(Untitled)

[a_fell]

The conversation with Kaylee has left him feeling drained, on edge, and even the though the screen remains black, though the wave goes unanswered for minutes stretching into long, long minutes, it isn't quite enough for him to regain his former composure.

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[river_meimei]

Simon's busy. And River's -- River's been with him, but she's here by the shuttle now, slipping through the door.

She's twitchy. It shows in the quick stuttery jerks of her head when she glances sideways or over her shoulder, the way her eyes skitter over shadows, in the constant shifting of her fingers. She's twitchy, and she's uncertain.

(It was only a minute ago that her head lifted sharply; "Someone's talking," she said to the empty air and a moaning woman with pain-glazed eyes and deep gashes in her arms, and she turned towards the shuttle.)

[a_fell]

There's a light flashing relentlessly near the pilot's chair, with an accompanying ping, ping, ping adding urgency to the signal.

The signature ID says that the source is planetside, that's easy to see. Persephone.

[river_meimei]

River's hand hovers over the console for a moment. She casts a quick glance at the door -- it's closed, because she closed it behind her -- and then back.

Slowly, she drops into the pilot's seat, and presses the ACCEPT button.

(Her hands are clean, but her boots leave bloody smudges on the floor and chair.)

[a_fell]

Aziraphael looks resigned to the idea that no one is going to answer his wave, so when River accepts the signal he is occupied with something not quite visible on the console. He looks up quickly as River's face comes into view.

"Hello there, my dear," he says, relieved.

[river_meimei]

River, on the contrary, looks a little startled.

She nods. And, belatedly, remembers her manners enough to add, "Here."

Beat.

"Hi."

[a_fell]

"I'm glad I got through to you," he says, hiding his agitation (poorly) in bustle. "Kaylee did something with her machines, put me straight through to your shuttle, and I was - well, I know you're both busy. That is to say - how are you?"

[river_meimei]

"I'm okay."

River's eyes are on him, and there's a furrow between her brows now. She pulls up a leg, and wraps her hands around her ankle; her fingers shift restlessly against her boot.

"Postdate the withdrawal."

[a_fell]

"Oh," he says, blinking, then, "I'm glad to hear it."

He looks down again at whatever he'd been doing, then up.

"I waved you because - well. I'm afraid I have some bad news."

[river_meimei]

River was already tense. And already watching him closely.

This means the change is less dramatic when her hands tighten and her focus abruptly sharpens.

[a_fell]

It's even more difficult than he'd expected.

"It's about Crowley, you see, and I didn't want you to have to hear it first on the news, or. Well."

A breath. Necessary, but not for the reasons you might think.

"He's been discorporated -- temporarily."

[river_meimei]

River doesn't move. (Except, perhaps, a very small flinch.)

Her eyes fill with tears.

"He'll be back," she says, trying for evenness, trying for a statement of reassuring fact, but her voice trembles and twists upward.

[a_fell]

He can feel his own carefully constructed expression falling away, bit by bit.

"He will," he says as firmly as he can. "He will; we just don't know when." His lips press together with the effort of keeping his composure in the face of feeling so desperately inadequate. River's going to be alone with this knowledge now, in a dark shuttle on a strange planet. He leans forward, and one hand lifts to the edge of the screen.

"I'm so sorry. I know he'll be back as soon as he can."

[river_meimei]

River swallows, and a tear slips over.

Low, and a little wavering: "It's a watch. All together."

She tries to smile a little, and fails miserably; the attempt is visible, all the same. "Gonna be okay."

[a_fell]

"Yes, my dear," he says. Whatever it is that's been animating him feels like it's draining away. His hand, however, stays where it is.

"It will be all right. In the end."

His expression doesn't relax, but it loses a little of the look of pinched misery.

[river_meimei]

"You too," she says, low.

There are tears in her voice, clogging it; River lost the battle to control that years ago.

[a_fell]

"Oh, I--"

He wipes hurriedly at one eye with the back of his hand; blasted things never stop watering when you want them to.

"I will," he says with more conviction than he feels just at the moment. "And so will you."