(Untitled)

[backnthesaddle]

“Uh... hi.”

Somehow, Cole managed to find his way into a part of the Nexus with nary a couch in sight, so he drags over a Convenient Nexus Stool instead. He’s young, barely out of his teens, and nervous, with hair that’s bordering on shaggy. He looks tired, and a little dazed, with the sense that though things are better now, not that long ago

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[courtneycrumrin]

The girl who answers is in her late teens, slender, big-eyed and blond. She's wearing a silver-blue robe with a peacock embroidered on it, having just come from a trip to a Potterverse, and she's carrying a heavy bag over one shoulder, but she stops to listen to the question, looking around for a place to set stuff down. Weird that there should be no couches. Do they migrate this time of year or something?

"So, uh...first of all, how long ago did this happen? These things take time, and sometimes they take a lot of time. Especially if it was a violent death." She worries her lip. "I died and came back once; it was a while ago. I still feel pretty stupid about it. It was my own fault, anyway. Long story." She waves a hand dismissively.

"Anyway, you don't have to share the details, but it would help..."

[backnthesaddle]

Re: the couches - possibly something to do with the Gulf Stream Current, or the fact that there must be a limited number of couches to exist, even in an unlimited multiverse. Cole is personally grateful. Were he to perch on a couch, this might feel too much like therapy session.

"Really not that long ago. Less than a week." Time really had no meaning for him over the past few weeks, dealing with the entire cycle of guilt in a very short time frame. "And I know, I know. That's way too soon to expect anything. But." He shifts on the stool. "I just... get this feeling that even if I give it time, she won't open up. She'll just... let it simmer and make herself sick."

When the girl says that she's died, he looks up, eyebrows raising. "You - you did? How did you cope?"

He's not sure about how he can give any details without giving away something important, so he's silent on that front.

[courtneycrumrin]

Who knew El Nino affected couches? Clearly more studies should be performed.

Courtney sets her bag under a stool and perches on top of it, swinging her legs slowly. She frowns and picks at a stray thread on her sleeve. "Hrm. The trouble is, there's no way to make someone open up, short of dosing them with Veritaserum or something. She probably wouldn't thank you for that. I know I wouldn't."

"...yeah, I don't know if it helps, but it's not uncommon around here. It was a swordsmanship training session gone horribly wrong. There were a few nightmares after, but I was more absorbed with keeping my uncle from killing the guy that put me through it in the first place. So I guess you could say it helped to have something to do."

[backnthesaddle]

Yet another problem affecting the world's oceans that keeps getting swept under the rug. When, politicians, when will the American people be told the truth about climate change and the remaining population of humpbacked couches?

"Verita - what's that, like Valium?" Cole was a bit of a geek when he still had time, but never a geek in that direction.

"That... actually sounds very similar to what happened." He cracks his knuckles and keeps fidgeting, thinking to himself. "It wasn't an accident, for her. It was.. we were misdirected, at first, and her d..death was slow and drawn out and.. and bad. No one should go out like that." He closes his eyes. "Uh. Sorry. But.. some people we knew, they wanted to get revenge, and the first thing she did when she was back was go after them to stop his murder."

[lambwolfandman]

Alistair perches on a nearby seat as he listens. Then sits down properly when Cole is finished. The wax tablet in his hands resting on his knees. He even thinks about his answer for a moment, which is, for him, a change.

"Congratulations on saving her," he starts out with a weak smile. The situation brought to mind those many lessons that warned healers to leave the dead dead. But he still smiles. Intent on not lecturing the young man. This isn't school, after all. "Perhaps... If you raised the topic at some point. When she's calm and you're calm. If you asked her about it. About what it was like. If... If you shared what you imagined would happen? Maybe if it was a general discussion she would feel less pressured about it. It would be like an invitation to talk about it."

He nibbles his lip. Frowning. It's a touchy subject and he doesn't want to give the impression he would, in Cole's shoes, offend her in any way. "Everyone's curious about death, aren't they? At some stage? So it'd be an understandable topic. Especially with the

[backnthesaddle]

"Thanks," he says quietly with a wan smile. Intellectually, Cole might agree with Alistair. Zombies aren't real on his world, but he's watched enough late-night horror movie marathons to know that the dead should, in most circumstances, remain dead. Emotionally, he'd probably be inclined to chuck an empty stool at Alistair's head for even suggesting the dangers. "I think I'm definitely going to wait awhile until we're both recovered from this. But I guess the problem with that is..."

His hand plays with a loose thread on his jeans. "What if nothing happened? Sure, she was only clinically that way for a few minutes before we... preserved her, so maybe there wasn't time for her to go anywhere. But what if she doesn't remember anything because she didn't... because there wasn't anything?"

Cole might honestly prefer thinking there were no afterlife at all than think that his girlfriend didn't go to Heaven when she died.

[lambwolfandman]

"There probably wasn't time," he agrees with a soft smile. "In my world I'm sure there's a life after death. Perhaps she wasn't meant to die. She wasn't meant to move on because she was meant to live."

He tilts his head at Cole. "Either way, there's no harm in asking. We can't presume to know what everything means. Asking about it can only help her. Keep faith and you'll know that what she saw was not for any bad reason."

[backnthesaddle]

He nods, tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear. "You're... probably right. She's one of the best people I know. God has a plan." That's what he's been falling back on more and more these past few weeks, and what's been giving him the little comfort he can find. There's only so much he can personally screw up if God's in charge.

"I'll ask her after she's had some time to settle. Maybe time will help make things feel less... intense." Although how long it takes one to get over a long and painful death is another matter.

[random_xtras]

"Slip her some hard stuff," says the black Camaro that's sitting by the sign.

[backnthesaddle]

".....what."

Whether this is a response to the Camaro's words or the fact that it's a Camaro talking to him is a mystery left for the ages.

[random_xtras]

A cute petite woman with spiky black hair and tragic blue eyes appears sitting on the car's hood. "Two tablespoons of rum in a glass of orange juice. It seems to make humans talk. At least it sure did last night."

[backnthesaddle]

"Wh - no. No, that's completely out of the question. My girlfriend doesn't drink." He sounds terse, and like he's not sure if this is a joke he doesn't get.