video;

[wolfishflame]

[It's dark. Whoever's broadcasting is outside in the middle of the night, and the camera slowly adjusts to the little amount of light filtering in from the stars and the barrier overhead.

When the broadcaster speaks, her voice is almost too hoarse to be recognizable, but it's Aly. She speaks quietly, but firmly.]

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
With what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire-- [And at that word, an angry gout of crimson flame flares up from her hands for a moment before disappearing.]
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate-- [The fire flares up again.]
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And will suffice.

[As she reaches to turn off the feed, something that looks a lot like blood can be seen smeared around her mouth.]

Comments

video; private

[wolfishflame]

...I don't know.

I'm not sure about anything anymore.

[When your world's been turned upside down more than it ever has been and all that's left in you is rage...it leaves you with a lot of uncertainty.]

Alcohol would only make things worse. Not like I even like it.

Re: video; private

[unfavorableinstigation]

... Would a nightlight help?

Or a shield; a guarantee that nothing can come in, at least for a little while.

[Since Nita and Aly aren't Close, offering straight-up companionship may not be enough - but if she can still do something for Aly...]

video; private

[wolfishflame]

A shield, maybe. I have nightlights covered. [She smiles grimly and a small ball of crimson fire dances over her fingertips.]

Re: video; private

[unfavorableinstigation]

[It's almost too dark to tell, but that light clinches something in Nita, in her eyes.]

Can do. Kinda hard to pull it off long-distance, but I can try.

[She could make it glow like the fire, even - but that would both probably seem too competitive, and it'd draw attention, which Aly did not want.

Even if maybe she needed it.]

video; private

[wolfishflame]

So how do your shields work? Your kind of magic, I mean.

[Any kind of distraction.]

Re: video; private

[unfavorableinstigation]

Persuasion: talking to the air directly, specifying shape, permeability, opaqueness and so on.

... I've made one withstand a supernova before, but we were still not nearly as far away as I'd have liked.

video; private

[wolfishflame]

Oh. That sounds familiar, actually. Do you have to really understand how something works before you can do something with it?

[Then she looks impressed - really impressed.] What? Wow. That's a handy skill.

Re: video; private

[unfavorableinstigation]

Yeah - I mean, you can try compensating with power levels if you don't know the specifics, but it's real risky.

[And has a higher risk of backfiring, naturally.]

No kidding.

So, uh - long distance, or are you okay with me coming over and doing that in-person?

video; private

[wolfishflame]

[Talking about something like that - even if it's related to the Otherside, in her eyes - helps. Sort of.

If only I knew more.]

In-person's fine. I'm on the roof of the Bridge.

Re: video; private

[unfavorableinstigation]

I'll be there; is ten minutes' time good?

[Since if anyone else's coming, it's not as if Nita has dibs. That's not how friendship works, anyhow.]

video; private and several months late with starbucks

[wolfishflame]

[Aly nods wearily.] Yeah. Ten minutes is fine.

[Action] /snatches and guzzles Starbucks

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Aly won't hear from Nita until she actually gets there, but when she does, she has her shield already up, glowing a soft blue like a nightlight.

Like a rain-softened sky.]

Room for one more?

this is just gonna be a monthly thing for me huh

[wolfishflame]

[Aly grunts when Nita addresses her. As much as she hates to admit it, the shield looks calming. Normally a light that color might put her back up, but it's not the same as the fairy lights, the will-o-wisps she'd followed into the forest to her own certain doom. Those were cold and harsh, if you knew what you were looking at; a blue that burned. This looks...nice.]

That your kind of magic?

there are worse monthly things, we all know this, Alex.

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita will pass on the compliment, thank u Aly.

She will also shuffle along so that Aly is included in the shield, though once she gets there she'll stare more off into the distance than at the other teen.]

It's wizardry, yeah.

Not like what's on your world, then?

[Given where Aly's just been, maybe that's a good thing.]

[wolfishflame]

Not so much, no. Someone I know might do something kind of like that...I never asked, really. Their shields look sort of like that. But if it's from your world, I doubt it's the same.

[She wiggles her fingers, as though to shake something off of them.] Mine's a lot more violent.

[unfavorableinstigation]

Violent, huh?

[Nita aims a wry look at Aly.]

... It can get pretty violent back home, too.

[Say, blowing Fomori up at the atomic level.]

Be nice to get away from that, though, y'know?

[wolfishflame]

Yeah, [Aly says quietly. The murder's still weighing heavily on her mind.]

Saving the world's pretty exhausting.

[unfavorableinstigation]

It is.

[Nita looks away again, sighing softly.]

Pity we just keep finding the worlds that need our help, though.

[Kind of hard to take a break, in those circumstances.]

[wolfishflame]

I'd like to find a nice, quiet world that doesn't need saving, if it's all the same to everyone, [Aly says, looking up at the stars.]

/stabs self in the feels like a pro

[unfavorableinstigation]

... I'd drink to that, if I ever drank.

[She's not quite there yet, though, in age or inclination. Not that she couldn't get one in the Crossings if she really wanted, but she doesn't want to think about familiar places like that, not right now-]

Settling enough of the universe right, getting entropy to stay down - it's worth fighting for, but no one can fight forever.

[Funnily enough, the Lone Power can't do that, either. Not anymore.]

But we never do it alone. Not really.

[wolfishflame]

Oh, so you're a physicist, [Aly says with an attempt at humor.] Entropic decay. I've heard of that.

[Then she goes quiet.]

What if you are alone? Because you made it that way?

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita wishes she could just leave that as a joke - but she does smile as she says:]

Ever heard the phrase 'Entropy has us outnumbered'?

[Hopefully Aly hasn't.

The other question, though, leaves Nita more somber. And there's some personal experiences she can ascribe to that situation, too - as well as those of a few people she knows.

And she knows enough to say:]

It'll come back to bite you, that's what. And the people you care about.

[If they're still in the equation.]

[wolfishflame]

[Aly winces, but says nothing for a moment.

Then:]

What if it already has?

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita wishes she could offer, say, an arm-squeeze, but there's still a pretty big chance Aly could take that the wrong way.

She does have something to offer, though. A sympathetic ear, a glance of something that isn't pity, and words:]

Even then, it doesn't mean you deserve to be alone, or suffering, or guilt-tripping over it for the rest of your life.

[wolfishflame]

[That does something; shatters something, maybe, or cracks it.]

Yes, it does, [she says in a small voice.] What I did can't be undone, and I-- [You have to say it.

I can't say it. That makes it real.] --hurt someone close to me.