrathfulkhan]

[Gene nods and passes her the chocolate. He's deep in thought for a moment. He knows Bakura's past, and how much he's grown and changed since he's been in Konryu, and how much Pepper has come to care for him. And how much it would hurt to have him be the way he was when he'd arrived.

(That was always the fear - that someone you loved would disappear, but they would return not as who you knew, but as someone else. That would be worse than the disappearance.

Don't think about that.)]

People come back how they were all the time, [Gene says and pulls her close, trying to be reassuring.] We did. And people who disappear sometimes for a short while return how they were, too. [He's not going to say for sure that Bakura will come back that way, or that he'll even return. But he can, and Gene knows that.]

The Dreaming...we both know that it keeps people sometimes. And keeps them how they were, and who they were. We've had friends disappear like that. And they come back how they were. You knew Jackie, right? The guy who ran the Koi? He left sometimes, but he came back how he was. It's possible.

I don't want to give you false hope. [He sighs.] But I don't want you to have no hope at all.

[She's seen his apartment, and his one concession to hope. The person who's neck and neck with Bakura for having the least illusions about life and the world still holds on to hope, the last thing at the bottom of Pandora's box.]

[lasergrenades]

[If Bakura did come back different, if he came back from an earlier time, then... well, she'd have to try to do what she did the first time around. It would be harder; he had mellowed significantly by the time they met in Keeliai, and since then she'd learned more of what he used to be - and still could be - like.

She sniffles and nods against his shoulder, appreciating not only the comfort but the fact that Gene can reach for it and hold it out to her. He's always had that in him, and even though she's devastated she can recognize how much he's grown, to be here like this with her. Pepper nibbles a corner off the chocolate.]

I know. And I probably shouldn't think the worst-- I'm just worried that he might not survive it even if he did come back the same. Solomon kept him alive the last time, somehow. [Bakura's soul was shredded. Gene was powerful, and theoretically might be able to do something similar, but he's not a necromancer.] Maybe-- maybe having Diabound back will help.