33rd Command // Audio :: Common

[nottheaveragekg]

...
I'll hold myself responsible for that one.

I don't know how I didn't know.

...
Damn.

Damn it all.

[ooc: mun fails and ashe fails. that's two times the fail right there.]

Comments

[ecopiracy]

Didn't know what?

[nottheaveragekg]

That... Well.
That.

[She stupidly has no good way of saying it.]

[ecopiracy]

[Dryly.]

Ah. I see. That certainly clears things up.

[No, it doesn't, Ashelin. Could you be any more unclear?]

[nottheaveragekg]

...

How long has he...

...

[And there's not much else he'll hear aside from a fairly exasperated mutter.]

Shit.

[ecopiracy]

["He." Small as it is, that's enough of a clue for Phoenix to put the pieces together.]

Oh.

[All traces of levity are gone from his voice.

He hesitates, then shakes his head.]

A month at least. Possibly more. I didn't exactly keep tabs on the man.

[nottheaveragekg]

[And that is pure, golden silence. For a few minutes at least.]

Mar damn it.

[A pause.]

...Thank you.

[ecopiracy]

...I'm sorry.

[He might not have liked Torn, but it's still not something he would have wished on the man - or the consequences of his loss on his friends.]

Is there...

[No, there isn't.]

Will you be...

[Not anytime soon, she won't. Precursors' sake, man, think!]

Do you want some company right now?

[nottheaveragekg]

[No. There's nothing he can really do. Even if there was, she'll never ask him to.

No. She won't be okay. She'll say she is. She'll pretend she is, but she'll be anything but that.

But there it is. That offer right there.]

Are you assuming I'm good company, Phoenix?

[ecopiracy]

No. But I am hoping that I am.

[nottheaveragekg]

...
Yeah.

Come to my room.

[ecopiracy]

I'll be there soon.

[It isn't long at all before there's a knock on her door.]

Ashelin?

[nottheaveragekg]

[She's sitting at her couch, wearing the same old Haven garb as ever, legs propped up on the coffee table, staring up at the ceiling.]

It's open.

[He's a big boy. He can let himself in.]

[ecopiracy]

[He does, and he closes the door behind him before making his way to her side. He doesn't say anything at first - oh, all sorts of things he could say go through his head, but nothing feels appropriate.

After a moment, he simply reaches for her hand.]

[nottheaveragekg]

[She's not the type to ever ask for company. She's not the type to ever ask for anything. Typical Ashelin takes without asking what she wants when she wants. To feel hollow is a near impossibility.

Green eyes turn onto him without hesitance and follow his gestures. She considers retracting for a moment, but doesn't and in thought presses her hand to his, fingertips to fingertips, palm to palm.

And she is quiet for a few moments.]

How are you?

[Neutral words from someone who's not so neutral.]

[ecopiracy]

[Phoenix considers the question briefly, then shrugs.]

Well enough, I suppose. Still a prisoner here, still a bird with clipped wings, but... I am here, at the least.

[Which is more than he can say for Torn, Keira, and who knows how many others.

He gives her hand a light squeeze.]

I've missed you.

[nottheaveragekg]

[It's almost foreign to her, the close proximity. It's been some time. She's been off in her own little world, likely one of selfish thoughts and stupid fleeting ideas. Ashelin methodically pushes her fingers between his.]

You missed me.
I haven't gone anywhere.

My wings, as much as yours, don't exist.